Dungeon of Niflheim

Before Frost was the familiar entrance to a boss room, that lead to the next floor. However, unlike the previous three times, the room was empty, no boss.

“Huh?” Frost frowned as he walked into the room, examining the entire area for signs of a monster but there was nothing but the remains of bloodstains upon the ground. “Someone must have beaten me to it, guess I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.” Frost shook his head and shrugged, he wasn’t the only one in this monster lair and sometimes that meant giving up the hunt.

From the blood stains he surmised that he just missed the group by a few minutes. Any group that could make it through to the fifth floor was no amateur. The bottom most floors were reserved for those at the peak of D-rank and perhaps even C-rank, especially with the monster stampede looming. If one of these groups were as foolish as the upright lances, Frost may have a really hard fight on his hands, he may even need to retreat.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any sign of what monster this boss room usually contained so Frost couldn’t satisfy his curiosity. But it surely wouldn’t be an easy opponent or opponents given the remnants of battle.

Frost didn’t know how long it would take for the boss to respawn but surely after a nights rest it would return and if not he’d just have an easy path to the fifth floor. Fighting the boss was not a necessity but each one so far had allowed him to improve his skills. The first floor boss improved his mastery in the [summon ice golem] spell whereas the second improved his [ice bolt] whereas the last one improved his glaive mastery by a small realm. Missing out on an opportunity would be unfortunate but not the end of the world, there were plenty of other monsters waiting for him deeper in the lair, plus he could always fight them on the way back up.

Other groups that weren’t quite so proficient in their skills would joyfully take advantage of there being no boss on the floor, easily skipping to the lower floors which contained the more profitable monsters. Down on the fifth and sixth floors, rare and very lucrative monsters existed but their strength was also greater. Frost lizards were hard enough for the regular groups at E-rank, them being D-rank was pretty much overkill for most. But they weren’t the real problem, the bottom most floors were the main reason for this monster lair’s name [beginner’s ice magic]. Down there monster can use not only 1st circle spells but also 2nd circle, not to mention chakra and other magical means.

Spirits were prevalent there and not in their simple wisp or fairy form but something much more tangible and deadly, each with their own techniques and spells. It was a higher level of combat down there, one of which that really required someone with magic capabilities or special equipment. But that would be for tomorrow, for now he needed to find a place to call shelter tonight.

The environment was like a massive ice plain with large cliffs and rocks dotted around, along with patches of winter trees but throughout the last section he struggled to find somewhere worthwhile, and not from the lack of trying.

.....

“Haaaaaaaa” Frost sighed as journeyed back through the section with a frustrated frown on his face. Nowhere looked decent especially when venturing alone. He needed somewhere with extra protection since he couldn’t keep watch and sleep at the same time, well not effectively.

After passing the third failure area his stomach returned to rumbling with fury, making his already irritating situation that much worse. Thankfully it seemed as though the heavens were merciful. While looking upwards to curse at his father for giving him such a weakness he caught sight of a large ice cliff with an outreached shelf and minor depression in the side that would function as a good cave, with a little extra carving. The thing was even several metres up, perfect for deterring the local fauna and other adventurers. Not everyone could scale a cliff so high, for Frost however there was no issue.

With impressive agility he leaped up halfway before kicking against the cliff to reach the shelf and depression. It was larger than it looked from the floor and would suit him just fine for the night.

There was always the option of trying to join with another group adventurers for the night, but he felt that he’d always need to be on guard, especially after the actions of the upright lances. If he didn’t find this place however he may have had no recourse.

The shelf on the ice cliff was several metres long and almost two metres wide whereas the depression was around a metre deep, not quite enough to shelter him from the weather and noise of the local fauna and intruders but that was easily fixed.

With a wide smile and glinting eyes Frost gripped his glaive hard and twirled it in the air before slashing across the depression to deepen it to the level of a minor cave. As long as he stayed within the new cave the monster lair wouldn’t be able to regenerate it. He kicked the pieces of sliced up ice cliff to the floor, giving him ample space to set up his tent and cooking pit.

“Much better,” with a nod Frost started to remove his camping supplies and got to work. The tent he purchased was big enough for one person and would fit into the cave nicely, whereas cooking equipment was minimal and would be sufficient to prepare the meat from a frost lizard. He lacked an array of spices as well as the know-how and patience to make a stew or hotpot. His stomach lacked the patience for such a prep heavy dish, no he was going to go down the simple path, frying.

After setting up his tent within the cave he removed dried firewood from his spatial ring and aligned them like the fire pits present in Beta camp.

“[Ignition]” with lifestyle magic’s command word a small flame appeared at the end of Frost’s finger which was promptly sent towards the firewood, lighting it up in almost an instant. There’s a 1st circle spell of the wind element that would suck out all the moisture from the wood allowing one to turn even the most damp and cold of twigs into perfect tinder. But Frost lacked the capability to use wind magic and the lifestyle magic dry barely made a dent, so he purchased firewood for this journey and kept it in his spatial ring.

The firewood quickly cackled and released a strong aura of warmth that would make most feel comfortable yet for Frost who was the embodiment of ice the cold was much more comforting. He only needed the flame for cooking when it came to sleeping he’d put it out. The exact opposite of the rest of adventurers who would rely on the flame’s warmth to make it through the night. One trait that he was grateful towards his father for.

He removed his cookware, a large wok perfect for frying frost lizard meat. He didn’t have any vegetables or sauce making this a purely meat dish, but it’d be far more satisfying than the dried jerky he’d been munching on. Many adventurers faced similar issues while adventuring, the lack of vegetables can really take a toll on one’s body. It was much easier scavenge meat than it was to find vegetables in a monster lair, most of the stuff growing were herbs with medicinal properties not good for cooking. To combat a meat filled diet, most carried with them special biscuits made of dried fruit or vegetables. They could be stored for long periods and would give the body some much needed nutrients. Frost didn’t pack such things, but he would in the future, another thing he learned from this excursion.

“I wonder how frost lizard meat will taste?” Once the wok heated up he removed the slices of frost lizard meat from his backpack and tossed them into the wok releasing a loud sizzling sound as the meat met the metal. Frying was quick and easy, perfect for some fast cooking. All he needed was something fresh and hot too fill his loud rumbling belly, which grew even louder when the meat started to give off a tantalising smell.

“At this rate it’ll be ready in a couple minutes so calm the hell down.” With a shake he flipped the meat to cook the other side while at same time tapping his belly as though coaxing.