by Tamryn Tamer
“My beautiful fiancée doesn’t like me to wear underwear,” Cassia pouted while wrapping her arms around Renna. “She says that underwear is for people and I’m just her pet.”
“Renna,” Frost shook his head at the blushing elf. “I’m disappointed in you. Impressed. But also disappointed.”
“Impressed?” Brynn raised an eyebrow. “Don’t go getting any ideas handsome.”
“Too late for that,” Frost smirked at his raven-haired wife. “Anyway, let’s get everything finished up. I’ve had a long day and…”
“Um,” Desdemona tapped her paper urgently. “Herald Frost, we’re missing people.”
“Missing people?” Frost asked while glancing at the elves. “Are you sure?”
“Not from this group,” Desdemona said. “One of the hunting parties.”
Frost looked around at the various parties waiting to hand in their paperwork and wondered how Desdemona knew some were missing.
“I’m sure they’re not here,” Desdemona said confidently. “One of the parties is definitely missing. They all should have been back by now.”
“Alright,” Frost said, trusting the demoness. “Do you know where they were hunting?”
“Well,” Desdemona pointed toward the west. “They were hunting plant monsters in the west. The ones that spawn just outside of the forest in the prairies. The group was within the proper level range and shouldn’t have had any trouble and should have been some of the first to arrive back.”
“Got it,” Frost said while glancing at Brynn for approval. “I figure you can take care of everything here. I’ll see if I can find out what the holdup is.”
“Okay,” Brynn nodded.
Frost whistled loudly and Witch came bolting from the stables to his side. He hopped on and rushed out as Brynn and the others finished getting everything sorted.
CHAPTER 6
Frost sensed a swarm of monsters as he approached the grassy hilltop to the east. They were powerful, and plentiful. Too powerful and far too plentiful in fact for that area. Amidst the horde he could sense the depleting energy of five demihumans and increased his pace.
“Faster,” Frost snapped as Witch’s hooves tore into the ground, launching her forward. “Come on!”
The thunderous sounds of her hooves echoed as she overtook the hilltop and began her descent downward toward a horde of Granite Drakes, giant grey lizards half the size of a horse with bodies covered in stone-like razorblades. Their long tooth-filled maws were powerful enough to crack boulders but weren’t the most dangerous feature. A Granite Drake’s legs were what made them dangerous.
Their massive claws were strong enough to tear through stone beneath the earth and their muscular legs gave them the force necessary to do so. And if they couldn’t bite or swipe at their opponent, they always had a third option. They would launch themselves at top speed toward their prey and let their razor covered body do the work for them.
Witch dashed around the hole-filled terrain that the drakes likely emerged from as they approached the small party. A loud thud echoed as a drake’s body crashed against a crumbling barrier while the azure-haired elf in the center of the group desperately attempted to reinforce it. More furious lizards crashed their bodies against the weakening wall as the others in the party prepared for them to break through.
Frost forced a torrent of mental power through him as the barrier finally gave out, creating one of his own within the crumbling walls of the first. Their bodies smashed against it, finding no give to the translucent barrier that Frost created. The Granite Drakes would die of exhaustion before they broke through his spell. Although that wasn’t how they were going to die.
“Herald Frost!” Erissa shouted with tear-filled eyes. The blue-haired priestess collapsed as the four members of her party checked on her. “I thought…I thought…”
“It’s fine,” Frost said as he jumped off Witch, the forty bulky stone lizards glanced at their new prey. “You did a good job keeping everybody safe. You should be proud. Now it’s my turn.”
Most of the grey blade-covered beasts cautiously moved toward him, rock melting acid dripping from their mouths as they approached. A few of the lizards continued to focus on the barrier, rapidly smashing their bodies against it until the blades and spikes on their bodies broke off.
Their presence in his territory was strange.
Frost spent weeks researching his territory. He knew which monsters spawned, where they spawned, what they dropped, what their levels were, and even their unique vulnerabilities. Granite Drakes were not native to his territory.
He wondered if it was a sort of monster invasion like he was regularly hired to deal with in Blackwater. Swarms of insect monsters would fly in from the southern forest, consuming crops along the way. Giants would wander down from the mountains of the north and terrorize villages. Wyverns were almost always swooping down to snag up livestock to bring back to their nests.
But in all of those cases, the monsters would focus their attention on him when he arrived. These monsters were still mostly focusing on the elves standing safely within his barrier.
“Okay,” Frost nodded as the first of the hefty granite lizards leapt toward him, hoping to smash its bladed stomach against him. Frost pulled out a sword from his enchanted pouch and slashed upwards.
His sword ability had advanced to the point where it almost appeared to be magic. Five-point slash was really only the beginning of the level ten sword abilities and his recent acquisitions were far more terrifying.
There was a delay that only Frost could see in his sword techniques. It wasn’t a delay in the technique itself but in how long it took the world to catch up to it. Bloody Sunrise was the name of the skill.
On the surface, it was a simple upward slash but due to the speed, power, and accuracy of the slash, it became something different.
