Dungeon of Niflheim

“Ok first off how long do you expect the battle to last?” Frost had only fought a prolonged battle with an ice golem and received a lengthy beatdown from Maya, yet he didn’t understand the limit on his stamina especially considering the battle would take place outside his dungeon forcing him to rely on food and rest to sustain his energy levels.

“Eh..Ah...u....” Not expecting to be asked that Leo froze before shaking head his and calming down.

‘Looks like I was worried for nothing.’ Leo smiled before answering.

“We’ll be attacking late in the evening when the sun fully sets and darkness is our ally and plan to finish up around dawn, about 10 hours” Leo wasn’t the one to come up with the time frame it was Ryuu and Bastion, of course if they could finish earlier, it’d be best.

“10 hours seems reasonable given the number of escape routes and enemies you’ll be facing.” Douglas stroked his moustache while agreeing with the 10 hour timescale. The 10 hours included the time required to eliminate or arrest all the goons hired by Adam, the actual taking down Adam could be done in less than two but there was more to this operation than simply Adam. They needed to take down his entire infrastructure. They needed to have taken Adam and his compound down quickly and retrieve the necessary evidence to arrest all of his illegal conspirators such as the more illegal gangs, smuggling operations etc... if they take too long, they’ll notice and cover their tracks.

“Ten hours huh that’s no problem.” Frost fought full on against the ice golem for half that length of time once so it should be fine. Maya reluctantly gave him a nod agreeing that it should be fine.

.....

“Ok next question, Adam if he’s stronger than E-rank and I have to fight him do you want me to capture or kill?” Frost understood that it’d be best if Leo was the one doing the killing, considering his position as territory heir. The grudge Frost had wasn’t that great in the first place, as long as he was involved in the killing it was fine. Besides a slow death would be more enjoyable.

‘I could just hack off his limbs and freeze the area to prevent bleeding, he won’t die for a while in that situation the pain however hahahah....’ Frost laughed under his breath as an evil smile started to grow. Frost felt the cloth covered item in his sleeves, he still had an item prepared that would work wonders on limiting Adam’s movements, it shouldn’t kill him too quickly either.

Badum badum

Leo frowned when he heard Frost’s question and his heart started to beat loudly.

‘Right, this is a plan to take down my uncle, a plan for me to... kill him.’ Leo understood Frost’s question. The responsibility was his.

Leo placed his hand over his chest to calm down his heart and took a deep breath, understanding that his reply would sanction the killing of a family member, regardless of how evil and despicable Adam was when the question was thrust upon him, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

Pat

Douglas patted his son’s shoulder giving him support. He wouldn’t blame his son if he chose to have Frost kill him, it was a lot to ask of a 16 year old boy.

Leo felt the weight of his father’s hand on his shoulder.

‘It’s so light and weak, yet heavy.’ Leo could feel a massive weight from his father even though he was so weak and ill.

‘Is this the weight that a ruler carries?’ He looked up into his father’s eyes and could see him smiling, allowing him to take the easy route and have some else do the deed. He then turned to Frost who once again had a stoic expression well he assumed it was stoic since the mask covered the majority of his face. He too looked at Leo as if it didn’t matter to him if he was the one to kill Adam. Both looks were different, but both were saying that he didn’t need to bear the burden.

Leo sighed before smiling, he placed his hand over his father’s and looked Frost in the eye.

“If you can manage it, please capture him, I’ll be the one to end his life, that’s my duty as the heir of Furano.” Leo spoke in a determined tone, tossing aside any reservations he still had.

His father Douglas felt a surge of strength through his son’s hand

‘Leo’ he smiled gently, his son truly had matured, no longer a child but a man of the Furano household.

“Good” Frost answered back in a happy tone and a smirk on his face. There was only one question left to ask, and it was the most awkward.

“Final question, you mentioned a reward for my participation, could I possibly specify the item or at least some of it?” Frost asked while struggling to look Leo and his father in the eye. He felt weird bringing up money at such an inopportune time.

Leo looked towards his father and his father looked back at him in amazement before they both answered back at the same time.

“Of course, you can.”

“No problem as long as it’s within our means we’ll grant it.” Leo actually felt weird as he didn’t know what to give Frost and Maya. Money would feel to distant, and he didn’t really know what they liked so Frost asking took care of something that had been bugging him in the back of his mind.

“Ugh....thanks” not expecting such a reaction Frost struggled with his response and felt even more guilty about what he was about to request.

“Ummmm you see there’s something I’ve wanted for a while now and given what transpired today in the western zone of town I kind of really need one.”

“Hmmmm need what?” Douglas, Leo, and Cassandra were both confused.

“A storage magic device at least a dozen square metres, Maya bought a lot of stuff you see.” Maya had pretty much filled her entire storage device before they left the dungeon and now, she bought more clothes, if he didn’t get a storage device, he’d probably be forced to carry all those bags back to the dungeon. He also lacked money and connections to purchase a decent sized and stable device and assumed that asking for one as a reward should be sufficient.

