After Yumir saved dozens of children from a monster's threat, they followed him, calling him a hero.
"I'm going this way."
"Hero!"
"Wait for me, hero!"
These children were born after the 1st Great Cataclysm, so they were at most three or four years old, but they were smarter than their age and were bigger in size as well.
Not only did they speak well, but they also understood Yumir's words and even followed him. Even if it was being used as bait to draw in monsters, with their lives on the line! They completely trusted him because Yumir had once saved their lives.
This was a very strange matter, but Yumir was born with the ability to speak, as he was a dragon, so he did not know what was strange about those humans, and just thought that it was convenient because they understood him.
The strange thing about the children wasn't limited to just that. They ate the poisonous, cursed food without issue, and although it was difficult to tell because of the environment they were in, they were becoming stronger at an insane rate.
And Yumir knew why they were becoming stronger. Party play? No way. To level up through contribution during hunts, the children were too weak. Yumir would be satisfied if they just didn't get in the way. The answer was much simpler than that.
"I level up when I eat meat!"
"I get strange skills too."
"I also level up if I eat dragon meat."
"Dragon! Hero is amazing!"
It wasn't so rare to level up by eating monster meat. At least, among monsters, that is. Growing through eating the meat of one's own kin was very natural.
However, these children were no monsters, nor were the monsters their own kin. Yumir pondered on that for quite a while, but had to give up.
"Being strong is a good thing."
If mankind knew of this matter, they would get noisy, saying 'Humankind has evolved according to the harsh environments of the Earth', or 'This is proof that humans are becoming monsters!' or whatnot, but right now, they were scattered over many worlds.
As one who presently worshipped only power, Yumir thought it was a good thing that they were growing stronger, so he continued feeding them monster meat. And to do that, he had to kill the monsters.
And one day.
[You have learned the skill, Rule.]
"Huh?"
Just as he was putting some grilled monster meat into the last girl's mouth, some text appeared on Yumir's retina.
"Huh?"
"Hero?"
When Yumir stopped moving, the child looked at him in confusion. Although this girl was only a crawling newborn when Yumir first saved her, she now looked about 5 or 6 years old. There were differences in growth rates among the children, and currently she was growing the fastest.
"Hm."
Yumir, who read the text that appeared on his retina, remembered that his father, Yu IlHan, possessed the same skill. To Yumir, his father was the symbol of absolute power. He was happy that he had become like him, even if only a little.
"Who wants to be my underling?"
"Me!"
"Me too!"
The child right in front of him raised her hand in a flash. After that, the other children also raised their hands. However, as he had just acquired the skill, he could not take all of them. Yumir first decided to make the strongest 4 his underlings.
Of course, 'strongest' didn't even reach level 20, but considering they only ate what Yumir gave them while following him (though they did suffer quite a bit), this was an insane rate of growth.
"If you become stronger, I'll make you my underlings."
"Yeah!"
"Exciting!"
The children who became his underlings were excited, and the ones who couldn't bring themselves to become so in the future. But at that time, Yumir succeeded in finding new human presences again.
"Little children again."
"Close? Are they close?"
"Hero, you'll save them, right?"
Yumir looked back at the children he had saved and nodded seriously.
"More underlings are better."
"Let's go, now!"
"Be careful not to get in the way; you'll die if you aren't careful."
Although he could have raised their morale, he instead killed it. However, the children obediently listened to him. They knew plenty of the gap between them and Yumir, as well as the gap between them and the monsters. Really, their thought processes were unbelievable for their age.
[Kguooooooh!]
"Eek!"
It seemed like the ones that felt the children weren't only Yumir, as he could hear a monster roar in the distance. Their movement was unbelievably fast, so if he stayed here any longer, he would likely be met with a cruel sight.
"This won't do."
Since he had decided to save them, he thought he couldn't miss them right in front of his eyes, so he kicked off the ground and ran. The power of concealment, more natural to him than breathing, hid Mir from the world, and even deceived the laws of physics.
"Hhhhhhhhp!"
[Kihiaaaaaa!]
Another round of roars. The children's screams were farther away. When Yumir judged that he wasn't too late, he put more power into his steps. The wind's power instantly amplified, pushing him forward!
[Kuhuuuuuu!]
"Hah!"
He had run for an unknown amount of time when he saw the back of a monster emitting frost from all over its body.
Yumir accelerated once again into the wind without hesitation. The distance between the monster's head and Yumir closed instantly, but his concealment had not yet worn off.
