Dungeon of Niflheim

“Damn that stuff is addicting,” he couldn’t help but complain while licking his lips.

“Yes, it is, that’s why nearly everyone wishes to become strong enough to wield it. It’s the power of a truly higher life form, far beyond mere mortals. It’d be weird if it wasn’t that addictive.” Maya spoke with envy, S-ranks knew more than most the desire for divine energy, being so close to the door yet so far at the same time.

“Whhoaaahhh really wish I had more DP but it’s probably for the best.” Frost shook himself lightly and returned to his usual calm persona and by chance Nanna and Loki had recollected themselves as well, finally managing to peel themselves away from the sealed cold flame, though their eyes still occasionally glanced in its direction.

“Welcome back you two, are you hungry?” Frost asked with a big smile and in response the two kid’s stomachs rumbled, and their faces turned crimson in embarrassment. Maya laughed at the side, enjoying their cuteness.

“First off then, we need to have a glorious feast, you worked hard after all and brought me victory in the Dungeon war and need to be rewarded.” They still had the bag of sweets given by Dark that was now sitting in a cupboard. He decided to limit them to have one piece of candy per day.... After tonight, there’s no limit tonight. But first they need to have a proper meal and he had the DP to afford it. Findlay can handle to intruders that enter; Frost planned to grant him his reward later but now....they were going to have some family time.

At the mention of a feast the kids jumped for joy, full of smiles. The impromptu family then enjoyed a very lavish feast prepared by Maya mainly with everyone else helping out in small doses creating a joyful atmosphere. Frost decided to go all out, ignoring the DP cost. For starters he bought some winter vegetables and Lagombi meat (when he did his own Lagombi could swear that a chill went down its back) which Maya turned into a light soup. It didn’t match up to the meals at the phoenix fledgling restaurant, but it was delicious none the less. The four of them cleared their bowls not leaving a single drop.

Next Frost purchased a type of fish that Aqua recommended when they were at the gathering. He had quite an array of ingredients to choose from even if he couldn’t summon the creature. Stuff like that depended on either Dark’s initial arrangements or his base knowledge which thanks to his trip into town was becoming quite developed.

Maya assuming the role of head chef once again, grilled the entire fish, something called a spinal swordfish, a rare delicacy due to it living in the deep areas of the oceans. Sapient races of the land would usually need to trade with the oceanic races to come across such a specimen. The fish itself set him back 60DP even though it wasn’t alive, but when it is it’s classed as a D-rank monster that moves within the water at near subsonic speed. Piercing its targets with its sword like nose, before tearing through them. It then feasts on the floating shards of its victim, usually large less agile sea creatures. Maya really got into cooking such a specimen, she was a fan of fish.

.....

For desert Frost bought some snow velvet cake, handing the two kids half a cake each, that they quickly devoured. For Maya he purchased a rum cake to suit her alcoholic tastes, she showed her appreciation with a hug, not forgetting to allow her master to feel her large assets on his arm. Frost didn’t even blush anymore when she did this, fully experiencing the situation, refusing to miss a second. He loved when she acted like this, much nicer than when she acted mischievous.

For himself he decided to abstain, he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. For beverages he got the kids some juice- they were quite fond of berry flavours- and for the ‘adults’ it was the B-rank wine he got from Leo as a reward, well from Cassandra. It wasn’t wine of the abyss but was quite an impressive bottle, worthy of Maya’s tastebuds.

After the meal, Nanna and Loki started to drift off into a slumber so Frost and Maya carried them to bed and tucked them in. They returned to the sofa and continued to finish their wine, relishing in the peaceful bliss that was their lives because soon they may not be able to.

Intruders swiftly returned to the dungeon while they started cooking, many were cautious, but others were incredibly gung-ho, finding the change to be a sign treasure. They took off with incredible speed not wishing to share the spoils. Findlay quickly took command with his loyal frost troll lieutenants. Not wishing to disturb his master’s revelry he swiftly dealt with the more adventurous of intruders, sending them to meet the grim reaper, his master gave the order, no more Mr nice Dungeon. The events caused by Dark also gave him sufficient reason to change his stance. The mass teleportation and barrier sealing should justify at least a little change.

He learned that when monster lairs expand, they tend to rumble causing great seismic tremors throughout the area. Afterwards new floors would be present along with possibly new monsters or at least ones of a higher class. The idiots that rushed head first back into the dungeon seemed to forget such situations given that Furano didn’t have any monster lairs that ‘grew’. Frost’s remaining 5000DP was quickly replenished. As soon as he reached 10000, he’d purchase a new floor, he can always outfit it with environments later. The active rumbling during such an expansion should let the adventurers at that time know that another floor would be present even if they couldn’t access it.

Along with the information release to the public about Dungeons this should further increase his intruder traffic. Frost felt from Dark’s attitude that he really needed to expand and grow in strength, and quickly. He was not only one of the oldest cores but also 4th in terms of DP income, he needed to be an example for his younger siblings. Plus, he had a gut feeling that some sort of danger was ever looming nearby. Whether that was the upcoming monsters stampede, actions from the person that was set to receive Nanna and Loki, movements from the Church of Light that he helped uncover or perhaps even the interference of the Light God himself. The possibilities were not small and his strength at the moment was fleeting. In terms of territory, he barely covered a village, and his forces were about equal to one’s local guard in quantity-though better in quality- for these problems it wasn’t enough.

He planned to stay in the dungeon for the next several days, acclimate to the new stream of intruders and spend the DP he’d gain from them to build a solid enough defence so that he wouldn’t worry while he explored the external regions of the Glacial Mountains. Maya would be here yes, but she could only act twice, plus he really shouldn’t aim to be dependent on her.

But at the moment he needed to review the benefits that the dungeon war had upon his monsters, the survivors of the offensive team in particular. More than a few monsters reached their maximum level and could now evolve into a higher species, this included his high ranking E-rank monsters. The survivors who fought tooth and nail will be greatly rewarded, surpassing the strength of their newly created colleagues. He no longer had to be in front of his monsters to see their status, he could view all from the comfort of his private space, alongside his guardian and a glass of wine, very lavish.

He also set aside some DP to purchase special rewards for the monsters that successfully evolved.

“Let’s see what new monsters I’ll gain access to.” A smile adorned his face as he brought up the dungeon menu, the details in regards to his current monsters was quickly shown.

“Dungeon wars certainly have more than just DP benefits it seems.” Maya took a sip of her wine at the side, her face already a little pink as she allowed the alcohol to affect her body, she snuggled up close to Frost and rested her head on his shoulder as she watched him work. Admiring the image of working man, but she too was quite interested. Findlay when he evolved to his current ice troll commander archetype greatly changed the dynamic of the dungeon -even though that was a special case, it still counted. The goblins as well brought great change; the archers especially though not that much different from regular frost goblins they allowed for a ranged physical attack that worked very well during the war... for both sides.

Frost looked towards his most anticipated monsters first, the frost dwarves.