Dungeon of Niflheim

‘Looks like we either came across someone truly powerful or a reckless fool.’ Pagon didn’t know which but felt that the former was more likely.

The four of them chatted for a little longer while they finished their meals, Frost learned a little more about the adventurer guild in the glacial mountains as well as their home, the native kingdom of Glasson. A decent sized kingdom in the inner regions, comprised mainly of elves and spirits. It was a rather peaceful and neutral kingdom that had no conflicts with other nations, engaging in large amounts of trade to maintain friendly relations. Liana invited Frost to visit when he had the chance and promised to show him around.

He and the frost lilies bade farewell in a friendly manner, happy to have made another friend. You never know when having a good relationship with someone may save your life one day. Frost’s interaction with Leo and Luna was a prime example.

The frost lilies left through the southern exit while Frost made his way to the merchants section for a quick peruse of their goods before heading off into the white expanse.

Ryan was in bed resting but may other merchants were actively promoting their goods. Some specialised in pelts and textiles while others had ores and metals and then there was those with finished goods such as armours, weapons, potions etc... quite a selection for just a small camp. Frost had no need of weapons or potions but armours as well as other trinkets interested him.

He came across a young beastmen merchant who was offering steel armour that was combined with animal fur to defend against the cold plus it looked rather stylish. He purchased a full set of gear including a chest plate, it was lower in quality than his current one but would serve as a good spare.

“thank you for your patronage young sir, that’ll be 80 silvers.” The young merchant spoke with a bright eyes, it was rare for him to sell a full set, this was a large purchase, granting him a good deal of profit. Frost handed over a gold coin before placing the set of armour in his spatial ring. He’d find a good place to change into it later, he still had access to the yurt. In the mood for some more shopping, he left the young armour merchant and moved towards some of the more unique ones.

Magic devices and camping gear was on sale so he bought a few pieces of dried meat and powdered cocoa that only required hot water to be made. One merchant was selling poisons such as those from ice snakes and venomous plants. Instinctually he wanted to avoid this area but then he was reminded of Wilsander, and his trepidation vanished, he still didn’t make a purchase, however. This merchant also sold potions for healing including antidotes, but he already had stock of such things.

.....

Next was the merchants that sold the most desirable of items.....alcohol the life blood of most adventurers. Frost wouldn’t be able to ignore such a merchant given his promise to bring back gifts for Maya and his own penchant for the stuff. Unlike the well decorated establishment in Furano with a range of nearly a dozen B- grade bottles the highest available here was merely C-grade and the bottles were a lot less varied. But their usual cliental would not care about high quality, as long as it got them drunk and warmed their bodies it would be sufficient. This merchant was quite busy, with many adventurers picking up stock of liquor for either todays festivities or for their next long journey. Frost had to wait his turn.

A couple minutes later he was at the forefront of the large stall and in front of an older gentleman with a reddened face.

“Young elf sir, how can I help you today, a high class wine perhaps or maybe some hard hitting whiskey?” The man picked up some of his more expensive wares, trying to draw Frosts’ attention to them. His handsome appearance, elven traits and fine robes screamed wealth to this old man so he might as well try to pass his most rare delicacies.

Frost understood the man’s intention and willingly accepted it, Maya had expensive taste and wouldn’t accept anything less than C-rank, nor would he.

“I’ll take a bottle of your best wine and hot sake please?” The wine would be for Maya and the sake for him while he journeyed through the mountains.

“Right away, right away,” the old merchant smiled so much his eyes were nothing but slits. Though alcohol would rarely spoil it was nice to finally empty his higher end stock, otherwise he’d be tempted to drink it himself. The man quickly moved to remove two bottles from his spatial storage, each were upper C-grade and part of his finest wares. He was just a small merchant, and this was the best he could get his hands on.

“That’ll be 70 silvers young sir,” Frost handed over the 70 silvers and placed the bottles in his spatial ring.

“Thank you,” he thanked the old merchant and made his way back to the yurt to change. The man thanked him for his patronage before dealing with the next customer.

Frost returned to yurt number 7, but he was no longer alone. Two people had arrived and were just getting ready to call it a night after a hard nights work. They greeted each with a silent nod before the two ignored Frost and slipped into slumber.

Frost found it rather strange that they were so easily at ease amongst a stranger but thought nothing more on it before stripping out of his robe to adorn his new armour.

Since it wasn’t custom made the set wasn’t the best fitting but thanks to adjustable straps it wasn’t too bad. The set contained a chest plate, a pair of greaves, wrist guards, and faulds (protects the hips and upper legs) animal fur was attached to the underside to make it comfortable against the skin and warm even in such frigid temperatures. Excluding the chest plate, he adorned them all before once again putting on his robes, regaining his noble scholar like appearance, hiding the armour underneath.

Quietly he left the yurt and headed towards the dorm manager’s office to return the yurt token. Fortunately, or unfortunately mother Callie was not on duty but one of her subordinates. The young man took back his token and crossed out Frost’s name on yurt number 7’s occupants, thus completing Frost’s stay in Beta camp.

He then walked back to the southern side of the camp, where he entered, the two same guards were still on duty for another hour or so. He bade farewell before returning to the grand white expanse, heading westward towards the gamma sector.

The Beta camp continued to function as it always did yet underneath a few changes were taking place. Both Ryan and Callie had prepared themselves to send a missive to their superiors in regards to Frost, in the coming days the upper levels of the order of the ice shield would have their eyes set upon this new adventurer. But for now, they were still in the dark.

“Haaaaaaaaa though I’m not affected by the cold it sure does make one miss the cosiness of the camp.” Frost shook his head a let out a complaint as he walked. The blizzard was constant and walking through thick piles of snow and or ice was not easy. People without his natural resistances must find it really unbearable.

“Oh well, I didn’t make this journey for it to be pleasant. There shouldn’t be any major monster territories in the next couple hours like the yeti valley well as long as I head in the right direction.” Frost then removed a small compass that he purchased from the merchants for 5 silvers. It would help one maintain their direction even within this blizzard. Though it would not help within the inner regions given the denser mana affecting readings. It was imperative for his journey in the gamma sector given the warnings he received.

To get there he needed to avoid the crevasse of Ymir as well as a few other tricky areas. Then there was the massive frozen lake in the centre of the sector. Given the high levels of snow he’d likely be unable to tell he was upon it until it was too late.

His plans involved not only scouting section 23 for the Furano guild but also to visit the monster lair that spanned across the gamma and epsilon sector. As far as he knew it contained 6 floors and was considered around D-rank in strength, mainly producing magic based monsters such as ice flans, slimes and even spirits. Frost had little experience against magic monster types so felt it would be could practise plus he could get a more thorough understanding of monster lairs and in turn his own Dungeon’s expansion.

With determined focus, Frost continued his journey alone with his glaive rested upon his shoulders, eager to explore the glacial mountains and battle against those that would bar his path.