Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"Initially, the kingdoms connected to Yggdrasill were 9, including Midgard, the kingdom in which we are currently located. We don't know if they were all transported to this planet, because since that day we have stopped fighting, because of the defeat suffered by the Frostsinners" the blacksmith God said.

"Damn... This story is so complicated" Karl said, scratching his head as he listened intently to every word.

"However, I doubt that the 'bad guys' have been eliminated. I think somewhere on this planet, Hel and her brothers Fenrir and Jormungandr, are planning something. And the elves... I don't think shrewd beings like the Ljosalfars and Dokkalfars have disappeared for good. I told you, kid... after that day we had no interest in making war... the enemy is something much bigger this time... even bigger than the Gods themselves" Weland continued, concluding the story. 

Dag stood still and thought, looking puzzled at his friends, who in a few hours had completely changed the way they saw things. 

Weland walked to the Red Executioner, who was still on the ground where Dag had left her to fight him.

He grabbed it and walked back to the anvil. 

Dag merely looked at him, without saying anything, confident that he would make it a more maneuverable and easy-to-use weapon.

"I've never modified a weapon forged by Soul Fusion, I can't guarantee it will work" the blacksmith said, turning to Dag.

"We can't say we didn't try" Dag said with a smile.

As enemies, there now seemed to be an understanding between him and Weland, and Dag was happy about it.

"Choose one of those" the blacksmith continued, pointing to one of the few walls with the weapons still hanging. 

There were many one-handed axes and several swords.

Dag looked and wielded some of them, trying to shake them, pretending to be in battle.

After several tries, he chose one. 

It was a normal one-handed axe, with a sturdy handle and a single blade, thick and sharp, with a metal spike on the other side.

"This one" he said, handing the brand new weapon into the hands of the blacksmith, who placed it on the anvil. 

Then he took the Red Executioner and approached the lava pool.

He completely immersed the double-headed axe inside the boiling magma and with it, even his arm, which did not feel the heat.

When he pulled it out, he placed it on the anvil, next to the new one-handed axe.

The Red Executioner was glowing when the blacksmith began to hit it with the hammer.

With a fatigued expression, Weland repeatedly struck the blades of the axe, bending them so that he could extract the deer head with the two ruby eyes.

Finally, when the blades completely bent, the blacksmith forcefully pulled the metal piece into which the power of the weapon was concentrated and detached it.

When the deer head was unplugged from its original position, its eyes lit up, releasing a kind of red mist, which spread across the room until it faded among the acidic gases of the hot magma.

Weland grabbed again the deformed carcass of the Red Executioner and threw it into the lava pool, without saying a word.

Dag and his companions continued to attend the trial.

Before the blacksmith proceeded, he turned to Dag and looked him intently in the eye.

After a few seconds of glance, Weland walked away from the anvil and picked up Mimungr from the ground, who remained there after Karl and Reidar had incredibly managed to disarm him.

Mimungr, after Weland's transformation into its true form, had grown in volume and weight, becoming as big as a two-handed sword.

When he approached Dag and the others with the sword in his hand, Reidar and Karl became frightened, believing that the blacksmith intended to attack them again, but he placed his sword on the anvil.

"What is he doing?" thought Dag, while Weland, holding his sword still, grabbed the sledgehammer.

Before he hit the weapon, he looked at it one last time, as if he was saying goodbye to a dear friend.

"Weland, you don't have to..." Dag tried to say, but he was interrupted by an incredibly loud metallic sound.

The blacksmith repeatedly struck the fiery red blade of his sword, until it broke, releasing a red liquid.

He grabbed a piece of the blade and poured the liquid on the blade of the axe destined for Dag, under his incredulous gaze.

When the liquid slipped on the metal of the blade, it imbibed and turned red, like that of Mimungr that had just been destroyed. 

Soon after, he took the deer's head and placed it between the red blade and the top of the handle, striking repeatedly. 

This time, the shots were different, less violent.

With the mastery that only a divine blacksmith could possess, Weland was able to perfectly fit the deer's metal head into the new weapon.

He took it and lifted it, checking that the blade had no defects and that the power of the Soul Fusion stones was still active.

"Here it is, it's ready" he said, handing it over to Dag.

Dag grabbed his new weapon, looking closely at it.

It was perfect in every detail: the curved blade had turned blood-red and on the edge, the same runes that were embedded on the rocky door appeared.

"Weland... your sword... you destroyed it" Dag said, looking at Mimungr, whose blade was broken, rendering it unusable.

"Remembering the history that Asgard has lived in these years, I understood many things. I don't care if Odin wants to punish me, but I've decided to trust you. Your powers, even if they're unknown, are enormous. If you will never lose your consciousness, you'll be able to accomplish great things... things not even the Alfather would be able to fulfill" Weland said, tears streaming from his eyes as he smiled melancholically as he looked at the remains of his legendary weapon.

"I will be able to avenge you. There must be a way. But first I have to gather the greatest army on the planet and to do that, my powers are not enough... I need to earn the emblems, until I get the first of them, the one that King Einar owns" Dag said, trying to reflect.