Dungeon of Niflheim

87 [Bonus chapter] Chapter 87: Assaulting the compound (8)

“Haaaaaaa he really knows how to take the fun out of it.” The B-rank mage sighed while shaking his head. Thanks to Adam’s reminder he could no longer enjoy the up coming battle with Ryuu and had to maintain a serious and professional outlook.

“Rock, Jin, you two man the first area with me, we’ll split Ryuu and Bastion from the group and leave some of the stronger goons to deal with the rest.” The mage took control, after Adam he was the next one in charge.

“Sounds fun, Drogan” Rock responded with a smile; he was quite happy leaving the orders to the mage Drogan, not only because he was the strongest but because if he made the calls, they could shirk responsibility to him.

“What about the Shadow?” Jin asked.

“Like always he’ll protect the final area, it’s not like he’d listen to my orders anyway haaaaa.” Drogan sighed again as he thought of the one refereed to as the Shadow. Unlike him and the brothers Jin and Rock, the Shadow was purely under Adam. Like Alex he was a direct subordinate raised and groomed by him not some hired help.

Regardless of the benefits or advantages there was only one person that Shadow listened to and that was Adam. He was permanently stationed around him and even with the ongoings upstairs he’d remain in the last room protecting Adam unless given a direct order. And what was the chances of Adam sending away his most loyal guard...absolutely none. Whatever remained of the intruders would not only have to deal with the higher ranked goons placed before them they’d have to confront Shadow someone even, they the 3 elite bodyguards found difficult to deal with.

“Fair point,” Jin shrugged and didn’t ask any more questions.

“I’ll deal with Ryuu and will attempt to use magic to force him to deal with me and Bastion to deal with the two of you. Are you sure you’ll be enough?” There was a significant gap between that of C and B ranks, even though Bastion was retired for a number of years his strength shouldn’t have fallen much lower.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine as long as we’re together a retired B-rank’s no trouble hahaha.” Rock evilly laughed as he rubbed the storage ring on his finger. Images of him slicing Bastion apart with his weapon filled his mind.

.....

“You know our strength so why even ask.” Jin responded with an annoyed tone, he didn’t appreciate being looked down on, even by Drogan.

Drogan raised his hands up in apology no longer verbally questioning their abilities but in his mind was a different story. Yes, he knew of their capabilities, but he also roughly knew the strength of someone like Bastion.

‘Bunch of idiots, they know nothing of true strength. If they think that hunting Bastion would be easy because he’s retired and past his prime, they’ve got a harsh awakening coming.’ Drogan criticised his colleagues but didn’t argue anymore, they were big boys that can deal with their own problems.

However, he needed to make 100% sure that Bastion and Ryuu were separated otherwise they stood no chance of winning. Although Rock and Jin had good teamwork the three of them together would have nothing on Ryuu and Bastion’s decades of experience, Drogan wasn’t even that confident in besting Ryuu. He gave himself a 50/50 chance at best, but it didn’t deter him in anyway in fact, it excited him.

What was the best way for someone to grow stronger? Obviously to fight against equal or even stronger opponents only then can you improve and surpass yourself when regular training had reached its limits.

From what he knew of Ryuu he was classed as an upper B-rank mage slightly higher than himself, but unlike Ryuu he didn’t have to fight dozens of goons on the way thus reducing his mana levels. Bastion however was a mid-level B-rank before retirement so he should still be a force to be reckoned with. Jin and Rock could at most contend with an entry level B-rank and that’s just contend not defeat.

‘Hopefully, Bastion’s strength has degraded more than expected or he takes part in more battles before he reaches us, otherwise it could end badly.’ Usually if Jin and Rock encountered a foe they couldn’t defeat, Drogan could assist them. But with this fight, his entire attention will be on Ryuu and even if he did win, he’d most likely not be in any shape to lend assistance.

Back to the basement first floor.

“Ahead there should be several groups of low-level goons with the squad leaders being upper E-rank in strength. The first floor has the weakest guards, the chaff if you will, excluding me and Taka of course.” Bruno explained what awaited the group in the next area.

“Even with some slight injuries leftover no one there should be our opponents its just that the numbers would be a tad difficult.” One of the reasons him and Taka always got the short end of the stick even though they were fairly strong was due to being outnumbered. Even the two of them with their strength being that of upper D-rank couldn’t contend against dozens and dozens of goons so all the difficult and tedious jobs were shirked to them.

“Don’t worry about that you’re not alone, Luna and I can’t assist to much given our low level strength, but Frost-senpai here will fight alongside you.” Leo smiled proudly as his eyes filled with admiration towards Frost, completely forgetting the fact that he nearly killed their two new members.

Bruno’s lips twitched awkwardly as he remembered Frost’s strength, but it was only momentary.

“True with him fighting alongside me and Taka and with our brand new weapons it won’t be much of challenge.” Bruno nodded and agreed with Leo, he knew full well the capabilities of the young man wielding the glaive.

Ryuu and Bastion would be sitting out for the majority of the fight, as they had to maintain their energy levels for the grand battle between elites, that was sure to happen once they descended.

And even with Leo and Luna only having around E-rank strength, their equipment helped to make up the difference. They’d be more helpful in the coming battles than they realised and should be able to rack up their skills.

