Expectance of a Hero

Qing Zheng was born in The North.

"Qing could have been the mage Hero if he had a larger better mana pool,"

The Lumberjack would often see Qing summoning and manipulating the structure and densities of the slimes he had created in the forest. It was a weird sight for him. Watching a kid at the age of his childhood, he learned magic instead of enjoying their youth.

"No, I wouldn't want him to be a mage, but it would be nice. Imagine casting 9th-class magic. "

Qing's mother accounted back to the times she learned magic. The difficulty in experient magic formulas meticulously changing tying variables just to get just slightly better.

"It's a shame for such a child with such great mana control not to learn magic, call me on the day he wants to learn mana-breathing techniques," the Lumberjack said, as he headed off to the family.

"He does have an extraordinary amount of endurance; you should see him in the forge. He just might be the next defender hero if he just had more tenacity," Grandpa Bai added.

"I just enjoy being in Grandpa Bai's place,"

Qing heard their evaluations, and it was sickening. He was there right beside them. He was trying his best, and it wasn't like he was doing nothing all day.

"Zhe Zhe, do you know what day it is today?" a voice behind Qing suddenly said.

Hearing a familiar voice, Qing's spine couldn't help but start to subconsciously shiver as he braced for Anya's headbutt.

"O-of course… Anya, I remember," Qing nervously turned around to a girl shorter than him with black hair and pink eyes.

Qing was surprised to see Anya not assaulting him at the speed of light. Instead, she stood there with her hand behind her back.

"Happy birthday," Anya said. She presented Qing with a dagger. She had asked her grandfather Bai to make it for her the week prior.

The sheath was made out of leather with poorly made stitching. The handle looked as if she attempted to create it out of the spare wood the lumberjack had lying around. Poorly finished but a usable tool. Being Qing's first weapon, he gleefully accepted the gift.

"So, do you like it? I wanted to give it to you tomorrow, but you probably wouldn't want to play with me tomorrow. So, I choose today."

Anya hid her hand behind her back and followed Qing's happy expression home.

Anya always pestered Qing to go outside and play with her whenever she had a chance. Qing wondered why she hadn't bothered him for the last two weeks. However, he preferred it that way since, as a Hero with no talent, he had to prove his worth somehow.

Today is his sixth birthday, and the lumberjack had invited him two weeks ago to join him to hunt some wild game the next time he goes. Qing's mother had worked as a librarian and already started saving money months ago to afford Qing his first hunting tool, which is…

A Greatsword.

The Divine Smirked at Qing [He can't lift it]

Hearing this gave Qing the determination to prove The Divine wrong. That evening, Qing attempted to lift the Greatsword his mother placed in the backyard. However, he was unable to lift both his mother's and Anya's mighty expectations of him.

"Come on, Qing, try it again. The 24th time might just be the charm," Anya's banter remarks encouraged Qing.

Attempting the 24th time to pull up the greatsword, he summoned more slimes to wipe away his sweat.

He puffed a great amount of air into his chest and began to lift. The blood began rushing into his legs to support his stance. Blood rushed to his arms as the muscle on his arm began to flex. All this was to no avail.

"Why did you choose to get me such a big unnecessary weapon," Qing complained to his mother

"Your father said he was able to lift that much weight when he was five. Why can't you? This level of strength is expected of a hero."

His mother had seen his father's life with such great weight herself. It was a normal weight for a hero to lift. The greatsword wasn't even that heavy, just a measly ninety pounds. Anyone could lift that weight with enough practice.

Qing's back was slowly giving out as he continued jerking what seemed to be an unmovable object.

"Wow!!! I bet Qing's father was the attack hero with that amount of strength," Anya jokingly replied.

"I tried everything!!!" Qing exclaimed as he summoned firm slime like a belt around his back as he attempted what seemed to him to be his thousandth time.

He fell to the ground, exhausted. He lay there staring up into the night sky.

"The sky looks lovely tonight,"

Qing's mother noticed Qing lying there and saw this as a chance to give Qing a new perspective on the world.

"Let me teach you a trick," Qing's mother said as she extended her right hand. Runes begin forming on the tips of her fingers.

Qing looked up at her with curiosity and wonder, his eyes shining with newfound hope. He knew that with his mother's help, he could become a true hero and lift the Greatsword like his father before him