Conquering His Cold Heart

"Everything is better, more efficient, more diverse and more dynamic than I thought possible. To compare a dungeon to a monster lair even the most advanced is an insult. It's like comparing heaven and earth, a boundless uncrossable chasm lies between." Ladius who was sitting across from Frost in one of the camp's restaurants ranted on with sparkling eyes.

Her passion was unrivalled, her desire to learn all there was about Dark's new creation unending. Frost barely managed to get a word in edge wise whenever they had these little dates of theirs.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He found her intrigue interesting and somewhat embarrassing. In a way she was describing himself, he was the dungeon, and the dungeon was him after all.

"Oh you definitely should, you're amazing, so complex yet so familiar. Never in my entire career have I ever felt that monster lairs were lacking, until now. Your dungeon is magnificent, alive and filled with so much potential. If I was a merchant the term gold mine would be a severe understatement."

"Thanks." Frost rubbed his upper lip as he felt a blush coming on. It was hard to hear such blatant personal praise. Unfortunately Ladius wasn't finished. After taking a swig of juice and a large bite of steak she pointed directly at him.

"And then there's you as you. A form akin to an elf of the noblest line, with an appearance that would make any woman swoon from the slightest sign of affection and talent that allowed you to reach B-rank after just a few months of living.

If his eminence favours anyone it's you and your siblings, even dragons aren't as gifted as you." Her jealously was obvious but she was old enough and experienced enough to not be swayed by such feelings.

Frost was a magical existence to her, a rarity far more noble and mysterious than even ancient dragons. The only beings ranked higher by her standards were the Gods, those who superseded their mortality to reign beyond Nova in their own established dimensions.

"When we're finished analysing every inch of you and your dungeon I'm sure to get a promotion and finally enter the true upper hierarchy of the federation hahahahaha I'll finally be able access some of the ancestral tomes." Ladius laughed manically as she looked over Frost's body with fanaticism.

"Cough, cough Ladius you're doing it again." Frost quickly called her out on her actions the moment she started drooling.

"Ahh sorry sometimes I just can't help myself, a bad habit of those in my profession." Ladius sat back in her chair and removed the accumulation of drool from her lips. She'd frequently enter dazes like this whenever she sat across from him for a lengthy period of time.

"While I'm glad to be an object of such intense interest I believe it's my turn for the questions." Initially he was quite worried about Ladius' interests. He had been warned several times and knew the importance of keeping his secrets close at hand but thanks to a revelation by her during their first 'date' he was no longer bothered.

The federation of knowledge held very strict rules when it came to disseminating knowledge to the public, especially private/personal knowledge. Anyone at the 3 star level or above was bound by strong contract magic preventing them from blabbing the federation's many secrets.

All knowledge gained by Ladius, and her team would first be inspected by the keepers who would then decide how much to reveal to the inhabitants of Nova. However all knowledge in regards to Frost himself was under lock and key, never to be revealed by the federation as dictated by Dark.

Therefore any and all discussions held between Ladius and Frost on their dates was protected by this contract, fully allaying his worries.

"Haaaaaa fine I guess it's only fair." Ladius sighed with disappointment, but she was a woman of her word. As per their agreement Frost was entitled to ask her anything about the federation's held knowledge or about herself as an investigator. Whether she could actually answer the question or not was another topic, but the rules were quite lenient for someone like Frost.

"Thanks. Continuing on from yesterday I'd like to hear more information about the Church of light?" During their first few interactions Frost learned a great deal about the federation as a whole from Ladius. He learned about their mission, their members, their presence i.e. territory across Nova as well as some of the benefits in joining their organisation.

After that he focused on learning about known mystical dimensions, massive monster lairs and legends about his father and other Gods, the last topic being quite enjoyable for Ladius to embellish.

Now however he wished to learn about his enemy, the group that is so despised by the world that even his father couldn't help but spit after uttering their name.

"Delicate tastes as always but I can't say I blame you." His request was quite a challenge for Ladius as knowledge regarding the Church of light was highly restricted given how dangerous they were but considering his position she decided to reveal a few things.

"Right now the Church of light and the Holy white empire is fully restricted to the central continent with all the major nations across Nova keeping a close eye on their movements however despite their restricted state the empire is still strong, very strong.

