Dungeon of Niflheim

“Pretty much, I’ve added a new floor, three new rooms with environments, monsters and designed three new traps but I’m down to just over 600DP. It’s not complete but it’ll do for now.” Frost begrudgingly replied, struggling to feel proud of his purchases.

“Let me take a look.” Maya stood up and moved towards the dungeon core to inspect the recent changes. Nanna and Loki looked up at Frost innocently, curiosity in their eyes. After seeing the changes in the private space as well as the array of friendly monsters, they’d grown more and more interested in this new home of theirs. Their initial fears and worry pretty much becoming non-existent.

“Master can we see?” Nanna asked nervously still finding it awkward to request things but was becoming more relaxed.

“Of course, I’m planning on walking through the area in person shortly. Once you’re done with your snacks we’ll go and look together. There should be some new monsters that you can say hello to.” Frost smiled gently as he spoke. This was the first day that Nanna and Loki were present in the Dungeon, he planned for it to be rather easy going and fun. Touring the place was high up on that list. Given that all the adventurers were chased out by the Sanguine Snakes the timing was perfect.

After the tour depending on how late it was, he’d perhaps do a little training with them, good to get a little exercise before bed. There was still enough of the bentos left for Nanna and Loki to have a substantial lunch and dinner from tomorrow on, however he’d need to use DP to supplement their requirements for food. Luckily basic food was fairly cheap, with a simple lunch or dinner meal costing around 5DP. There was also the option of foraging, fishing, and hunting the free environment fauna present in the different areas.

Tomorrow however things would really start, waking up early in the morning all three of them would be subject to training in the simulation room, followed by studying, more training, then studying well you get the idea. None of them will have it easy for the next couple weeks at least. Maya would really put him through the ringer to prepare for his upcoming exploration into the Glacial Mountains. But it is something he brought on himself. Nanna and Loki however needed to quickly be brought up to an efficient level so as to not be burdens.

The family meeting was coming ever closer, just over two weeks now. Frost and Maya had no idea what to expect, whether they’d be pitted against other dungeon cores in some sort of test or if it truly was just a happy go lucky gathering, but they’d prepare none the less. Only Frost would be attending therefore the Dungeon management would be left to Maya- and the kids if they were up to speed-, with Findlay managing his monster forces.

As Frost envisioned the coming couple weeks Maya spoke from the sofa. “Not bad young master but definitely needs more stuff, we need to kill more intruders if we want to be ready for the gathering.” Maya found the new floor to have a good foundation and the traps were a nice touch but certainly unfinished. If they managed to have 2 finished floors, each fully populated she’d feel confident in her young master’s standing amongst his siblings. He was after all number 7, lots of younger siblings, very few older, he needed to be an example plus it would also make her standing higher. The guardians would of course be in some form of under the table competition.

.....

“We should be able to harvest enough DP in the coming weeks to finish. The new goblin spawner will have also produced close to thirty goblins by then. If we keep them on the second floor, there’d be a very small chance of them dying before then.” Frost wanted to build his forces. The dying Barren would certainly help in the interim to cover any of his monster losses on the first floor. He’d go and have a lengthy discussion with Barren once the kids were asleep. It wouldn’t do to involve them in such activities, not yet anyway.

“Alright, what do you want to do now?” Maya nodded her head agreeing with her young master’s suggestion before walking back over to the table. Nanna and Loki had quickly finished their snacks and tea so were ready to move.

“I’d like to show the kids around the Dungeon and inspect the new changes in person, you in?”

“Certainly, just let me get changed, Nanna you come too.” Maya replied with a smile before dragging Nanna over before she could argue. Frost and Loki looked at one another, thinking the same thing, ‘woman and their attire’. They both sniggered lightly but didn’t say anything, besides they did just buy a lot of clothes, might as well use them.

Once the girls returned, wearing much prettier outfits than previous. Maya showing off her white skin and complementing her ample curves with a skin tight red dress, looking very attractive. Nanna dressed in a cute, frilly white dress with a fluffy white coat appearing like a little yuki-onna. She was blushing, clearly embarrassed with her outfit but it suited her greatly.

The group then made their way out of the private space, taking advantage of the lack of intruders Frost began showing them around the entire Dungeon.

The group interacted with many of the floor’s monsters allowing Nanna and Loki to make many more friends, once again reducing their inherent fear of monsters. When they passed the frozen river and could see the many cold water fish swimming in the water, Nanna and Loki couldn’t help but lick their lips. They liked fish. The childlike desire stirred something in Frost and ideas of regular ice fishing trips came to mind.

In the second room they once again visited the fortified glade wherein Frost had a short discussion with Findlay in regards to the new floor and monsters present before he joined their group on tour. Findlay was in charge of his monster army given his new found strength and intelligence. He needed to see the new areas in person to understand what he’d be working with. Thankfully even after a couple hours, no adventurers entered meaning he could safely leave his post.

It took most of the day to view the entire Dungeon, Frost introduced Nanna and Loki to the D-rank Lagombi on the second floor. Its personality was similar to the polar bear but not as obvious. Seems as though more beast like monsters without much intelligence would rely mostly on the difference in strength instead of notions like parent/creator. The second frost troll was much more friendly, similar to Findlay and was accepted as his lieutenant. He was reassigned to the second floor to manage the second frost goblin spawner.

Frost added the tracking magic device to the lure trap room and gave it a quick test. The release button was quite difficult to find even if the fire was put out and the door itself took several blows from Frost to break. His physical strength was equal to C-rank making this door a fair bit sturdier than he expected. A pleasant surprise.

Once they reached the second floor however adventurer’s entered the Dungeon thus Findlay returned to his post in the winter forest. They stopped for a quick lunch in the private space before finishing the tour. The frost spiders were hard to love even for Frost. Even though they tried their best to appear friendly it made no difference. Nanna and Loki hid behind Frost’s back afraid to go anywhere near a giant spider. Maya even with her S-rank strength was also uncomfortable, her face stiff and pupils constricted. She didn’t like bugs, spiders in particular. This fear seemed to be fairly common throughout the world, spiders getting a very bad rep even from other monsters.

Frost was the most relaxed but even he struggled. His lips twitching as he tried to speak with them wanting nothing more to look somewhere else. It was their constantly tense looking bodies and vicious appearance armed with their methods of attack that made him feel a chill down his spine during the entire interaction. Thankfully the artic stags were much more cuddly, Nanna and Loki even rode on the back of a couple like horses. Feeling the wind rushing past their faces as they charged eclipsing the gloomy atmosphere caused by the spiders.

By the end of the Dungeon, it was time for dinner and the usual traffic in the Dungeon had returned, thus increasing his daily DP dosage. Frost decided to purchase a nice desert for the kids with DP, vanilla ice cream for 5DP each. Cheap but tasty, it brought a smile to their faces.

“Guess it’s time to work off dinner, you up for it?”

“Yes master” both Nanna and Loki looked at Frost with determined expressions. They’d been treated so well and needed to pay back their dues. By training and learning they’d become helpful to Frost and that was enough motivation for them to walk through hellfire.