"To the southwest of this area, where there's a Volcano with a large tower made out of red stone, lays the first entrance to the Venerable of Flame's Inheritance, an infernal place that connects to the Infernal Catacombs." He said. "If you can enter such an inheritance and complete its trials, not only will you'll receive the power of this ancient ruler, but also, a shortcut to the Muspel's Bone Mountain Range."
The inheritance of the Venerable of Flames? The one that brought so much destruction? It is said that he was just as evil as the Venerable of Blood. Would he really leave his inheritance in the open without wanting to revive through it somehow?
Though, if his inheritance is exposed like this in the open, then there's no point in not going there to investigate the place, and if it can work as a shortcut to our goal, then that makes it even better.
"So such a place was so close from here…" I nodded. "Very well. Thanks for your help, you can now rest, if you desire."
"Thank you…" The chief of this village sighed. "And please… as my last request, protect my grandkids…"
"For sure." I agreed. "Leave it to us."
"With such a reassuring attitude and voice, I guess I can go in peace…" Sighed the chief, with a faint smile.
His soul slowly dissipated into the air, and so did every other soul left behind, as if some of them were waiting for him before departing themselves.
"An inheritance from the Venerable of Flames…" Benladann said. "Honestly, I don't know much about him, unlike our Frost Queen, he was someone that originated in another continent altogether."
"Well, from what I've learned, he has a title, "The Destroyer", right?" Pekora said. "He doesn't sound like a nice guy… If he left an inheritance behind, it might hold ulterior motives."
"However, the Fire Giants do seem to praise him a lot, aside from Logi, the God of Flames." Analyzed Ruby. "Right?"
"Indeed, he never spoke of the Venerable of Flames as someone evil, and he is seen as a figure the Fire Giants respect more than anything." Rakasha said. "I had once taken a trip to this continent on my younger years. In there, I learned that the Fire Giants had another Title for him, a different Title compared to the one we've heard outside the continent."
"Another Title?" Asked Miranda. "What is it?"
"The Guardian of the Flame Tribe." Said Rakasha, rubbing his white beard. "Perhaps, much like how Oberon's history has been altered to convince people he was actually much better than he originally was, other Venerables might had suffered a similar fate."
"The Guardian of the Flame Tribe?!" Asked Benladann. "Really? Didn't he just destroyed everything? Or is that just all fake history? I'm confused…"
"Well, I guess this is the perfect opportunity to ask you two, ancient ladies." I smiled, as the Spiritual Manifestations of the Dream Fox Venerable and the Frost Queen Venerable emerged at my left and right. "You've been resting and preparing for a while, so I didn't wanted to bother you, but things have become much more serious now. Do you know anything about this man?"
As we made our way to the inheritance across the skies, I decided to ask these two. Their manifestations emerged right away, sighing.
"I do know a bit about that… barbarian." The Frost Queen seemed particularly angered. "He named himself Surtr, after the name of the Titan of Flames that once roamed the original Realm of Helheim. On my time as a Venerable, I once visited his inheritance before, I couldn't complete it because I wasn't made for it, apparently. But I could speak with him. Apparently, his Soul Fragments also rest within his Inheritance."
"I do know a bit about him from dreams…" Said the Fox Venerable, sighing. "He's a brutish man that seems to only care about bringing war, yet… He showed some deep care for his own kin."
"We could assume he used to be some sort of leader to them in the past, and he protected them, or unified them in a big war. After his ascension into a Venerable, he tried to conquer the rest of the world, and I guess he managed to do it… until he died." Said the Frost Queen. "The reason why there are Fire Giants in every continent is because those are the descendants of the tribes that conquered these continents in the long past."
"I guess, maybe. We weren't there when it happened. He's an incredibly old Venerable, the third ever after Oberon and his bootlicker." Said the Fox Venerable, giggling. "And also one of the most mysterious. Usually, the more recent they are, the more we know them."
"Indeed." Nodded the Frost Queen. "I would say that you should be cautious. Also, his inheritance is not just one place, it is actually divided in three different temples. The chief said you could teleport to the bone mountain range because of this reason. Once you complete the trial of one of the three temples, you can teleport to the entrance of the other two."
"And once you finally complete all three, the fourth and final temple will emerge, or so I remember the writing stuff in the walls." Said the Fox Venerable. "He seems dead set on inheriting his powers to someone that deserves them though. I wonder if that Flame Emperor has gotten some sort of inheritance from him. Most likely, he seems quite qualified for the barbarian…"
"Hmm, so it doesn't matter if different people complete the trials?" I wondered.
"No, as long as they're completed, even if by different people, the fourth temple should emerge." Said the Frost Queen. "And once some time happens, the trials reset again… I think he did this to incentive competitiveness between different tribes, but someone capable of completing everything has never appeared yet."
"Yep, he's asking WAY too much for the one that would carry his powers, honestly." Sighed the Fox Venerable.
"Huh? And weren't you also asking for a lot too?" I sighed.
"H-Hey! Mine was fair… Also you ruined it when you just absorbed everything!" The fox woman angrily barked.
