The Sky Mountain Range.
Its highest peaks pierce the heavens, earning it a reputation as the ultimate dream for every explorer and the most mysterious location on the continent. It is a realm where countless mysteries converge, overflowing with intertwined legends and myths. Simultaneously, it is feared as one of the continent’s Five Forbidden Zones—a place one must never enter if they wish to live a long life.
In this unique domain where natural wonder and primal terror coexist, a certain race has made its home for eons.
They did not possess bodies powerful enough to overcome nature’s whims with brute strength, nor did they have instincts sharp enough to sense danger and flee. They were not even close enough to mana to receive nature’s deep affection.
Nevertheless, they survived.
No matter what trials befell them, they never descended the mountain. Even when the harsh environment tormented them, they never abandoned their home. They remained there for centuries.
Through such a history, they evolved into a truly unique race.
A race capable of facing any enemy.
The most terrifying race when a fight is taken to its bitter end.
The most ‘tenacious’ of the seven races.
No matter how bleak the prospects of a battle, if it reaches the final moment, they are always the ones who emerge victorious. Just as there is always a way out even if the heavens fall, they always find a breakthrough no matter what despair strikes. They never give up under any circumstances, enduring as steadfastly as steel.
The residents of the continent called these tenacious people by one name:
The Dwarves of the Sky Mountain Range.
“Dwarves.”
* * *
“Which idiot fell into the trap?”
“A human fighter, sir.”
On the outskirts of the Black Forest, in a place where darkness lurked, numerous torches flickered. The dwarves holding them were each clad in different forms of armor. Full plate that protected the body from head to toe—top-quality gear that even renowned knights could not easily purchase. These were not merely iron plates patched together, but masterpieces forged by master craftsmen.
“What a waste of a trap. Those were set to catch knife-ears or half-breed beasts.”
Among those clad in such armor, one dwarf stood out.
He wore pitch-black armor, the color of the darkness settled over the forest. It was forged from Black Iron, a metal whose hardness was incomparable to any other.
“Take the identification tag and kick him out.”
The dwarf in the Black Iron armor skillfully issued orders. With every short command, the others moved in perfect synchronization. In the darkness, the dwarves of the Sky Mountain Range acted with terrifying efficiency. That was their hallmark.
“Deal with it quickly. It is night. There is no point in wasting time.”
If Orcs were called a race of combat, then Dwarves were called a ‘race of war.’
“I trust there is no dwarf foolish enough to want to encounter a Noble of the Night at this hour.”
Dwarves are not exceptionally strong individually. They do not possess supernatural powers like other races, nor were they born with superior physiques. Therefore, no one fears a dwarf in a ‘skirmish.’ However, it is a different story when it comes to ‘war.’
“Construct a fortress to endure the long night.”
The dwarves’ other nickname is the “Kings of War.”
“Inside a sturdy fortress, we lose to no one.”
The dwarf’s solemn voice echoed.
Simultaneously, heavy footsteps thundered from beyond the darkness. A dwarf warrior who heard the sound threw a torch; as the flames flared and the shadows receded, the enemy was revealed. A group of elves stood there holding bows—children of the forest descending upon them along the tree trunks like the wind. The moment they faced each other, the elves loosed their arrows.
And then.
Clang!
“Craftsmanship fit for a toddler.”
With a feeble sound, the elves’ arrows were deflected. The projectiles failed to leave even a scratch on the dwarves’ armor. The elves’ expressions contorted at the sight.
“Summon the spirits!” a voice as clear as a water droplet rang out.
In the next moment, flickering flames dwelled within the arrows the elves notched. A primal power that burns anything—the spirits of fire revealed themselves. However, the dwarves were not afraid. Far from it, they merely sneered.
“You lot are just fledglings. What did you learn from those old hags of the forest?”
“Shut up, you dwarf—”
“What kind of moron brings fire to the masters of flame and steel?”
The arrows wreathed in flames took the shape of birds in mid-air, diving toward the dwarves. The impact caused the dwarves’ armor to catch fire. It was a power that defied common sense—flames clinging to metal. It was a feat that could only be performed through the mystery of spirits.
However, even that failed to wound them.
“Flames forged in the forest aren’t even lukewarm. Compared to the fires birthed in our blast furnaces in the land of steel, this is pathetic. This can’t even be called fire.”
Friends of fire and steel.
The dwarves of the Sky Mountain Range are all master craftsmen who handle iron with expertise, and at the same time, they are children of fire who do not burn even when immersing themselves in roaring furnaces.
“Since you seem to be young elves, I won’t take your lives. If I did, the elders of the Great Forest wouldn’t let it slide. However, you must pay the price for touching a dwarf.”
