Dungeon of Niflheim

'A good source of much needed strength, talent in a profitable and demanding profession and the gratitude of the Primordial Ice King.' A very beneficial deal for Frost even without the promise of any additional reward. Thankfully Shivali proved to be quite generous.

On paper great but underneath, hidden behind omissions and vague descriptions there was a catch. A race that can trace their lineage directly back to Shivali himself, a group that once carved out a place in the core regions of the Glacial mountains in ages past. Pride and stubbornness had been their downfall, would such a group willingly listen to his commands, fulfil his requests and mesh well with the order that he painstakingly established.

"Correct Frost, I'd like for you to grant the Lunar Maidens of the original tribe sanctuary, protect them and give them the chance to hopefully shine as they did in ages past." They were too weak to enter Niflheim and could not be protected by his soldiers indefinitely better to arrange a safe haven through an external force, one that could trusted, relied on and who held immeasurable potential.

"Would they be willing to follow me? I'm not one of your subordinates nor am I one of your subjects. To be honest I'm not much more than a stranger, an outsider in the eyes of others." Frost replied with a frown.

Shivali could be regarded as his uncle but was such a status really that impressive given how long these old Gods had lived. The status of son in law or rather prospective son in law, again perhaps not all that rare. He wondered if such a prideful bunch would be willing to follow someone whose strength barely surpassed their own and who held little to no connection to their progenitor.

"If the previous leader and elders were still alive then there'd be an issue but 'thankfully' the new head of the tribe, one of the younger generation realises the true depths of their predicament. She has her pride and stubbornness but accepts that if she is to protect her people she has no other option."

"That desperate huh?"

"Yeah, its pretty bad." The two then thought in silence for a few seconds before Frost started asking for more accurate details.

"I'd like to know their exact numbers, rough ages of the group, fighting potential, degree of intelligence, possible troublemakers, the enemy I'm going up against and of course their current location." The inner regions weren't exactly safe for a solo B-rank to wander around during normal times let alone when a paradigm shifting war was underway.

"….When I received their call for aid there were 27 Lunar Maidens still alive but 2 were in critical condition, unlikely to survive for long." Shivali proceeded to give Frost all the information he had, feeling a sense of relief as he did. If Frost was asking this many detailed questions he was already halfway to accepting his request.

"4 of the maidens are children of varying ages, 17 are young adults, 4 could be considered middle-aged while the last two are seniors, they are also the ones in critical condition. They gave their all the protect the young children but unfortunately only managed to save 4."

"The strongest such as the new leader and her closest cohorts are late stage C-rank while the rest of the adults are mostly at the early stages."

'Over a dozen C-ranks, not bad.' Even his ronsos were only at the C-rank.

"Their intelligence is indistinguishable from that of a sapient and as far as troublemakers go, none survived. The two critically injured seniors may be reluctant but as far as I'm aware they were of the moderate faction, ones that understood that their innate arrogance and culture was inevitably dooming them. Again however it is unlikely that they'll manage to hold out until you arrive therefore you shouldn't have anyone kicking up a fuss." Frost cupped his chin in thought as he gently nodded along, finding Shivali's answers to be positive news.

Shivali briefly stalled when it came to relaying information about their enemy, finding the information somewhat delicate. The Lunar Maidens were rather sought after due to their beauty and special intimate skills thus ransacking, kidnapping, enslavement, forced employment and even acts of intimidation were not all that uncommon, at least when it came to those who lacked great power and or civility.

The larger kingdoms, empires, tribes and nations tended to offer favourable terms, using their wealth and prosperity to naturally attract them to become their citizens. Of course there were always exceptions.

"In regards to their enemy, the ones who brought them to this point it's unlikely you'll have to confront them, at least none of their core members."

"Why's that?" Frost asked curious finding it odd that he wouldn't have to fight against the ones who destroyed the ancient tribe of the Lunar Maidens.

"Because they've had their fill, their hunt is over and therefore they'll triumphantly return to their own domain before its time to attack another target."

"Fill?" Strange choice of words.

"Yes, fill. Unlike their usual aggressors this group cares not for their looks, their skills in the bedroom nor their intelligence rather all they care about is the meat on their bones, the taste of their flesh."

"A beast like tribe rather than humanoids?" When it came to acts of mass devouring one would likely think of monsters with more beast like or insect like traits. The horde of blue ants and polar mantises was one such example albeit due to their size and the intelligence of their queen they could also engage in diplomacy when needed.

"No they are humanoid, intelligent to a degree and even speak the common tongue but unfortunately they're incredibly voracious and as they put it natural gourmets who place the value of meat above all else." Shivali's description resulted in a light bulb moment for Frost, he'd only heard of one race of monsters that fit such a description.

"Ogres." He said with an obvious frown.

Ogres; a type of monster known far and wide for their bottomless appetite. Individuals that stood somewhere between giants and trolls in height albeit usually being far wider and muscular. Naturally resistant to several types of magic, illusions, mental and psychic distortions in particular. Strong enough to physically compete with giants while also having the regenerative qualities of trolls, a nasty combination that made them dangerous enemies.

They had the intelligence to establish small to medium sized tribes, anything larger however was impossible for them to maintain. Being innately violent meant that fights amongst themselves were commonplace, only if an overwhelmingly powerful ogre was at the helm could there be some semblance of order but even then if the amount of food was lacking they'd soon resort to eating each other. As long as it was meat they could eat it, it did not matter from whence it came.

"Frost maw ogres to be exact, led by a rather powerful tyrant who keeps his larger and stronger than normal tribe together by viciously plundering their neighbours and migrating whenever they made too much of a stink or when the supply of food becomes sparse." The frost maw ogres were basically the standard ice element variant, blue skinned and naturally resistant to the cold weather but unlike most ice variants they didn't have a weakness to fire magic.

"The Lunar Maidens unfortunately fell under his gaze and stoked his and his tribesmen's appetites in a more brutal manner than normal. Desiring to partake in such soft meat they attacked without warning and quickly annihilated what remained of the ancient tribe, leaving only but a few dozen to escape south into mountainous belt that separates the inner and external regions."

"Succeeding in the hunt and filling their bellies the ruling tyrant would have brought his forces back to their main camp leaving only the stragglers, the weak ogres who failed to qualify for the abundant feast. Starving and desperate….they won't be much of a threat." Though he felt bad about how things went down with the ancient tribe of the Lunar Maidens he couldn't hate nor fault the frost maw ogres. They were merely acting within their nature, fighting to survive the harsh world of Nova and delighting in things that brought them pleasure. To be in his position, a God that stands above countless mortals it requires an open mind and a neutral outlook.

Frost had also started to understand such a mindset, determining right and wrong, good and evil was all about perspective. You could be a hero to one side and a devil to the other. Best to not get bogged down with such pointless objectivity and simply follow one's own heart wherever it may lead.

"But something else will." Shivali already confirmed that he'd need to save the Lunar Maidens from their enemies before escorting them back to his Dungeon. If ogres weren't the problem then what was?

"Yes, the leader of the Lunar Maidens Neve reported that a group of individuals congregating near where they chose to hide approached them recently wanting to forcibly integrate them into their group. She stated that the leader was at the very least in the early perhaps even mid stages of B-rank, an opponent beyond what they could currently handle let alone his subordinates whose strength rivalled their own."

Thankfully they had given their group some time to weigh their supposed options, 7 days after that they'd take them in by force. Clearly from the delay this group was either busy with something else, wanting for reinforcements or wanting to avoid pointless battles that would reduce their overall strength.

"Do you know anything else about this group?" A monster at the early or mid-stages of B-rank was not beyond Frost's current capabilities but still the more he knew the better.