If the Northern Ice Fields were cold, the Forgotten Frost Dungeon was freezing.

  The temperature dropped so suddenly and so fast that my nose started burning from the chill.

  The first floor looked much like the outside, with patches of forest in the distance and rocky slopes. A stark straight-cut mountain rose up behind the platform and wrapped around to either side in a gentle arc. The ground was so cold that the earth was frozen with black ice.

  As if to juxtapose the sheer inhospitality of the environs, there was a blue sunny sky overhead.

  I was so wrapped up in looking around that I nearly jumped when Jeffry initiated the party request.

  [Jeffry has invited you to his party. Do you wish to join [Yes/No]

  I selected [Yes].

  As I glanced through the party interface, I noted that everyone present was in the party. By default, parties were locked to groups of four. But high level [Dungeoneering] perks could allow for larger groups.

  Party’s were a part of dungeon delving, and they came with chat logs. Simply thinking out the sentence wrote it down, and then I had to will it to send. I sent a quick message to Jeffry to ensure everything was working. “[6 party members, huh? Is it a Perk?]”

  “Yes.” Jeffry said aloud after reading my message. “I also have the ability to control how much experience points everyone gets, and a stat monitor that lets me see everyone’s health and mana totals. So don’t think I won’t notice if you do something dumb Tully.”

  “It was one time.” Tully protested.

  “You charged a drake with only 20 Hit Points left. While screaming Tulllly Greeeey.”

  “I survived.”

  “Is that the time Visha threw a Health Potion on your head?” Sir Pram asked.

  “I was picking glass out of my beard for a week.” Tully grumbled.

  “Health Potions cost less than a Revive.” Jeffry said, matter of fact.

  Beside me, Julian said, “John.”

  The rogue nodded, “I see them. Three wargle wolverines on the treeline heading towards us, and one para para snake hiding in that rocky outcrop.”

  “Visha, you and Pram handle the wolves. Jeffry, stay here with Gerda. Tully and I will take on the snake.” Julian directed, and everyone jumped into action.

  Except me, who stood beside Jeffry.

  “Do you normally split the party?” I asked, this time aloud. Our vantage point gave me a good view of Julian tanking a snake twice as long as he was. It spat paralysis venom, hence the imaginative name.

  “Yes?” Jeffry said, surprised at the question.

  “I thought it was bad luck.” I shrugged.

  “First I’ve heard, is that a troll thing?” He wasn’t really interested, I could tell. His eyes were tracking the fight and flitting to his notification logs.

  Combat was neatly wrapped up within five minutes.

  “Are we going to fight all of the monsters on each floor?” I asked Julian when he returned from his one-sided bout.

  “Only the ones that we come across,” He said, signalling to Visha at a distance to stay where they were. We started walking towards the forest. “It helps finance the trip.”

  Noted.

  …

  [I don’t wanna fight those.] Sir Tully posted over the chat logs.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  He was peeking over the edge of a cliff on the dungeon’s third floor. He’d wanted a better look and crawled over himself. In plate.

  Below, there was a valley full of pine tree treants.

  Or it was a valley full of pine trees, and some of them were treants.

  But judging from the wiggling branches and shifting foliage…there were still a lot of treants.

  [We could burn it all down?] Pram asked hopefully.

  The group, as I discovered, rarely used the chat. Talking made it easier to find monsters, since they came towards the sound.

  That didn’t apply here though. Everyone was being extremely careful.

  John shook his head as Jeffry pointed out, [It would take hours to set up the flare traps, and they might just turn around and smother the flames with ice magic. Treants are one of the more intelligent monster classes, even if they still suffer from Dungeon Madness.]

  [We could skip this level?] I offered. I didn’t see the platform to the next level anywhere below, so we could probably just skirt the valley completely. I hadn’t had a chance to do it yet, but now seemed like a good time to offer.

  Julian hesitated.

  [That’s an uncanny number of treants.] Jeffry sent, [At this rate they might cause a stampede… either way, we should clear some of them out.]

  [What if we set up traps to divide them long enough to pick them off?] Visha added. [We can have John’s shadows light four or five fires around the edges of the forest, but focus our ambush on one.]

  [It’s still risky,] Julian considered. [Let’s try this instead…]

  …

  An explosion rang out on the far edge of the forest from where I was sitting. Since I wasn’t needed in this battle, I was left with a [Shield] protecting me and John nearby. We were useful together because I could watch for danger with my high Perception while he concentrated on his shadows, and he could shadow walk us away if I sounded the alarm.

  This time, however, I had another task.

  “That’s the signal.” John told me, and I concentrated as hard as I could on the forest below.

  Perception 45 was no joke, I could make out every movement below, every ruffling branch, every swaying tree. Though it was difficult to divide my attention over the entire forest.

  “12…20…33…37. I spotted 37 treants. But I can’t be sure that’s all of them.” I said.

  [37 so far.] I added in the chat log. [I’m counting 154 trees and 37 treants.]

  Julian wrote back, [Alright everyone, prepare to back up Tully and Pram.]

  After the explosion went off, the treants rushed towards the sound, their branches snapping back and forth like whips. It would take them a while to reach the hidden party, which gave me plenty of time to observe them.

  [The treants are averaging four feet per second] I noted for everyone. [With a ten foot reach if you include its vines.]

  When the treants arrived at the location of the explosion they found nothing but some blackened rocks. With nothing to attack, they searched the area for ten minutes then settled down.

  [Two treants fifteen feet from Visha] I sent. [The next closest is thirty feet back.]

  [Perfect,] Jeffry came in [Visha, you’ll have seven seconds to deal damage before John ports you out and Tully arrives. Ready?]

  [Ready.]

  While Tully travelled towards her, Visha waited for the treants to come directly below her location and then jumped from the top of the ledge. As she fell, she sent two aerial attacks at one treant.

  She wasn’t level 60 yet, and so couldn’t manipulate her aura, but she made up for it with perks and sheer brute force.

  Both attacks landed right before she alighted on a tree branch nearby, strategically placed so the treant she’d attacked was between her and the second treant.

  For seven seconds, she used a swirling blade attack that trimmed the vines of the monster. Her goal wasn’t to actually defeat the treant, but to control its reach by reducing its longer branches.

  At exactly seven and a half seconds, Tully jumped off the same ledge.

  He did not arrive delicately, plowing his hammer straight into the same treant Visha had been fighting. It’s slightly reduced health plummeted further, and it stumbled back into the other treant, tangling it up and preventing it from getting closer.

  “Ready.” Visha said aloud. The time it took to write and read the messages didn’t make up for a simple spoken word.

  The elf was swallowed in a shadow and vanished.

  “Alright, come at me!” Tully yelled, in part to enrage the treants further but also to get the attention of three other nearby treants.

  [Two more on your left. Incoming twenty seconds.] Jeffry sent, though I wondered if the paladin saw the message. He was taunting the two treants in front of him even as he defeated the weakened of the two.

  Suddenly, a blast of icy leaves smashed against the [Shield] Julian had on Tully, almost breaking the defensive barrier. The first of the treant’s reinforcements had arrived.

  “Again!” Tully yelled, swinging his warhammer. The excitement of battle riled him up, it would seem, because he was grinning like a fool and laughing wildly.

  [Should John pull him out? The next wave is almost there.] Jeffry asked.

  [No.] Julian sent, [Let him have his fun. I’ll just reinforce the barrier]

  …

  Later, we had to [Revive] Sir Tully, but not before he took down nine treants by himself.

  Patreon is almost complete. This week will see the final chapter drop and next monday will be the epilogue.

  Love you all.