Mina sat, watching the small hole she had left open in the floor, and waiting. She kept her wand clenched tightly in both hands, fingers slightly tensed in her lap.

The minutes passed slowly, but she wasn’t keeping track of time. This was the method she had decided on, and she wasn’t going to second guess it when she had already encased the whole room in ice.

The only attention she paid to the environment besides looking at the hole was occasionally bolstering the ice with a small infusion of Mana if she noticed any dripping.

Otherwise, her gaze remained steady, and she allowed her mind to wander freely. Mina’s patience and focus had been legendary at her office and in school. The problem would unfold itself for her, no matter how stubborn it seemed at first. She had eliminated any possibility that the creature could sneak up on her, which seemed to be the natural modus operandi for a monster as small as this one.

She could wait forever for it to come through that hole if that was what it took.

The predator would have no way of knowing that the hole was there as a trap, unless it was an unusually smart monster. Even then, that was the only way in.

There was a loud thud, and Mina’s head whipped up to look in the direction of the noise.

The sound had come from the portal she had iced over. Another thud struck it, and though Mina could not see clearly through the thick ice, she saw a dark-colored object had hit and then pulled back.

It felt like a victory that the creature was finally attacking her on her terms, in the setting she had selected for their battle.

But something was wrong.

Why is it trying to come through the strongest ice barrier I erected? Why not just crawl through the hole in the floor?

There was another sound of blunt force, and Mina heard something else—a noise of cracking.

How is it strong enough to damage the ice?

The noise of each blow also seemed too loud for the body size of the creature she had seen before.

It must have grown larger rapidly. Carol hadn’t said anything about that.

Mina started pouring lightning Mana into the Alder Wood Wand—reverse-engineering how to use Basic Elemental Magic: Lightning after James showed her his Lightning Strike Skill had been child’s play for her, and she knew that lightning was hotter than the surface of the sun—and this thing seemed like it needed more than a little fireball to take care of it.

A giant, black, glossy, phallic-shaped head burst through the thin wall of ice Mina had erected to cover the door into the room. The head alone was half Mina’s height in length. It looked like an improbable body part to belong to any organism that wasn’t at least twice her size.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed. She had only barely gotten a look at the creature before, and she could only see the top part of it now, but it had to be a completely different size, color, and build than before. The change in color and shape was one thing, but the sheer increase in size was totally impossible, a mockery of physics and biology.

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

The creature jabbed two claw-like limbs through the ice, widening the hole, and Mina poured more Mana into her wand.

The monster let loose a roar, and she noticed her hand was beginning to shake.

Focus, she told herself. This thing is just barking because it knows it can’t bite yet.

Another sharp limb stabbed through the ice—it looked almost like a spear, but Mina was barely paying attention to the anatomy of the creature now. She was taking aim, pointing her wand, adding more Mana, and visualizing the outcome she intended.

The creature seemed to realize the urgency of the situation, and it smashed more ice out of the way, then began pulling itself through the hole.

Mina launched her attack.

A lightning bolt roughly the width of Mina’s hand shot forward and struck the black exoskeletal head at dead center.

[You killed Perfect Predator Lv. 20! You gained 900 exp!]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Witch of Thessaly leveled up!]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Witch of Thessaly leveled up!]

Mina inhaled deeply as she felt the surge of power through her body with the two levels hitting at once. Getting two in a row was surprisingly exhilarating.

She realized her heart was pounding, though whether it was from the levels or the leftover fear of being attacked by this monstrous creature, she didn’t know.

It was dead now, and she couldn’t help but smile.

As she moved her mouth into the position, she felt a bit of pain from her mouth. She touched her thumb to her lower lip and pulled it away slightly bloody.

She ran her finger across her lip and realized she had bitten a small hole in it during the moments of tension when the monster was breaking through the ice.

It was still one of the most thrilling experiences she’d ever had.

No wonder James loves this so much, she thought. The way he felt about fighting was obvious from the way he had told his stories about Orientation—though she had only really seen him fight in person once, against the Wraiths, and that time, he had been moved more by urgency than the desire to enjoy a fight.

“Mina, are you okay?” Carol’s voice echoed through the walls. “I didn’t want to speak up and distract you while the Dungeon was active, but I was a little worried there for a minute.”

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“I’m fine,” Mina said, gritting her teeth slightly. She was a little annoyed that Carol’s prologue to the Dungeon level had been less than helpful, but she didn’t want to show it. The Dungeon Core was just doing her best, and she was clearly serving the Fisher Kingdom well by providing an excellent training ground for fighters. “I do wish I had known the creatures had acid for blood, though.”

As she spoke, the monster was on the other side of the room, bleeding through the floor there.

“I’m sorry,” Carol said. “Shit, um, I’ll fix the hole in the floor if you decide to go on. I thought I mentioned about the acid, but I did talk a lot… I’d be the first to admit I’m not always the most focused, and I don’t talk much to most of the people in here. I was trying to give you and James better treatment, because you’re like my patrons. I guess I got a little over-excited. Maybe I skipped it when I was explaining the whole storyline I was copying.”

“Don’t feel too bad about it, Carol,” Mina said. “I just didn’t like being so surprised. Maybe we could go over the next floor in more specific detail.”

She approached the dead monster as she spoke, not getting too close—it was still slowly leaking acid, after all. She pointed her palm at the body.

Loot.

She figured something named “Perfect Predator” would drop a good item or two. And unlike the “Perfect Parasite,” which she had blown to smithereens, this monster was in pretty good condition aside from a smoking hole the size of her hand right through its skull.

