Dungeon of Niflheim

207 Chapter 207: Preparing to leave

Over the next several days Frost had to endure the relentless pummelling of his guardian so that he’d be prepared for his excursion into the Glacial mountains. When he wasn’t being used as a punching bag -whether through physical or magical means- he was making his way through the last dozen or so books that he purchased in Furano, expanding his knowledge once more. Occasionally he’d have to do some actual Dungeon work so that he didn’t get rusty.

With the influx of die hard adventurers and his new high killing policy he managed to gain another 10000DP which he promptly spent to create his third floor. Which moved his core room to the last section and increased the passive income of the mana vein to 50DP per day. The new groups of adventurers were drawing ever closer to his core room so putting another three rooms between them and it was a real comfort, even if they were currently empty.

A couple groups of wild monsters also entered the dungeon over this period, drawn in by the ambient mana as they exited the Glacial mountains and once again, they refused to come under Frost’s rule. He even tried to produce his friendliest smile, but it didn’t work. Maya had a right giggle at his failure, finding his smile to be anything but friendly. Nanna and Loki tried to comfort him after his failure, but their innocent comments were like bullets through his heart. He moped around for a few hours after that and decided never to try and force a smile again.

Finally, after another couple days Frost felt that it was a good time to head out for exploration. His monsters were in a good position and could easily hold back the current number of adventurers with reasonable losses but just to make sure he decided to buy around another 20 monsters just to shore up defences in his absence. Since Nanna and Loki were still unable to use DP and Maya was not supposed to (she could still purchase food and stuff for Nanna and Loki but anything dungeon management related, was to be left to the Dungeon core and their monsters). In regards to his training in terms of physical abilities he had managed to reach almost mid-level C-rank with his knowledge of battle significantly increasing, able to now fend off not only attacks from weapons but also deal with monsters. Maya could summon her ice golems in pretty much any form she wished thanks to her high level of mastery. Using that she had his training partners take the forms of monsters he may encounter in the mountains, i.e., polar bears, frost wolves etc.... though they weren’t exactly the same it did allow him to experience the awkwardness in fighting something much larger than himself.

It is known in some cases especially among high ranking noble knights that only fight against other humanoids can find themselves severely outmatched when pitted against monsters despite their rank advantage.

His magic had also improved by several levels, now he could conjure up to 4 solid ice bolts at once and summon two ice spikes from his newer 2nd circle spell. His magic prowess was slowly advancing, coming close to the capabilities that Adam showed if he was without a magic staff. Though he did ponder the idea of purchasing a nice staff to supplement him in battle, he already had his glaive. Having another weapon would be a detriment in his opinion and thanks the quality of the glaive his spells weren’t hindered but they weren’t enhanced in any way. But he accepted that, he was not a pure mage type in the first place, much preferring close combat through glaive arts and chakra usage.

In regards to his new 3rd circle spell [summon ice golem] it was still rather unpolished but was at the level of being a decent distraction or something to tie down his opponent, still a long way from being a true help in battle and or something he could allow to run a mock in his dungeon.

For weaponry his glaive mastery was still at adept mastery and was unlikely to rise anytime soon. Going from adept (3rd level) to advanced (4th level) was a long and arduous process that many never achieve. Though Frost was very talented, his experience was too shallow, he needed practise against real opponents to make any headway.

Word had already spread about the new so called Dungeons and many adventurers had begun to flock to this place, some even setting up impromptu camps nearby, making perfect use of the newly purchased room at the entrance. Shame there was no inn or hotel in which they could rest and lock their doors for an extra 200% income but that can be dealt with later. His average daily DP-thanks to frequent deaths and major injuries- was now around 3000DP and going up almost every day as more and more adventurers continued to arrive, unafraid of death.

.....

Frost knew that this was a plateau period given the new information being spread and would eventually fall back down to normal levels. He needed to prepare for the long term tenants plan in order to supplement the decrease that would eventually come. But to do that he’d need to have a large amount of DP, a few more floors as well as extra dwarven smiths plus it’d most likely not take effect until after the monster stampede. As soon as the guild received conclusive reports on the status of the external regions around the exits, they could formulate a timeline which would have all these new adventurers instantly pull back days in advance for their own safety.

Once the stampede began, he’d only have monsters as visitors for quite a while, possibly even weeks. Douglas told him that the longest stampede they had ever endured lasted over a month. Though it wasn’t the most dangerous as it was formed by mostly low ranking monsters it was quite a problem having the army stationed there for so long and having their civilians under martial law for the entire time.

Frost was growing rather anxious about this upcoming disaster, wondering if his dungeon would be ready for the onslaught or rather siege if Douglas’s explanation was too be true. But it was also a good chance to indoctrinate some wild monsters, with the amount that would be present surely one or two would willingly go under his rule once they understood his power and what he was offering. What monster wouldn’t want to live in a Dungeon, no need to constantly fill your belly with food, lots of friends to hang out with and greater chance at evolution.

At the moment Frost was within his bedroom area in the private space, double checking everything he was set to bring with him. His glaive of course was a must, as well as the back-up. He also currently wore the chainmail vest that Leo gave him as a reward as well as the pieces of leather armour he purchased under his robes. Unfortunately, with all the DP spending he forgot about upgrading his magic robes, so they still offered little to no defence. Maya had already prepared some food for him to go in his adventurer’s backpack along with some other gear. The rest he placed in his spatial rings. The most important item however was the teleportation talisman which would instantly summon Maya to his location for protection. He kept that close to his chest so he could access it and rip it apart in a fast fluid motion.

“Are you sure you want to go now?” Maya asked, worry clearly in her voice. She knew her young master’s personality, stubborn and decisive but she wanted to try anyway. Though the current situation was fine, that could change in the week or two he was away and wanted to encourage delaying his trip. She still wasn’t satisfied with his strength but more than that she really didn’t want him to leave without her.

“We’ve been over this Maya; this is the best time to go. If I delay it any longer the monster stampede may occur which will forcibly delay it once again plus after that there will be too much stuff to do in terms of expansion.” Frost gently explained his reasoning for the umpteenth time to her while going over a checklist of his inventory. He decided to bring a few of the monster books to help with tracking and understanding monster behaviours better. Being a high level adventurer required a vast array of skills not just brute force, so he was going to take full advantage of this excursion. He’d track, hunt, hide, study and monitor monster behaviour as well as the plants that grew in the external regions.

“Haaaaaaaa fine but just so you know I’m not happy.” Maya pouted cutely, with slightly puffed up cheeks while Nanna and Loki sat at the nearby table invested in their reading practise. But underneath they too were nervous, worried about Frost’s safety.

“Yes, yes you’ve made your opinion very clear, but I need to leave, you know more than anyone that my strength has hit a bottleneck, requiring more drastic measures to proceed.” Frost didn’t get annoyed as he knew that Maya’s worries all came from a good place, in fact it warmed his heart and made the decision to leave alone even harder, but his future progress was a stake, he needed to go.