Chapter 344: 342, one person, is the strongest
Gegran’s tone of surprise made the surrounding adventurers cast their glances this way.
Perhaps having heard Gejiev’s introduction of Reiger, they all looked at him, and without exception, their eyes betrayed astonishment.
"What’s the matter, Lord Gegran?"
Clem seemed oblivious to the reason behind everyone’s surprise, reacting slowly.
Although Clem had been somewhat shocked when Gejiev mentioned that Reiger was his savior, he felt the astonishment of the crowd was directed towards something different than what had surprised him.
And indeed, it was.
"Kid, don’t you know?" Seeing Clem’s confused face, Gegran raised his voice and said, "Reiger Brillhaut is one of the three who recently became a Fine Steel-ranked adventurer!"
At this revelation, Clem’s eyes widened slightly.
"Fine Steel-ranked adventurer?"
Looking at Reiger, who was sitting across from him, and observing his outward appearance, which seemed to be about the same age as his own, Clem could no longer hide his shock.
"What, so you really didn’t know?"
Seeing Clem’s reaction, Gegran realized he truly was unaware of Reiger’s reputation and patted his shoulder.
"This is a hot topic that’s been buzzing throughout the kingdom recently, and you, lad, haven’t heard of it? That’s incredibly ignorant."
Whilst speaking, Gegran began to recount Reiger’s accomplishments in front of everyone.
"Recently, the Re·Yestijie Kingdom has seen the birth of two Fine Steel-ranked adventurer teams within less than three months."
"One is active around Ye·Lantil, consisting of ’Hero of the Abyss’ Feifei and ’Belle’ Nabe. Relying solely on one warrior and one Magic Singer, they quickly accrued enough achievements to reach Fine Steel-ranking, becoming famed adventurers throughout Ye·Lantil."
"The other team is actually just one person, with no teammates or companions; in reality, he doesn’t even form a team unit. Yet he also made a big name for himself in Ye·Lantil and quickly accumulated achievements enough to be promoted to Fine Steel-ranking."
Gegran patted Clem’s shoulder and turned his gaze toward Reiger.
"His most famous exploit was setting up a challenge ring right in front of the adventurers guild in Ye·Lantil, where he fought against a multitude of adventurers who doubted his strength, ultimately defeating all challengers and creating a legend of having no defeats."
"Although he rarely takes on missions, you can even say he has not completed a single proper mission, the feats he has accomplished are no less than those of other Fine Steel-ranked adventurers who climbed the ranks by taking on missions step by step."
"Can you believe that a human could survive in the Angelicia mountain range for more than a month?"
"This man did it."
Gegran’s words surprised Clem once again.
The Angelicia mountain range is located in the northwestern corner of the continent, running vertically and acting as the boundary between the Re·Yestijie Kingdom and the Bahar Empire.
On the left side of this range lies the Re·Yestijie Kingdom, and on the right the Bahar Empire, with the boundless Tobu Great Forest to the south bordering the land of the Slian Church, occupying a very important geographical position.
The most noteworthy part of the Angelicia mountain range is not only its abundant natural resources, but also the numerous dangerous magical creatures that dwell there.
Most of these creatures are capable of easily preying on humans, lurking not only on the ground but also frequently seen in the skies.
For instance, giant eagles, eagle deer beasts, and Sirens are all well-known magical creatures. There are also undead such as frozen zombies and frost skeletons spontaneously emerging, posing a threat to the living just by their presence.
As such, despite the abundant natural resources within, the Angelicia mountains are also a well-known forbidden region for humans, with very few ever venturing the thought of entering.
Yet, this youth sitting before him, who appeared to be of similar age, had survived there for over a month?
Clem looked at Reiger with an incredulous gaze.
But that wasn’t all.
"According to reports from the adventurer guild, this man spent over a month in the Angelicia mountains, consecutively subduing many famous magical creatures."
"Among them, the most representative are the territorial rulers rumored to reside deep within the Angelicia range, each governing one of the three major domains."
"The ruler of the skies, the Phoenix Overlord."
"The ruler of the land, the Ancient Fire Dragon."
"And the ruler of the Molten Lava Region, the Molten Rock Ruler."
Awe crept into Gegran’s voice.
"Do you know what the Molten Rock Ruler is? It’s said to be a legendary enormous fish-shaped creature over 50 meters long. If the adventurer guild ever issued a mission to subdue this creature, then the difficulty would have to be at least 140."
