Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 562 - : Dungeon delving (6)
The muscular axemen who thought themselves invincible charged into the boss room on the fifth floor without an ounce of forethought. They couldn't comprehend the possibility of a monster not falling under their axes. An endeavour that ended in the worst way possible.
The boss room held on the fifth floor was home to a devasting pair of monsters that guarded access to the far more perilous levels down below. Those incapable of felling two frost drakes didn't deserve to delve any deeper.
This room was frequently covered in blood, the stench never fully receding before the next party recklessly attempted to charge their way through.
If the muscular axemen had thought retrospectively for just a moment they likely wouldn't have entered into a wanton slaughter. A frost drake's hide was near impervious to physically obsessed adventurers like themselves. Their once hallowed axes barely made a dent in the creature's mighty scales.
What proceeded their reckless charge could be easily imagined. With no possibility of retreat and the muscular axemen refusing to believe in their inability to cut the beasts the party was well and thoroughly crushed. The great drakes overpowered them, crushed them with their mighty limbs or swatted them away with their tails.
By the end six crumpled bodies lay in pools of their own blood as the twin drakes joyfully devoured them limb after limb before returning to their original positions, ready and waiting for the next foolish party to grace their doors.
No matter how much the ronsos or the more veteran adventurer parties warned those with D-rank strength more and more kept making their way to the drakes' doors only to be devoured by them or the dungeon. Of course there was the odd occasion where a more powerful party successfully took down the drakes and made it to the fabled sixth floor where peace reigned.
One such party containing only four members easily decimated the drakes with far superior strength, none of them even came out the slightest bit injured.
"I can see why so many people have died to these boss monsters. Handling one is fine but two ups the anti to whole other level." One of the party members, a powerful looking bear beastman decked in heavy looking plate armour uttered as he pulled his massive Warhammer from the skull of one of the drakes.
"Only parties that have upper D-rank or higher strength will be able succeed in this battle. Those below will end up like this earlier group." A human archer from the party said while highlighting the still present remains of a party that entered before them.
"It's their own fault, the guild and even the owner of this camp gives fair warning to those who enter. If they choose not to listen to the ronsos or us they only have themselves to blame." The third member a powerful mage adorned in fancy robes shook her head in disappointment. Why were people in such a rush to die.
"The young are foolish and reckless; all we can do is warn them time and time again. Were we really all that different back then." The party leader forced his teammates to reflect upon their own past which made the mage wince most of all. She was quite arrogant in her early youth.
"Come on let's take a look at the fabled 'floor of peace'" A name that was gaining traction among those staying in the Niflheim base camp.
This group of four were known as the Skylarks a powerful C-rank party with a plethora of quests under their belts. Veterans of the game so they knew their way around the block, but they weren't old enough that B-rank status was out of question, in fact they held quite a decent chance at succeeding.
They hoped that perhaps training within the Dungeon of Niflheim would be enough to close the gap or at least point them in the right direction. From what they knew once they passed the fabled 'floor of peace' the dungeon was a completely different beast, home to a plethora of C-rank monsters.
The Skylarks scavenged the useful parts from the frost drakes before descending down to the next floor with curiosity ablaze in their hearts. Even with their track record they couldn't help but become excited at the thought of experience something new. They were adventurers through and through.
"Well would you look at that." Oscar the party leader commented once they finished descending and caught sight of the fabled 'floor of peace'.
Unlike the previous floors they could easily see the boundaries of the first section and even the entrance to the second the moment they entered, a fascinating sight considering where they were.
"It really is as described in the rumours, a pleasant, warm environment with not a single monster in sight." Philippa the mage scanned the horizon for any danger and found nothing.
"The 'floor of peace' indeed…huh is that." Yarik the heavily armoured bear beastman noticed a somewhat familiar face in the distance and drew the attention of his comrades.
"I think it is, I wonder what he's doing here?"
"Perhaps delving like us, he is the only one to have reached the bottommost floor after all."
