Conquering His Cold Heart

"Hey Lando, time to get up work's a calling."

"Urgh you don't need to yell, I'm up, I'm up." Lando groggily dragged himself from the comfier than he expected cot he was sleeping in.

"Yeah right, you sleep heavier than a Kroala. Anything less than a scream in your ear has little to no effect. Just be grateful I didn't get physical this time hahaha." Lando pulled a grimace as memories of his previous wakeup calls came to the forefront of his mind.

"Get your gear and meet outside, the Captain's already waiting."

"Ahhh shit why didn't you wake me sooner then!" Lando trembled as he imagined running afoul with their Captain. As a former military man the Captain really didn't appreciate tardiness. Lando learned that the hard way when he was forced to run himself ragged or perform the entire team's grunt work for an entire week.

"I'm your friend not your mother just hurry up." His friend Lawrence slapped his shoulder before dashing out of the lodging quarters.

Several minutes later Lando was the last to arrive and was met with nefarious smirks from his party members, he was late.

"Lando." The Captain of their party said his name with a cold tone, sending shivers down his back.

"Sorry for being late Captain, I overslept again." Being used to such a tone Lando responded honestly as such an attitude usually lessened the punishment.

"I can see that." The Captain glared at the rushed dressing and unkempt hair of Lando before shaking his head.

"I'll give you a pass this time, you've got 2 minutes to finish getting ready then we'll set out."

"Yes Sir." The rest of the party looked at their Captain as if he was some kind of imposter. Since when was he so lenient. Fortunately for Lando the Captain also slept in a little thanks to the unexpected comfiness of his cot so his pride didn't allow him to admonish Lando.

Lando quickly straightened out his clothes, reoriented his gear and finger combed his hair making him look a lot more presentable.

"Alright now that everyone's prepared let's discuss our goals." The group made their way towards an area with multiple pykrete tables where parties could discuss strategies and talk business.

"The Dungeon of Niflheim is a very hot hunting ground right now. Swarms of parties just like ours are congregating to uncover its many mysteries and make their names in the adventuring world. The place holds great wealth but also great danger. Though we'll be restricted to the upper floors given our party's strength that doesn't mean we can relax.

No small amount of D-rank parties have met there end within due to arrogance or poor preparation. We will not be one of those groups, is that understood?"

""Yes Captain"" The five party members responded with enthusiasm towards their older leader.

"From Krief's investigations we know roughly what kind of monsters we'll face in the upper levels as well as the general layout. So tell me what are the main dangers we need to keep an eye on." Lando raised his hand to answer.

"Monster such as the frost wolves and frost dwarves as they are skilled in working together, thus reducing our team advantage."

"Correct anything else?"

"The ice spiders in the labyrinth sections could pose issues given their ability to scale the walls and ceiling. Though we've prepared antidotes for poisons getting caught in their webs could open us up for some nasty ambushes." Lawrence responded this time.

"Apart from the obvious monster dangers there's also the blizzard that randomly starts up on some of the floors. Poor visibility can leave us open to ambushes and traps from both monsters and other adventurers." Krief the one who was in charge of investigating gave his opinion.

He heard many tales from previous delvers as well as a few female ronsos than he couldn't help but strike up a conversation with. Being a tiger beastman he wasn't too far removed from the Ronsos who were tiger beastkin thus he was particularly attracted to some of them.

An advantage given that most rookies and even many veteran adventurers struggled to engage with intelligent monsters on a friendly level.

"Good answers. We'll also have to keep an eye on dungeon generated traps, from what I hear there's more than a few spike pitfalls and even cold fire spewing statues. Krief you'll need to be on your A-game during this delve."

"Always am Captain." Krief smirked proudly. He was the party's scout; it was his job to alert them of impeding danger and chart a path.

"Rodger no daredevil shenanigans am I clear." The Captain glared at another member of the team.

"But we've got Lando the guardian, he'll be able to bail me out no matter the danger." Rodger openly complained about having to restrain his usual tendencies. He was a pugilist, someone who needed to get up close and personal with his enemies. People with such professions tended to fit into two types, calm and patient or aggressive and violent, Rodger was the latter.

