Dungeon of Niflheim

This was a pleasant surprise and one that he’d like to keep secret from a certain money succubus. What Frost didn’t realise was that Shadow was wanted throughout Northrend so he couldn’t easily access the same facilities that a regular citizen could, i.e., the bank. He didn’t like anyone else storing his money not even his boss Adam nor did he believe in hiding it in a secure location, where else would it be safer if not on his very person. Therefore, all of Shadow’s wealth was held in his storage ring thus granting Frost a very generous boon.

‘I could afford a second floor in the dungeon by converting this.’ Frost couldn’t help but smile, he was finally getting rich. Other dungeon cores would have to kill dozens if not hundreds of intruders to gain this kind of wealth yet Frost just had to kill one person and he was due to get even more.

‘Muahhhahaha’ Frost laughed evilly in his mind as relished his newfound wealth.

“Let’s see what else he’s got.” Frost moved the coin purses to the side before searching the rest of the storage ring. This is what was held.

· Smoke bombs x 3

· 5 low level health potions

· 5 low level mana potions

· Spare set of 2 star level armour ( made of some mind of monster skin)

.....

· Book on dagger techniques

· Vials of low level/common neurotoxin

· Several explosive mine traps

· Magic device that can turn target temporarily invisible

· Magic crystals D-grade

· Assassin killing tools e.g., wire, needles

· And a bunch of usual everyday items worth a couple silver at most

The results were quite impressive especially the magic device, now Frost had two in his mitts. The tracker he retrieved from Alex last week although he didn’t have a use for it, it still counted. He brought it with him in fact -well Maya did- he planned to sell it for money since they were severely lacking in the beginning but now it’d probably be best to hold on to it.

Frost removed the book on dagger techniques from the ring, examining it.

“Shame I don’t use daggers but perhaps Loki or Nanna may find it useful, if so, I can hold onto Shadow’s daggers for them. The other items can be stored in the Dungeon, I’ll find some use for them.” Other than the coins the rest wasn’t very sellable, where on earth would he sell assassin tools in the first place.

Putting that to the back of his mind, Frost retrieved one of the coin purses before having a long look around. He needed to find a few interesting shops to visit as well as a few vendors that’d purchase instead of just sell. There was still the jewels and other items to offload. Luckily there was a rudimentary guide next to the fountain that showed you where each of the different shopping areas were. jewellery stores were found in the basement along with vendors that purchased raw materials.

With his destination set Frost made his way to the basement level to off load some of the jewels and other trinkets he pilfered from Adam’s vault.

“Hello sir, can I help you?” Frost was greeted by a charming young dwarf woman. Dwarves weren’t just found in amongst armorers or blacksmiths but pretty much any profession that required dexterous hands, goldsmiths and jewel smiths included.

“I have a few jewels that that I’d like to sell.” Frost replied in a friendly tone but knew that the next conversation was going to be a battle of wills with him at a severe disadvantage. He didn’t know how much his bounty was worth, but she did.

The look in the young dwarf’s eyes changed and a slight smile appeared, she shifted into calculated merchant mode. When it came to jewels all that mattered was profit.

The next hour felt horrible for Frost, he was severely outmatched, and the young dwarf knew it. She spared no punches in her negotiations. At the end of it Frost’s face was twitching, his body felt bruised and although he sold all his jewels and received a hefty payment it didn’t feel like a victory. The young dwarf’s massive and giddy smile certainly didn’t help, she obviously made a significant profit today likely leading her to receive a nice bonus from her superiors.

“Thank you for shopping with us, do think of us again whenever you have any more jewels to sell.” The young dwarf waved with enthusiasm causing Frost to grind his teeth and clench his fists in frustration. He patted the coin purse held in his robes to improve his mood. He manged to gain around 2.5 gold coins from selling the jewels while keeping a couple choice ones for himself but from the young dwarf’s attitude he estimated he probably could’ve gotten double that, but you learn from your mistakes.

“Haaaaaaa I wonder how Maya and the kids are doing?” Frost sighed as he left the shop and made his way back to the children’s clothing area.

When he arrived, Frost couldn’t help but frown. It was as though a special event was going on with crowds of women surrounding the changing rooms. Eventually he managed to push his way through to see Maya with a bright smile on her face along with a tall pile of clothes beside her.

Nanna and Loki were performing something of a fashion show with each of the people present swooning and giving out recommendations. Some of the mothers present chucked their own kids into the ring but they all paled in comparison to the cuteness that was Loki and Nanna.

Frost was left gobsmacked and twitching struggling to articulate a response to what was before him. At least Loki and Nanna seemed to be enjoying themselves as they walked and twirled with a swagger, showing of their new outfits.

“Sir Frost I presume?” A man suddenly spoke from Frost’s side.

“Hmm” Frost turned to face the man. He was young maybe early to mid-twenties. Tall, dark hair, a bit above average looks, slim and well dressed with a calculating look in his eyes. His appearance however did have a certain resemblance to Sebastian albeit a much younger version.

