Conquering His Cold Heart

"Tsk oh well lead the way." Irritated from being rudely awakened Frost clicked his tongue and casually gathered his things, thankfully he hadn\'t removed his clothes or under armour before resting so he was ready almost immediately.

"This way sir." The soldier thus lead Frost out of the barracks and to the western edge of Icethorne. Here half of the cavalry corps was present alongside their mounts.

"Garow!" Shortly after arriving Kiba noticed his master\'s scent and charged over to complain about his rough treatment. These barbarians hoofed him from his comfy abode and started measuring him for armaments, they didn\'t even listen to him when he said they were too tight.

Of course his whimpering only caused Frost\'s irritation to grow, the young tiger thus received a fierce bonk on his head before being looked down on.

"Really you\'re complaining about having to do a little bit of work this late in the day…what happened to the tiger that wanted to strive to be the top, to dominate the other monsters and claim dominion over the beasts back home." He had finally begun to take his training seriously after a few of the coeurl cubs evolved and began challenging him. But after a little bit of pampering he was once again showing off his spoiled nature.

"Grrrr!" [this and that are two different things!]

Bonk!

Kiba was hit again and this time he didn\'t argue but simply grumbled as he followed behind Frost.

The solider who guided Frost here left after introducing him to the blacksmith who dealt with Kiba\'s equipment.

"We\'ve outfitted your battle mount with some temporary battlements, they should help stave off some serious blows and help with his charging ability, but I\'d advise against taking too much risk, the quality isn\'t as good as the proper stuff after all." The blacksmith in charge of the Cavalry corps armaments explained a few things to Frost and Kiba, the former being all ears while the latter was glaring. This was the man responsible for dressing him up in such ill fitting and paltry armour.

His hide was thick and his fur dense what need did he have for hastily produced armour.Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

The so called temporary battlements however were actually around middle perhaps upper grade 3 star quality, far better than your run of the mill equipment. Kiba just didn\'t like how it felt against his skin, so he caused a bit of a fuss.

As the blacksmith spoke the gears in Frost\'s mind started to turn. He had neglected to properly arm Kiba as well as the many beastlike monsters back in the Dungeon. While his dwarves, trolls, ronsos and even goblins benefitted from their production of in house weaponry his wolves, coeurls and polar bears received nothing despite also being an avid part of the Dungeon\'s defence force. This was a mistake, one in which he promised to remedy upon his return.

He thus listened attentively to the blacksmith and took note of the workshops currently repairing and forging monster formatted armours.

Thankfully Kiba\'s shape and size wasn\'t all that different from the standard monster cavalry used by the cavalry corps thus preparing something temporary wasn\'t all that difficult or time consuming, however.

"There\'s nothing we can do about his wings though, best to keep them receded during your excursion otherwise you might mess up the formation\'s tempo." Kiba\'s large white wings were out with the blacksmith\'s speciality, so he left them unadorned, a good thing too given how sensitive they were.

"You don\'t have any flyers?"

"We do but they\'re not part of the Cavalry corps but the elite aerial division and unlike us they\'re mainly utilised for scout work and emergency medical retrievals." The blacksmith shrugged and shook his head, it was an entirely different group of smiths in charge and therefore nothing to do with him. His focus and his entire team\'s focus was on war bears and Ursas, heavy cavalry monsters that could bulldoze through even the most heavily defended lines.

These namesake monsters could be seen in the nearby stables and underneath the legs of the cavalry corps soldiers. They were big, muscular and durable and what they lacked in flexibility they made up for with immense power. A horse may have endurance, speed and even strength but in short brutal engagements they paled in comparison to a bear, especially a bear that had been raised by the War Ursa Battalion.

A good lot of them were even larger and more intimidating than Kiba, another reason he was a little on edge. Rarely did he ever come across another battle mount in the same rank that could go toe to toe with him let alone crush him. These monsters had seen action, far more than the sheltered Kiba who was barely coming into his own.

