Conquering His Cold Heart

"Welcome to the Dungeon of Niflheim." Frost boldly announced as a greeting towards the adventuring parties.

Naming the Dungeon was something he'd been putting on the back burner for a while. Given that he was the first person to truly delve into the dungeon it was common for that person to be given the right to name the monster lair or in this case Dungeon. The other two groups who visited in the earliest days already waived their right to name it.

The first group didn't even make it past the first room and the second got all their data from Frost, thus leaving the duty solely with him and it was a duty that he had thought long and hard about. This was his territory; it was only right that he'd be the one to name it but what, was the question.

This name would be forever remembered and become an official placeholder in Nova's history, he couldn't screw it up.

He came up with a lot of names, some far more grandiose than others but none of them really sunk in. Who was he? What was his dream? What was the territory and dungeon all about? When he asked himself these questions the answer became clear.

There was a dimension known in legends home to the origin of ice, where the primordial ice king resided. Niflheim, the realm of ice. Frost was the embodiment of ice, very much akin the primordial ice king so despite copying the name of his realm he felt that nothing else suited his dungeon and territory more.

The primordial ice king resides in the realm of Niflheim, a separate dimension he created while Frost rules over the Dungeon of Niflheim and the possible kingdom of Niflheim. Similar yet also different, one is within Nova while the other is technically not. Regardless, from the name it was clear that the dungeon was ice based, it both sounded great and worked as a good marketing strategy.

"That's rather bold and perhaps even presumptuous of you but then again if anyone's going to do it best be you, the son of the Dark God." Maya felt mixed about the name. She agreed that the namesake fit right at home but in the end he was still technically stealing the idea from the Primordial ice king…though he wouldn't be the first.

Many people liked to name things after legends, myths and aspects of great power however normally these were just the ideas of mortals, inconsequential entities in the grand scheme. Frost was not one of those individuals.

"Relax it's just a name and as long as we don't dishonour it I'm sure the Primordial ice king won't mind." Frost was dead set on his choice and wouldn't take no for an answer. He published the name with the adventurer's guild a day before the new guests arrived, so they were unaware of the new designation.

"Dungeon of Niflheim?" The leader of one of D-rank parties queried.

"Yes it's the name of this dungeon, officially designated yesterday. And this would be the Niflheim base camp that facilities access to the dungeon for adventurers such as yourselves."

"Do you want a quick tour or are you fine exploring the place yourselves?"

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"We're fine."

"We'll take the tour." The group that was sorely lacking in money declined the tour as they wished to enter the dungeon as soon as possible while those that were here to brush off some rust or just wanted to stoke their curiosity asked to be shown around.

"Perfect, the dungeon's entrance is at the very end of the camp, there's signs and two guards protecting the entrance, you can't miss it." Frost ushered the eager group towards the dungeon while he instead focused on the more sociable parties.

"Are you all here to delve or just curious?"

"Delve of course we're just not in as much rush as the others." The ones who took up the tour were the two D-rank parties and one of the F-ranks. The veterans knew that rushing without any knowledge was a fast way to end up dead, they wanted to get the lay of the land first.

Frost examined the two veteran parties and found that they were geared for the long haul, clearly they wished to mine this new monster lair for much of its initial worth.

The last group seemed to be filled with curious young girls and boys who simply thought it'd be wise to follow the footsteps of the veterans rather than rush headlong into danger, a choice that would likely see them survive their first delve.

"Well as you can see the camp is still in its initial stages, but all the essentials are up and running. Over there we have the budding economic district where our stores are set up. Currently we have 1 star and 2 star weapons available for purchase, monster materials gained both from the dungeon as well as the recent monster stampede, low level potions and a repair service for damaged equipment."

"To the left we have the residential district where you can find multiple inns and mass lodging quarters, we plan to also construct permanent residences for anyone who wishes to stay within the camp for a prolonged stay." Frost continued to point out the many facilities the camp already provided as well as some of his future plans.

"In the centre of the camp is my office where I can normally be found, if you have any questions that my ronso staff can't answer then I'll be happy to help you."

"Ronsos?" One of the adventurers asked, not recognising the word.

"Ahhh that's the name of the species you can see patrolling the camp, they're my direct subordinates who help me run the camp. Ah Khuno perfect timing come introduce yourself to these able bodied adventurers." Frost spotted Khuno in the distance and called him over.

"Yes milord." Khuno crossed his arm over his chest in a militaristic fashion before staring down at the trembling adventurers. "Hello, my name is Khuno, and I am milord's right hand."

"….D….Damien." The strongest of the adventurers mustered up the courage to shake Khuno's outstretched hand.

"Khuno and his ronso brethren are a rare species of tiger beastkin so it's not unusual for to have not heard of them."

"I see." It was clear that the veterans had been around the block, they'd encountered many intelligent monsters that behaved just like sapients, it was more the show of power that got to them. The F-rank rookies however instantly withdrew their weapons instinctively when Frost's described the ronsos as beastkin rather beastmen.

This of course made Frost and Khuno frown, a pressuring aura was even released by the young dungeon core.

"Ahhh!" The group of rookies screamed in fear as their bodies started screaming danger. Thankfully the veteran captains moved to correct their behaviour before Frost didn't anything drastic.

"Sheath your god damn weapons!" The veteran captains roared at the top their lungs before slapping the back of the rookies' heads.

"Apologies Lord Frost, they're rather new at this and don't quite understand how the world works beyond the confines of Northrend's borders." Frost retrieved his aura, allowing the adventurers to breathe and sequester their weapons.

"No apology necessary Damien, I understand the culture of those raised beyond the mountains. I just thought a show of force would best correct such illusions." Frost smiled in a rather cold manner sending shivers down Damien's back.

The tour managed to get back on track despite the unsavoury confrontation though the rookie F-rank party still refused to look Frost's way, afraid of drawing his ire.

"This is the entrance to the dungeon which currently stands at 10 floors. The ronsos guarding the gate here will ask for your rank before you enter and suggest the maximum number of floors you should descend."

"How perilous is it?"

"The upper floors not so much, even the F-rank rookies here can survive the first floor as long as they work well together however, beyond the 6th floor even C-rank adventurers could lose their lives if they're not careful." Such a revelation caused the veterans to balk and look at one another, silently coming up with new plans.

"If you want to learn more about what you'll encounter you can try asking the ronsos, many of the guards have delved into the dungeon themselves."

"Thank you for the tour Lord Frost as well as the personal advice, we'll be sure to inquire with your subordinates lest we foolishly fall for a trap that could have easily been avoided." Damien said this with emphasis for the education of the rookies, knowledge was power.

"No problem, if you ever get injured we have a clinic on set near the entrance with an array of potions for sale. We even have a Niflheim specialty that you may be interested in trying out." Frost subtly promoted his 'ice vials' hoping they'd catch on.

"Will do."

"Happy hunting." Frost waved the groups off and headed to his office before teleporting to the private space to watch the festivities. It'd been a long time since he had any adventurer guests in his dungeon.

"Now how many should I have killed?"