Erebus's visit didn't shatter the group's rare, peaceful routine. It was like a leaf tossed into a pond—ripples at first, then the surface settled again as if nothing had ever happened.
Zeus, Alfia, and Zald all deliberately stopped bringing it up. As for Duncan, the relentless training left him with no spare strength to think about grand plans and world-ending schemes. Every day was the same rigid line: train, eat, sleep—more regular than his old high school life. Only this wasn't "self-discipline." This was being dragged forward whether he liked it or not.
Zald and Alfia weren't the type to coddle anyone. Even Zeus only granted slightly longer breaks during training. If you let doers train you, you shouldn't expect comfort—especially not from veterans like them. They always found ways to push maximum intensity without "breaking the equipment," and after the cloaked god's visit, that tendency became even more pronounced.
Duncan had his suspicions, but with no one speaking openly, he didn't dare press. He'd learned the lesson once: say the wrong thing, and your training quota mysteriously doubles.
After a full month of inhuman conditioning, the results were unmistakable.
All of his basic abilities had reached A-rank, and his Endurance had hit the cap—999. Reaching numbers like that in a single month would cause an uproar even in Orario, where adventurers were everywhere. Yet from Alfia and Zald, it only earned him a flat, unenthused: "Not bad."
On top of that, he awakened a new skill—
Sky-Step (Foot-Void Air Walk):
By forming a brief "air wall" under his feet, he could create a momentary foothold—true short-term midair stepping. The duration was extremely short, but it was real.
As Zeus put it, skills were shaped by a person's experiences and way of thinking. Duncan had been beaten so much lately that he'd developed a desperate craving for a way to flee. Being airborne was the most dangerous state—easy to pursue, hard to correct. With this skill, his "escape career" finally gained a sliver of hope.
And now, Duncan had long since exceeded the threshold for leveling up. What he lacked wasn't more training—it was a real feat, an "adventure" even a god would acknowledge. You couldn't level up by drilling endlessly; gods gave blessings because they wanted mortals to show them the unknown.
In the vast forest, Zald and Duncan moved between the trees.
Wild beasts were one of their main sources of meat. Duncan had hunted here many times. For the first two days Zald accompanied him; after he grew familiar, Duncan became the one responsible for feeding the whole cabin—especially since Zald's appetite was enormous. Hunting was part of training now: every trip came with a quota, and Duncan wasn't allowed back until he met it.
But today was different.
They'd been walking for half a day, far deeper than usual. The canopy thickened until the light itself felt strangled, turning the woods dim and oppressive.
"Uh… where are we going?" Duncan finally asked.
"We're here," Zald said.
He stopped and took a hard sniff of the air, then smiled in satisfaction.
"The scent of monsters. Kid—this is your first adventure."
"…So we're hunting monsters?" Duncan guessed, hearing the tone in Zald's voice.
"No."
Zald pointed into the dark, sprawling trees ahead and grinned like something predatory.
"Your task is to survive one month in the forest—outside my sight and outside my senses. Don't cross past my position."
Duncan swallowed.
"…A survival drill?"
His voice shook, fear slipping through. Training was brutal, but he always knew they wouldn't go for the kill. This was different. In an endless forest, if something went wrong, Zald couldn't reach him in time—and even if he could, Duncan wasn't sure he would intervene. Out here, it was only him.
"Drop the word 'drill,'" Zald said coldly. "This is the real thing—living because you want to keep living."
"Now take your weapon and rations and get out of my line of sight. Otherwise, you'll learn why no monsters have attacked us yet."
As he spoke, Zald lifted the greatsword he'd been carrying on his back and raised a hand—beginning a countdown.
Back at the cabin, Bell leaned over the fence, staring in the direction Duncan had left.
Duncan went hunting alone all the time, but today he'd packed far more supplies than usual, and Uncle Zald had accompanied him. Bell didn't know the details, but he could feel that something was different.
"What's wrong, Bell?" Alfia asked. "You've been standing here."
"Alfia-mama… where did Duncan-nii and Uncle Zald go?"
"As an adventurer, where else?" Alfia replied calmly. "To adventure."
Bell hesitated, then asked the question that had been eating him.
"Then… will they be in danger?"
"Adventurers live with danger," Alfia said, unshaken. "If you can't adapt to that process, you have no right to become one."
Bell looked up, then spoke carefully, as if trying to connect pieces in his mind.
"Is it because of that god who came before? Because you rejected him…?"
"You heard that?" Alfia's eyes sharpened slightly.
"No… I just saw he looked really disappointed when he left."
Bell answered honestly.
"You're clever," Alfia said, and gently ruffled his hair.
"They aren't directly related. Duncan is an adventurer—so he goes on adventures. I rejected that god because of my choice."
"Once I chose to come here, I couldn't abandon you… and choose the road of 'evil' again."
"Evil…?" Bell repeated, the word itself making him uneasy.
"To destroy everything. To tear order apart with chaos. To question the existence of justice… and to kill many people."
She said it as evenly as she described the weather. But to a child, those words were heavy enough to darken his face.
"…Do you really have to kill people?"
"Yes," Alfia said. "To become a stepping stone for the next heroes—to prevent them from stopping where they are. It's a necessary method."
"To steal what people value, draw their hatred, force them toward the far side of transcendence, and entrust the future to them."
"All of it… is to save the world."
She gave a self-mocking smile.
"But since I chose to retreat here… maybe the next heroes won't be born. Maybe the world will be destroyed because of it."
"Before, I threw my life away without hesitation. Now I hide here and cling to survival…"
"I've… fallen."
Bell stared at her—then suddenly straightened, a fierce little certainty taking over his face.
"Then… we'll be heroes."
Alfia blinked.
"Me and Duncan-nii… we'll become the next heroes."
A soft laugh escaped her.
"…How arrogant. You're just a child."
But the way she stroked his hair was gentler than her words. Bell didn't understand the weight of "hero," not really—but his heart was pure, and he didn't say only himself. He said "Duncan" too.
And as Alfia remembered Duncan's growth over the past month, a plan so ridiculous it bordered on madness began to surge inside her mind.
"You've got a lot of nerve," she said quietly. "If you dare call yourself a hero in front of me, then prepare yourself."
"I won't let you take that back."
"Yeah!" Bell answered brightly, completely missing the shift in her tone.
Then Alfia delivered the true punishment:
"Zald won't be back for a month. The old man spoils you too much. So starting tonight… I'm the one training you."
"Tonight?!" Bell yelped.
"Same training Duncan got—for a month. Then I'll throw you into the forest too."
She considered him for a heartbeat, then added in a tone that somehow made it worse:
"You're still younger than Duncan, so I'll 'pause' the death training for now."
"It's fine. After one month of warm-up, I'll be careful not to kill you."
Bell's face crumpled in horror.
"That isn't training at all!!"
-------
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