Dungeon of Niflheim

He couldn’t be too forceful or too weak, needing to maintain a stable but overbearing onslaught of mana. His progress was slow but sure, starting from their heads he slowly pushed back the rampant slave mana back towards the tattoo.

“You need to speed up a little Frost, I’m nearing my limit cough cough.” Sebastian violently coughed, blood started to drip from his lips which he wiped away all while still maintaining the stability of the operation.

“You need to overpower every speck of the slave mana otherwise it’ll come back with a vengeance cough cough.” Sebastian coughed up more blood, he could only hold on for another ten seconds or so.

‘Shit! Shit! Shit!’ Frost panicked as he felt Sebastian wavering and the slave mana becoming even more aggressive. He still had 20% left to clear and not enough time.

“Dammit hold on this might hurt a bit.” Frost warned the kids before he suddenly increased the amount of mana, he was channelling. He lacked the time to be delicate, this needed to happen now.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” The kids screamed out as the mana battled within their bodies, as though mini explosions were happening within their veins, yet still they did their best to stay motionless.

Maya cracked her chair, turning it into smithereens due to anxiety.

Frost didn’t make them endure for too long quickly forcing back the mana back into the tattoo.

.....

“Almost there almost there.” The moment he was attacking the last couple percent, Sebastian lost control. His eyes rolled back into his head, knees buckling, he fell to the ground, blacking out. The moment he did, the last bit of slave mana suddenly turned into a complete monster, increasing in strength by magnitudes but Frost was having none of it.

“Get the fuck in that tattoo.” Expecting a last ditch effort Frost channelled everything he had, quickly snuffing out the last resistance of the rampant slave mana before it managed to gain any traction, he did however overexert himself.

Dong!

Frost was knocked back by the recoil of his own mana, he wasn’t hurt but he did fall.

In the end two phoenix kin children were still once more, their breathing quickly becoming stable and colour returning to their faces, they had succeeded.

Maya rushed over to Frost’s side to inspect his situation. She sent a mild stream of her own mana into his body but found nothing wrong. She sighed in relief and casted a healing spell just in case.

“[Heal]” she then moved over to the children, inspecting them with just as much care and was once again relieved. No rampant slave mana was left storming throughout their bodies and their internal injuries were minor at best. Frost had good control over his mana throughout the process, granting such a result. Maya smiled as she caressed the cheeks of the young children before casting a healing spell on them both.

“[Heal]” they still needed to wake up naturally but now when they do, they won’t have any pain.

“Ugh!” A hoarse groan came from Sebastian as he came to. He was knocked out due to mana exertion, so his body was in a great deal of pain, and he had a splitting headache. A common occurrence for mages when in training. Passing out from overusing your mana was said to increase your maximum capacity as long as you were willing to suffer the after affects.

Since Maya was preoccupied with the kids, Frost stepped up to aid Sebastian. He grabbed onto his shoulder and supported the old man’s weight before gently moving him over to a comfy chair that was shoved near the wall.

The old man was weak in the knees and his breathing rapid and shallow and every time he tried to focus; his head would feel as though he was hit by a sledgehammer.

‘Owowowowwowow you’d think after years of practise I’d be used to this kind of pain oowwowowowo.’ The more he complained the worse the pain got. It wasn’t a physical pain but one that affected the mind and soul, you can’t just tense your muscles as you grin and bear it. Regardless of your mana capabilities or age it hits you all the same sometimes even worse if you’re particularly skilled. All he could do was wait out the worst of it and then drink a mana potion.

Frost gently placed Sebastian on the chair and inspected his vitals as Maya had done for him. What he saw was damaged mana veins, burned out and fragile, Sebastian didn’t even have enough mana left to instinctively combat against Frost’s intrusion.

‘Damn the old man really went all out.’ Frost was filled with respect for the man, genuinely shocked that he was capable of such exertion given his advanced age. He was also filled with guilt; this could have killed the old merchant regardless of its success. Seniors should be cared for and looked after, not forced to engage in strenuous work.

Not knowing how to help the old man he simply rubbed his back as though coaxing out a cough as he turned towards Maya for assistance.

“He’s in a nasty bout of mana exhaustion, just keep doing what you’re doing, it’ll pass. Once the initial phase of pain is over, he can drink a mana potion or meditate to absorb the mana in the air.” Maya responded back with disinterest far more worried about the two kids. Although she was grateful to the old man, she knew exactly what was wrong with him and it wasn’t anything serious.

