"....." Douglas said nothing in response to Frost’s conditions, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing as words failed to escape his throat. His brow tensed and frowned, clearly finding it difficult to accept the terms.

There was nothing particularly bad about his proposed conditions in fact they were fairly standard and logical from someone in Frost’s position but the definitive wording of them chilled Douglas’s heart. During the stampede Frost rushed to their aid without even having to be asked but this time his efforts would be primarily supportive and clandestine in nature. He was firmly refusing to take up a frontline position in this war because as he put it this was Northrend’s problem and he and his territory were merely indirectly caught up due to their location and soured relations with Randolph and Sedrick.

Frost would not allow his territory to be sacrificed because of some kind of bigger picture; he wasn’t a citizen of Northrend and thus owed them nothing.

"Haaaaaa fine I agree to your terms, you’ll remain as a completely independent entity and will be excused from any battlelines beyond your own lands unless you yourself decide otherwise." Not exactly a military alliance by the standard definition but an alliance, nonetheless. Furano and the similarly minded nobles wouldn’t have to worry about their rear, their supply lines, their access to the Glacial mountains nor large swaths of their displaced population thus allowing them to give their all in their fight against Randolph and possibly Sedrick.

"Pleasure doing business with you Lord Viscount." A smile adorned Frost’s lips as he spoke. Douglas had agreed to all his conditions making him a very, very happy Dungeon core.

"I’ll contact you again soon." He needed to discuss with Ryuu at length before arranging supply caravans and reinforcement personnel for Icethorne.

"I have no plans to leave my territory anytime soon, so I’ll await your call." The call ended with that, Douglas in too much of a rush to even say a proper farewell.

"Things are really starting to heat up." Frost said to himself while leaning heavily against the large family sized sofa. He both dreaded and looked forward to Northrend’s next move, a war was dangerous but at the same time profitable for an individual like himself.

The thought of engaging in glorious battle stirred his heart, making Frost feel restless inside.

"I should train." Since sex was off the table he decided to burn off his accrued steam through another method.

Barely a second after the thought entered his head Frost teleported to the training space and readied his weapon for some shadow fighting but upon his arrival he found it already occupied.

"Loki." The young phoenix kin child was wielding a pair of iron daggers in his hands and attacking a thick round pillar of pykrete. Sweat dripped down his face, and his breathing was laboured clearly he’d been at this for some time.

"Master." He joyfully replied, bounding straight for Frost with a bright smile on his lips.

"You must have been very diligent with your training Loki I can signs of muscle forming in your arms and legs." The malnourished, skin and bones child that he encountered over a year ago was nowhere to be seen. Months of good food, a mana rich environment and dedicated teachings had turned this young boy into the beginnings of a young man.

"Really?" Loki rippled with pride as he examined his body from head to toe.

’They grow up so fast.’ Frost remembered this young boy barely reached his hips but now he was closing in on his navel, perhaps in the future he’d be even taller than he was.

"Keep this up and you’ll soon give Khuno a run for his money."

"Master~" Ok now that was definitely an exaggeration.

Frost ruffled his head with affection causing the boy to giggle in glee.

"Want me to help you with your training?" He offered, feeling the sudden urge to gauge how far Loki had come.

"Yes, yes." Loki’s response was immediate, his eyes glowing with a fanatic fervour, Frost’s place in his heart was well and truly above and beyond.

The two moved to the centre of the training room where Frost pulled out the training spear Khione had gifted him and took a welcoming stance.

"Show me the fruits of your labours Loki, hold nothing back." The air around him shifted, becoming spartan not so dissimilar to Maya whenever she trained him.

"Yes, Master I’ll go all out." Loki firmly replied before taking a long, deep breath. Closing his eyes and readying himself for battle he shuffled his stance a little, lowering his centre of gravity and held his daggers perpendicular to his fingers before suddenly charging ahead like a maddened beast.

Clang! Clang! His daggers struck against Frost’s spear, perfectly absorbed but his assault had only just begun. Like an agile monkey Loki kicked the spear shaft and twisted his body before attempting a second round of slicing.

Frost moved with minimal effort, easily rebuffing his ever advance but to keep his spirits up in this hopeless battle he ensured that Loki’s daggers always made a very clear ringing sound whenever they made contact, a solid hit that would invigorate the individual and encourage more aggression.

