Chapter: 84
“Huh?! What did you say?!”
“I said to take off your clothes.”
At my words, the hero looked half horrified with surprise.
Hmm. Is this really something to be that shocked about? When he was little, he didn’t even want to bathe, so I had to forcibly strip him and toss him into the warm tub.
“Um, well, that is, I mean….”
“You’re making such a fuss over just getting undressed. Geez!”
I quickly grabbed the hero’s top and ripped it off with all my strength.
It was made of pretty tough fabric, but it tore like tissue paper against my might.
The hero ended up helplessly exposing his bare back to me.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, this feels a bit weird. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it later!
“W-W-Why are you doing this?!”
“It’s nothing! It’ll be over soon!”
“Noooooo!!!”
Such pointless resistance from the hero was swiftly suppressed.
“If you’d stopped squirming, we could have finished this ages ago. What’s the big deal? Have you forgotten the times I had to bathe you when you were little?”
“But… it’s embarrassing….”
Oh well. I had the hero sit down, then carefully placed my hand on his back.
“Ugh!”
“Stay quiet. If you can’t handle this much, how are you planning to protect anyone else?”
“Ugh!”
Well, honestly, it’s not my problem.
I placed my hand on the hero’s back and slowly squeezed out a thread of mana, gently pushing it into his body bit by bit.
“Ugh!”
The weird sensation of something foreign entering made the hero jump in surprise.
What a baby. Acting like it’s the end of the world.
I moved the mana I had just injected around, stimulating the hero’s dormant mana, and soon enough, the hero’s mana began to respond, following mine.
Good. This is going smoothly. The trickiest part is making sure I’m only using the bare minimum amount of mana so his body doesn’t freak out when it enters!
If I hadn’t been careful, I might have blown the hero up with too much mana. Better to be cautious!
Anyway, my mana flowed through the hero’s body, then back out, repeating this cycle.
By letting the mana in and out, we’re working on developing his sensitivity to it.
“How does it feel?”
“It feels… tingly, like something is coming in and out.”
“Exactly. That’s the feeling. That sensation is mana itself. Keep focusing on it.”
“Focusing isn’t exactly easy….”
The hero’s voice was strained, but I just ignored it.
The mana I had infused began circulating in the hero’s body before moving back out again. In the process, it stimulated his own dormant mana.
Slowly, the hero’s mana began to stir. Good. There’s a reaction.
Prompted by my mana, the hero’s mana started moving, gradually becoming more active.
This should be enough. I slowly withdrew the mana I’d pushed into him and took my hand off his back.
The hero let out a soft sigh, seemingly missing the strange sensation caused by my mana.
“Huh….”
“Now, can you feel the mana lying dormant inside you?”
“Yes. I can feel the mana starting to stir.”
“Try to move that mana with your will. If you can do that, you’ll unlock the full potential of the hero’s sword.”
“Alright… I’ll give it a shot….”
And thus, mana control training was officially added to the hero’s training regimen.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
What is mana?
The driving force behind using magic.
A mysterious power that flows throughout the world.
A blessing given to this world by the divine.
The realization of a will that aims to create change.
The very lifeblood coursing through the veins of existence.
The potential to achieve anything.
It is said that the first beings to master mana were the dragons.
In a distant ancient era, long before humans existed. The age of dragons.
Back then, the dragons, who ruled the land, handled mana with ease, using it like an extension of themselves and mainly casting primitive magic through sheer willpower.
Unlike humans and other races, who must recite incantations and draw magical circles just to cast a single spell, the dragons simply used magic as they wished.
Imagine being able to shoot fireballs with a casual snap of your fingers or soar into the sky with just a little jump.
However, no human has ever existed who could perform such feats. No human has ever had such a high affinity for mana.
There’s only a barely surviving legend of an unnamed hero who accomplished acts resembling primitive magic… but really, humans couldn’t possibly have something like a dragon’s heart.
It was probably just an exaggeration of the hero’s legendary deeds.
