Conquering His Cold Heart

The Dungeon of Niflheim was currently home to 15 floors -excluding the floors 5.5 and 10.5- and all but the final floor was fully stocked with environments and expansions. However only the top ten floors were in use by the public given that no one had ever reached beyond the tenth floor -bar the team from the federation of knowledge.

This was primarily due to the vast sums of C-rank monsters prowling the halls.

Furano and the nearest towns and enclaves had few C-rank parties let alone groups at the B-rank thus this was a barrier no one could overcome. Eventually if Frost left things as they were B-ranks would be attracted to the Dungeon and would destroy his current utopia with their overwhelming strength. At the moment only he, Khuno and Findley were capable of going toe to toe with a B-rank party.

Though his C-rank forces were numerous, to take down a party of that level would result in some serious losses to their numbers, a price that Frost would find hard to stomach.

Whenever a D-rank monster or lower died in his Dungeon Frost wouldn't even bat an eye anymore. Given how much DP he was raking in on a daily basis the cost to replace a monster of such a low rank was so miniscule that it hardly mattered in the grand scheme.

Before he genuinely cared about each and everyone of his monsters but now given how many there were and how cheap their lives were he had grown a little numb. His care was reserved for Findley, Khuno and the officers as well as his family. Perhaps it's rather callous but it is the truth nonetheless and a fact that Frost has accepted.

Of course if anyone abuses or tortures his monsters for fun then it's a different story, such offenders would quickly see themselves absconded to a secret prison where all manner of torture would commence. Day after day a monster of high rank would carve them up, letting them experience true fear until eventually they died of their wounds or starved to death and those were the lucky ones.

The greatest offenders were kept alive forever through the use of healing magic and being forced to eat and drink, to be eternally tortured and siphoned of their delicious DP.

Thankfully Frost restricted his prison for the most evil of people, he fiercely fought against the growing attraction, the possible levels of DP that such a system could produce. He would not join that faction among his siblings regardless of the benefits, it just wasn't him.

Anyway he felt that now was a good time with the stones drawing everyone's focus to gradually shift his strongest forces down a few floors, finally putting some use into them. Stay updated with m-v l|-NovelBin.net

By the end of the transition only the tenth and possibly the ninth floor would be home to a small amount of C-rank monsters thus allowing access to floor 10.5 (that was still pretty empty bar a few mines that were hidden out of view) and moving the hard barrier to the 11th or possibly the 12th floor for now.

This would healthily leave 3 floors between the current adventurers' delving capability and the Dungeon's heart. After seeing the madness in Ladius' eyes and the attraction his heart had on her he didn't want a single less constrained adventurer to come even remotely near it.

"Findlay start the shift and make it gradual, there's no hurry."

"Yes master." With the order given Findlay moved within the Dungeon, organising the majority of the Dungeon's C-ranks in a full descent leaving varied levels of D-ranks to fill in the gaps.

As time progressed the team assigned to analyse the differences between the Floor Jumping Stones uncovered their limitations and after roughly a week they published their results shaking the foundation of what was known. Word spread from the Camp to the surrounding towns and cities thus attracting even more adventurers and merchants.

And speaking of merchants the moment the ban was lifted many of the more prolific merchants starting offering a vast range of Floor Jumping Stones for a very healthy premium. A single stone ranged between 15 and 20 silvers while a medium one ranged between 60 and 70 silvers. And despite these inflated prices many adventurers and other merchants quickly snapped up their entire stock.

Simply selling theses stones for a profit was one way to make money another was to use them in transporting supplies down to the floor of peace.

With more and more people reaching this fabled floor and even Frost developing a rudimentary outpost and opening up mining opportunities several merchants decided to utilise the vast sums of money they had earned in the camp to set up shop within the Dungeon itself. The stones would greatly reduce the logistical problems for at least half the journey.

"Son I'll leave setting up our second branch to you, use this experience to temper your skills." A father ordered his son to make his way to the floor of peace with multiple storage rings and bags filled with materials on his person.

"Yes father, I won't let you down." The son replied with sparkling eyes, his voice filled with determination. This was a heaven sent opportunity, his father was truly letting him fly solo and take on a momentous task. If he succeeded in setting up an accomplished shop within the Dungeon his family's legacy would be ensured and their coffers invigorated.

The young man wasn't the only one, quite a few young entrepreneurs and some of the more steely elder ones held Floor Jumping Stones in their hands as they said farewell to those they were leaving on the surface. This trip of theirs would at the very least keep them from their family for a few days but likely more.

After saying their goodbyes the group of ambitious merchants stepped into the Dungeon and activated their Floor Jumping Stones.

Whoosh!

Each of the merchants, their luggage and anyone who was travelling with them were encased in silvery black shells before being instantly teleported deep underground. They arrived on the floor of peace a moment later, their arrival drawing the attention of the patrolling ronsos and a few adventurers who were resting in the area.

For most this was the first time they'd seen the stones in action, so they were in compete awe.

One or two of the merchants even threw up their last meal as the sudden movement through space upset their internals.

"So this is floor 5.5 otherwise known as the fabled floor of peace." The son who was sent by his father remarked with awe as he took in the pleasant atmosphere and lack of danger around him. Behind him stood two well built men who were to act as his guards during the time he was here.

"Let's head to the outpost set up by Lord Frost, we'll be assigned an area where we can set up our shop there." Frost had already laid his claim on this floor before anyone else even thought to utilise its peaceful environment.

Of course it was hard for one man to lay claim to the entire Dungeon but somehow Frost seemed to do it, and no one was willing to shake his position. First of all there was no one at Frost's level of strength nor anyone with his level of backing.

Frost wasn't truly alone after all, the legions of Ronsos and two B-rank monsters served as his subordinates, following any of his orders without any hesitation. Of course no one really wanted to remove him either, Frost was a fair ruler that not only supported a great quality of life but held great administration skills.

By being assigned a space by Lord Frost there'd be no fierce fighting or bidding wars to secure one and security was pretty much guaranteed. They were free to compete but solely based upon their skills as merchants and the products they supplied.

Maron the young man sent by his father was more than happy to acquiesce to Frost's arrangements, in fact he was grateful for them.

'This will be the first step on a long path, whether or not our family can rise to the peak will be determined by how well we do here.' Maron was determined and full of confidence in his actions.

He lead the two guards his father had arranged for him and made his way to the local outpost and after a short and concise meeting he was granted a prominent area to establish his shop as were the others who had decided to blaze their trails into the Dungeon.

With adventurers clamouring throughout the floors in search of Floor Jumping Stones and merchants making their way down to the floor of peace no one noticed a shift in the monsters. Findlay and his officers were very subtle in their movements as per Frost's orders.

They took their time, slowly moving the stronger monsters deeper into the Dungeon making not just the 6th to 10th floors easier but also the 1st to the 5th.

The Dungeon though still being home to a veritable army of C-rank monsters was now also becoming more inviting to the weaker adventurer parties. Even those at the F-rank and perhaps G-rank were able to survive the first two floors thus attracting lots of young blood to the Camp.

For the local guild and the senior adventurers this was a sight that warmed the heart. A place that could welcome both juniors and elders was sure to thrive.