Of course the most eye-catching were the mighty War Ursas, B-rank monsters that only the highest ranking Majors and Colonels could ride. Just one of them easily weighed several tons and that was without their armour.

"Alright that\'s all I needed to explain, head over to command centre as we\'re about to head out."

"Thanks…."

"Volker….Ulf Volker." The blacksmith gave his name before heading back to the forge, he\'d already wasted enough time.

"Come on Kiba let\'s go and hear about our battle arrangements."

"Garow!!"

"Ah Major Frost glad you could join us, please take a seat." The moment Frost entered the command centre with Kiba at his side an older man from the bear beastman tribe greeted him with a friendly smile while others simply nodded their heads, their eyes glancing and brightening upon seeing Kiba. A glacial winged tiger was a guaranteed B-rank monster after all, one that was perfect for cavalry.

Frost performed a military salute before taking his seat.

He wasn\'t the only one here accompanied by his battle mount. The older man from the bear beastman tribe for example had a massive War Ursa behind him that\'s mere presence had Kiba shivering and Frost narrowing his eyes.

\'Its strength rivals mine.\' Frost had just entered the mid ranks, and he could feel that this War Ursa was at a similar level.

"Cough cough" The older man coughed to draw Frost\'s attention back to him. "First allow me to introduce myself, my name is Colonel Casper Anders and I\'m in charge of the left wing of the War Ursa Battalion\'s Cavalry corps." A genuine big fish, someone who\'s authority was only eclipsed by the Generals and usually that only included the older generation such as Jessica and Katrina. Jared and Danielle were but young pups when compared to him.

Casper was a man who had lived and breathed the battlefield for decades, a man who\'s strength was stuck half a step into the A-rank for the last twenty years, a man worthy of respect.

Casper proceeded to briefly introduce some of the other officers but none of them were Colonels, all Majors and Captains.

Being respectful Frost stood up from his seat and placed his arm across his chest "Major Frost, it\'s a pleasure to be joining you today in your assault against the enemy." He gave his own introduction before sitting back down, an act that made the other officers smile from ear to ear. It was rare for non-military personnel to be so polite and respectful especially when they were so young and full of vigour and talent.

"Major Frost do have you any experience with cavalry formations?" Again the first thing the corps leader asked was his experience and once against Frost had to embarrassingly say none. At least this time he wasn\'t called useless.

"I see then it\'ll be best if you ride close to me when we move out." Casper didn\'t mock or insult him in anyway instead he silently and instantly amended his initial plans. Since Frost couldn\'t be given a command position he\'d simply use his individual strength instead. This wasn\'t the first time he\'d been handed an inexperienced yet individually strong gem after all.

"By your order Colonel." Frost had no issues with such arrangements in fact he felt liberated by it. Command was taxing and he was more in the mood to simply bulldoze his way into the enemy lines without having to worry about those beneath him.

Colonel Casper then explained the overall strategy of both the left and right wings of the cavalry corps.

"Along with the right wing we\'ll be moving out in full force." Atop the war table was a map of Icethorne and the territory beyond the wall. Two groups of mounted figurines representing the two wings of the cavalry corps were at the west and east of the city.

"General Jessica and her magic corps have dealt a serious blow to the enemy but still they refuse to retreat. Their will is still strong….so we\'ll be the ones to break it!"

"Urah!"

"Urah!" The cavalry corps grunted and repeatedly beat their fists against the war table, eager to see blood.

"We\'ll hit them hard, and we\'ll hit them fast, in and out in under fifteen minutes, are we clear!"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Frost follow behind me and learn as much as you can, we\'ll be using simple arrow and diamond formations but what matters most is the flow of battle."

Shock cavalry plain and simple.

"Yes Colonel."

\'Follow and learn, piece of cake.\' At least he wasn\'t a complete noob when it came to riding Kiba, it\'d be a disaster if he fell from his back mid charge.