Luna only knew a couple 2nd circle spells, each with the lowest level of mastery, casting magic against multiple opponents equal to or greater than her in strength was a sure fire way to quickly increase her abilities. Her mana levels however were a fair bit higher than the average for her age given the amount of spoiling she received from her father. He even at one time bought her a B-rank mana heart to directly boost her reserves, this was when she was ten years old. Kind of ironic that he tried so hard to dissuade her from becoming an adventurer yet trained her to be a highly talented mage. She even knew healing magic, a rather rare type especially in the countryside. Most of her focus was drawn to that element so that she could heal Leo whenever he was injured but she knew some basic fire spells as well as some wind magic like her father.

Leo on the other hand given that he was a noble had access to a few of their benefits such as a couple of skill books and tutors. Even though he was only 16 his sword and shield mastery had already reached the peak of basic mastery (level 2), just a tad shy from entering the adept level. He could also use other weapons with varying degrees of success such as axes, spears and even bows but the sword and shield was his forte just like his father. In regards to skills since they were a fair bit rarer and pricier than magic books his parents only purchased two for him, one for the sword [cross slash] and one for the shield [magic shield].

Cross slash being rather simple, generating a cross of energy in the air that was sent towards the target, increasing mastery increasing its speed and penetration ability, a step above the standard slash or thrust skill. Magic shield however was a step up from that, it allowed the user’s shield to repel magic, increased mastery enhanced its strength and allowed extension around the shield. This was a very rare and expensive skill that his father managed to luckily purchase for his 12th birthday, it wasn’t until he turned 15 that he really managed to utilise it to an acceptable level. High ranking skills and magic require equivalent knowledge and ability to be used.

Thanks to his tutor as well as his father he also gained some of the basic skill sets through training such as [slash], [thrust], [dash] and [shield bash] greatly increasing his overall ability. All he really needed was experience, once he and Luna had that they’d reach D-rank and even C-rank in no time.

“Once we reach the second basement however, things get a little more complicated.” Taka took over in explaining.

“The goons there are a cut above the rest, not only are they stronger but they’re more militaristic in their obeying of orders akin to the local guards and will be difficult to pass. They’ll be very good at holding us down and wasting our energy before we reach the final floor.” Taka spoke with a hint of annoyance in his voice, individually they were all weaker than him and Bruno, but they worked well together making it that much harder.

Taka’s serious tone set a dour mood across the group well except for Frost who was only growing more excited.

‘Sweet, sweet DP coming my way.’

“That’s....a problem.” Leo frowned as he looked over towards Ryuu and Bastion. The way Taka phrased it made it seem as though Ryuu and Bastion would have to take part in the fight otherwise they’d fail. Leo couldn’t have his uncles fight so soon, they were the only ones able to combat the elite bodyguards and who knows what else awaited them down there in third basement. Adam could have dozens of D-rank goons or even a hidden trump card no weaker than the B-rank mage.

He grew stressed and pressured with this information, there was no good answer, they were already cutting it close as it was but that was the price they paid. They had little time to sufficiently prepare for this assault and even less time to act given Adam’s recent movements.

There was a depressing silence in the room as everyone felt the weight of their mission.

“Haaaaaaa” the silence was broken by Frost audibly sighing. Unlike the rest of them he didn’t see the problem in fact he felt it was good news. Why was he here in the first place....to fight obviously and the more victims there were the better. And as far as Bruno described, the strongest would probably be around entry D-rank level, easily dealt with without having to drag the two old men into the fray.

Frost may be confident in his skills but he’s also rather humble, knowing how vast the difference was between his strength and Ryuu’s and Bastion’s. He couldn’t effectively take on the elite guards but dealing with anyone lower than them was right up his alley. Even dealing with Taka and Bruno wasn’t that difficult he only really struggled do it due to his naivety and time constraint.

However, if the opponents were weaker than the groups two new members, Frost was happy to share the battle.

His sigh caused the rest of the group to turn to face him.

“Do you have a suggestion Frost-senpai?” Luna queried from his side.

“Not really a suggestion but aren’t you all overthinking this? True we can’t let Ryuu, and Bastion fight much or at all until we come across those three bodyguards but even, so I don’t see a problem dealing with the second floor.” Frost turned towards Bruno and Taka.

“‘These two are almost C-rank in strength when together and have just been given brand new weapons, they’ll be able to deal with multiple foes at once with their teamwork.” He then turned towards Leo and Luna.

“Next the two of you albeit being the weakest here are outfitted with the best equipment. Your skills and magic as well as your defensive properties will be magnified, allowing you to fight higher level opponents without much worry for injury.” Finally Frost pointed to himself.

“And finally, you have me, effectively I can handle as much if not more than those two which just leaves the possibility of there being a strong adversary equal to the elite guards.” The group nodded quietly along as they listened.

“I’m fairly sure that if they’re a notch below I’d be able to handle them but if not I’m confident I could work alongside Bruno and Taka to take them down and only when that fails would we have to rope in Ryuu or Bastion, am I right?” Frost took a deep breath after his rant ended. Frost had accurately gauged the strength of their group and himself effectively analysing the strength required to stop them in their tracks all while aiming to preserve their strongest combatants.