My Disciples Think I’m Strong

“Lady Aerial.”

Not long after Praus entered the Brihi Forest, Dex called out to Aerial.

“What is it?”
“What is Lord Praus going to do? Is he going to kill the monsters?”
“Kill the monsters? Him?”

Recalling Praus’s physical abilities, which were hardly different from an ordinary villager’s, Aerial let out a mocking laugh.

“I’m sure Lord Praus could easily slaughter wolf monsters and the like.”

‘Hmm. Why do these children think Praus is powerful? True, he exudes a formidable aura, but… if he crossed swords with me even once, he’d realize how weak he is.’

“…Perhaps so. You were the first to speak to me in such a manner in hundreds of years.”

Aerial decided it would be more entertaining to let them think Praus was powerful.

‘Let’s see what you’re up to.’

Even after entering quite deeply into the forest, I sensed no signs of activity.
Despite lighting a torch to proceed, the monsters still didn’t seem to notice me.

Thanks to the Purification Stone, prolonged exposure to mana wasn’t an issue, but I didn’t want to linger in this eerie forest any longer than necessary.

“Then there’s only one way.”

I closed and reopened my eyes, focusing power into them.

[The Intimidation skill has been activated.]

Maintaining Intimidation, I surveyed my surroundings.
Monsters have always been creatures true to their instincts. They couldn’t help but react to my Intimidation.
Just as I was about to relax my gaze and take another step, I heard it.

Grrrr—!

The sounds of beasts came from all directions. Fortunately, they seemed to have sensed my Intimidation properly.
Only then did numerous hostile presences manifest themselves towards me, one by one revealing their forms.

Ordinary animals would have been cowed by my Intimidation and fled, but monsters were beings that didn’t choose flight.
They thought only of killing and devouring their prey.

I slowly backpedaled. The monsters lurking in the forest had begun identifying me as prey.
Judging by their silhouettes, each one was easily over two meters in size. I could see around ten of them at a rough estimate.
It was a larger group than I had expected.

“Wow, there are a fucking lot.”

After frankly voicing my admiration, I swallowed dry saliva.

Grrrr!
The beast-like sounds grew closer. Rustling noises from behind suggested they were attempting to surround and prevent my escape.

“You think you can catch me?”

They probably could catch me, yes.

Thanks to Swift Movement, I was confident I wouldn’t be caught, but if I tripped over a rock or tree root, I would die with a hundred percent certainty.
While this was a path I had already traveled, making it more familiar than when I entered, I couldn’t be aware of every inch of the ground.
Still, if it meant survival, I had no choice.

[The Swift Movement skill has been activated.]

I immediately turned around and swiftly retreated.
No matter how monstrous, the wolf monsters couldn’t easily keep up with Swift Movement.

Illuminating the ground with the torch, I could barely make out where to place my steps with my eyes.
Then, in that instant, a wolf opened its jaws right beside me, lunging at me.

“Tch!”

I swung the torch, striking the wolf’s maw.

Crack!

“Gyaaah!”

The impact sent the torch’s head flying, plunging the forest into darkness.

Thump! Thump!

The sounds of paws pounding the earth continuously echoed from behind – the other wolves in pursuit.
If I didn’t increase my speed, I would be caught. But navigating the dark path was no easy task.

With a sensation akin to blindness, fear welled up with each step I took.

Wham!
As expected, I misjudged my footing and tumbled to the ground.

“Ughh!”

I rolled and tumbled down a slope. The pain from what felt like a fracture somewhere left me dizzy.
But I had to endure. I had to persevere.

The campfire’s light was visible through the trees. I was almost there.
If I died, the awakening of the heroes would be meaningless.

I staggered out, fortunately not having injured my legs.

“I’ve lured the monsters out!”
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
“Lord Praus! Didn’t you say you wouldn’t provoke the monsters?”
“I only said I wouldn’t kill them. And within Aerial’s barrier, we won’t suffer any harm.”

I brushed the dirt off my face with the back of my hand as I spoke.
The wolf monsters emerged from the forest one after another. There were easily over twenty of them.

I had thought there were only ten…

Taking a deep breath, I raised my sword towards the wolf pack.

“Tina, Iris, Maria.”

They didn’t respond.
While their silence was understandable given the sudden situation, I wished they had at least acknowledged my call.
If I averted my gaze from the wolves for even a moment, it was obvious I would be attacked, so I had no choice but to maintain our standoff.

