Soon an unlikely trio could be observed in a tunnel system deep below planet Hex.

A young butterfly monster seamlessly glided through the air, swaying here and there as she led her new friends.

Behind her Lilly did her utmost best to be as silent as possible. She had carefully ripped out some icevines, using them to connect her and the butterfly together. This was necessary since she had turned off her SMT.

An immense burden rested on her shoulders literally and figuratively. She carried the unconscious rebel girl along while doing her best not to make any noise.

Taking shallow, long breaths she placed every step carefully. She had tightly wrapped the rebels coat around her body. After a short contemplation she also hadn’t removed the rebel’s mask. Lilly wasn’t curious about the rebel’s identity. From the latter’s small frame Lilly could already tell that the rebel was a young girl.

If it was a grown-up, Lilly might have convinced herself to leave the rebel behind. Maybe even for her own safety. But how could she let a child stay in the dark and cold?

Fortunately, her training in basic swordsmanship had improved her strength and endurance. With her stats now Lilly believed she could carry on for a while. Only the cold worried her. The young woman even thought about stopping the suppression of her cold resistance and allowing it to level up.

If she did so, she would even reach the expert rank, gaining an all-around improvement. Unfortunately, this improvement would then be influenced by the cold resistance skill, not helping her in her wish to wield magic. Thus, this would only be a desperate measure of last resort.

Despite the constant coldness another potential danger also worried the young healer. From time-to-time beast roars echoed throughout the large tunnels. Mihva seemed to be fearless, but Lilly knew that they had to avoid beast attacks at all costs. Encountering a single expert beast would already be life threatening.

Thus, the young woman used everything she learned over the last month to diminish her presence. She not only tried to be quiet and avoid any usage of mana, she even taught Mihva how to hide her aura. For beasts this should normally something they easily learn to ensure their survival.

Although Mihva didn’t get someone to teach her this before, she easily understood it after Lilly’s explanation. Following her instincts, she sone managed to hide her presence.

This made it easier for Lilly. Whenever beast roars sounded from a tunnel, she would quickly direct everyone to search for an alternative.

Of course, she first had to make sure that Mihva was able to find the way regardless. The young woman was quickly convinced however, as Mihva showed her marks on the tunnel walls. The butterfly race had placed them everywhere, providing orientation to their members.

This taught Lilly two things. One: Mihva probably wasn’t the first member of her race to get lost here. And two: This butterfly race was definitely among the most intelligent and strongest in those tunnels. Well, since the had a rank seven beast in their midst this didn’t surprise Lilly much.

Under those conditions Lilly had some confidence of surviving this situation. As long as they steadily advanced, they might leave the tunnels without danger.

Unfortunately, when had the Frozen Hell ever been benevolent?

After a few hours the trio once again had to change tunnels, circumventing the roars reaching them from upfront. As they followed another rocky path, the narrow space before them suddenly stretched out.

Doing her best to suppress a sharp breath, Lilly observed the unbelievable scene before her. The floor all around them was covered in dangerous ice.

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Despite the Frozen Hell’s name, it was actually rare to see ice or snow in this place. Since all water had been frozen for a long time, it never rained. Even the city could only win their water by converting other energy sources.

Therefore, the scenery laying before the trio now came as a big surprise. A whole underwater lake was turned into a single ice block.

Lilly would have loved to avoid this place, but unfortunately this seemed to be their safest option.

Mihva’s eyes were full of curiosity. She softly landed on the lakeshore, before carefully stepping forward. Supported by her pointy legs, she had a hard time balancing her body. Therefore, her wings were constantly moving, stabilizing her steps.

Mihva was confused as she observed Lilly. The beast noticed how her new friend carefully glided over the icy surface. However, since her race always used their wings to stabilize themselves, Mihva didn’t understand how slippery the ice was to Lilly.

Under different circumstances the curious beast would have asked questions and knocked her legs on the icy surface. However, over the last few hours she understood how important it was to stay quiet.

She met way less beasts ever since she followed Lilly’s advice. Before, when she snuck out, the young butterfly didn’t understand why all those beats attacked her.

Since the ice didn’t make any difference to Mihva, the young beast quickly lost interest. She flapped her wings again and glided above Lilly’s head.

Meanwhile the young Rottal cursed her misfortune in her mind. Why would there be an ice lake in her way? Only her impressive agility allowed her to keep her balance as she mastered this natural challenge.

Trying to keep the rebel girl as steady as possible and ignoring the icevine which would pull on her hips from time to time, Lilly carefully advanced.

One step after another.

Soon Lilly was surrounded by ice on all sides. The feeling of standing on ice in the darkness let her heartrate accelerate quickly. Despairing thoughts would have surely set in if Lilly was alone right now.

Forcefully calming herself down, Lilly continued. The coldness mercilessly kept assaulting her. It took all her concentration to suppress her trembling legs.

Suddenly a strange feeling nestled in Lilly’s stomach. In the never changing darkness even a human could perceive every tremor.

And Lilly definitely felt some right now. It came from… below her!

Her eyes shot wide open as her senses now screamed danger at her. Without thinking the young woman jumped towards the right.

A loud cracking echoed in the endless darkness. Lilly felt ice splitter shooting towards her.

From above Mihva’s panicked voice shouted:

“Careful!”

Tying her best to turn around, Lilly still felt teers on her face and hand. The ice drew blood.

A loud thump followed. The assailant missed and instantly borrowed into the frozen lake again. Lilly was at a loss. She didn’t know what she was dealing with.

For all she knew, a herd of beast could jump her any second. Her thoughts raced.

Knowing that she needed more freedom of movement, she hastily ordered her companion:

“Mihva. Quickly take the girl.”

“Yes, yes.”

Just as the butterfly beast took the rebel from Lilly, both women felt danger again.

Fortunately, Mihva reacted quickly. She pushed Lilly away and flew up in one smooth movement.

The attacker shot out of the ice again. It tried to go for Mihva this time, but the butterfly beast was out of its range. An angry growl sounded as the beast disappeared again.

Lilly awkwardly landed on her arm. Pain shot through her shoulder, but she completely ignored it.

She quickly shot to her feet again. The ice proved a hinderance, but Lilly’s agility negated it.

The young woman held her breath. She hesitated slightly, but soon did the only right thing. She drew her sword and cut apart the icevine binding her to Mihva.

Next Lilly turned around. She decided to face the direction she was going in before and started sprinting as fast as possible.

Disregarding any sound, Lilly asked Mihva:

“Mihva, did you get a look at the beast?”

“Look, look. I did get a look, but I don’t know the beast. It is long, thin and borrows through ice.”

This didn’t help Lilly much, but she didn’t have high hopes anyways.

After a few seconds, Lilly felt a suffocating sense of danger again. Her perception told her that there was no way out. Beasts were probably advancing from multiple sides. Not resigned to death, the young woman prepared do fight for her life.

Just before the beasts left the ice though, a hand grabbed Lilly’s clothes.

Mihva pulled her in the air.

Multiple loud shattering noises sounded below them. A few impacts mixed in. It seems the beasts even bumped into each other.

Lilly was slightly embarrassed. In this dangerous situation she didn’t think about asking Mihva for help. It was hard to say if this was subconsciously influenced by her skeptical personality or if her brain didn’t think straight due to stress. It might also be exhaustion kicking in.

Nevertheless, she was glad that the butterfly beast was able to rescue her once more. A quiet ‘thank you’ left her mouth.