CHAPTER 80: THE DEEP OASIS AND HEATED BASALT

The darkness of the Crossgard dungeon did not resemble the suffocating, almost claustrophobic dampness that Shnee and Karys had grown accustomed to on the lower floors of Oakhaven. That labyrinth was a classic tower—ordered, divided into equal, repetitive floors that could be methodically mapped and cleared step by step based on common sense. Crossgard was different. It was a massive, ancient fissure in the very fabric of the world, a bottomless abyss that did not divide into dozens of minor, cramped floors. It consisted of merely ten colossal, dark zones, each of which was a giant, autonomous ecosystem with its own pressure, climate, and ruthless combat rules.

Currently, they were located in the Second Zone. Although this was only the beginning of the road to the very core of the abyss, the local monsters, moisture, and density of the anomalous mana atmosphere far surpassed anything they had encountered near Oakhaven. The sticky air was thick with the scent of stale sulfur, wet basalt, and rot that settled onto their leather armor like a cold, metallic residue.

Shnee moved soundlessly. Her high, white elven boots barely brushed the rough, black basalt that formed the walls of the corridor. On her left pauldron, curled up in complete stillness, sat the small spider Kaede. It was a simple, clean familiar pact that Dave had transferred to the elf just before leaving for his year-long wilderness training. Kaede stretched her extremely thin, nearly invisible spider threads infused with sapphire composite before them. They vibrated at the slightest air turbulence, acting as a silent, natural early warning radar integrated directly into Shnee's mind.

From around the bend of the basalt gallery emerged three Abyss Crawlers—massive monsters armored in keratinized scales with razor-sharp limbs and pulsing violet eye sockets.

"Three targets at twelve o'clock, girls!" Shnee heard a quiet, tactical communication from Kaede in her mind in their native Polish cipher. "Zero magic on approach, pure physical tonnage, and asymmetrical field control!"

Shnee did not need the order repeated. Instead of wasting energy conduits on flashy spells, she took a minimal, springy step to the side. A short wave of classical, slick ice magic erupted from her hand, forming right beneath the feet of the charging beasts. The crawlers lost all traction at full speed, and their heavy, scaly snouts slid helplessly onto the slippery basalt with a dull thud.

Karys exploited this moment with lethal, predatory precision. Her black Void whip-tail compressed in a fraction of a second into a hard, flexible spear with a diamond-sharp tip, piercing the head of the first monster clean through. At the same time, the wolf-girl leaped at the second, her hand armed with black Abyss Claws driving straight beneath the armor at its neck, crushing its pulsing core with a single twist of her wrist. The third tried to lash out with its tail, but the Celestial Silver rapier in Shnee's hand whistled through the air, severing its hock joint and leaving behind only frost-steaming gore.

"Those were the last ones in this sector," Shnee said, sheathing her rapier with a quiet, satisfying click at her hip. "We have enough high-grade cores for today. Time for a hard reset and recovery."

The entrance to the Deep Oasis in the Second Zone offered no idyllic scenery. The Crossgard dungeon was consistent in its grim darkness. The Oasis was a monumental, natural cavern with architecture resembling a gothic cathedral. Giant basalt pillars rising into infinity supported a vault overgrown with dense clusters of bioluminescent mushrooms. Their rare, pale blue and deep violet light cast a mystical, cool glow over the entire space.

Shnee and Karys found a secluded alcove sheltered by high blocks of black basalt. Hot water welled here from a small crack in the rock, and thick plumes of natural, sulfurous steam cut them off entirely from the rest of the cavern, creating an ideal, intimate sauna.

Exhausted by hours of marching and constant combat, the girls silently began shedding their heavy gear. Leather and metal armor fell onto the dry stone with a dull clatter. Shnee unfastened her white robes and slowly slid them off her shoulders, remaining completely naked.

Karys, as a wild wolf-girl raised under the harsh laws of nature, felt not an ounce of embarrassment. She tossed aside her tattered garments and was the first to submerge herself in the steaming, hot water with a quiet, predatory grunt of relief. Her body lacked any trace of weakness—it was remarkably aesthetic, athletic, with clearly defined, firm abdominal muscles, slender thighs, and an ideally symmetrical, full, and firm bust.

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Shnee entered the pool right beside her. She sat on a smooth, basalt step beneath the water and rested her arms on the ledge. Involuntarily, her diamond eyes drifted toward Karys. The elf slowly, surreptitiously inspected the wolf-girl's slender, sensuous silhouette, and a quiet, pricking note of girlish envy over that ideal, wild body symmetry stirred in her mind.

Karys, possessing the heightened senses of a predator, instantly caught that appraising gaze. A predatory, cheeky grin spread across her face, revealing a single sharp fang.

