Pancakes was directly on her heels as she marched towards the ice dungeon's core. At odd times, they encountered a monster. The fights were small and finished quickly; instead of killing them, July beat them and chased them away. They had a few broken bones, but they would survive. Behind her every odd time Panny shot an Icicle at opportunate moments. 

She turned when he killed one of the monsters. "Stop killing them," she said, and he blinked at her. 

"What?" He looked at her surprised and stretched out his hand. The body vanished. "I am not wasting it; that was of excellent quality." 

July turned around and walked further. "Hey, wait. You must be a high-ranking warrior, or maybe you are a Berserker class?" He chatted. "Seriously, it's amazing. You must be A Rank like me or maybe even S Rank. I mean, it's bad shit awesome how you are defeating them with your fists. What weapon...." 

"Can you just keep quiet?" She asked him.

"No. I finally got a reaction from you," he said, and she felt as if talking to a wall. "So I will continue talking to you." 

Huffing, she marched on. "July. Why haven't I ever heard about a female combat ranker like you? Are you an illegal or hidden hunter? That would be totally awesome. I mean, cool." 

"Please just shut up." 

"No," he said, and she stopped in her tracks. "You obviously need the conversation." 

Now, she was surprised. "See, that came unexpectedly, right? I bet your left mouth corner lifted a millimeter." Okay, he was annoying again, and she had already come here because she didn't want to deal with humans—any humans. And now there was a chatterbox she shouldn't kill because it would make her mom unhappy. On the other hand, her mom wouldn't know she killed him. 

"No homicide, please. I will be a nice little puppy," he said and gave her real puppy eyes. Slightly unsure whether she should feel disgusted or skeptical, she stepped back. He gave her even bigger puppy eyes. "Pats?" 

"No thank you." She answered. 

"For me. Not for you." 

"Neither." 

Now he pouted. That was supposed to be a high-ranking Hunter. "Ayy, come on. July, I really would like to have a conversation with you. After all, it would be really nice to see you smile." 

"Well, give me silence, and I will smile," she said, forcing, or at least attempting to force her lips to curl upwards. "See silence." 

"Not a non-smile like this. I can't see anything either since you are wearing a very fancy mask." He waved his wand and shot an Icicle. She frowned and turned, catching the icicle and throwing it behind him. It hit a monster point blank between the eyes, and then she pounded the back of her hand into the crocodile-like monster behind her. With a dang, it thundered to the side and ended up making a hole into the next ice mountain. The monster slowly glided to the ground. 

Well, now they were dead, and she had nowhere to go with the materials. Her gaze wandered to the ring Panny had used. "That ring is my treasure." He said, guarding it with a theatrical movement that told her he was most likely bullshitting her. She groaned and stepped towards him. 

"Put those two in there. I don't want to waste materials," she said, and he nodded hastily, drawing in the monsters' bodies. " Where can I get a ring like that?" 

"A storage Ring?" he asked her, puzzled. "At the Association, like everyone else, they rent out the rings for all in exchange for 5% of the interior after a hunt." 

She raised an eyebrow. "And for my own ring?" 

"Well, storage Rings are illegal if provided outside of the Association," he stated and eyed her. "You are an illegal hunter, right?" 

"I have a Hunter ID." She stated. 

"That I find hard to believe. Don't worry, though. I won't tell anyone. I am not the biggest fan of the Association myself. They can be...quite forceful."

"I am a legal hunter." She muttered. "Technically." 

"Technically," he repeated and then jumped towards her, arms open. But seconds before he could touch her, he stopped. "Am I allowed to hug you?"

"Rather not," she answered, and he gave her something that resembled an air hug. "Am I allowed to see your face? I mean, the mask is awesome. Did you know Masks like that have a history? But I would love to see your face." 

She marched on. Not bothering to answer. 

"Those masks were originally used when the desert tribes were still nomads in the Arabian world. During the raids, many raiders stole the women of the opposing tribes. Women wore fancy masks, so the raiders couldn't tell if it was a young or an old woman. Increasing the chances for the younger woman to escape." He told her and fired another icicle as she stomped away, growling. "A fascinating piece of history, no? Even today, some places consider a mask made fancily a status symbol. That said, Masks are still common in desert volks since they protect well from the sand." 

"Shut up." 

"No." He answered. "I won't." 

She turned again, stopping. "Then see that you survive on your own." She stated and jumped upwards, leaving him behind, and her surroundings were once again blessed with silence and peace. Once again, surrounded by ice and spoken to by no one, she took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she felt a shudder run down her spine. A shudder that had her Survival Skill written all over it. She turned around, and above a giant blue-green circle opened out of nowhere. It was bigger than any Gate she had ever seen before. Almost swallowing the sky. She stood completely still, staring at it as it almost wholly devoured the sky and swallowed it literally.

"I was lucky." 

"Lucky, I see. In that case, may you also be lucky once the big blue circle opens. It will devour you all." 

"The big gate?" 

"Yes, the world that conquers all others, the biggest of gates. Now that I have spoken enough, shall we fight?"

The words from her conversation with the vicious fox king repeated in her mind. The big gate he had mentioned, the one that devoured all, was this what he had spoken about?