The entire dungeon was frozen.
A field of white, jagged ice stretched in every direction.
Walls were now crystal-like. Icicles hung from above like swords waiting to fall.
The floor had frozen unevenly with layers of frost. Steam still rose gently from the edges, where mana hadn't fully vanished.
Bel stood in the middle, immobile like the world around him.
He turned his monstrous head left, then right. His glowing blue eyes scanned the aftermath.
"Wow..."
He took a step forward. Ice crunched under his claws, then another step.
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing.
"Wait. How much mana did I just use for that?"
He was about to summon the system... but then he paused.
Something felt different the moment he focused. He could feel it, he could understand it.
A pulse, a warmth, not just in one spot, but all through his body.
His mana. Not as a number, not as data... but real, alive.
