Chapter 21: Ambush

"These guys are adventurers?" Frost puzzledly looked at the screen which showed just outside the dungeon's entrance, it also allowed him to make out some of their conversation. He was shocked with how they were acting especially that Fen fellow, he felt betrayed. He had the perfect idea of his first adventurers being incredibly professional and respectable but ended up with this ragtag group.

Frost sighed as he lamented his fate.

'Oh well at least they look fun,' he thought. Out with the whole killing them for DP, they seemed like a genuine fun group of guys to him.

"Most low rank adventurers are like that, that's why so many die. Not due to a lack of strength but usually due to letting their guards down." At this point in time, they wouldn't even notice a boar come up behind them. Maya felt this was actually a good thing since they'd be a lot easier to kill even if it meant less DP.

Frost however was not that pleased, he hadn't told Maya yet, but he didn't plan on killing the first group of adventurers as he needed someone to return to Furano and give a report. He also wanted them to at least enter the dungeon so he wouldn't be bored but the team leader looked like he wasn't down with it. luckily his friends convinced him, at least this way he'd get some DP.

"This might be rather annoying." Frost was pondering ways to keep them within the dungeon for an entire day without killing or severely harming them. He didn't know exactly how strong this group was but from the conversation he learned that the leader was just made D-rank, so they were manageable.

"Why?" Maya was confused as she thought they'd be the perfect group for a first kill

"I want them to stay in the dungeon for at least 24 hours before allowing them to exit, all without killing or maiming a single one." It wasn't as though he felt sorry about killing them or that he grew attached to his first intruders it was all strategic. If a weak party managed to exit the dungeon with minor injuries, it would attract the majority of adventurers in Furano. If he killed a couple sure he'd get DP but in the long run his dungeon may be classed as high rank drawing in powerful adventurers who'd make mincemeat of the majority of his monsters.

"What?" Maya looked at Frost as if he were a fool, she had clearly explained that killing people in the dungeon would give 10 times they daily DP so why did he not even want them injured.

"Just trust me, this way is better; you might not think anything of their strength, but I do. A single D-rank can easily kill the large sum of my monsters and a C-rank well that'd send me back to square one since not a single one of monsters would be able to fight someone of that level." Even though he'd fought… well was beaten up by Maya he didn't actually know the full extent of her power but certainly the common and even the uncommon adventurers would be nothing in her eyes, so he needed to make her realise this.

"Ugh...you make a good point." Maya was shocked and couldn't argue against his logic, ultimately agreeing in the end.

"Seems you've got a real knack for this." Maya praised Frost for his future thinking.

"Hehehe thanks" Frost smiled happily.

"By the way how strong are you, Maya?" He believed it'd be good to know for future reference, plus once he surpassed her, he could get revenge for the pummelling she gave him.

"Me...." Maya thought for a few seconds on how to answer.

"At least S-rank."

'Boom!' Frost's brain frazzled from this information and his legs felt as though they turned to jelly.

'Of course, she's going to be that strong, she's a bloody Fenrir.' He kissed his dreams of revenge goodbye as they floated away into the distance.

After moping around for a minute or so much to Maya's confusion, the adventurer party took their first steps into the dungeon.

"Perfect now I can see exactly how strong they are." The more Frost used the dungeon menu the more adept he got at using it. He managed to bring up information on each individual intruder all while keeping up the live picture.

"Let's see the human is giving 80 DP; the dwarf 65; the scout beastman 50 and the archer is giving 45 for a total of 240 DP per day." Frost listed out the values stated on the screen.

"That's sounds about right." Maya had guessed their rough strength when she first saw them. According to her the breakdown for DP income was roughly this:

[Rank] [Daily DP]

    [G]        [10]

    [F]          [20]

    [E]          [40]

    [D]        [80]

    [C]        [150]

    [B]        [350]

Apparently, A ranks haven't been worked out yet due to the hope that none show up so early but from the previous pattern they'd most likely fall around 700 to 800 DP per day.

According to the table it meant that only the leader John was a D-rank whereas the others were still E-rank with the dwarf being slightly stronger. Of course, the menu didn't display anything about their equipment or special skills or known spells, so the power estimation had to be taken with a grain of salt.

"If I can keep them within the dungeon for an entire day, I'll make 240DP, not bad exactly two frost dwarves…. Maya would that dwarf called Thorin have any issue killing the frost dwarves?" When he equated his income to frost dwarves Frost suddenly noticed that there may be an issue. It's highly likely that many of the intruders would be dwarves so he became unsure as to how they'd react to his dwarven monsters hell he didn't even know how his dwarves would react to them.

Maya looked at him strangely.

"They're entirely different creatures so there'd be no issue." She replied with indifference. Any monster regardless of appearances was still a monster, they were entirely different from the sapient races. 

Only when monsters achieve a level of intelligence and can speak the common tongue are, they then considered differently but even then, they're still dungeon monsters and would fight against any intruders to protect their master.

"That's good," a weight was lifted off Frost's shoulders after hearing that. Perhaps in the future when he had access to more advanced monsters they could speak and mingle with some intruders, but the frost dwarves could only grunt making the issue mute.

