Dungeon of Niflheim

“Hahahaha it’s a nickname of his that stands for big friendly giant you’ll understand when you see him.” Sam and Frost continued to chase after the three kids who were running a mile a minute as though chock full of sugar.

As they made their way towards Druakai’s farm many other farmers and breeders waved in greeting towards the kids while smiling gently. All of them however bar a few were older, mostly showing grey in their hair. Barely anyone below the age of forty was at work on the farms, a bad sign in terms of future viability. Children of the farmers would of course help out when needed but at the moment the majority were at school. Tulip, Jasmine, and Ren were a notable exception given that their grandfather previously didn’t have much longer to live. Thankfully due to the strictness of their mother and grandmother the three of them didn’t fall behind in their studies. A tutor would come to the manor every day to teach them. But after a last day of leisure, they’d likely be attending school from tomorrow onwards, they needed to make the most of it.

After a 20 minute ‘jog’ the group finally made it to Druakai’s farm. Ren had gotten tired quite quickly, so Sam carried him on his shoulders, lest he have no energy to play with the animals.

Druakai’s farm was a fair bit larger than the others they passed and had much higher fences as well as warning signs. Children weren’t allowed on his farm without supervision, preferably not at all given that he was raising monsters but unfortunately monster cubs were just to adorable for young kids to resist and Druakai was too big of a softie to deny their wishes. Therefore, parents and even the schools would occasionally arrange visits like a field trip to a zoo, thus satisfying the children’s desires. It also helped to educate them properly about the monster breeder profession as well as the danger of monsters.

“Uncle Druakai! Ruby!” The three kids quickly found Druakai’s massive frame within one of the fields as well as his personal monster mount, Ruby who was lying nearby as Druakai fed what appeared to be a large horned bison.

Hearing the childish voices that he recognised, Druakai the B.F.G turned around with a smile on his face and waved in greeting before sending the large horned bison off to join its friends. Tulip and her siblings patiently waited at the fence as it was dangerous to enter recklessly. As Druakai walked towards them Frost clearly understood why this guy got the moniker B.F.G.

Druakai was easily over 3 metres tall almost 4. His entire body was made out of thick powerful muscles that put Sam’s to shame, his forearms where thicker than Frost’s entire waist. And every step he took sent out a wave of vibrations throughout the floor. He was an orc and a pretty massive one at that, his skin was bright green, and tusks sprung up from his lower jaw and several scars could be seen across his large, uncovered chest. Yet he didn’t look intimidating in the least given the constant gentle and goofy smile that adorned his face, making for an unusual comparison.

From what Frost knew about orcs they were a monster race that were usually anything between 2 and 3 metres tall. They’d have muscular frames and revel in the thrill of battle, solving most of their problems with their fists and or axes. Not the most intelligent species but at heart quite honest and simple, making for quite stout allies. Druakai was quite clearly an abnormal case, far larger than the average orc and seemed to be incapable of even hurting a fly, ergo the nickname, B.F.G.

.....

His personal mount Ruby who followed after him was no less impressive than the giant orc. She was a red tailed snow leopard, a very rare species. Hard to come across within the external or even inner regions of the Glacial mountains. She was roughly 2.5 metres tall and over 5 metres in length, larger and stronger than a D-rank polar bear, faster and far more intelligent as well. If Frost was to give an estimate he’d likely place it on the cusp of C-rank, surpassing even the mighty Baltic tigers and from what he could see it still had room to grow.

Shockingly however the thing was far from what one would expect a monster to be like, more akin to a large cat or rather a pet dog. The instant it saw the three kids it launched itself over the 2 metre high fence and started licking their faces in greeting, purring as it did.

Monsters that were not were not raised in the wild and or were contracted even if they had low intelligence tended to be far more docile than their natural counterparts. However, in the end they were still monsters, thus it wasn’t wise to treat them as you would a regular animal. Ruby however was quite a notable exception, she was very much like her master, a big old softie that wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’d known the young Tarnells (Sam’s surname) since they were babies and had become close friends with them resulting in this level of skin ship. Frost a stranger and even Sam didn’t receive such a friendly greeting, in fact the powerful red tailed snow leopard kept a watchful eye on Frost, this stranger that accompanied the Tarnells, not sure of his intentions. She felt a pressure emanating from Frost that affected her very soul, he didn’t seem threatening or dangerous but there was something about him that made her feel a little nervous. He movements of greeting the young Tarnells was not just a friendly gesture but allowed her to be in position to protect the younglings in case Frost tries anything.

Frost saw all this, including the watchful eye Ruby had on him and was blown away by her intelligence and wisdom. Though the leopard had a beastlike body and couldn’t speak he equated her intelligence with that of the ice revenant he, Sam and Lola defeated just a few days prior. Of course, this wasn’t necessarily uncommon, Findlay his ice troll commander had wisdom and intelligence far above the norm for his rank.....however he had a very humanoid appearance whereas Ruby was in the form of a beast, making this situation quite rare. The more humanoid a creature appeared usually meant the higher its intelligence. There was a reason why high powered monsters such as Maya had humanoid forms after all.

“My Ruby’s a rare red tailed snow leopard that has been raised meticulously by myself since she was a cub. Her wisdom and intelligence is far beyond her wild peers.” The B.F.G, Druakai spoke up with a deep bass like voice as he noticed the glint in Frost’s eyes that showed not just desire but respect for his companion. Druakai appreciated this look, that showed Frost didn’t view monsters with prejudice, a rare trait even within the Glacial mountains. Sapient races tended to have an instinctual air of superiority when face to face with monsters, those that appear like beasts most of all. Druakai himself being an orc had met with no small amount of wary looks, unintentional or not.

“She’s amazing.” Frost gave his honest opinion while nodding his head towards the large snow leopard. If he could have such a mount he’d be one lucky man, hell even just to have her around in general would be a blessing. Let alone her hidden strength and high potential her friendlessness would certainly be appreciated by Nanna and Loki.

“That she is young man, that she is.” Druakai moved over the fence and petted his companion with affection before turning to face Frost and Sam. “The name’s Druakai, head monster mount breeder and vice head of agriculture here in Kranor, nice to meet you.” Druakai pushed out his oversized green hand to shake. Frost without hesitation reached out, his tiny white hand was quite a stark contrast to the massive green one.

‘Actually, now that I get good look at him, this Druakai reminds a lot of Terra hahahhaha.’ Frost couldn’t help but giggle as he shook Druakai’s hand.

“Something funny?” Druakai didn’t feel that the laugh was insulting in any way and was rather curious.

“Not really you just remind me of my older brother Terra, another B.F.G if you will hahahhahaha.” In fact, the similarities were incredibly similar, even the voice and natural air about them, if it wasn’t for their stark difference in appearance Frost would have sworn that they were somehow twins.

“......” Druakai was speechless, he tilted his head to the side as he absorbed Frost’s statement. ‘I’m like an elf...how bizarre.’ Druakai or probably any orc had never been compared to the likes of an elf, their two species were so different that it was almost impossible to be similar. Frost however was not an elf but a dungeon core. Druakai would probably be even more surprised if he knew that his siblings came in all shapes and sizes, even dragons and undead was counted among them.