Conquering His Cold Heart

Another 3 days went by but despite Frost's rigorous efforts neither Maya nor Daki got pregnant, their contraceptive runes were just too effective.

The young orc succubus practically blushed from head to toe the moment Maya informed her of Frost's noble intentions. For years Daki had been searching for a partner that could withstand her appetite and instinctual nature, but the idea of children was such a distant and difficult prospect that she was truly caught by surprise.

Her reaction was so adorable that Frost immediately disrobed her and attacked her contraceptive rune with great vigour.

Sex was a great way to reduce stress, all that worry and anxiety that both he and Maya had built up was cleansed through their acts of intimacy at least until today.

The family woke up early, practically at the crack of dawn in preparation for today's events.

The 2nd family gathering was happening today. At 9.am the many Dungeon cores across Nova would be summoned by their father to participate in a grand reunion. It also marked a year since Frost's conception, his very first birthday. An event that should have been filled with celebration but instead it had the man in question on edge and tense.

Today Maya's duty as his guardian would come to an end and he and his siblings would be granted their independence, forced to rely solely upon their own merit to survive within this grand world. Frost both looked forward to and dreaded this day. He couldn't bear the thought of separating from Maya, to lose the woman he loved.

But in the end he was truly powerless, even Maya an S-rank Fenrir who was hailed as a prodigy among her kin was nothing but a speck before his father. If he couldn't convince him with words then there was no forceful alternative.

"Is everyone ready?" Frost asked while pacing back and forth in the private space. He and Maya would be indisposed while the gathering was taking place thus management of the Dungeon had to be handed over to Daki, Nanna, Loki, Khuno and Findlay in the meantime.

"Yep we've got this babe."

"Easy peasy master."

"No problem."

"By your will milord."

"Ready and willing master." The five of them responded with vigour hoping to allay Frost's anxiety.

It wasn't a major task nor was it one that they hadn't undergone before but still, this time was different. Despite their best efforts the five occasionally glanced over at Maya, their eyes revealing their feelings on the matter. They didn't want her to go either.

A few hours later and once everything had been accounted for, for the umpteenth time Dark's summons arrived. Two magic crests appeared beneath both Frost and Maya's feet before quickly encasing them both in a black egg. The next moment space warped, swallowing both eggs and they were gone just like that.

"Alright that's our cue everyone, action stations we've got a Dungeon to run and a birthday party to plan!" Daki bellowed with a booming voice the moment Frost and Maya vanished.

"Hehehehe I can't wait to see master's face when he returns." Loki giggled cutely and started jumping up and down on the spot.

"I've been studying how to bake cakes for the past week, all for this moment." Nanna balled up her hands into fists and looked over at the kitchen with determined eyes. The five left in charge thus split up to carry out their duties until Frost returned.

Frost travelled through space with some speed but thanks to the protection of the black egg he barely felt a thing. Ten minutes or so later his travelling came to an end. The large black egg stationed itself upon a marble floor before dissipating, revealing its handsome passenger. Dozens of matching arrivals happened metres away and soon Frost was face to face with his 99 siblings.

"Frost, over here." A wild voice called from the distance; a voice Frost recognised. Turning around he saw Indra beckoning him over with a wide grin plastered on his face. Seeing his sixth brother in the flesh brought a smile to his lips. Out of all his siblings Indra could be considered to be the one he got along with most.

They frequently talked through the Dungeon's communication system, keeping one another apprised of their adventures.

Similar to his own Dungeon of Niflheim, Indra's Lightning Grove (the name of his dungeon) was also developing external territory, drawing in lots of passive DP. In fact the number of his residents even surpassed his own thanks to Indra's talent in business. So many jewellery merchants and artisans flocked to his camp desperate to get their hands on his special lightning gems.

Don't miss out on m-vl-em-pyr

Frost was keen to copy him but was struggling to find something unique or rather the right product for his territory.