“...”The Furano’s, Luna included looked at one another in amazement, Maya however burst out laughing, she felt warm inside for some reason. With her laughing Luna and the rest quickly joined in leaving Frost without an answer.

‘Was it too much to ask for?’ He remembered the storage devices available in the ‘money pit’ going for several gold coins but none them were of a decent quality.

Feeling a little embarrassed Frost tried to speak but was beaten to the punch by Cassandra.

“Damarcus go and bring one of the larger storage rings.” Cassandra ordered the guard from earlier to retrieve a storage ring.

“Yes ma’am” Damarcus bowed and left immediately leaving Frost bewildered.

‘Eh?’

Douglas saw his confused expression.

“Frost you should have said something earlier, we have multiple storage devices that don’t get used, you can have it for free hahahah.” Douglas laughed in joy, even though the value of such a ring was probably several gold coins it didn’t matter, they had a bunch. Storage devices were commonly given alongside gifts between nobles, it was much easier than presenting carriages. Over the generations the Furano household gathered so many that they’d lost any value in their eyes.

Damarcus quickly returned with a satin ring box in hand, with Cassandra’s nodding he presented the box to Frost.

‘Eh I got one just like that.’ Of course, it wouldn’t be anywhere near the standard of Maya’s but still it shouldn’t be bad.

Frost opened the box and a simple thick sliver ring revealed itself, it had a few decorative inscriptions which were the runes to turn it into a magic device. It looked much better than the ones being sold in the shops.

“That storage ring should be able to hold up to 16m3 and be able to maintain itself for at least another 20 years with active use.” Like most devices magic devices, storage rings are prone to fail over time. The storage devices in the magic device store’s advertised around 10 years of stability, after that the ring would break destroying all its contents. Maya’s apparently didn’t suffer from that issue, that’s an item made by a God for you. Maya’s storage bracelet was also incredibly durable able to withstand strong attacks and magic whereas your run of the mill storage device would have to be treated like glass. This one however seemed a bit better and would suit Frost perfectly.

‘I’ve finally got my own storage device.’ Frost with excitement, removed the ring from its box and placed it on his finger, it had built in magic allowing it to conform to the wearers ring size, so it fit perfectly.

Frost sent a stream of mana into the device and was met with a large open space, roughly 16m3 as Cassandra stated. More than enough to store his recent purchases as well as some of Maya’s.

“Thank you for your generosity.” Frost bowed his head slightly in gratitude.

“Hahaha no problem as I said we have plenty to spare, this won’t impact on the reward you’ll receive so no need to give thanks hahahah.” Douglas laughed loudly. Leo nodded his head in agreement to his father’s words whereas Luna whispered a few things into Maya’s ear. Frost caught a bit of the first sentence, something about how the Furano household actually has a lot of valuable items due to their proximity to the Glacial Mountains and the monster stampedes so Frost didn’t need feel to guilty about receiving the ring, but Luna’s next sentence gave him the shivers.

“That’s great now we can go shopping again.” Frost felt that Luna was purposely stamping on his heart.

‘I just got this ring; will I ever be able to use it for myself.’ As Frost became gloomy at the thought and tried his best to ignore the mischievous smile Maya was giving him the final course arrived, the desert.

“Oh, this is!” Cassandra exclaimed in surprise when the desert was revealed.

“Snow velvet cake!” Luna was even more shocked. Before them on each of their plates was a beautiful slice of cake. Red sponge covered in a glittering white cream and icing.

This was Luna and Cassandra’s favourite cake; they only had the chance to have it a few times a year given the ingredients required, not to mention the baking skills. Even the royal princess adored snow velvet cake, that’s how popular it was.

The boys however weren’t as moved, Douglas and Leo knew of the cake as well as its price tag but smiled happily seeing their significant others bright complexions. Too them it was just a tasty desert they were more obsessed with high-ranking monster steaks, brimming with mana. Frost also wasn’t in awe, merely appreciating its delicate appearance.

‘It would have taken a lot of effort to sculpt such a shape.’ There was a white bunny made out of the cream and icing sitting on top of the cake.

Frost looked over at his companion to see her reaction to such a desert.

‘Is this going to be another thing I’m going to have to purchase whenever I get a chance?’ Fully expecting Maya to have a reaction similar to Luna and Cassandra started taking a mental note. But he was pleasantly surprised, Maya was even less interested than Douglas and Leo. She looked over at Frost a mouthed.

‘There’s no alcohol in it.’

‘Ah I forgot she’s an alcoholic.’ If there was a rum version, she probably steal his slice but for a standard sweet, no point.

She ate her cake gracefully one bite at time.

Frost copied her a took a small bite.

‘Ah it’s really sweet,’ Frost sucked on his teeth; the sudden bout of sugar was a bit much

‘Guess I’ve not got much of a sweet tooth.’ Frost smiled, he just learned something new about himself.