Dungeon of Niflheim

133 Chapter 133: The Keeper

The keeper’s tone, words and expression did little to hide his feelings on the matter. Normally Kamey would balk from this challenge, afraid to argue with a superior, especially one so experienced like the keeper, but this time she had sufficient reason.

“Sir keeper you don’t have to worry about Frost and his party the [White claws of Niflheim], they’ve already proven their strength, so much so that even the guild master respects them.” Kamey replied with a cocky smile, happy with the fact that she knew something the keeper didn’t.

Her reply angered the keeper, the smile on her face only made it worse.

‘This arrogant little pup!’ He glared towards Kamey, not expecting anything but a ‘yes you’re right sir keeper, shall I recommend they don’t accept the quest’. Kamey had only been working at the guild for less than a year, yet she was telling him not to worry.

“Bahhhh what does a little girl like you know, so what if they’ve done one thing that got them noticed that’s not proof of abil......wait did you say the guild master respects him?” The keeper went full into lecture mode, preparing to bad mouth Frost and his group for their lack of merits, which in a way was true. How was the Keeper supposed to trust in the abilities of someone who hadn’t earned his respect like the other adventurers. All they had was less than a dozen completed quests under their belt, all G-rank and in fact it was technically only three. However, before he went all in, he was struck speechless. Kamey mentioned the guild master Bastion, that changed things.

Kamey’s smile only grew more arrogant, she thrust out her developing chest with pride, her ego inflating.

“Yes, the guild master called them to his office wherein he thanked them for their service in person, he even allowed them to call him by name and they seemed very friendly.” Kamey exaggerated a couple more details due to her ego but none of which weren’t true well at least after operation ‘New Dawn’ but she wasn’t privy to that.

The keeper was forced to hold his tongue, momentarily angered by Kamey’s expression but he quickly got over it and thought about Frost. The keeper when he was still in active service was a solid C-rank adventurer with a plethora of quests under his belt. He was also fairly well educated and trusted in his profession and garnered a lot of respect. He was one of Bastion’s most trusted colleagues along with Thrall and the vice guild masters yet only he and Thrall were within this branch. The Keeper had a good eye for people, but it wasn’t as good as Bastion’s. If he respected Frost, then he must be something special.

“Kamey tell me more about this Frost and his party as well as his meeting with Bastion.” The Keeper had a strange light in his eyes, he was curious about a young man, an unknown newbie adventurer that was respected by his guild master.

.....

“Eh?” Kamey a little taken aback by the Keeper’s new attitude and was a bit tongue tied at first but quickly told him everything she knew, including rumours, Frost was still waiting so she couldn’t be too long.

“I see, a young adventurer who flew up two ranks with his first quest. Strong enough and trustworthy enough that the guild master respects him and treats him as a friend and you say that Bastion helped sign up those two young kids he has with him, in person?”

“Yes” Kamey answered with a bit of sweat on her brow, worrying about the time, Frost had been waiting for over twenty minutes now.

The keeper placed his hand under his chin as he pondered.

“Very well assign him to section 23 of the Gamma sector.” The keeper turned towards his filing cabinet and removed a sheet that held what Kamey needed to finish issuing the quest. The gamma sector was in the middle levels of the external regions, D-ranks reigned in that area and only very rarely were there any C-ranks. A moderately dangerous area for upper D-rank parties, way beyond the on paper capabilities of the [White claws of Niflheim]. The keeper chose to trust in the guild master’s judgement, if Frost completed this quest well, he’d also earn his respect.

Kamey quickly took the quest paper and ran out the door.

“A promising young adventurer with great strength hmmmmm interesting, I’ll have to bring this up with Bastion. How dare he try to hide such talent from me.” The keeper smiled with an evil glint in his eye as many thoughts ran though his mind.

Back at the reception desk, Frost was starting to get annoyed and bored. Maya had taken the kids over to a nearby table and ordered something to drink, leaving Frost alone in wait. He was starting to regret listening to Kamey, he should have just said ‘No thank you’ when she offered a long term quest and left. For some reason he had an irritated feeling about his dungeon, something wasn’t right, and he had the sudden urge to return ASAP.

When he was just about to call it quits and leave, Kamey came bounding back with an apologetic look on her face, armed with a new quest sheet

“Sorry for the wait Frost, the Keeper wasn’t keen on giving such a job to a new member and needed a little convincing but now he’s more than happy, here you go.” Kamey explained with a professional air, being completely honest in her reason before handing Frost the new quest sheet. It contained details about the area i.e., where in the Glacial Mountains his assigned scouting area was as well as known monsters usually present there. Frost now knew what he’d be up against, so he just had to accept or reject the quest. Luckily, he had a highly detailed map of the area courteous of the Furano’s from taking down Adam, so he’d be able to find the area quite easily.

Frost gave the sheet a quick once over, not finding anything that would prevent him from completing the quest. The area section 23 of the Gamma sector was roughly at the level he wanted to explore in, commonly populated with D-ranks with on a very rare occasion a C-rank, right in line with his abilities. Not too dangerous and not too easy.

“Do you know your way around the external regions if not I suggest you purchase a map.” Kamey spoke while preparing to check their supply of maps. The quest sheet she handed Frost only had a very generic description of the area, a map was needed to make sense of it.

