Once we made sure there were no more Divine Beasts threatening the area, we retreated back to the mountain with everybody we rescued. Agni and Leona were so exhausted they ended falling asleep on the way to the village, and through the entire day until the night, Surtr also mostly slept.
"He really went a bit overboard; he was doing so well…" Mina sighed. "Surtr always tend to get too cocky with his powers, he doesn't know restraint…"
"And we're not the best at teaching that either, we're a bit similar to him…" Nadia sighed.
We were currently having lunch with everyone that was awake, after we treated all the refugees that arrived.
"I don't know him for long so I don't think I can say anything…" Jamar sighed. "But I think Sir Surtr has a brave heart, like a true dragon! He's just… well, he seems desperate to prove himself at everything, he reminds me of how I used to be before."
"Well, that was surprisingly insightful from you, Jamar." Miranda laughed a bit.
"H-Hey! I can say some smart stuff sometimes!" Jamar complained.
"He's always trying to gain recognition, even though he had always done so naturally." Sighed Mina. "I think he just has to learn better… But we are nobody to tell him that."
"The chief used to be the only figure that would lecture him when he did something clearly reckless or wrong…" Nadia said. "But he has already passed away…"
"So it is up to you, Drake, to help him grow a bit more, not necessarily just stronger, but also to teach him a bit of the things we can't really guide him through…" Mina sighed, asking me.
"Of course." I nodded. "I'll try what I can to shape him into a proper dragon. Though, I have to be honest, I used to be like him back then."
"Eh? You did?!" Jamar asked. "But you're the legendary dragon king!"
"Hahah, there was a time when I held no such title, I was merely an Ice Dragon lost in Jotunheim." I sighed. "I got myself in a lot of troubles, did many stupid things, and committed many mistakes too… I faced death many times, despite all the powers I held, much like your friend."
"A-Are all dragons like this?" Nadia wondered.
"Maybe, you could say young dragons are a bit reckless because we descend from a power lineage! But the thing is, dragons are not born instantly powerful, we must develop and feed ourselves properly to evolve and gain the powers within our divine bloodlines." I explained. "But because we still carry some of the arrogance of our bloodline even as weaklings, we tend to get into trouble… And this becomes worse when there's not a powerful parent to look up for us."
"I guess you'll have to fill up that role for Surtr in the meantime!" Laughed Benladann. "You're like his uncle already…"
"Hahh… I guess there's no helping it if he feels that way." I sighed. "I'll do what I can to teach him well. We'll be staying here as much as necessary, but eventually, we'll have to leave. I hope that by that time, Surtr will become someone much more mature and dependable."
"He's already quite dependable! Well, for the majority of the time." Nadia said.
"But lately with all these challenges and even bigger dangers, he has been getting more desperate. He seems unable to catch up to everything going on." Mina sighed.
"I can understand how that must feel." Benladann sighed. "I used to be kind of like that as well… My husband as well. Maybe because of this, we could teach him and you girls better."
"Us too?" Mina asked while raising an eyebrow.
"I-I thought you were only going to help Surtr?" Nadia asked.
"You two are his most important partners, you wouldn't want to stay weaker while he grows stronger, and then just become unnecessary weight for him, right?" Benladann sighed. "If you two really love him, you have to keep growing stronger and trying to improve yourselves, so you can always be of help, and not become his weakness instead." Benladann held my arm gently.
"This is not just the job of the husband, the wife, or wives, should grow stronger too!" Miranda said angrily. "Don't worry you two, we'll be teaching you personally with Benladann." She smiled.
"W-Well, I'll welcome the challenge!" Said Nadia excited. "I've seen that Lady Benladann has amazing Axe Techniques!"
"I do, I'll make sure to teach you everything I know, Nadia, you've got great potential." Said Benladann with a gentle smile.
"I guess we could bring along Tisha and Pekora too." Miranda pointed out. "Tisha has also mastered blade arts, which I've seen you use secondarily, Nadia, and Pekora has mastered spirit magic, healing magic, and life magic, which you seem to have affinity with. I can also teach you better Divine Energy manipulation, and also… Hmm, you do have the rack for Spirit Magic too, we can teach you that too with Pekora."
"E-Eh? Really?!" Mina was surprised. "Spirits… I've only seen them now that Drake and the rest has arrived…"
"Well, it shouldn't be hard for you to find some spirits, this mountain has a lot of them!" Said Belle, appearing over my head. "Once you learn the basics, we'll help you make several contracts, you've got the talent to bring along a lot of companions."
"A-A talking fox!" Mina was surprised.
"She's my Dream Spirit, Belle." I laughed. "Well, we've just meet for now, let's keep working hard together while we've still got some time. I'll bring all of you inside of my Divine Realm, in there, time goes much faster than outside, so you'll have a lot of time to train and not just a couple of days at most if we stayed in here."
"We'll do our best!" Nadia and Mina nodded.
"And what about me?" Jamar wondered. "I-I want to learn more too!"
"Pekora will teach you Nature Magic, and we'll bring your grandpa to the Divine Realm so he can help you learn better Fungi Magic. Tisha can teach you better sword techniques." I said. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, Jamar."
"Uncle Drake!" The little mushroom was quite excited, shedding a few tears of happiness.
