Chapter 83: Creating a Hero (3)
After that, I tried teaching the hero a bunch of things, but the conclusion could be summed up pretty simply.
The hero had no talent.
And I mean, it was terrible.
Well, I already knew that. Just a quick look showed he was weak physically, had learned nothing, and his brain seemed to be lacking too, and so on.
But what could I do? I was the one who chose this hero, after all.
Still, his personality was decent enough. If I taught him well, he could become a great hero.
With that thought in mind, I spent about a week teaching the hero various things.
And then, unexpectedly, a talent was discovered within him.
A talent for endless effort.
He started gradually cutting down on his sleep, practicing writing on the back of papers and swinging a wooden sword during breaks.
Seeing the hero tirelessly pushing himself made me smile without even realizing it.
Yep, my choice wasn’t wrong. A kid who puts in that much effort is bound to become a good hero, right?
So, I figured I’d give him a gift.
“Children’s nutritional supplement! Strawberry flavor!”
“Huh?”
“Putting in effort is great, but physical growth is important too. So from now on, stop sneaking around doing stuff at night.”
“Ah, that… that was…”
“Kids need to sleep well at night to grow! Got it?”
“Y-Yes…”
The hero seemed embarrassed to be caught secretly practicing at night, bowing his head to hide his reddened face.
I mean, in this situation, anyone would feel embarrassed. If he had been doing it in secret and I somehow knew all along.
Well, let’s just brush it off. It’s not like it matters.
“W-What’s that?”
“This? Well, it’s…”
I opened the lid of the supplement and pulled out one of those little treats.
A tiny, jelly-like nutritional supplement individually wrapped. A legal drug for kids!
Of course, it’s a replica I whipped up from memory!
I tore the wrapper, popped one out, and held it up to the hero’s mouth.
“Here, say ah~”
The hero looked a bit shy but managed a little sound.
“Ah…”
And not wasting a moment, I popped that supplement right into his mouth. He looked surprised at first, but his expression quickly shifted to one of shock as he tasted the sweetness.
“Tasty?”
“Y-Yes…”
“It’s packed with all the nutrients needed for growth. Plus, I even cast a bit of magic on it, so you’re definitely gonna grow.”
A special nutritional supplement loaded with stuff for skeletal and muscular growth, and it even boosts mana growth! There probably isn’t anything better for growing!
Maybe I did go a bit overboard, but hey, it’s my first hero! I want to spoil him a little!
“If you eat one in the morning and one at night and sleep well, your body will grow like a weed. From now on, no more sneaky late-night practice, okay?”
“Yes! But, could I have one more?”
“No way. Too much nutrition isn’t good, you know.”
Especially when it comes to supplements… You gotta be careful. Kidney stones are no joke. Really.
Besides, this one has way more nutrients packed in than the original! One is definitely enough!
“Just two a day. One in the morning and one at night. Don’t go eating two all at once.”
“But if it’s two per day… and I only had one just now, isn’t it okay to have another one today?”
“No use trying to convince me that way, you little rascal!”
I gave the hero a light tap on the head, producing a loud ‘tok’ sound. Of course, I didn’t hit hard, but the sound was definitely dramatic!
“Ouch!”
“Alright, time for bed! If you stay up and do something else, I’ll know right away, understand?”
“Y-Yes…”
So the hero walked toward the room I prepared for him as his bedroom.
Good. Nutritional needs taken care of. As for education… Once he’s fully literate, I’ve got a ton of stuff to teach him.
His character is mostly formed already. Just a little polishing is all that’s needed. As for other things… Hmm… What else should I teach him?
Swordsmanship and physical training are obvious, so we can skip those. Referencing educational content from other worlds doesn’t really fit this era.
This is becoming quite the unexpected conundrum.
When I told stories to Erebus and the seven kids, just chatting was enough since they didn’t have physical bodies. But with the hero… Hmm… This is a bit tricky.
Is this what they call parenting challenges? Not easy, that’s for sure.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
So, in a very novice mom-like fashion, I floundered around trying to raise the hero while spending time teaching him various things.
