Dungeon of Niflheim

527 Chapter 527: Hard labour

“That’s...a problem.” Frost said with a developed frown. DP was the dungeon’s lifeblood, wantonly abandoning a significant chunk of it was not a wise move but building a protective wall around the camp wasn’t something they could avoid either. They needed some way to both attract adventurers and future residents as well as allow the wandering monsters and beasts to enter the dungeon’s purview though doing so defeated the purpose of a defensive wall.

Frost was truly stumped in regards to this issue and hadn’t thought about the camp’s impact on the natural monsters.

As his frown grew and grew Findlay brought up other issues that needed to be dealt with.

“On a not so impactful note we’ll need to start developing a sturdy gate for the camp’s entrance as well as purchase new war machines to dot the walls once they’re finished. The stampede saw us lose all but one machine though its condition is anything but stellar.”

“Can the dwarven smiths not repair them?”

“Unfortunately the mechanisms present in the ballistae are too complicated and delicate for their current abilities. They’re really only good at basic construction and simple weaponry after all. You’ll need to allocate a reserve of DP to outfit our walls with at least a couple dozen of the machines if we want to do them justice. A simple high and thick wall is nothing to conniving opportunists. Only when the wall can actively go on the offensive will they struggle in mounting a long-term siege.” Findlay highlighted a few other areas but only the first couple posed real impactful issues.

In regards to the wild monsters Frost had a couple ideas but nothing concrete whereas the wall defences only needed an influx of DP, something he could easily grant.

“Understood I’ll increase the reserve of DP to be allocated to the walls and come up with a way to best suit the needs of our wild monster problem what about the camp’s internal layout, is there anything there that may need to be revised and or my personal attention?”

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“Well since we’ve only really drawn the foundations we’ve not encountered any known issues as of yet and any obvious ones such as size issues, internal traffic flow and environmental resistance can only be dealt with after they’ve been built. We’ll really need to test the waters and listen to the complaints of those who chose to dwell within and use them as their place of business. However from the books you retrieved, our smiths’ opinions on dimensions and your descriptions of the buildings in Furano, Kranor and the camp placed before the [beginner’s ice magic] monster lair as well as the few buildings available for purchase through the dungeon menu we’ve aired on the side of practicability, going for a more orthodox approach rather than something unique and wildly creative, bar your place of course, all we’ve done there is mark out a large square wherein you can design your office as you see fit.” Frost was to be the effective mayor/manager of the camp therefore he needed to have a mayoral office to conduct business in and where the residents and visitors could go to bring up their issues with the camp.

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“I see. That’s probably the correct approach, we won’t really know what the people really want until they’re actually here.” There was a lot of space left unmarred within the confines of the walls to serve as future real estate for that time, only the essential buildings as well as a few testing layouts were drawn up.

“There’s only so much we can plan master, sometimes it’s best to just go ahead and alter your course based on what obstacles are placed in your path as they appear.” Findlay struggled to come up with anything else that was a concrete problem or boon.

“True, guess we’ll just stick with our current plans and hope for the best.” Frost somewhat reluctantly shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before refocusing himself.

“Alright where should I go to work first then?” With the plans set and some DP allocated it was time to decide where the man in charge would be best placed. Though Frost lacked a lot of the technical know how of the dwarven smiths he could utilise ice flames like the ronsos and use most of the same ice magic as the yuki-onnas.

“This….” Findlay looked a little perplexed at the question. Sure Frost was rather capable and with him working on the walls they were sure to increase their productivity, on paper at least. The monsters working by his side would obviously be affected by his presence, whether it would a positive change or a negative one Findlay didn’t know but it would definitely affect the fine-tuned work flow they’d recently established.

After a few seconds of silence Findlay finally made a decision. “Given that your ice flames are a level above all of the ronsos’, Khuno included you could start by further strengthening the wall’s foundation. Meanwhile I’ll arrange for a contingent of dwarves and trolls to be assigned to you so you can then start fashioning the camp’s buildings.”

“Sounds great, I’ll head over now. Send me a message when the team is arranged.” Frost nodded his head and smiled before heading off to where the external first started. He was very happy to be given some hard labour, staying behind a desk all the time and supervising any work was not in his blood. Turns out he and Leo shared a lot of similarity though he wasn’t quite as opposed to the rigors of leadership.

As Frost summoned out his bone chilling ice flames to further harden and improve the basic foundations of the external wall he ran through multiple possibilities in solving the wild monster issue. The more he thought of it the more annoying the situation became. The dungeon’s core was a tantalising gem to wild monsters, their instincts would naturally drive them towards the dungeon so as to partake in the juicy mass of energy. The endless waves drawn during the stampede were proof enough of its attractiveness and this was something that would only grow as the dungeon developed. The more floors he built the greater the scent produced thus attracting bigger fish.

“I can’t have the monsters and beasts being attracted to the camp as that would be pointless. Most monsters would avoid a camp full of bloodthirsty adventurers and protected by a massive wall whereas those that weren’t curtailed would instead pose a serious threat to the safety of the camp’s residents. Though their deaths would grant me a significant amount of DP it’d defeat the point of passive income haaaaaaaa what to do, what to do.”

“Expanding the area outside the dungeon could work to a degree but the monsters would still be blocked off from accessing the dungeon unless they barged through the camp and its high walls….I need a way to facilitate access for both without overlapping the two….” Frost thought deeply as freezing flames gushed out his hands and encapsulated a large section of the external wall. He pretty much acted on auto pilot as his brain entered problem solving mode. Thankfully there weren’t any workers near his position thus preventing him from accidentally freezing a goblin or two.

After a hour or so Frost had covered nearly half a kilometre of wall with his ice fire thus increasing its overall strength by roughly 10 perhaps 20% in some areas. The price however for this constant heavy use of high level chakra exhausted him greatly, even with his connection to the dungeon core non-stop chakra usage wore Frost out. He was panting, sweating buckets and felt that his mana channels were about to burst. He did however have a smile plastered on his face reaffirming Maya’s opinion that he was a bit of a masochist.

“Hahahaha not only did I get a real chakra workout I’ve come up with a pretty decent solution to the wild monsters problem.” Frost laughed as he fell onto the lightly snow-covered ground and summoned a mid-level mana potion from his storage ring.

He glugged down the blue liquid with gusto, finding the flavour more than acceptable, it was akin to a man nearly dying of dehydration taking a large gulp of water, exactly what his body needed at that precise moment.

“I doubt many choose to go down such a brutal training path, but it certainly has its rewards.” Frost positively remarked as he sensed his mana veins slowly but surely expanding each time, he worked them to the absolute limit. It was the same with his muscles, after breaking them down through super intense workouts they grew stronger after healing, all it took was some determination and pain.

After finishing his mana potion and inspecting his mana veins Frost looked over the remaining wall, 500 metres was only a little over 3% of the entire external wall. 3 sides each 5kms long, he had quite a ways to go.

“Looks like even construction can serve as a good workout hehehehe.” He laughed looking very much forward to the results after he finished the entire wall.

At the moment however he needed to rest, too much damage to his mana veins would have the opposite effect.

“Solving the wild monsters issue will require not just DP but some careful planning, possible rearranging and perhaps even testing the bounds of what I’m allowed to get away with. I might have to ask father for his input but technically there shouldn’t be a problem.” Frost lay his back against the cold floor, finding it rather comfortable as he brought up the dungeon menu.

“Let’s test the waters first.”