He was all for taking risks and trying out new techniques and fighting styles on the fly, sometimes to the point that it placed him in serious danger. Unfortunately their leader was having none of it on this delve.

"Cork it, we've never explored the Dungeon of Niflheim so we can't take any chances besides you shouldn't rely so heavily on Lando's capabilities to preserve your own life." Out of the six party members the Captain whose real name is Royce was the strongest, an accomplished D-rank swordsmen who'd been in the adventuring game for over a decade.

Following closely behind him was Lando, nicknamed the guardian due to his above and beyond defensive skills. There were few people at the same rank who could best Lando when it came to shield work. Unfortunately his offence was rather lacking otherwise he'd be well on his way to C-rank by now.

The others were upper E-rank strength with Krief inching towards D-rank. Overall a rather decent party that suited the upper floors of the dungeon quite well. A swordsmen, a shield warrior, a scout (armed with a bow), an earth focused mage (Lawrence), a pugilist and finally the youngest of the group Gabbie, a mage focused on protection spells and buffs.

"We'll take our time and explore slowly. Does everyone have their camping gear and delving supplies?" Everyone tapped their backpacks and nodded, they were all set and then some. Despite their youth Captain Royce had successfully indoctrinated the need to be prepared.

Better to have and not need than to need and not have, a saying that saved a great many lives when followed and ended much more when not.

"Alright then hands in." They all put their hands on top of one another and smiled eagerly.

"Icy Talons on three, one two ICY TALONS!!" With a roar the Icy Talons completed their ritual and headed towards the large archway that lead into the dungeon.

"Rank?" The two Ronsos on guard asked in a perfunctory manner.

"D-rank." Captain Royce answered nervously under their glare. These two guards alone could squash his entire team like they were bugs.

"Understood, you're advised to go no lower than the 5th floor, any further and you'll likely meet a swift end. Good hunting." After giving their warning the two ronso waved the party through the arch, no longer caring about them in the slightest. An attitude that irked a great many parties but not the Icy Talons, they knew better thanks to their investigations.

A D-rank party like theirs was truly nothing of importance to them, even C-rank parties had to be respectful to these guards as the ronsos weren't just strong they served as the arm of the camp's owner, an elf by the name of Frost whose strength surpassed them all.

A veritable B-rank who fought for Furano during the last monster stampede, helping to cull multiple B-rank monsters and dozens of C-ranks, a true hero.

"Alright here we are, the Dungeon of Niflheim, let's see what all the buzz is about." Captain Royce and his team took in the grand sight of Dungeon's first section, the winter highlands.

"Apparently this section is similar to the environment found in the nearby area, the monsters as well as the flora and fauna are similar as well. We'll likely encounter frost goblins, ice slimes, horned rabbits and other G-ranks here with the occasional F-rank and very, very rarely an E-rank frost wolf according to sources." Krief filled everyone in.

"Interesting, well let's get started I want us to scour every inch of the place. We're not here to rush to our deaths in the lower floors nor hunt piddling G-ranks, first and foremost we're here to explore and enjoy this experience and learn from it. Let's start treasure hunting boys and girls."

""Yes Captain!!"" The Icy Talons planned to stay within the Niflheim base camp for the long haul. They'd stay a few days within the dungeon to get their bearings and learn more about it before returning to the surface with their loot, thus allowing them to cover their stay in the lodges, the cost of resupply as well possibly improve their gear.

Others may wish to delve to the lowest floors and or face off against the best the dungeon had to offer but the Icy Talons knew their capabilities, slow and steady wins the race. They'd be best focusing their time on exploration, the occasional hunt and of course treasure hunting.

Occasionally adventuring parties would return from their delve with bountiful treasure from chests hiddenly located in obscure areas and or defended by monsters beyond the level of the others in the area. Just a single common ranked chest could pay for multiple days of lodging and then some.

There was far more to adventuring than simple fighting monsters.