The journey to the Frostveil Raid Cave should have taken four hours.
Down one mountain face.
Across a narrow ridge.
Up another snow-choked ascent.
For a normal party, it would have been a slow, careful trek—watching for avalanches, guarding against ice patches, rationing stamina.
For Jax and the Vixens?
It took less than one hour.
Grim and Steed pulled the reinforced caravan with unnatural strength. The carriage barely touched the ground, hovering just enough to glide over snow and stone alike. Wind howled across the peaks—but inside the dimensional space, the group had remained warm, relaxed, and ready.
When they arrived, Jax signaled the halt.
The Shadow Bulls stamped once, announcing their stop.
Inside, a soft chime echoed through the dimensional space.
They had arrived.
At the Mouth of the Unknown
The Vixens stepped out in full battle gear.
The snow fell steadily, dusting their shoulders and cloaks.
But they felt nothing.
Merriweather's enhancements worked flawlessly. Their armor regulated temperature perfectly—no bulky layers, no reduced mobility. Just seamless protection.
Jax adjusted his trench coat over his upgraded dragon-scale armor—now streaked subtly with white crystal accents.
He unfastened Grim and Steed from the caravan and walked to them.
He rested a hand on each massive shadowed skull.
"You boys want to fight with us?"
Both bulls roared in agreement, their breath forming dark mist against the cold air.
Nyxian approached, Echo—the tiny shadow ferret—coiled around her shoulders like a living scarf.
She rubbed Grim's muzzle affectionately.
"Of course they want to fight," she said. "You think they traveled all this way for sightseeing?"
Jax smirked.
Before them stood the cave entrance.
Unlike the Crystal Caves, this one was carved into jagged ice and dark stone. Frost crept along the edges like veins.
Outside the entrance were carved markers.
Names of parties.
Floors reached.
Some scratched into the stone confidently.
Others carved shakily.
Among the carved names, one stood out.
The Argent Vanguard — Floor 42.
The top guild party on the continent.
Stormbound Covenant — Floor 38.
Obsidian Crown — Floor 40.
Legends.
Records.
Benchmarks.
Jax simply looked at the wall.
"Good," he said quietly.
"Now we know what we're aiming at."
"But that doesn't tell us how deep it goes," he murmured.
Could be fifty.
Could be a hundred.
Could be something absurd like one hundred and thirty-one.
There was only one way to know.
He turned to face the Vixens.
Snow fell between them.
"We've done this before," he began calmly. "And we've been victorious."
The girls listened intently.
"But yesterday's wins don't guarantee today's."
His voice sharpened slightly.
"Do not assume this will be like the last cave. Expect traps. Expect scaling difficulty. Expect things that don't make sense."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Trust your training. Trust your teammates."
His expression softened.
"And most importantly—trust yourselves."
A brief pause.
"I love you all."
He turned—
—and was immediately assaulted.
Eight arms.
Four sets of lips.
Four completely unapologetic fiancées.
"We love you too!"
"You can't say 'I love you' before a raid and not expect this!"
Jax groaned softly.
He had just achieved mental focus.
Now he was being kissed into disarray.
But even as he sighed in mock frustration, he couldn't help smiling.
"Okay," he muttered. "Alright. Team."
They broke formation reluctantly.
"Game faces."
They moved into position.
Formation: Frostveil Entry
Jax at point.
Grim and Steed flanking.
Bunny behind him, hammer ready.
Zee third, staff glowing faintly.
Nyxian fourth, Lilith's Kiss coiled at her hip.
Llandra at the rear, bow already half-drawn.
They stepped forward.
The cave mouth looked natural—
—but as soon as they crossed the threshold, the world shifted.
Dimensional transition.
Temperature changed.
Air pressure shifted.
Mana density increased.
They were inside.
Shadow Deployment
Jax didn't hesitate.
He summoned strategically.
Fang emerged first—shadow poison drake, fangs dripping with ethereal venom.
Gryph manifested beside him, talons scraping stone.
Lucy—the agile shadow wolf—appeared in silence.
Behind them, additional elite shadows took form.
He did not summon Dante.
The Frostveil cave ceiling would not support a dragon of that size.
Nyxian grinned.
"Oh yeah," she said. "We're serious."
Bunny cracked her hammer against the floor.
"Let's clear this and go home."
Floors 1–10: Obliteration
The first ten floors?
The Vixens barely saw a single beast.
Grim and Steed charged.
Fang's poison spread like mist.
Gryph shredded through ranks.
Lucy moved like a phantom.
By the time the girls reached each exit?
The floor was already cleared.
Bodies scattered.
Mana dispersing.
Jax checked ranks.
Low-tier ice beasts.
Nothing worth converting.
But he did summon his own low level shadow troops to start mining the materials in the dungeon.
Floors 11–25: Acceleration
The difficulty ramped slightly.
Ice wolves.
Crystal-armored yeti.
Glacial serpents.
The shadows adapted flawlessly.
Floor 25 introduced traps.
Runic circles.
Magic lances.
Ice spikes erupting from below.
Jax didn't even blink.
"Forward."
The shadows triggered every trap intentionally.
Magic bolts shattered against them.
Spikes impaled through shadow forms.
Explosions consumed them whole.
They did not scream.
They did not hesitate.
If destroyed?
Jax resummoned them instantly.
Fearless.
Obedient.
Relentless.
And they knew it.
The Vixens walked through untouched.
System Evolution
Halfway through Floor 25, Jax's vision flickered.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
Shadow Summon Skill Level Up
Shadows summoned are elevated by one rank tier.
Shadow durability increased.
Shadow combat adaptation enhanced.
Jax paused briefly.
He checked Fang.
B → A.
Checked Gryph.
A → S.
His shadows had evolved.
He exhaled slowly.
If Dante had been summoned…
He would likely be SS rank now.
"Very nice," Jax murmured.
Floors 26–35: Expansion
Two hours later, they had reached Floor 35.
The difficulty finally felt meaningful.
Ice Behemoths.
Frostbound Yetis—massive, furred creatures with jagged crystal growths along their backs.
Avalanche elementals.
Now Jax began collecting. He put the top tier ones on the front line, and move the others to start mining join the others.
When his shadows tore through enemies, the bodies were rarely pristine.
Claw marks.
Poison damage.
Limbs crushed.
But value wasn't always in perfection.
Ice cores.
Crystal marrow.
Fur resistant to frostbite.
Regenerative tissue.
He stored everything.
If valuable?
Profit.
If not?
Fertilizer.
Nothing wasted.
His army grew as well.
He converted two Frost Yetis into shadows.
Added them to the front line.
The army thickened.
The cave trembled under their advance.
By the end of Floor 35, the Vixens had barely broken a sweat.
But Jax felt it.
The scaling was beginning.
The mana density had shifted.
The air felt heavier.
The Frostveil Raid Cave was finally starting to wake up.
He smiled faintly.
"Good," he whispered.
Behind him, Nyxian twirled her whip.
"I was starting to think this was going to be boring."
And deeper within the mountain—
Something moved.