Dungeon of Niflheim

"We'll stop here." Khione could feel that Frost had reached his limit, his last few attacks lacked his usual strength.

Though he instinctively wanted to argue, to force himself to continue the moment Khione spoke the lunar eyes he had established collapsed, as did his legs. He fell to his knees, panting for every breath, only now feeling the strain from their rigorous work out.

'What a monster.' Khione marked the time passed and couldn't help but be impressed, shocked even. Not only did he manage to master the first two stances to a semi-battle ready state he managed to fight against her relentless assault for hours without complaint.

Not even her closest soldiers could act in such a manner. Frost's dedication to growth mirrored her own and because of that she sported a large smile as she looked down on him.

Khione enjoyed her time with him so much so that she couldn't help but smile and feel a warmth in her heart. How long had it been since she felt such joy, such excitement towards training, an affair that had long become dull and tedious.

The tall and robust walls of the palace and even the realm feeling like a restrictive cage. She didn't understand her desires, her wants until she saw Frost, until she saw the light in his eyes, his unyielding determination and heard some of his life stories.

Khione had grown bored and jaded with her home, she desired something more, something different, exciting and unpredictable, she wanted to see the world.

Finally after standing in front of a tall, endless and unmoving blockade for months, she saw a path leading beyond. If she was going to ascend then she needed to experience the outside world, to broaden her narrow horizons.

Perhaps there was more to her father's decision in granting a marriage between her and Frost. Alas Khione's mind never entertained such a thought, her anger towards him being as strong as ever. Only Frost was no longer quite the eyesore.

"You asked me about Dungeon cores, why?" Frost stabled his breathing and allowed himself to flop onto his back, regaining his strength as efficiently as possible. Thankfully he was only exhausted, sporting only minor cuts and bruises -his earlier shattered ribs being mended by a mid-level health potion.

"I'm curious, you're a new existence to Nova. Individuals that the Dark God calls his children, something that's never happened before." Of course most of Khione's curiosity only came into play once she changed her views on Frost. It was her interest of him that made her want to know more, an unconscious attempt to develop their friendship.

Though loved dearly by her family, the realm's citizens and its soldiers Khione who had never left the realm of Niflheim had few she could call friend. Frost was an outsider, someone new, someone who did not look at her with reverence, fear or familial love and thus offered a new experience one in which she was in dire need of though she didn't know it herself.

Frost could sense nothing but honest intentions from Khione, so he answered her to the best of his ability.

"We're hard to explain. What you see before you is only half of my existence, an avatar in which I can experience Nova in the same manner as any monster, sapient or spirit."

"This isn't your true form." Ok now she was really intrigued.

"Yes and no, as I said it's half my existence, both are me." Frost quickly asserted that his current body, the one that was currently paralysed from exhaustion was himself, just not all of him. The idea of this body being nothing but a shell, a mere manifestation of the Dungeon's core made him shiver in denial.

"The other half is my Dungeon, a realm similar to that of a monster lair albeit with a few more advanced capabilities and a lot less restrictions." If he wanted to Frost could spend hours detailing the facts of his existence and capabilities but that wasn't what Khione asked plus from what he knew of her she wasn't one to delve too deeply into complicated subjects.

"Sounds a little similar to spirits…a little." Spirits where a subcategory of monsters. Their true form tended to be that of a core or a crystal, their outer appearance being merely a manifestation born to shield the core. Unlike sapients and monsters the loss of limbs wasn't quite so debilitating, just a loss in energy rather than a crippling wound.

Of course there always variant, individuals that fit into both categories. Khione and the vast majority of her siblings were such individuals. Though they could be regarded as spirits their physical forms were closer to that of monsters. They could bleed, had real working organs and even ate like them. To be honest she was a lot like Frost at least the half which openly roamed Nova.

Wounds were more serious to Khione and her siblings but as long as their core wasn't destroyed they could rebuild themselves albeit with a much greater degree of difficulty than regular spirits, a price they paid for other advantages.