"Hhp!"
Just before they collided, Yumir pushed his fist forward. The blood in his body raised the magic within him and hardened his fist, making it even harder than his bones.
[Critical Hit!]
[Kahak!]
The monster instantly fell over due to that strike. Beyond that, Yumir could see the children of Earth hugging each other and shivering in fear. Unlike the first group of children, they were still afraid after looking at Yumir.
"He suddenly appeared."
"Scary….."
It seemed like they feared everything they met since they wandered around by themselves for so long. Yumir became a little proud when he heard that he was scary, but since he had not completely defeated the enemy, he decided to thank them later.
Wrapping wind around his body, he concealed himself again. The demon was still rolling on the ground after the critical hit, so it did not notice Yumir concealing himself. This would result in a more painful outcome for the demon!
[Critical Hit!]
[Kuhaaaaaak!]
Being surprise-attacked, no ice or magic would help. Moreover, it wouldn't be so intact after being hit with a full strike from a dragon just before 4th class!
Now that Yumir had succeeded in his surprise attack, the more-than-50-level gap between them no longer mattered. At least, that's what Yumir learned from Yu IlHan. Though, to be exact, he learned that all of his own accord despite not having many chances to learn from him at all.
[Kuoooooooh!]
"That hurts, no? It will be easy if you give up. I'll make you rest easy soon."
"Hiiik, scary!"
Yumir looked down on the demon with two fatal wounds on its body and laughed. His smile was becoming more like Yu Il-han's. The children shivered more after looking at that.
"Scary."
"So scary."
After Yumir cleaned up the monster, the children there couldn't even look at him properly, nor could they run away, so they just stood there shivering. Well, this was no surprise and, in fact, was the norm, since the person in front of them had just killed a frightening monster taller than 10m. This was fear and admiration!
"Fufufufu."
Yumir became even prouder after thinking that, and the children who had arrived late were confused before running towards the new children.
"He's the hero."
"He's our master."
"Hero? Master?"
However, there was no way young children could explain things properly! In the end, the oldest (4 years old), who amazingly realized that this would bring about more confusion, said in a serious voice.
"We just need to listen to him!"
"Listen...."
"To him?"
"Then you can live!"
The children were still confused, but this seemed to be the clearest explanation they had heard. Confusion gradually died down, and their eyes looking at Yumir became lively again.
"I will listen to you."
"Please save me!"
"Okay!"
Yumir accepted them all without the slightest bit of hesitation! Now that the situation was cleared up, Yumir felt better and took a piece of meat out from the monster for himself to eat, and distributed the rest to the others as he spoke.
"You guys eat too!"
"Yes!"
The children all ate the monster and became a little stronger. Although this had never happened on Earth until now, nor should it happen, for the children here, none of that mattered.
"It's tasty after a while!"
"I got this level thing!"
"Uu, I was so hungry!"
What Yumir was curious about was how these children managed to survive and not die of starvation until he came to save them, but even the people in question did not seem to know.
'Their bodies are full of mana. They must have absorbed mana to survive.'
Judged Yumir after looking at the state of their bodies. And according to his knowledge, there was only one type of life form that could survive on mana alone.
'So they're monsters and not human after all?'
In fact, none of that would matter to him. What was important to him was to become stronger like his dad, just that alone. The children were no more than stepping stones for him. Of course, he would have to protect them and make them stronger in the process. Everything was what his dad once did!
"Well, then. If you ate, then let's go. Now, you guys need to do what I say as well, okay?"
"Yes!"
"Un!"
Like that, Yumir's army numbered 78. However, the army's growth had just begun. There was no way only 78 had survived out of all the babies born over three years.
Of course, the overwhelmingly vast majority of them would have died. If they fell next to a monster, they would instantly die; even if they weren't so unlucky, if they did not acquire the power to turn mana into life energy, they would die as well.
Only the most exceptional children survived until Yumir's rescue.
"Hero!"
"Follow the hero!"
1 year had passed. The army increased to around 5,800 people, and those with the fastest growth rate appeared to be around 12 years old. Half of them had reached 2nd class, and the four that became Yumir's subordinates the fastest were harbouring around level 70. Such was their insane rate of growth.
And as for Yumir himself.
[There are guys over there too. It's bothersome, so some of you get on my back and let's go.] (Yumir)
"I want to get on!"
"I want to get on the hero too!"
He was reborn as a splendid 4th-class dragon.