CH 44

Chapter 44: Kratos’ Thoughts

Yuto: “...........yes, it’s my loss.”

Kratos stopped his blade before it reached Yuto.

Yuto appreciated this and breathed a sigh of relief.

Eliz: “MーMr. Yuto! Are you okay, yes?!”

Eliz scrambles over to Yuto’s side quickly.

When she touches Yuto’s arm, the weight of fatigue that was bearing down on Yuto disappears.

Eliz used her [Stamina Charge] just now.

Yuto: “Thank you, Eliz.”

Eliz: “Of course, yes. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Yuto: “I’m good.”

As Yuto answers Eliz, inside he was still wrestling with the fact that he was “defeated.”

It was an extremely one-sided defeat too.

Kratos used his [Thousand Blades].

But Yuto could feel that Kratos still had many tricks up his sleeves.

Yuto was unable to draw out all of Kratos’ strength.

Yuto: “(sigh……………….)”

Only a heavy sigh left his lips.

There is no way he could win against an A-Rank Adventurer.

Yuto knew this in his head, but even so, he could not still reject the bitter sense of defeat that was left when he lost.

It has been a while since Yuto felt this sensation.

It brought back deep memories and feelings from the days when he was still an Adventurer whose Level could not go up.

Yuto: (Now that I think about it, I felt this almost every day during that time…..)

Yuto felt this same feeling when he was watching the other Adventurers fight with monsters. He felt this sense of defeat the entire time.

This was not because he felt that he “lost” to other Adventurers.

It was purely because he felt that he was too weak.

As he lost to Kratos, while he fought with Kratos, Yuto could directly feel his weakness again - more than he ever wanted to.

It was the same feeling as when he was the Weakest Adventurer…..

Kratos: “Hey, boy, I bet you thought you could sneak a win by pure Level and Skill, didn’t you?”

Yuto: “................”

At Kratos’ words, Yuto sucked in a breath.

He was right. It was just as he said.

Yuto gained access to his Skill Board.

The power of the Skill Board raised the Weakest Adventurer who was Yuto to C-Rank in almost no time.

And Yuto was purely dependent on the power of the Skill Board.

ーーno.

Yuto shook his head inside his mind.

It wasn’t just today.

Since he received this power, Yuto stopped using his experience that he built up as an Adventurer.

It was because he thought those things would pale in comparison to his new Levels and Skills…..

Kratos: “An Adventurer’s strength is not just Levels and Skills. There is experience, knowledge, perspective, and many things that will not be reflected in a Status - all of that is part of your combat strength. Just because it’s not something that pops up on your Status doesn’t mean that you can just discard it as nothing anymore.”

Yuto: “.........yes.”

Yuto felt as though Kratos read him like a book and pointed out the glaring flaws hiding inside of him.

An Adventurer’s experience and knowledge will never be reflected in the Status.

And there are natural born traits and personalities that would also be unrelated to your Status.

But these things that are outside of your Status are equally important to an Adventurer.

By ignoring these things, it would be like trying to become a Spellcaster even though you may be blessed with great physical abilities.

In a Dungeon, if you fight ignoring your unique physique, experience, and knowledge, you will eventually hit a dead-end.

This was something that Yuto, someone who has survived inside a Dungeon for 10 years, should have already known.

In order to become stronger, he has utilized every piece of strength and talent he could find inside himself.

But Yuto forgot all of that.

He became blinded by the bright light emitted by his improvements and progress of his Status and nothing else mattered to him…..

And reaching a C-Rank Adventurer, he also became overconfident.

He thought, “I’m strong now!”

Yuto: (But in reality, I’m still weak………)

Realizing this, Yuto’s shoulders sagged.

But as he looked down, Kratos laid a hand on his head.

Kratos: “I understand how you want to deny that you were ever weak. How you want to disprove everyone around you that they were wrong to think of you that way. But don’t forget, it’s because of your past that you have a foundation to build yourself upon today. So don’t be so harsh with your past.”

Yuto: “.........yes. Thank you very much.”

Relaying his gratitude to Kratos, Yuto leaves the field.

In this fight, Yuto was now able to experience what it was like to face another human being.

He also now understood how strong an A-Rank Adventurer was.

He also learned to draw out his unique strengths and abilities that he had discarded as useless up until now.

He gained a lot from this encounter.

Yuto: (I need to become even more…..even more stronger……….!)

Yuto’s determination and resolve hardens once again.

But this “stronger” was slightly different from before.

It was not a vague, blurry image of “strength,” but now it began to take shape. It was still not crystal clear but outlines were now forming inside Yuto on what this “strength” looked like for him.

<<<<>>>>

As he watched the two Adventurers leave the field, Kratos sat down in the grassy plain, and closed his eyes to reflect on what just occurred.

The “Lone Wolf” Thames and the “Dumpster Diver” Yuto.

Thames only obsessed over “Becoming a C-Rank” and saw nothing else.

An Adventurer’s rank will naturally rise as a result of becoming stronger.

But until you realize this, you will never reach C-Rank.

That’s because a promotion is not simply about passing a “test” or “entrance exam”.

The people in the Guild are not idiots.

As long as the person does not understand core concepts and values, they will not allow that person to be promoted under any circumstances.

[For all the C-Rank Adventurers, there was a clear set of reasons of why they were able to reach that promotion]

For Thames, she should have realized this with her Duel with Yuto.

Although she may not be able to just yet, in the near future, Thames will rise up into the C-Rank realm of Adventurers. This was Kratos’ personal speculation.

In this way, when Kratos has time, he would go out of his way to take care of the newer Adventurers.

But this isn’t everyone he runs across. Just the select few that catches his eye.

These are usually those who are not able to take off remnants of their old shells completely or those who are unable to fully utilize the strength they have.

Watching those Adventurers makes him uneasy, restless, and eventually pushes him to do something about it.

Yes, in reality, it’s none of his business. There are those who tell him off, and they are right to do so. But even so, this wasn’t for him, but for the person he was trying to help. Kratos was certain of this.

And to prove his point, everyone Kratos helped so far became a famous and renowned Adventurer in Kronos.

Kratos had an unusually keen instinct to sniff out these problems.

Thames is a good example of an Adventurer who would go farther up and higher if she would be more diligent in training herself and not just prove her current strength. She had high, untapped potential.

Kratos felt this and when seeing Thames, smelled trouble.

But the problem was Yuto.

[Hey, don’t get on your high horse because you were able to beat Thames!]

[There’s always someone stronger than you as an Adventurer!]

This was originally what Kratos meant to teach Yuto as he demanded a practice match with him.

When you overwhelm other adventurers with your strength, most would become overconfident.

And it’s that overconfidence that robs the Adventurers of their lives.

So for Kratos, he planned on splashing the cold water of defeat on Yuto’s face to help him realize that he still has a long way to go.

But as soon as the match began, Kratos realized that he was mistaken.

Kratos: (This guy……..he’s not overconfident at all……….?!)

Yuto’s movements had no signs of overconfidence, and he saw no swelling of pride or arrogance.

And not only that, an A-Rank Adventurer like Kratos is facing him with his A-Rank weapons, but Yuto kept fearlessly coming after him.

Kratos: (Oh.....this is bad……….)