Dungeon of Niflheim

"That must have been nice." Frost imagined a young Avira smiling joyfully as her mother, the Empress of Northrend took time to teach her the art of cooking.

"It was….I miss her so much." Avira dwelled in her memories, tears forming in her eyes as the image of her mother giggling by her side, telling her all about how she won her father's heart. Heartwarming scenes that she'd never get to experience again. Her brother robbed her of that gift.

Thinking of her hateful brother anger flourished in her heart ruining the moment.

"Anyway we don't need to hire someone I'll prepare the food." She wiped her eyes and forced a smile.

"Great, here's what I bought."

Frost unveiled a true bounty, rousing Avira's competitive spirit.

The group -thanks to Avira's efforts- enjoyed a very lavish meal and celebrated until the sky grew dark, only then did they deign to discuss business.

"So V, Borris which route do you want to travel, the short but risky one or the slow and safe one?" Frost asked while sipping a glass of amber coloured liquor, greatly enjoying its mellow taste.

Frost's personal opinion of the matter leaned more towards the short and risky option, anything to save time on their journey was a win in his book. But since he wasn't traveling alone he had to take in the opinions of both Avira and Borris.

Avira and Borris straightened their postures and thought for a few seconds before Avira asked. "How large is the difference between the possible routes, how dangerous is the risky route? And how much longer would the safer route take?"

To answer her query Frost withdrew a map of the Glacial mountains' external regions. Several areas had markings on them left by Mother Callie, notes/updates for known problem areas.

"The direct northern route would have us make a straight beeline for Icethorne, we'd only have to avoid a few geographical blockades thus our travel time would roughly be 3 days or so." Frost used his finger to trace the supposed route.

"The problem however is that right around here a new territory lord has come into play meaning they're incredibly aggressive to any and all intruders plus the recently dethroned monsters will be loitering around the vicinity, starving, willing to attack even someone like me." He tapped a large area less than a day from the Lambda sector.

"Following that we have an aggressive enclave which is more akin to a large bandit hold than a small nation. They frequently attack caravans for loot unless they pay a healthy tax which I definitely won't be doing." He refused to be extorted.

"Finally if that wasn't enough the path brings us rather close the crevasse of Ymir."

"Is that a problem?" Avira couldn't help but ask, she knew a little about the crevasse as well as the monsters that chose to dwell within it. But as far as she knew those monsters usually kept to themselves, as long as you don't enter the crevasse then they'd leave you alone.

"It is right now." Frost turned to her and started to explain what Callie told him.

"Due the monster stampede there's been a lot of activity in the external regions regarding monster territories. These movements have put the giants and their kin who reside within the crevasse on edge, far more than normal thus there's been sighting of frost giants leaving the crevasse.

Whether it's for hunting, defending their territory or perhaps even expansion it's bad news for the routes passing near the crevasse." A standard frost giant was usually at the peak of C-rank at the very least and it wasn't uncommon to see B-rank individuals such as Valend. Frost would struggle to deal with such adversaries by himself let alone while having to protect Borris and Avira.

The two individuals felt their scalps grow numb; frost giants were frightening concepts. They shouldn't even be in the external regions given their strength but thanks to the crevasse of Ymir they were. It was fine when they stayed within the crevasse but the prospect of them leaving and gallivanting through the external regions was just a calamity waiting to happen.

"In addition to those problems we'd have to travel off the standard route therefore there'd be no camps, we'd have to set up in the wilderness all the way to Icethorne." Not only was it dangerous it was far less comfortable.

"Now for the safe route." Frost redirected their attention to a winding route that avoided the previously mentioned dangers.

"This route will take us at least a week and there's little to no signs of danger, we can even rest at camps for most nights while one we can even find shelter in the Three Flower kingdom. If I was a merchant or someone with time to waste I'd definitely choose this option.

Its dull and uneventful but comfortable, as opposed to the quick and dirty route I previously mentioned." Frost leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

"Both routes have their merits and I'm fine either way, one is safe and comfy while the other has danger and risk but in leu of that we'd cut our journey time by more than half." Time was a luxury one could not buy more of, once it was spent there was no way to get it back.

For Avira time was of the essence, the sooner she reached Icethorne the safer she'd be and the sooner she'd be able to start her conquest and avenge her parents. She simply had to weigh the saving of time against the risk to her own life. Something she now better understood thanks to her battle with the iceborne huntsman.

Frost allowed the two of the mull over the information for a minute or two, knowing that such a decision should not be rushed when they would be the ones in the most danger.

Eventually Borris was the first to choose. "I'm for the short, risky option. My plate armour guarantees my defence and I trust in Frost's skill. I'd like to experience the rougher side of adventuring before reaching Icethorne." His view was that he wasn't tough enough to make his mark in Northrend's great fortress, he needed to rough his edges a little.

"And you V?"

The young woman who thanks to the privacy of the yurt had removed much of her disguise, revealing the beauty that hid beneath rubbed her chin as she internally deliberated.

"…..The short route, the sooner we reach Icethorne the better." Her expression warped several times as she thought about the lack of comfort along the way but eventually she steeled herself and chose the shorter route, making the decision unanimous.

"Perfect it's decided then we'll be taking the straightest route to Icethorne.

Enjoy the comfort of your beds tonight, remember the warmth and softness because you won't be experiencing it again until we reach Icethorne and even then it might not be as good, it is a war fortress after all." Frost teased with a wide grin making Borris laugh and Avira tremble, she really couldn't get used to the idea of sleeping in the wilderness.

When early dawn broke, Frost, Borris, Avira, Kiba and the frost wolf were up, washed and fed. They bought a few extra camping supplies from the merchants quarter before heading northwards to Icethorne. The arrangement was the same, Borris on the frost wolf while Avira rode shotgun with Frost on Kiba.

Borris at one point did playfully complain about the difference in treatment and pushed for a chance to trade places with Avira but the young woman fiercely defended her spot, refusing to budge from Frost's embrace, this was her spot and hers alone.

The group travelled the first day without much incident but by the second they were in range of the new territory lord and as expected several groups of what appeared to be white clawed scorpions.

Large monsters roughly 3 metres tall with 7 metre long bodies covered in thick carapace. They were also poisonous, but the main danger came from their claws, thick strong pincers that could crush iron like it was mud.

Frost and Kiba handled most of the aggressors while Avira practised with one and Borris stayed on the back of the frost wolf.

They were beset by squads and squads of these monsters throughout their journey until eventually the mass slaughter drew over the big daddy, the new territory lord.

This white clawed scorpion was at least 50% bigger than its lesser kin and was far stronger. Frost estimated that it was roughly in the mid-stages of C-rank, a little stronger than the iceborne huntsman but with far less lackeys.

"Grrrrr!" Kiba violently growled at the massive monster who launched itself from beneath the snow fields.

"You want to take it?" Frost asked.

"Garow." Kiba nodded his head, a wild smile stretching from one side of his face to the other.

"Alright just don't be complacent, its armour is thick, and those claws are deadly." Frost gauged the monster, finding it to be a worthy opponent for Kiba and hopefully tastier.

He affectionately scratched the back of Kiba's head and wished him luck before walking towards Avira and Borris, to stand guard and observe from a distance, leaving everything to Kiba.