She turned back to monitor the kids; she wasn’t just making sure that they were safe, she was also taking advantage of the slave tattoo’s now dormant state to gleam knowledge. She was fulfilling her young masters orders.

Frost released a sigh of relief, glad that the situation wasn’t anything serious. He continued to rub the old man’s back until the pain subsided.

Several minutes later Sebastian caught his breath, the pain was mostly over. Without hesitation he pulled out an ornate vial filled with a shiny blue liquid. Frost’s eyes opened wide in surprise as he watched the old man glug down the potion.

‘That’s a fairly high level mana potion.’ Frost could tell from the colour, although it was lower than the health potion that Leo gave him, it could still be classified at the high level. The old man generated more and more respect within Frost with his every action. He wasn’t just a simple old man, or a simple merchant, no he was far more important than that to be able to carry around potions at that level. Even more so to use it just to deal with mana exhaustion, he wasn’t in any danger.

Sebastian caught the look of envy and curiosity in Frost’s eyes and smirked.

“Lad when you get to my age you have less and less reason to not use rare items since any moment could be your last ahahaah.” Sebastian chuckled, this was one part of being old and wealthy that he appreciated. He didn’t have any buyer’s remorse or regret from using such a high level potion just because he wanted his awful feeling to pass a little quicker or because he no longer desired to torture his taste buds with low level crap.

Thanks to the potion, his pain was a thing of the past in a matter of seconds. Sebastian stood up and gave his body a little shake which was followed by a wide smile. Sebastian felt exhilarated, the operation succeeded, and he knew it, awash with pride he performed a round of fist pumps which subsequently threw his back out. He collapsed back onto the chair saying “owwowowwo” while rubbing his back.

“Pffffftt ahhahah,” this elicited a laugh from Frost as he was reminded of his father. Seeing that the old man was fine he left him alone after he nearly pulled a stitch from laughing. He moved over to Maya and the two kids who should be waking up soon.

“How are they looking?” Frost asked Maya calmly, this whole thing was for the kids in the first place, so their state was important.

“They’re fine, nothing abnormal that I can detect and should be waking up at any moment.” As if on cue the kids started frowning before slowly opening their eyes.

The kids struggled to keep their eyes fully open as they looked around, as though they were waking up from a long sleep. Eventually they saw Frost and Maya looking over them with smiles and they responded in kind before fully waking up and rising to a seated position.

“....Master?” The girl spoke quietly as though she was asking a question. This was the first time Frost and Maya were hearing her voice and it was magical, her voice was soft and charming. Frost subconsciously smiled ear to ear, he was incredibly happy, and he didn’t exactly understand why.

“Yes, I’m your master now.” He spoke gently, but with gravitas. He was now in charge of this young girl in all respects, she would be entirely dependent on him.

The girl looked over towards her brother, they nodded towards each other before clambering off their tables and standing before Frost. And with experience albeit with happier connotations they bowed towards their new master.

Frost didn’t reject this action as he knew it was important, since their roles were that of master and slave regardless of how well he planned to treat them, this was a necessary ceremony which without the kids would feel stressed and unsure.

“Now that you two have regained the ability to talk and are no longer bound to Baron Adam what should I call you?” Frost was dying to hear their names, calling them you or kids was getting old.

However, he didn’t receive the reaction he was expecting, the two phoenix kin children tilted their heads to the side before looking towards one another in confusion.

“Um master it’s standard protocol to give slaves new names.” The young boy spoke up this time, clearing the confusion.

“Eh? Is that so?” Frost looked towards Maya and then Sebastian for clarification, they nodded in reply.

‘So, I have to name them as well.’ Frost sighed internally, this was a big thing, he hadn’t even named one of his monsters yet. Who knows how bad or good his naming sense was going to be. He looked over the two children’s appearance hoping for something to stand out that he could use. His name wasn’t exactly that inspired given that his element was that of Ice.

“Do you not remember your true names? The ones given by your parents?” Well, done Frost, perfect excuse.

Frost’s comment caused the children’s eyes to narrow and grow red as they fought back against their tears, Frost just opened up a very touchy subject. Maya elbowed him painfully in the side for his stupidity.

The girl spoke up this time “Sorry master we were separated from our parents at a very young age, we can’t remember what they called us?” The young boy started to sob when he remembered their parents, his sister pulled him in close to comfort him but she herself was close to tears.

“Ugh!” This got him another elbow to the side, one with a bit more force, making him groan.

“Well looks like the two of you are getting new names then....” Wary of being elbowed again, Frost started thinking about what to call these two.