“In that regard I’m already set. Finding the location will be of no issue.” Frost handed back the quest sheet, accepting the quest. He’d do this alone, but it’d still count as a completed quest for Nanna, Loki, and Maya.

“That’s great, can I see your guild guard please?” Kamey took back the quest sheet and retrieved her official stamp. Frost guild card now also showed that he was the party leader of the [White claws of Niflheim] meaning he could accept and complete quests on the party’s behalf. Frost handed over his card and like usual Kamey stamped both his card and the quest sheet, generating a mana signature. Frost now had 4 months to complete the quest otherwise he and the rest of his party would be penalised.

“Thank you Frost and the [White claws of Niflheim] for accepting this long-term, special rank quest, I wish you luck and hope to see you again soon.” Kamey spoke a professional line while handing Frost his guild card with a smile. She waved a little to Nanna and Loki who had finished their drinks and walked up next to Frost when they saw her return.

“Thank you Kamey” Frost nodded his head before leading Nanna and Loki back towards Maya, their work here was finished, now to leave town and head on home.

“Are you finished? Did you accept a quest?” Maya asked with interest as she finished her fruit juice, it was still too early for even the adventurer’s guild to serve liquor, so she made do with winterberry juice-which she had grown rather fond of.

“Yes, I accepted a long term scouting mission in the external regions of the Glacial Mountains, I need to record the monster activity in the area and report my findings. It’s in line with where I plan to explore after the family gathering plus it has the added benefit of allowing me to gain some first-hand information in regards to the upcoming monster stampede.” Frost answered back with a little worry. He had an eerie feeling in regards to the monster stampede and with his already tense feeling about the dungeon’s safety it was causing him a fair bit of stress.

“Hoh that’s seems very beneficial hmmmm the monster stampede, so it really is around that time.” Maya appeared as though she was remembering something but shook her head, it wasn’t that important.

“What do you know about this so called monster stampede?” Frost asked his guardian, curious about her reaction.

“A little but it’s not really anything important, we can discuss it more back home, but you will need to prepare for it given our current location and defences.” To Maya the so called monster stampede wasn’t much given that at the most, B-ranks may be involved but she was an S-rank Fenrir, B-ranks were nothing to her. For Frost however this would be a major challenge. The stampede would surely be drawn to the mana emitted by the dungeon core, she gave her young master a little warning but wouldn’t give away too much. This was a good test for him after all.

“Alright, that should be us done, now we just need to head to the Northern gate, Nanna, Loki do you still have your guild cards?” Making note of Maya’s warning he turned towards the two young phoenix kin, they needed to present their guild cards if they wished to leave Furano without a toll.

Nanna and Loki eagerly reached into their pockets and removed their own guild cards and presented them to Frost with proud smiles. They enjoyed having something that was theirs and that they were in charge of protecting.

“Good, time for us to head home then.” Frost gently smiled before leading everyone towards the Northern gate. They had all their luggage, said their goodbyes, had full bellies, and accepted a quest at the guild, time to head back to the dungeon, the sooner the better.

Frost and Maya still hadn’t told Nanna and Loki anything about where they were going other than it being near the Glacial Mountains. They were still in the dark about what to expect but they trusted Frost, so they didn’t ask any questions less they offend him. Frost appreciated their tight lipped behaviour; he didn’t want to explain anything until they were out of Furano’s purview, just in case.

They quickly made their way to the Northern gate, the line to leave wasn’t too busy, only getting in took a while.

On duty was a young guardsmen that Frost and Maya knew, Kato, Kathy’s younger brother in law.

“Oh Frost, Maya hey and who are these two cuties?” Kato waved in greeting before noticing the two young phoenix kin by their sides. His reaction was very similar to that of his sister’s. His eyes sparkled and he resisted the urge to pinch their cheeks.

Frost pushed Nanna and Loki’s backs as support so they could introduce themselves.

“I’m Nanna nice to meet you”

“And I’m Loki” Nanna was still finding it a bit awkward, but Loki had a smile on his face whenever he announced his own name.

“Nice to meet the two of you, I’m Kato.” Kato nodded with a smile before redirecting his gaze to Frost.

“I’m their guardian now and I plan to bring them home, that’s why we’re here. We’re going to be leaving Furano for some time.” Frost explained to Kato, happy that he got a chance to say goodbye. He hadn’t gotten another chance to see him since the night he went home with that pretty young waitress.

“Oh, you’re leaving?” Kato couldn’t help but feel a pain in his chest, he saw Frost as a good friend, plus technically thanks to him and Maya he was no longer single.

“Yeah, but we should be back in a few months or so.”

“I see, well, be careful on your travels and be wary of the Glacial Mountains, we’re due for a monster stampede soon and that’s not something you want to be caught in.” Kato spoke with seriousness as he gave his warning.

“Thanks, we will Kato, bye.”

“Bye Kato, say goodbye to your new girlfriend for me.” Maya spoke with a teasing tone, causing Kato to blush. Kato sported a hickey on his neck which she easily noticed.

“Bye bye Mr Kato” Nanna and Loki were next to say farewell, their cute voices brought a smile to Kato’s face. And with that they walked through the gate officially leaving the town of Furano.