Conquering His Cold Heart

With the wild monster issue resolved, Frost rested for a brief 5 minutes before carrying on with his original task. He needed to solidify the foundations of the entire protective wall, all 15km -though not all of it was complete yet.

Over the following week Frost woke up at the crack of dawn every day, he'd kiss Maya gently on the forehead as left the bedroom only to receive a rude grumble in response most mornings before teleporting straight into the semi-established camp where Findlay or Khuno would assign him his work for the day.

Along with his expert help as well as that of the additional dwarves, yuki-onnas and ronsos he summoned, the first phase of the external wall was complete and many of the primary buildings were significantly underway.

The dungeon's large stone entrance was now surrounded by a 4-metre-tall wall with solid foundations that spanned 5 kilometres beyond the mountain and the makings of a nascent village was beginning to unfold within, turning this boring field of snow and trees into something rather habitable. Everyone who gazed upon the budding camp couldn't help but feel proud and impressed by its potential.

This was the result of their hard work over the past couple weeks. No instant creations from the dungeon, just back breaking labour from all its inhabitants. Even Nanna and Loki did their part once their daily lessons were complete.

"It's really starting to come together." Frost said as he stood in the centre of the camp. There was still a long way to go but the bones were clearly showing.

"Your first fief." Maya who had managed to get herself up early today. No thanks to Frost's actions the night before, she was still finding his appetite rather difficult to endure given her current limping and trembling hips. However she willingly engaged in such activities last night with much greater enthusiasm given where Frost was heading or rather who he was going to meet.

It was a way in which she marked her territory, a claim for dominance in the face of the other woman that was set to join their little family. Frost of course was smiling from ear to ear due to her antics not dissuading her 'marking' in the slightest, in fact he even egged her on and teased her resulting in them going a little overboard.

"That's a good way of putting it. Given that my identity needs to remain a close guarded secret this camp will be the first territory officially under my name…hehehehe." Frost started giggling as he repeated the word fief in his head and started referring to himself as Lord Frost. Owning one's own land and becoming a king was always of a fantasy of the young and ambitious.

"I wonder have far my ambitions will take me. Perhaps years in the future it won't be the Northrend empire reigning supreme but mine." A flash glinted in Frost's eyes as he spoke, a fierce flame and a tendril of arrogance attached themselves to his smile.

"You've got a looooooonnnnnggggg way to go if that's what you want. Right now you're nothing but a fly in their eyes." Maya ever the buzzkill or rather the collected one doused his arrogance and ambitions with a pitcher of cold water, swiftly bringing an end to his boasts.

"True, true just a single well-trained assassin almost took me out of the game before it even started." Frost replied with a deflated expression which caused Maya to let out a small giggle before gently patting his back.

"You're still young and full of potential just don't get too full of yourself. The world is vast and very cruel to a tree that rises beyond the rest. Unless you have sufficient protection and or indomitable strength you'll be easily cut down by jealous peers. Your current plans to fully establish the dungeon and focus on its growth is a very good start.

Slow and steady wins the race, reaching the peak is a marathon not a sprint after all." Maya spoke with a strange sense of wisdom that was beyond her years, causing Frost to look at her rather strangely.

He leaned down and placed his hand over her forehead checking to see if she had a fever. "Did we go at it so much last night that your brain's all jumbled up…ahh owowowow!" His mocking care was met with a swift grip and twist of his side. This 'friendly' interaction between the couple caused many monsters in the nearby area to laugh and smile, finding their exchange rather heart-warming.

"So you're going today?" After giving Frost a sharp dose of pain Maya asked with a resigned tone. She did pretty much all she could to delay his departure but the addition of another woman to their relationship was inevitable.

Maya pondered over this issue a lot over the past few weeks, trying her best to find the silver lining and tone down her natural misgivings. She hadn't met the orc succubus yet but from what Frost told her she seemed nice and quite similar to herself in many ways.

She didn't like the idea of sharing her man especially given that their relationship was still in the early stages but sometimes, especially at night she did wish there was another person to pick up the slack, Frost was truly insatiable. It was like he was given a body that never tired nor ran empty.

She wondered if the Dark God designed his other children the same way on purpose so as to increase the chances of proliferation among his progeny, they were after all a new species that contained his essence. What parent didn't want as many grandkids as possible. While thinking along this route her aversion to Daki grew slimmer by the day though she was still set in being number one.

