We ran from the bear’s corpse, being careful not to encounter another of those monsters in the tunnels. Even if neither of us was injured during that last fight, it was only due to the sneak attack. The bear was sleeping when it was struck. Not to mention that Astrid must have spent every drop of Energy she had. A new encounter—one with a monster that knew we were there—even if it was looking away, we would have, at most, one strike each before it could fight back. Not to mention the other ones that were coming after us. I had no confidence in being able to fight against two, much less a horde of bears. Actually, wasn’t a group of bears called a sloth or a sleuth? It was a weird name like that.

After a few minutes, we found a large room in front of a loose piece of ice that was big enough to become our door. Or at least, it would be big enough with the help of {Compression}.

"Let’s lay low here for a while."

Astrid nodded. It was nice that I didn’t have to explain my reasoning. She understood why it was a bad idea to keep fighting like that. In order to make this work, stealth was the best option. We would need to strike quietly and quickly, ideally picking off the bears one by one. With some luck, she would level up a couple of times by the end of the day.

"I don’t understand," Astrid stared at the ice block in the entrance.

"What? If it’s about the ice, it’s just a skill. The particles can change the distance between the atoms of an object, increasing its size but not the mass. Or at least that’s what the System told me."

"No, the dungeon."

"I’m not entirely sure how that works either, but what don’t you understand? Maybe I can help you?" I gave her my best teacher smile, even if I wasn’t completely confident in being able to explain that kind of thing. Most of what the System told me, I just accepted because it sounded like a game. To someone who had never played something like that, it could be much weirder.

"Everything weak to ice," Astrid said.

"Oh. Do you mean how that works or why it’s happening? Because I honestly don’t know how things can be weak to a specific element—not when we’re talking about the System and skills and stuff."

"Why?"

"That’s a bit easier. I think it’s because of the Ice Devil," I replied before finding a spot that wasn’t completely covered in ice on the ground to sit. There were a few patches like that here and there, which were better to sit on; otherwise, my ass would freeze. Literally.

"How?"

"The System didn’t say anything about that, and I don’t think it knows. But I’m assuming it’s because of the ecosystem that exists in this dungeon. If this place was a nest or the home of one specific group that always worked together, then it might have a different effect—maybe fire resistance or increased ice damage. That way, the monsters here would be more powerful. But there are two forces in the dungeon," I paused, remembering the spider creature I fought, "maybe even more. And those forces are fighting amongst themselves. So instead of making everyone stronger, the Ice Devil, who should be the source of the dungeon—or at least have some control over it—opted to make everyone weaker to its attacks. That way, it would be easier for it to kill the other creatures."

Astrid stared at me for a few moments. "It has System?"

"Sort of. You can ask your System about this to get a better explanation. But basically, every monster that has a level is being affected by the System in some way. They might not be able to pick and choose the skills and how they grow, but the stronger ones might be able to influence the direction. The System told me that a dungeon is created by a core—a mass of particles that affects the environment. And that core can be either in a specific location or inside a specific monster. I’m guessing this is the latter, and that’s why the dungeon removes any resistance against ice."

I paused as a different approach to this question came to mind. "Or, this dungeon might have an actual core instead of it being inside a monster. The reason it reduces ice resistance could be because the particles inside the dungeon observed the monsters trying to kill each other. So the intention of the bears was to make it easier to kill each other, not to become stronger or more well-protected. Oddly enough, that feels very in line with the logic I see the System using."

[System agrees. That would be a logical step for the System particles in the event where a constant struggle is taking place inside the dungeon.]

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'I’m glad you know I’m starting to understand you.'

For about 30 minutes, we rested. Astrid had a few points in her {Energy Storage}, which she converted into actual Energy. Unlike me, she couldn’t do that very often, but at the same time, because of her level, it took very little to max out again.

"Before I forget, you got a skill back there, didn’t you?"

Astrid nodded. "Didn't take. Bad"

"That’s a shame. But it happens more often than not—or at least, the skills offered don’t fit what we are going for. But I kind of wanted to have eaten the bear."

My companion gave me a puzzled look.

"Right. You probably haven’t experienced that. If you eat something that had skills, you might be able to gain their skills. So we could get the skills the bears have, if we eat enough and the right parts of them."

Her eyes shifted to my waterskin. "The Eater?"