No other nation on the central continent can match them economically or in terms of military power thus they either live in fear of their looming presence or are viscously vassalized under their tyrannical thumb. And despite their failures and condemnation by the very God their follow they still enslave all races that aren't human."

"Why do the nations across Nova condone this, why not just destroy them once and for all?" This question had been in the back of his mind for a long time.

His father and the Light God were restrained by their pact, an agreement that restricted how much they could directly interfere with the inhabitants of Nova but what stopped the powerful nations such as the Northrend empire from finishing the job. To finally put an end to their tyranny.

Ladius narrowed her eyes and looked to her sides before speaking. "Because they're still strong, filled with trump cards and have hidden enclaves dotted across the planet. The Gods are no longer indirectly giving aid to the alliance and the wounds from the grand war are still being felt.

Attacking the Holy white empire would enact a toll no nation is willing to pay so they restrict them, preventing their growth and expansion. A foolish choice when it comes to long term damage but one that was agreed upon and is still upheld today." The cost to erase them completely was just too much.

"I see." Though he didn't fully agree with the alliance's choice he now understood why the Holy white empire and Church of Light still existed.

"Can you talk about those trump cards and hidden enclaves?" If he knew what they were he could possibly prepare defences against them.

"Utuhn!" Ladius immediately denied his request, making a large X with her arms. That information was highly, highly restricted.

"What about information about their technology, and unique magics?"

"Utuhn! Also restricted. Such magic and technology must not be spread throughout the world again, the cost and depravity is too great."

"Does that include their slave tattoos?" He still had the hope of releasing Nanna and Loki from their enslavement.

"It most certainly does Lord Frost. In fact that is one of our most restricted subjects. I can't say anymore." Ladius was strangely serious when it came to this topic, firmly denying any possible wiggle room.

'Guess I'll have to search somewhere else.' He had plans to involve his brothers Void and Chronos but thought it best to wait until they became more established with their magic knowledge. The two of them may be the most magically inclined of the dungeon cores but they were still young. To expect them to be able to crack something that no other mage has been able to do in centuries was rather naïve.

"Alright then what else can you tell me?"

"I can tell you about the nation's territory, who runs where as well as a little about the factions and current political leaders but pretty much everything else is restricted." The Holy white empire and the Church of light were very sensitive subjects, hardly any information was disseminated to the public. Only those high up in the alliance and federation of knowledge were privy to such details.

"Ohh that could be interesting, do tell." Who ran such an evil church and tyrannical empire.

"Well the current emperor is Linarias Levin Archibald the 17th, direct descent of the first emperor of the Holy white empire and father of Linarias Levin Archibald the 18th, and two other children, a son and a daughter. The empire is controlled heavily by emperor Linarias with both the nobles and officials controlling but a minority of political power making it pretty much a dictatorship."

'Sounds right so far for an evil empire.'

"The only group that is beyond the emperor's reproach and has the ability to give orders to him and the nation as a whole is the Pope of the Church of Light, a middle aged woman by the name of Genova who's attunement to the light element is unmatched even when considering her predecessors.

These two hold the empire in the palm of their hands, relishing in their power and cruelty." It was clear that Ladius didn't have a high opinion of either one of them.

"Below them you have the nobles, the aristocrats of the empire who fall into three factions, the first being the passive faction a group who desire to put off their nation's grand ambitions and instead focus on internal development. Then there's the aggressive faction who wish to start dominating the rest of Nova as soon as possible regardless of the price their citizens would have to pay.

And finally the last and smallest faction is the royal faction, a group of nobles who basically cling to the legs of the emperor, agreeing with whatever he says even if it weakens the powers of the nobles as a whole. They're by far the most despised faction among the other nobles and officials as they believe that the emperor already has more than enough political power."

"The allied nations also secretly do their best to influence the political war within the Holy white empire, hoping to curb their rise and recovery but with the power balance being so heavily favoured on the emperor it's difficult for them to make any real change."

"That sounds like something you'd be restricted in telling no?"

"Not really, it's a sort of open secret. Political subterfuge happens in every nation, the Holy white empire is no exception." Of course the specific details of such subterfuge was highly restricted.