The dwarves extinguished the flames by simply brushing them off with their bare hands. Amidst the fading heat, they pulled long iron objects from their waists. They looked like rods, or perhaps cylinders.
“Bows? How barbaric and primitive. I didn’t know you incompetent fairies were still using weapons we discarded hundreds of years ago.”
The dwarves aimed the iron objects at the elves.
“This is how you truly make fire bloom, young elves.”
In the next moment, a brilliant light exploded through the night along with a thunderous roar. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck the earth. A scorched mark was left just a step in front of the elves, where a large fire now flickered.
“Ah, ugh—”
“My… my ears, I can’t hear…”
The elves, who possessed particularly sensitive hearing, were overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of noise. Having heard the tremendous blast right in front of them, they were overcome with dizziness; some even lost consciousness on the spot. Those who endured the shock saw the terrifying flames. It was a violent fire that seemed ready to devour anything, incomparable to the flames conjured by spirits.
“Ah, ah…”
That fire was far too artificial.
It was a flame that could not occur in nature. But because of that, it was an artificial flame far more powerful and terrifying than natural fire. To the elves who lived as friends of nature, ‘that’ was far too alien.
“Hand over your identification tags and get lost. The elders of the forest might be a different story, but greenhorns like you can never defeat us. I don’t want to hurt children, so leave at once.”
At the dwarf’s words, the elves instantly lost their will to fight.
They knew. If that attack hadn’t been intended as a warning, the elves who ambushed them would have been annihilated the moment that bizarre weapon was used. They would have burned to death without ever knowing why.
“Ugh, ah…”
The elves, their fighting spirit shattered, threw their identification tags and fled.
The dwarves laughed as they watched them retreat. This was why elves were easy to deal with. If you scared them just a little and threatened their lives, they would flee without hesitation. It was a racial trait. Ageless elves could live forever as long as they weren’t murdered.
Therefore, elves tended to be excessively cautious with their lives. Since they could live forever, a serious injury meant suffering from the aftereffects for the rest of their long lives.
“The King isn’t here.”
“The Elf King is probably with the elders.”
“Hmph. Typical of those petty knife-ears.”
The dwarves checked the identification tags and shook their heads in disappointment. Regardless, they had driven off the immediate attackers. However, the guerrilla warfare was still ongoing. An urgent voice shouted from afar.
“One of the guys on shift dozed off! The Demon Race is coming!”
“That damn dwarf! He must have been drinking again because it’s night!”
“I can’t exactly blame him! In a forest like this at night, how could anyone endure without a beer? Beer and roasted pork by a campfire is the only way!”
“It’s because you say things like that that the young dwarves’ manners are going to hell!”
The situation showed no signs of ending. Incidents kept popping up one after another.
“By the way, when are we retrieving the identification tag of the human fighter who fell into the trap?”
“Pardon?”
“I believe someone went down to the trap quite a while ago, but why is there still no news…”
Amidst the chaos, the dwarf in the Black Iron armor spoke.
“Aren’t they just letting the human go and having a beer?”
“If that were the case, they would have reported it first. Something is strange.”
“If it’s strange, we can check it in a bit. Shouldn’t we deal with the other things first? Not just the demons, but those beastman bastards are also constantly pestering us…”
“No, we check the trap first.”
The voice of the dwarf, whose face was hidden by pitch-black armor and a matching helmet, was firm.
“My gut is never wrong. Let’s go.”
The dwarf in the Black Iron armor felt that he absolutely had to check the trap at this moment. It was an unexplainable intuition. The other dwarves followed behind him without a word.
There were two reasons.
First, he was a person of immense authority in the land of the dwarves. As his distinctive armor suggested, he was a soldier holding a key position in the dwarf legion—a commander who had protected the dwarves in the Sky Mountain Range for a long time.
And the second reason was:
“Well, the General’s gut is never wrong.”
Because he was a master strategist who had never lost a war and a great hero respected by all dwarves. A hero who possessed proven skill, not just authority.
Everyone called him by one name: Dwight the Man of Iron.
“Let’s go.”
Ignoring the loud noise of the battlefield, he personally moved to check the human caught in the trap. The pitfall was not far away, located on the outskirts of the territory established by the dwarves.
And then.
“…?”
Arriving at the trap, Dwight realized his intuition was right once again.
“What in the world is this?”
The pitfall, the trap set to capture enemies, was in disarray.
Inside the deep pit were a human man and woman holding their swords upward. They weren’t the only ones in the trap. There were four more dwarf warriors sprawled out, unconscious. Yes, as many as four had been taken down.
“…Tsk. I always told them not to let their guard down.”
