Dungeon of Niflheim

"Hehehehehe try this one on for size!" Karrick loudly cackled, his eyes sparking with fanaticism as his subordinates loaded up the flame cannon with magic crystals. Soon the beast roared to life, the barrel hummed, and the red crystals sparkled like stars in the night sky. The next moment there was an intense flash of light.

The flame cannon recoiled backwards nearly knocking down the burly azer as a thick orange beam fired out from the barrel. The surrounding air warped and the wall supporting the cannon showed signs of sudden melting, the heat radiating from this beam was no joke.

Frost grimaced as the beam appeared but didn\'t hesitate to defend himself. "[Freezing fire ball]" Acting hastily he summoned a ball of ice fire from his right hand and fired it forward to impede the beam\'s path.

A vibrant ball of silver flames imbued with aura smashed into the flame cannon\'s orange beam with devasting force. The air rippled and a sonic boom spread across the battlefield as the two fires clashed against one another, but this lasted but a moment before the orange beam successfully pierced through the silver fire.

The beam was less pristine and had lost a decent amount of heat but even still it wasn\'t an attack that could be taken lightly.

Expecting his [freezing fire ball] to fail -given Karrick\'s grandeur- Frost gripped his glaive [the wolf howling at the moon] and summoned forth his internal energy to activate a skill he\'d recently purchased through the dungeon menu. He was far from being proficient in its use but needed something stronger than [wyvern\'s maw].

His glaive rapidly filled with energy to the point that it started hum or rather cry out. Following the cry the channelled energy escaped the confines of the glaive and gradually formed what appeared to be a flaming blue bird. As the image intensified the entity\'s origin also grew clearer.

"[Flight of the Luan]"As Frost uttered the command words the bird or rather the Luan let out an ear piercing screech as it followed the path of his glaive\'s upswing. A trail of bright blue flames that could make even Frost shiver followed in his glaive\'s wake.

Slash!

With a fierce slash the glaive along with the Luan following closely behind collided with the orange beam. An intense vibration flowed through Frost\'s hands in that moment, almost to point of forcing him to let go. The heat radiating from the orange beam fought against what was effectively the long tail of the Luan, each struggling to dominate the other.

What seemed like an eternal battle between fire and ice ended in but a brief second.

Frost with the aid of his new skill successfully sliced the orange beam in twain, forcing the spilt sides to crash either side of him and melt the ground until they ran out of steam. The blue Luan was victorious this day and let out a sonorous cry as its form dissipated.

Frost felt his strength being sapped as a sudden sense of exhaustion assaulted him, [flight of the Luan] was a very costly skill to use. He wobbled slightly as his balance shook bit quickly regained his stance. That momentary lapse however was enough for Karrick.

Almost the very instant the fierce orange beam met with Frost\'s Luan Karrick leaped from his highly defensible position with his spear in hand. He followed the beam\'s path and silently attacked the moment the confrontation was over. He didn\'t use any skills, but he did surround the spear tip in fire chakra increasing his lethality.

Frost barely got the chance to blink before he saw Karrick flying at him with his spear already thrusting for his chest. The timing was just too perfect, even with his superior skills and weapon mastery there was no way he could avoid this perfectly timed blow. A mad smile decorated his lips as respect for Karrick filled his heart. His younger brother truly was one that didn\'t know how to quit.

Even at this stage he was still thinking of winning this war.

Fwoosh!

Karrick\'s spear that was made from high grade, fire resistant materials stabbed into Frost\'s chest with great deal of force. The fire chakra surrounding the tip clashed against Frost\'s pseudo cold flame chakra armour- since his ice chakra armour kept melting- thus allowing the spear head to easily glide through unimpeded.

Milliseconds later the spear head met with Frost\'s kimono and ripped through it like it was paper. The resistance started after breaching his scholarly attire.

Beneath his robes Frost wore the armour set that was lovingly prepared by his skilled blacksmith girlfriend Daki. The amour set was of high quality, the upper reaches of 3 star given the materials and care Daki put into it but even so Karrick\'s spear though with great difficulty still managed to pierce through.

The spear was a half step shy from being 4 star and thus slightly superior to Frost\'s outer armour. Add on the force wielding it as well as the suddenness to the attack that left Frost in the lurch defensive wise it\'s no wonder the spear managed to breakthrough. However that\'s where it stopped.

Hidden beneath his outer armour was the inner armour, the mithril vest he received from Leo after helping Furano with the monster stampede. A genuine piece of 4 star armour that practically stopped the spear in its tracks. It continued to push forcing Frost back several steps but in the end the tip barely managed to scratch the upper layer of his skin.

Karrick grimaced at his failure and quickly used Frost\'s chest as springboard to retreat several metres back, his surprise attack though perfectly timed lacked the punch necessary to break through Frost\'s defences.

"Impressive armour and the only reason you\'re still standing." Karrick loudly complained as he readied his spear.

Frost rubbed his chest in pain before coldly looking at Karrick. He was right he truly was saved by his armour but that too was part of his strength.

"I\'m lucky to have a very skilled blacksmith as part of my family as well as well-connected friends in the sapient lands...that cannon of yours though, it must have cost you a bucket load." He had never seen such a behemoth of a war machine, it put all he currently had access to, to shame.

To force someone of his strength to seriously defend himself against its attack made it one hell of a contraption and one that likely had a devasting price tag.

"Yes it did but as a trump card it serves quite well….normally at least." Karrick\'s upper lip started twitching at the fact that his prized possession failed to even mildly burn its intended target.

The flame cannon that he had access to was something he had seen during his foray into his nearby danger zone. A monster run kingdom that sported walls tens of metres high had these brutal war machines decorating the top as turrets. Any creature that attacked them would be struck by these beams of fire and depending on their resistance they would either be disintegrated or turned into charcoal.

Karrick knew the instant he saw them in action that he had to have one no matter the cost.

Out of fear of anything happening to his lovely trump card the two burly azers in charge of it pulled it back from the edge of the wall and out of harms way. He wouldn\'t be using it again during this war.

Frost noticed it disappearing behind the wall. "You sure you don\'t what to use it again?" Though the flame cannon failed to inflict wounds on him it\'d likely be very effective against his monsters.

"I\'d rather not risk damage to it plus its ammunition ain\'t exactly cheap either."

"Fair enough." Frost shrugged his shoulders and readied himself for the inevitable duel. The cold flames tendrils once again wrapped around his body like a suit of armour and a wild smile grew on his lips. With one hand on his glaive and the other stretched forward he beckoned/taunted Karrick.

"Come little brother, show me your spearmen ship." A madness, a powerful desire stretched out from Frost as he welcomed his younger brother to attack.

Karrick was pretty much the same, a battle inspired smile danced on his lips and his entire body tensed in revelry, finally the grand finale was here. He licked his lips, pressed his feet against the ground and held his spear parallel to the floor with both hands. Fire roared from his back, covering him like a set of fiery robes.

His pseudo aura was conjured next, granting him resistance to Frost\'s complete aura as well as slightly increasing the pressure he invoked.

Frost waited patiently for Karrick to be ready, allowing him to chose when to start.

Karrick who\'s momentum was building closed his eyes and released all the air trapped in his body before suddenly tensing. His eyes opened up and then his entire body shot forward like arrow from a bow.

The duel was on.