Chapter 982: Chapter 982: Returning to one’s origins
"But are you free to do that Master? I know putting off paperwork for a day or two won’t result in something catastrophic, but didn’t you meet with the leaders of the false caravans?" Reports and sign offs could be delayed, no biggie but anything involving A-rank individuals was a serious event. Yuna was only at the early stages of B-rank while even her master and her two predecessors were at the mid stages so even a single A-rank presence was a serious threat their little kingdom let alone seven.
"I did and the situation is quite serious, but it doesn’t involve us but rather a problem on their end so there’s no need to worry. We can simply sit back leisurely while they do all the work." Frost wasn’t worried about the operation; the battle would take place far from the city and wouldn’t involve any of his forces. Seven A-ranks and a bevy of high tier B-ranks surely wouldn’t fail to take down their enemy. All he needed to do was sit back and enjoy the show.
"We’ll watch from afar using the Dungeon’s monitoring system, safe and undisturbed as we enjoy our little walk." He smiled gently and led his trusted subordinate through the Dungeon’s entrance, nodding politely to the two ronsos stationed as guards.
"Yes master." Yuna replied with a coy charm, tossing all thoughts of work and stress to the back of her mind as she interlocked her arm with Frost’s and walked into the Dungeon’s first floor.
The environment for the first floor and several of the following floors was still a bit of a hod podge, a result of when Frost didn’t know which environment would suit his growing clientele. Occasionally he’d entertain the thought of retrofitting the entire place but would quickly disregard it. The messy arrangement was proof of his growth and a fond reminder of his early days.
Nostalgia washed over Frost as they passed areas that hadn’t changed in months, patches of red and blue dwindle, the river that passed through nearly half the room and even the goblin hideouts that frequently entertained rookie adventurers.
"G-ranks and F-ranks, it wasn’t all that long ago that these monsters were the Dungeon’s bread and butter, drawing interest from the local guild and even threatening a large percentage of those who dared to enter." Yuna and Frost witnessed a group of frost goblins facing off against some teenage adventurers while a more seasoned individual watched from a distance, ready to make a move if things turned dire.
"Before my time." Yuna was originally a yuki-onna, a C-rank monster and who rarely ever visited the upper floors before her ascension to B-rank.
"True, by the time you were summoned we already had five floors perhaps even more." Apart from the rare few that managed to survive and evolve from the onset i.e. a very, very lucky goblin who was now a frost hobgoblin assassin and residing on the 4th floor only Findley was there from the onset, even the polar bear his first D-rank monster had long perished.
The two quietly watched as the adventurers successfully took down the three frost goblins, suffering a few minor wounds to which their guardian admonished them for their initial arrogance.
Frost didn’t feel anything from seeing the deaths of the goblins, he had grown numb to such situations, seeing it as a natural part of his existence. Those summoned through spawners could never grow stronger and they’d simply be replaced in a couple days with new monsters.
"How many G-ranks spawners do we have on this floor?"
"I don’t remember off the top of my head, but it’s got to be at least 40 or 50." It cost 3000DP for a frost goblin spawner and a monster would be summoned every 12 hours thus resulting in close to a hundred new G-rank monsters every single day.
"The more adventurers we get in the city the more monsters are needed to sustain their interest....a never ending cycle." Findley was in charge of monitoring these expenses and the Dungeon’s growing military needs thus opposed to the beginning Frost was much more detached from the day to day rigours. The first few floors were filled with such weak monsters and entertaining such weak adventurers that he rarely felt the need to interfere. He read the occasional report, discussed efficiency and sometimes postulated an idea but for the most part these floors were following a schedule that was planned out long ago.
It had been so long since he simply walked through his own Dungeon and witnessed its processes in person.
Seeing the clashes between monsters and adventurers, the occasional discovery of a treasure chest or secret area Frost couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride welling in his heart. After 18 months so much had changed, he was not the same naïve and ignorant boy he once was and the Dungeon was no longer a mere passing interest but a veritable goldmine that would continue to attract stronger and more customers.
Frost and Yuna comfortably walked at a steady pace, stopping occasionally to linger at a particular spot whenever they spotted something interesting or when Frost recognised a certain monster who had managed to survive for a substantial amount of time. That frost hobgoblin assassin for example ruled over a particular area on the 4th floor and was gearing up to move to the 5th come its next evolution.
"From the lowest of G-rank to a prominent and established upper E-rank, very impressive. You’ve done your kin and myself proud." Frost immediately lavished the hobgoblin with praise bringing a few tears to its eyes, it’d been so long since it last saw its master or heard his words of encouragement.
The goblin not yet able to speak in common tongue bowed its head, crossed its arms across its chest and vowed to reach even higher and to one day hopefully share in its master’s many burdens like the ronsos, yuki-onnas and frost trolls....a tall ask for a species that was inherently weak and which Frost bore no specialisation.
Seeing the goblin slink away and lead a group of slightly weaker hobgoblins to hunt adventurers Frost felt a twinge in his heart. While pride and joy was evident there was also regret.
"Master?" As a pained expression marred Frost’s face Yuna called on him with worry.
"....I’ve been spending too much of my time establishing Niflheim." After being silent for a few seconds Frost eventually sighed and came to a realisation.
"While it’s certainly important for DP I’ve forgotten that I’m not a noble or a territory lord or an adventurer at heart but a Dungeon core....The Dungeon is my foundation and should thus be my first priority." For months he’d been agonising over Niflheim, stressing about its development, even going so far as to design a brand new monster just to speed up construction all while neglecting the Dungeon itself. If anything needed to be delegated to his subordinates or others it was the city not the Dungeon.
Because of this little walk he felt his passion returning, ideas and inspirations buzzing everywhere he looked. He wanted to take a hands on approach with evolutions, speak to his lower ranked monsters, experiment with new traps, create unique spaces and have fun with his Dungeon like he did back in the beginning rather than focusing on nothing but increasing his collection of DP.
"Yuna lets go back to our origins; leave the mountain of paperwork to others I want to play with the Dungeon for a while." His mind was set, the city had taken up too much of his time recently, so much so that he was on the brink of burning down buildings just to offset his growing insanity.
"....."Yuna stared at her master in shock, she knew full well how much effort and focus he’d been putting into Niflheim’s development but after a little walk he wanted to release it from his iron grip and give others control and responsibility.
The thought of returning to the Lord’s manor and to her desk that was covered in stacks and stacks of documents made her feel depressed, so she was more than happy to hear such words from her Master but at the same time she was worried.
"Are you sure Master? If you change your mind later I’ll throw a tantrum."
"Hehehe yes I’m sure Yuna. We’ll keep our positions as city Lord and secretary but let’s arrange some of your lesser kin to help with the build-up of documents and hand over more power to the council....if they mess up they can fix it or we’ll replace with them someone better." It was wrong for him to retain such strict control in the first place; he had no experience in ruling a territory and honestly he had no time to micromanage something that was merely a subsidiary to his Dungeon.
"Hahahaha finally I can get back to doing what I was born for!" Yuna started laughing maniacally and jumped up and down as an urge to fight and kill radiated from deep within her heart. She was a monster, a being whose purpose was to fight and protect the Dungeon, it’d been so long since she last cast her magic let alone faced off against a bunch of adventurers.
Frost simply smiled in response as Yuna let out her frustrations and acted like a prisoner who had been released from a life sentence.
"Master, Baron Glorfile and the rest appear to be making their move." As Frost felt the urge to join Yuna in her mad power trip Findley’s voice appeared in his mind.
"Perfect."
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