Dwight looked at the human man and woman with a displeased face.
The gaze of the two was incredibly sharp. While he glared at them, the man swung the sword he held in his hand through the air. Then, strangely, Dwight felt as if the gentle breeze was gradually growing stronger.
As if the wind itself was responding every time that young man’s sword moved…
* * *
「It’s a success.」
Liam said, looking at the four sprawled dwarf warriors.
“Is it really okay to do this? Won’t we just incur more resentment?”
「It’s fine. Didn’t you agree to trust me? Don’t talk back.」
The answer Liam gave when I asked for help was simple. Liam instructed me to swing my sword even with my broken foot to first subdue the dwarves waiting above the trap. Fortunately, that wasn’t difficult. The dwarves let their guard down seeing us trapped, and those who descended into the cramped pit were helplessly defeated by the joint attack of Seol-yoon and me.
“You arrogant humans!”
“Didn’t we tell you to surrender quietly! Do you really have to see blood? We were going to send you back in one piece if you just handed over the identification tags!”
The dwarves who saw the scene were flying into a rage. As their voices grew louder, I became anxious. I started to wonder if I was about to lose an arm or a leg.
However, Liam was strangely calm.
「Soon, a big shot will appear to check the situation. You must hold out until then.」
“What changes if a big shot appears?”
「Everything.」
I glared at the dwarves while holding my sword.
「To overcome this crisis, we need someone other than these greenhorn dwarves.」
“…”
「Not young dwarves who know nothing, but a dwarf who knows enough. A dwarf who will recognize what you have the moment they see it and understands its meaning.」
It was hard to immediately understand what Liam meant. In the meantime, I turned to Seol-yoon.
“Can you still fight?”
“More than enough.”
Unlike me, whose foot was completely broken, Seol-yoon hadn’t suffered any major injuries. She had only slightly sprained her ankle, and her combat power hadn’t significantly plummeted. Subduing the four dwarf warriors in an instant was mostly her doing. While I was getting stronger, Seol-yoon hadn’t been idle either; her mysterious sword had struck down the enemies in an instant.
Anyway, while the tense standoff continued, Liam spoke.
「A big one has taken the bait, young descendant.」
“A big one?”
「A quite significant figure has arrived.」
With Liam’s words, a pitch-black dwarf appeared outside the trap. Looking closely, that black color was the radiance coming from the armor. Black Iron. A dwarf clad in a helmet and armor made entirely of Black Iron from head to toe appeared. I knew the moment I saw him.
“This is… insane…”
He’s a monster.
The current me is a weakling who couldn’t even touch a hair on his head no matter what I did. Doubt constantly rang alarm bells, telling me not to face him, telling me to run away.
However, Master said the opposite.
「Swing your sword, young descendant.」
“Pardon?”
「Show the sword you possess without reservation. That is your path to survival.」
“If I do that and that crazy dwarf pounces on me, what then?”
「It’s fine. That won’t happen.」
“…How can you be so sure?”
To my question filled with doubt, Liam replied.
「Because there’s no way that dwarf won’t recognize what is contained in your sword.」
There was no detailed explanation. However, I decided not to doubt any further. Because Master never lied when it came to the sword. Because when it came to the sword, Master always provided the right answer.
“Whew.”
I didn’t look away. Instead, I awakened ‘Gale.’
My life was but a single gust of wind.
My sword was the same.
And then.
“…”
The dwarf who was making eye contact with me from above the trap did not move. He didn’t say a word, didn’t move a step, and just stood there looking at me without a single tremor. Whether ‘Gale’ raged in time with the swaying blade or not, the dwarf just stood firm.
How long had it been?
“…It’s impossible.”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice was heard from very close by. It felt as if he was whispering directly into my ear. It wasn’t an illusion. When I turned my head, the dwarf was there. Without even a chance to feel him approaching, the dwarf was in front of me the moment I perceived him.
“Did I see wrongly? No, it’s far too vivid for that. I can feel it so clearly.”
“…”
“This is impossible. I heard for certain that it had vanished without a trace. I heard that every last bit was broken and snapped, disappearing into history. But, but…”
Through the gaps in the Black Iron helmet the dwarf wore, his eyes were visible.
“To think a Descendant of Steel still remained…”
The dwarf’s voice was filled with complex emotions. I couldn’t tell how the situation was unfolding.
Amidst the confusing turn of events, Liam grinned.
「Yes, as expected, he recognizes it.」
* * *
Name: Dwarf
Race: One of the seven races existing on the continent.
Description: Dwarves who have made their home on the slopes of the Sky Mountain Range. They are natural friends of fire and steel, born with an exceptional talent for creation.
