The hallway was lined with twelve doors, six on each side. The wall behind the doors was white and had a yellow strip along the bottom, stained by the blood of countless creatures, and was lit with flickering torches.

Coach Liv inspected the first door, checking it over for traps, despite me telling him I already had. When he finally agreed with my assessment, he took a couple steps away, and said, “Robin, open it up.”

The beargirl moved on the door. She didn’t knock or carefully turn the knob. Of all the things she could have chosen to do, she kicked in the door.

The door flew inward and was ripped off its hinges, and I got a brief glimpse of a dark space before a huge, furry, half-burnt body rose from the centre of the room, an orange glowing fire erupting from beneath its fur. The thing looked like a bearman if it had the grizzly trait and was twice the size of any bearman I had ever seen. It looked like it had survived a terrible fire, its fur was burnt black and patchy with scorched skin visible beneath, and it had enormous claws and a red tongue as long as my forearm. It was growling, hissing, and looking for someone to kill.

“Close it!” I yelled.

The bear-thing looked our way. It growled and then it ran straight for us.

“I’m on it!” Robin shouted as she desperately tried to close the door. But it was too late, and the burning creature burst out of the room, slamming into her and carrying her through into the hallway. The door behind them exploded inward as they crashed through, and the beast raised a razor-sharp claw, ready to strike Robin down. But before it could lash out, her brother Rober cried out “Shield Bash!” and released a magical blast of energy from his shield that hit the monster square in its chest. With a bellow of pain, the monster was thrown backward over Robin and into the darkened room beyond. Gripping her injured chest, where three-centimetre-wide holes had been pierced into her platemail, Robin scrambled to her feet and backed away from the entrance of the room. Peering into the darkness, everyone saw that instead of one creature, six charred figures rose from where they had been crouching, their eyes glowing with a deadly intent.

“Defenders, block the doorway!” Coach Liv yelled as the creatures charged.

Robin’s shield materialised in her hands with a blinding flash of light, and she and her brother braced themselves just in time to deflect the first cinder-beastman's attack. Its claws screeched as it attacked the sibling’s shields, and then an axe and spear flew over Robin’s head, and there was a screech and a blast of heat as both weapons bit into the creature’s flesh. I turned and saw Coach Liv pulling his axe back and my Handler pulling another spear from his dimensional bag. At the same time, Plvoer leapt and bounced off the wall, firing three arrows that whizzed through the air and disappeared into the darkness. Roars of pain followed moments later.

As the first creature fell, the other five hit the shield wall together. The two defenders would have been pushed back by the onslaught if not for Beau, who had thrown himself against their backs to support them.

“Give me a boost,” Han called out, and I dropped down to the ground, interlocking my fingers to form a makeshift ladder. He stepped into my hands, and I shuddered under his weight as he scrambled over me. I wasn’t tall, but I was sturdy enough to support his weight as he thrust out his hands and a gush of water blasted from his palms, dousing the creatures in a fierce rush. The orange heat of their bodies dimmed, and they seemed to shrink.

Al growled, and his eyes seemed to glow as he stabbed past the defenders with his rapier and cast a bolt of lightning through the weapon into the room. Robin gritted her teeth as part of it hit her, but the majority of the blast arced through the cinder-beasts, making them cry out and sending them scrambling back into the room.

"Charge!" Coach yelled, and the defenders fell back as the rest of the team rushed into the room. Teacher threw his spears, Plvoer released a barrage of arrows, Al stabbed with his rapier, and Sam and Han Shen cast spells that tore apart the monsters with a thunderous roar. My knives hissed through the air as I whirled them around, slicing and cutting all who came close. The fight seemed to last for hours, but eventually the creatures were overcome and lay dead on the floor.

Even though we had won, we were exhausted, and Robin and Rober were left with punctures from the monsters’ claws and their shields were singed from the heat of magic. But Yui’s spirit magic mended their wounds before they could get worse.

As we sat recovering, my Handler made a suggestion, “Maybe we should try a gentler approach to opening the doors next time.”

There was silence for a moment, and then my Handler let out a soft chuckle. The rest of the group followed with shakes of their heads and laughter. It was just the thing to break the tension that had gripped us after the intense fight. Robin gave a half smile but at least had the good graces to blush and apologise, “Sorry, Signore Barducci.”

“Quite alright,” my Handler replied with a smile and a wave of his hand. Then, already knowing the answer, he asked, “Does anyone have the Lockpicking skill?”

I grumbled but raised my hand. “I do.”

“Ah, good, then, Mister Belov, if you would, the next door,” my Handler requested.

I nodded and moved to the next door. I checked it over for traps but found none. I touched the doorknob and quickly jerked back. It was freezing cold. “It’s very cold on the other side of this door.”

“Can you open it?” Coach Liv asked.

I nodded, put my hand on the door knob, and gave it a gentle turn. It didn’t budge. I reached into my belt pouch and pulled out my set of lockpicks. The lock was fairly simple, just three tumblers. The only difficulty was in trying to keep my fingers from freezing to the pick and torsion wrench. With a soft click, the lock was open. I backed away from the door and announced, “Unlocked. I would recommend turning the knob this time.”

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Robin blushed again, but it was her brother Rober that stepped up to the door. He turned the knob as softly as he could before pushing the door inward. Several shards of ice shot through the gap in the doorway, and Rober barely had time to lift his shield in defence. As if on cue, Sam unleashed an inferno of flames that filled the room with fiery destruction. The icy creatures had no chance against the blazing fire and when the smoke cleared, only Rober needed a healing spell.