"Hmm…I suppose it does." Frost had to admit there were similarities.

"….What's it like?" Khione was a tad more nervous when she spoke this time.

"What's what like?"

"Nova, the outside world?" For the first time in her life -excluding her early childhood- Khione was interested in what dwelled beyond her father's domain.

"…" Frost forced himself to a sitting position, his eyes filled with confusion as he looked at his most recent teacher. "You've never left Niflheim?" By this point he knew that Khione was not like him, she had grown up normally, starting out as a baby until eventually reaching her current state. More than twenty years and she had never left the confines of her own home or at least never to Nova.

"No, I've never really felt the need to." Once again she spoke from the heart, still a little puzzled about why her mindset had changed in the first place.

"Well I've not see much in my brief time but it's not boring that's for sure. People come in all types of shapes and forms, their personalities can wildly differ even between brothers and sisters. A town can be rural and backward but have the most honest and hardworking people while built up cities can have the worst kind of scum holding all the power. There's conflict, wars, battles, trade and all manner of beautiful and sometimes even frightening sights." Frost described at length with a look of nostalgia, comparing what he'd seen in his brief time on Nova to the metropolis thriving within the Realm of Niflheim.

Beautiful, majestic and filled with innovation but at the same time lacking variety, colour and the aspects unique to civilians, people without any martial strength.

The realm of Niflheim was peaceful and amazing but a far cry from the entirety of Nova hell even the Glacial mountains held a great deal more diversity.

"You should see it for yourself; I promise you; you won't be disappointed." Frost felt Khione would benefit greatly from a little excursion and unlike him she could likely protect herself from pretty much any threat imaginable.

"Hmm maybe." Khione's voice was quiet and her nodding gentle. She held a fear, a natural aversion to leaving her home given that she'd never done it before.

Frost and Khione sat in close proximity; they talked about all manner of things as sternly 'requested' by the Primordial Ice King. The two shared several things about their lives, getting a better sense of one another while also occasionally discussing the Niflheim royal family spear arts.

Frost understood the first two stances but the third eluded him, every time he tried to activate the lunar eyes the work established by the first two stances would come undone.

Khione wasn't surprised by his difficulties; the third stance was several levels more complicated than the first two after all.

"Don't try to rush it, it'll be counterintuitive." The Niflheim royal spear arts were complicated and intricate, thus allowing a great deal of power and strength to be summoned but at the same time they were dangerous, harmful if used improperly.

Mana was at its core a powerful form of energy, free and unrestrained unless wielded by a master. Frost barely reached the minimum thresholds and thus struggled greatly to manage and control both his internal mana and aura to such a fine degree.

Pushing through would only lead to further destabilisation of the lunar eyes as well as possible scarring or even breakdown of the brain. Even Frost with his powerful regenerative capabilities would struggle to walk away from such an injury.

"Haaaaa I know, I know but…"

"It doesn't suit your nature to be passive, I get it." Khione understood his feelings on the matter well as she suffered from a similar disposition.

"Focusing on another area helps." She spoke from experience as she rose to a standing position. They had rested enough, time to try something different.

"Any suggestions?" Frost asked, rising alongside her, his exhaustion now dissipated enough to move again.

"….Spear, chakra refinement or…."Khione looked to the western wall, where she trained for a brief time earlier. "You could try testing the strength of your aura." Her lips rose in a mischievous manner as she said this, clearly there was a hidden agenda beneath her suggestion.

Frost picked up the change in her expression but thought nothing of it. Khione was too innocent and blunt to come up with anything too malicious.

'She likely wants to see me squirm a little.' Though the ice had been broken, and the bad blood had been mostly removed Frost was naturally quite annoying to someone like Khione.

A devilishly handsome man with the backing of her father, weak for now but showing a potential even greater than her own. She'd be a saint if she could ignore the opportunity to see him truly struggle.