Dungeon of Niflheim

“Gobuske was a tough opponent but thankfully we prevailed in the end and were rewarded for it.” Frost then brought out the rewards-minus the wine of the abyss just in case a certain someone abuses their super speed to snatch it. The 10000DP obviously couldn’t be brought out and revealed but he could show off his current DP reserves through the menu which got a round of appreciating nods. Each of them knew roughly how much things cost DP wise so seeing such a large number they couldn’t help but feel rich.

“Other than DP and the special reward, Father also gave me an extra life so to speak, allowing Maya to protect me an additional time while she’s by my side. Plus, he added in another teleportation talisman to help with that.” Frost brought out the talisman and showed it off to the kids who found it absolutely magical once they learned of its purpose. Maya gave him a look basically translating as ‘don’t damage it or lose it in anyway got it?’ He’d be bringing this talisman along with him when he explored the glacial mountains.

Next was the 3rd circle summoning spell [summon ice golem]. The book was fairly thick and made of exquisite materials, a type of monster skin instead of paper or parchment. It was pale blue in colour and screamed high quality, there was no way this thing would give him a splitting headache like the [ice entanglement] spell book he purchased in Furano. He didn’t stand on ceremony -or sit in their current case since they were all on the couch- and inserted his mana into the book causing it to glow before turning into mana particles and entering his body.

Frost felt a cold foreign mana seep into his brain that was filled with information. It easily found its place and unravelled itself and the knowledge required to summon ice golems suddenly filled his mind without the slightest bit of pain or stress. Only his vision became momentarily fuzzy before returning to normal.

“Mmmmmmmm” Frost let out a satisfied moan as the sudden influx of knowledge left him feeling full and content. It was far better than the magic book from Furano, further cementing his internal promise to never purchase anything related to magic at some countryside shop. His brain didn’t deserve such punishment. He still had the other 1st circle spell book [freezing touch] to absorb but he’d save that for later. Finally, it was time to analyse the real prize, the cold flame that Dark sealed up for him.

“Maya, the flame if you will.” He gestured to Maya who had placed the flame safely in her own spatial ring -despite using spatial rings as an excuse to take it from him in the first place. She wasn’t even the slightest bit remorseful, blatantly taking it out and placing it on the table, even sticking her tongue out mischievously. She’d already had a good look at the flame and analysed it completely. There was no danger to anyone while the seal was intact, even if one’s mana sense was frozen through a backlash the most, they’d end up with was a splitting headache, no permanent damage. She also confirmed that it was definitely a high grade earth flame and its origins surprised her. Not only did Dark get it from the primordial ice king, the primordial ice king personally made this thing. Even she with her status as an S-rank Fenrir and her family having close relations with the primordial ice king rarely ever got the chance to have him personally fashion something like a cold flame. She couldn’t help but look at Frost with jealously, this young master of hers was really spoiled and he didn’t even know it.

The primordial ice king was another God, that was born at the same time as Nova. The primordials were Gods like Light and Dark but of a lesser quality. They weren’t as powerful or as omnipotent but there was still a vast difference between them and S-rank monsters, ancient dragons included. The primordial ice king was the essence of the ice element and ruled in his own dimension, commonly known as Niflheim. There was no one greater than he when it came to ice magic, he is from what all ice mana from originates from after all. Frost was no pushover when it came to the ice aspect but he was a far cry away from someone like the primordial ice king yet there were similarities.

The primordial ice king was quite interested in Dark’s new creation, Frost in particular given his elemental affinity. He was more than willingly created an earth rank cold flame at Dark’s request, happy to see that it would go to another being so predominant in the ice element. Of course, it wasn’t exactly free, he and Dark were on good terms but not to the point that he’d willingly hand over an earth rank flame, let alone one personally made by him. No, a price that would likely seem strange to those that were not Gods was brokered and it was something that annoyed Dark to no end. Further inciting his petty aggression towards Frost. Not only was he convinced to hand over a bottle of his precious wine he needed to give the primordial ice king something just as special.

.....

Originally the price was a bottle -albeit a small one- of Dark’s dark matter wine but that was out of the question. Even if the primordial ice king offered a heaven grade cold flame it wouldn’t be worth a single glass of that sacred liquid thus after a few vicious negotiations, the came to an agreement. Frost would be given the flame for research purposes only and would have to give back the flame in the future and the price....well let’s just say it’ll involve Frost personally, whether he will be willing to comply is another story, but the primordial ice king was quite confident and even if he didn’t comply the collateral was just as sweet.

When the flame hit the table with a light thud Frost couldn’t help but slightly tremble before giving Maya a warning glare.

“Father already warned us of how dangerous this thing is could you be more a little more careful.” He patted the encased flame for any damages and let out a sigh of relief after finding that it was fine. Out of everything he received he was most intrigued by the cold flame and didn’t want anything untoward to happen to it.

“Calm down young master, its encased in Dark God-sama’s divine energy there’s no way a little bump would harm it, I doubt that even if you hit it with all your strength you wouldn’t make a single dent in the thing so chill out.” Maya mocked Frost as being paranoid and worrying too much. His mind when it came to protecting his rewards should be focused on the precious wine not something near indestructible like this thing.

“Tsk” Frost clicked his tongue in reply, before directing his entire focus onto the cold flame that although encased in divine mana was still burning and wafting around like it wasn’t sealed in the slightest. Its appearance was beautiful, almost mesmerising. The light silver flame danced back and forth creating a calming and majestic sight. Nanna and Loki couldn’t help but feel attracted to it. Not only because of its appearance but also because of their instincts. Their blood was attracted to this flame before them as though it was a delicacy. The two of them almost started to drool as though eyeing a giant steak.

“Eh? Why are they looking at it like that?” Frost noticed the strange reaction and quickly asked the knowledgeable guardian that was Maya.

“Ah....that’s right these two have phoenix blood in them and quite a strong bloodline too, no wonder they’re looking at it like food.” Maya tilted her head to the side as though remembering before gently knocking her fist down onto her hand. “To phoenixes, flames such as this are delicacies. Since they are made in flames or in this case cold flames as their bloodline is that of the ice phoenixes they are instinctively attracted to such things. For those born purely of a single element, oddities in relation to that element can be great strength boosters allowing them to instantly evolve to a higher rank....if they succeed in devouring it of course. Like you at the moment the difference in quality is too large, though they instinctively wish to eat it, doing so would kill them, basically they’d be biting off more than they can chew.”

“....I see” Frost looked over them and saw that they were completely entranced, licking their lips and resisting the urge to nibble on the seal. Thankfully it was strong, so he didn’t have to worry about them getting access but.... ‘this could prove annoying.’ He thought this as he waved his hand in front of their faces but got no reaction.

“Leave them to it, eventually the urge will calm down, no harm in letting them enjoy the possibility.” Maya shrugged her shoulders, understanding their desire. Frost could only sigh in response and allow Nanna and Loki to have their fill of the sealed cold flame, leaving examining it himself till later.