Little Flame Dragon-chan's Name Revealed!
“Lea-nim~”
“Lea-chan, please weaken the golem a bit…”
“Lea-nim! I cleared today's quota—can I go now?”
“Lea-nim, just one hug plea─”
“No.”
I swatted away Haring and a few heroes lunging at me before flopping down into the nest. The vibe had shifted a lot in the past few days. Before, they trained with some fear of me, but now? No distance at all.
They approached without hesitation, chattering away, and I gave half-assed replies to brush them off.
Feels like it started after I told 'em my name...
“What's your name again?”
Just correcting their wrong guess, and suddenly no walls? Bizarre, but whatever. They were sticking closer, but not crossing lines yet. Fine for now.
Time passed, two weeks after the name drop.
“Cleared!!!”
“Finally!”
“At last, one-on-one with Lea-chan…”
Successes started popping up, one by one. Faster than my three-week estimate—by a whole week. Thought it'd take longer with their low stamina and strength, but heroes gonna hero.
I eyed the six grinning heroes before me.
“Finally, dragon techniques…”
“Dream big.”
“Huh?”
“You're far from ready. Far.”
First up: short, crisp green-haired guy with a long spear. Hidni. Worked his butt off circling the nest. This generation's heroes all had weird names.
“So, can I learn magic now?”
“Basics, sure.”
“Yay!”
Second: long brown-haired mage girl. The only magic user among the eleven trainees. One other was grinding golems with no progress, so basically solo. NyaNya—weird name like the rest.
Cat-like name. And she looked the part.
Third…
“Heh heh heh… finally with Lea-chan…”
“...Don't like you.”
“Huh?”
“100 more laps.”
Creepy black shaggy-haired guy with dual axes. Yugi, apparently.
Yugi? Like 'abandoned' or something? Weird, but mass-produced heroes—whatever.
“But I'm really doing it?”
“Yup.”
“...For real?”
“Yup.”
Tears in his eyes, Yugi trudged toward the clearing.
“Heh heh heh… the curtain rises on my grand journey.”
“Doesn't seem grand.”
“Watch me. The evil demon king threatening the world will fall—by this hand.”
“Demon king's already dead.”
“Huh?”
Fourth: intellectual glasses guy, black hair. Kazen. The one who spilled the hero beans. Carried no weapons.
Thought maybe martial artist at first, but no training. When I asked, he chuckled, pushing up his glasses.
“Heh heh. Actually, I have an amazing power…”
“He's a noob. Total beginner.”
“Hasn't even job-changed, what was he doing?”
“Ahem! Quiet! Quiet!”
“?”
Anyway, last two: Haring and Yongba.
“You sure we can break that golem?”
“I shot all my arrows tho…”
They'd already cleared basics. Still missing golem vitals, but quotas passed ages ago.
Why not teach sooner? One by one? When?
Might as well batch 'em. Planned for all eleven, but last five showed no signs—screw 'em, DIY later.
“Teach the other five when you master it.”
“Us?”
“Yup. That's the least.”
Not rocket science; smart ones could handle.
I sat them cross-legged at a distance, circulated mana.
Whooooosh…!!
“Let's begin?”
Bahamut Style Mana Circulation.
Basic knowledge even for knights or mercs. Absorb ambient mana, cycle and store it inside.
Tons of methods, but I picked the one suiting heroes best.
Bahamut's method.
World-saving, strongest hero ever—top-tier circulation. Royal secret, sure, but…
'Teach 'em well,' he said. Just passing on his technique. Can't complain.
“No point teaching inefficient junk, right?”
“Yessir…”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!”
“Enter, mana!!!”
“Hyperventilating…”
“......”
Problem: they sucked at it.
I shook my head at the five cross-legged, panting heroes (Yugi still lapping). Not hard—just breathe.
“Try harder.”
“Noooot... heek.”
“Breathe, breathe.”
“Heh heh… pathetic.”
“Hm?”
“This basic training's a breeze for me…”
“Dead?”
I poked frozen-stiff Kazen. How'd basic circulation jam his mana roads?
Impressive fail.
Amused, I flushed mana to loosen him.
Next…
“Breathe! Can't... Lea-niiiim...!”
“Spit some mana first. Or you'll pig out.”
Veins bulging on NyaNya's skin. I thumped her heaving back.
Overeater. Some can't sense mana; she inhaled too much. Should exhale 90-95%, but gulped it all—boom, issues. Good thing no core, or heart explosion.
Forced her mana out, checked others.
Hm.
Hidni half-absorbed, half-spat. Yongba grimacing in focus. Haring gaping like a fish—zero intake.
She sky-gazed, teary.
“Heavens!!!!”
“Whoa!”
“Why this trial on me...!!!”
“......”
“Grant me ascension too…”
“It's been one hour.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
She scratched her head sheepishly, gaped again. Swallowing air, not mana.
“No hope. No answer up here…”
Could these guys really become proper heroes?