The Ice Cavern
As soon as Raven and Fuwa crossed the portal, they didn't receive weird notifications like when they entered the portal back in Raven's home world. Fuwa took the lead, placing herself in the front while Raven reached for her dagger. It looked like it was a tunnel... but as soon as they started advancing, the temperature quickly began to drop, soon they could see mist coming out of their mouths every time they breathed... the floor was covered with ice, snow, and dark rocks.
"It's cold!" Said Raven complaining.
"Well you are wearing too little clothes for this " Said Fuwa "Should we go back?"
"No, let's push on" Said Raven.
As they continued further into the icy tunnel, Raven wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as the cold seeped into her bones. Her usual outfit... a bikini top and shorts... was not exactly ideal for these conditions. She grumbled quietly, her breath visible in the freezing air.
"I swear, if this dungeon has ice monsters, I'm going to lose it" Raven muttered, her ears flicking in irritation.
Fuwa, on the other hand, seemed unbothered by the cold, her padded armor offering her at least some protection from the freezing temperature. She glanced over her shoulder at Raven, a hint of concern on her face "You sure you're good?"
Many kinds of monsters would live in a place like this, but in Raven's mind, she was hoping to see some kind of wooly monsters instead of pure ice elemental beings, but the chances were slim. Soon they left the tunnel into a strange scenery, but it was beautiful. The tunnel opened up into a larger cavern. The ceiling was high and arched, with massive icicles hanging from above. The floor was uneven with patches of snow, and frost-covered rocks jutted out at odd angles. Something that looked like a frozen stream of water, still in time for eternity, and even some frozen herbs now looked like ice statues. And there, just ahead, were several large creatures that looked like a cross between bears and wolves, their fur thick with frost. They sniffed the air, clearly sensing the two girls' presence.
'Yes!' Thought Raven.
The creatures were looking at both of the girls and growling as they felt a threat to their territory, there was no name announced for them. Raven didn't feel that pungent feeling of dread that she had perceived from strong beings, but that thought was terrifying for her too, after all missing the fear of death isn't good.
The beasts let out low, guttural growls, their icy breath visible as they stepped forward cautiously. Their fur, coated in frost, crackled as they moved, making them look even more menacing in the frozen cavern. There were four of them, their eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. The creatures were strange and bulky, they looked like the kind of critters that could take a lot of damage before going down.
Fuwa, unfazed, cracked her knuckles as she prepared herself for the fight, her eyes narrowing in focus "Leave it to me. I'll handle these guys"
Raven smirked, stepping back to let Fuwa take the lead "You're on. Just don't hurt them too much... I might need a coat later"
The animals from the cave didn't want to give them time to talk about strategy, they followed their killing instincts and charged forward. And the... the one at the front blinked, blinked like a mage would going past Fuwa.
"Shit!" Said Raven jumping just in time to avoid the furious charge.
"Are you okay!?" Asked Fuwa.
"Yeah! Pay attention they are tricky!" Said Raven.
Initially, she was underestimating them, comparting them to level 1 monsters. But then it sank down to Raven, they might not be the great deal level-wise, but, they have the skills of advanced monsters because in this world these things are the real deal. The monsters howled and growled, their bodies began to glow as they received some kind of buff.
"Hiiiyaaaa!" Screamed Fuwa as she sent one of them flying with a kick on the side, but before it could slam the walls of the cave it teleported like the other, Fuwa was surprised and jumped back, as it had teleported itself above the girl, plummeting down with shattering force.
Fuwa's instincts kicked in just in time. She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive creature's crushing blow as it slammed into the icy ground, cracking the floor where she had been standing moments before. The frost-covered bear-wolf let out a deafening howl, its glowing eyes now fixated on her, furious that it missed its target.
"Teleporting monsters... great" Fuwa muttered, her breath misting in the cold air. She was fast, but their ability to blink in and out of existence added a new layer of danger to the fight.
"Careful!" Raven called out, backing up with her dagger ready "These things are smarter than they look. Don't let your guard down!"
Raven took out her dagger and tried to stab the creature that was focusing on her, but it stood on two feet and started clawing at her, the hits were heavy and hard to parry with just the dagger, she saw with the corner of her eyes as Fuwa evaded their own attackers, one of the monsters stayed behind, as it stood up too it's paws began to glow and soon Raven was slashing at ice shards thrown at her while evading the angry claws of the monster in front of her.
