DANMACHI: THE ECHO OF FALLEN HEROES

During the following days, Leo woke up early. He read. He ate. He slept. Sometimes he went out to follow some adventurer with his gaze, hidden behind the walls. He learned about monsters: their number, their type, and their cycle of appearance.

He read about ancient tactics. About groups that won without force, only with ingenuity. About magicians who wrote with fire. About archers who counted arrows, not by number, but by breaths.

One night, while leafing through a worn volume titled "The Fall of the Zeus Family," Leo paused at a sentence:

 "A hero is not born of his power, but of the will with which he faces his destiny."

He pressed the book to his chest. He realized something. He didn't want to be a hero. Not yet.

He just wanted not to be forgotten. He wanted to have a name that others would not ignore, one that even his old friends would remember, for the first time... he wanted to stay in one place.

"Tomorrow..." said the god one night as he filled another jug of beer. "Tomorrow, I'll show you something."

"What?" asked Leo, still holding one of the books.

"Depending on how you look at it, it will help you decide what to do with the rest of your life."

Leo looked at him. There was fire in the old man's eyes. And for some reason... he didn't feel afraid. He felt that perhaps this was the beginning of something.

The next morning, the sun barely filtered through the dusty windows of the cabin. Smoke from the fireplace still lingered in the air, mixed with the aroma of toast and a kind of bitter infusion.

Leo climbed the stairs from the basement to the first floor, still feeling a slight pain in his wound, which was almost closed. His gait was no longer as unsteady as it had been a few days earlier. When he reached the dining room, the god was already waiting for him, sitting in front of a steaming plate with a lazy smile on his face.

"Good morning, skinny bloodhound," he greeted him with a laugh, pushing a plate toward him with something that looked like baked bread with pieces of dark mushrooms and a thick, black sauce. "Let me introduce you to another of my specialties."

Leo sat down silently. The meal looked the same as the ones from previous days, dishes that were not at all appetizing to the eye, but nevertheless, he began to eat calmly this time. He was still hungry, but it was no longer desperation. It was routine.

"Do you know what's funny about this place, Leo?" said the god between sips from his jug, without taking his eyes off him. "Everyone wants to be strong. But few ask themselves why they want to be strong."

Leo looked up, his face still covered with sleep.

"Do you want to be strong?" asked the god bluntly.

Leo didn't answer. He chewed. He swallowed. He looked down.

"Because... I want to survive," he said at last.

The god nodded slowly. Then he shook his head.

"That's not enough. Anyone can survive by crawling like a worm. But you, down there, got up with a bleeding leg, a broken heart... and a dull knife. You don't need muscles... you need meaning," said the god in a more serious tone.

Leo remained silent. That uncomfortable silence where you know you're learning, even if you don't understand it yet. He only knew that those words had touched something in him.

"Starting today, I will train you. Not to be the strongest... but to be someone the world cannot ignore." The god rose with renewed energy and threw him a sack full of stones. "And start with this! Walk around the cabin a hundred times without dropping any. Move, you walking rock!"

Leo stared at him in astonishment, not understanding what was happening. When he looked at the god again, he realized he was serious, so he obeyed. He took the sack and went outside. The air was fresh, and the sun was shining through the broken roofs. As he ran, he heard the god shout at him:

"If you fall, bite the ground and keep going! This isn't a fairy tale!"

Over the next few days, the training was physical. Weights, jumping, fighting with a wooden stick, something that was very difficult for Leo since he had never done any kind of sport or exercise in his other life. In the afternoons, the god made him sit with open books, pointing out passages, something that Leo thought was meaningless, but at least it was more fun than physical training.

"Did you read this one about Tyrr the Failed? Do you think he was weak? Or did he just choose his battle poorly?" asked the god. "And Eilith? Was she really a heroine... or just a fool who couldn't kill the one she loved?"

Each question was a thorn. And each thorn left a mental scar. Leo was beginning to see that being a hero was not a straight line. It was a path full of unanswered questions.

During dinner, the god served a steaming soup, thicker than usual.

"Leo... What would you do if monsters could think?" The god drank from his jug and looked at Leo as if observing a reflection of himself.

"What...?" Leo choked.

"If the monsters you kill down there... felt. Thought. Had dreams. Like you. Like me. What would you do if they were in front of you? Would you kill them?" The god fixed his gaze on Leo, intrigued by the answer Leo would give him.

Leo was paralyzed.

"That doesn't make sense. Monsters... are monsters. They come out of the dungeon. They attack. They kill. They're evil, right?" Leo replied, still confused by the question.

"Are you asking or stating?" The god leaned on the table. "We live in a world where humans kill each other for nothing. For hatred, for revenge, for money. And now you're surprised by the idea that a magical creature could have a conscience?"

Leo thought about his old world. The news. The screams. The wars. The indifference. It seemed that humanity was not so different in this world.

"Think about it. Did anyone question humanity for killing an endangered species? Or for killing another human? No. Because killing was part of the machinery. Adventurers are no different. They kill because the dungeon allows it," said the god.

Silence. Only the crackling of the fire echoed in the cabin.

"But if you don't kill them, they'll kill you first," Leo said in a more serious tone.

"That's true, but what if not?" The god raised an eyebrow and gave Leo a sharp look.

Leo didn't know what to think. In this world, monsters are the most normal creatures. People die because of them all the time, and the fallen are given a small tribute in the streets depending on their rank. Leo had seen many of these over the years in Orario, one or several from different families.

However, that question raised an immense doubt that was almost impossible to answer, since Leo himself had no real reason to kill the creatures other than to become strong. That was when Leo understood the god's first question.

"Is it really worth taking a life just to become strong and gain recognition? What does that make us? Are we monsters, too?" These were the doubts that constantly lingered in his mind after that conversation with the god.

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On July 5, 2025, SEND THE ADVANCED CHAPTERS AND THOSE ALREADY KNOWN FROM >DANMACHI: THE ECHO OF FALLEN HEROES<. DON'T MISS IT, COMING SOON TO MY OFFICIAL PAGE.