Dungeon of Niflheim-Chapter 896: Kiba’s successful training

"Yawwwn an early night actually sounds pretty good." Shortly after Khione departed Frost let loose a mighty yawn, the lack of sleep from the previous night and the harsh training he endured today finally catching up with him. A lack of tension, the end of a long bout of excitement and a fully belly hitting him all at once.

It struck like a bolt of lightning, one moment he was engaging in a delicate bout of words with his new lover and the next he was feeling dizzy, his vision blurring as his body suddenly felt heavier.

"Can someone give me hand." His body set to drop, keen to make the floor of the dining room his bed for the night Frost quickly called out for aid.

"You called Prince Frost." In an instant a male servant standing close to 4 metres with a rather frightening face and three sets of arms greeted him with his back slightly bowed.

"Yes, do you mind helping me to my room, I lack the energy to do it myself." He stretched out his right hand in search of support caring not a single iota about how it looked or sounded. A prideful, stubborn and a foolish man would have forced himself to walk, refusing even the slightest amount of aid...Frost was above such restrictions.

"Of course sir, it would be my honour." People often grimaced at the sight of him, unnerved by his fierce appearance but Frost looked straight at him and smiled, completely unbothered. A rare kindness.

The servant thus helped Frost to his room, half carrying him by the shoulder as they walked through the halls, halls that were surprisingly quiet considering the time, but he was too exhausted to care.

"Thanks."

"No problem sir, good night." The large servant closed the door and returned to his regular duties allowing Frost to enjoy his privacy and freely devolve into the realm of dreams.

"Shower then sleep." Frost looked around the bedroom, the duvet was still disturbed from when he was forced out of his slumber this morning and Kiba was absent from his quarters. The night was young but still night, nonetheless. A shower would serve to clear his mind and erase any lingering grime from today’s activities.

He took his time, relaxed, relished in the heat from the water and when he was finished, his hair still damp there was a knock on the door before a man and a woman dressed in light armour likely fashioned from some kind of monster leather walked in with Kiba trudging behind them, battered, broken and even more exhausted than Frost.

"Oh Prince Frost greetings."

"Greetings sir." The two soldiers bowed and gave salute the instant they saw him.

"At ease, did he behave? He asked them feeling a momentary wave of guilt upon seeing Kiba’s external appearance.

’Oof they really didn’t go easy on him.’ He could see remnants of some pretty significant wounds still marring his fur, his legs trembling, near buckling with every step he took.

Frost’s words were the sole reason for Kiba’s current state, he had grown tired of spoiling him and thus transferred him into the capable hands of the palace’s monster regiment. Under their guidance he was forced to endure gruelling training, far more demanding than anything he could possibly imagine.

But despite his current appearance and the fact that he was brought back in a comatose state the previous night there was a clear silver lining. Looking past the wear and tear Kiba’s presence had grown, the development of his aura nearing completion, the muscles beneath his fur more defined and if you compared him to what he looked like just a few days ago he was bigger, not by much but noticeable through Frost’s eyes given how close their relationship was.

His guilt therefore quickly passed, soon replaced by self-praise, approval for his decision to be hard on him rather than soft.

"Yes sir he was very well behaved. His reluctance when we first began fizzled away when he realised there was no escape." The male soldier spoke first, his smile belaying a tasteful sadistic quality. He enjoyed putting his charges through the ringer, a demonic instructor through and through.

"So negative don’t listen to him Sir, Kiba stopped resisting when he realised how strong he could become. His enthusiasm went through the roof when he felt his aura starting to coalesce." The female soldier appeared to be playing the role of good cop or in this case the kind, encouraging trainer. The man would challenge, rile them up while she would offer support and praise.

"I’m glad he left a good impression." To show his own encouragement Frost walked over and petted Kiba’s head, a tender action that had the young tiger cub purring. It felt like years since he was last offered some care and affection.

"His talent is rare; I don’t think I’ve seen a winged glacial tiger with this level of potential in what..."

"..Probably several decades maybe even a century." The female soldier finished her colleague’s thought, smiling and showing a fiery passion in the depths of her eyes as she looked at Kiba.

