Conquering His Cold Heart

Now that his business with Borris was over Frost hailed a carriage to take him and Maya to the Furano manor. The transport would grant them some privacy as well as shorten their travel time. And as far as Maya was concerned the sooner, they left the Furano territory the better.

"Take us to the Furano manor please and step on it." Frost requested before helping Maya into the carriage.

"Yes sir." The driver responded with an enthusiastic tone as Frost passed him an extra couple silver.

Once the carriage door was firmly shut and the wheels started turning Frost finally let out a strongly repressed breath. His shoulders slumped down and his legs lost their strength. The tension had finally run its course leaving his body to suffer from the side effects of excess adrenaline.

Maya silently moved to his side, she took his head and rested it gently upon her lap before stroking his hair in a soothing manner. She did her best to bring some form of comfort to her young master but the trembling of her hands and fingers revealed her own anxiety. This situation was too close for comfort.

Though Frost could gleam the movements of someone at A-rank that was completely different from being able to survive against them in battle. If the assassin had aimed for his neck or moved just a little bit quicker after failing to kill him in a single blow Maya would have never got the chance to intervene. She would have lost him forever.

Tears gradually dripped down her cheeks before splashing against Frost's head. A sombre yet intimate atmosphere arose between the two of them as they travelled in the confines of the carriage. The ongoings beyond the wood walls meant nothing to them as if they were in a separate dimension entirely.

After calming down his own fear, Frost gradually turned his head around to face Maya. What he was greeted with was a tear stricken expression that caused his heart to lurch and feel a sharp pain. He really struggled at seeing this side of her. His loyal and overwhelmingly powerful guardian was still a young woman with boundless emotion.

Frost reached out his hand to wipe away some of her tears before holding her cheek gently. He stared deep into her mesmerising albeit slightly swollen eyes with intense emotion, viewing her completely as the young woman she was and not the indomitable S-rank fenrir.

"I'm ok Maya." He said gently while sitting up straight thus bringing him to her eye level. His words shattered the dam that was holding back her emotions. The young women practically wailed at that moment, her tears gushing out at the triple the speed and triple the volume as her arms latched onto Frost like a vice, locking him in place against her own body, refusing to let him go.

Normally such an action would result in a heavenly feeling for Frost given the softness and ample curviness of her body however thanks her rather distraught state this meant that she didn't put much thought into her strength. Frost was thus practically squished against her to the point that all he felt was pain.

His bones even threatened to crack from the sheer pressure but not for even a second did he yelp in pain nor ask her to stop instead he simply endured her bear hug, allowing her to release her pent up anxiety.

This state continued for most of the entire carriage ride, but Frost didn't complain. Instead of bemoaning the pain he did his best to pull Maya's head close to his chest and gently stroke the back of her head until she finally loosened her iron grip.

After regaining some semblance of composure Maya wiped her eyes and saw fit to straighten out Frost's wrinkled robes, all while struggling to look him in the eyes.

Frost found her actions to be absolutely adorable so he leaned over and planted an affectionate kiss on her lips that warmed both their hearts. After which Maya remained on the same side of the carriage as Frost and placed her head on his shoulders while her arms -lightly this time- wrapped around his waist, something that she refused to relent on.

"Once we pick up Kiba we'll leave Furano post-haste."

"Good, the sooner we get you back to the dungeon the sooner I can relax. There's too many dangers to you here." Maya said with relief, more than keen to leave this dangerous place. When they visited several weeks ago she didn't feel this way but that was then and this was now. Not only were there multiple B-ranks here there were 3 A-rank fighters, one of which wasn't exactly friendly.

"I agree. I'm far to exposed here. Just a single attack from that assassin almost sent me to the afterlife….I'm far too weak in the eyes of the truly powerful. My eyes have been opened.

I've had it too easy so far, not realising the true danger this world holds for someone like me." Frost could only imagine the things he'd have to defend against if his true identity was ever leaked or better yet the machinations of the Light God who frowned on his existence to point that he and his father nearly came to blows. The danger would only become greater as time moved on, not weaker.

With clenched fists Frost stared into the horizon, making a solemn pledge to grow his strength by any means necessary. The power he could hold as an individual was limited by his age. No matter how talented he was it would take a lot of time to reach the upper realms of B-rank let alone the same level as that assassin.

"I need to increase my forces." The best solution was to develop an army, his own protective forces who could fight in his place. A means that he'd already embarked upon and suited his origin as a dungeon core perfectly. He and his siblings were truly far more deadly when in the confines of their own dungeons.

Frost planned to build up his territory and in particular his armed forces so as to solve his current weakness.

Maya looked up and nodded her head in approval, very much agreeing with his plans.

The carriage quickly made its way to the Furano manor making record time thanks to the driver's enthusiastic driving. Thankfully the carriage quality was good enough that despite the rapid pace and frequent stopping and starting the occupants were unaffected. Frost and Maya alighted the carriage with frosty expressions, similar to the ones they donned back in the money pit.

It was as the previous crying episode never happened.

The two gate guards saluted Frost and joyfully welcomed him back, clearly still in the dark about what happened earlier. Frost nodded towards them in greeting and was just about to inform them about his departure when the ground started to tremble from heavy footsteps.

Frost turned towards the sound, his face warping slightly as he saw the cause before quickly being tackled to the ground. A giant tiger weighing more than a ton leaped up into his chest knocking him to the ground without an ounce of gentleness. Frost's back slammed hard against the stone floor.

"KIBA!!" Frost yelled as his back screamed in pain from the blow. His yelling however fell on deaf ears as the massive tiger cub looked down at Frost with reddened eyes and started licking his face in an affectionate manner. Kiba's emotions flowed through the soul bond filling Frost with thoughts of worry, sadness, regret as well as relief.

Kiba hated the fact that he wasn't by Frost's side in his time of need and hated himself for being so weak.

The moment Frost was attacked by the assassin and placed in serious danger Kiba was notified through their soul bond. The young tiger immediately sprang to his feet in an alerted state before rushing towards his master. However the moment he started to move Frost sent an order through the bond ordering him to stay put and wait.

Kiba was too weak to lend any help and him rushing out of the Furano's grounds would only place him in danger as well. Frost had no way of knowing whether or not Kiba was also a target given that he was his battle mount. As long as he stayed at the Furano manor however he'd be safe.

It was one thing to ambush someone within Furano but to act within the confines of a noble's manor was a completely different matter. It would be an affront to the nobility, something that was treated very seriously within Northrend.

Thus Kiba was left here to wallow in worry and panic while his master fought a battle of life and death. Though the bond remained and Frost's life no longer seemed to be threatened according to the information relayed through their soul bond that was nowhere near as comforting as seeing him in person.

Therefore the moment Kiba sensed Frost enter the manor's vicinity he rushed at full speed to meet him.

Frost fidgeted and squirmed under Kiba's incessant licking and rubbing, the emotions of the heavy tiger prevented him from shaking him off, Maya however wasn't quite so affected.

"Meow!" Kiba meowed like a cat as Maya effortlessly lifted him off Frost by the nape of his neck. She dropped him a little bit to the side with a slightly threatening glare causing the big tiger to cower and mumble in complaint.

"Thanks Maya." Frost scrambled to his feet and dusted off his robes before once again donning a neutral/cold expression.

"Please inform Lord Douglas and Lady Cassandra that I'll be leaving now."