Ch.739Raising a Hero?

I had to track Nidhogg for three days.

During those three days, the rest of us, myself included, were busy preparing to hunt the dragon.

Except for Perneisia, who had devolved from a competent alcoholic to an incompetent one, and Hush, who was busy taking care of her.

“So, you’ve awakened a Tale of Heros? What’s it called?”

I spent most of my time with Demian and Millia. If a conflict with the elves were to occur, these two would be the core of our fighting force.

During those three days, I did meet with Asha to discuss Perneisia’s situation, but unfortunately, she said it wasn’t something she could decide on her own.

Providing dwarven technology to a traitorous elf was certainly an intriguing idea, but to get a definitive answer, she needed to ask her father—the clan chief.

So, the only hero-class fighters I could mobilize were just Demian and Millia.

In other words, I needed to strengthen these two as much as possible.

“I named it Skywalk. It’s closer to flying than walking, but when I called it Sky Flying, Millia strongly objected, saying it sounded too provincial…”

“Provincial? It seems like a simple name that accurately captures the essence.”

It’s as straightforward and good as ‘The Sword That Definitely Kills.’ Though that ‘Definitely Killing Sword’ ended up becoming a sword that only kills the weak, since all enemies of equal caliber managed to counter it.

“Right? I knew I wasn’t wro—”

“You were wrong, so be quiet, Demian.”

Millia cut off Demian’s words with a stern tone and turned to me.

“Haschal, stop joking around too. Demian is naive enough to actually believe it.”

…But I wasn’t joking.

However, her expression made it clear she wouldn’t accept that I was being serious.

[Good heavens. Not one but two country bumpkins with absolutely no sense for naming things. Truly the end times are upon us.]

Hersella also expressed strong disgust at Demian’s naming sense.

‘You’re exaggerating. It’s not that bad, is it?’

[What do you mean it’s not? You two would probably name your children “Whitey” or “Baldy” if you had any.]

Like you’re any different.

‘Oh really? You think you’re different? If you named something, you’d come up with ridiculous names like “Twin Wings of the Sacred Sky” or “Celestial Light Forest” or something equally pretentious.’

[Those are quite excellent names. The fact that you can think of such names yet praise something like “Sky Flying” makes me wonder if something’s wrong with your head.]

See? Judging by how she genuinely thinks those pretentious names are cool, she must still have the sensibilities of a fifteen-year-old.

And yet she has the audacity to criticize others’ naming sense.

—-

“So what’s the effect? I heard wings sprout out.”

Dismissing Millia’s insistence that Skywalk was much better than Sky Flying, I asked Demian about the exact effect of his Tale of Heros.

Since Tales of Heros vary greatly from person to person, and the visible effect often differs from the actual function, asking the person directly was the most reliable way to understand its capabilities.

“I can fly freely, ignoring forces that try to hold or pull me down. Like a bird—no, even more freely than a bird.”

It was a vague comparison, typical of a rural commoner with no scientific knowledge, but after a few more exchanges, I could understand what ability he had acquired.

Free flight that ignores inertia and gravity.

The wings were just a visual effect; the essence of Skywalk wasn’t generating lift through wings, but continuously relocating his spatial coordinates.

In other words, it was a much more sophisticated ability than simply flying.

“After all that jumping around, you finally manifested an ability to jump to your heart’s content.”

I sighed lightly while grumbling.

I had suspected he might develop a hero’s tale related to leaping since he was always jumping around, and sure enough, my prediction came true.

And of all things, it had to be a supportive-type Tale of Heros.

If he were like me, able to overwhelm opponents with his own capabilities and skills, it wouldn’t matter, but for Demian who hadn’t reached that level yet, it was a rather ambiguous skill.

Coordinate shifting that ignores inertia for flight—Skywalk.

While certainly a good ability… unless significantly improved, unlike attack-type Tales of Heros like “Giant Slaying Sword” or defensive ones like “Unyielding Flesh,” it wouldn’t substantially increase his actual combat capability.