'I just need to get lucky' Thought Raven, compared to the pressure from the last boss they had faced in the desert-like tomb, even so, these creatures were vicious.
Raven gritted her teeth, feeling the cold bite at her skin as she barely dodged another icy shard that whizzed past her face that she wasn't able to break with her weapon as she ducked to avoid yet another claw thrown at her, but it gave her the momentum to slash the creature arm, as it roared in pain it falls back to its original posture, it whimpered, it seemed like the poison had taken effect.
"『Aqua Shield』" She cast one of her supportive spells on both her and Fuwa.
Raven's Aqua Shield shimmered around both her and Fuwa, but the intense cold caused parts of the barrier to frost over. The spell provided some much-needed protection, but in this frozen environment, even magic seemed to struggle.
Fuwa noticed the icy cracks in her shield and nodded in appreciation. "Nice timing" she said, deflecting another swipe from the nearest creature with her forearm. The impact caused her shield to flare with light, absorbing most of the force. "But we've got to finish this fast"
The frost-covered bear-wolf that Raven had poisoned stumbled back, its glowing eyes flickering as the venom took hold. Its movements became sluggish, and Raven seized the opportunity. With a swift leap, she slashed across its chest, her dagger cutting deep into the weakened creature. It let out a final, pained growl before collapsing onto the icy floor, its body twitching as the poison finished it off.
The creature that had teleported above Fuwa and had impacted the ground was starting to come back into the fight, breaking some of the ice shards thrown at her Raven used the rocks too to take cover, jumping just in time to pierce the skull of the creature before it became a threat. Fuwa used her chance to pummel at the stomach of her opponent as she saw an opening. Then with a sequence of kicks and precise hits all over its torso, the creature was pushed to a corner where it was impaled by an ice shard.
The remaining enemy seemed to empower itself getting ready to avenge its fallen comrades. Both Fuwa and Raven take a stance ready to take it on, and as it began to charge ahead it teleported behind the girls.
"This beast!" Said Raven noticing something, her feet had been rooted to the ground by some kind of ice spell, it was a dirty and smart trick, she smiled acknowledging her enemy as the beast clawed her in the back, the barrier broke but she was sent flying to the icy wall, Fuwa reacted but was received by a freezing breath coming from the creature that covered her visual field as the rest of the barrier was completely frozen.
The creature tried to use this chance to flee back to the deepest part of the dungeon, but Fuwa kicked it with strength in one of its legs causing it to fall to the ground, even if the thick fur protected it from the full-blown strike, it was still good enough to be useful, the strange magical beast turned around with a furious claw that was blocked by Fuwa elbow but the force of the attack sent her skidding backward across the icy floor. Some icy spheres were thrown at her, and she evaded them as she moved forward to clash with the beast again. It was stronger than its peers.
Raven wasted no time. With her feet free from the icy shackles and her body still aching, she sprinted forward, her dagger in hand. She leaped onto the creature's back, driving her blade deep into its thick fur. The beast howled in pain, thrashing violently as it tried to throw her off, she was slammed against the wall many times but she wouldn't let go.
"Aahh! Shit! Fuwa do something!" She said as she repeatedly hit the wall.
Raven growled, twisting the dagger deeper, but it was resilient. It blinked again, disappearing in a flash of icy light... taking Raven with it.
"Raven!" Fuwa shouted, but the two had already vanished.
For a moment, the cavern was eerily silent, the only sound being the faint crackling of ice. Then, with a burst of energy, the creature reappeared at the top of Fuwa some further above, with Raven still clinging to it "Just die already you freak!" Raven screamed as the creature lost its force and dropped heavily into the ground. Panting and shivering, Raven rolled off its back and onto the cold floor, her body trembling from both exhaustion and the freezing temperature. She glanced at Fuwa, who rushed over, her expression a mix of concern and relief.
"What the hell... this thing... were though..." Raven was still trying to catch her breath.
Fuwa rushed to her side to help her stand up, and some moments later the four beasts evaporated into thin air leaving behind some stuff...
[Uirgest Fur x2]
"Well, at least now we know what it's called" Said Fuwa trying to light the mood.
"Those shits were like level 2 monsters, but having skills that only things over level 3 would have" Said Raven surprised, at least by what she had heard "Let's get the hell out of here, at least we got some loot"
The girls took the fur of the creatures and began walking back to the dungeon entrace.