Here, difficulty refers to a metric used internally by the adventurer guild.
Bronze-level and Iron-level adventurers can handle difficulties within 1-20.
Silver-level and Gold-level adventurers can handle difficulties within 21-40.
Platinum-level and Mithril-level adventurers can handle difficulties within 41-60.
Mountain Copper-level and Fine Steel-level adventurers can handle difficulties within 61-80.
That is to say, any difficulty above 80 is considered beyond the capability of even Fine Steel-level adventurers in the adventurers’ industry.
"By the way, it’s worth mentioning that our team leader, who entered the Heroic Domain at such a young age, has admitted that he couldn’t handle a difficulty of 90," Gegran said with a grin.
"With that in mind, can you imagine how terrifying an opponent with a difficulty of 140 must be?"
There was no doubt that it was a terrifying existence that could easily crush even the genuine Heroic Domain.
"As a result, including that monster, this person alone dealt with all three regional overlords of the Angelicia Mountains."
Gegran dropped a bombshell in Clem’s mind.
"It is precisely for this reason that he was granted permission by the adventurer guild to officially advance to Mithril rank, even as a sole individual."
"Because, he alone is on par with an entire Mithril-rank adventurer squad."
"Alone, he is the strongest."
In the entire restaurant, suddenly only Gegran’s voice echoed in the air.
Including Clem, all the adventurers fell into silence, their eyes fixed on Reiger, filled with unrest.
Even those who had heard of these deeds and the rumors about Reiger could not remain calm.
It goes without saying for Clem, who even held his breath.
In such a situation, Reiger finally spoke.
"It’s not that exaggerated."
He spoke as if utterly unfazed by his actions, in a tone so casual it made one wonder if it was like going out to buy a head of cabbage.
"That fish is not adept on land, just stay away from the lava and it’s like a dead fish that dare not even come ashore. Maintain your distance with flying magic, then attack it from afar with high-powered magic spells, and it can’t do anything to you."
Of course, what Reiger actually did was charge straight in and engage in close combat with it.
Who would have thought that at that time Reiger just happened to feel like testing whether the intense heat of lava could break through the high-temperature resistance effect granted by "Sunwheel’s Pioneer"?
The result proved that Reiger could temporarily survive even when diving into the magma. Thinking of sleeping in it might be a bit difficult, but swimming in it wasn’t as hard as one might imagine.
Thus, that big fish, corresponding to level 47 in this world, tragically met its end.
The crowd didn’t know these details, but Reiger’s calm tone bewildered them for quite some time.
"Worthy of Your Excellency."
Gejiev candidly expressed his thoughts, admiring the great feats Reiger had accomplished.
Clem also began to understand why Gejiev held Reiger in such high regard.
"So you’re saying that Lord Brillhaut is even more..."
Clem didn’t finish his sentence.
He didn’t dare say it, nor could he believe it.
But Gejiev guessed his thoughts and frankly acknowledged.
"Yes, Lord Brillhaut is stronger than I am, and by a significant margin."
At that moment, Clem found it very difficult to describe his feelings.
Gejiev Storunov, the Kingdom Warriors’ captain who is called the strongest warrior by surrounding countries, is undoubtedly an aspiration for many.
Who knows how many warriors there are who, hearing his name and admiring him, train themselves day in and day out over the years.
Who knows how many ambitious swordsmen took him as their target, thinking that one day they would catch up to him, which is why they began to wield their weapons.
Even Clem himself had always viewed Gejiev as a role model. Although it seemed like a lofty hope, he still couldn’t help but often fantasize that if he continued training, perhaps one day he could become as strong as him.
But now, Gejiev himself was admitting to being less than a person of similar age, which indeed filled Clem with indescribable complexity.
If only I could be like him...
Clem couldn’t help but harbor such a thought.
"Kid."
At this moment, the ever-silent Iveyer spoke up.
"Fantasies and delusions are two different things. If you strive with ambitions you shouldn’t have, you won’t just fail to become stronger, you’ll be courting death."
Such cold and stern words successfully snapped Clem back to reality.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Clem realized everyone was looking at him, quickly bowed, and apologized to the crowd.
"Don’t worry about it."
Gejiev patted Clem’s shoulder, seemingly to brush aside the matter.
"So what were you guys talking about earlier?"
Gegran diverted the topic back to past discussions.
"Actually..."
Gejiev pondered a bit but ultimately decided to explain.