As Frost started walking towards his sixth brother however Indra was suddenly ambushed. A fair hand that looked as soft as silk smacked into his left cheek with enough force to send him spiralling across the room. In his former place with a genial smile on her lips and a radiant and welcoming expression on her face was Aqua, their eldest sister and somewhat of a mega fan of Frost.

Frost didn't know why their eldest sister was so obsessed with him, but he'd learned in fact they'd all learned to just keep their mouths shut and play along with her whims lest they wanted to leave with broken limbs. Only Aqua could be so violent and ruthless to her siblings while sporting an angelic expression on her face.

Frost felt a shiver run down his spine as he locked eyes with his big sister. He momentarily glanced at the prone Indra in the distance and after noting that he was still alive he warmly greeted his sister.

"Aqua-nee you're looking as beautiful as ever."

"Oh such a charmer. Come, come join your big sister." Aqua practically teleported to his side and wrapped her arm around his before starting her usual inspection. She'd nailed the doting big sister personality to a tee when it came to him.

A minute later while she was busy examining Frost for injuries and seeing whether or nor he'd gained any weight since they last saw one another Indra dragged himself over with a reddened cheek and boldly interrupted her.

"Always nice to see you big sis." Indra tried to act as friendly and humble as possible, but it was clear from his clenched fists and twitching lips that he was struggling to hold back.

Aqua turned around and glared at Indra annoyed by his presence, an invisible storm rising between them leading to Frost sighing at the side.

"Alright I think that's enough you two, how about we just wait together." Eventually Frost stepped into the middle of their standoff, offering his right hand side to Aqua and his left to Indra which was a compromise the two were willing to agree to.

Slowly the groups that formed during the last gathering as well as over the course of the past 11 months drifted towards one another. Frost's group of three soon expanded to include, Terra, Yami, Sylph, Damascus, Void, Chronos and finally Gaia, making this by all accounts the most powerful group around.

The ten siblings exchanged pleasantries and talked for a couple minutes before their attention was finally drawn to the top of a set of nearby stairs. Dark had summoned them to the exact same ball room that they were summoned to for the last family gathering.

Though the colours, place settings and even the food available was slightly different, enough to offer a different ambience the layout was the same, separating the massive room into a lower and upper section.

Don!

With a loud shifting of metal Dark arrived through a set of large, golden doors and following behind him were the 101 guardians that were assigned to protect and educate his children during their first year.

Seeing this many felt pain in their hearts, Frost included. His eyes searched through the vast group before finally landing on Maya's exquisite form. She did the same and the two lovers as well as many of the Dungeon cores and their guardians exchanged meaningful looks.

"Welcome, welcome my children!" Dark announced with a voice that reverberated throughout the entire room. He spread out his arms and smiled at the 100 individuals standing beneath him. A look of nostalgia growing in his eyes "Has it really been a year already?

Time really does fly when you're having fun….man a whole year look how each of you have grown." He slowly panned over each and every one of his darling children, his heart growing ever warmer with each pass. "Though some of you have certainly aged better than others." His gaze then stopped at Void, a smirk quickly growing on his lips.

"For someone whose only a year old why do you look even older than I do Void?"

Void the Dungeon core in question stared up at his father in silence, his upper lip twitching. Chronos who was beside him and had an almost identical appearance though with a very special difference – Chronos being an avatar of time could shift between appearing old and young depending on the angle one viewed him- desperately stifled his laughter as did many of their siblings.

"I was born looking like this father! You made me look like this!" Eventually the normally calm and easy-going Void roared at the top of his lungs, feeling embarrassed by the giggles and mocking looks from his siblings.

Dark blinked his eyes several times before frowning. He then looked side to side and made it look like his was whispering something to Void discretely despite being tens of metres away.

"That's the joke Void." He nodded his head with confidence before smiling at some of the guardians behind him as though looking for reassurance. His words earned a wave of utter silence from both the Dungeon cores and guardians. This was Dark's attempt at humour it seems.

"Oww" Void groaned as he felt an invisible knife stab him in the heart.