Dungeon of Niflheim

225 Chapter 225: First floor’s boss

“An ice golem huh, don’t know if this would qualify as ironic but certainly comedic.” Frost sniggered to himself when he entered the room and saw the ice golem guarding the way to the next floor. A barrier covered the stairs preventing access, its power was connected to the ice golem making those who wish to pass have to defeat the golem first. The boss room system that the dungeon cores had access to was near identical in the method though it was more stable. The barrier before Frost could be destroyed by him through force or by magic nullification but simply killing the ice golem would be faster and easier. It is said that the more powerful the monster, the sturdier the barrier making the alternative method that much more difficult. Most simply put up with the fact that they need to defeat the boss monster to proceed.

Seeing this situation, the gears started to flow in Frost’s head as he imagined how he would utilise such rooms in the future. Unlike a monster lair for him to repeatedly replace the boss would prove quite costly, especially if there was one on every floor.

The ice golem in question was not that powerful, probably equal to E-rank in power but with clear disadvantages. It had no weapon and had the same usual clunky form that most golems had. Slow but with high defence and power. For someone like Frost however it was easy pickings even if he didn’t spend nearly 90% of his training time against ice golems.

The boss room was roughly 400m2 with no decorations just an ice arena with the golem stationed in front of the staircase. If it was any other monster Frost would have simply powered through without hesitation, heading toward the more challenging 3rd and 4th floors. But he saw the ice golem as a good opportunity.

“Well, I guess I’ve got some time to kill.” With an excited smile Frost stepped forward drawing the ire of the ice golem. It silently rose up to its full 2 metre frame, it had no mouth so it couldn’t roar but it could be imagined. Though golems lacked emotions and instincts like regular monsters it was still created by the monster lair and would attack any intruders.

“[Ice come together, form a core and establish a body to fight, summon ice golem]” channelling his mana, Frost casted his only 3rd circle spell, [summon ice golem]. An ice golem against another ice golem, it was almost poetic. Out of all his magic it was the one he was least proficient in and used the most mana. Being in a monster lair the ambient mana was thicker than outside making replenishing mana much faster. He wouldn’t need to break out those horrible tasting mana potions.

A large blue magic crest, far more intricate than those of his 1st and 2nd circle spells grew on the floor before him. An ice golem then formed from the crest ready to fight against the now charging opponent. Unfortunately, it was far smaller than the opposing golem, half the size at least. it looked like a child picking a fight with an adult, Frost couldn’t help be feel slight ashamed. He was hoping given the situation he would summon a perfect golem but no it was the same as when he was training back in his dungeon.

“Haaaaaaaa oh well practise makes perfect.” He shook his head choosing to ignore the pitiful result of his magic and focus on the battle. Though his golem was smaller, it should be faster and unlike its opponent it had Frost as a coach. There was a subtle connection between Frost and his golem allowing him to instruct its movements as if it was an extension of himself.

“Dodge to the left and strike,” Frost flicked his hand as he spoke, and the golem listened to his orders without hesitation. The opposing ice golem changed the target of its aggression once Frost’s golem was summoned, charging with great speed. Frost’s golem did as instructed, it moved to the left with decent speed, narrowly avoiding the big golem’s fist before striking out with its own.

.....

Bang! The sound was akin to metal striking against metal, bits of ice fell from both golems, with the larger one suffering a little more loss but given its larger frame it’d take a lot more punches to take it down. The golem’s core was stored within its chest and with the smaller golem’s metre height it couldn’t reach. To defeat it, it’d need to punch, punch and punch some more until the damage exceeded its limit. Though Frost’s golem was smaller it seemed as though its density was equal if not slightly higher making its punch quite strong.

With great strength the bigger golem turned around not even slowing down in the slightest from the smaller golem’s punch. It raised its oversized arms above its head aiming to smash the small irritation to pieces.

“Raise your arms to block.” Frost gave out his next orders wanting to see how much damage his golem to endure. Like an obedient student the small golem raised its arms above its head in a cross guard.

Boooooooooom! The sound from this strike was far more than the earlier one, so much so that Frost felt his ears ring. Cracks spread out under the small golem as the strike’s force shattered the ice floor. But that wasn’t the only thing. The smaller golem was forced down to its knees while cracks developed across its ankles and forearms. The damage was just skin deep but showed the difference in fire power between the golems.

Frost frowned a little not expecting such a difference, his golem was weaker by far in terms of power, this fight would not be easy but given his mana levels he could simply summon another golem if this one was destroyed. Unlike Adam, Frost’s mana veins were far more durable even though he was still only C-rank. He had his natural gifts and the frequent channelling of divine energy to thank for that. If Adam was alive to see this, he’d probably spurt out blood in anger hell even Ryuu would probably be filled with envy. Frost was the perfect example of a naturally gifted prodigy.

Crack! Crack!

The ice floor beneath the smaller golem as well as its body continued to release cracking sounds as the large golem continued to push down with its arms.

“Relax your guard and roll backwards.” Frost’s golem did as ordered allowing the bigger golem’s arms to crash down as it rolled backwards and out of danger.

“Dodge its blows and focus on counterattacks, aim for its left leg.” The bigger golem reengaged its advance striking without regard for defence. Frost’s golem dodged to the side repeatedly, striking back on its left leg whenever it got a chance.

Frost continued to give his orders whenever his golem was in a dangerous situation but other than that the combat was fairly simple. One small golem dodging repeatedly and counterattacking whereas the other punched and chased. The damage on the bigger golem continued to add after every punch and finally its left leg shattered, forcing the golems chest to lower within striking distance.

Frost’s smaller golem was not the same one he started with, after a few missed dodges its damage became too much to function, so he had to summon a second one. This golem was slightly larger about 1.1 metres showing improvement and now it had the perfect chance to end this fight. The bigger golem couldn’t heal or be resummoned immediately. Now with a single leg it was lopsided and struggled to even move making it a sitting duck.

“Strike its chest over and over until you break the core.” Frost gave his final order with a proud smile. This battle took close to twenty minutes, but he didn’t feel as though the time was wasted. His mastery of golem magic improved, and he understood the system better. It was also a nice change from fighting in person.

Thankfully there wasn’t any interruptions with the battle from other intruders. A group of two did come up but after seeing Frost already in battle they politely bowed out and chose to wait, choosing to fight with some of the other monsters in this section. Frost was quite lucky in that regard; many others would not willingly step aside.

Once the small golem started punching the big golem’s chest the fight quickly drew to a close. After a dozen strong punches or so hitting the same place, the big golem’s chest caved in and revealed its core.

Boom! A final punch shattered the big golem’s core causing its body to collapse and the barrier that blocked the staircase vanished, the battle was over.

Frost nodded his head in approval before sauntering over to his ice golem and patting its head like it was one of his summoned monsters. With the big golem’s core shattered it couldn’t be recovered as a useful monster material and the ice that made up the body was too weak for Frost’s standards. If it was an iron golem, he’d probably store the entire thing in his spatial ring for his frost dwarven smith or even himself. He still needed to find a trade that he could get interested in after all like Damascus did.