The Frost-fire Grotto, shrouded in icy mystery, held a reputation as one of the realm's most treacherous dungeons. Its depths whispered tales of chilling challenges. Only the most famous adventurers were allowed to go in there. The access to the dungeon was opened only every two years.

In the frostbitten realm of Horando, gaining entry to the grotto was a feat in itself. The kingdom, wary of the dangers lurking within, allotted just three of the precious permits for access. One beckoned through the esteemed recommendation of guilds, another by the kingdom's own endorsement, and the final coveted spot reserved exclusively for the era's chosen hero.

As spring unfurled its icy grip, three intrepid parties braved the frigid labyrinth. Yet, within a mere 20 days, the kingdom's recommended group had bowed out, unable to withstand the grotto's relentless challenges.

Now, amidst the echoing caverns and shimmering ice, only two remained: the valiant Party of the Hero of the Era and the renowned adventurer, Jimmy “Rolling Thunder,” their fates intertwined within the frozen heart of the grotto's depths.

By no means that they are competing. Dungeon diving prevents monster overflow, they were lucky that the monster build-up on the Frost-fire Grotto only intensified during winter time. This was the reason they could have 3 to 5 years of assurance. The 2 years were just a safe barrier if any complications happened.

As one of the remaining parties in the Ice Dungeon. Jimmy led his party, his party was a ten-man party. He had four scouts, two healers, two fronts that included him, one item manager, and their main magician whose job was to nuke enemies.

By all means he respected Alphecca. His individual skill could match his whole party and his release was some kind of god mode for an hour. Jimmy smirked as he thought of his disciple once and now his rival.

Since the first party’s job was to push the levels of the dive, their job was to sweep the floor, they were the clean-up team. There was a five-floor distance between the two of the party.

“Encounter west side!!” the west side scout informed the team and they were instantly ready. It was a parade of Shiver-wing Moths. They are not that powerful, it's that their wings have some kind of freezing powder. Inhaling it would freeze up ones inside.

“You know the drill!!!” he screamed as the leader. Their mage who was the nuker was specialized with earth and fire magic so he would be the VIP in the fight and guarding him was all’s job.

Jimmy clenched his fist. Sparks began covering his limbs, he was wearing rings and it was the weapon he used to conjure the thunder fists. This was why he was called the rolling thunder. Ground or air battles, it didn’t matter for him. The natural properties of thunder allowed him to punch first even before its sound came.

He launched himself into the chaos of fluttering wings, his movements swift and purposeful amidst the swirling mass of moths. With each strike, he met their frenzied flight with calculated precision, his blows landing with a force that left no room for doubt. The air filled with the sickening crunch of chitin as his strikes found their mark, rendering the insects motionless in his wake. Already, eight fell vanquished in a flash, their delicate forms crushed beneath his relentless assault.

As the tension in the air mounted, a distant rumble reverberated through the cavern, signaling the impending storm. But here, amidst the fray, there was no sky to unleash its fury—it was him. His movements became a symphony of violence, a tempest incarnate, each strike echoing with the force of thunder as he waged war against the encroaching horde. In the flickering light, his silhouette danced amidst the chaos, a harbinger of destruction amidst the fluttering shadows.

As the cacophony of his blows resounded through the cavern, the title of the Rolling Thunder followed in their wake, a testament to the sheer force and ferocity of his assault. Each strike echoed long after it landed, reverberating through the depths like the aftershocks of a mighty earthquake. In the midst of battle, his name carried weight, a symbol of power and prowess that struck fear into the hearts of his adversaries.

“It's ready!!!” one of the scouts screamed.

Jimmy returned to his party with a nod. Though he had the stamina to press on, unlike the monstrous Alphecca, his magical reserves were limited. Preserving every ounce of energy in the dungeon was imperative. Efficiency was key, and the acknowledgment that anything could happen was the norm.

Their spell caster removed his hood, he stepped and raised his hands like forming a prayer from the gods, he then returned his hand to his chest and opened it. From his hand a red light emerged, he blew it like how one would blow daffodils scattering the red light into powdered crystals. “Garden of Inferno” the spell caster muttered.

The crimson shards hung suspended in the air, a sinister tableau against the backdrop of darkness. Their numbers seemed endless, a seething mass that blotted out the faintest hint of light. With each passing moment, their ranks swelled, multiplying until they numbered not in the hundreds, but the thousands—a relentless tide of malevolence.

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As a moth brushed against one of the scarlet fragments, it detonated with a deafening roar. The explosion tore through the air, unleashing a wave of searing heat that shredded everything in its path. The hapless creature was engulfed in a fiery inferno, its shrieks of agony drowned out by the merciless onslaught. In an instant, its existence was reduced to naught but smoldering ashes, a grim testament to the horrors that lurked within the shadows.

The party of ten watched the magic unfold. It made sense why the spell was named as ‘Garden of Inferno’ the mage who cast it cracked a laughter, maniacal at some point.