“Tina! Iris! Maria!”

When they still didn’t respond after calling their names, I raised my voice for the first time.

“Yes, sir!”
“You called me!”
“Yes!”

The three heroes belatedly answered.
Fortunately, they seemed to be watching me intently.

“Prove your worth!”

Crackle.
The sound of campfire materials being consumed echoed.

“Prove to me the worth of me taking you along right now! Until you step forward, I won’t attack the wolves!”

Please. You mustn’t fear the monsters.
Gather your courage. Show your will to defeat them.

The quality that defined a hero was displaying the spirit to fight and overcome even those stronger than oneself.
Just a shred of fighting spirit was enough. That alone would allow them to awaken.

But they didn’t react to my words.
It was then that I realized this world wasn’t the game world.

Yes, this was reality.

There was no guarantee the protagonists would respond properly just because the scenario flowed appropriately.
Since they possessed their own personalities, variables could arise at any time.

Even as the wolves slowly approached me, no voices came from behind.
I bit my lower lip. The hand gripping my sword tightened with force.

“I!!”

The wolves flinched at my raised voice, which echoed through the entire forest like a roar.

[The Emotionless Mask skill has been temporarily disabled.]

A hologram appeared before me.

“I believe you can kill these wolves! Muster your courage! You can do it! You are the children I personally witnessed and brought with me!”

A glance back showed the girls’ expressions were ones of utter bewilderment.
They had no idea what to do.

Perhaps I had entrusted too much to ten-year-old children.
Maybe I had tried to awaken them too soon.

“Grrr…!”

Thump.
A wolf took a step closer. But my feet didn’t retreat any further.

Death seemed to flicker before my eyes. My stomach churned.
But I couldn’t back down. I had to show how desperate I was, so they would show me something in return.

“Grooaaarr!!”

With a ferocious roar, the wolf opened its jaws and lunged at me.

Shit, this is it.
I was about to snap my fingers and close my eyes when I heard it.

“Absolute Defense!”

Clang!
A metallic clash sounded right in front of me.

When I opened my eyes, lush white hair and a tail of the same color were swaying before me.

“I will prove my worth to you, Lord Praus!”

“I believe you can kill these wolves! Muster your courage! You can do it! You are the children I personally witnessed and brought with me!”

Praus’s desperate voice reverberated through the air.
The three heroes bit their lower lips, lingering on his fading words.

‘Even if he says that, there’s no way I can kill something that huge…’

‘Prove my worth? How can I, who couldn’t even kill a human, defeat a monster…?’

‘Kill that thing? How? I can’t use any magic… Even if I use magic scrolls, I can’t defeat something like that…’

After Praus finished speaking, the three heroes couldn’t help but be bewildered by the expression on his face when he turned towards them.

The first to waver at the sight of his trusting expression was Iris.

‘A way to prove my worth… If I don’t want to be abandoned by Lord Praus, I have no choice but to defeat the monster. Lord Praus was the only one who treated me as an equal until now.’

Recalling the two weeks they had spent together, Iris steeled her resolve.

“I’ll prove it.”

The moment she had that thought, an indescribable power began to well up within Iris’s entire body.

It was the plausibility that only protagonists could obtain in a game.

Realizing this, Aerial’s eyes widened in astonishment.

‘What’s this, with that child…?’

As a Spirit King who had lived for centuries, Aerial could sense the nature of the power permeating the girl’s body.

‘That’s the power the primordial heroes once possessed.’

When the demons first appeared, the Empire had witnessed the emergence of similar existences.

They were the heroes, the sole hope of the Physis Continent.

The Spirit Kings had even aided the heroes in order to defeat the Demon Lord, so Aerial couldn’t fail to recognize it.

‘Could it be that Praus knew from the start that they would awaken as heroes and brought them here for that purpose?’

She had dismissed it as mere bluster.
Aerial had viewed Praus as a mere insignificant human, all talk and no substance.

However, after witnessing Iris’s awakening as a hero, she finally understood why he had said she wouldn’t be able to defeat the Demon Lord if she killed him.

Meanwhile, Iris was bewildered by the surging power within her, even as she perceived the reality.

‘So this was Lord Praus’s intention. It feels like power is overflowing within me. With this, I can prove my worth. If I prove my worth, he definitely won’t abandon me!’

