Light of a hero

It was Ren's twelfth birthday and today was the day Ren's father Matias was going to teach him how to hunt. Matias had gifted his son a bow and some arrows, as well as a hunting knife. Valdel was also with them since he begged Matias to take him as well.

At first, Matias didn't want to bring him, but Valdel kept on praising him as to what a cool profession being a hunter was. After a bit of ass-kissing Matias agreed to bring Valdel only if he got the okay from his parents.

Valdel's parents agreed rather quickly since they were relieved that Valdel had taken interest in another job other than being a hero. But since Matias didn't have an extra bow to give Valdel he told him he should simply observe for now.

When the group was about ready to leave, two cute girls ran towards them. The two girls looked identical except for their facial expressions and the way they tied their hair. One had a bright cheery smile and had a ponytail tied to the right. The other had a more stoic expression, with her ponytail tied to the left.

These two were the twins Lisa the cheerful one, and Lara the expressionless one. Lisa had approached Valdel, while Lara approached Ren.

"Hey, where are you two going? Can we come as well?" Lisa asked looking at Valdel with puppy dog eyes. This move of Lisa would almost always work on the thirteen-year-old Valdel. Being in a tight spot, Valdel looked at his best buddy Ren for some backup. Unfortunately for him, Ren was having some problems of his own.

Confronting Ren with her ever stoic expression was Lara, even though she wasn't saying anything and simply looking at Ren, the reincarnated demon lord understood what the little girl wanted. Obviously like her slightly older twin sister she wanted to come as well.

'As usual what the hell is wrong with this little girl? She keeps on clinging onto me, ever since I taught her how to feel the mana elementals. Well it's obvious I have somehow become her first love, but she's too young for now. Can't really get into it, also it seems like I'm still not at the age where I actually feel sexually aroused... Human bodies really are inconvenient, I don't really understand them much. How can they look exactly like demons and be so different.'

While Ren was having this internal monologue of his, he was staring directly at Lara. Matias, Valdel, and even Lisa were now looking at the two.

"How are they communicating like that? Can they read each other's mind?" Lisa asked.

"I really don't know, even without Lara speaking, Ren could somehow always understand her... So you might be onto something." Valdel answered.

"My boy really is a great ladies' man like his dad," Matias said with a silly smile on his face.

Of course, they didn't know, that Ren was thinking of something else, while Lara was actually distracted by a little pimple she noticed on Ren's cheeks.

"Lara stop staring at Ren and convince him!" Lisa spoke to her little sister who was looking at Ren with her expressionless eyes.

When Lara heard her sister's voice, she snapped out of her trance of looking at the pimple on Ren's cheeks.

"I want to go." That was it, that was all Lara said. She didn't need to say anything anymore, cause she felt that she said enough.

"Father, let's bring them as well," Ren suggested to his father.

"You do know we're not going out there to play right? Sorry, but they can't come." Matias looked at the girls and flatly refused.

"They might follow us, without telling anyone." Having been around the twins for five years now, Ren knew exactly what the twins will do.

"It's still a no, I will inform their parents. Their mother will deal with these two." Upon the mention of their mother, the twins shivered in fear.

"Uncle Matias, please don't tell our mother." Lisa used her move upturn puppy dog eyes.

"Please don't." Lara tried to back her up.

"Sorry can't have you following us, it's too dangerous."

"Uncle Matias I thought you were cool, but now I see that you're a meanie." Lisa stuck out her tongue.

"Meanie." Lara copied her twin and stuck out her own tongue. Matias wasn't bothered by this and called the mother of the twins.

When the mother of the twins came, she took her daughters apologized to Matias, and left. Now that the twins were gone, Matias's group could finally leave, right after they double-checked their things.

Ren wasn't really that motivated to learn how to hunt since he already knew how to. Not only could he hunt everything in this forest, but he could also probably do it within a day. Still, he was kind of interested in what kind of animals and monsters live in the forest.

Ren has never been too deep into the forest since Valdel always follows him. If he was able to shake the boy off, he would tattle on him and tell his parents. Which will result in a lot of complications Ren didn't want to deal with.

