I had just a little bit of mana left, and Ice Spear was the best skill I had learned after days of pouring my blood and sweat into training. It felt like the best way to start my current rank and the rest of whatever was on ahead for me.

  That was why I used it on the dungeon stone.

  Now, yes, of course this is too melancholy and introspective. I am just a girl! And the world would never let just a girl rest!!

  As soon as the Ice Spear struck the ochre core of the dungeon, a giant rumble spread through the entire place.

  It wasn't a polite knock on the door. It was the sound of the world’s spine snapping in half.

  The cave ceiling groaned like a vulture. Dust and small rocks began to rain down, peppering my hair and shoulders. The magic stone screamed. A high-pitched whine that drilled into my molars and made my vision swim.

  "Oh, come on!"

  I looked at the cracking sphere. The dungeon had not equalized. I had very recently learned about this phenomena again. With Seraphina, that is.

  Before an exit gate could be formed, the dungeon was already collapsing.

  If I stayed here I would be crushed into paste.

  I needed a container. Something to hold that energy just long enough for the mana to stabilize and spit out an exit gate.

  My eyes darted around as I peered out of the collapsing hut. The hobgoblin children.

  They were cowering in the corner, screeching at the falling debris. They were small, ugly little things that looked like molded clay left out in the sun too long. But they were alive. And they were monsters born of this place.

  I didn't hesitate. Survival was a nasty business.

  I reached for the knife strapped to my thigh. The cold metal bit into my palm as I sliced a clean line across my skin.

  The sting was sharp and bright, a hot line of fire that cut through the dull, freezing ache that being in Ice for so lond had brought me. Blood welled up, thick and crimson. The scent hit the air instantly.

  I had just opened a bag of chips in a room full of hangry toddlers.

  "Hey!" I shouted, waving my bleeding hand. "Come get it!"

  One of the runts turned. Its beady yellow eyes locked onto the red drip falling from my hand. The fear in its eyes vanished. It had gone mad.

  It screeched, a sound like tearing metal, and scrambled over the rocks toward me.

  I backed up toward the cracking core.

  "That's it. Come on, you little monster."

  The creature lunged. I sidestepped at the last second, letting my blood spray onto the glowing, fracturing stone.

  The hobgoblin didn't care about the stone. It wanted the blood on it. It threw itself onto the core with its mouth wide open..

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Then the magic took hold.

  The hobgoblin froze. Its body arched back as if it had been hooked by an invisible fishing line. Bones popped and snapped. Its skin split. All of its muscles bubbled and expanded rapidly.

  It roared.

  The shockwave alone made my hair fly back.

  The collapse stopped. The dungeon had found a new host. But now I had a new problem.

  The thing standing there wasn't a child anymore. It was a mass of bulging muscle and jagged bone spurs, standing eight feet tall and leaking raw mana like a broken pipe.

  It turned its head. Its eyes were burning with madness. And they were looking right at me.

  "Grrr..."

  It didn't wait for an introduction.

  The monster moved with a speed that defied its bulk.

  In the blink of an eye, it was already in front of me.

  A massive fist, hard as a boulder, swung down.

  I tried to dodge. tried to move my feet. But the air pressure alone pinned me in place for a split second.

  —BAM!

  The hit connected with my side.

  I didn't even feel the pain at first. The world just spun. I was airborne, flying like a ragdoll. I slammed into the cave wall with a thud that knocked the breath out of my lungs.

  "Gah...!"

  I slid down the rough stone. Air refused to enter my chest as my vision flickered black at the edges.

  Pain exploded in my ribs a second later. Hot, searing agony that made me want to curl up and die right there.

  But the monster was already charging again.

  It thundered across the stone floor.

  I had to move. I had no choice.

  I forced my mana to move. It was sluggish, resisting me like cold syrup. I pushed it down, through my feet, into the ground.

  [Ice Magic: Sheet]

  Just as the behemoth lunged for a second strike, a slick layer of ice coated the ground beneath me and extended forward.

  I threw my weight to the side. The monster’s heavy feet hit the ice. It couldn't stop its momentum. It slipped, its legs flying out from under as it crashed into the wall right where I had been standing a second ago.

  The very cave shook from the impact.

  I scrambled away, clutching my side. My blood was still dripping, leaving a trail.

  The other hobgoblin children were still huddled in the corner, confused and terrified of their mutated sibling.

  A dark, desperate idea formed in my head.

  I couldn't kill this thing in a fair fight. I needed a distraction.

  I ran toward the group of cowering monsters.

  "Sorry, little guys," I wheezed. "It's a dog-eat-dog world."

  I swung my bleeding hand, flinging droplets of fresh blood onto two of the smaller creatures.

  The mutated boss recovered from its crash. It shook its head, growling, and turned to face me. But then its nose twitched.

  The scent of blood was overpowering.

  Maddened beasts couldn’t ignore their instinct.

  The monster’s gaze shifted. It saw the red stains on its kin. The madness of the core consumed any recognition it might have had. So what if there was the smell of something else, blood was what these hobgoblins cared about.

  It roared and charged at them.

  The distraction was perfect.

  While the beast tore into the smaller goblins, I gathered everything I had left. Every scrap of mana, every drop of the cold energy Seraphina had seeped into me.

  For the first time since the status ailment had gotten to me, a sharp pain spread through my chest. It felt like swallowing a handful of needles.

  I raised my hand.

  The air around me dropped in temperature. Moisture froze instantly, coalescing into a single, jagged spear of ice. It was rougher than before, unstable, and lacking mana.

  [Ice Spear]

  I didn't aim for the chest. I aimed for the one spot that was glowing with the absorbed light of the core. The neck.

  "Eat this!"

  I thrust my hand forward.

  The spear shot out like a missile. It tore through the air, leaving a trail of mist.

  The monster turned just as the projectile reached it.

  —SHLUCK!

  The ice pierced the thick muscle of its neck, severing the spine and burying itself deep into the flesh.

  The creature didn't even scream. It just gurgled, a wet, choking sound, and toppled over. The ochre light in its eyes flickered and died.

  Silence crashed back into the room.

  My knees gave out. I hit the floor, panting, clutching my side.

  [Dungeon Cleared]

  [The Equilibrium has been restored]

  A hum filled the air. In the center of the room, near the shattered remains of the original stone, space began to warp. A swirl of blue light formed as a portal appeared.

  The exit.

  I didn't wait to check for loot. I didn't wait to see if the other goblins survived. I scrambled to my feet, gritting my teeth against the pain in my ribs, and limped as fast as I could toward the blue light.

  I fell through the portal, leaving the nightmare behind.

  Just a girl man. Just a girl.