The Paladin, the defensive hero.
Iris was the first to awaken.

Instinctively, Iris realized a separate power resided within the weapon she held.
Utilizing the power flowing through her body, she kicked off the ground. In an instant, she positioned herself between Praus and the wolf.

“Absolute Defense!”

Clang!
She blocked the wolf’s fangs as it opened its jaws towards Praus.

“I will prove my worth to you, Lord Praus!”
“Iris…”

Iris’s sudden awakening left Tina and Maria in a state of confusion.

‘Iris stood in front of the wolf to protect Praus. What did Praus do?’

‘Is there something to this? Praus must have lured the monsters out of the forest because of us. Could it be that I have some hidden power too?’

Maria began contemplating the possibilities.

They were a diverse group of different races with clashing personalities, having never even seen each other before.
Apart from being ten years old, there was nothing in common between them.

Maria concluded there must have been a reason for Praus bringing them together without any apparent cause.

‘Moreover, I spent an astonishing 1,300 gold to purchase this. That was…’

As she recalled this, she looked down at the staff in her hands.

‘Could it be that I possess the talent of a mage? Did Lord Praus recognize that I have the power to defeat the demons? If that’s the case… then I…’

Maria’s demeanor changed.
Her body began naturally absorbing all the ambient mana from the air around her.
It was as natural as breathing. Infusing her entire body with mana, she exuded an aura akin to that of a Great Mage.

The gem on the staff she held began to emit light, cycling through four colors.

Red, blue, green, brown.
Fire, water, wind, earth.

She displayed an immense affinity with the four elements representing all attributes.

‘An All-Attribute Master…’

The Elemental Master, the hero of the elements.
Maria was the second to awaken as a hero.

‘Such an enormous amount of mana. So this is what Lord Praus was aiming for. It seems I must become his disciple after all.’

“Fireball.”

Maria manifested a spell she had once read about in books.
Feeling her accelerated thought process unshackled, she unleashed intense flames towards the wolves.

Fwoosh!

While the Fireball was a basic fire spell, when cast by Maria, it possessed a destructive power far surpassing that of an ordinary mage.

‘What is that…?’

Witnessing the two awakenings, Tina finally realized what she needed to do.

‘To defeat the demons… So that’s what it was.’

“Praus!”
“Huh?”
“Will you buy me lots of food?!”

Although Tina’s food-related request in this situation left Praus dumbfounded, he shouted with a smile.

“I’ll keep you full for life!”
“Yay!”

Tina tightly gripped the Unwavering Vengeance and dashed forward.
Her movements gradually accelerated. Sensing the power welling up within her body, Tina belatedly grasped Praus’s intention and kicked off the ground.

In an instant, Tina closed the distance and cleanly decapitated the wolf in front of Iris.

It was a clean, single strike.

Witnessing this, the others opened their eyes wide in admiration.
It was astonishing enough that she could wield a sword nearly as tall as herself with ease, but to behead the wolf in one strike left them in awe.

Tina, now ten years old, was no longer an ordinary young child. She had become the Sword Hero who had once beheaded the First Demon Lord.

[I too am amazed. To possess such superior potential to even myself. Praus, my friend. Did you know showing them the monsters would awaken these children?!]

These were Pasma’s words, inaudible to Praus.

“Alright.”

The Sword Hero, the Sword Saint.
Tina was the third to awaken.

‘A Paladin, an Elemental Master, and now a Sword Saint… Just what did this Praus gather here?’

Aerial could only be astonished.
Tina nonchalantly wiped her sword and looked towards the remaining wolves.

“Wow, they’re so ugly.”

Tina’s candid remark seemed to provoke the wolves, as they began snarling.

“Lord Praus.”

Maria approached Praus and called out to him.

“What is it?”

Praus’s tone had returned to normal.
Since the Emotionless Mask skill had only been temporarily disabled, Praus had to mind his words again.

“If I deal with all those wolves, will you accept me as your disciple?”

Tina and Iris responded to Maria’s words.

“What? Maria, those wolves are meant to be sacrificed for my meals.”
“No. I need to use them to prove my worth of being with Lord Praus.”

The three engaged in a verbal squabble over the wolf monsters before simultaneously turning their gazes towards them.

“Whoever defeats them first is the winner, after all!”

Tina and Iris charged simultaneously, while Maria manifested her magic.
Not a shred of fear could be found in any of them.