Don't Want to Wake Up?
I don't wanna wake up? "?"
At the moment when the heroes were deep in concentration on their Bahamut Style Mana Circulation training, I tilted my head at the bizarre change I spotted in Haring. Just moments ago, there'd been zero progress, but now something was clearly different.
"Puhuhu… Huhu…"
Should I say her mana circulation and flow had stabilized by leaps and bounds? Mana flowed evenly inside and out, with her circulation speed now three times faster than before. And it wasn't just speedy—it had a solid balance to it. I'd been thinking of giving her a heads-up since she was giggling to herself like an idiot, but now she was even more stable than NyaNya or Kazen. At this rate, she'd hit the conditions to form a star in no time.
It's like she's slipped into some kind of 'oneness of object and self' state…
"Unique."
Just staring into empty space and chuckling, somehow surpassing deep focus to subtly blend with the ambient mana. Was this a gift from the goddess? Or Haring's one-of-a-kind talent? The other heroes were busy just closing their eyes and concentrating, but she'd carved out her own path with this quirky routine. For once, I decided to praise her and sidled up beside her.
Right on cue, she snapped out of it, whipping her head around in surprise.
"Huh? What the—how did…"
"Good job."
Pat-pat. I stroked Haring's head, and her eyes went wide as saucers as she stared up at me.
"Pardon?"
"Keep it up like that. Might even beat NyaNya to the punch."
"???"
"You're doing great, so just keep on with what you were doing."
"…That gallery-giggling crap?"
"Huh?"
"Ah, no—er. Keep doing what I was, right?"
"Yeah."
I had no clue what her method was, but it suited her perfectly. Could be useful for the others too—or maybe just her special sauce.
If they all start cackling at thin air, it'd be weird as hell.
Training needs some seriousness to it. Fine for one person, but a bunch giggling at nothing? Nah. Haring muttered something like "Does this really work…?" and went back to blankly staring into space while breathing steadily. A little annoying, sure, but effective, so whatever…
"Ah! Got blocked!"
"……"
Maybe just let 'em train the old way.
Heroes are the world's saviors. The champions who thwart the wicked Demon King as he raises his demon hordes to conquer everything, bringing peace back to the land. Every time a Demon King rampages, the goddess picks out heroes and grants them the power to fight back—and apparently, this war's been dragging on forever. A conflict that started way before my reincarnation.
The hero-Demon King clashes went on for ages, but eighty years ago, everything flipped with one hero's arrival.
Bahamut Legion.
The strongest hero across all generations, the one who lopped off the Demon King's head. After that day, the demon armies shrank massively, ushering in an era of peace like nothing before…
"But now heroes are popping up like crazy."
Hundreds of 'em, not just one or two.
"Goddess must've sensed a crisis, right?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Me and the other heroes'll smash that evil demon army."
Deep inside the nest, I lounged comfy while the heroes fed me grapes, chomping away as I kept talking. They sat in front of me, eyes sparkling like kids at storytime. Should've been prime training hours, but they showed up loaded with tribute and begged for old tales. Wasn't planning on it, but nonstop drilling gets old too. Not feeling supervisory today anyway, so I tossed 'em a few crumbs.
Head hurts…
Always a pain to move, but today was extra bad.
"Nah, that old bat's not summoning heroes outta crisis mode."
"Huh? Then why?"
"Eh… Just wants powerhouses like Bahamut. Figures crank out a few hundred, one's bound to be a winner."
The goddess's mass-production hero strategy was wild, but not unprecedented. Once, high on Bahamut's strength, she spat out ten at once. Norm is one or two with cooldowns. Hell, she kept summoning even after the Demon King got axed—total head-scratcher.
No Demon King left, why heroes?
Legion Commanders mostly dead or sealed, bar the low-tier scrubs.
If the goddess were modern-born, she'd dump her life savings into gacha games. Then whine to the devs about no SSRs, flopping on the floor.
If only she stuck to devs.
Why drag me into her unrelated bitchfests?
"No clue."
Can't wrap my head around that woman's logic.
Swoosh. Haring, diligently peeling fruit, shot up her hand.
"Lea! Question time!"
"Gimme apple first."
"Here ya go!"
Crunch crunch. Yum.
"Shoot?"
"Yeah."
"You said Bahamut was the strongest hero ever. Even beat the emperor."
"Yup."
"How strong we talking? Compared to us?"
"You lot? Ants. Him? Stupid-strong dragon."
"Ants is harsh lol."
"For real-deng."
Even the big-shot Legion Commanders shook in their boots at Bahamut. No joke—legit. Famous story: one heard Bahamut hit the battlefield and ditched his army to bail. So fast we lost his position for a sec.
Tracked him down and offed him eventually.
Didn't behead the Demon King for nothing.
That's why I'm half-doubting while training these guys. No matter how juiced-up hundreds of mass-produced heroes get…
Can they top Bahamut's legend?
Doesn't seem likely.
"Bahamut carved 11 stars into his heart. First hero to pull that off."
"…11?!"
"Whoa, insane."
"One's already brutal…"
The heroes buzzed, hands drifting to their chests. Top progress: NyaNya, Kazen, Haring. NyaNya had half a star done—bit more mana and focus, she'd nail a full one.
NyaNya stuck out her tongue, grossed out. "Heard each core gets way harder, right?"
"Doubles every time."
Stars are basically mana storage vaults—unstable ones packed with gunpowder. Stacking more ain't easy; one clash and boom, catastrophe.
"Plenty died from botched stars bursting their hearts. Average heroes cap at seven."
"…Seven?"
"Seven yep."
"No way—stars are half-heart-sized! How cram in seven?"
"Shrink 'em. Five's ace for you scrubs."
Mass-produced types—no big expectations. Five stars each, swarm with numbers, lower commanders toast. Upper ones? Dream on, but most are dead/sealed anyway.
I opened wide. Haring and NyaNya scooted close, popping cookies in.
Nom nom. They got the drill now, no prompting. Sneaky clinging's a tad clingy, though.
"Lea’s a dragon but so squishy…"
"Hehehe… Lea’s adorable."
"Can I hug just once?!"
"Knock it off."
"Aww~ Just one squeeze! Pleeease, one time!"
"Nope."
As if. I shooed the two girl heroes off with a wave. They retreated, all pouty. Training together bonded 'em tight. Other heroes chattering freely too. In back, Kazen—looking all serious—nodded and adjusted his glasses.
"So Legion Commanders are doable at our level."
"Hundreds piled on? Yeah, doable."
"What about the Demon King?"
"We'll handle."
"Could revive though? Say someone resurrects him…"
"Hm?"
Demon King revival… I cocked my head, pondering. Resurrection magic's possible, just needs insane rare mats and dragon-tier mana—for normies or beastkin. For a beast like him? Way tougher conditions. Corpse wasn't fully nuked, so tiny chance…
"Don't wanna wake up?"
Last memory: getting dog-piled by Bahamut till decapitated. Demons try reviving? Bet he'd nope out.