Chapter 14: The Comedic Rise of the Hero
Even though there was no need for night watches, and decades of being forced to wake early in Serie's illusion world had ingrained a habit of sleeping early, Ivan still found his thoughts racing late into the night, preventing him from sleeping.
No matter how much he told himself that the family he had in the illusion world wasn't real, or that none of those experiences would carry over to reality, the feelings he had developed during those interactions weren't fake.
Whether it was for Serie or his daughter Isanze, those feelings remained genuine.
As for Isanze, her future was something Ivan didn't need to worry about. He believed Serie would craft a good body for her, allowing Isanze to live a normal life and make up for her tragic childhood.
"The Demon King has to die. There's no other way. I can't let little Isanze grow up in a world engulfed in chaos and suffering."
And as for Serie…
If Ivan couldn't find a way to overcome his mortality as a short-lived species, the two of them would eventually be separated by the limits of lifespan.
Wait—mortality?
Ivan sat up abruptly, extending his palm. A quiet, azure flame appeared, burning steadily.
This was the necromancy Serie had transferred to him through the Transfer Magic. It included spells targeting both the body and soul. If worst came to worst, and he couldn't find a way to extend his life, Ivan could use necromancy to transform himself into a lich.
But turning into a lich was only a last resort. It would preserve his soul, but his body would no longer resemble anything living.
Ivan glanced toward the system, which, aside from constantly reminding him of his identity as a transmigrator, seemed utterly useless.
"I just hope the system offers some life-extension rewards after I kill the Demon King," he muttered.
Great—he now had one more reason to kill the Demon King. Even though they were strangers, the Demon King had already become his mortal enemy.
"Speaking of which, I did store the corpse of a demon general earlier."
Ivan had previously wondered if he could find a way to digest demon organs or magic artifact. He had even sought Serie's advice about it in the illusion world. Now, armed with necromancy refined through Serie's centuries of expertise, he was ready to execute his bold idea.
First, he needed to pick an organ in his body that was essentially useless… Ah, there it was! The appendix—useless in daily life and potentially life-threatening if inflamed.
Step 1: Modify the appendix's structure, making it independent from the intestinal system. After all, directly gnawing on demon corpses wasn't exactly efficient.
Step 2: Restructure the appendix's internal and external wall composition, engraving it with a permanent magic circles to absorb and digest the demon's mana.
Step 3: Connect this newly enhanced organ to the largest organ in the body—the skin. This would allow Ivan to "consume" demons simply by touching them, a much more elegant approach.
It all sounded simple enough, but for an average mage, these steps would have been unimaginably difficult.
For Ivan, however, who had feasted on Serie's magic expertise, it was as easy as performing a minor surgery.
In less than half an hour, Ivan completed his self-modifications. Without hesitation, he retrieved the corpse of the demon general responsible for destroying Frieren's hometown and began testing his new creation.
The towering demon general's body began to partially disintegrate, some of it turning to ash and dissipating into the air, while the rest was absorbed into a swirling vortex of mana in Ivan's palm. Before long, the demon's presence was completely eradicated.
"The conversion efficiency needs improvement. I barely absorbed one-fifth of it, and the rest was wasted."
Even so, Ivan could feel his body coursing with mana, at least twenty times stronger than before. The increase in his capacity was immediately apparent: the reservoir had expanded, and the years of accumulated mental strength from the illusion broadened his outlet. Add to that the necromancy and spatial magic Serie had granted him, and Ivan's combat evaluation in the system soared from "cannon fodder" to "elite tier."
Using Serie's classification system, it was roughly equivalent to leaping from the lowest-tier ninth-class mage to a third-class mage. Spells that once required careful calculation and frugality could now be unleashed without hesitation. Indeed, the benefits of "mooching off someone" were beyond comparison!
The next day, after finishing breakfast at the inn, the three began discussing their plans.
"I'm planning to stay here with Frieren for a while," Flamme explained. "Guiding her in her training is one reason, but more importantly, the Kingdom of Milan is the most progressive country in the world when it comes to magic. Half of the continent's human mages reside here. I can spread your flight magic quickly, making it possible for humans to reclaim a portion of the skies now ruled by the demon race."
Humans and demons had long been locked in an unrelenting blood feud. As a result, many humans instinctively rejected magic that originated from demons. Instead, most human armies relied on warriors who honed combat techniques like swordsmanship.
However, raising a warrior required enormous resources—significantly more food, meat, and time compared to training a mage.
A single instructor could oversee the training of 50 mage apprentices, and if even one of them reached the rank of a ninth-class mage within a year, it would be deemed a success. While warriors could overcome aptitude limitations with proper diet and rigorous training, mages were heavily dependent on innate talent. A mage's potential could often be identified early by assessing their mental strength, allowing instructors to focus on those with the greatest promise.
Most importantly, the overall cost of training mages was far lower than that of warriors. Over time, this economic advantage could lead to mages replacing warriors as the dominant force on the battlefield.
After a moment of contemplation, Ivan spoke. "Alright, you two proceed with the plan. I intend to visit the Village of the Sword and see if I can pull out that legendary Hero's Sword said to have been left by the goddess."
"You want to become a Hero?" Frieren raised her head, her tone carrying a tinge of doubt as she looked at Ivan. "The elders in my village always said that the sword can only be drawn in times of world crisis, and the one chosen by the Hero Sword must embody virtues like courage, determination, responsibility, compassion, and humility."
Ivan: "…Actually, you don't have to pull out the sword to become a Hero. You just need to claim you did. After all, it's about fighting the Demon King, right? Having the Hero title might provide some intangible boosts—maybe even attract strong companions who'll join me and carry me through the battles. Wouldn't that be amazing?"
Flamme and Frieren: "…"
This kind of mindset could never produce a real Hero! No way could he pull the sword out!
"Don't worry," Ivan said, full of bravado. "Even if I don't get that sword, I can still obliterate the demon army!"