Conquering His Cold Heart

"Fuck off!!!" 2 days later shortly after the group left the boundary of the lambda camp Avira screeched very unlike a princess. Her face drenched of all colour as she pointed a trembling finger at Frost's face with terror in her gaze.

The bastard finally told her about the monster she was to hunt, and she was not pleased, not pleased at all.

"Any louder and they'll hear you in Vulcan." Said Frost while rubbing his ears.

"Hehehe what did you expect Frost." Borris chuckled lightly knowing full well how the young woman was feeling. The phobia of spiders was very common throughout Nova, affecting even some of the strongest entities in existence. There was just something about them that stroked one's fears.

"Pick another one you bastard! I'm not going anywhere near that thing!!" Avira's entire body was trembling with fear and rage as she backed away from Frost and their current direction.

After two days of seeing Frost, Kiba and Borris occasionally handle a monster or three during their travels she'd become really amped for her first true fight, but all that excitement was destroyed the moment Frost told her about the Iceborne huntsman. She'd rather fight a B-rank monster than face off with that thing and its kin.

"Come on we're already here anyway V, might as well do it. I know its scary but there's really no better opponent for you." It was true, there were few monsters that weren't also territory lords that could match Avira's prowess so well in the outer rim of the external regions.

Not only was the Iceborne huntsman a good match up, its location was on their route, falling just before the need to choose between the safer or more riskier option.

"But."

"If you really don't want to I won't force you but if I'm being honest you really shouldn't shy away from this opportunity. Your future is going to be a constant uphill battle, plagued with risks and threats to your life. You should take every chance you can to increase your own strength and overcome your fears."

Frost's words seemed to hit home, and Avira's expression was torn between emotions. She understood Frost's point and even strongly agreed with him but….it's a spider.

Seeing that she still wasn't fully convinced Frost tried one more time.

"You also won't be alone, Borris, Kiba and I will all be by your side making sure the worst doesn't happen." It would be utter suicide if he asked her to waltz in all by her lonesome.

"..." Avira faced an internal debate between logic and emotion, really struggling.

"You've got quite the mean streak kid." Borris whispered as he watched Avira agonise over her choice.

"I won't deny that but it's also true that the iceborne huntsman is an ideal opponent for her. Facing off against such a monster will bring her nothing but benefits."

"True but is it really necessary for her first?" Borris understood his logic but thought it was a bit much for someone's first true opponent even if that person was particularly strong and gifted.

"Necessary, no but considering the path she's choosing to walk, a valid choice." He was choosing to toss her straight into the deep end rather than slowly start in the shallows. Avira if she truly wanted to take the throne from her brothers needed to mature quickly.

"Alright, just don't force her to the point of creating a trauma." This was Borris' bottom line.

"I won't, I may enjoy a little teasing, but I won't go that far. If she truly can't handle it I'll pull us out and we'll follow the safer route. She can fight some common D-ranks along the way instead." He was just offering her an opportunity, whether she grabbed it or not didn't matter too much to him in the grand scheme.

"Fine let's do it." after several minutes of internal back and forth Avira finally mustered up her courage to enter the spider's lair though she still wasn't exactly happy about it and firmly noted down in her heart to get Frost back somehow.

The group thus headed west on the backs of Kiba and the frost wolf who immediately showed a reaction an hour later.

"Awooo" The monster mount bared its teeth, the hairs along its back going erect as its instincts went haywire.

There was a scent before it, marking the dominion of the iceborne huntsman, a powerful monster that could easily devour the pitiful E-rank wolf.

"Easy boy, easy." Borris stroked the wolf's ears in a soothing manner which helped a little, allowing it to remember who it was with.

Ahead of the group was a large mountain littered with hundreds of deep dark crevasses and fissures. It stood several kilometres from the ground and oozed dread and despair. Webs decorated the cliffs, trees and even the snow all around it. There was no question in regards to what dwelled within.

"Eeeekkk!" Avira let loose a high pitched squeal as she saw dozens of eight legged freaks crawl around the mountain as if welcoming the arrival of their next meal.

"We're not even face to face and you're already flinching and screaming." Frost shook his head in disappointment.

"Shut up!" Avira snapped, no longer having even the slightest amount of endurance when it came to his teasing.

"Frost I have to agree with V, spiders are a well known phobia, such fear is perfectly natural." Said Borris while discreetly tightening his grip around the shaft of his hammer.

Though he wasn't as terrified as Avira seeing dozens of massive spiders suddenly crawling out of a dark fissure made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Haaaaaa." Frost sighed feeling that this little escapade was not going to be as fun as he initially thought.

He looked dead ahead at the swarming monsters and thought 'Why are they so creepy looking?' He then remembered the reactions Maya and Nanna had to his frost spiders hell even he was a bit unnerved in the beginning.

As he noticed Avira shivering and unconsciously leaning back against his chest he suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Haaaaaa." He let out another sigh before pooling his mana together. "[Freezing fireball]" With his hand pointing towards the swarm of encroaching giant spiders Frost conjured a massive ball of silverly flame and launched it dead ahead.

Boom!

The was an explosion of flame, the 1 metre diameter ball of fire exploded outward the moment it made contact with one of the giant spiders. The flame engulfed the surrounding area, latching on to over a dozen spiders as they were charging ahead with drool forming along their pincers.

"Kyeeekkk!" Sharp squeals filled with anguish and pain reverberated throughout the plains as the spiders were burned alive by Frost's cold flames, creating a rather magnificent sight.

Avira and Borris were speechless as they watched the spiders crash into one another and desperately roll along the ground in attempt to douse the fire corroding their bodies.

Suddenly the fear they had seemed to vanish, the spiders no longer seemed all that frightening.

"They may look horrifying, and you may instinctively tremble at the mere sight of them but remember they're still monsters, living beings that can easily be killed through the skills you worked so hard to develop." Frost was attempting to erase the image Avira had in her mind, to see these creature with a fresh perspective.

The change in her was gradual, her back slowly moved away from Frost's chest and her eyes narrowed in on the burning blaze before her. Her breathing slowed and her nerves became less taut, changing from a state of fear to one of excitement. She very much liked the look of seeing these abominable creatures burning under Frost's flames.

"….Thank you." She quietly muttered with a slight blush before descending from Kiba's back with her rapier drawn.

"Happy to help." Frost gently smiled before also descending from Kiba's back. In this battle he and Kiba would be far more active than they were previously.

While Avira would be the main protagonist, the two of them would be loyal guardians making sure to keep the pressure within her capabilities.

"By your lead V." Frost said, handing control over to her.

"Un, lets go kill some spiders." With building enthusiasm Avira charged forward, her eyes set on a group of spiders who were half frozen by Frost's fireball.

By the time the spiders noticed her arrival she was already upon them. Avira reeled back her rapier and swiftly launched three piercing thrusts. Her blade easily passing through their skulls as she was cutting through butter.

The three spiders let loose a light screech before darkness permanently overtook them. Avira had taken her first life and wasted no time taking another.

This was the perfect opportunity for her to change the image she had of spiders. Frost's flames had weakened them to the point that they were helpless, pitiful and easy pickings. Riding this wave she slaughtered F and E rank spiders like vegetables, her fear subsiding with each and every kill.

Frost couldn't help but smile as he saw the building battle lust in his companion, it was a good look on her.

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