"I didn’t get anything from eating them—at least not when I was conscious. Getting the System was weird, and I ended up getting three or four skills from the Eater that died with me. But I’m not entirely sure how much of it was because I ate it and how much was the electricity that was connecting us."

"What?" Astrid’s eyes went wide. It was hard to tell exactly what part of my story was bothering her.

"I can give you the details later. Basically, I got the System when I was about to die. An Eater tried to kill me, and lightning struck at the right time. Also, there was something to do with this necklace," I showed the solar system necklace Pops gave me. "It was a gift from my grandfather. And before you ask, no, he didn’t know about the System. It was just a stroke of luck. Then, to save my life, the System had to kind of take over my body for a few minutes. During that time, I might have eaten an Eater, but I honestly have no memory of all that. If you’re talking about the blood, even after drinking a lot, I got no skills. Something tells me that the only skill anyone could get from that would be {Energy Storage}."

Astrid nodded, but we didn’t say anything else. Before it came time for us to leave, a bear appeared on the other side of the ice block, holding the entrance. The creature clearly saw us and tried pushing the ice away. However, thanks to the position in the door frame, it wouldn’t budge. Even after failing, the creature continued to stare at us through the frozen water, waiting for us to get into its reach.

"Are you up for something dangerous?" I asked Astrid.

"Opening the door?" she replied with a smile.

"Yep. I’ll close it right after the bear gets in."

Stepping to the side, I used my staff to trigger {Compression} on the chunk of ice. That allowed the creature to rush inside the room we were staying in. Astrid wasn’t in its path, but it quickly turned to charge her. Instead of moving away, the woman swung her axe horizontally, particles covering the entire blade of the weapon, which seemed to increase in size. The bear wasn’t expecting such a powerful attack and tumbled to the side, skidding on the floor as Astrid stepped away.

Her movement wasn’t enough. Despite its precarious position, the monster managed to strike her with its back leg. She fell to the ground while I ensured the ice still blocked the entrance. Before the monster could go for a follow-up attack, my companion rolled on the floor and got back to her feet. I lunged at the creature, catching it by surprise and slamming the staff against its head. Astrid followed up with an overhead swing, boosted by her skill.

Unfortunately, the monster was smarter than we expected. It shifted, letting the blade of her axe miss its head and get stuck in the fur above its shoulder. She struggled to pull her weapon back, giving the creature enough time to slash her with its claws. At least the wound was superficial, only cutting the outer part of her leg.

"{Body Regeneration} works during combat," I said before bringing my staff down on the creature’s head once again. There was a loud crack as the frozen wood met the monster’s hardened skull. In response, it tried to bite my legs, but I was far enough away to jump back and avoid the attack. If the claws were already dangerous, its bite would be much worse.

Astrid freed her weapon and attacked again, swinging horizontally at the monster’s neck. But that put her too close, and the beast snapped its jaw, trying to rip out her arms. I wasn’t about to let that happen. In a quick burst of motion, I triggered {Compression} on my staff, making it as small as I could. I shoved my hand into the bear’s mouth, spending another use of {Compression} to force it open.

My staff grew in size, wedging the bear’s jaws apart. A small trickle of blood ran from both sides where the wood bit into its flesh.

"Nice," Astrid noted in approval before swinging her axe into the bear’s open mouth, ripping apart its cheeks before reaching the bone.

The bear roared in pain and tried to remove the staff, but its claws were too big to fit into its mouth. Seizing the opportunity, I activated {Compression} again, forcing the wood to expand. There was a loud crack as the bear’s lower jaw broke, leaving its mouth permanently open with the tongue dangling uselessly.

Astrid jumped forward and, with another horizontal swing—this time without the aid of skills—cut off the creature’s cheeks. The bear panicked, pulling its front legs in front of its face while standing up on the hind legs. Seeing an opening, I struck its neck with all my strength. The monster fell backward, slamming against the cold floor. Astrid brought her axe down one more time, boosted by her skill. She struck the bear’s stomach and pulled the weapon, gutting the creature as it struggled to rise.

Seeing that it was still alive, and no SP had come to me yet, I slammed my staff inside its body, trying to crush as many organs as I could. Between the two of us, it only took a few more seconds for the bear to stop moving, and the flood of SP surged into me.

"I leveled up," Astrid said with a smile as {Body Regeneration} continued to heal her leg.

If we were able to continue at this pace, it wouldn’t take long for her to reach Tier One.