He may be weak at the moment, but she was certain that if given enough time she could bring out his maximum potential. Early A-rank was a sure thing, mid possible, late still in the cards and if she was really lucky and Kiba worked his ass off peak A-rank, a level of strength that demanded respect.

S-rank was too hard for most to reach even those with an abundance of talent so peak A-rank was considered the most realistic goal.

She and her colleague were both early A-ranks, mid-level officers and it was unlikely for either of them to surpass the middles stages, they lacked the necessary potential. What they did have however was a talent in raising monsters, if they couldn’t achieve that level by themselves then one of their charges could do it for them thus creating a symbiotic relationship that would see them rise in status.

Kiba belonged to Frost so he couldn’t fulfil that role but training him was a good experience, something that would be beneficial for their future.

"Is that right." Frost was pleasantly surprised by the soldiers’ description of his battle mount’s capability. He knew Kiba had some unrealised potential, but he didn’t think it was to the degree that soldiers of Niflheim would sing his praises.

’Guess I don’t have to worry about going too hard in his training in the future.’ Kiba didn’t realise but the praises he was receiving from his trainers were practically nails to his coffin, sentencing him to a life of pain and anguish all in the hope that he’d achieve the best result possible. While patting his head in an affectionate manner Frost was already making plans for his future.

"Hearing you say that makes this even harder, if I could it’d like to leave him under your care for another couple weeks or even a month or two but unfortunately Kiba and I have to leave." Just a few days under their regime had Kiba’s talent blossoming, imagine what a week or a month could achieve.

"When?" The female solider asked reluctantly, specks of despair appearing in her expression.

"Tomorrow afternoon." Saying it out loud made it feel even sooner, He desperately wished for more time, but the world keeps turning.

"Oh...if I knew today was going to be his last under my care I would have pushed him further." The male solider with an obvious flair for sadism commented, feeling as though he failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity.

Of course the victim of said training had his ears twitching in disbelief. Kiba turned to stare at the male soldier, astonished by the words escaping his lips.

’You damn demon, that wasn’t enough for you!’ If he had the courage he would have taken a bite out of his leg or at the very least announced his refusal with a booming roar. Unfortunately he greatly feared the man as he wasn’t just the person in charge of implementing his training, but he was someone even stronger than his master. Frost could already easily tan his hide when he stepped out of line let alone someone that surpassed him in strength. What made the whole thing worse was that it wasn’t just one person even the other trainer, the kinder one far surpassed Frost in strength, resistance was utterly futile.

"Apologies but I just found out myself." Frost shrugged his shoulders, powerless to change the circumstances.

"It’s fine, he may have not been under our care for long, but he will be hard to forget...." The male soldier spoke from his heart, his passion to see Kiba grow likely even greater than that of his bubbly colleague.

The two shared a knowing look before he continued "...Polina and I will arrange for an appropriate gift to commemorate our time together." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Hehehe Kiba you should look forward to it; Maxim rarely gives out gifts." Polina the female soldier chimed in, scratching the back of Kiba’s ears as he stared in befuddlement at Maxim, the man who was as emotionless as a statue.

"I’m sure he’ll be very grateful to the two of you and thank you again for taking such good care of my partner." Frost bowed his head in thanks, a gesture that unnerved the two soldiers. Hierarchy within Niflheim was quite strict despite Shivali’s usual aloofness. Awkwardly however Frost was stubborn when it came to propriety, refusing to lift his head until Polina and Maxim accepted his gesture.

"We’ll visit before you leave tomorrow Prince Frost, good night." With a gift to arrange the two soldiers slipped from Frost’s chambers and returned to the monster stables.

The young Dungeon core waved them off before looking back at Kiba. "Sleep well tonight because tomorrow we’re back on the road and given our luck it’ll be anything but smooth sailing." First there was the frost giants, then there was the siege on Icethorne and finally the most dangerous situation they had encountered that artic Zu that came very, very close to ending both their lives all with barely any effort on its part.

"Garow." Kiba responded positively only hearing the order to sleep and wantonly ignoring the rest. Worrying about something that he couldn’t control was pointless after all.