Occasionally she thought it'd be nice to have something like a sister to hang out and exchange girl talk with as Nanna wasn't old enough for such things.

"Yeah, now that the wall's foundation is complete and many of the main buildings are nearing completion, I feel confident in leaving Findlay and Khuno in full control of what remains. She's waited long enough." To be honest Daki was fully keen on leaving with Frost as soon as possible.

In fact she would have left with him the day he first left Kranor if it was possible, a fact that wasn't lost on him. Over the past few days when they talked over the magic crystal, he could clearly feel her desire and frustration from being left alone for so long, she was beginning to grow quite impatient.

Because of that he really didn't want to delay their reunion any longer despite Maya's inviting attempts to do otherwise.

"Haaaaaaa fine go and bring her then, I really can't wait to see the woman that's managed to grasp your heart so tightly despite only interacting with you for a couple days." Maya cutely pouted but wasn't truly angry.

In response Frost smiled gently before kissing his girlfriend on the forehead and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Regardless of her grip you're still and always will be my first and number one." He soothed her with sweet words from the heart which worked very well, she blushed from ear to ear and sunk into his chest, quietly calling him an idiot as she rubbed her finger against his chest.

In celebration for completing the first phase of the external wall Frost arranged a lavish feast, awash with alcohol, fruit juice and rather delectable desserts. For most of the meals he dug into the supply of monster meat that they'd gained from the stampede while he used DP to purchase the drinks and desserts.

All of his monster were invited to partake in this luxury as a reward for their hard work during the stampede and the construction of the camp.

The monsters sang their master's praises as they dug into the food and drink. They regaled to one another their experiences during the war and became more than just monsters serving the same master. Many became good friends regardless of their species. It certainly helped that Nanna and Loki intermingled with so many, drawing a large group of monsters into their little band of playmates.

Frost watched as they partied, interacted and even sang with pride welling up in his heart. These were his people, beings that relied upon him to guarantee their safety, food, shelter and very lives. A tall ask full of responsibility but one he accepted without hesitation.

"I will bring you all to the peak of this world." He muttered under his breath as a solemn vow was written in his heart.

Once the feast was over it was time for Frost to head over to Kranor to pick up his long waiting girlfriend. He'd already informed his cadre of monster officers about his intention and ordered them to prepare for her arrival in a glorious fashion. A substantial amount of DP had also been hallmarked to suit the wants and needs of his new lover.

Out with the additional space needed in the private space he prepared a small section for her on the sixth floor that would serve as her personal workshop wherein she would hold complete dominion. There was also the makings of a small but well decorated shop in the camp that would allow her to entertain any future customers, but the real magic would primarily happen within the personal workshop.

The place wasn't outfitted yet as he wanted to leave that to her professional discretion but given that the sixth floor had easy access to numerous high-quality mines, he believed there'd be no better location for her workshop. The rather pleasant environment throughout the floor would certainly be an added bonus.

"Keep working hard while I'm gone but hopefully this time I won't be away for too long."

"Understood master." Both Khuno and Findlay saluted to Frost who was currently riding atop Kiba.

"Nanna, Loki try to stay out of Khuno and Findlay's way unless they specifically ask for your help. Listen to Maya and keep working on your lessons."

"Yes master." The two phoenix kin responded excitedly; they were quite looking forward to meeting Daki. Not only because Frost was rather taken with her but because she forged the gear they loved to wear during training.

Frost then turned his attention to Maya who was showing a somewhat crooked/forced smile.

"Don't look so miffed, I'm sure the two of you will get along great once you actually meet. Please try to be at least somewhat welcoming when we return." Frost tried his best to ease the tension surrounding Maya but gave up on achieving a positive response, merely aiming for lukewarm or neutral.

"Hmph." He got a hmph in response which was wasn't that bad in his opinion.

"Well then, I'm off. To Kranor Kiba."

"Roar!" Kiba who didn't care about the delicacy of Frost and Maya's love life roared happily at the fact he'd get to return to his hometown. The young tiger cub swiftly dashed away through the gap in the external wall which would soon be protected by a high-quality gate.

Frost was off to fetch pick up his feisty green enchantress.