Chapter 34

Today, I thought I had plenty of time to finish the main text and write a really interesting preface, but for some reason, it dragged on until the date changed, and I couldn’t do it.

"…No way, right?"

The blade of the <Rigid Sword Revolt> that had been cut flew through the air and plunged into the ground. I stared at it in shock.

Even when I cut down the demons, and when I blocked the sub-dragon's attack, my partner never wavered and fought alongside me. But seeing it so easily cut down, my thoughts froze.

That... That was undoubtedly a fatal opening on the battlefield.

However...

"…Is it over now?"

The man standing before me doesn’t even reprimand me. He just looks at me with cold eyes, as if it doesn’t matter whether I have my weapon ready or if I’m standing there motionless...

(No, in reality, that’s probably true.)

Even without looking for an opening, if he had swung his sword again right after cutting the <Rigid Sword Revolt>, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid it and would have been cut down. Or if his advance had been a bit deeper, he might have cut me in half along with the sword.

"…No, I surrender."

I let go of the shortened greatsword and plopped down on the spot.

"Old man!"

A voice like a scream came from behind, but my resolve didn’t waver.

"You don’t get it, do you? It’s a complete defeat."

He surpassed Juke in magical power, Lane in throwing skills, and me in swordsmanship and strength. What else could this be but defeat?

(That’s not all...!)

Scared by this man’s strength, we forgot our initial vow not to hurt our opponent.

It wasn’t just Lane who threw the knife in earnest. When Rex approached, my mind was solely focused on how to beat him. The goal of exposing this man’s true nature and making the kids realize it, and the resolve to resolve things without hurting the opponent, had completely flown out of my head.

But this man, Rex, was different.

When he intercepted the knife thrown at him and when he neutralized me with my sword drawn, he didn’t injure us at all. Of course, that might be due to the "confidence from the skill gap." But the fact is, he subdued us without a scratch on either side.

--We lost to this man not only in skill but also in spirit.

I looked him straight in the eye, placed my hands on the ground, and said,

"…I’m sorry."

Then I bowed deeply.

"What are you doing, old man!"

"Old man!"

Lane and the others shouted, but this was a matter of principle.

"It’s not just this time! I underestimated you! I decided that a solo A-rank adventurer couldn’t exist and treated you like a fraud!"

I was the one with clouded vision. While I said that adventurers are free, I was the one who put them in a box.

I thought that an adventurer who could fulfill all the roles of a party alone didn’t exist. But this man, Rex, surpassed us in magic, skills, and swordsmanship.

And that’s not just a matter of being "skilled."

As an adventurer, you can indeed grow in magic power and dexterity through experience. For example, I have the magic power of a mid-level adventurer, but I can’t use the same spells as them.

Being a strong adventurer isn’t just about having strong abilities. No matter how high your base abilities are, they’re meaningless if you don’t have the skills to use them.

To acquire skills, you need to take up a specific profession and hone your skills in that field. For basic skills of a lower profession, it’s still manageable. But to learn excellent skills like <Freeze Rain> and <Knife Shot>, you need extraordinary effort.

That’s why adventurers usually specialize in one path, like "warrior" or "mage." Or if they pursue multiple paths, they can manage at most two.

(But this man showed us superior skills in all fields: mage, thief, and swordsman!)

I can painfully feel how much endless training this requires, having been an adventurer for decades.

(Calling him a fraud is pitiful...!)

Moreover, what’s truly impressive about this man is that despite all this, he doesn’t exude any arrogance.

At first, I mistakenly thought it was because he was just an ordinary person. But that’s not it. This skilled man has probably transcended that level.

Even now, he doesn’t have the air of someone "engaged in a life-or-death battle." Instead, he handled us with the naturalness and ease of someone playing a card game.

(There’s no way we can match him. No way at all.)

Of course, being an excellent adventurer doesn’t guarantee being an excellent teacher. But I can’t imagine that a man who has put in unbelievable effort to acquire such skills would only do half-hearted training.

Moreover, given that Rex’s skills exceeded our expectations, there’s no reason for us to stop them.

"If a man of your caliber is leading them, I’m reassured. Even in the <Seven-Colored Lava Cave>, you can certainly protect them..."

"Are you misunderstanding something?"

A cold voice interrupted my words. The black-clad adventurer told me something unbelievable.

"They’re the only ones going into the dungeon."

"What...?"

I was speechless at Rex’s casual statement.

(Sending rookies into the lava cave is suicide.)

I wanted to say it, but for some reason, I couldn’t voice it.

The enemies in the lava cave are strong, and even the easiest collection request is far beyond what a rookie can handle.

But perhaps, with his guidance, his students might be able to slip past the slimes in the lava cave and complete the request?

For a moment, I thought that might be possible.

"No, but... Yeah, there’s something I want to talk to you about, and this is a good opportunity. Follow me to the entrance of the cave. And then..."

But... I was still underestimating him, no, them, even at this point.

"---I want you to be the witness to my students’ completion of their request."

The man, who seemed expressionless, twisted his lips into a smile. I didn’t truly understand the meaning of his words until hours later.

☆ ☆ ☆

On November 10, 664th year of the Sword Emperor Era, exactly one month after the "Oracle of the Savior Goddess."

A sensational report reached the Freelea Adventurer’s Guild.

--New party <Brave Blade> completes the "Boss Defeat Request" in the intermediate dungeon <Seven-Colored Lava Cave>!

The information brought by the most respected adventurer in Freelea, the <Indestructible Veteran>, quickly spread among the adventurers of the city, and indeed, the world, greatly surprising them.

For a newly formed party, having only explored the dungeon twice, to achieve a "first-time complete conquest" of an intermediate dungeon was an unprecedented feat.

With this legendary achievement, all the winds of opinion changed. Past bad reputations turned into praise, and everyone sought the secret behind their success and the existence of the mentor behind it...

--And the world came to know "Rex Toren."