Dungeon of Niflheim

113 Chapter 113: Returning to the surface

With their goals set and Frost receiving the two kids’ confirmation the group, now two larger started to head out of the vault.

“What the hell happened here?” Frost asked in amazement as he took in the incredible scene laid out before him. Luna and the kids had similar reactions.

The group had arrived in what was the once the arena room where they came across Drogan, Rock and Jin. What was once a large circular open space with smooth solid ground was now the epitome of a disaster area. Massive craters and scars replaced what was once the floor. Thick holes were in the ceiling showing the interior of the second basement and an arrangement of what appeared to be blue flower patterns were burned/melted into the walls. Not to mention what looked like a pool of magma in the middle of the room.

The group of four then craned their heads over to the older gentleman who was sporting a proud smile on his face as he enjoyed the sights.

‘Ok I must remember to never piss off Ryuu or Bastion....ever.’ Frost wouldn’t even be able to endure a single blow if it had the ability to cause this kind of devastation.

Luna shook her head, her eyes filled with pride as well as envy before quickly changing to irritation. She let go of the two children’s hands and raised her palm up high before.

Slap!

She brought down her palm like a righteous thunderbolt knocking her father to the ground.

“Stupid old geezer how much do you think it’s going to cost to repair this kind of damage and what if your crazy ass spells brought down the upper floors huh! We’d be buried alive you idiot!” She kicked his backside for good measure eliciting a chuckle from the watching parties. Her father and uncle really didn’t know how to hold back no scratch that just her father, Bastion at least kept his damage to the floor.

.....

It was easy to identify which craters and scars were caused by weapons and those with magic and most if not all the problem areas were caused by magic.

Ryuu felt wronged, deeply wronged and was about to argue but caught sight of Luna’s cold fierce gaze and held his tongue, he’d be beaten regardless so he just had to suck it up and endure. Perhaps try to enjoy it, his daughter was trying to guide and educate him after all.

‘Ah yes this is just another form of love.’ Ryuu changed his attitude and looked up lovingly at his daughter as she scolded and kicked him, causing a shiver to run down her spine resulting in more and harsher beatings.

To be honest Ryuu wasn’t nearly that stupid and if his daughter allowed him to explain she’d understand but no, she wasn’t one to listen.

Ryuu and Drogan’s battle was monolithic compared to what they were doing. The jump between C-rank and B-rank was vast, even more so for mages and these two weren’t just simple entry level either no, they were both at least in the middle stages with Ryuu possibly being in the upper.

And with higher power comes much, much more destructive magic. Unlike Adam they could cast 3rd circle spells repeatedly only encountering a similar issue if they used 4th circle spells, but ones of that level would have surely brought down the entire mansion, so they were never used.

Most of the exterior damage was actually caused not by Ryuu but by Drogan. As the match began the two mages tested one another, firing low level spells with incredible speed and control which resulted in either party’s magic being cancelled out. This was how most mages would duel, since their magic was so destructive to the surrounding area, they required precise control and accuracy. The problems began later in the fight when they started to use their more powerful spells and unique abilities. It was then that Drogan realised that he truly wasn’t a much for Ryuu.

With spells at the minimum of 2nd circle and frequently 3rd being launched Drogan began to feel the strain. His casting speed wasn’t as fast, his spell repertoire not as vast and most of all he was far more predictable in his casting. None of his spells made it past Ryuu’s defences, cancelled out or simply overpowered before they could reach him. But he knew this already, this fight was just for show and a chance for him to end his stagnation at his current level.

Drogan began firing all types of spells at a random rate, many of which had poor accuracy causing them to land on the walls, floor, and ceiling of the arena resulting in the majority of the damage, but Ryuu remained unfazed. He siphoned out the power of the overly destructive ones and cast wind or mana barriers to reduce the overall damage but even he had his limits.

He grew bored of being on the defensive and switched gears suddenly firing high powered and highly accurate spells straight at Drogan which filled him with panic. The spells were perfectly timed and orchestrated, his balance would be affected and or his vision blinded, and he’d be struck from any direction, he was effectively a punching bag.

Drogan was forced to rely on his slightly younger body to endure the blows that penetrated past his mana shield and high quality robe. He and Ryuu were pretty much equally matched when it came to equipment but skill wise, he was clearly below.

Their battle finally stopped when Bastion had cut down Rock and Jin before then smashing through the earthen wall Drogan had summoned, making this a two on one scenario with him already being the underdog.

Although the group had a purpose and were keen to leave this area Frost couldn’t help but be enamoured with the destruction wrought by multiple B-ranks fighting in an enclosed space, and this was with them most likely constraining their destruction, Ryuu especially.

He moved over to the blue flower patterns burned into the wall, they were still generating vast amounts of heat which was very uncomfortable for someone like Frost. He reached out to touch the blue flower and quickly had to pull back his hand, his fingertips were burnt.