"Today we will be hunting stone rabbits." When Ren heard his father say stone rabbits, he was greatly intrigued. in his previous world, there were rabbits, but none of them were called stone rabbits.

'I wonder what are the differences between rabbits and stone rabbits.' Ren was really intrigued by learning about new things. Ever since he came to this world his lust for battle seems to have dwindled a bit, and his curiosity had risen. He decided that this change was also caused by being human.

'Even knowledge doesn't escape human lust.' That is what he thought when he noticed this change within him.

...

It took a few minutes before the trio finally found a monster trail. Matias started to inspect the area, after a few looks around the area, Matias began to frown. Ren also noticed that this trail they found wasn't from some little rabbit, it was from something large.

"It would seem like today is not a good day to hunt stone rabbits. Let's return to the village." Matias spoke in his usual carefree tone. He could fool Valdel but he couldn't fool Ren, it was obvious that Matias was worried about something.

This greatly interested Ren, he wondered what kind of monster, could solicit such a reaction from the village's best hunter.

"Why? I really wanted to try hunting something. Are we going to try tomorrow instead?" Matias was about to answer Valdel when the ground started shaking.

"ROAR!" A sudden roar echoed throughout the forest, the birds in the surrounding area started to flee to the skies. Matias got his bow out and readied an arrow.

"The two of you, run back to the village and call for help. Tell them it's a Red Bear, and it's an adult. Go now while I distract it!" Matias shouted at the two children.

"Uncle Matias, I won't leave you here! Ren say something!" Valdel shouted at both Matias and Ren, who was looking forward to the monster that is about to arrive.

"Damn it, Kids! Leave now or we'll all die!" Matias had no more time to convince the kids since he could feel the red bear closing in.

"Damn it! Here Valdel catch!" Matias threw his dagger at Valdel who then caught it. It was at the moment it appeared, there right in of them was a huge four-meter tall bear. The color of its fur as its name implied was the color red. Its huge frame and thick hide looked fearsome as it roared once again at the trio.

Valdel stood there stunned frightened by the huge monster in front of him. All the courage he had a while ago was now gone. Ren, on the other hand, was supremely interested at the bear and wondered if it would taste nice.

Matias quickly attacked with his bow and arrow. He aimed for the eye, but the red bear reacted fast and swatted the arrow down. After which it was about to attack Matias. Seeing the incoming attack Matias wanted to dodge but remembered that Behind him was Valdel who hasn't moved an inch due to fear.

The red bear's claws were closing in, Matias gritted his teeth and was prepared for death. His only wish was that his son and Valdel could escape. Everything at this moment seems to be moving slowly.

'Sorry, Milly it seems like I will be going first. Take care of our son... I'll see you guys in the next life.' This was the last thought Matias had before losing consciousness.

Ren had used a sleeping spell on his father and was able to pull him away at the last moment. 'With this, he will think he got hit and lost consciousness.'

The red bear who lost sight of its prey roared angrily as it looked at Ren.

"Heh, what the hell are you looking at teddy bear?" Once again the red bear lost sight of Ren, and then suddenly it felt a heavy impact had hit its stomach blowing it a few meters away.

Ren boosted his legs with wind magic, and used the non-attributed magic [boost], expanding his strength that would be equal to his mana. Which is at the moment around the Intermediate class mage level.

Intermediate class mage back in Ren's previous world were beings that could easily annihilate a squadron of trained knights that had no mana.

"Damn it! This body is still so weak!..." The opponent didn't die in a single hit, Ren sighed before showing a vicious grin. "Well, that just means bad news for you! Now you won't die with one strike, I would have to pummel you until death! Though I could use magic to finish you off, the spell that could kill you in one strike is too flashy, I might attract unwanted attention."

After speaking to the red bear who was trying to get up from Ren's devastating kick, Ren looked at Valdel and sighed.

