Conquering His Cold Heart

"Urgh." Frost audibly groaned as the pressure assaulting his body vanished.

His dense chakra ice armour flaked off in pieces and his legs turned to jelly. He then kneeled and panted as though he had been deprived of oxygen for a long time.

Withstanding the entirety of Duke Runak's aura/pseudo domain was an exhausting task given his early stage B-rank strength.

It took a good twenty seconds or so for him to collect himself and then reply to the eagerly awaiting Duke.

"Your aura is dense and heavy, far more than a typical A-rank. You also seem to have a solid image in your heart but…." Frost frowned before continuing, unsure of how to explain it.

Though Maya gave a rather thorough explanation and even patiently displayed her own domain he was too far away in terms of strength to truly understand the process.

"There's something missing and until you discover what that is you'll be forever barred from the S-rank. Your aura and heart's image strongly reject one another, all your doing is trying to force to incompatible entities into one. A domain is the complete fusion of the two, one that is seamless and natural, not forged through brute strength." Frost's words were unhurried and filled with thought.

Duke Runak frowned as he listened to Frost's opinion, his words coincided with a lingering premonition he had. All this time he'd been trying to improve the quality of his aura or deepen the image held in his heart never delving into why they resisted each other in the first place.

Perhaps at one time he believed that the image in his heart was an incorrect manifestation but after searching inside himself for a long period of time he scrapped that view, that was not the problem. Thus perhaps it was a question of strength, his aura wasn't strong enough or his foundational manifestation wasn't solid enough.

Now however after listening to Frost he was once again questioning his views. Did he truly understand what it meant to become an S-rank? was it not simply a new level of power?

"Frost from what you've learned what is S-rank?" Apart from his brief interaction with the old ice dragon Duke Runak had only read and heard tales of the legendary rank. Unlike the A-rank knowledge regarding the S-rank was covered in mystery.

Frost's brow tensed and his right hand cupped his chin as he thought back on both what Maya told him as well as his own personal views.

"B-rank is the discovery of aura while A-rank is the physical manifestation of it." B and A-rank could be simply attributed to these two levels.

"S-rank however is not just a step into a higher level of strength but a true baptism of quality, a transcendence. All those below are no different than ants because, S-rank is the first step into Godhood.

Their domains rewrite the laws of the world, within their sphere of influence the S-rank practitioner is a God, what they wish for becomes real, creation and destruction with just a single thought. It's more than just an illusion formed by aura." Though miles apart from a true God, S-rank truly was the first step into this hallowed realm at least in Frost's view.

"…T…That's…." Duke Runak was completely blown away by Frost's hypothesis.

'Is this the difference in our basic knowledge?'

The Northrend empire is a powerful nation that rules vast swaths of the Yangmir continent yet despite this their knowledge of the S-rank pales in comparison to the unknown Frost. Even the books and memoirs left behind by the Empire's S-rank ancestors failed to grasp the true meaning of the legendary realm.

"First step into Godhood….Domain, law, rewriting the world….Transcendence…" Duke Runak muttered to himself as ideas started to form in his mind. Frost's view had enlightened him, allowing him to see a light at the end of the tunnel. A light that shattered his foundations, proving that his previous approach was flawed.

Despite the majority of his efforts over the past few years becoming a waste of time the War God of the Glacial mountains was grinning from ear to ear. The mysterious wall that barred his progress no longer seemed so impassable. Of course it'd still take him some time to actually breach it, but he was now confident in doing so.

With a serene, enlightened look in his eyes and a maddened smile on his lips Duke Runak looked at Frost and thanked him from the depths of his heart.

"Heheheh no need to be so serious Lord Duke I just repeated the words spoken to me by my Guardian and gave my own perspective on the matter. I'm sure you would have managed to reach a similar conclusion on your own eventually." Knowledge truly is power.

"No there is young Frost, the knowledge that you so easily imparted to me is beyond the development of the entire Northrend empire. You effectively granted me the knowledge to produce steel whereas before only iron or perhaps even bronze was the limit."

"…..Surely you're exaggerating." All he did was say a few sentences.

"Trust me Frost, I'm not." His revelations was so earth shattering that it could bring an upheaval to the civilised world. He cleared the fog surrounding the legendary S-rank, now even if people failed to ascend they'd be able to understand why instead of simple chocking it up to innate potential or worldly fate.

Frost was a little unnerved by the Duke's enthusiasm and seriousness. He made it seem as though he flipped the world upside down, that his words were completely paradigm shifting.

"Haaaaa relax Frost this is just the difference between our foundational knowledge. What you may perceive as common sense and simple could actually be world shattering for others." He didn't want to make his new friend feel awkward.

There was a strange atmosphere between them for a while but eventually the mood returned to normal.

An hour later Frost left the training hall leaving Duke Runak -who had given him permission to now call him Oscar- alone to ruminate on his new findings. He needed to understand the thing that would allow oil and water to mix, to let his aura and heart's image become one.

Frost was escorted by a palace attendant to his arranged room wherein he napped until morning.

His plan was to stay in Icethorne for one day, get the lay of the land, understand the inner regions better and perhaps observe and even take part in the northern wall's defence before leaving for the entrance to the dimension of Niflheim, the realm of the primordial ice King Shivali.

The Duke/Oscar was more than happy to have Frost aid in their territory's defence. Before Frost's head hit his pillow he'd already arranged for General Jared Bando to show him around and display the prominence of their mighty War Ursa Battalion.

Avira despite wanting to join him on his tour, loving the idea of possible walking hand in hand through the street was far too busy. She needed to understand the full extent of Icethorne's finances, relationship with the nations of the external regions as well as plan her own journey. She could no longer act like a wilful adventurer; she had a duty to uphold.

Borris wasted no time at all enlisting under the War Ursa Battalion's and the Duchy armament corps. There he got to meet with the three 4 star blacksmiths who had been at their current rank for many years.

As the newcomer Borris was welcomed with a mountain of tedious work. He had to earn the respect of his (slightly embarrassingly younger) 4 star colleagues. He wasn't put off by this however, he'd been the boss of his own workshop for so long that he kind of missed being the target of such hazing.

Even when he was put in charge of recycling the far gone officer weapons Borris still sported a smile and moved with vigour. Finally he was here at Icethorne where battles happen every other day. His work would be put through the ringer and then some.

Frost was actually the last of the trio to get up and move about. He enjoyed a hearty sausage and eggs breakfast before heading to the northern wall alongside Kiba. He'd first experience the grandeur of a true war, one between unimaginable numbers and with insane levels of firepower.

"Welcome to hell Frost…or heaven depending on your personality hehehehe." Frost was animatedly welcomed by an excited Jared who already sported blood on his blue axes.

Frost couldn't help but smile from ear to ear in response to such a bold welcome.

"Heaven naturally hehehe." As a battle maniac and as someone who ruled a vibrant territory filled with monsters he of course loved the scent of war and battle.

"We'll see how long you can keep that expression kid." General Jessica chimed in from behind, her massive stature dwarfing both Frost and Jared.

"Come and take a look at the Duchy's pride!" She roared before grasping hold of Frost's robes and carrying him to the top of the northern wall to take in all its grandeur as well as the endless army that lay before it.

"ARRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!"

"WWWWAAAARRRRRRR!!!!"

Frost didn't even get the chance to complain about his treatment before his ears were assaulted by maddened roars and yells from the endless regiments of monsters charging towards the wall with bloodthirsty expressions.

A view that could only be described as true carnage.