Although the death of the chief put Surtr down a lot, he didn't wanted to let such a tragedy stop his pace. His mother, Muspel, had told him many times that there must have been a reason, a meaning that he was born in this place, and held such powerful abilities.
This was a meaning that he slowly found by himself as he lived in this village, as he made bonds with people, and as he grew stronger with the twins, Mina, and Nadia. Slowly, he realized that perhaps one of such purposes was to protect this people, to protect those he loved.
To do what he couldn't do back on Earth, as his parent's lives slipped off his fingers without him being able to do a single thing… This time, with this strength, there was no way he would let these people perish.
And this morning, only after two days since the chief's death, he was almost prepared to depart into the mountain's depths, not without something he wanted to try out beforehand.
By placing around the village several piles of ores he had mined with the warriors and hunters of the village, and by connecting his Mana with everyone in the village, he decided to build a metallic fortress surrounding it!
"[Heavenly Smith]!"
FLAAAAAASH!
The Mana of everybody else resonated with his own, as his power surged tremendously, the materials floated in midair, melting, and reassembling themselves around the entire mountain area where the village was located, which led into a cave.
Slowly yet steadily, it was made, a gigantic metallic fortress, made out of reinforced Fiery Ore, Blazing Copper, and Flaming Iron, alongside thousands of his own scales, which he slowly collected from his shedding skin over the weeks.
With the protection of this concentration of metallic dragon scales and high quality ores, a powerful metallic fortress capable of withstanding even powerful magical attacks surged, protecting the whole village!
"A-Amazing… it worked…" Not even Surtr could believe his eyes. "Without everybody's mana, it wouldn't had been possible, thanks…"
"W-Woah, Surtr, this is amazing!"
"You created this?!"
"Phew, I feel so drained… but this was totally worth the hassle!"
"I guess the chief was right in giving you such a position!"
"A fortress that can even resist magic blows… With this we can be more at ease over random monster attacks…"
"Thank you so much, Surtr!"
The villagers quickly swarmed Surtr, embracing him on hugs and praises. By now, everybody had noticed how hard he worked for everyone in the village. They were the ones that felt grateful the most.
"E-Everyone… Hahaha, I am only doing what I can. For now, I hope this, the armors, weapons, the magic tanks, and the army of beasts I've assembled can be enough." He said with a smile. "It makes me worried to leave you behind, even if it just a couple of days, but we need to solve this problem with the Mountain Guardian…"
"Go on! We are not as frail as you think, young man."
"I hope the issue with the Mountain Guardian can be resolved…"
"I wish you the best of lucks!"
Like that, after having a feast with the entire village, Surtr, Nadia, and Mina departed into the mountain's depths. Walking down the several caves leading to the mountain's underground which they had visited previously.
"Walking around here reminds me when you two first brought me here…" Surtr sighed. "Back then I was scared of anything, even a Lava Slime…" He laughed.
"Oh yeah, those old times." Sighed Nadia. "I wish we could go back to them!"
"Old? That was like… a year ago!" Mina said while rubbing her chin. "Wow Surtr, you're only a year old?"
"My egg has been laid for a thousand years, so I'm actually older than you two." Laughed Surtr. "Also, I do have memories of a past life, which was around 17, as I've said before, so I'm actually not a year old!"
"Hehehe, I was just teasing you!" Giggled Mina.
"Once this is over…" Nadia sighed, holding Surtr's arm.
The two girls glanced at Surtr with adorable expressions, blushing a bit. Surtr wasn't dumb enough to not realize what they meant.
"Yeah, once this is over, let's get together. If you really don't mind… I'm a dragon after all…" Surtr said.
"W-We don't mind!" Mina and Nadia said almost at the same time.
"L-Like that we can continue the fire dragon lineage too!" Nadia said while blushing even more.
"W-What?! You were thinking about making babies already, Nadia? You're such a perv!" Mina was shocked.
"E-Eh? Y-You weren't?!" Nadia quickly covered her face in embarrassment. "Uwaah… I can't believe I just said that! Ugh…"
"Ahahaha, it is nice to have a good spirit." Surtr carefreely laughed. "But for now, let's concentrate on the present." He glanced at what was in front of him, a staircase leading even deeper.
"These stairs… According to the chief, they lead down to the deepest area of the mountain, where the Guardian is resting." Nadia said.
"Yeah… It is a bit creepy, but we have to go!" Mina nodded. "I wonder how the guardian is…"
The Guardian of the Mountain was a powerful Divine Beast that protected the Mountain for eons. His energy and powers helping the mountain flourish with resources. In exchange, the Fire Giants protected the mountain from monsters that predated on its ores, vegetation, or that could even aim for the guardian himself.
This symbiotic relationship has lasted thousands of years, and it was the reason behind the prosperity of this village, although in the last years, the strength and Divine Aura of the Guardian has weakened severely, and monsters have managed many times to sneak into the mountain range, attacking the villagers and attempting to devour the precious ores within.
It was thanks to Surtr's arrival that such events didn't escalated into the total destruction of the village… However, since a few months now, the Guardian has stopped communicating through telepathic messages sent to Mina, who was a Saintess that could communicate with him.
And because of this, the entire village grew restless over the matter.
Now, finally, the three had grown strong enough to be able to explore the mountains depths and find out what had truly happened to the Guardian.
"Let's go, we'll find out how he looks like once we meet him in person!" Surtr led his party.
Little did they know that a horror of ancient times would be awaiting their arrival…
