Great!

We walk inside the room and look around. I quickly see three Lizardmen waiting inside. I turn to Marlo and Irene who nod. They rush forward and the Lizardman roar. They each have a sword and shield, with no spears or bows. I sense Marlo cast a spell, as his Spear gets engulfed in wind. He throws it at the first Lizardman. It raises its shield to block, and the Spear goes straight through. It breaks the shield and straight into its skull. It falls to the ground, dead. Irene casts a spell, at the same time as Marlo. She sends three icicles, about a foot long each, at the second Lizardman. It was distracted by Marlo's Spear and didn't notice the ice. Two hit it on its neck and shoulder, and the third hit its head. It falls to its side, and slowly gets up. Blood runs down its body from the wounds. Marlo yanks his spear free from the shield it's stuck in. He raises it and blocks the last Lizardman's sword with its shaft. Irene runs forward as the Lizardman she attacked gets up. She stabs her Dagger into its head before it can react. Its movement was sluggish, causing me to wonder if she had damaged its brain. She points her Dagger at the Lizardman attacking Marlo. She casts another spell, causing one large icicle to appear. She sends it forward, and it pierces through the Lizardman scales. It cuts into the Lizardman's stomach, nearly cutting it in half. The Lizardman falls to the ground and starts glowing. Marlo grabs the three Crystal Hearts. Luna, Innu, and I walk over to them.

"Marlo, why'd you toss your weapon?" Innu asks before I can say anything.

"It's how I typically deal with a group of monsters. I toss it to kill one and get the other's attention. That way they all focus on me. As I said earlier, I can use my magic on my hands. This allows me to both parry and attack monsters bare-handed." Marlo replies, giving me a vague idea for later.

"I have to say, you weren't kidding about this Dagger. My Ice magic packs much more of a punch now." Irene says.

"How much stronger is it?" Marlo asks causing Irene to think it over.

"Well that first attack I did, the one with three icicles. It wasn't meant to injure it. I wanted to get its attention, so you wouldn't have two on you. But it managed to break the Lizardman's scales and knock it down. Then the second one nearly tore it in two. I thought it would pierce the scales, but get stuck in its stomach." Irene explains. Hmm, maybe it boosts her Spells by more than ten percent. Or maybe it's because she doesn't have my game-like powers. Liz pointed out that I use magic differently from others, because of my powers. So maybe the Dagger boosts her magic based on her understanding of ice? I think before Luna shakes my shoulder.

"Sorry, I got lost in thought." I say as Marlo hands me the Crystal Hearts. I store them away before Irene looks at me.

"So, what'd you think?" Irene asks and I smile.

"You were good. But it's too early to say for sure. So how about moving forward, Irene and I take the back. Luna, Innu, and Marlo will lead up front. This'll give me a better chance to see how you do." I say and they all nod. We look for the next archway but only see two. There's the one we came from, and the one to the right of that. So, is this first floor a five-by-five grid then? I think as we make our way to the archway. We enter and find four more Lizardmen. Luna, Marlo, and Innu lead the way. They rush them as Irene takes out one with a bow. She points her Dagger straight up as more mist emanates from it. The mist takes the shape of a Chinese Dragon. It flies off her Dagger and through the air. It's about five feet wide and has glowing blue eyes. An arrow hits it as it nears the Lizardman with the bow. It bounces off, unable to pierce the ice. It bites down on the Lizardman's throat while tackling it to the ground. They hit the ground as an explosion of ice appears. It freezes the grass and the Crystal Heart from the Lizardman. As the Ice Dragon was passing by, Marlo cut the throat of the first Lizardman. He cut it in one smooth motion before engulfing his spear in wind. He lowers the blade to the ground before swinging it up. A wave of wind tears the ground in front of him, where another Lizardman stood. It gets torn up into several pieces. Innu cuts the last one nearly in two, with a single attack. Luna collects the Crystal Hearts while pouting, upset they killed them all before she could get one. She hands me the Hearts and we continue through the next door. We slay the three Lizardmen inside. I don't get any more Exp or money, since they killed them. As we start leaving, I sense something off with the ground beneath us.

"Hang on!" I shout to the others, who were already at the door. Except for Irene, who was a few feet ahead of me.

"What is it?" Marlo asks while running back.

"I sense something off here." I say before crouching down and rubbing the dirt beneath me. Irene places her hand against the ground, and I sense mana pour from her hand. A moment later, mist emanates from her hand. It seeps into the ground and a few moments later she stands up.

"There's something a few feet underground. It poses quite a lot of mana, whatever it is." She says.

"How deep is it?" I ask and he thinks it over.

"Maybe three or four? It's hard to tell since the dirt possesses a large amount of mana too."

"Why does the dirt possess mana?" Luna asks her confused.

"Because this is a Ruins. Everything in here is made of mana, the monsters, trees, and even grass. That's why the government collects the Crystal Hearts. They're raw crystalized mana." Irene explains as I get an idea of how to dig this up.

"Could you step back Irene?" I ask and she nods before stepping back. I cast Annihilation Energy, and make a large jaw. I make it bite the dirt and lift it up. I can sense it doesn't have whatever I'm sensing underground. I toss it away before biting down again. On my third bite, I get it. I make the Energy destroy the dirt since it's made of mana. I then make the Energy shrink and dissipate, leaving whatever it was in my hand.