Conquering His Cold Heart

"So Ladius and the federation are onboard?" Maya asked with a smile once Frost returned from his negotiations.

"Yes, Ladius accepted my offer and immediately left to inform Terrance and the rest about the opportunity, so mission accomplished I guess." Though he didn't need their aid it was reassuring to have a group of people stronger than himself taking part in the war on his behalf. Even if they didn't actively kill Karrick's forces they'd work well as deterrent.

"That's great, I look forward to another victory." Maya was elated at the prospect of another dungeon war, especially one against a muscle brained idiot like Karrick. Though his elemental nature was a bit worrisome Frost was more than capable enough to offset such a disadvantage, of that she was certain.

"As do I." Frost was feeling far more interested in the upcoming war than he did a few days ago. With Ladius and the federation agreeing to help set a precedent he would be far less distressed in starting wars once his territory truly flourished.

The external town would be safe since areas outside of the dungeon's entrance were considered out of bounds during the dungeon wars but any future outpost and or dwelling built within i.e. on the floor of peace would be swept up in these matches. By having his 'guests' be aware of the danger they could choose whether or not to take part making management far less arduous.

It'd also likely get him some praise from his father who was keen on seeing more wars between his children.

Frost sat himself on the sofa and glanced at the holographic display hovering above the pseudo dungeon core.

"Karrick himself isn't much to be concerned about, either myself, Khuno or Findlay should be able to handle whatever he can throw at us but his monsters and even his dungeon could prove….tedious." Slotting ice borne monsters that thrived in chilling weather into a veritable volcano in comparison would not do well for their combat capability.

Even if they were a notch or two stronger in terms of quality and perhaps even numbers it'd be meaningless if they couldn't call upon that strength in battle. Ice magic would surely be weakened by at least a grade or two when exploring such a hot environment while the opponents devasting fire magic would hit even harder than normal, a nasty disadvantage but one Frost was confident in offsetting.

"Once I accept Karrick's challenge I'll need to enter the training room for a while, can you and the others manage the dungeon and camp in the interim?"

"No problem, Daki's keen in trying her hand with management so I'll leave it to her." There was a subtle accusation hidden within Maya's words. Daki practically begged Frost to accept this challenge so it's only right that she handles the problems that crop up because of it.

"Perfect." Frost smiled with an evil grin as he slapped his thigh in triumph, everything was coming together nicely.

A couple hours later after Ladius finished explaining the situation to Terrance and his security team and Daki and the kids had returned to the private space Frost called up Karrick to accept his challenge.

"Ring, ring, ri…" the call barely made it to third ring before a gruff laughter responded.

"Hahahaha big brother Frost have you finally decided to stop being a coward and accept my challenge!" Karrick answered with a mixture of impatience, excitement and of course arrogance. As one might expect from a fire addled idiot that followed Pyro like a loyal peon the red scaled lizardman was burly and constantly flaunted his fire mastery.

"Hahahaha big words little brother but I was never a coward just needed to put some things in order first as unlike you my dungeon requires a great deal of management." A not so hidden jab at Karrick's simple nature and lacking dungeon development, of course this jab went right over his head.

"Ughhhh so are you accepting or not?" Karrick scratched his head in confusion before growing angry. His patience was already wearing thin from staring at the undecided notification in his inbox. Frost neither accepted his challenge nor denied for days, it was driving him mad, but Pyro insisted on patience.

"Of course I'm accepting little brother, I need to teach you some manners after all. How about 3 days from now?" That should be enough time to retrofit a few areas of the dungeon and prepare his monsters for their foray into a fire based dungeon.

"Pahhhh who needs manners between siblings hahahahaha. Fine in 3 days we'll fight, and I'll show you the power of fire!!"

"I look forward to it, till them Karrick." Frost ended the call and let out a sigh, dealing with idiots was taxing even if it was for just a couple sentences.

"So what do you think of my 'cute' younger brother?" He directed this question to Daki and the kids.

"Arrogant." Was Nanna's response.

"Rude." Was Loki's choice of adjective.

"A prime example of a hot head with nothing but brawn." And finally there was Daki putting the final nail in the coffin. None of them held a very high opinion of Karrick but perhaps that's because they were spoiled by Frost's demeanour.

"That pretty much sums him up to a tee but deep down he's actually not that bad a person just simple minded and a bit misguided. As long as I beat him fair and square in the war he'll treat me with respect." There was no subtlety when it came to Karrick, he was honest about his feelings and respected strength simple as that.

Yes he was naturally arrogant in regards to his element but who among their siblings wasn't. Even Frost himself was adamant that ice was the greatest element around. Well at least that's the feeling he got when they first talked during the initial family gathering. It's a shame he cosied up to Pyro first, he was a bad influence on his naïve innocence.

"Alright the date is set, now to prepare. Daki you'll be in charge of the dungeon and camp's management while I'm readying the dungeon and our forces. Nanna and Loki please give her a hand whenever you can ok."

""Yes master"" Both Nanna and Loki responded with chipper smiles while Daki twitched at the lip slightly, hoping to protest the arrangement. She preferred having an assistant role at most as her true passion was consumed by forging unfortunately Maya wasn't going to let her off easily.

"She'll be happy to aid you Frost, but don't worry I'll be sure to show her the ropes." Maya herself couldn't do much in terms of control but she had been with Frost since the beginning and was his teacher so there was no one better to learn dungeon management from. Daki was thus forcibly dragged away by Maya to the bedroom where she could 'educate' her thoroughly.

'I'm so lucky to have such reliable girlfriends' Frost felt his heart warm at such a sight. The two loves of his life getting on so well was a glorious thing. But unfortunately he didn't have time to indulge in warm fantasy. He brought up the dungeon menu and connected with his right and left hand men.

"Findlay please come to the training room with 3 squads of yuki-onnas and lesser yuki-onnas."

"At once Master."

"Khuno bring all the ronsos not required for the minimum security  detail in the camp as well."

"Understood milord." The Ice troll lord and elder ronso both responded with excitement. Being Frost's right and left hand men they were in the loop in regards to most things dungeon related. Thus they were aware of the upcoming war and were looking forward to it, a true chance to test their capabilities without having to worry about causing too much carnage.

Karrick's strongest monsters would fall to their axe and halberd.

"Nanna, Loki I'll leave things to you in the meantime.

Try to handle what you can but if you really need help please don't hesitate to call me but under no circumstances are either of you allowed to step foot within the training room over the next 3 days, am I clear." What Frost planned to do with the ronsos and yuki-onnas was very intense and could pose great danger to someone of Nanna and Loki's strength therefore he sternly ordered them to keep their distance.

He could barely imagine the two of them coming to any harm least of all because of him or his subordinates. The two phoenix kin had truly, and welly wormed their way into his heart.

"Yes master."

"You can leave it to us." They both saluted with their arms crossed over their hearts, similar to how Findlay and Khuno behave but instead of being imposing and loyalty inspiring it just looked cute. Frost couldn't resist giving them a tight hug before teleporting away.

"3 days huh, not a long time but also not that short." Thankfully he didn't plan on altering the layout of the dungeon too much as he already designed it with future wars in mind. The main issue was to prepare his monsters for the foray into an environment the polar opposite of what they were used to as well as help Ladius set up a precedent for future dungeon wars.

15 minutes later Findlay and the yuki-onnas arrived alongside Khuno and the ronsos.

"Perfect everyone's here, let's begin.

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