Dungeon of Niflheim

Sam clenched his fist so hard that blood seeped through his fingers and his joints audibly cracked as his face warped, a mixture of jealousy as well as joy in his expression. How old was Frost? How much experience did he have when it came to battle? And more importantly how much had he killed?

It was well known that one’s aura had to be tempered through harsh training involving battle, created through the blood of one’s enemies. This was how most sapients developed their own aura, simply training in a safe environment was not enough to turn one who would normally be prey into a predator no one needed to fight with their life on the line, to crush their opponents, to become superior than them. Soldiers who have experienced great amounts of war tend to achieve this state far easier than most, why because of killing. The large battlefields filled with corpses of dead soldiers tempers these soldiers with powerful killing intent, opening the door for them develop aura. Yet Frost was not a solider, he did not have such a vast experience in killing.

Sam’s brow frowned and he clenched his teeth in frustration, ‘is this the heavens favouring a genius?’ Sam was tempted to release a depressing laugh, all his hard work from the time he was a boy, meant nothing in terms of true talent. He felt as though the heavens were laughing at his effort.

His wife Lola was experiencing much of the same emotions, yet she wasn’t as bothered as Sam. She’d already come to terms with her lack of skill and had renounced her vocation as an adventurer. She and Sam already planned to give up after this path and return home. She felt more pride as she saw Frost push back the ice revenant. This was her student, her, and Sam’s, though they could never be labelled as the reason for his meteoric rise they did play a part and that was enough for her. If Frost reached the very heights of power she could tell her descendants that at one point she was able to teach such a talent, and it would be her pride and joy. Frost’s personality certainly made it that much easier, he was no slouch when it came to hard work and he was humble, showing no arrogance or disdain for their teachings, taking everything in with a smile.

Lola quickly came to her senses, continuing to recuperate her body for the rest of the battle. She’d already downed a mana potion and was quickly returning to her peak form. Even if Frost fully develops his aura there was still a battle to be won. Frost’s aura had caught the revenant by surprise but even, so it wasn’t able to deal any damage, Frost still struggled to push back the thing’s fist let alone attack it. This was just a momentary set back, one in which Lola would take full advantage of.

Sam recovered a few seconds later after receiving a gesture from his wife, reluctantly he too down a health potion and steadied his breathing.

At the moment the ice revenant was filled with fear and trepidation its powerful killing intent was so easily crushed under Frost’s aura, causing its focus to waver, allowing Frost to gain the upper hand. However, this was fleeting, the ice revenant was still a powerful C-rank monster even before being a boss monster within a monster lair. Its instincts filled it with fear, but it had intelligence and more importantly the monster lair’s core was behind it, its duty prevailed over any fear it held.

“Rahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” With a mighty roar filled with indignity, the revenant was once again filled with strength bringing its slowly receding fist to a halt, he refused to lose to this insect.

.....

Frost was unperturbed by the revenant’s outburst, entirely focused on the changes within his body, his aura ever growing even now, filling his body with power enough to oppose the mighty ice revenant.

The ice revenant continued to push against Frost’s glaive but now he attempted to wrench out his broadsword from the ice floor. The sufficient cracks from their exchange had loosened it from containment. Frost instantly felt his balance give way as the revenant yanked away its broadsword, bringing along with it fragments of the floor. Frost used this opportunity to deflect the revenant’s fist away, while taking a couple sliding steps backwards. He then twirled his glaive around entering a defensive stance, fully welcoming the ice revenant’s next attack.

The revenant wasn’t one to keep Frost waiting, gripping the handle of its massive broadsword with both hands, it channelled mana into the blade causing it glow and form more ice crystals along the blade. Like the runic armour its broadsword was considered part of the revenant’s body. The revenant was putting a lot into this one strike, clearly aiming to end Frost once and for all.

The air or rather the mana within the area around the revenant was drawn towards his broadsword, sucking it in like a blackhole. As it did the brighter it glowed and the more ice encrusted it became, even its weight increased. This 3 star weapon was swiftly growing in rank with the aid of the revenant’s mana, putting Sam’s great sword to shame. Even Frost’s quasi 4th star glaive may not be its match with the amount of mana being channelled into it. Once again Frost was reminded of his glaive’s normality, he couldn’t channel that much mana into it without it breaking or the mana leaking out. To do so he’d need it engraved by an artificer, but this was no time to cry over spilt milk.

His glaive though in a vanilla form could still allow him to use chakra at normal levels so he did.

“Huuuuuuuuuu” releasing a cold, chilling breath Frost kneaded his mana into shape. Ice began to form over his body, taking the shape of his refined chakra armour before moving over his glaive. The ice grew from his hands, firmly attaching them to the glaive’s shaft before applying layer after layer on top to the glaive’s blade. Each layer being millimetre thick and as sharp as a razor blade. After training with Sam his chakra control grew to very impressive levels, high count layers was far more protective and sharper than a single thick one. Sam explained it in terms of weapons, refined steel blades were folded over and over again in layers to not only bring out a beautiful pattern along the blade edge but to greatly increase its strength. Sam’s chakra was of the metal element, so the method fit quite well, ice however was a little more difficult to manipulate but Frost was an attentive and hardworking student. His hours of practise came to fruition at this moment.

With his aura still growing, Frost’s presence along with his ice covered glaive presented a daunting figure, no less than the massive ice revenant. Both weapons hummed as they filled with mana, both ready to clash against one another to prove their superiority.

An eery calm filled the ice revenant, its eyes no longer showed a manic and wrathful expression. He spoke with powerful and crushing tone, as though a king to a peasant.

“Time to die little elf!” With a slow movement the revenant raised up his broadsword causing the air to howl as mana continued to be sucked up into the blade. The revenant’s eyes closed for a second before rapidly reopening and bursting with a bright blue glow. His presence changed, becoming imposing and sharp just like his broadsword. A fraction of a second later he brought down his weapon.

“[Rending of the ice king]!” The name of his attack was incredibly imposing; a mere revenant was no match for the king of ice and too use such a term before Frost was laughable.

Frost’s eyes were closed as he concentrated his aura and focused on building the chakra layers on his glaive blade but the moment the revenant started his swing his eyes flashed open. His aura burst forth with its full power, filling the room with his mighty presence, carrying the bearing of a true king of ice. He swung his glaive upwards to meet the revenant’s broadsword.

“[Claw of the ice wolf]” along with his chakra, Frost used his most powerful skill, holding nothing back in this exchange. Along with his chakra, weapon skill and fully formed aura the air in front of the glaive’s path appeared to warp under the pressure.

The two weapons looked like they moved in slow motion, Sam and Lola watched the scene with nervous anticipation, not knowing who would come out on top. And regardless of the outcome they’d need to be ready to move. Frost after this exchange would likely be completely drained of his energy, making him a possible sitting duck if he lost but if he won it would be the best time for the two of them to finish the revenant once and for all.