Chapter 855: Chapter 855: Knight and damsel (2)
So as to reign in their growing desires Frost and Khione chose to continue their little tour, searching the ship from bottom to top for entertainment.
They started with dancing in a night club before visiting the observatory floor wherein they could watch the life that dwelled under the silvery waters before heading upwards to the mid deck levels where games and gambling were rife. The most popular area of the ship after one got tired of the unchanging landscape, water and nothing else as far as the eye could see.
Here one could play card games like realm of monsters, poker, blackjack and even a game called cribbage. Winners could win vast sums of money whereas losers could see their savings vanish from a single hand and that was just the card games.
Monster races with complicated bets, bingo, coin pushers and the crème de la crème that sported not a single empty seat, slot machines.
You enter a coin in the assigned slot then pull the lever and watch the magic happen. A cylinder covered in different sets of images would rotate and eventually stop. Match the same images you win, don’t you lose....simple but addictive, especially given the low cost for each pull.
Games that relied on chance were always popular amongst all ages and from the smiles on the vast majority of the passengers faces it was clear that the cruise ship SS. Gwienfieldal knew how to do it right.
According to Khione most gambling dens even within the highly developed and prosperous metropolis that lay in the centre of Niflheim the chances of a guest winning big were miniscule even amongst the most talented of card players. The odds were highly stacked against them at every turn making success a rarity. If you didn’t watch your spending it was easy to end up in debt, a debt the management of such places were keen to quickly have reimbursed.
On the cruise ship however losses were still prevalent but not to the same extent nor were the momentary values involved quite so high. The purpose was entertainment not to make substantial profit.
To enter this place though you needed to have a certain degree of maturity otherwise you’d be refused entry -Different species age at different rates so an ironclad number wouldn’t work thus a maturity scale was enforced. Frost despite being only 18 months old had an adult body and mind therefore he was easily granted entry alongside his date.
It was an experience he could easily find himself being lost in, the sounds, the smells, the service, the looks of triumph on people’s faces and even the pain in their expressions when they lost all drew him in, encouraging him to join them.
Instinctively he felt a sense of danger towards this form of gambling, genuine fear at the possibility of losing all his hard earned money.
He paid proper curtesy to the opportunity despite his misgivings. He tried the slot machines even watched a couple games of realm of monsters before mentioning to Khione that’d he’d like to try something different. A request she was more than happy to oblige given her own perspective on this type of gambling. She only entertained the idea for Frost’s benefit but seeing that it wasn’t his speed they quickly left, heading up another few floors until they were back outside.
They ignored a vast majority of services on offer such as fitness centres -a difficult pass for Khione-, live theatre, an indoor waterpark -a difficult pass for Frost who had a strong desire to see Khione in swimwear again. A plethora of stores- which they did briefly enter so Frost could purchase a few bottles of unique condiments, out of his own pocket no less, a strange stubbornness that Khione couldn’t break. Large open courts that were designed for sports involving balls of varying sizes, teams of players and the occasional racket, most of which Frost had never seen or heard of before.
According to Khione when you live for as long as her father did you end up developing endless forms of entertainment so as to stave off the boredom. And as a result many of his efforts to stave of his unending boredom ended up catching on with the populace of Niflheim, becoming staple traditions that were passed down for millennia.
Regardless however they passed on each of them to reach an area littered with dozens of passengers and even professionally employed staff sitting or standing with a robust rod in hand and an attached line leading out into the ocean.
Here the entertainment of choice was fishing, deep ocean fishing that would allow avid fishermen and amateurs the chance to bag literal whales if they were lucky enough.
Normal fishing boats could never enter the deep waters at least not the average ones where the size of the prey would dwarfed the entire ship. A risky job that required great strength, guts, manpower and equipment but by riding on the SS. Gwienfieldal they could bypass some of those stringent requirements and be safer than ever thus making it quite a popular pastime amongst those who enjoyed fish and the sea.
Khione quickly talked to one of the working staff, asking for an amateur set up for her and her partner. The staff member had no problem with Khione given her impressive strength, but Frost was a bit too weak.
"Will he even be able to pull up the prey let alone subdue it?" He asked trying to be as professional as possible, but his words still stung the young man especially when other passengers sniggered and mocked him under their breath.
’Why’s such a weakling hanging out with such a bombshell, is it all because of his pretty face.’ They muttered in jealousy as their eyes briefly roamed over Khione’s sexy figure an act that infuriated Frost greatly. In response to their unwanted stares he blocked their view and revealed to them an insidious smile that promised ruin. And despite his merely mid-level B-rank strength those men felt a shiver run down their spines that warned them of danger.
They looked at Frost again, really looked at him and they felt a pressure in his gaze and saw an unmasked sense of pride in his expression that said, ’So what if I’m weak and have a pretty face, this bombshell’s with me not you so what you gonna do about it.’
"Kck!" The two men’s teeth clamped down hard in frustration, anger boiled within, and they attempted to rise from their positions and put this bastard in his place but the moment they did an intense wave of pressure and unmitigated bloodlust washed over them scaring them silly.
They looked for the origin and found Khione standing behind Frost with an even more insidious smile on her lips and they practically shat themselves, turning away like the cowards they were.
"Oh that was beautiful Khione truly my gallant knight in shining armour." Frost cooed and leaned against his partner’s shoulders like a protected damsel which stoked her pride, causing her to arch out her chest provocatively.
"Hmph let me know immediately if anyone else gives you any trouble Frost, I’ll pummel them into the ground with my fists." She slammed those iron knuckles of hers against one another, making her intimidation affect everyone in the vicinity, the staff member who rudely asked about Frost’s capacity included.
"My hero." Frost played along into the fantasy, enjoying his role in this little drama. His eyes however continued to occasionally glare at those two men letting them know that this was his woman.
"My partner will be fine, if he lacks the strength to pull up his prey then I’ll help him, does that satisfy you?" Puffed up from being able to protect the one she liked Khione turned her gaze towards that poor staff member who was only acting out of concern.
"T...that’s fine." The staff member didn’t have the guts to argue with this strong woman, so he did as requested and got Frost set up with a rod and a line despite his initial misgivings.
"The bait you’ve got won’t attract anything too powerful but it still won’t be an easy catch given our location." The Modanya current was home to Xianwu behemoth for a reason. The density of mana was incredibly high in this area making a perfect den for the strong. The place was teeming with monsters each stronger than the last.
Frost’s set up was designed for B-rank sea monsters and lower which included some speciality fish, but they wouldn’t be an issue, he only had to worry about the monsters as they likely had strength equal to or even higher than himself. Wrestling against them would be an uphill battle, one that without aid he could easily lose.
Many systems were put in place to protect the fishers such as a soft barrier that would catch anyone who was pulled from their station by their prey. Robust tools, on site security and even several runes and magic crests but that would only help with the danger of pulling the prey above the water. The fisher still needed to subdue the flailing monster once the it had been reeled in.
The staff were most worried about this point, each fisher had to subdue their own catch and if they couldn’t they would be forced to release it or in the worst case be asked to leave so as to prevent intruding on the enjoyment of others.
Of course there was an option to hire help, that’s what half of the staff here were for but that was usually reserved for young and infirm. For an adult to rely on them due to subpar strength was seen as rather shameful, at least amongst true fisherman.
Frost however had no qualms when it came to handing over his protection to the muscle bound goddess by his side.
’You’re all just jealous that you’re not the ones being protected.’ He internally huffed, his heart brimming with pride despite doing something considered shameful by the other passengers.
To each their own.