“My name is Calder, my grandfather recommended that I come down and meet you.” The young man or Calder introduced himself while holding out his hand.

“Ah Sebastian’s grandson.” Recognising who was before him Frost shook his hand in greeting.

“Sorry about well whatever this is.” Frost awkwardly smiled while glancing over at the changing rooms. This event had prevented any work getting done. People to busy enjoying the show, not purchasing anything.

“What this? no no I should be thanking you, this is a great situation, great publicity for the store plus take a look at all their faces.” Calder gestured toward all the smiling and happy customers. He could foresee the future impact of such an event in fact he even had ideas to make this a recurring feature of the store. People would be drawn to his store just to see such an event and they’d be sure to buy things once they were in the door. Calder had actually been struggling to improve the store in anyway given his grandfather’s capabilities, he viewed Sebastian as a perfect merchant with nothing to improve upon. Yet today thanks to a little showing off from Maya and the two darling Phoenix kin children new avenues opened up in his mind. The ideas were flowing, he felt excited, motivated, and filled with passion.

Frost could see the passion and fire in Calder’s eyes, and it caused him to shiver, it reminded him of the look in the jewellery dwarf’s eyes

“...Then you’re welcome I guess?” Frost scratched the back of his head, a little confused. The mind of a merchant was beyond his understanding. With Frost’s response the two men chuckled a little before walking a little out of the way, hard to have a conversation when a mother would occasionally scream in excitement nearby.

“Grandfather told me about Loki and Nanna as well as what you’re doing for them....you’re a good man.” Calder looked over towards the two phoenix kin with warmth, his personality was similar to his grandfather’s.

“Thank you but I just made a promise and was thankfully in a position to help, whether I turn out to be a good thing for them is yet to be determined.” Frost joined Calder in looking over Loki and Nanna. Although he would take care of them and provide for them, he had great plans in utilising them. They would have to work and work hard to earn their keep.

“Hmm you’re rather modest, another admirable trait....seems my grandfather is as sharp as ever with his eye for people.” Calder agreed with his grandfather’s assessment so far.

“I’ll be sure to remind the clerks here to give you a little discount on such a large purchase hahaha.” Calder lightly laughed as he saw the pile of chosen clothes growing taller and taller by Maya’s side.

“....Thank you” Frost shook his head in dismay before thanking Calder for his offer.

It appears that they’ll still be awhile, would you like to take a walk with me? There’s a shop here that may prove useful to you.” Calder asked with a glint in his eye.

Frost suddenly felt as though he was being eyed up as a fresh piece of meat wherein the meat was his money. But he had no reason to refuse, he currently had over a dozen gold coins and if it’s something that Calder said would be useful, he’s probably telling the truth.

“Haaaaaa fine but only if I get a friend’s discount.” Frost felt it was worth a shot to save as much of his money as possible. He’d likely not be returning to Furano until after the family gathering.

“Hahahaha” Calder laughed while leading the way, neither agreeing nor disagreeing to the request.

Calder led Frost to the second floor to a shop that was filled with shelves and shelves filled with books. However, they weren’t magic books just your generic paper type that’d you need to read and understand the old fashioned way.

“This here is one of our prized resources putting us several cuts ahead of the other merchant associations....our fountain of knowledge.” Calder explained with pride.

“Here you can find mountains of information on all manner of subjects from languages to cooking to even becoming a blacksmith. We write and sell this knowledge to anyone, allowing people to learn and improve their lives however they wish. This is my grandfather’s greatest achievement, opening up the world of the regular citizens, no longer having knowledge hoarded by the higher class.” As Calder spoke the more animated, he became, his fists were clenched, and his smile was wide. Every time he saw this section of the store he’d be filled with such respect and admiration for his grandfather.

Frost couldn’t help but be influenced by Calder’s emotions, becoming excited as well. Knowledge was something he sorely lacked, especially in a broad general sense, these books would help to remove that inadequacy. But with something as great as this there was sure to be a catch. Knowledge was not cheap; Frost knew that from the price of anything related to magic. Scrolls and skill books practically costing an arm and a leg.

“Although you say that regular citizens can access this knowledge but for how much?” Of course, regular books would cost less than magic books, but it still shouldn’t be cheap, far greater than what a regular citizen would be able to or willingly pay.

In response Calder smirked, happy to answer such a question.

“It’s free” Calder replied with two words

“....Excuse me?” Frost questioned him, wondering if he heard correctly.

‘Did he just say it’s free?’

“It’s free ahahahah,” Calder replied again with the same two words before laughing out loud, he loved the look people would have when they found out the price.

“.....” Frost was speechless, he looked around the room at the stacks and stacks of books lined up everywhere, unable to even imagine the cost to create such products, yet Calder said they were free, he is a merchant, right?