All that, and the room was empty. Naturally, that was when the temperature shifted and a gout of flame burst through the door Robin kicked in minutes earlier. It was just terrible luck that the beargirl had stayed close to the door and took the full blast of the fire. She screamed as she was cooked inside her armour. Beau tackled the stumbling beargirl, slapping at the flames that covered her and rolling her on the ground. Han and Al flooded the tight hallway with water, extinguishing the blaze engulfing Robin and then turning the streams toward the enclosed room and attacking the fire beasts. The creatures roared in pain as their flames were extinguished and Rober gave an equally powerful roar as he charged into the room, his sword falling furiously upon the creatures that had injured his sister. By the time Barducci and I got inside, it was a bloodbath, and Rober was covered in bubbling blood. It only took minutes to dispatch the few remaining monsters and all for another empty room.

It took most of the mana from both Alphonse and Yui to heal the severe burns that covered Robin, and she cried and whimpered while her blackened and cracked flesh was restored. Sam and Plvoer winced at her agony, but the eagleman held his bow tight as he kept watch over the healers as they did their work.

“We’re in a hot phase. Find the hot doors first, Mister Belov,” my Handler ordered.

I didn’t hesitate to obey, wanting to exact revenge on the creatures that had hurt my friend. I moved down the hallway, testing each door knob with my hand. The first two felt neither hot nor cold, but as I reached for the third, my skin felt like it was on fire. "Hot door!" I yelled, pulling my hand back, before I started working on the lock.

Same as the last lock I picked, this was just three tumblers, but I felt like the heat was going to melt my tools. As soon as the lock clicked, Rober was there with an angry expression on his face. He hardly waited to open the door and for Han to shoot magically created streams of water into the room before he charged in with his sword, shield, and a wild rage that was almost palpable. The teachers and I followed suit, weapons ready.

A horde of fire monsters awaited us inside the chamber, but their strength had been sapped by the magical water droplets that now decorated every corner of this seemingly cursed place. Between the seasoned professors, Rober, and myself, the room was cleared quickly, and we walked out with only a few scratches.

I quickly moved on to the next door, another hot knob, another quick lock pick, and another brutal eradication of fire beasts. It was the last door on that side of the hall, so I swapped over to the opposite side. The first door was neutral, but the door after that and three doors on each side were hot, and we cleared them all.

Maybe ten minutes after we finished the last hot door, Robin was back on her feet. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her skin looked like it had gotten a good sunburn. But she was otherwise whole. Alphonse and Yui looked like they’d run up and down Mancer Mountain though. Their faces were pale and their breathing shallow. They were definitely feeling the effects of having used so much mana in both the preceding fights and the major healing.

“You three rest while we clear up the rest of this hallway. Plvoer, stay on watch,” Coach ordered with agreeing nods from Beau and Barducci.

Then the temperature shifted cold again, and I was checking the previously neutral doors. Every one of them had turned cold. Sam and Han switched positions, the process repeated, and we were left with empty rooms after the beasts had been defeated.

As soon as the last beast was defeated, the short wall at the end of the hall slid into the floor, revealing a narrow room, at the far end of which was another door. Just before the door was a pedestal with a reward chest. And about a metre before, that was a stairway down. Everyone was elated but me and my Handler.

Just looking at the layout of the room, I knew we’d found a shortcut. We’d spent a grand total of four hours and seventeen minutes out of six on the first floor.

“Mister Belov, check for traps,” Coach Liv ordered, holding back the team from rushing the chest.

I wrapped myself in shadows and moved into the small room. I carefully tested every tile, checked for anything that looked off, but the floors and walls looked fine. I checked the door over next. It was also trap free and locked, but there was no keyhole for me to pick from this side. I guessed it was on the other side of the door. I also guessed there was probably a boss of some sort there as well. Last, I checked the reward chest, tapping it with my knife to make sure it wasn’t a trap either. Once I was satisfied, I let the others know it was safe to enter.

Coach Liv moved to check the chest first. The lid lifted, and Coach extracted four skill stones, which Al identified before I could. “Two Heat Shield skill stones—I think it’s fire attunement—and two Cold Shield, which I think is also fire attunement. Strange.”

Robin, Rober, and Sam were the only members of the team with Fire Attunement so one of each stone went to each of the defenders. It made sense that they were taking the brunt of the damage and should therefore get the skills designed to defend against the elements of the lair. It only took a moment for the four stones to crumble to dust.

When it was done, Sam asked, “How are they both Fire Attunement?”

Having just used one of the stones, Robin answered, “The Heat Shield works by absorbing heat.”

Rober then added, “The Cold Shield works by emitting heat.”

“Strange,” Sam commented, a sentiment I agreed with.

Coach Liv cleared his throat, “Alright, that’s enough chit chat. We’ve got an unknown number of levels below us, and the timer is still running. So, let’s get moving.”

No one argued, and we made our way down the stairs. We were greeted by a room similar to the room we started in. Four walls and a pair of double doors. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the timer freeze at 01:33:12 just like when we entered the lair. Then the time changed, increasing until it stopped at 06:33:12. It seemed the lair added the leftover time from this floor to complete the next.

Coach Liv was quick to give orders, “Seems we have a little time. Everyone get something to eat. We’ll move in an hour.”

I distributed savoury buns to everyone, giving Al and Yui two as they spent the most mana healing the injured.

I also ate one but had barely spent any of my mana. My Mana Control made a huge impact on how much mana I used for any of my skills.

After devouring our mana-rich buns, all of us sat and meditated. And while we did that, I tried circulating my mana, curious if this small safe area was still considered dangerous because it was inside a lair. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel dangerous to me. I guessed that meant it wasn’t working. I still continued circulating my mana through my body. Even if I wasn’t cultivating according to the manual, I was still practising my Mana Circulation skill.

The hour was gone too soon, and it was time to move forward.