“That’s one of mine, a combination of wind and fire, the blue fire lotus.” Ryuu had at some point escaped Luna’s tough love and meandered over to behind Frost. Seeing his interest, he decided to explain a few of the spells since Frost likely hadn’t the chance to see them before.

“The upgraded version of fireball is basically the same structure but with blue flames which are much hotter and explosive. By adding in some wind magic you can create multiple different shapes as well as increasing the velocity of the spell. It’s one of my favourites considering my specialties.” Ryuu commented with pride, he specialised in fire and wind magic so a spell that combined both of these elements was his dream spell. The blue fire lotus spell could be considered middle level 3rd circle.

Frost nodded his head as he listened, he was always very eager to learn about magic and this was the first time he encountered duel elemental spells. Maya only displayed ice magic as well as healing magic, both individually.

Frost gave a one last look at the blue flower pattern on the wall and silently sighed. Given his talents, combination magic was beyond him.

“Is the magma pool over there yours as well?”

“No that was Drogan’s, I unfortunately can’t use earth magic. It was a good spell, shame the caster used it simply as a distraction.”

“Hmmm? What do you mean” Frost looked over at the pool of magma and felt that it gave off even more heat than the blue lotus, why would such a deadly spell be used for distraction.

“Tsk” Ryuu clicked his tongue in annoyance as he remembered the last moments of his battle with Drogan. He’d finally gotten fully revved up for a magic duel, but Drogan had other plans.

“That asshole escaped just when things were getting interesting, he launched two magma ball spells at me and one at Bastion who had hammered his way through the earthen wall. We were forced to block or dodge in Bastions case.” Ryuu nodded to the pool of magma in the centre of the room. That was the spell Bastion dodged.

“I destroyed his spell with my own but in doing so obscured my vision. The bastard used that chance to use a teleportation talisman. By the time I realised what he was doing it was too late, the talisman had been activated and his body was already glowing as it prepared to cross space.”

Bang!

Ryuu stomped his foot on the floor with great power unbefitting of his mage like disposition, Drogan’s actions really ticked him off.

“The asshole even waved goodbye with an annoying smirk on his face, completely happy with what he achieved ahahaha but the jokes on him hahahhaah.” Ryuu laughed madly with a grand smile. Drogan’s arrogance and mocking actions jinxed himself.

“Bastion that old dwarf reacted well, he launched his axe through the air and severed that asshole’s arm the moment before his body vanished so it wasn’t all that bad, shame I couldn’t do it myself.” Ryuu pointed behind him with his thumb.

Frost followed the direction and saw a severed arm lying on the ground in a pool of blood, it was still covered by Drogan’s robes.

‘Fair enough,’ satisfied with Ryuu’s answer Frost didn’t continue on this topic.

“Let’s head on up, unless you want to get any more beatings from your daughter?” Frost changed the topic as he witnessed Luna walking over ready to continue her re-education of her father’s personality.

Ryuu shivered but inwardly he was torn between his choices, after getting beaten so much he had come to enjoy it but now was not the time.

“Yes, yes let’s go find that old man Sebastian, before he croaks of old age hahaaha” Ryuu stood up straight and walked back towards his daughter and the two phoenix kin along with Frost.

“Sebastian? Is that the merchant guild leader?” Frost asked as they moved towards the stairwell, they could chat and walk at the same time.

“Yeah, he’s the most skilled and highest ranking slave merchant within hundreds of kilometres hell even in the capital he’s highly regarded.”

“That old man’s a slave merchant?” Frost remembered the well dressed man he and Maya passed as they left the adventurer’s guild yesterday.

‘He didn’t seem like the sort to deal in that kind of profession.’

“Former slave merchant, he normally sticks to running the guild and dealing in massive cross country sales, but his skills haven’t rusted. There’s no one with more knowledge or technique when it comes to dealing with slave contracts. He’s also fairly knowledgeable about slave tattoos, plus we can trust him.” Ryuu smiled gently.

“That old man though he wasn’t here tonight in person, played as big a part in this operation as you and I. He gathered all the necessary intel, obscured the 14 adventurers from Adam’s view and put Leo in touch with the more savoury of the underworld gangs a great man....but old.” Ryuu frowned and released a deep sigh.

“He’s from the generation or even two generations before Douglas, Bastion and I, the three of us have relied heavily on the old man in all forms in the defending and ruling of the territory but we won’t be to much longer. This will probably be the last major thing that the old man gets to do before he kicks the bucket.” Ryuu looked behind him towards the two young phoenix kin.

“He’ll probably appreciate some good coming from this operation at least.” He smiled before picking up the pace. Sebastian was a sucker for sob stories especially those involving kids.

Their journey towards the surface was uninterrupted, the many corpses which you’d expect to frighten two young children didn’t even faze them, in fact they glared with hatred as they passed.

They didn’t come across Bruno or Taka along the way so they must have joined up with Leo and Bastion when they passed by earlier.