Dungeon of Niflheim

Frost who had his current status confirmed sunk to the floor, his back flat out as he panted desperately for air. His whole body was well and truly drained, there wasn't a single part of him that wasn't throbbing and in searing pain.

Only when Ketta confirmed the end of his shift did his body truly relax from its tense state.

"Hu hu hu hu!" With laboured breathing he struggled to even move a single inch, the pain and itchy discomfort building without end.

"Oh I was certain he'd instantly pass out, nerves of steel this one has." The old woman who was working as a cannon battery alongside Frost couldn't help but lightly chuckle through her own pain and discomfort.

"Impressive, bottomless potential." The man who was also part of the battery team uttered a mere three words but just that alone caused those nearby to open their eyes wide in surprise. The old man was not much for talking and even less for giving out compliments. Many could go through whole career without hearing him mutter a single positive syllable yet here Frost who wasn't even part of their military forces received three full words.

"Genera…." Ketta fuelled by memory and nostalgia was about to say the man's rank but was stopped just before.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Enough of that little Ketta, you know more than most that we're no longer worthy of such titles….we're old retirees… nothing more." The old lady interrupted with a forced smile.

She and the old man who were now relegated to working as mere batteries in their free time and during emergency summons were once vaunted Generals of the War Ursa Battalion. Soldiers from a generation senior to even General Katrina and General Jessica.

Alas, time waits for no one, especially for those who fail to ascend and escape the chains of mortality.

The body eventually ages and passes far beyond its peak condition. Those who fight mercilessly on the frontlines, relying on their physical strength to do battle see this decline first. Mages and healers tend to have the longest battle life but even they cannot escape the cycle of life.

While fighters see their muscles dwindle, their bones weaken, and their joints lose their flexibility Mages have their mana veins corrode and their connection to both internal and external mana becomes chaotic, difficult to control and harness.

A mage who has lost integrity through their mana veins and struggles to control mana can't function as a mage on the battlefield anymore as they would pose a significant threat to nearby allies. A weakened fighter can still garner bursts of strength and perhaps rely on experience to dance around with a weaker enemy, but a mage can have their circles literally explode and cause catastrophic damage to their surroundings.

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The old man who rarely spoke was once referred to as General Mason, a member of the twin tailed wolf beastman tribe and a former A-rank frontline fighter. He was a pugilist who relied upon his strong arms, natural claws and abundant chakra to clash against enemy forces many years ago. Now however his once powerful body had shrunk by over 30% and his once vibrant black fur was now grey and patchy. He no longer had the energy to fight in a protracted war and even if he managed to summon what little remained of his life force for one last clash he'd struggle to even compete with someone at the upper B-rank. Even Frost would have a chance to take him down as long as he played a war of attrition.

The old woman was in a similar state, a former General who had fought side by side with Mason for decades before eventually succumbing to her age.

They used to love their titles; it filled them with pride and made them feel respected but now even just a single mention felt like a dagger to the heart. The pain of what they had lost was sometimes too much to bear.

The only reason they even enlisted in the battery platoon was because they wanted to feel even the slightest bit needed when Icethorne was in danger. They could summon and control their own mana reserves but having it forcibly sucked out was perfectly fine, they just had to suffer some pain and discomfort.

Seeing the evident pain flash across the former Generals' eyes Ketta bit her tongue and instead bowed her head with respect as did the nearby officers who knew of their past.

Frost unfortunately was too out of it to register what happened, he was still in the dark in regards to his temporary comrades former identities.

Soon, after some of the spasms had ended Frost was handed three mid-level potions, one health potion, one mana potion and one energising potion all of which were of high quality.

And just when he was downing the last of the potions Flora who had guided him here earlier appeared with jump in her step.

"The General wants Frost to come immediately." She immediately spoke to Ketta, the leader of the battery platoon.

"Take him, he's done his duty and then some." Ketta waved her hands releasing Frost from her custody. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't reluctant, but she knew that Frost wasn't someone she could keep trapped here, as a mere battery.

"Sir Frost this way please." Flora spoke with a greater degree of respect this time around, willing to give him some level of special treatment.

Since she was in charge of relaying information between the magic corps' leaders and their General she had heard and even seen his prowess during her brief visits. Add that onto the special interest that General Jessica had in him she felt he was more than just someone with high potential but someone that deserved her respect.

Frost quite enjoyed the friendly treatment, but he didn't let that get to his head.

He first finished his potions then stood up rather shakily before performing a military salute to Ketta and those that he'd work alongside. He thanked them for the opportunity to learn how the battery platoon operated before leaving with Flora.

"Haaaaa polite, modest, friendly alongside unrivalled talent….I hope the War Marshall knows what he's doing with that kid." Said the old woman who was once known as General Neith.

"It's no longer our place." Replied retired General Mason before closing his eyes and returning to his silence.

"Miss Flora I thought I was supposed to rest for the next hour?" Asked Frost as Flora led him back to General Jessica.

"That's true but the General wants to grant you a gift before that as a reward for you diligent efforts." Flora could barely hold back the smile on her lips, drawing Frost's curiosity but she refused to elaborate.

Eventually Frost once again found himself before General Jessica. Just like earlier she was portraying the seriousness of a General rather than a sex starved succubus but at least she wasn't ignoring him.

"Flora tells me that you performed splendidly under Ketta, successfully powering a B-rank cannon alongside my seniors Mason and Neith."

"Ah was that their names, I didn't get much of a chance for chit chat hehehe." Frost felt a little guilty, he was sitting right next to them for the better part of an hour, yet he barely even remembered their faces let alone knew their names.

"I suppose you didn't….shame." There was a brief flash of guilt and perhaps pity in Jessica's eyes as she mentioned the names of her seniors, but she quickly returned to her task at hand.

"Anyway I called you over to show you something rather spectacular." A wild or rather maddened expression grew upon her beautiful features and her powerful aura started to naturally permeate the surrounding in response to her heightened emotions.

"Tell me Frost have you ever seen a 6th circle spell? What about a 6th circle war spell?" Jessica's aura continued to build, and waves of visible dense mana started to flow around her and even into her body. The General was suddenly connected with over half the living batteries.

Her question stymied Frost, his initial response being a flat no but then he got chills. Goosebumps formed across his arms and his lips started to arch ever upwards as he tried to imagine what Jessica was alluding to.

He'd never even seen someone use a 5th circle spell let alone a 6th circle spell that was on mana steroids. The devastation of such magic was beyond his comprehension, but he wanted no, he needed to see it.

His magic was always slightly lagging when compared to his weapon mastery and chakra control but his talent and potential in the area wasn't any weaker, he just lacked the experience. Your next read awaits at empire

Maya was a lot of things, but magic was not necessarily one of her strong points. She could cast high level magic of course, perhaps equal to or even greater than Jessica but she very, very rarely used it. Spells just weren't really a part of her fighting style thus his training in said area was lacking compared to the rest. Finally however he was going to be able to witness the veritable peak of the sapient's magic world. There were so few mentions of S-rank sapients that Jessica was truly one of the frontliners, at least within the Northrend empire.

A 6th circle spell cast in the form of war magic. General Jessica being the primary caster, several B-rank mages as the secondary casters and dozens of high ranking batteries as the tertiary suppliers. Such power could even no, would eclipse the firing of Big Bertha, the A-rank mana cannon.