Dungeon of Niflheim

191 Chapter 191: Rewards (2)

Dark spoke with gravitas as he explained Gobuske final reward. To others this may seem worthless, nothing more than a pretty piece of jewellery however to someone like Gobuske this item could reveal its true potential. What keeps most people from achieving anything worthwhile in their lives....the answer is fear. Fear of standing out, being different, making a mistake, being ostracised, failing or generally just being afraid. Gobuske with his natural timid personality would likely avoid things that were out with his comfort zone and done day it may be exactly wait causes his death. Too afraid to confront something or someone until it’s too late. With the courage locket whenever he feels afraid to act, it’ll act as a firm hand placed upon his shoulder. Hopefully allowing him to enjoy the great world that is Nova, instead of cowering at home in safety.

Such items are always attached with a stigma but for those that know their true worth, they are precious gems, especially one gifted by the Dark God. How powerful would such an item be. Fear is present in all things and plays apart in nearly every action of the living. Some spells and aura even act upon the aspect of fear, would one in possession of such a locket not be immune to such impairments. Could even dragon fear be overcome simply by holding this locket by ones heart, making even the king of monsters a far easier target. No one in the room picked up on this possibility or they simply kept it to themselves. A few dungeon cores even mocked Gobuske in their minds. Certainly, such an item suited him.

Gobuske however held the locket delicately in his palm, already feeling a connection with the item, greatly appreciating it, even more so than his new tonfas. For the one who lost the Dungeon war he was more than happy with his rewards. Adding onto the DP he managed to rake in from the war itself, even with the incredible amount of lives lost, this was a very fortuitous result.

“Thank you, father, I’ll wear it and treasure it at all times” Gobuske wrapped the locket around his neck, allowing it to hang by the chain over his chest. He grabbed it with his hand and gave his father a slight bow before taking a step back.

Dark internally applauded his son before turning around to Frost, the winner and soon to be receiver of the grand prize. He had to put a lot of thought into Frost’s rewards. They had to be substantial but not too much, rivalling at the very least the ones he gave to Yami but likely more given the grandness of the event.

Weapon wise though he couldn’t grant Frost a new one it would only be a 4 star weapon, only a half grade higher than the one he currently had so that was taken off the table. In regards to monsters he didn’t want to copy what he did for Yami with the monster egg, and he already had a C-rank monster in his roster, so he cleared that option as well. After a lot of thought and some quick thinking while watching the war play out, he narrowed down the list. The first off being a straight influx of DP, just like what he did for Gobuske, but of course a fair chunk larger.

“Frost my son, not only have you placed within the top 5 for DP income this past month, you have managed to get your hands on a C-rank monster of considerable grade. And then you showed your strategic ability and adept command of your monsters to prevail over your younger brother in this dungeon war. Bringing a great spectacle to all our eyes.” Dark once again flicked his hand, summoning various magic crests in the air around him and Frost. “First off I’ll be granting you bunch of DP, 10000.” Dark summoned a dark orb of light that swiftly entered Frost’s body, increasing his DP levels by 10000 points.

Frost watched the blob of divine energy enter his chest and could feel his body filling with energy, it brought a pleasant smile to his face, as though his body had been submerged in a hot spring.

“Next is a combined reward.” A talisman drifted out from one of the magic crests, it was oddly familiar to Frost. “I’ll grant you a second teleporting talisman which will allow your guardian, Maya to instantly arrive at your location. Plus, Maya will now be able to rescue you or your core from certain doom one extra time.” A dark glow of light then drifted over from Dark’s hands into Maya, rewriting the covenant that he created when she became a guardian. Everyone in the room sucked in a cold sharp breath before many of their eyes filled with pure envy. This was effectively a second life being granted. Guardians were already the most powerful entities in the world of Nova apart from the Gods. They could eradicate a threat to their charges without any effort, the catch was that they could only do it once. But now Frost thanks to winning the demonstration war had succeeded in gaining another chance. For the next year his life would all but be assured. Even Yami and Aqua couldn’t help but feel jealous. Who wouldn’t want an extra safety net just in case, especially when the God of Light may start interfering in their lives.

.....

No matter what Frost was granted next, this one was definitely the one with the highest value in the eyes of all the dungeon cores. Frost however didn’t necessarily think so, although it meant he could be saved in the most dire of circumstances once again. It’d reduce the feeling of danger he’d have when exploring, thus possibly limiting his progression in terms of strength. But he knew its worth, he nodded gratefully towards his father and tucked the talisman away safely into his robes, patting it twice for luck. Maya was absolutely beaming with joy behind him, her handsome young master was now even more likely to live for a long, long time, just what she wanted.

“For your third prize I’ll grant you a 3rd circle magic spell, one that would hopefully increase your monster repertoire and tactics.” A light blue coloured book then appeared and floated towards Frost. “It’s [summon ice golem], a very useful spell.” Frost’s eyebrows raised up at the mention of the spell. He was very in the know about this magic, it was the same one that Maya used to fervently train him with, as well as his first opponent. Of course, Maya’s spell was of a much higher class, likely 5th or even 6th circle given the humanoid appearance, knowledge of weaponry and adjustable strength and speed but it was in the same family tree and would certainly expand his magic abilities.

Suddenly the air around Dark became heavier, as did the mood, the next rewards seemed to be rather important.

“For your final two rewards, they are both incredibly special and unique for different reasons, but both pertain to you personally.” When Dark spoke, he had a somewhat conflicted expression. The fourth reward was something he actually didn’t procure himself and requested it from another powerful entity. It also came with quite severe restrictions as well as inherent danger. The final reward was something that to be honest pained him the most to grant. Every time he thought of this item, he would feel that it would be perfect but at the same time he hated the idea of giving it away, especially to Frost. But in the end, he decided to grant it given the spectacular show he and Gobuske put on, though it still pained him.

For the fourth reward Dark closed his eyes as he conjured up his divine magic. A second later from a far more intricate magic crest came the item and when it did, the entire atmosphere changed. The room dropped rapidly in temperature. Gobuske’s and Frost’s breath was suddenly visible as steam.

What dark withdrew was a silver flame, incredibly beautiful and magical, yet also impossible. This was a cold flame, the polar opposite of regular fire. It cooled instead of heated and from the sudden drop in temperature that was continuing to decrease at an alarming rate, it was no ordinary cold flame either.

“Eh?” Maya gasped in shock as she witnessed this flame, confusion was in her eyes as she watched Dark handle it like it was nothing. She knew what this was and the rough grade of the flame, but what she didn’t understand was why he brought it out.

Flames like many magical items and oddities had ranks to them similar to that of weapons, magic skills etc.... she herself was no stranger to cold flames even interacting with several throughout her life and to be honest this wasn’t the most powerful she’d seen but it was still a fairly high rank.

Flames such as this one were divided into three levels (actually four but only the Gods deal with the fourth level), mortal, earth, and heaven with three sub levels, low, mid, high. Regular flames such as those generated by burning regular wood are classed at the lowest level, low mortal flame. Flames conjured by magic that are below 4th circle are usually all mortal flames with a rare chance of it being low earth flame. Heaven flames are incredibly rare and powerful, they are akin to natural disasters and can only be utilised by the highest of magic and powerful beings. In Maya’s hometown, in the Fenrir tribe there exists a natural heaven flame that they use to forge weaponry. The one in Dark’s hands at the moment was a high level earth flame, far beyond Frost’s capabilities and could even harm him instead.