Dungeon of Niflheim

The tremors weren’t as bad as the ones felt at the start of the stampede, but they were certainly noticeable. Frost, Findlay and many of the other monsters present felt the ground shake beneath them, affecting their balance. A few even fell from the wall, landing on the thankfully soft snow beneath thus avoiding injury.

Cracks that were still present along the walls enlarged in accordance with the shaking, further damaging the walls. Shock and noticeable fear was present on everyone’s faces as they turned to look at Frost for reassurance.

“I guess that counts as the mid stages starting then.” Frost shook his head, trying to play the situation off as something expected despite him having no idea.

Frost brought up the dungeon menu so as to inspect the mana vein’s income.

‘Yep it’s increased to 400DP a day, the corruption must have intensified.’ Now that he and Maya knew the origins of the monster stampede they weren’t as in the dark about the situation.

Corruption of the mana vein, an occasional natural occurrence but the current situation was anything but natural. Every few years the vein explodes in fury, the corruption becoming so dense that it needs to expunge it in a violent and destructive way. The areas connected to the mana vein thus become saturated in dense mana, turning the local monsters mad, driving them into a frenzy. The cause of such artificial corruption was still unknown as was the reason the monsters were so fixated upon the southlands, but it was a start.

This second tremor signalled another burst in the mana vein, resulting in Frost not only receiving more DP per day but an increase in the mana density in the surrounding areas. The more powerful monsters would now be more easily affected, guided south by this artificial machination.

The second tremor was far milder than the first and likely wouldn’t have been felt outside in the natural world. The dungeon only feeling the effects due its close connection to the vein. An unexpected occurrence but nothing to worry about, there wasn’t even any sharp pain in Frost’s chest, just a beneficial increase in the daily DP. One that he’d put to good use.

.....

“Listen up everyone, that second tremor was a signal for the mid stages, there’s nothing to worry about just keep your guard up and prepare for the next wave.” Frost stood up straight looking over his forces like a mighty general, confidence and reliability heavily present in his voice, calming them as they heard his words.

“The mid stages are a whole different ball game; the kill box zone will most likely not survive. Our enemies will be faster, stronger, more numerous and far more destructive. From this point on I’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation and if needed I’ll take to the field personally as will all the officer class monsters. There’s no longer a need to hold back our most powerful combatants. The resulting prey will be more than strong enough for them and you to efficiently rack up experience and evolve to the next level.” Frost displayed a wild smile as he clenched his fist in the air.

“I hope too see a lot more D-rank and even C-rank monsters by the end of this.....show those maddened invaders the true power of the dungeon’s elite.” Frost sharply waved his hand to the side after proclaiming his demand.

Everyone present on the battlefield was at the very minimum E-rank. Individually a fairly substantial force but when there’s over a hundred of them and some that are even higher ranked well that gives Frost the power of an army, a powerful battalion that would put some enclaves to shame. Quantity along with quality makes for a devasting force.

In response all those E and D-rank monsters raised their weapons up high and roared as excitement filled their bodies. The D-ranks in particular were quite agitated, finally they’d be able to truly sink their teeth into this battle.

Even Findlay who was standing by Frost’s side like a loyal servant couldn’t help but show a wild smile as he subconsciously rubbed his axe. He made an oath with his master to reach B-rank during the monster stampede and now at long last there was a real chance for him to gain experience. Chopping up F and E-ranks did very, very little for the high grade C-rank ice troll commander but Ds and perhaps other C-ranks well that’s a different story plus.

Findlay looked over to his master.

‘I’ll finally get to fight by master’s side.’ This was a prospect he was very much looking forward to.

“Findlay I’ll leave you in charge for now. I need to go and arrange for the other troops to be ready and make sure our secondary and tertiary defence zones are prepared...this short wall won’t last long against multiple D-ranks.” Frost looked down at the already cracked and damaged ice walls that he and his monsters fashioned together several days before the stampede began. A quick job that served well in the beginning but now may even prove to be a hindrance.

It wasn’t even half the height, half the thickness and nowhere near as fortified as the ones surrounding Furano, the true bastion in this onslaught.

Many times over the past ten days Frost’s mind drifted towards that town, wondering how it was fairing against this endless horde. Though they were far more prepared and held much, much stronger forces they also had to face off against the entire horde, not just the small margin that he did, something he was very, very thankful for.

If the dungeon attracted the entire horde the first and likely the second floors would have already been overrun with the situation rapidly escalating. He wasn’t ready for such a heavy attack.

He tried to contact Bastion, Leo and Douglas a few times on the magic crystal, but no one ever picked up. Whether they couldn’t due to a problem with the magic crystal or that they were just far too busy he didn’t know, all he could do was hold hope that they’d last long enough until he and their reinforcements arrive during the late stages.

“Understood master, the next wave will likely be here within the hour, will you be present then?” Findlay crossed his arm across his chest and bowed slightly in salute before inquiring about his master’s intentions, he was really eager to fight alongside him.

Frost saw the hope in his loyal general’s eyes and couldn’t help but reveal a proud smile before patting him on the shoulder.

“Yes I’ll be here, I just need to makes sure everyone else is ready and have Kiba and his bestial corps come up to the first floor, they’ve also been itching to fight hehehehe.” Frost chuckled, Kiba had been training ardently with his team over the ten days, but their motivation had dwindled recently due to the lack of action. Now however it was time to call them up.

Once the kill box zone fails it would be down to them to decimate the wide spread waves, giving everyone else the chance to retreat to the secondary and tertiary defence zones. Plus a 6 metre wall was nothing to Kiba, the couerl pups and even the ice wolves, a simple light jump would see them on the other side, right in the thick of battle.

Frost tapped Findlay’s shoulder again before teleporting to his next destination, an hour was neither a long time nor a short time and there was much to do.

“Kiba!” Frost shouted out when he arrived at the fifth floor which now sported three medium sized sections all with tundra highlands environments, perfect for a growing tiger and similarly structured monsters.

This was now Kiba’s and his bestial corps’ floor, decked out and designed for their benefit, well the first three sections at least. Frost aimed to add additional side sections to expand his floors like with the mine rooms plus after the third section and before the dungeon core room there was a very small room roughly 100 metres by 100 metres. This would serve as a boss room, barring anyone from moving further unless the resident monster was defeated, an idea he incorporated from the [beginner’s ice magic] monster lair. Though the designated boss was still undecided it gave him some piece of mind given that beyond that room was his core.

‘I think I’ll have to extend to more than five floors soon if the DP’s going to keep increasing like this.’ Frost cupped his chin in thought while waiting on his glacial winged tiger to arrive. He didn’t have to wait long, however.

“Roar!” Kiba let out an expectant roar at the sight of Frost. His wings were open, and the young tiger was flying, though he was a little unsteady it made him a much more dangerous existence. As the saying goes there’s not much more you can do when you give a tiger wings. They’d dominate both the sky and the land at that point.