“Jimmy!!! White Paper! Alphecca’s party is asking for help!!” the one in charge of the items said.

“Well, well, well… isn’t that great!!” Jimmy smiled at the news, it would be a good chance to make Alphecca the hero of the era owe him some.

<--->

It was really strange. The enemies won’t stop appearing. Elway who was on the lead carefully navigated but monsters kept on finding them rather the monsters were spawning on where the party was. They had the choice of fighting against them but they won’t last.

Even at the supposedly safe spot three levels above where they left Alphecca, monsters continued to spawn despite the expectation that they wouldn't. That’s why he asked for help and help was coming, they just have to keep moving.

It's already been hours ever since they left Alphecca. ‘That man must be having fun right now’ Elway thought but his thinking process was interrupted when he heard Lenaya moaning in pain.

He remembered that during the illusion, she used a large scale of magic. It seemed that the curse was cast when she used her magic. He was not an expert in this field but he was sure of it. The curse was infectious too, the Black Hood’s face showed it all, he was in pain, the hand and the arm that held Lenaya’s hand must be hurting like hell.

The case of Alphecca purposely inflicting his arms with the curse confirmed that. He rummaged through his magic bag again and this time he immediately found a light crystal, crushing it he sprinkled it on Lenaya and the Black Hood. He recreated what Alphecca did earlier. The thread was still there, extending endlessly probably to the direction where they came from.

Alphecca might probably be right about the curse.

While wallowing at his thoughts he kept a sharp eye as they travelled…

“We are losing them!!!” Tristana who was in the rear reported, it's true, the ones that were chasing them were jumping. They were like kangaroos and they were officially named as Ice Boxers.

The Ice Boxers are literally sluggers and good jumpers. It was annoying to deal with them since they preferred one-on-one fights but boy did they have pride and wouldn’t jump on a single enemy.

“Alphecca loved fighting against them for fun, bare-handed, waste of time” Elway spoke. There was a tight turn ahead, as the scout and the leader he would be the first to take a turn so he dashed and remained springy on his feet.

Finally, he saw some silhouettes as he made a sharp turn. the ice dungeon was moderately lit so it was probably morning. The crystal parts of the ice would spread the light properly so after a few more walks the silhouettes waved at them.

“Where is the bastard!!” it was Jimmy screaming at them.

“Jimmy… Alphecca would hate this,” Tristana muttered but the party was silent.

Redgar was focused solely on Lenaya and the Black Hood trying to control the curse, Elway was waving trying to keep faces so no one was able to retort to Tristana’s comment.

“We will continue the escape!!!” Elway said as he was the temporary leader. He knew how the party of Jimmy worked so he already had the premise on how to act when they met up.

Jimmy’s party began moving out just before their teams were at contact. In a few minutes of running they already running in a formation.

“I don’t see him,” Jimmy ran closely to Elway, they had been exchanging messages using the white paper, it was the first time they would actually talk face to face.

“He is hunting down the fox that cursed Lenaya… he will be fine!” Elway answered.

The whole party could feel the monsters that were spawning on their way. Elway immediately went in the front to take the lead. “We go to a line formation!! Tight bridge ahead!!” he screamed.

They had already arranged everything so Jimmy and his party followed.

After going into a line formation they found the bridge that would lead them to the next upper floors, it was located on a large abyss, strangely it was still possible to see the other side.

“Aargh!!!” suddenly Lenaya screamed as the pain in her body intensified. It captured everyone's attention.

“Lenaya!! Please… endure it! We are almost there!!” Redgar immediately responded. The Black Hood that was carrying her was silent, he was enduring the curse on his own.

The party heard the scream but they didn’t stop the bridge was just ahead.

They were currently on the 74th floor of the Frost-fire Grotto. There were many paths going up and Elway specifically picked this path because dungeon monsters didn’t spawn on the ground.

The ice bridge would do the trick.

As the leader of the party, he was the first to cross but he began slowing down.

“Stop!!” Elway screamed then he pointed. “Can everybody see that?!!”

What he was pointing at was some carved pathway in the upper walls of the dungeon. It was like a long path and it began to move like it realized that the party had detected it.

“It's a Mist Dragon…” Lenaya muttered. She was also the only one who had detected it two days ago on the deepest floor. This was also the monster that made them retreat.

They were lucky that after the battle Lenaya shared how she detected it and that Elway quickly adapted it to his scouting prowess.

Elway shuddered thinking of what would have happened if it attacked while they crossed the bridge. He then checked behind them, monsters were beginning to come out of the dungeon walls. In just a few moments they were cornered.

“That creature is strange… I don’t feel magic coming from it…” Jimmy said. His rings flickered and he was instantly in his battle mode. “-How’d did Alphecca beat it?” he asked Elway who was just a few steps ahead of him.

“We had to materialize it… Tristana produced a lot of magic power to freeze it,” Elway answered.

And the fact that she had to heal the Black Hood, It explained how drained Tristana was.