Dungeon of Niflheim

"Hey Frost, how's things?" Dark's charismatic visage appeared before Frost the moment he accepted the call. Neither Frost nor any of his siblings had received any communication from their father since the family gathering ended. Hearing his voice and seeing him in an apparent healthy state brought a smile to Frost's lips.

"I'm pretty good bar a few issues with my neighbours and a little incident." A flash of anger passed through Frost's eyes the moment he recalled the attempt on Nanna's life, but he quickly covered it up, not wanting to burden his father with any problems he could handle himself.

"What about you father? Are you stable?" Though Dark played it cool and even summoned another God to help him with his situation it didn't stop Frost and his siblings from worrying about him, he was their father after all.

"Haaaaa you don't need to worry about me Frost I've taken the appropriate actions and with Erebus by my side the chances of any flare-ups are minimal." Dark had a lot of faith in Erebus' talents and trusted him wholeheartedly with his condition.

It was rare for Dark to be so forthcoming with anyone other than Light, the only entity that could actually be considered his equal. Even the great primordials were still beneath him and Light.

Frost noticed the pride and even relief in Dark's voice as he mentioned Erebus. It was clear that this man who was known as the God of Shadows was a close confidant of his father.

"As long as you're properly taking care of yourself."

"I'm am son, hehehe having your children worry about your wellbeing… it's rather pleasant." Dark was truly enjoying the many experiences of being a father.

"Anyway enough about me the reason I'm calling is because the years' time limit has long passed. That high earth ranked cold flame oddity needs to be returned."

"Urgh!" Frost instinctively groaned upon hearing his father's words. Though he knew his ownership over the flame was temporary he was still quite reluctant to hand it over.

The cold flame had not only vastly improved his own strength both in chakra use and ice fire magic, but it helped him create his ronsos and even improve the innate talents of his magically inclined monsters. It did all of this while in a sealed state. Frost still wasn't strong enough to endure the full strength of the high earth ranked cold flame even after reaching B-rank.

There was still much of this resource untapped.

"Well that's a reluctant expression if I ever did see one hahahaha."

"Can you blame me, that cold flame has done wonders for my personal development as well as that of my monsters, it'd be a fool if I didn't feel remorse."

"Is there any chanc…"

"Don't bother, the choice isn't up to me anyway. That flame oddity was a gift from the Primordial ice king, whether or not you can extend your lease is entirely up to him." Dark instantly shot down Frost's hopes or rather redirected the responsibility to the primordial ice king.

"The primordial ice king huh." Frost had heard a fair bit about this God from Maya.

Shivali the Primordial ice king, one of the ancient primordials who governed the ice element and who resided in his self-made world, Niflheim of which Frost's Dungeon got its namesake.

For fenrirs, ice giants and other ice based monsters Shivali was revered alongside Dark as one of their most hallowed deities.

Those with the Primordial title were the very first Gods created after Nova's creation. Each of them governed core laws and elements that made up the fabric of Nova.

In the hierarchy of Gods, Dark and Light stood far above everyone else but directly below them would be the Primordials. Though few in number these entities held immense strength, a newly established God or one with a weaker foundation could be obliterated with a single blow. These people were true big wigs, entities that should never be offended under any circumstances.

Frost could act immature and even cocky with Dark because he was his father, but Shivali was neither family nor friend but someone who stood at the very peak of this world. Even with all his talents it was unlikely that he'd ever be able to stand equal before such a person.

"You may actually be in luck Frost. Shivali wishes to meet you and requests that you hand deliver the high earth ranked cold flame to him in person." There was a mysterious subtlety hidden in Dark's voice which Frost failed to pick up on.

"He wants to meet me why?" Though he was one of Dark's children, Shivali was a lofty Primordial far above his status.

'Could it be the Dungeon's name.' Frost trembled as this thought started to take root.

"There's a few reasons but since he wants it to be a surprise I won't ruin his plans; all you need to know is that the choice will ultimately be yours in the end." Again there was a strange look in Dark's eyes as he looked over his son. There was definitely something afoot but at least it didn't sound negative.

There was a slight issue, however.

"How am I supposed to get there?" The realm of Niflheim was in a separate dimension but the main entrance was known far and wide to be within the very heart of the Glacial mountains core regions, where the temperature was so cold that anyone below B-rank would be instantly flash frozen by a simple breeze. A harsh environment that only the strongest of people would dare to call home.

As he was now Frost would find the inner regions rather perilous let alone the core regions.

His confusion was shown in his expression.

Even if he could somehow survive the freezing storms, B-rank monsters roamed the area as common as regular beasts let alone the plethora of A-ranks and even dreaded S-ranks. He'd be nothing but a toothpick to them with his current strength.

"Hahahaha relax Frost he's not asking you to brave into the core regions with your current strength, that'd be impossible." Once again Frost despite his quick gains was reminded of how small and weak he truly was in terms of Nova as a whole.

"Though it can't be considered without its own dangers there is another entrance to the realm of Niflheim." Dark waved his hand causing a large intricate and detailed map to appear behind him.

The grandeur of this map would surely send the Northrend empire as well as its neighbour into a fervour. The map held by Dark was hundreds of times more detailed than anything held by the mortal kingdoms. Enjoy new adventures from m-v l'e|m,p| y- r

But Frost knowing his father's identity and being used to the many wonderous things he could pull out of thin air was totally unaffected. Instead he did his best to memorise as much details as possible before Dark started manipulating it.

"Your Dungeon is positioned at the largest of the southern entrances, basically on the border of what's considered the Glacial mountain danger zone." Dark zoomed in on the map to show the area around the southern entrance.

Magically the map already showed his Dungeon as well as the Niflheim base camp. The markings were even moving, upon zooming in even further dots representing people could be seen moving to and fro throughout the camp. This was a living map that was constantly updating in real time, a true treasure.

"Going a little north you'll enter the external regions of the Glacial mountains, a good teaser for what's to come further in.

Here many small kingdoms, tribes and enclaves are abound but beyond within the inner regions the territorial powers there rival that of Northrend and in some regards even surpass it." Dark briefly displayed some of the more powerful kingdoms that called the inner regions home before moving towards the boundary between the 1st and 2nd layer of the inner regions.

While the external regions were divided into zones i.e. Alpha, delta, gamma etc…the inner regions were divided into layers, 9 layers to be specific.

"In this area here there is a special entrance to the realm of Niflheim that requires someone on the other side to open the gate thus despite existing for millennia knowledge of it hasn't spread." Dark withdrew an ice jade token from his robes before tossing it into a spatial warp. A moment later a spatial warp appeared by Frost's side and the ice jade token fell into hands.

'So cold' Frost's hand flinched as his skin met with the surface of the ice jade token.

"That'll serve as your pass, once you reach the correct coordinates someone on the other side will open the doorway and allow you to enter the realm of Niflheim. What happens next will be up to Shivali." Though the inner regions would still be rather perilous for Frost he only had to reach the end of the 1st layer, completely doable.

Frost memorised the local area around the hidden entrance and stored the ice jade token in his robes.

"Is there a timeframe?" To be honest leaving the Dungeon at the moment was far from ideal. The situation with Northrend could devolve at any moment, there was still much he needed to prepare for if things go south.

"No Shivali didn't set one, but I'd suggest that you not wait too long. The journey itself will likely take a week or two and though Shivali can be considered rather friendly among the Primordials it would be unwise to test his patience." Basically finish what you need to as quick as possible and then head off.

"Alright I'll leave as soon as I can."

'Looks like I'm going to be rather swamped over the next few days.'