The instant the blade finished its movement everything stopped, just for a moment. The calm before the Bloody Sunrise as the force of the strike caused the monster's body to split apart, leaving a giant blob of blood floating momentarily before the force of the slash shot into the sky where it spread, like a Bloody Sunrise.
Frost rotated his longsword and with a flick of his wrist, he sliced three drakes in half horizontally. With the subsequent flick, three more followed. Whip Strike, named for the fast flick of the wrist that mirrored that of a person cracking a whip. The skill was less powerful than five-point slash but much faster. If he chained the ability, he could deliver over a dozen attacks in the time it took to perform five-point slash.
Several of the Granite Drakes smashing themselves against the barrier stopped as he tore through their comrades leaving a trail of blood and stone covered scales behind him.
“Don’t worry,” Frost said reassuringly as he smashed the pommel of his sword against the head of a drake before slicing another in half. “I’ll be finished here in a minute.”
“Thank you,” Amara said sullenly. She was a young pink-haired elf that arrived in his territory at the same time as Cassia. Like most of the demihumans that arrived with Cassia on the ship from Tilore, she idolized the prophet. “I thought for sure we were going to die.”
“Well you all did a great job holding out,” Frost said as he sheathed his sword and held out his hands. After a small delay, pillars of raging red flames began rising from the ground, burning the remaining drakes as they struggled to escape the consuming inferno. The granite shells that encased their bodies served as stone ovens as their bodies cooked until they fell dead. “But I’m still not sure what they’re doing here.”
“Well…” Erissa was quickly interrupted by the trembling ground beneath their feet.
“Fuck,” Frost groaned as a nearby section of the grassy field transformed into a mound before bursting open. Frost raised his hand as a mixture of dirt and stone flew toward him like shrapnel, deflecting it with a small translucent barrier. Once the debris settled, Frost was standing face to face with a Granite Drake twice t
he size of his horse. “Now you certainly shouldn’t be here.”
“Goddess!” Amara shrieked along with Erissa and the other three elves.
“Don’t worry,” Frost said despite being worried. Not for himself, but for those hunting in the various regions of his territory. The monster was level forty-eight, over twice the recommended level for the area and would have slaughtered them if he wasn’t there to protect them. “I’ll finish this in no time.”
The enormous drake roared as it charged, the force of the roar sending acid flying in his direction. Frost’s barriers prevented the acid from landing on anybody but it didn’t save his nostrils from the powerful chemical smell.
“What are you going to…” Erissa paused as Frost pulled out a massive dark claymore from his enchanted pouch. “Oh…”
“Yeah,” Frost grinned as he gripped the daunting orcish weapon. “You’ll see what I’m going to do.”
The black iron hilt of his claymore was nearly two feet long and clearly crafted with orcs in mind. Wyvern leather wrapped around the handle offering him a comfortable yet sturdy grip. The pommel was crafted from the remains of a chimera. Two large spikes crafted from the lion’s fangs and two smaller spikes harvested from the mouth of the serpent tail. The red gemstones embedded in the black iron guard were golem hearts.
The blade itself was blood steel which he purchased for an absurd price from the blacksmith’s guild in Blackwater, but the orc women that crafted his weapon assured him it would be worth it.
Frost loved how every part of a weapon served to enhance it in some way, even if it didn’t entirely make sense. The golem hearts were purely decorative but each one increased the durability by roughly five percent. The chimera’s lion fangs and wyvern grip increased the durability of the weapon by two percent each. Finally, the fangs from the chimera’s tail added a small chance to paralyze the enemy even though the weapon had no paralyzing toxins. But ultimately, the durability was what was important.
The more durability a weapon had, the more power he could infuse it with. His crimson-bladed orcish claymore could be infused with nearly five times the power of any other weapon he’d held since entering the world of Nivara.
Frost normally preferred faster weapons. He didn’t need anything but a dagger to slit a person’s throat so a claymore served very little purpose. But once he realized that larger weapons were naturally more durable, and therefore capable of taking more of his power, he decided to test things.
“I suppose you’re as good of a test subject as any,” Frost grinned malevolently at the roaring Elder Granite Drake. “Even hunting monsters in Blackwater, I don’t get opponents like you regularly.”
He wanted to try it on something even larger than the drake but since the giants didn’t seem to be coming down from the mountains, the drake would have to do.
“Ready, set, go!” Frost said as he dashed forward toward the massive stone-covered drake, fueling the sword with his energy without going over the limit. He didn’t want to break the weapon on its first time out.
Since it was still a sword, his swordsmanship abilities carried over, although there were a few like Whip Strike that didn’t due to the heavy nature of the weapon. So, just like it was when he first performed his five-point slash, it felt like he’d been carrying that claymore his entire life.
Swordsmanship and two-handed were completely separate abilities but they had synergy. If you mastered both two-handed and swordsmanship, the impact was compounded. If anatomy and precision were mastered, his deadliness increased further. He grinned excitedly as he wondered what other abilities could increase his power more.
The Elder Granite Drake roared as he leapt toward him just as the others had done, his stomach covered in even sharper and longer knife-like stones.