"Why don't we just ask him?"
"Couldn't hurt." The Skylarks thus sauntered over to the familiar face.
"Lord Frost." Oscar greeted him with a friendly smile and a respectful stance. Frost was not only the owner of the camp but also a respected B-rank fighter.
"Oh you're….Oscar from the Skylarks right." Frost acted as though their meeting here was just a coincidence when in fact he'd been following their progress from the moment they entered the camp. Anyone who was C-rank deserved his attention given the amount of damage they could cause to his precious dungeon.
He watched as they methodically made their way from the upper floors, killing only when necessary as well as their swift take down of the two frost drakes. Their strength was the real deal, so he informed the yuki-onnas, ice trolls and revenants present on the lower floors to expect a challenge.
The Skylarks would see a dramatic difference in difficulty once they passed the 'floor of peace' but right now Frost had a different agenda.
"I'm honoured you remembered us."
"Of course you're a hopeful C-rank party with the ambition to reach B-rank, I'd be foolish to not keep an eye on you hahahaha." Oscar and the Skylarks blushed slightly as their hearts swelled with pride.
"Are you here on a delve Lord Frost?" Asked Philippa.
"Not this time unfortunately." Frost instantly shot down their hopes at possibly travelling with him as they delve. "Actually I'm here with a few of my subordinates to map out and plan for an internal camp here on the fabled 'floor of peace.'"
"Eh! You want to build a camp inside the dungeon." The idea wasn't unheard of, but it only happened within those massive monster lairs that had tens of floors and were managed by heavy duty groups such as large kingdoms and empires. The amount of manpower, money and technical difficulty required to maintain and establish an internal camp was immense.
The Dungeon of Niflheim was only recently established and only had ten floors so an internal camp at this venture seemed unnecessary.
"I know what you're thinking, and I agree with you, but this Dungeon isn't like the regular monster lairs you're used to. This place will continue to develop at an abnormal rate and I'm confident that within the next few years it'll rival some of the larger monster lairs that can be found across the Yangmir continent.
I'm merely planning ahead for that eventuality besides with an entire floor designated as a safety area I'd be foolish not to take advantage of such a boon." Frost explained his long thought out plan to the Skylarks, slowly bringing them around to his thinking.
Under normal circumstances such an idea wouldn't be worth the effort but with the combined situation of abnormally fast development and an entire floor being designated a safety area the idea became far more feasible.
"Right now I'm just visualising the thing, actual creation won't happen for quite a while. There's still the official external camp to finish after all."
"It's a bold idea Lord Frost and from your explanation a fruitful one. I can see this whole space becoming a functioning metropolis in the future. I wish you luck."
"Thanks Oscar, good hunting to you and your teammates. Be careful however, the lower floors are a whole other ball game compared to the upper five." Frost gave them a stern warning as they left, it'd be a shame for this group so soon.
"Alright the seed has been planted time to start developing hehehehe." The moment the Skylarks left the area Frost smiled like a money addict and laughed evilly before teleporting to the private space. The dungeon had been very, very lucrative over the past several weeks. His passive income continued to increase every day, he was getting closer and closer to a daily income of 10,000DP.
The many, many deaths and injuries only added to his fortunes. So many arrogant and foolish groups such as the muscular axemen met their ends within the hallowed halls of the dungeon. Yet the visitors continued to amass, the promise of wealth and adventure was just too alluring.
The fact that parties could randomly stumble upon vast windfalls of treasure such as the Icy Talons was enough to drive the ambitious adventurers wild let alone the promise of easy access to a plethora of different monsters.
Another note some of the more experienced adventurers noticed was the fact that the monsters present in the dungeon were stronger and smarter than those found in monster lairs, upping the challenge but also the reward.
It soon became known that the dungeon of Niflheim was not only a wealth gold mine but also the perfect training ground for those wishing to improve their skills and really challenge themselves.
