Dungeon of Niflheim

232 Chapter 232: Hidden moves

“Kargul!” The ugly human leader roared out the name of the archer in warning. Frost had left their strike zones leaving him out in the open. Archers and mages were always the first to be targeted in battle due to their weak defences and rather annoying support. The human leader didn’t think this situation would be any different. Fighting three people was very different from fighting four, it would leave a direction free to manoeuvre.

The group didn’t know Frost’s capabilities, but they did know he wielded a glaive and was adept with his chakra. The most the three close combat fighters could do was warn the archer while doing their best to scramble after Frost.

For Frost however having a couple seconds of freedom was more than enough to cause some substantial damage. he smiled evilly as his body flipped in the air, leaving the three close combat fighters off balance. As he started to descend he could see the face of the archer, he was prepared to launch another arrow his way, but Frost was faster. “[Ice bolt]” with deft skill his uttered the command word and created two magic crests before him almost instantly summoning to large bolts of ice, each far thicker than an arrow.

Twang

The archer let loose an arrow the same moment Frost launched his ice bolts, he ground his teeth in frustration before quickly dodging to the side. Kargul wasn’t foolish enough to take on an ice bolt with his armour when he could dodge. The first arrow struck against the first ice bolt shattering both but the second one whizzed towards him, thankfully he rolled away in the nick of time. Frost’s magic was getting faster and faster after each use, surpassing that of regular arrows.

Frost landed on the ground the same moment that Kargul rolled to the side and immediately dashed towards his target, he’d be foolish to pass up such a chance. With his speed he’d reach Kargul in an instant far quicker than the other three assailants could catch up to him. Even the pugilist would struggle, that was the difference in rank.

“Fuck!” A moment later Frost stood before Kargul with his glaive raised, aiming to cleave him in twain. Kargul acted swiftly, dropping his bow, and raising his arms in a cross block. Kargul was an experienced adventurer and knew the weaknesses of his profession well. Adorning his forearms were special gauntlets built to endure blows such as the one coming.

Clang!

The loud sound of metal striking against metal sounded out, below the monster hide covering Kargul’s gauntlets was reinforced steel, no more than half an ingots worth but it was right where Frost’s glaive struck.

.....

Where Frost imagined and the very least cutting deep into Kargul’s arms what he got was maybe a bruise. The reinforced steel successfully stopped Frost’s glaive with very minor damage, perhaps a slight dent but that was all. Kargul however took advantage of the blow to roll backwards and out of harms way. His arms still trembled from the fierce blow and his wrists ached, but he survived, though he was now unarmed. His bow needing to be dropped in order to block in time. But that wasn’t important for now. Without the slightest hesitation he tossed a couple throwing daggers Frost’s way, each aiming for different vitals as he continued to run backwards to the safety of his teammates. If there was one thing he learned from being an adventurer -and occasional bandit- for so long was that one should be adaptable, one trick ponies do not last long, especially among the common ranks.

Ding ding

Frost knocked away the daggers without too much effort, but he had to admit that he was quite impressed with Kargul’s resourcefulness. Not only did he have a good way to defend himself when the battle entered close combat, he still had other ways to attack and positioned himself well. In those two seconds or so he’d already managed to return to his comrades side, ready to start the fight again. The man also withdrew a second bow from his back, its quality wasn’t much different from his first one. They were back at square one but now they knew that Frost not only knew martials arts and chakra manipulation, but he could also use magic.

The three close combat users stood in a line, facing off against Frost while Kargul stood behind with his new bow drawn. He changed his ammunition to something a little more devasting, steel arrows. Frost was no longer an opponent that they could hold back against. The human leader was already regretting picking a fight with Frost but there’s no point in crying over spilled milk, they needed to fight.

“Fuck Fuck Fuck! On your toes everyone this man ain’t easy.” The ugly leader cursed before giving his orders. The rest of his team nodded with serious expressions. They wouldn’t take as many risks now and would no longer expect their formations to be sure fire kills.

Frost looked towards the group of four before him, waiting for his next move and his lips curled upwards as his heart started beating rapidly, the music of battle started to ring in his ears. Surprised that such a group could put up a decent fight, but he wasn’t one too complain.

With a mad look on his face, he twirled his glaive around as though taunting before ending in a comfortable battle stance. His hand outstretched he beckoned his opponents forward. “Let’s see what you’ve got then hahahahahah.” Frost chuckled with glee before dashing forward, starting the next round of battle.

As though affected by Frost’s battle lust the group of four roared in concert before dashing forward, well the front three. Kargul launched arrows two at a time towards the dashing Frost. The steel arrows were heavier and far sharper than the iron ones or pykrete ones and would carry much greater force. Frost didn’t falter, twirling his glaive to swat down these fast approaching arrows but the moment this blade was about to meet the first something unexpected happened, the arrow changed course, avoiding his glaive. Frost was caught unprepared as the arrow altered its course and headed straight towards his chest.

Don!

It struck with a large amount of force, breaking off layers of his ice armour and knocking the wind out of his lungs. Frost’s eyes narrowed and he coughed in pain but kept on charging, the second arrow arrived a split second later and just like the first attempted to avoid his glaive’s blade.

“Oh no you don’t!” With anger Frost forcibly changed the course of his glaive and batted the arrow to the ground, he would not be made a fool of a second time.

“Tsk” Kargul clicked his tongue before loading up another two arrows though this time he didn’t prepare them in a special way. Just those two were enough to make Frost wary and threatened. There was a special skill that could be learned by those with mastery over the bow called [homing arrow] that would follow the target when it moved and or tried to defend itself, behaving much like his little trick with the steel arrows but it wasn’t [homing arrow], a mere imitation. Such a skill needed high mastery of the bow, one that Kargul had not reached yet as well as a great amount of money if one didn’t unlock it through gruelling practise.

Since he didn’t have much money and his mastery wasn’t nearly high enough he used a simple trick that a senior adventurer taught him long ago. Attached to his two steel arrow was a piece of string that he manipulated so as to redirect his arrows to produce a similar effect of [homing arrow], though far more limited. However, with his repeated practise the technique became quite impressive and would usually catch his targets off guard like it did Frost. Shame that only one succeeded and dished out only minor damage but at least now Frost will always be on the lookout, splitting up his focus.

Once the second arrow was knocked away the three close combat fighters arrived while Kargul manoeuvred around the battlefield for a better line of sight, all while keeping ample distance. He had a few more tricks up his sleeve like the imitation of [homing arrow] now he just needed an opportunity.

The other three were also more resourceful than their initial appearance. The pugilist moved to strike fist, punching dead ahead at Frost’s face while the ugly human leader moved in to support him, preparing to block the glaive with his shield or blade. The pugilist’s fist rushed at Frost’s face, but Frost wasn’t that concerned, once again he prepared to move to the side with a smooth movement.

The pugilist was far below his own level when it came to unarmed combat. But the moment he moved to avoid the strike; the gauntlet suddenly changed. A metal spike suddenly protruded from it; Frost’s eyes opened wide in shock before he increased his turning speed, but it wasn’t fast enough. His face was the only place he didn’t cover in ice chakra armour since it affected his vision, a decision that he quickly regretted. The spike carved into his cheek, slicing out a nasty cut before taking off a piece of his ear. The stinging pain filled Frost with anger, his eyes aflame with fury, he clenched his teeth and Smash! He slammed his head down onto the pugilist knocking him backwards. Next he swung his glaive to push back the swordsman and hammer user who at some point silently appeared at his side, aiming for his shoulder.

Frost backed off from his aggressors in retreat, the first time he felt the need to do that.

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