DEMON'S VIRTUE

As the rest of the spars continued, Eiro sat down for some meditation, creating fluid tracks for his mana to follow so that he could increase his natural mana regeneration. Just this was making him feel a lot better than earlier. And, with the excuse of having to concentrate on his meditation, Eiro could avoid further questioning from the other mages about how he attained these magic based abilities. He had expected that something like this would happen once he revealed this information, but that didn't make it any less bothersome for him.

"Seriously, why'd you have to reveal it now? You were already in a shit mood anyway." Sarius pointed out, and Eiro quickly replied, conversing telepathically with his contracted spirit, "Oh shut up, it's fine, isn't it? They would have found out sooner or later anyway, since I summon water and fire from their planes all the time. Since they know how, and since they know that it's something unachievable for them, I won't have to bother with them asking me to teach it. That, and it makes me a more unique asset."

"Urgh, why do you keep saying that? It's not like they'll throw you out if you're not impressive."

"I disagree. There is no reason to keep someone around that is basically the lesser version of someone else. At least from their perspective. Sure, they won't completely throw them away. They'll still be part of the party that will travel to take care of the Monster King's army, but they probably won't allot any teaching time to people unnecessarily." Eiro explained, "And the higher range of abilities I have, combined with the fact that I'm an instructor at the most reknown academy on the continent. And the more unique my abilities are, the greater the time I'm allowed to teach that child will be." Eiro explained quickly, and Sarius stayed silent. Instead, Gondos replied.

"But why do you even want to teach him so badly? With your abilities, all you need is to know where the hero is once he awakens, and with your growth, in seven years certainly nobody is going to be able to stop you from stealing the aspect. So why?" The Golem asked, and Eiro stopped for a moment. Gondos was right, and Eiro certainly considered that. But... "This kid is currently being raised as the hero. He will continue being raised as the hero. And I will take that from him. He's the last hero that will ever exist. Just how the 'Sage' is no longer a thing, neither will the 'Hero' be once it becomes part of me. The least I can do is give him the tools to make up for what he lost." Eiro pointed out, as he slightly opened one of his eyes, looking at the young hero sitting curiously on a rock next to the warriors, watching the rest of the spars, although they probably seemed a little boring after Eiro and Tin's fight just now.

Eiro had a weak spots for kids like this. Sure, the hero was a bit bratty and conceited for his age, but that was to be expected. His whole life, he was raised being told that he was something special, the greatest warrior of the people. A kid his age would love that, and wouldn't forget it too quickly either. Although, Eiro should probably make sure that, when he was given the chance to teach him, he humbled the kid a bit. Not in an aggressive way, of course, but just to make sure that he didn't grow up into an annoying, bothersome adult.

And there was something else as well. When looking at the kid hero, Eiro was feeling a subtle vibe, something similar to when he recognized someone else having a card. There was someone here that apparently had a card, but they were suppressing the vibe given off by it with some other items, so Eiro was going to figure out more things about it later. He first needed to know which card it was in the first place.

Either way, the vibe that the kid hero was giving off was something else. Eiro was instantly recognizing him as the hero, beyond the fact that he was told that this kid was him. But he wasn't sure if that vibe was something that everyone experienced, so that the hero was given a basic level of respect by others on his travels, or if this was a thing because Eiro's soul held the splinter of the Sage. He could feel something similar off Avalin, though since it was mixed in with the holy energy she constantly gave off, Eiro didn't realize it until he felt something similar from this kid.

Maybe the sage left within him felt regret for causing the hero's death in the past, or maybe Eiro was just tricking himself into that sort of mindset because he was reminded of his daughter. Either way, it did affect Eiro's decisions to an extent.

There was another issue with that 'vibe', though. If it was something that he could feel because of the splinter of the Sage within him, then it was very likely that the kid hero was able to recognize others with such splinters as well. It could be another reason why he seemed so interested and infatuated with Eiro, and most importantly, it meant that he might recognize that Avalin held a splinter as well.

