Dungeon of Niflheim

300 Chapter 300: Daki (4)

‘Perhaps I should take a look at designing my own monster species?’

The ability to create one’s own monster species was brought up during the family meeting. Dark highly encouraged his children to embark on such an endeavour, hoping that they’d come up with something he and Light never could.

The difficulty in designing a species however required a great deal of knowledge and time, with a lot of trial and error. But perhaps for his upcoming situation it may be the best method. If he could create an intelligent set of monsters like orcs or the wolfmen that lived here in Kranor he’d be more than set for the interim.

“Sounds interesting, I’ll have to visit when I get a chance and have you give me the grand tour.” Daki spoke with keen interest, quite taken with Frost’s notion of establishing a new territory. Who knows perhaps she was looking at a future would be lord or king or perhaps even emperor, bagging such a man early would be far easier than waiting until he established himself.

“I’d provide you a grand welcome at such a time and perhaps you could teach me a few skills in regards to smithing?” Frost didn’t forget that not only was Daki a beautiful woman but from the exquisite craftsmanship of the chef’s knife it was clear she was a very talented smith, far greater than his frost dwarves. It’d be foolish to not try and rope in such a talent to his own territory. Kranor had more than enough weapon stores here on their first floor would they really miss a single smith.

“Hoh you’re interested in my talents as a smith are you, can I take this as a proposition for employment?”

“Cough cough Frost you do realise that I’m right here right.” Sam spoke in an annoyed tone. His wife was the soon to be mayor of Kranor he couldn’t very well allow someone to openly snatch one of their most prominent smiths right in front of his nose.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about Sam.” Frost shrugged “all I said was that I was interested in her smithing skills, an innocent remark whatever Daki understands from it is her business.” He showed a playful smile, enjoying teasing his teacher.

“Oiiiiii don’t make me call my wife over!” Sam clenched his fist and waved in the air as a fake threat.

.....

“Hahahahahaa” Frost and Daki both laughed, they were just teasing. Frost’s territory hadn’t even become a camp yet. There was no place for a highly talented smith like Daki in her official capacity, at least not yet. Frost was as he said making an innocent remark out of curiosity for her skills, much in the same way he enjoyed Sam showing him how to cook. Daki’s interpretation was mainly her idea, he just decided to play along. However, if she really did have a desire to leave Kranor he would swipe her up without hesitation. An accomplished smith such as Daki would be nothing but a boon for his territory plus she certainly was easy on the eyes, another lure for residents. Frost didn’t forget how the ‘injured’ adventurers flocked to that sexy cat beast woman’s medical tent.

“If you’re interested in my work there’s plenty around here that you can purchase and since you’re such a handsome man I’ll give you a discount but if you want to learn my skills then that’s a big fat no.” Daki bluntly rejected teaching him.

“May I ask why?”

“Sure, my smithing techniques were taught to me by my father and his by his father, it’s a family technique handed down through the generations, teaching outsiders is strictly forbidden. If you simply want to learn basic smithing arts then that’s fine but I’ve got no interest in teaching, I suggest you speak to one of the larger smithing workshops and ask to become an apprentice.”

“Fair enough.” Frost accepted her reasoning and no longer requested to see her in action. But her mention of a discount was tempting, his gaze wandered around the room capturing the many high quality weapons stored on the shelves, many of which were 3 star in quality.

Daki seeing his wandering gaze swiftly changed to business woman mode. “You’ll be hard tasked to find a much better smith in Kranor than me and if you do I promise you their prices will be nowhere as affordable as mine.” In a way this was actually true, the prices she set for her weapons, armour and other metal work was quite reasonable however if she managed to influence a man or woman with her attractive body she could usually get away with charging whatever she wanted. Thus, she was quite wealthy despite being considered a fairly young smith.

“Is there anything in particular that you may be looking for, I do custom orders as well for an added fee, I’ll just need to take some.....measurements.” Daki licked her lips flirtatiously.

“To be honest I’m not really sure what I need, you’re probably best asking my teacher there.” Frost tilted his head over in Sam’s direction who raised his brow at being put on the spot before a prideful smile adorned his lips.

“How much money you got on you?” Another reason Sam decided to bring Frost with him to Daki’s shop was so that he could outfit him with all the necessary stuff an adventurer needs.

“Several gold coins in addition to the materials gained from the monster lair.” Frost responded honestly, knowing that this issue was important.

Hearing the words ‘several gold coins’ Daki’s smile nearly spanned from ear to ear, a big spender how lucky. She sent a thankful wink to her childhood friend for bringing her such good business.

“Well then let’s get started shall we.” Sam rubbed his hands together ready to splash the cash, Frost’s cash.

Given that Daki was a blacksmith that dealt in a plethora of materials, accepting monster remains in leu of coins was an accepted exchange, one in which Frost greatly appreciated. It was a lot harder for him to gain coins than it was to earn monster parts after all. However even with using monster materials as barter, Frost still felt the sting, Sam really didn’t hold back.

Ignoring the fact that Frost didn’t require any personal weapons since he had the quasi 4 star glaive as well as a semi decent backup, his only acceptable armour piece was the 3 star chainmail vest that he was given by Leo. The rest of his armour set was 2 star and after his many battles within the monster lair it was falling apart in many places. This was the first thing Sam decided he needed to replace as given Frost’s strength his future battles would likely be against C-rank monsters and up, not something brittle 2 star armour could contend with. Daki of course was over the moon with this order, not only would the price be in the region of a few gold coins for a complete set she’d be able to take a few liberties as she got Frost’s measurements, thus she sent Sam a discreet thumbs up.

But the orders didn’t stop there, Frost had a fair amount of monster materials, some of which could be used to fashion appropriate gear, he’d only need to pay for labour. Thinking that the price was already going to be sky high he decided to simply let loose, go big or go home.

Along with a complete armour set that was of 3 star quality and custom made to fit his body -very precisely thanks to Daki’s unrestrained liberties- Sam ordered a large range of cooking utensils including pots and pans, carving knives and cutlery as well as a sturdy backpack made from frost lizard skin and reinforced with frost centipede carapace. It was tougher and more efficient in terms of storage in comparison to his current one, with strong dividers between the different sections. Now he could more easily carry perishables without worrying about them being damaged in battle and or cross contaminating. There was even a smell reducing agent applied to the skin making transporting meat a pleasant experience. Frost also requested a set of daggers and war hammers that would be ideal for younger people start practising with. He couldn’t very well get all this stuff for himself and not think of the two kids waiting at home, he wasn’t that selfish. Thinking that that wasn’t enough he requested Daki to make a pair of children’s wrist guards that matched the colours of the one’s she made for him.

“You’ve got kids?” Daki asked abruptly as he requested children sized items.

“It’s a long story but yes. There’s no blood relation but they’re under my care and protection and I consider them family.” Frost showed a gentle smile as the image of Nanna and Loki’s smiling faces appeared in his mind.

Sam who knew about the situation from Frost whispered into Daki’s ear, explaining a few key details to his childhood friend

“I see.....” For a moment there Daki felt that that was a deal breaker. Frost having kids clearly meant that he had quite a serious relationship with that other woman, something she wouldn’t take part in destroying, no matter how desirable she found Frost. But thanks to Sam’s explanation it became the opposite, further increasing her interest in the handsome young man.

A longing feeling however was in the back of her mind as she wrote down the requests for child sized items. Her maternal desires thumped within her heart, as images of her holding a child of her own flashed before her eyes. Unfortunately, she had not been lucky in that regard, she let out a quiet sigh before shaking her head and refocusing on the task at hand.