The monster corpse glowed, and it seemed as if the skin and tail—that was the spear-like body part she had noticed before—came loose, while the rest began to fade like an illusion.

[Perfect Predator’s body processed.]

[You obtained Predator Skinsuit and Black Bone Whip!]

The skin and tail floated over to Mina, and she realized the System had reshaped the skin into a clothing item. An armor piece. The tail’s function as a weapon was self-evident.

“That’s pretty cool,” Mina said to herself.

“I agree!” exclaimed Carol. “I hadn’t seen anyone try Looting one of those things before. The new bat leader is the only one who’s been into this part of the Dungeon, and she didn’t do any Looting. She just killed them with her ranged attacks.”

Mina nodded. That probably explains why the bat leader is still alive.

“You created something pretty dangerous here, you know?” Mina said. “Can these things leave the Dungeon at all?”

“Oh, no!” Carol replied instantly. “That’s not possible. They’re locked into the Dungeon permanently. They would die instantly; I’m not that kind of Dungeon. I know I messed up your experience on this level, but I don’t actually want to make trouble for you guys. I’m very happy with my life here. It feels like that’s the kind of thing that would get me exterminated pretty quickly.” She let out an awkward laugh. “Especially since I do not control the monsters once I create them. I only shape their basic instincts and bodies.”

“Right,” Mina said slowly. “If you don’t mind my asking, how is James doing?”

“James? Oh, let me check on him—oh my gosh!”

“What, is James all right?” Mina exclaimed. She would exterminate the Dungeon Core herself if Carol had accidentally led James to his death, and she would feel justified in doing so.

“Oh, yeah, James is fine,” Carol replied. She sounded slightly queasy. “He is eating, um, just eating, yep, having a nice snack, taking a break.” The Dungeon Core’s voice had an unnatural note in it. Mina wondered what horrors Carol had seen when she checked on James.

Considering that it was James, I’m betting the monsters from expert mode are lying in pieces everywhere. That didn’t seem like quite enough to explain the reaction from Carol, but Mina had no way of guessing anything more specific than that.

“Actually, James asked about you, too,” Carol said. “I told him you’re all right. Are you going on to the next level? I think he’s waiting to see what you do before he decides if he continues.”

That would be just like James. He hates keeping me waiting.

“Um, you’ll give me information on the next level, right? More actionable information? No offense intended about your previous level of explanation.”

Although it could have gotten me killed.

“Yep, yep!” Carol said quickly. “I’ll give you a full floorplan and numbers of enemies if you like!”

“All right. Then, yes, I’m going on,” Mina said. “Tell him that—and that I love him.” Her last few words came out in an energetic rush. Maybe it was just the feeling of excitement at still being alive, but she suddenly missed James, even though they had been apart for probably less than half an hour. A part of her wished that they had entered the same Dungeon mode together now. She suspected that this level would have bored him, though.

I have to catch up, she thought. So I can stand beside him when he faces things scarier than whatever is in expert mode of this Dungeon!

“I told him,” Carol said. “He’s going to go on, since you’re going on. Now I’ll tell you what comes next…”

The Dungeon Core gave Mina what seemed like a much more useful explanation of the next level. With the context of her experience on the first level, Mina thought she had a complete grasp of the threat presented.

“Thanks, Carol,” Mina said.

If you left anything that could kill me out this time, I might just kill you. This place is supposed to be training, not fatal. If I actually die here, James will definitely kill you. And he’d make it slow. Mina thought these things, but she was too much of a lady to say them out loud.

“There’s one more thing I should mention,” Carol said.

“Please go ahead,” Mina replied, smiling brightly.

“Your ‘Predator Skinsuit’ is armor, as I’m sure you guessed. It should provide you complete protection against the acid if and when you splatter the rest of the creatures.”

“Oh, okay.” Mina’s smile turned much more genuine. There would be more of a margin of safety now.

She put the Black Bone Whip into her bag and tried to put the Skinsuit on over her robes. Unfortunately, she found that she could not wear it on top of her clothing.

“Is it the wrong size?” Mina muttered. “I know I haven’t lost all the baby weight yet…”

“I think equipment generated by the Loot Skill adapts to the person,” Carol said. “Maybe it might need to be closer to the skin?”

Mina reddened slightly at the suggestion. “I’m a little shy. Could you go back to watching James and not me for a minute?”

“Oh, of course.” Carol sounded a little embarrassed herself.

Mina stripped out of her robe and quickly pulled the skinsuit on, grateful that she did not have to remove her underwear. The inhuman skin substance felt cool and clammy against her skin, though it seemed to gradually take on the temperature of her body.

It’s a lot like wearing a scuba suit, she told herself. She and James had gone scuba diving once, and it was a pleasant memory. Unlike the scuba suit, this one covered every single inch of skin in its black leathery skin-like substance.

There was a head component that closed up behind her hair. She could see through it easily from the inside even though it had been opaque from the outside.

There were external rib bone-like structures encasing her chest and abdomen in their protective structure. There was slight padding over every surface of her body.

And there were claws on the hands and feet, though the gloves felt like they would not meaningfully limit her ability to maneuver her fingers.

She took a few experimental steps back and forth, and she found that she was slightly quicker, if anything, than she had been without the Predator Skinsuit—impossible though that seemed.

“You know, that’s not bad,” Mina said, smiling again. “I feel much safer, and it didn’t slow me down.”