Dungeon of Niflheim

290 Chapter 290: The B.F.G

Lola and her mother simply smiled gently as the kids eagerly led Frost out of the manor, finding it rather adorable.

“Come then Lola, there’s lots we need to discuss heheheh.” Yarrow placed his muscular arm around his daughter’s shoulders as if preventing her escape. Chia did much the same, leaning over and clamping her arm against her chest. At a simple look it appeared as though a loving couple were leading their daughter gracefully into another room but if one looked closer, passed the smiles and happy faces it was more reminiscent of a convict being walked to the gallows. Lola felt a strong sense of regret in regards to her earlier gusto and promises in taking over her father’s burden. She weakly looked behind hoping for her husband to come to her rescue, but he was already gone, chasing after the kids and Frost. She felt like crying, powerless to resist as she was escorted into an office.

Meanwhile Sam had caught up with Frost and the rest. He picked up Ren and placed him on his shoulders since he was quite small. Jasmine seeing this instantly grew jealous but instead of demanding to be carried by her father she picked Frost. Frost being a sucker towards kids easily acquiesced, lifting her up like Sam did for Ren and placed her on his shoulders. She stuck her tongue out towards Ren and Tulip in triumph. Ren wasn’t bothered but Tulip felt incredibly jealous of her sister, beating herself up for not being as fast as her or a little too old to be carried. Instead with a slight blush she grasped Frost’s hand and took on the job of leading. It wasn’t as good, but it was the most her shy self could do.

Though Kranor was quite large, even more so than Furano its layered floors made manoeuvring around quite easy. Carriages were available but few actually needed to use them as to get to a lower floor didn’t necessarily require walking towards the preformed staircase at the end of each floor, no the people of Kranor solved that issue long ago. Within each of the sections or rather most of them there was a man-made lift that allowed people easy access to the different floors, saving a great deal of time as well as space in terms of travel, especially those with cargo. Large caravans of crops from the lower floors would routinely be brought up to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor to be delivered to the restaurants, shops, and markets. Same with the ore and stone from the quarry, it’d be lifted up several times a day for use in the workshops on the top floor. If one wasn’t a resident however they had to pay a small fee, a toll to use the lift and for those businesses that required materials from the lower floors they’d need to have a merchant’s permit in order to use it free of charge. The rulers of Kranor had quite a thought out tax system that helped pay for such public services. However, since Frost was accompanying Sam and his three children his fee was kindly waved by the man in charge of the lift.

Druakai’s business was on the lowest floor in use, floor 7 where livestock was raised, and crops were grown. In fact, Druakai was one of the leaders of the agricultural department as well as being their top breeder for monster mounts. A very respected man within Kranor.

Tulip and Jasmine joyfully pointed out different areas as they walked and descended on the lifts such as their school, their favourite restaurant, shops and even the biggest playground in Kranor. Unfortunately, the lift area was too far away from their main home on the fourth floor otherwise they would have dragged Frost for a visit.

They had to walk a little on the sixth floor before taking a larger lift down to the last floor. If Sam and Frost were alone they would have obviously visited the breweries on this floor and perhaps if Sam was brave enough, the fifth floor that contained many adult entertainment establishments but unfortunately they were not. The two men could only roughly see the brewery at a distance, only the slightest whiff of alcohol could be sensed, as if mocking them. The two men looked at one another silently, promising to visit at a later time without the kids or women. In fact, they could bring Yarrow and make him act as chaperone forcing him to teeter on a knife’s edge. Join his son in law and young saviour in drinking some of Kranor’s own alcohol and get harshly punished by his wife, daughter and also likely his doctor or willingly ignore the temptation that would be placed before him. No matter how well Sam managed to sneak him into the brewery or the fifth floor all his actions would be reported back to his darling wife, she had eyes and ears everywhere. They both smiled mischievously and held back a giggle as they imagined Yarrow being subjected to such an ordeal.

“Atchooo! Geez someone must be talking about me.” Back in the manor Yarrow suddenly sneezed.

The seventh floor was much less populated than the upper floors, pretty much only farmers, breeders and their animals lived on this floor. The environment was very similar to the others but a tad warmer, more humid and the air felt far fresher thanks to the massive amounts of plants, trees, and herbs. Other than food crops there was also a small section reserved for medicinal herbs that Doctor Mira was in charge of, they were what really improved the natural air quality on this floor. Druakai’s place of business was within the first section and fairly close to the lift’s exit, just a short 20 minute walk or rather jog across a plethora of open farmland.

.....

The three kids took in a deep breath the moment they exited the lift as did Sam and the three people who joined them on their descent. This floor really made it hard for one to believe that they were situated within the Glacial mountains. By taking a deep breath of the fresh crisp, plant rich air it served as a reminder of the wonder of the Gods as well as the hard work of the people of Kranor who made it their home. It was tradition to do so whenever one found themselves on this floor.

“Go on take a deep breath like this huuuuuuuuuu then let it out, it’s good for the body and soul hahahahha.” Jasmine who had at some point clambered down from Frost’s tall shoulders spoke with a joyful tone. Since their mother and they were part of the ruling family they often had to visit the many floors of Kranor to meet and greet with the local residents – the fifth floor excluded for the kids of course- but the 7th floor was their favourite, here they could run around and play to their hearts content without bothering anyone. Plus, the crisp air helped to rejuvenate their young bodies but most of all it was because they usually got to visit their uncle Druakai and his many animals when here. To be honest the main reason they tagged along on this trip was because of the promise of meeting up with Druakai.

Frost took in a deep breath as instructed, filling his lungs with the crisp air of the plant filled floor.

“Huuuuuuuuuuu,” he breathed out and low and behold he did feel better just like Jasmine said, as though his body was mildly cleansed of toxins. It was a marvellous feeling, reminding him slightly of when he was back home and linked with the dungeon core. If regular people lived on this floor for prolonged periods of time they’d likely be far healthier and more resilient that the average person. Frost struggled to understand then why so few people wished to work as farmers given the glorious working conditions. Where young people really so focused on becoming strong adventurers or soldiers and leaving to explore their paradise that was Kranor..... the irony seemed to be lost on Frost as he thought that. Wasn’t he the exact same, seeking to improve his strength and explore the world of Nova instead of remaining at home where his core and family were?

His cheeks grew rosy from the deep breath, a good complexion. Jasmine put on a ‘see I told you so’ expression with her hands on her hips before rushing off into the distance. Tulip quickly gave a polite nod to Frost before rushing off after her sister. Ren who was on Sam’s shoulder quickly begged to be let down before he too ran after his sisters. They couldn’t wait anymore, they’d been cooped up in the manor for so long that their muscles ached, now they could run free and let loose all that pent up childish energy. The direction they ran was towards Druakai’s farm eager to play with the more docile monster cubs and other animals.

“Haaaaaaa these kids never change, come on let’s go Frost otherwise we’ll be left behind.” Sam guffawed while slapping down on Frost’s shoulders. “Time to go meet to the B.F.G.”