"Hey, Val I thought you wanted to be one of those heroes? If so why are you just standing there in fear? Didn't I already teach you a way for you to fight? Did you learn all that for nothing?" After saying his piece, Ren happily charged at the red bear.

Valdel who was watching his best friend one-sidedly pummeling the huge monster felt angry at himself. He kept on saying to Ren that he wanted to become a hero, but when the moment of danger arrived he simply froze.

He looked at Matias who lay at the ground unconscious. It was all his fault, if he had listened to Matias and left with Ren, Matias could've done something by himself then flee safely. Yet here he was being a fool, thinking he was already a hero.

His best friend even taught him how to fight, yet he still couldn't react after seeing that kind of monster in front of him.

While wallowing in self-pity, Valdel heard another roar that didn't come from the red bear Ren was fighting. There was another red bear that suddenly appeared, but this one was smaller it was around two meters tall. It might be a child of the red bear Ren was fighting.

The red bear child was charging towards the unconscious Matias. Valdel who saw this was done hesitating, as he used two non-attributed magic, [boost] and [enhance]. Valdel used [boost] on himself, as he runs to block the charging red bear, and he used [enhance] on the knife Matias gave him.

The charging red bear saw Valdel blocking its path so it tried to swipe him away using its claws. Valdel took a firm stance like how Ren had taught him and redirected the incoming claw swipe. Yet that didn't stop the charging red bear, which hit Valdel full-on with a headbutt.

Valdel who was using [boost] was able to halve the damage by jumping backward at the right moment, but he was still badly hurt by the attack. The red bear who had removed the obstruction started to charge once again towards the nearest and easier target Matias.

Ren who was getting excited since this was the first real battle he had in ages, was aware of what was happening in his surroundings. When he noticed the dire situation his father was in, he stopped playing around and killed the almost dead red bear. After which he was about to move to save his father, but before he could do so Valdel had moved before him.

The speed Valdel was using, was something Ren saw for the first time. Still even with that increase in speed, with Valdel's current strength, he wouldn't be able to beat the red bear even though the one he's fighting seems to be a child.

So when Ren boosted his speed and ran full strength, something suddenly happened. Valdel's body started to glow brightly, and with it, a sudden surge of mana burst forth from within him. When Ren saw this, he stopped running towards Valdel.

Valdel who was surging forth with mana felt all-powerful. He felt that there was nothing in this world he cannot beat, and with this newfound power, Valdel swung the knife he held. The moment Valdel swung the knife and hit the red bear a torrent of mana gushed out annihilating the red bear and some of the trees within the strike area, what was left was a huge crater.

Seeing the red bear was beaten, all the tension Valdel had disappeared and after that, he fainted. Ren who was watching the scene frowned at what he saw. He would never forget that glow and that sudden surge of mana. That was the awakening ability of heroes.

Ren formerly known as Kretos the strongest demon lord has fought numerous heroes. Though all of them had a different set of skills, there was one ability they all had in common. The ability was called the awakening, this was an ability that all heroes had, it was an ability that boosted one's mana tenfold and then releases all the mana for a final ultimate attack.

Most heroes he fought would use this ability as a final trump card, but in the end, they still lost. Ren has seen this ability numerous times that he was sick of it.

He then slowly approached Valdel, he looked at him with mixed feelings. "So you became a hero like you always wanted... But this is simply the start. Heroes are beings that have almost no control over their fate since they are shackled by destiny designed by those irritating Gods and Goddesses. So it would be better if I just killed you now, and save you from such a boring and cruel destiny. After all, I am your best friend."

Ren raised his right arm, ready to end Valdel's life, but before he could do anything he stopped himself.

"Hmph, it would seem like my heart has also turned into a human's. Weak, soft, and full of irritating compassion." It was at this moment Ren who was scowling started to smile viciously again.

"Fine then, as your friend, I will help you break free from the shackles that bind you. We will fulfill your destiny, but at the same time, we will go against the script. I don't know what those irritating Gods and Goddesses have in mind, but I will make sure that they don't have their way with you. This I promise you."

Ren spoke to the unconscious Valdel, making a promise that only he would remember.