When I said, "You can be a hero," to a child with no talent, he really started to become a hero, so I acted like I knew what I was doing, like I was a wise master.

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One morning, as usual, I was training with the Hero Dan. However, something was a little different. It was that we were training a bit away from the village.

We were in a dense place surrounded by forests. A slight light piercing between the trees illuminated us. Despite the light only piercing slightly, the hero in front of my eyes was shining greatly as usual.

This person… will only shine for another ten years…

I have to become stronger!!

“Please!”

“Come at me from anywhere.”

The hero points his wooden sword at me. There is no signal, I’m allowed to decide when to start. Everything is left up to me in this situation, and I step forward right away. I must not waste even a second of this time.

The sword I swung down was defended by him. Moreover, he pinpointed my blade with the tip of his sword. I don’t have time to be surprised by the miraculous thing that happened in an instant. Pull back once, and then swing down… pretending to do so, intentionally making a miss, and then swing upwards.

Of course, that won’t land a hit. He didn’t even try to defend against the feinted swing from above. He must have known everything.

The insight of Hero Dan, who is even said to be able to foresee the future, I had no intention of underestimating it. However, I felt like he knew even the depths of my heart and even things that I couldn’t know myself, and it made my hair stand on end.

“I’m going to attack a little now.”

…A little

What does he mean by “a little”…? The impact was like a rock falling from directly above. The explosive power was like being slapped by the hand of a giant from the side. How is that “a little”!?

From my perspective, it’s a tempest.

Heavy yet flexible, and at the same time fast. It was too fast for my own eyes to follow. But somehow, I managed to keep up. Somehow, I endured without getting hit even once.

However, my hand was shaking. My hand and the sword were heavy as lead from the aftershock of the vibrations they’d taken.

“You’ve improved a little.”

At the end of a few seconds of exchange, my stamina hit rock bottom. And then, a meteorite fell from above. The blow was so strong that I almost had a hallucination of my body being crushed on the spot.

The hero’s sword didn’t crash into my head, it was stopped just before. I was on my knees from the overwhelming force.

“Ah, ah…”

I was at a loss for words. Even though he didn’t have any intent to kill, I learned that someone who could easily crush me could easily instill fear.

“Take a short rest.”

I rested as he suggested. However, I immediately stood up and challenged him again. The result was the same as always; I ended up in a complete mess and covered in sweat.

“There’s a waterfall nearby. It would be good if you took a bath there.”

“Oh, yes!”

Indeed, if I sweat that much, both the villagers and the Menmen might find it suspicious. I stripped off my clothes and took a bath in the waterfall. The Hero seemed to do the same.

“Excuse me,”

“What is it?”

“Do you never take off your mask even when you’re bathing…?”

“Do you have a problem?”

“No, I don’t.”

It didn’t feel like he was bathing at all. After all, the waterfall water was being deflected by his iron mask, and sometimes I felt like I didn’t quite understand Hero Dan. Well, it’s not like I could understand him at my level…

While bathing, I inadvertently glanced at Hero Dan’s lower body. Seeing that, I trembled. Wait… this is… I had never seen Hero Dan’s face before. Furthermore, I had never seen his physique.

I was curious about how well-defined his body was. Seeing it up close, I felt an overwhelming strength from his firm and simultaneously well-defined physique. I felt like I needed to reach at least this level to become a hero. But… his lower body, is this… is this something that can be developed with training?

“Um, uh”

“What is it?”

“That… does the size of the lower body… have anything to do with the talent of a hero…?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, that… like Hero-sama, big――”

“――Are you an idiot?”

“Yes, I am. I’m sorry.”

It seems that the size doesn’t seem to have any relation to a hero’s talent. I somehow felt relieved. When the bath was over, he started to talk about the overall impression of the training.

“Now… what do you think of yourself?”

“Well, I feel like I’m stronger than before!”

“I see. I feel the same way too.”

The fact that Hero Dan felt the growth with me made me clench my fists in joy. However, he said it matter-of-factly.

“However, it could also be said that you have become accustomed to my movements. The reason why you can match with me in that training is because you’re accustomed to my movements, and you know to some extent where the next impact will come from.”

“Ye, yes.”

“It’s closer to a reflex than thought.”

“Ref..reflex?”

It’s a word I’ve never heard before. It might be because I’m ignorant… But Hero Dan tells me calmly without sighing at my ignorance.

“It’s more of a sensation than a brain. If you touch something hot, you instantly move your hand away, right? It’s the same as that, you’re already moving before you feel the need to move your hand because it’s hot.”

“Ah, yes, I see…”

“It might work well with me because you’re accustomed to me, but it might not work with others. That’s something you’ll learn from experience… Can you use magic?”

“I can’t…”

“Don’t be so down every time. I’ll teach you from here.”

“What!?”

“Starting next week.”

“Ne…next week…”

It’s frustrating, I want to be taught more, if possible, I want this person to teach me magic from tomorrow… but he’s busy, Hero Dan…

“Good luck, Will. Let’s also work on the Shield of Beginning next week.”

“Re…really!?”

“Yes.”

I can’t believe I can get the legendary Shield of Beginning… I want to treasure it for a lifetime! I always sleep with the Sword of Beginning, and if I can sleep with the Sword and Shield of Beginning together, I feel like I could have nice dreams!!

“Will. Don’t rush too much. You won’t grow drastically.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But there are moments when what you’ve been doing suddenly piles up. Now is the time to endure and solidify the foundation for stacking up.”

“Yes, sir!

He saw through my eagerness for strength. This guy is really amazing!!

“I’ll be heading home for now.”

“Alright.”

Saying that, I headed home for the time being. Morning practice, afternoon practice, and one more training before the night. The training basically consists of three parts, although it can vary depending on fatigue and Hero Dan’s schedule. I’m definitely tired from all this training.

At this point, I’m already fatigued. However, I’ll push on, because from next week I’ll be getting magic lessons and the Shield of the Beginning!!

I felt invigorated and sprinted through the field more energetically than usual.