"What's up, Snowflake?" Karys teased with an amused chuckle, stretching lazily in the water and unabashedly displaying her curves. "Are you tactically analyzing my biomechanical parameters that hard? Or are you just checking if the competition in the manor has better tonnage?"

Shnee nearly choked on the hot steam at those words. Her marble, assassin composure shattered in a split second, and a heavy blush on her face rapidly turned from a barely visible pink to the shade of a ripe, burning cherry, spreading all the way to the tips of her pointed elf ears.

"Karys!" the elf hissed, trying to give her voice the tone of a stern mentor, which sounded comical given her burning cheeks. "You should show more dignity and respect for..."

"Alright, alright, don't tense your conduits so hard or you'll spark the water," Karys interrupted with an impudent laugh, resting the back of her head against the basalt edge and squinting her golden eyes. "The truth is, nothing here is sagging and everything fits just right... for that crazy guy's hands. Besides, you've got nothing to complain about either, even though you keep pretending you're made of glass and ice."

Shnee's blush deepened even further, but the elf did not look away. She submerged herself in the water up to her chin, letting the sulfurous warmth soothe her aching muscles after the raid.

"Lord Dave... is our sovereign and the foundation of our entire family," Shnee whispered softly, pride mingling with hidden tenderness in her voice. "He does not treat us as slaves or cannon fodder. He built a home for us that none of us would have dared to dream of back in Oakhaven."

"And on that, I agree with you, Snowflake," Karys replied, her voice softening and losing its former mocking edge. The wolf-girl looked up at the steaming plumes above their heads. "The guy walked into a slave camp, shattered the anti-magic iron binding me, and gave me a bowl of hot food without asking for anything in return. For someone like him, for that basalt manor near the forest... I would step into the middle of a fire without hesitation and tear out the throat of anyone who tried to violate that home."

A deep, soothing silence fell over the hot oasis, broken only by the rhythmic splashing of water and the quiet hum of the bioluminescent mushrooms near the ceiling.

"And by the way..." Karys added suddenly, peeking with one eye and shooting the elf another mischievous look. "I heard from Kaede that in the bedroom before he left, you dropped that armor of yours and kissed him first. How does it feel to be the future lady of the manor, huh?"

Shnee flushed crimson once more, but this time she straightened proudly in the water, lifting her chin high.

"In the future... I will become his wife," she declared with a quiet, fanatical, and unyielding confidence. "And you will guard our gates on the front porch."

Karys boomed with laughter that echoed through the entire cavern, and her black Void tail surfaced from the water and splashed a wave of sandy spray straight toward the elf.

"The armor from Elena and Luthia will definitely have plenty of pockets for cores," the wolf-girl concluded, stepping out of the water and reaching for a dry towel. "A new set of armor sounds mega good."

"Elena will see to that," Shnee laughed softly, rising from the pool and slipping into a fresh robe.

The cold, gothic darkness of the Second Zone of Crossgard still hung over them beyond the threshold, but in this small, hot oasis, their little squad had just cemented its final, emotional, and combat foundation. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they were ready for whatever the dungeon could throw at them while waiting for the return of their predator.

The dark abyss of the Second Zone beneath Crossgard left no room for daydreams or weakness. The sound of dense droplets condensing on the black stalactites echoed dully through the quiet alcove, and the bioluminescent glow of the violet mushrooms pulsed slowly, creating cool, mosaic reflections on the surface of the steaming pool. Every breath in this hot oasis felt like pure fuel—the sulfurous water from the natural rock fissure possessed deep micro-regregenerative properties for their energy conduits, flushing lactic acid and the residue of post-combat exhaustion from their muscles.

Shnee looked down at her hands submerged beneath the water. The sapphire familiar pact with Kaede and the pale blue mental loop that Dave had cemented in their hearts pulsed with a quiet, proud, and unwavering warmth. She knew that a year of brutal wilderness training beyond the city would forge their leader into an unstoppable tank of destruction for which this world was wholly unprepared. Until then, the girls had a clear, uncompromising directive—hold the monopoly in Crossgard, secure the manor's rear logistically with Elena and Luthia, and clear this dungeon on their own unyielding terms.

Karys tossed her wet hair over her shoulders and rose from the pool, shaking water droplets from her shoulders. Her movements were fluid, packed with predatory grace, yet completely devoid of the slightest hint of hesitation. At her black leather belt hung a bulging pouch stuffed to the brim with high-grade cores from the Second Zone. Every single one of those crystals translated into hard gold and raw resources for the development of their manor. The chapter of settling into Crossgard was slowly drawing to a close—it was time to launch a full-scale offensive and pave the way for the grand return of their Alfa.