"Impressive, let’s see how you manage to react to being attacked." After letting Loki wail on him for a few minutes without counterattacking Frost stepped up his game. Using a speed Loki was more than capable of following he launched decisive thrusts whenever he revealed an opening.

"You’re slower to react to attacks from the left side, as a dual wielder you should aim for perfect balance."

"Yes Master!"

"Lower your posture a little more."

"Yes Master!

"As a dagger user you need to get in close to deal damage, so you need to be brave and wade through my assault in order to reach me."

"Y...yes m...master" The young boy was getting tired now, his arms and legs exhausted and covered in no small amount of bruises, strikes from the shaft of Frost’s spear.

The sparring session lasted the better part of an hour and by the end Loki was flat out on the floor huffing and puffing with Frost standing over him nodding and grinning.

"Well done Loki you’ve definitely achieved beginner dagger mastery, quite the achievement given your young age."

"T...Thank....Y...you." Loki replied through strained breaths. He was utterly exhausted by their spar but his heart was full, every second of their engagement was pure enjoyment.

"With your current strength maybe I should enlist some of the frost goblins to be your opponents. Fighting against someone with power roughly equal to your own might be more beneficial than simply being educated by Maya or myself." Frost always found the fights he had beyond sparring with Maya and her sessions of beating far more enlightening.

"I’ll discuss it with her later but for now just rest there, you’ve earned it."

"Y...yes master." Loki’s head slumped down and his eyes closed, he passed out.

Not wishing to interfere with his rest Frost gently picked him up and placed him off to side before starting his own training.

With spear in hand rather than his glaive he conjured the image of his most recent powerful foe, Valend and began fighting him in earnest.

In his mind he clashed against him fiercely, attempting to endure his brutal might rather than escape it, a choice that quickly resulted in him being sent flying and the image of himself shattering into pieces. Cold sweat dripped down his neck, an eery closeness with death gripping his heart.

"That battle could have gone very differently if had been just a little slower or if I let my arrogance cloud my judgement like he did." Although he won their duel only by reflecting on it like this was he able to realise just how dangerous and reckless he had been. A lacking movement here or there and the mighty frost giant would have caught him, his massive hammer crushing his far weaker body, even with the 5 star under armour protecting his chest he’d still be rattled, his body sluggish and wounded thus allowing for a follow up attack.

His offensive power had always been high as was his speed but defence, it was fine with weaker and smaller opponents but with foes like Valend his only choice was to dodge. An annoying fact that irked his pride but a fact, nonetheless. Frost wasn’t designed for slow, cumbersome yet devastating blows but rather quick, accurate and sharp ones. Every style had an antithesis and or opponents that seemed to mitigate its advantages this was true for everyone not just him.

"Faster, sharper, deadlier." Frost whispered these three words beneath his breath before once again entering the mind realm. He would fight against Valend over and over until he could win flawlessly, no injuries, no overextension of his stamina and limbs and of course without the benefit of Valend underestimating him.

He carried out this battle repeatedly over the next couple hours, sweat literarily pouring from every inch of his body as he either defeated or was vanquished by his foe. There may not be an actual live enemy in front of him, but the exertion of his body was very, very real as were the benefits.

Loki who had woken up an hour ago watched his master flying through the air, swinging and thrusting his spear at an invisible enemy in awe. Frost’s movements were so vivid that he swore he could actually see flashes of his conjured enemy.

"10 no 12 metres." He muttered as those flashes coalesced into something more concrete. His master was fighting against someone with such large stature, yet he showed no fear, no desire to retreat, no despair against such imposing might rather he showed joy, pure unadulterated joy.

Loki soon felt his heart start to thump away as certain desires began manifesting. He wanted to experience what his Master was experiencing, that thrill, that love of battle.

Before he even knew it his body stood at attention, his hands holding his iron training daggers and his eyes locked hard onto the pykrete pillar he’d been ’sparring’ against before Frost appeared.

He glanced at his Master then back at the pillar. He tried to envision an enemy; someone he could fight instead of a stationary object.

Silently he stood, trying to enter the realm of the mind and summon a shadow opponent but he repeatably failed, seeing nought but the pykrete pillar.

"Haaaaaa." Loki sighed wondering what he was doing wrong, did he lack imagination or was it about strength or experience.