– A lecture from an intermediate class at the Kingdom’s Magic Academy
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The hero quickly began adapting to mana.
He seemed to be getting the hang of physical enhancements with mana and could even shoot off simple mana blasts… well, sort of, but the ability of the hero’s sword kept absorbing his mana, so it wasn’t very effective.
Still, he had become so good at manipulating mana that he could even hover for a short while now.
Seems like he’s ready to harness the powers of the hero’s sword.
“Now, let’s try using the abilities that come with the hero’s sword.”
“Took long enough.”
“Took long? It’s only been about a year….”
“A year is a long time, you know.”
Ah, right. A year is indeed a considerable amount of time for a human.
For me, it’s just the blink of an eye, but I guess for someone else, it can feel long.
“Alright then, take the hero’s sword in your hand and channel your mana into it.”
I had already programmed the hero’s mana pattern into Chloive Solais, so once he channeled his mana, the recognition process would be completed.
“I channeled it in.”
“Great. Now shout ‘Henshin!'”
Initially, I intended just the mana pattern to trigger the transformation, but it just seemed a bit too boring!
So, I decided that saying ‘Henshin!’ would immediately activate the transformation!
A long transformation chant is fine, but keeping it simple has its merits as well!
“Huh? Oh, um… Henshin!!”
With the hero’s shout, the sword began to glow and transform.
Clang! Clang!!
The armor pieces that made up the sword blade detached and efficiently adorned the hero’s body – covering his arms, torso, and legs with the blade’s armor.
Hmm… if I had just made a few more adjustments, I could have totally pulled off a transformation sequence straight out of a tokusatsu show…?
No, wait. If I thought of it as summoning the pieces from a different space… wouldn’t that let me recreate those transformations?
In the midst of these unnecessary thoughts, the hero’s transformation finally finished.
“This is… what on earth…?”
“Another ability of the hero’s sword – the Agathlam Silver Armor.”
The hero started inspecting the armor now clinging to his body from all angles.
It looked as if it was custom-fitted to his body, with absolutely no awkwardness and a perfect size.
Of course, I used magic! It synchronizes and adjusts its size automatically based on the wearer’s body!
“This is… incredible….”
“Yeah, it’s pretty extraordinary. Who do you think made it?”
I poured a lot of effort into this item, so it better be spectacular!
“That armor can block any blade. The parts covered by that armor can’t ever be harmed. As long as you watch for openings, it’ll make you virtually invincible.”
Honestly, with the current level of civilization, even leaving a mark on this armor would be challenging. Monsters’ fangs and claws would struggle to pierce it.
Unless dwarf smithing techniques improve dramatically, it’ll likely hold the title of the ultimate armor for quite a while.
The hero is vital for protecting this world, so gear to protect him is equally important.
“And this sword…”
“Looks just like the wooden sword I gave you before, right?”
An ordinary one-handed sword – resembling the wooden sword he previously received. Another form of Chloive Solais after shedding its armor.
“When you first handed me just the wooden sword, I wondered why you were giving me this too… turns out there was a reason.”
“Yep. Everything I do has a purpose.”
The hero examined the one-handed sword closely. It was thin and elegant, but its sharpness was comparable to a greatsword.
“You can either sweep away everything with a greatsword or defend yourself using this armor and one-handed sword while fighting. Choose as you like and fight.”
“I like that! So… how do I take this off?”
The hero continued to inspect the armor. But he looked a bit flustered, as there weren’t any seams visible on this seamless armor.
Well, it’s not your average armor, that’s for sure.
“Just say ‘Henshin Kaijo!’ which means ‘Release Transformation.'”
“Henshin Kaijo!”
Suddenly, the armor magically detached itself and reformed back into the shape of the greatsword.
The hero looked thrilled at the sight of the newly transformed sword.
Well, if I managed to get such a sword, I’d be pretty pleased too!
I couldn’t help but smile at the joyous expression on the hero’s face.
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