Like the time he nearly dislocated his arm swinging a wooden sword the size of a two-handed sword, or when I realized I also needed to teach him how to use a one-handed sword. So I made one of a convenient size and gifted it to him too!
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Even if there were various other incidents, if I explained all of them, it’d take way too long. No need to drone on about everything.
If I bring up every little thing that happened during that time, the hero might just die of embarrassment. Yes, sometimes it’s better to keep some things to ourselves.
And during his adolescent phase… well… The hero did get a bit prickly, but he quickly realized his mistakes and asked for forgiveness. So there weren’t really any major issues to deal with.
Anyway, after all that diligent teaching, we finally reached a point where he could:
“997, 998, 999, 1000! Done!”
“Good job.”
I handed a refreshing water bottle to the hero, who had just finished putting down the sweat-soaked wooden sword.
“By the way, you’ve really bulked up.”
“All thanks to you.”
I don’t know the hero’s exact age, but if we think he was around 10 when he first pulled out the sword… About eight years have passed, so he should be around 18 now.
He’s in his teenage years, but somehow, he’s become incredibly muscular. Did that nutritional supplement happen to be a bit too potent?
He was now as built as the leading man from a weird three-part comic series.
Not that it’s a bad thing! It’s just that I kind of miss the cute charm he had as a kid.
Also, he used to have this thin, fragile vibe as a child, but now, in just eight years, he’s turned into a total muscle-bound hunk.
Because of this, his once normal airy demeanor has been overshadowed by a more intense impression.
“Why do you look so thoughtful?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Just eight years. To me, that’s just a blink of an eye.
But for a human, it’s a substantial time for a child to grow quite a bit.
Seriously, how do humans’ sense of time fly by so quickly?
“It looks like you’ve also become accustomed to the weight of that wooden sword.”
“Yeah. It did take a while, though.”
The wooden sword packed with iron cores. By weight alone, it matched the hero’s real sword. Watching him effortlessly swing it around made him seem almost like a different species.
Hmm. Those nutritional supplements may have been a tad excessive after all.
Anyway.
“You can start using the hero’s real sword now.”
“Finally!”
After receiving the wooden sword from the hero, I flicked my finger towards his sword hanging on the wall.
Then, the hero’s sword floated up, soaring toward me, obediently landing in my grasp.
“Alright, give it a try.”
At my words, the hero grabbed his sword, Chloive Solais, and held it.
Then he skillfully swung it a few times.
“Honestly, if I closed my eyes, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference – it feels exactly the same.”
“I made it feel just the same on purpose.”
If there’s any awkwardness in switching from the wooden sword to a real sword, that would be problematic.
“Now, try infusing your mana into this sword.”
“Mana…?”
“Yep, mana.”
With all those nutritional supplements you’ve had, you should have gathered enough mana by now to transform that sword! That has to count for something, right?
But the hero just stood there, holding the sword with a puzzled tilt of his head.
“What exactly is… mana?”
“Hm? You don’t know what mana is?”
“You never taught me.”
Oh, um… didn’t I?
I put mana growth features into the nutritional supplements, but I never actually taught him how to use that mana…?
I’m such a fool. How could I forget something so essential? To forget the very thing necessary for using this sword!
“I really did forget something super important.”
“Is it really that important?”
“Of course! You need that mana to unleash this sword’s powers!”
Without mana, this sword is nothing more than a big, heavy, sharp hunk of metal!
Sure, that alone makes it one of the strongest swords in this world given the era. But still!
“Well then… let’s start by learning about mana. It shouldn’t take long.”
“It’s that important, but shouldn’t take long to learn?”
“Absolutely, mana is a force that exists in everything.”
Mana dwells in every single thing that makes up this world. In little pebbles, colossal mountains, tiny critters, and even in me.
Seriously, it’s a power that’s everywhere! If I just help him recognize that power and show him how to move it, then the rest will be a piece of cake.
Especially since the hero, thanks to the nutritional supplements I gave him, probably has a ton of mana in him.
So.
“First, take off your clothes.”
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