Making a Hero (3)
After that, I tried teaching the hero all sorts of things, but the conclusion could be summed up simply. The hero had no talent. And not just a little—he was hopelessly talentless.
Hmm. Well, I knew that already. Even a quick glance showed his body was weak, he hadn't learned anything, so his head was empty, and so on. But what could I do? I'd chosen this hero myself.
Still, his character was solid enough. If I trained him right, he could become a fine hero. With that in mind, about a week into teaching him various things, I discovered an unexpected talent in the hero.
The talent for endless effort.
He practiced writing on the back of paper by cutting down on sleep bit by bit, swung a wooden sword during breaks, and so on. His relentless diligence brought a smile to my lips without me even realizing it.
Hmm. See? My choice was spot on. A kid this hardworking would make a great hero.
So, time for a gift.
"Children's nutritional supplement! Strawberry flavor!"
"Pardon?"
"Effort's good and all, but growing your body matters too. So no more sneaking around at night doing who-knows-what."
"Ah, um... that is..."
"Kids need to sleep at night to grow! Got it?"
"Yeees..."
The hero, embarrassed at being caught practicing in secret at night, hung his head to hide his flushed face.
Hmm. Yeah, he'd feel shy in a spot like this. Doing it on the sly, only to realize I'd known all along.
I get it. Totally.
"B-but... what's that?"
"This? Well..."
I unscrewed the lid of the supplement and pulled one out. Tiny jelly-like nutritional gels, individually wrapped in plastic. Kids' legal drugs. Of course, replicas I'd recreated from memory!
I tore open the packaging, took one out, and held it to the hero's mouth.
"Here, say ahh~."
The hero hesitated shyly, then murmured in a tiny voice.
"Ahh..."
I popped it right in. He looked a bit startled at first, but then his expression shifted to wide-eyed wonder at the sweetness on his tongue.
"Tasty, right?"
"Y-yes... it is..."
"Packed full of nutrients for growth. Plus, I've enchanted it, so you'll definitely grow."
Skeletal growth, muscle growth, and even mana growth—a custom supplement! Probably nothing better for growing!!
It might be a tad overkill, but hey, first hero ever. Gotta spoil him a little.
"One in the morning, one at night, and sleep well. Your body'll shoot up in no time. No more secret nighttime practice, okay?"
"Yes ma'am. Um... could I have just one more?"
"No. Too much nutrition isn't good."
Especially with supplements... Gotta be careful. Kidney stones are scary. Kidney stones.
And this one's even more nutrient-dense than the original! One's plenty!
"Two a day. Morning and night. Eating both at once isn't good."
"B-but if it's two a day... I've only had one today, so two should be fine, right?"
"Nice try convincing me, kiddo!"
I flicked his forehead with a sharp thwack! Of course, just a light knuckle-rap that didn't really hurt. But the sound was loud!
"Ow!"
"Now off to bed. If you stay up doing anything else, I'll know right away. Got it?"
"Yeees..."
With that, the hero shuffled off to the room I'd given him.
Hmm. Good. Nutrients covered. For education... Once he masters reading and writing, plenty more to teach.
His personality's already pretty solid. Just needs a little polish.
As for the rest... Hmm... What else?
Swordsmanship and physical training are obvious. But referencing curricula from other worlds... Doesn't fit this era.
Now I'm stressing over something random. When I told stories to my seven kids, including Erebos, they had no bodies, so tales were enough. But the hero... Hmm... Tricky.
Is this what parenting's like? Not easy, huh.
And so, feeling like a total newbie mom, I fumbled my way through raising the hero, teaching him all sorts of things over time.
Like the time he nearly dislocated his arm swinging a two-handed sword-sized wooden blade, or realizing I needed to teach one-handed swords too and making him a new wooden one to match. Stuff like that.
Plenty more incidents, but explaining every single one would drag on forever. No need.
Digging them all up might embarrass the hero to death. Yeah. Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.
Plus, teenage moodiness... Hmm. He's a good kid, so he got a bit prickly now and then, but he'd reflect and apologize quick. No big deal.
Anyway, after all that diligent training...
"997, 998, 999, 1000! Done!"
"Good work."
I handed a cool water bottle to the sweat-drenched hero as he set down his wooden sword.
"You've really bulked up, by the way."
"Thanks to you."
I don't know his exact age, but figuring he drew the sword around 10... Eight years later, about 18 now.
Teenage years, but why's he so ripped? Too many nutrients?
Like the protagonist from some weird manga part 3. Not that it's bad.
Just... misses that cute, chubby kid vibe. And he was so slim and delicate back then—eight years, and now he's all bulging muscles and macho. The old airy innocence got buried under all that beef, giving him a more striking presence.
"Something wrong?"
"Nah, nothing."
Just eight years. A blink for me. But for humans, enough time for a kid to grow into a young man.
Humans' time really flies.
"Looks like you're used to that weighted wooden sword now."
"Yeah. Took a while, though."
Wooden sword packed with iron cores, weighted to match his actual sword. Watching him wield it so fluidly made him seem like a different species from other humans.
Hmm. The supplements were definitely overkill.
Anyway.
"Guess you're ready for the real hero's sword."
"Finally."
I took the wooden sword from him, snapped my fingers at the hero's sword on the wall. It floated over obediently and settled into my hand.
"Here. Try it."
The hero gripped his sword, Cloud Solarus, and swung it a few times with practiced ease.
"Honestly, eyes closed, I can barely tell the difference."
"Made it feel exactly the same."
No point switching from wood to steel if it felt off.
"Now, channel mana into your sword."
"Mana...?"
"Yeah. Mana."
With all those supplements, he should've built up plenty! Enough to transform the sword, at least!
But the hero just tilted his head, sword in hand.
"What's... mana?"
"Huh? You don't know mana?"
"You never taught me."
Oh. Right... I added mana growth to the supplements but forgot to teach him how to use it?
What am I, an idiot?
How do you forget something that crucial! Mana's the key to using this sword!
"I forgot something really important."
"That crucial?"
"You bet. You need mana to unlock this sword's power!"
Without mana, it's just a big, tough, sharp greatsword. Top-tier in this world, sure. But given the era!
"Then... let's start with mana. Won't take long."
"Something that important, and it doesn't take long to learn?"
"Of course. Mana's the power in everything."
It's in everything that makes up this world. Tiny pebbles, massive mountains, little bugs, even me.
Everything has it. Just awaken it and learn to move it, and it'll flow naturally after.
Especially for the hero—those supplements gave him a ton of mana.
So.
"First, take off your clothes."