"I'll have to keep an eye on the kid..." Eiro thought to himself. He should probably attach some kind of servant to him later, just to know everything that's going on with him. Having a little bit of insight into the way that the Baram warriors handle things related to the Hero and his party.

Either way, for now, Eiro simply moved on, and kept looking inside of himself rather than focusing on the things around him. He wasn't that interested in all these spars after all, so he instead spent this time reading some more, and developing new spells in his mental library.

At the same time, he was thinking about the sword that he had just magically created. The only reason why he had been able to compress it down that way was because it was made completely of magic come solid through the elemental planes. Magic could be compressed to an incredible degree, further than regular matter could. But that didn't change the weight of the sword too much. Eiro would probably be able to wield it by combining magic manipulation and his raw physical prowess, so maybe he should consider actually using it. After all, the sheer weight is going to rip apart anyone and anything hit by it, so it might be a good weapon especially when going against larger enemies.

However, since Eiro didn't want to expend two million mana every time he wanted to do this, he had to figure something else out. Maybe he could make a lesser version, or maybe he could make a spell that would permanently hold this thing together. Right now, Eiro's constant manipulation of the arcane magic he enveloped the sword in was doing this, but that was going to get hard at some point.

For now, Eiro would just keep on using arcane magic, while keeping the sword in his treasury in another specially created section, similar to where he was keeping the card of 'The Death' sealed away, simply a bit more accessible for his mana.

It didn't take too much longer for the rest of the spars to finish up, and so Eiro slowly stood up and stretched. He always felt a bit stiff after meditating and moving so much of his mana around. Otherwise, he felt a lot better, though.

"Thank you for displaying your abilities in this manner. For now, we will head back so that you can all rest for a while and enjoy yourselves. Later this evening, we will once more be meeting, however, with the guests you brought along as well. Simply to eat dinner together and enjoy ourselves, so that you can all get to know each other a bit better." One of the Baram warriors explained, and everyone seemed quite glad that there wasn't anything exhausting on their agenda for the rest of the day. Most of the people here weren't that used to the extreme heat and humidity in this place, after all.

Well, neither was Eiro, but considering that he regularly bathed in boiling water, it was actually quite pleasant for him still. For now, the large group made their way back, while Eiro was riding on Lugo's back, simply taking a short nap while leaning onto the stag's antlers.

"...Eiro, could I ask you a question?" Sometime in the middle of their return, Biril chose to talk to the Demon. Of course, since he was his friend, Eiro quickly opened his eyes, "Of course."

"...How did you become so much more powerful since the last time I've seen you?" He asked, and Eiro slightly smirked, "It's a secret I'll let you in on soon." He replied quickly, locking eyes with the beastman, who slowly nodded his head, curious to here what this was about.

"Oh, but don't be mistaken, I've experienced excruciating pain every single second of every minute of every day for three months to experience that rapid growth. I don't think you'll want that. You can ask My friends, they've gone through something similar so that they could shoot up in power." Eiro explained, before whispering so that only Biril could hear him, "For now, just know that there is no need for you to worry. As far as I can see, amongst everyone here, you're second only to me in strength."

Biril widened his eyes surprised, "Wait, really? Do you mean it?"

"Of course. I mean, some of the others might have unique abilities or higher stats, but you have incredible technique, physical prowess, and the determination to do everything to get even stronger. Most of the others here? They get conceited thinking that they're already at the peak." Eiro explained quickly, while Biril looked over at the Hero.

"I see. But the only one that can truly experience the peak is that boy, right? He is the one that will slay the most powerful being alive, after all." Biril said with a slightly bitter smile, before Eiro looked at the beastman with a wry smile, "You know that the Monster King isn't the most powerful single being alive, right?"

"...Huh?"

"He's a threat because he can create and manipulate monsters, of course on top of the ridiculous power that he does have as an individual, but the Monster King is by far not the most powerful being alive. He's the greatest threat, but only because the others can't be bothered to do anything themselves. The first demon... the great spirit emperor and empress... some ridiculous beings on other planes whose power you can't even comprehend.... Compared to those guys, the monster king is just a little kid."