“Yah!” Frost roared as he launched himself in the air. Before he realized it, he was looking down at the massive stone beast with his claymore above his head. Less than a second later it felt like the massive sword was trying to rip itself from his hands as it dragged him down to earth at twice his natural speed. He barely felt it as his sword split the drake’s skull, as well as the earth beneath it.
It was like his initial practice when he overpowered his weapon and split the ground, but far more devastating. The ground beneath the drake was split at least twenty feet deep and a hundred feet out. His eyes went wide as he looked up at Witch, frozen stiff about ten feet from the edge of the newly created gorge.
“Oh shit,” Frost said in a panic as he felt the horse’s furious gaze on him. Witch always had a fairly angry look to her but in that moment, he could feel a seething rage hotter than brimstone. “I’m so sorry girl. All the treats you want later. I’m going to give you so many treats. I promise.”
“Wow!”
“That was amazing!”
“I’ve never seen anything like that!”
Frost turned to see the elves celebrating excitedly from inside the glimmering translucent barrier. He couldn’t sense any more monsters nearby but wanted to be sure.
“Um,” Erissa tapped the barrier. “Are you going to let us out?”
“Herald Frost? Are you?” Amara asked.
“Give it a few minutes,” Frost said as he began walking around the drakes, activating harvesting stones and searching for any materials worth keeping. “I want to make sure that nothing else jumps out. I still don’t know why they’re here.”
The elves whispered nervously between each other as Frost continued to search for materials. The only useful things he found were fangs and claws, although the elder dragons appeared to be far superior and could be used to significantly enhance weapons.
“What are you whispering about?” Frost asked as he looted the last of the fangs, finally convinced that nothing else was going to pop out. “Are you five hiding something?”
“Not hiding,” Erissa said nervously. “I would never hide anything from you Herald Frost.”
“We just don’t want you to blame us,” Amara said timidly. “We didn’t know…”
“What didn’t you know?” Frost asked as he released the barrier housing the women.
“Please don’t be mad,” Erissa said worriedly as she reached into her bag and pulled out a large green gemstone with a golden core. He’d been by the jewelers in Blackwater and even their finest diamonds and sapphires didn’t compare to the large round gem. “We were hunting monsters and getting ready to come back and then Julia tripped on this and when I dug it out the ground started to shake and then all the monsters started popping out.”
“We really didn’t mean to do it,” Amara whined. “We wouldn’t have touched it if we knew what would happen.”
“We’re so sorry!” the other elves said while bowing their heads. Julia, the violet haired squire acting as tank for the group seemed the most apologetic.
“I see,” Frost said while grabbing the gem from Erissa. “Well, I have no idea why grabbing this would cause a bunch of powerful monsters to pop out. But Cassia might.”
“We’re really sorry,” Erissa said worriedly. “Are you really mad at us?”
“Hm?” Frost was so distracted by the emerald-like gemstone he hadn’t really given the women a second thought. As he looked over their worried faces, he realized he felt a tinge of guilt over not checking on them. “Are you all okay?”
“Yes,” Amara said, forcing a nervous smile. He didn’t have time to notice before but the pink-haired elementalist was wearing a new dress befitting a sorceress. The black dress had one long slit that reached her upper thigh but the real show stopper was the plunging neckline, if he could call it a neckline since it reached her white belt. A fishnet bodysuit beneath the dress appeared to be doing all the work holding everything into place. “I’m okay.”
“I am too,” Erissa said, clearly relieved that Frost wasn’t angry. The blue-haired elf wore a white robe that was just transparent enough for him to see her teal bra and panties beneath it. “Herald Frost!” Erissa laughed as she felt his
eyes on her. “I suppose we should thank you.”
“We could,” Julia said excitedly, the violet haired squire was wearing a large iron cuirass and plate grieves that the orcs had mass produced for the elves.
“Definitely,” one of the green haired elves nodded.
“Whatever you want!” the final elf nodded along.
“Well,” Frost smirked while staring at the women. “While I would absolutely love to. We have to get back to the village. Everybody is worried.”
“When we get back to the village then!” Erissa suggested excitedly.
“Yeah!” Amara and Julia fought over his left arm while one of the green-haired rangers latched onto his right.
“Will you let us thank you when we’re back in the village?” Julia asked after using her superior physicality to shove Amara away and claim his arm as her own. “I’m sure my host family would be happy to have you stay over too!”
“Who’s your host family?” Frost asked curiously.
“Shael and Phyrra!” Julia said excitedly. “They’re super nice and they’ve given me lots of pointers on being a good tank.”
“Oh,” Frost grinned as he imagined taking on a trio of muscular elf squires. Ena popped into his mind as a possible fourth and his imagination was already running wild. “That does sound like fun.”
“No fair,” Erissa said sullenly. “I want to thank you too.”
“Us too!” the other elves said.
“Let’s get back to the village first. We can worry about how you’ll thank me another time.”
Frost nodded at Witch. The crimson mare fell in line behind them as they walked back to the forest. The entire walk back to the village he could feel the murderous steed’s eyes on him, cursing him for almost killing her. He imagined it was going to take more apples than usual to buy her forgiveness.
CHAPTER 7
It was nearly dusk when Frost arrived back in the village with the small party of elves and welcome festivities were already starting.