A month had already passed since I'd become a disciple of the Spirit Sword.
🗡️ Spirit Sword 🗡️Your body seems pretty much complete now? Your lower body looks perfect.
During that time, I'd diligently pushed through my training.
Running, climbing mountains with heavy loads on my back, dry-land swimming, repeatedly lifting and lowering massive boulders, and so on.
The bulk of my training had been about forging my body.
As a result, Davian's once-soft body had transformed into one packed with solid muscle.
'Such progress in just a month.'
It was pretty astonishing.
The Spirit Sword had definitely been a huge help.
Normally, no one could achieve results like this in a single month.
Muscle recovery rates, stamina limitations—building a body like this in a month was simply impossible.
But thanks to the Spirit Sword's overflowing magic power constantly restoring me, I'd been able to finish so quickly.
I could exercise without ever tiring, which made it possible.
It was a pretty satisfying outcome.
But it wasn't without its frustrations.
"Um, Master? Won't you teach me some swordsmanship already?"
The Spirit Sword had me doing nothing but physical conditioning for the entire month.
It hadn't taught me a single other thing.
Building the body was great and all, but wasn't it about time for swordsmanship?
I couldn't help feeling a little dissatisfied about that.
But even hearing my grumbling, the Spirit Sword didn't seem ready to teach me yet.
🗡️ Spirit Sword 🗡️No, it's still incomplete. Let's polish it a bit more. If you truly want to soar to the heights, the foundations have to be perfect.
The Spirit Sword had made it clear: no teaching until the foundations were fully laid.
'I get that, but...'
I knew how important basics were.
Even in my previous life, I'd heard that kind of thing endlessly.
She wasn't wrong.
The problem was...
'Who are you trying to turn into a hero...?'
I didn't need to get that strong.
I'd stolen the protagonist's Spirit Sword, after all. I just needed to play stepping stone until she claimed her holy sword, right?
Watching her try to perfect me filled me with a touch of worry.
'Well, it's not so bad.'
Still, I decided not to say anything.
The situation wasn't urgent or dire.
I resumed climbing the mountain, throwing myself back into training.
That's when it happened.
"Hmm?"
I stumbled upon the charred corpse of a wild boar.
Black scorch marks spread from its bitten nape.
🗡️ Spirit Sword 🗡️Something ominous is afoot.
"Yeah, it does look that way."
Just as the Spirit Sword said, those were wounds inflicted by a magic beast laced with demonic energy.
In other words, a magic beast was prowling these mountains.
'Is it time for the first episode to kick off?'
Has the date come around already?
The protagonist's first foe was about to make its appearance.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I headed straight for the church.
The church where Levia and my child waited was, as always, quiet and serene.
Levia greeted me with a smile, her golden hair swaying gently.
I nodded and naturally took a seat across from her.
"Brother, did you train hard again today?"
"Yes. I trained diligently."
"Your hard work is truly admirable."
"Thank you. Is Eleana doing well?"
"Yes. She's right here, safe and sound."
Eleana was the name we'd given our child not long ago.
Levia showed Eleana to me.
Seeing the baby gurgle and laugh at the sight of me filled my heart with contentment.
Whose kid is this? She's so adorable...
That's when, as we peacefully watched the baby,
"By the way, Brother. Did you happen to spot any charred corpses in the mountains?"
Levia asked me.
Her tone carried a hint of worry.
If it was a corpse, then yes, I had.
"I did. It was a wild boar corpse with charred wounds."
"I see."
I told her what I'd seen in the mountains.
Undoubtedly, the remains of an animal slain by a magic beast.
She sighed, her expression saying as expected.
"They say a dangerous magic beast is on the prowl."
"A magic beast?"
"Yes. Reports of wolf-type magic beast sightings keep coming in. No direct harm yet, but hunters have found unidentified charred animal corpses in the forest."
A wolf-type magic beast was definitely the enemy the protagonist took down first.
It devoured animals in the mountains before raiding the neighboring village, right?
For the early storyline, it ranked among the stronger foes.
But this was still before it got subjugated, so Levia was deeply concerned.
"This is exactly when I'd hope the Empire's Silver Knights or the Church's Holy Knights would step in and investigate..."
In this world, magic beast subjugations were normally handled by the empire or church.
But right now, they were swamped.
"We requested support, but the knights said they couldn't come."
"They're busy, I suppose."
"Yes. There's ominous energy stirring in the north, so most of their forces have been redeployed there. They say they have no spare manpower for a small village..."
The Demon King, no doubt.
Ominous energy in the north? That had to be the Demon King.
It was probably starting to get active.
The sudden emergence of magic beasts was likely due to the Demon King's demonic energy in the first place.
Its mere existence spread vast amounts of demonic energy.
That energy spawned demons and magic beasts across the world.
"I'd love to urge the villagers to evacuate, but reality makes it far from simple."
The current situation wasn't looking good at all.
"Farmers can't abandon their fields, plenty have families to care for, and many are letting their guard down since there's no direct damage yet."
The magic beast might strike the village.
Levia's worry knew no bounds.
"On top of that, the neighboring village has my youn... no... it's nothing."
She was especially concerned about the neighboring village.
She trailed off mid-sentence, but I knew what she meant to say.
Her younger sister was there.
She was living at the church there as a nun.
"Anyway, Brother, if you ever cross paths with a magic beast, flee the area immediately."
"Yes. I'll be careful."
Levia earnestly cautioned me.
I nodded appropriately and left the church.
'Hmm... so what now?'
As I stepped out, I fell into thought.
The dilemma? Whether or not I should take down that wolf magic beast.
'Normally, the protagonist would handle it.'
The wolf magic beast was pretty formidable as the protagonist's first enemy.
But a protagonist is a protagonist, after all.
There might be some peril, but in the end, they take it down.
'I don't really want to mess with the story, but...'
If I slew that wolf magic beast, the plot would twist for sure.
Of course, fretting over plot twists after swiping the Spirit Sword was pretty absurd in itself.
Still, my preference was to meddle as little as possible.
Objectively speaking, staying out of it here made sense.
'But I have to meddle, don't I?'
Yeah, intervening felt like the better call.
'If I leave things be, she'll definitely die.'
Without intervention, Levia's sister—the nun working in the neighboring village—would die.
The protagonist couldn't handle the magic beasts in time, so they descended on the village and slaughtered people.
In the chaos, she died protecting the villagers.
'The protagonist's still too weak right now.'
It was unavoidable.
Sure, he could easily beat your average knight, but overall, he was still a greenhorn.
Naturally, such a protagonist couldn't fell the magic beast in one shot.
It was far too powerful for human strength alone.
The protagonist fails at first and flees, only mustering the courage later to barely triumph.
But he couldn't undo those initial casualties.
"Looks like I need to step in."
The sister dies regardless, and Levia hears the news, plunging into deep grief.
That grief becomes the trigger for her fall.
It's a pivotal event in multiple ways.
'I can't let her fall.'
For now, I planned to prevent it.