It would be useful for escaping when surrounded or for facing giant flying monsters, but honestly, it had little significance in human combat.

No matter how high you can fly, what use is such a skill in combat against people?

Since Demian lacks proper ranged attack methods, he would ultimately need to descend to the ground and swing his sword to defeat an opponent.

So the only practical help in human combat would be hovering up like Asha to charge forward, or accelerating a slash by descending from a height as if falling.

Compared to the martial prowess displayed by those with attack-specialized Tales of Heros, it was truly a modest effect.

I’m only grumbling because it’s Demian; if any other swordsman had manifested such a Tale of Heros, I would have cursed first and asked questions later.

…Why am I giving Demian special treatment?

Well, that’s because he’s Demian.

What would be impossible for others, Demian could compensate for the attack and defense power his Tale of Heros lacked through other means.

The holy sword and holy armor. Giving him those would be enough.

The holy sword would supplement Demian’s lacking attack power and ranged attack capability, while the holy armor would grant considerable defensive power, if not quite at the level of Unyielding Flesh.

…Nidhogg was hiding in the Sky Mountains, wasn’t it?

Then, while taking it down, should I also look for the holy sword…?

The holy sword is hidden in the northeastern part of the Sky Mountains, quite some distance from Nidhogg’s location… but seeing how things are going these days, if I don’t retrieve the holy sword now, I might not even have time to look for it later.

Finding the holy sword buried somewhere in the mountains will be tough, but once found, I can draw it immediately.

Since Demian has reached the realm of heroes… with a few materials prepared, it shouldn’t be difficult to awaken the sword’s true name.

Carlos’s sword, Joyeuse?

That’s just a false name Carlos gave it.

According to the original setting, Carlos gave it a false name so no one would know the sword’s origin, and sealed its true power so it wouldn’t be revealed during normal use. I don’t know why.

Perhaps there was a reason the sword’s true identity shouldn’t be revealed… or maybe even Carlos found it burdensome to always carry the sword at full power.

Well, the reason doesn’t matter anymore.

What’s important is that the holy sword Joyeuse is in a sealed state, and I know how to break that seal.

The seal inscribed along with the false name. When that seal is broken, the holy sword will finally reveal its true power, along with its true name that was never recorded in history.

The supreme divine artifact forged by Elpinel, its true name is—

“Haschal?”

“Huh? Why are you call—oh right, we were talking.”

At Demian’s voice calling my name with a puzzled expression, I stopped my contemplation and returned to the original topic.

—-

“What was I about to say… ah, right. I was going to point out the direction for improving your Tale of Heros.”

While it may not be suitable for human combat now, that could change depending on how it’s developed.

Even my “Defying Fate” started as a simple technique where the swung blade arrived quickly, but…

After repeated improvements, it evolved into a transcendent skill where only I move at normal speed in a world where time has nearly stopped.

“Direction for improvement?”

“Yes. In my view, the core of your Tale of Heros isn’t the ability to fly through the sky, but the movement that ignores inertia… that is, the fact that you can drastically change your flight path without recoil or resistance.”

The inertia-negating property unique to coordinate shifting. Compared to that ability, flight was merely a minor skill.

Not only mages, but even those like me and Orhan who gained flight through bizarre methods couldn’t be free from inertia.

Both Orhan and I used sudden stops and sharp turns frequently, but that wasn’t ignoring inertia—it was applying enough force to negate inertia’s effects.

In other words, to reverse direction while maintaining the same speed, we had to hit ourselves with nearly twice the force of our forward thrust.

We endured the resulting shock and strain with our incredibly tough bodies.

If someone else tried to imitate us, they’d be lucky to just pass out… in the worst case, they might explode and die in mid-air. It’s that insane.

But Demian didn’t need to do that. Unlike us who offset inertia with force, he completely nullified inertia itself.

It was a top-tier ability among movement-type powers.