Dungeon of Niflheim

259 Chapter 259: Battling an ice revenant

With an eager expression and excitement in his eyes Frost stood at the entrance to the 6th floor’s boss room. Sam and Lola were next to him though their expressions showed anxiety. They knew full well the difference in strength between D and C-rank monsters plus they were old enough to not be made out of raging reckless flames like their companion. There was also the possibility of death that loomed at the back of their minds, they had responsibilities and couldn’t run head first into danger like they used to all those years ago. But having someone like Frost by their side did help ease the tension.

The husband and wife duo looked loving into one another’s eyes before nodding their heads with vigour, taking a step forward. They’d already done their many checks and Sam and Lola had downed an ice resistance potion that would help them combat the ice revenant’s chilling aura and ice magic. They also swapped out some of their equipment to aid in the battle to come.

Lola added a cloak to her attire that had a fire enchantment, which would not only enhance her fire magic but would provide a good defence for any attacks coming from behind. Sam meanwhile changed out a few of his heavier metal armaments for monster hide that fared well against ice attacks while he placed a magic crystal in a recess of his great sword’s handle. When the crystal was slotted on, his sword lit up and began to give off heat. Unlike Frost these two were well prepared for taking on ice monsters. None of the D-rank monster forced them to take out their big guns but the ice revenant was a different story, they couldn’t afford to hold back.

Most adventurers were like this, they’d always have a trump card to use on really dangerous opponents and the reason they wouldn’t use it all the time would be costs. Lola’s fire enhanced robe alone cost them several gold coins, if it was damaged the repair costs would be equally inflated in comparison to normal equipment.

Frost was the only one not changing, he already wielded his best equipment. His glaive didn’t have an enchantment or a slot for a magic crystal but on its own it was a quasi-4th star weapon, more than enough to cross blades with a C-rank monster. His armour on the other hand was a few levels lower than should be, with only his chest plate being 3 star, and the rest 2 star but hopefully his chakra armour would make up for the difference.

Sam had continued to educate Frost on his armour causing it to become more and more refined and overall, much stronger. He didn’t focus on teaching Frost much in regard to attacking with chakra since Frost was of the ice element, it would likely have the opposite effect on the revenant. Defence wise however it should be fine.

Just before Sam moved to open up the doors to the boss room- since he was the tank he’d enter first so as to drew the ire of the boss- Lola casted some support magic.

“[Weapon enchantment; fire]” with a short command aria Lola summoned a magic crest upon Frost’s glaive, encasing it in flames before being absorbed by his glaive, resulting in a red hot blade edge. His glaive would now be extra effective against the ice revenant but even, so Frost really wasn’t fond of wielding a fire based weapon, but he had little choice in the matter.

Next she cast a similar support spell but on her husband “[Vestments of fire]” a magic crest appeared on Sam’s torso and suddenly a pseudo aura of flames surrounded the man in a metre radius around him. This [vestments of fire] spell was quite similar to Ryuu’s protect spell but with a more specific type of attacks. The spell would off set the chilling aura of the ice revenant somewhat and would weaken any ice based attacks that passed through the sphere. Frost who was standing right at Sam’s shoulder couldn’t help but feel a wave of heat flow over him, it was a little unsettling given his ice like body, but it would be far worse for the ice revenant and should help to keep the focus of his ire on Sam.

.....

Out of the three of them the one with the most dangerous job was without a doubt Sam. His job was to get right up in the revenant’s face and endure its onslaught while Frost and Lola deal out damage. It’s a stamina draining job but one he was happy to take on, he may not be as young as Frost, but he was no slouch when it came to endurance, his wife can attest to that.

“The moment I open these doors I’m going to rush straight at the revenant, reducing the amount of time it has to cast magic, Lola, Frost I’ll need you to cover me until I can get in close and personal. The faster we are the better our chances will be.” Sam gave his instruction with a stern tone. He was confident that the moment he had the revenant in his grasp he could control its actions, reducing the pressure on his wife. The issue was the boss room for this final floor was a little bigger than the previous ones, around 100 metres each way. With his speed he was confident in reaching the opposite side in under 100 seconds but for a C-rank monster that was more than enough time to react and start casting 3rd circle spells.

Frost and Lola nodded their heads in understanding and replied with a thumbs up and kiss on the cheek respectively. Luck would play a good deal in this battle.

“Alright let’s get this show on the road then!” With a declaration full of confidence Sam smashed his way through the door entering a full on sprint from the get-go. Frost and Lola were close on his heels.

Within the boss room near the gateway to the core room dwelled the ice revenant. Over 4 metres tall, it stood like a statue, resting its massive frame against a huge broadsword covered in ice. Sam’s brutish barging into its domain drew its attention. The still statue came to life, the mana that formed its body flared with activity causing its runic armour to shine. Within its helmet, piercing blue eyes opened wide to examine the intruders.

“Haaaaaaaaa finally someone to warm up my blade, your blood shall make for fine paint.” The ice revenant spoke with fluent common tongue, its voice filled with an eery chill and its breath freezing the very air. The ice revenant’s attitude was full of arrogance and contempt, thinking nothing of his would be intruders other than lambs to the slaughter.

Sam, Frost and Lola were not the first to enter his domain, but it had been a fair few days and he had grown bored. Confined to a solitary room with nothing of interest to pass the time. Intelligent monsters birthed by monster lairs, especially bosses, found that their lives were incredibly restricted, providing for a rather aggressive personality. The ice revenant could not smile given that it had no facial features bar its cold unfeeling eyes, but its actions displayed its mood.

“[ice obey my will, form into mighty blades and smite my target wherever they might run, homing ice swords]” right off the bat, the ice revenant casted a 3rd circle spell. Five intricate magic crests appeared behind the revenant before summoning large swords made of ice, each one being at least 4 foot long.

“Shit he’s starting out with that! Frost, Lola you know what to do.” Sam cursed his luck but kept his momentum, charging straight towards the ice revenant with his great sword resting on his shoulders.

Frost and Lola nodded in understanding, Sam and Lola had gone over everything that they knew about Ice revenants including their spell repertoire. [Homing ice swords] was a 3rd circle spell that conjured up large blades of ice equal to 2 star weapons. Far tougher than ice bolts, larger and faster too with the added bonus of homing onto their targets. You couldn’t dodge this spell; the only way was to block and or destroy.

While Sam dashed forward hoping to engage in close combat, Frost and Lola would deal with the five ice swords suddenly heading their way.

“[Fireball]” in response Lola channelled her mana, creating 3 red coloured magic crests behind that summoned balls of fire. She used the 2nd circle spell [fireball] a level lower than [homing ice swords] but the elemental advantage should shore up the difference. To conserve mana for the long battle, Lola would handle 3 ice swords while Frost dealt with the remaining two.

Frost moved in concert with Lola, the moment she launched her fireballs towards the oncoming ice swords he dashed forward. The ice swords target was Sam, the first to enter the room. The ice swords would take the shortest path towards their target even if that meant going through someone else, the ice revenant was not one to refuse killing two people with a single spell. He allowed the swords to continue down their predicted path.