I. The Talentless Hero
The next trial went well. When Misha got her turn, she managed to shoot ten apples from a distance of one and a half meters with incredible speed and accuracy. William stabbed the boulder with his spear. The boulder didn't break, but a horrible crack appeared on it, which immediately crumbled into dust as soon as William drew his spear.
"The last is, Mr. Ayato, please?" Diego pointed at an apple tree that Misha had used for archery earlier. "Try to cut down that tree with your sword," he said.
Ayato drew his sword. He took a deep breath and tightened the grip on the sword hilt before running towards the tree. The blade of the sword clashed with the hard wood. He put all his strength into one slash.
Does it works?
Ayato gasping. There was no gust of wind or cracking sound. He looked up, and instead of seeing the tree that was about to fall, all he saw was a long, deep scratch on the trunk. Of course he felt surprised, because he has already used all his strength. Suddenly Diego was beside him, he seemed to be astonished too.
"You ... did you holding yourself just now?" asked Diego.
"Nope, not at all," Ayato replied.
Diego seemed to be about to say something, but then he shook his head. "Give that sword to me," he said.
As soon as Ayato held out his sword, Diego grabbed it and flipped through it with a serious expression, as if it was an undefinied object that had never existed before. Then he returned the sword and sigh, "I don't understand, Mr. Ayato. But, this ... this is just an ordinary sword."
"What do you mean?" Ayato asked.
"Special weapons for heroes are designed to have much higher attack power than regular weapons." Diego explained, while pointing at the rest three heroes. "You've seen it yourself, the impact from just a single attack."
Then, he turned back to Ayato. "Under normal conditions, your sword should be able to cut down such a large tree. But looking at the results... sorry, that sword is no different from an ordinary weapon."
Ayato looking at his sword in disbelief. So he was the only one who somehow didn't get any power. But hey, isn't this unfair?
Diego continued, "It's actually not the first time something like this has happened, I heard that there were some heroes who failed to awaken their weapons. In the case like this, the only way to regain power is ...."
He stopped. Whatever Diego wanted to say afterward was probably not a good thing. "Forget about it. Maybe I can still do something to your sword. Give it to me."
After get the sword, Diego turned to the three heroes. "After this, you can practice using the weapons as much as you like. I'll leave first." After said that, he walked back into the palace.
"don't think too much about it, Mate, your movement when cutting down the tree was not bad at all!" Ayato appreciated Andrew who trying to cheer him up (even though he patted Ayato's shoulder really hard). But that doesn't make him feel any better. Things could only get worse from now on.
Now he have nothing to do. Ayato just sat on the garden bench and watched Andrew and William fighting. It felt like things were getting more complicated. If he didn't have enough power, would he still be considered a hero? Or perhaps he would be dumped instead.
"Can I sit here?"
It's Misha Chernenko, the girl who got the bow. She had been practicing her archery skills on the other side of the garden. But Ayato was too busy thinking about various things to realize that the girl was already nearby.
"Sure," Ayato answered.
"Thank you," said Misha. She then sat down and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, looking very tired. The bow was placed on her lap.
"Isn't it weird?" Misha started the conversation after a short silence. ""I'm pretty sure the bus I was traveling on had an accident, but then I woke up on that stone altar. Who would have thought that I would get a second chance at life? Maybe some things did not go smoothly. But I'm sure everything will definitely be fine," She said with a soft smile, trying to sheer Ayato.
Ayato sighed. Misha may have a point, constantly thinking about the thing he can't do anything of won't change it. "But you're all great, being able to instantly become proficient with such weapons as if it's nothing new," Ayato said, trying to change the subject. He didn't want to go on and on about his sword.
Misha responded, "You're good too, really. Despite your weapon having no power, the way you slashed earlier looks like you've been trained."
Ayato smiled slightly. His slashing technique earlier was actually a fluke, he was just following his instinct to run and slash the blade. Maybe it was the 'special weapon effect' Diego mentioned. But still ....
"Ayato!"
It's Regina's voice, she still carrying a books in her arms.
Ayato remembered that the girl had said she would see him after her lesson was over. But if it was like this, there was nothing she could see either.
"Hey," Ayato greeted her.
Regina immediately approached the bench. But then her expression became clouded as she met Misha's gaze. "Uhm, you ... not practice?" She asked Ayato while kept glancing at Misha.
"The practice ... it's done, sooner than I thought," Ayato lied. Deciding it would be best not to mention his sword's problem to Regina.
"Is that so ...." Regina tightened her grip on her books. Ayato didn't understand what was wrong with the girl, but it felt like there was heavy pressure around her. Meanwhile, Misha just showed a flat expression.
"If that what is it." Regina pulled Ayato's hand. " "Want to take a walk with me? I didn't show you the whole palace yesterday, did I?"
Ayato had no other choice. He waved at Misha when Regina pulled him away. Maybe a short walk would be fine. After all, it didn't seem like Diego would be back with his sword anytime soon. Until he managed to break away from Regina and return to his room. That girl was seemingly in a bad mood. She kept pulling Ayato around the palace and talking non-stop.
The sun was leaning to the west. It was late afternoon, but Diego still hadn't shown up. It crossed Ayato's mind that maybe he should look for him. Just as Ayato thought that, there was a knock on his door.
That's Diego. But his expression was sour. "I already did what I could." He flicked his stick and the sword appeared from the air, which would have fallen to the floor if Ayato hadn't caught it immediately. "That sword has zero power. But the hero must keep moving. Good luck."
Ayato looked at Diego and the sword in turn. "What am I supposed to do? With this, how can I be strong like the others," he protested.
But Diego just shrugged. "Dunno, just keep practicing as usual, maybe. Anyway, my job here is done, bye bye."
Ayato wanted to protest again, but Diego cut in again, "Oh I almost forgot. It's time to introduce you to the public. Two days from now there will be a performance, so try not to die." He left immediately after saying that.
What kind of performance was that man referring to? Suddenly Ayato thought, a sword without power is just the beginning.