Dungeon of Niflheim

Frost and Khione were laughing after both their stomachs growled, demanding sustenance.

"There's a lot of food stalls and quick bite restaurants a couple floors down, we can head there next but first there's something we still need to do." Said Khione as she wiped a tear from the edge of her eye.

"What's that?" Asked Frost.

"Your heart shield needs adjusting right. I noticed you fiddling with the position a couple times during your battles…plus we should probably have them give it a quick once over, it did endure a fairly substantial punch after all." She felt a little guilty about possibly damaging something she had just bought the act of hitting Frost however didn't phase her, he deserved it.

"Yeah it's a bit tight in the shoulder and the placement could be a little better for the shield itself." Frost agreed, it'd do in a pinch but for long term use not so much.

"Figured that's why we tested it here in the training room." As she spoke Khione withdrew a small crystal like object from her storage ring. This device contained all the information and data collected from their experience in the training room. The smiths and artificers would use this data to better meet the needs of their customers, providing them with the perfect products. Just like how a golem could represent a young Khione there was enough data to create a simple version of Frost. A marvellous technology that made the Crystal Boundary famous far and wide.

As if waiting for their cue a couple of 3 star blacksmiths from a race Frost had never seen before approached the two of them.

"Princess Khione did the heart shield meet your expectations." The left smith, a woman with eight arms and 3 pairs of eyes asked.

"He says it's a bit tight around the shoulders and the positioning of shield needs to be adjusted, here's the data from his battle." The smith on the right a man that stood close to 2 metres tall and with a head that took up almost half of that retrieved the important data crystal.

"Understood we'll do our best to accommodate you." The female smith bowed politely before asking for Frost to remove the heart shield for a brief inspection.

"We need to have it back by tomorrow night, I'll pay any rush fees if necessary." Though she didn't know exactly when Frost was set to leave she assumed they'd have at least another 24 hours together, he would have said something otherwise.

"That's not necessary Princess we can accommodate a 24 hour window for this item. The damage isn't all that bad and a simple refit doesn't take all that long." The female smith who was slightly higher ranked than her male colleague confidently assured Khione that tomorrow night wouldn't be a problem.

"That's great however I have another request?" Khione secretly glanced at Frost, nervously hinting to the two smiths that she wanted to discuss this in private to which they responded well.

"Sir would you please give me a more in depth report about your difficulties with the equipment as the data can sometimes only offer a linear picture." Of course this wasn't actually true, the data retrieved by the crystal obelisk was far more accurate than opinion of a mere individual at the B-rank, but it allowed the male smith to separate Frost from Khione, allowing the two women to chat in private.

Perhaps she was planning on arranging a gift for him that she wanted to remain as a surprise or perhaps it was for herself, an item that was of an intimate nature and therefore she didn't want to be overheard by a man. Regardless he was just a staff member, and they were their prized customers, it was their duty to see to their needs.

Once Frost was out of earshot and just to be safe Khione erected a soundproof barrier before relaying her request to the young female smith with multiple arms.

"I want to order a custom under armour for him, fit to his current physique but with room to grow, minimum of 5 star quality and it needs to be done by tomorrow night as well." She desperately wanted to keep this a secret from Frost given his nature. A 4 star heart shield was fine, but a 5 star custom designed under armour was far too much, way beyond his current strength, he would never accept such a high quality gift if offered. A trait she admired but in this case had come to loathe.

Frost was weak and he was leaving the safety of her home without her, since she couldn't be there to protect him then he needed to be kitted out in an armour that would.

And though he'd want to refuse her request she knew that if she pushed and already had it made to his customised specifications then he'd be hard pressed to argue.

It was strange, her having such a strong desire to protect someone, especially a man that was weaker than her but in her heart she knew that if anything happened to him a part of her would break. So screw his pride and the commonly accepted rules of gift giving, she would ensure his protection.

This request of hers however caused the female smith to frown. A refit and tertiary repair was certainly doable within a day or so but forging a brand new under armour at 5 stars no less in that time was a tall order. Something only one of their 6 star smiths could accomplish.

"Princess I can't give you a guarantee on your second request, the time constraint is too tight and I'm not sure we'll have anyone available for such a sudden job." The heart shield could be handled by one of their many 4 star smiths and even attended to by the 3 star apprentices, but a 5 star customised under armour wasn't the same; to forge one with such short notice only the best of the best could be involved.

The Forge of Artemis had three 6 star smiths and two 6 star artificers on staff and each of them already had pretty hefty schedules, rarely did they get even a single day without stacks of new requests threatening to overwhelms their desks.

She'd have to discuss this with the forge's upper staff and perhaps even contact the representatives of the Cystal Boundary given the background of the client. It was way beyond her paygrade.

"I understand your reluctance, but it needs to happen otherwise I'll have to bring my business to another workshop." Khione wouldn't budge on this, Frost needed to be donning that armour when he left the realm one way or another. The price didn't matter but it needed to be done. If the Forge of Artemis couldn't do it she'd be disappointed as she trusted their merchandise but that wouldn't stop her from bringing her business elsewhere, perhaps somewhere like their rival, the Moonlight sanctuary that catered to a similar demographic and held a similar station in the Crystal Boundary's alliance.

The female smith could recognise the threat and taunt and normally given her workplace's standing she could either brush it off or outright reject the customer, not having to sink to their level but both Khione herself and what she was asking for wasn't something she could easily ignore. The task was still above her authority to handle but she could no longer shrug Khione off or politely reject her. All she could do was promise to inform her superiors ASAP otherwise they may very well lose good business and an even better client to a rival workshop.

Khione nodded her head and intimidatingly patted the female smith's shoulder, accepting her response with an eery smile before walk over to where Frost was.

Before she left the confines of the soundproof barrier however she said one last thing. "If there's no one available have Karolina do it, she's usually slacking off anyway." The female smith with multiple arms shivered when she heard those words.

'How did she know we recruited Karolina.' The hiring of Karolina was a highly protected secret within the Forge of Artemis, for months they had been secretly soliciting her, practically bending over backwards to have her join their workshop.

Karolina was young, filled with unmatched talent, a person that was hallmarked to ascend to 7 stars one day perhaps even higher. By having her join the Forge of Artemis they hoped to raise their position in the alliance and escape the trenches. To have a say, a meaningful say in the future of the Crystal Boundary.

Such a move had to be kept under wraps lest they invite a fierce and vindictive competition for her loyalty, Khione really shouldn't be aware of this. Even she only knew because she was considered the best and the most talented among the young smiths in the Forge, her father was also one of the two 6 star artificers while her uncle was a 5 star smith. She was destined to have a bright future in the workshop and thus was privy to some of the more sensitive information despite her current apprentice station.

Along with the earlier threat and now a blatant reveal of their workshop's sensitive information the young woman felt her blood run cold and all colour drained from her face. Without wasting even a single second she ignored her colleague and ran towards her father for help.

"What was that about?" Frost asked, seeing the female smith suddenly bolting as if she'd come across a deadly predator.

"Don't worry about it she's just excited about a business proposition." Khione waved her hand, rebuffing Frost's curiosity as she led at the forefront her mind already switching to the idea of filling her belly with tasty treats. Today was cheat day and she was determined to cheat more than she'd ever cheated before.