Part I: Into Frostbane Hollow
The snow never stopped falling.
Aira Flameheart stepped through the crystalline gate of the A-Rank Dungeon known as Frostbane Hollow, her crimson cloak whipping in the blizzard winds. Behind her, Kael adjusted the straps of his pack, Mira activated her frost resistance runes, and Seris tapped her sword against her armored thigh.
Frostbane Hollow wasn't just a dungeon. It was a living, breathing storm. The moment they crossed the threshold, it felt as though the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Ice crystals formed on eyelashes, and even the flames from Aira's fingertips flickered uncertainly.
> "This place hates us," Kael muttered. "And I think I hate it back."
> "Welcome to the top tier," Seris said with a grim grin.
> "We're not here to like it," Aira said. "We're here to break it."
The entrance path wound through narrow ice cliffs, leading into caverns that twisted like the throat of a glacier. Strange runes pulsed under the ice, relics of an ancient civilization buried under millennia of frost. But those weren't the real threats.
They came face to face with the first frost beasts after less than a kilometer.
Massive wolves sculpted entirely of black ice lunged from behind frozen pillars. Their claws sliced stone. Their breath could freeze blood.
Kael summoned cyclones of compressed wind to knock the wolves off balance. Seris charged headlong into battle, her blade glowing red-hot from an enchantment Aira had personally forged. Mira held the rear, casting barriers of heated mana to keep the ice at bay.
Aira lit the tunnel like sunrise. With Inferno Domain, she created a radius of superheated air that melted their enemies into pools of hissing steam. But the deeper they traveled, the harder it became to maintain that heat.
The dungeon adapted.
Part II: The Labyrinth Below
By the time they reached the second level — a frozen river maze beneath a glacier — the dungeon had begun actively fighting them. Walls reformed when they weren't looking. Shadows moved where none should be. One by one, the team began to feel the toll.
Kael slipped and twisted his ankle on black ice enchanted to suppress fire mana. Mira's staff cracked from the cold. Even Seris admitted her sword arm was going numb.
> "This place is cursed," Mira whispered. "It's not just ice. It's magic. This whole dungeon is enchanted to reject flame."
> "Then we'll make it accept it," Aira growled. "On our terms."
At the heart of the labyrinth stood a castle — the Frostgrave Citadel. A massive ruin frozen mid-collapse. Its spires stabbed into the ceiling of the glacier, and a dome of hardened frost covered it like a snow globe.
Inside, cursed knights patrolled the halls — armor fused with their own frozen flesh, eyes glowing blue. The throne room doors bore the sigil of the original dungeon lord: the Frostbound Queen.
But before they could reach her, a beast unlike anything yet attacked — a Frosthorn Behemoth.
Standing twenty feet tall, it charged like an avalanche. Its body was a fortress of plated ice. Aira met it head-on.
With her team falling back, she activated Scorchstep, teleporting onto its back, driving her flames into the joints of its armor.
But it wasn't enough.
The behemoth threw her off. Sent her flying into a pillar of solid ice. Her ribs cracked. Blood froze in her mouth before it could hit the ground.
Then something inside her snapped.
Part III: Sunflare Core — Talent Awakening (Lv. 20)
> Level 20 reached. New Talent Unlocked: Sunflare Core
Her body ignited from within. Golden flames, hotter than any she'd summoned before, burst forth.
Sunflare Core burned like a miniature sun in her chest. It cleansed the frost poisoning, ignited the dungeon's cursed air, and expanded her Inferno Domain into a purging storm of solar fire.
The behemoth roared. Charged.
She met it mid-charge with a fire-infused strike that shattered its core. The monster exploded into slush and glowing embers.
The frost itself began to retreat.
Kael shielded his eyes. "Gods… she just turned winter into summer."
Seris helped her up. "Are you okay?"
Aira smiled weakly. "Better than ever."
Part IV: The Frostbound Queen
They entered the throne room at last. A dome of sapphire frost surrounded the chamber, within which sat the Frostbound Queen.
She wore armor of glacial crystal, and a shattered crown of permafrost. Her skin was white-blue, her breath a visible mist.
> "Another Flameheart. Come to claim what your ancestor abandoned?" she whispered.
> "I come to finish what they couldn't," Aira replied.
The Queen rose. Her staff summoned a storm — a blizzard that stripped flesh from bone. Ice dragons spiraled above. The floor turned into a mirror-smooth lake of frozen blood.
Aira was pushed to the edge.
Her flames dimmed. Her team struggled.
Seris was frozen mid-swing. Mira collapsed from mana exhaustion. Kael had to fend off two spectral wolves simultaneously.
Aira felt her strength flicker.
Then she remembered what her teacher once said:
> "Fire isn't destruction. It's persistence. It's survival. It's hope, burning in the dark."
She rose again.
And unleashed her full power.
Sunflare Core. Phoenix Heart. Scorchstep. Inferno Domain.
All at once.
She teleported mid-air, rained fire from the ceiling. She surrounded the Queen in a cyclone of sunfire and melted through every spell cast at her.
With a final cry, she drove a lance of pure flame through the Queen's heart.
The dome cracked.
Light flooded the citadel.
The dungeon shattered.
Part V: Aftermath
Frostbane Hollow collapsed behind them. Steam rose from the snowy landscape as the unnatural blizzard finally ceased.
Kael leaned on his staff. "We survived."
Mira looked to Aira. "No… you conquered it."
Seris clapped her on the back. "You're ready for S-Rank trials, Flamehear
t."
Aira stared at the rising sun, glowing gold above the ruined land. "Not yet. There are more flames to light. And a beast tide coming."