Frost and Maya continued to watch the group of adventurers edge closer and closer into the dungeon chatting occasionally about strategies on how to keep them within the dungeon.

Adventurer POV

"Woah!" Jack couldn't help but shout as they walked through the dungeon's entrance. He was stunned by the scenery before him, never in a million years would he believe that he was within a mountain. Jack had never been within a monster lair and had no idea of what to expect so he was blown away when he saw the beautiful winter highlands before him.

The others were also captivated, only Thorin who had been to a monster lair before was fine but even he was a little shocked at how detailed and elaborate the environment was.

"It's like we've never left the outside." Fen mumbled as his mouth hung open. The only difference was that it was slightly warmer, and the blizzard wasn't as strong and for northern grown men it was actually a fairly pleasant temperature.

"Since the environment is similar to outside it means that the monsters should be similar as well." Thorin took a step forward and spoke. Out of all of them he was the most knowledgeable, as his hobby was reading plus, he had a rather strong uncle who took him into a monster lair filled with goblins when he was just starting out as an adventurer.  So far this was good news as the strongest monster found in the nearby vicinity was probably D-rank or even maybe just E-rank frost wolves, the very thing they were hunting.

"So, you're saying we may be able to complete our current quest and gain info on this monster lair at the same time?" John smiled at the notion and his eyes saw piles of money floating in front of him.

"It's possible," Thorin looked towards his team leader with a fervent gaze and nodded. Fen and Jack both smiled at this as well, if a monster walked by right now, it'd probably be spooked by their creepy smiles.

"Alright enough lollygagging let's get to work!" John was the first to break from the money filled haze and quickly ordered his teammates to get back on track.

"Usual formation, Jack you scout ahead with me behind you, Fen and Thorin you guard the rear, and we'll move slowly got it, no surprises." John called out his orders one after another as he became serious.

"Yes boss!" The three of them loudly shouted as they moved into position.

The group of adventurers slowly made their way through the first section moving at snail space, inspecting, and noting down bits of information as they passed. Frost had advised his weaker monsters to mainly steer clear of this group so as to avoid being instantly killed but it'd be weird if they didn't come across as single one.

After travelling for an hour or so the group had barely made any progress, the blizzard was affecting their sense of direction and the deep snow made it difficult to travel quickly but as of, yet they hadn't come across as single monster which was rather strange. 

They'd entered a monster lair, a monster's home, their guarded territory. Normally monsters are incredibly aggressive and any sign of intruders within their den is met with fierce resistance but after an hour they haven't even seen a shadow move let alone a monster.

Thorin and Jack found this very strange, Thorin due to his knowledge of monster lairs and Jack due to his job as a scout. Jack hadn't found much traces of monsters as they moved but that was mainly due to the falling snow, any footprints left would quickly be covered up.

"Hmm," suddenly as they were travelling something caught Jack's attention causing him to move further from the group. John and the other's didn't think much of it since he was a scout and just allowed him the rush ahead.

Jack moved ahead and found multiple bushes covered in small red berries, he reached down to take one for closer inspection.

He held the berry in between his fingers lightly rolling it around before squeezing it and sniffing.

"Acai berries," he instantly recognised the berry. Acai berries were fairly common berries that grew in cold climates, they had a sweet and spicy taste that helped keep away the cold. They're also commonly used as a secondary ingredient for cold resistance potions and make an excellent snack for long cold journeys.

Just as he was about to shout over to his teammates about his find he felt a sense of danger causing goosebumps to form on his skin.

Suddenly without warning a frost goblin jumped out of the snow, it was lying prone near the acai berries in ambush. It had its rusty dagger drawn and aimed for Jack hoping to stab him. Even though the goblin had the advantage of surprise it was still only a G-rank monster, meaning its power and speed weren't much. Jack's reflexes were quite good since he was a scout and allowed him to dodge most of the goblin's thrust.

"Ahh!" But he was only able to avoid a serious blow, the dagger still ripped into his right side giving him a nasty gash that bled quite profusely. Unfortunately, the leather armour didn't protect that area talk about unlucky.

"Shit!" He shouted in pain and quickly jumped backwards in order avoid the goblin's second strike all while holding pressure on his wound to reduce blood loss.

His loud shout alerted his teammates causing them to quickly rush to his aid without hesitation, but it'd take them several seconds to reach him. Jack was now face to face with the frost goblin that stabbed him. Its dagger was covered in his blood, and it had an evil smile as it relished in its success.

"Mother fucker!" Jack lost his cool when he saw the goblin lick his blood from his dagger and laugh his way. He quickly drew his own iron daggers and launched one right at the goblin's head while holding the other in a defensive position.

The goblin wasn't expecting a dagger to be thrown at him and was caught off guard. Given its speed and strength there was no way it could avoid this.

"Ptshh," the dagger thrust directly into the goblin's forehead killing it instantly and releasing a fountain of red blood that stained the ground.

As the goblin's body bled out and fell backwards a loud group of grunts echoed around Jack.

"Crap!" Another three goblins suddenly jumped out of the snow and launched themselves at Jack, daggers drawn and screaming.