Damion did not have time to wonder how long it would take Phil to freeze and roll the dungeon core off the cliff, he was too busy dodging more attacks from the White Griffin.

The B Rank Demonic Beast had regained its footing and taken to the sky behind him. Several Holy spears had already passed incredibly close to Damion as he flew, thankfully, the White Griffin's aim had not increased with its anger.

'Falling,' Phil sent through the companion bond.

Damion took the message to mean the Snow Hawk had pushed the dungeon core off the plateau. Now he just had to survive long enough for the core to hit the ground. That should only be a few seconds. Unfortunately, half a minute later, Damion was still dodging attacks from the White Griffin, which meant the dungeon core did not break.

'No break,' Phil reported.

'Where is the dungeon core?' Damion asked.

'Ground,' Phil sent back with a mental image of the core having half buried itself in the ground from the impact.

Using his connection to his familiar, Damion located the Snow Hawk and while trying to think of a way to reach the dungeon core without getting himself killed. He did not know if the core just could not be broken from a fall, or if the core was just that strong, but either way, Damion had one option left, find and break the dungeon core himself.

As Damion flew, he continued to cast Frost Over. The repeated casting of the spell was beginning to wear down his mana reserves, but it was also slowly turning the Holy Forest into an Ice Forest.

The changes were subtle, but the White Griffin was growing slower, and Damion was beginning to feel stronger. The effect of Frost Over, to weaken others and increase the effectiveness of Ice magic, was aiding in his eluding of the Demonic Beast's attacks. However, Damion did not believe he could maintain his evasion forever. The White Griffin was just too strong, both physically and magically. If he wanted to end this, he needed to get to the dungeon core.

Darting in and out of the trees, Damion was able to force the White Griffin to keep its distance. The larger creature was not as agile as him and it could not make such sharp turns while flying. Damion on the other hand, could weave in and out of the trees, able to turn his Ice Sword with a thought. He was still bound by inertia, but he was able to mitigate its effects on his change of direction through the magic his flying sword. This gave him an enormous advantage at eluding the White Griffin, but nothing could last forever.

Despite his seemingly random flight through the forest, Damion was slowly making his way closer to the plateau's cliff face and the area the Phil knocked the dungeon core to. All he had to do now, was put enough distance between him and the White Griffin that he could make a mad dash at the core. He did not necessarily need to destroy it when he reached it, and since he was not sure if he could, his plan was to snatch it up and keep fleeing. Then he could figure out how to destroy the core before the guardian killed him.

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After a particularly tight turn, Damion his course and made a beeline for the dungeon core. The White Griffin was still circling around to follow by the time he was halfway to the core. Just as Damion was scooping up the dungeon core with one hand and congratulating himself, Phil sent a warning.

'Flee.'

The Snow Hawk's warning came just before Damion was hit in the back by the White Griffin. It had chosen to fly out of the tree canopy to pursue him and launched a Holy spear attack that landed squarely on his back.

The wards on Damion's armor collapsed and he felt a burning sensation splash across his back. As he was thrown forward, his mind went black for a moment before he felt the call of his familiar.

'Wake. I hold.'

The greyness of Damion's mind began to recede as he struggled to come to his senses. His back felt like it was on fire and even a small movement sent cascades of pain to the rest of his body.

As his vision cleared, Damion could make out Phil, flying circles around the White Griffin. Both beasts waiting for the most opportune time to strike.

Looking closer to where he was, Damion realized, to his surprise, the dungeon core was only a meter or so away. He tried crawling over to it, but the pain in his body when he started to move told him that was not a good idea.

Mentally reaching into the Magic System Inventory, Damion took out one of his C Rank Health Potions. He had used a potion once in the past, after being injured by the giant Fire Scorpion and he had given one to Mage Blythe, to save him from the Mage Bane Toxin. However, this was the first time he was taking a potion of his own Rank.

The moment he swallowed the red liquid in the small bottle, the pain in his body vanished. The fire that seemed to be burning his back was gone and he felt like he had just woken up from the best night of sleep ever.

Looking over to the dungeon core lying on the ground, Damion cast Telekinesis and brought the small orb to him. The surface was marred with peck marks and there was even a crack running through the surface, likely because of the fall from the plateau. Damion held the orb in both hands and with his left he cast Firey Grasp and with his right Icy Grasp.

The two spells entered either side of the dungeon core and where they met in the middle caused the crack Damion had identified to widen and then the orb shattered.

The moment the dungeon core shattered, the White Griffin let out a cry of alarm, but it was too late for the Demonic Beast to do anything. The next instant, Damion and Phil were transported out of the dungeon and appeared in the containment compound.

The dungeon attendant was startled by their appearance. Headmaster Sorin had told him that the young Ice mage would spend a week inside the dungeon and then come out, leaving someone else to go in and clear the guardian. But this young mage was now laying on the ground in broken armor with his Ferocious Beast familiar sitting beside him.

"Mage Wells, what happened?" the attendant asked once he was over his shock.

"I cleared the dungeon."

"You cleared… what do you mean you cleared the dungeon? You are only a C Rank mage. There is no way you could have cleared the dungeon alone."

"I didn't, don't you see Phil here with me," Damion retorted.

Damion got to his feet and began storing his armor in his personal spatial storage. His clothing had seen better days, but thanks to the necklace of mend he had acquired from Leland several years ago, his clothing was already repairing itself. After a few moments and a use of his belt of purification, Damion looked like he had never even been in the dungeon.

Of course, that was mostly because he had taken off his armor. If anyone saw the damage done to his armor by the White Griffin, then they would have quite a few questions about how he managed to get out unharmed.

However, Damion was just glad he had gained the Holy affinity and knew a healing spell. Without that, he would have been hard pressed to last as long as he did against the B Rank Demonic Beast. He certainly never would have lasted long enough to destroy the core or to use one of his Health Potions from the Magic System to heal his injuries.

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