Chapter 10: Is it wrong to idolize a good for nothing Miner in Orario?
[Author's note: this is the first time I try 1st person view for a character other than my own OC. I avoided it because I'm not confident about writing to keep canon characters thought process stay in-character. Gonna give it a try this time]
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(((Soren Ravencroft 2nd Run)))
(((Bell Cranel)))
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Why is a minotaur is here?!! I read the Rookie Manual back to back and a Minoraur shouldn't appear on Floor 5!
In my panic, I forgot the route to reach the exit. This is my big mistake! The author of Rookie Manual, Punishing: Gray Raven had heavily stated the importance of remembering maps and practicing Emergency Retreat Maneuvers. I got too excited following the Orario Express and ended up on a Floor I'm not familiar with!
I found myself cornered to a dead end and tried to turn back, but the minoutaur had blocked my escape. I shakily raise my rifle, desperately trying to remember every single piece of Battle Strat that Gray Raven had explained about Minotaurs.
And then, like a flash, a young man in dirty overalls appears out of the shadow and slashed the minotaur in two. The minoutaur's blood spurts all over me, painting me red.
However, I cant help but be mesmerized by the view of his back. He is not the image of a hero coming to the rescue like how I had imagined from the books grandpa had given me. He has no shining armor, wearing an overall more appropriate for a labor worker. his sword was simple blade with hilt wrapped messily with crude leather, lacking no glamour. His presence lacks dignity, looking as if he had done nothing noble, that he just saved me because He just decided it on a whim.
When we crossed my eyes, I found no glory in him. As if he's thinking,
'There is nothing special about saving a person. It's just the right thing to do on a whim, like picking up littered trash you happened so walk by the street.'
"Soren."
I hold back my urge to squeal as a fan! It's Captain Jaune Arc, the leader of the new subdivision of Loki Familia, Silver Moon! His rookie training program where he takes in newbies from many Familia is the hottest program in town! I tried to apply but the waiting list was booked up to six months ahead.
"Heyo, Jaune.", I glanced to the person that saved me. Did he knew Captain Arc? "You let a bull loose. Could've gotten the kid killed."
"Like you did?", Captain Arc muttered, but he immediately looks like he regrets it.
The man who saved me however, looks so bitter, even if he tries to hide it with a grin.
"Yep, just like me."
The man left after that, not saying a word. I was too confused with the situation that I forgot to thank him! Before I could pursue him however, Captain Arc grabbed my arm and halted me.
"You will not do well if you associate yourself with that man."
Huh, why?
"That guy is Soren Ravencroft, though you may know him as Gray Raven. He is a pathetic sad piece of shit obsessing over digging deeper into the dungeon and there is nothing good will come if you get involved with him."
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I can't believe I met Captain Arc
And I can't believe I met Gray Raven himself!
He was a mystery among us rookies. Many of us owed our progress to him. The Rookie Manual was an in depth explanation and strategy guide for up to 25 Floors deep. It is updated every year as feedback was given and the name Punishing: Gray Raven later fall under obscurity as nothing more than just the name of the author that wrote the first edition, but it remains a fact that Gray Raven's first edition Rooki Manual changed Orario. According to old statistics, the death rate of being a beginner adventurer are 83%. When Rookie Manual was released, the mortality rate went down to 60%, and as the manual keep spreading over the years, the mortality rate grew to lower to the now 35% death rate.
'Gray Raven was a hero. And he did it with just a book'. That's what miss Eina had told me back when I was getting started a few weeks back. I used to think that to be a hero you need to slay monsters and save people. But, the idea that you can save so many people by just teaching them…
I learned that I was a stupid kid that has a narrow view of the world.
"Oi Jauney! I heard you met your ol pal this evening!", a drunk werewolf rudely asked Captain Arc.
"We just happen to passed by one another, nothing more.", Captain Arc coldly reply as he drinks his ale.
"Hah! Look at him and look at you now, Captain Arc!", the drunk werewolf starts to taunt him. "You guys used to be so much a pain in the butt! Running around going deeper when you guys had no business going there! You guys got greedy and in the end you get that little kid killed! Hah!"
Jaune rise up and punched the werewolf hard in the face.
"Shut up Bete!"
Bete laughed as he just lied down on the floor.
"Hah! That's right! You still hold some respect to your ol pal? 'The White Raven Agency is a so much better company than Loki Familia', you used to say. Now look at where you are now, Arc!"
Captain Arc looks like he's about to pommel Bete to death, but Mama Mia intervene and break up the fight.
Just who is Gray Raven really? If he knows great people like Captain Arc, why did he become so ruined?
I don't know what happens between Gray Raven and Captain Arc, but I can't help but think that Gray Raven is a real hero. From the shabby look he has, it was clear that he had never been rewarded for his deeds. Yet, he still helps people.
A hero that saves people not out of ideals and dreams, but simply because it is the right thing to do.
I wanted to be that kind of hero.
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It's been about two months since my encounter with Gray Raven, give or take.
I am now a Level 2, and now has made a party with Welf and a supporter named Elly. When we're trying to do an expedition to the Floor 15, we got trapped by a Pass Parade and ended up falling into a deeper floor when we had to destroy the floor to escape our entrapment.
As we're lying half dead under the rubble, a visage I thought I never seen again appears.
Mr Hero, Gray Raven happens to stumbles upon us as if it was fate. He was going up to surface to buy some food supplies when he found the entrance linking Floor 15 and 16 was destroyed.
Without much fuss, he give us all first aids and lead us down to his hut in Floor 18. The safezone called Under Resort.
It was jarring to see a shabby hut in this beautiful place.
Its like he is nothing more than just a laborer living in a slum hut made by haphazardly nailing some planks just to make a semblance of a shelter. There's nothing but tools for forging and his bed is just a bundle of leaves put into some sacks.
How can a hero live like this???
Someone like him doesn't deserved to live as a homeless in the slums!
Gray Raven left as soon as we settled in, saying he's going back down to meet up an old friend.
I had forgotten that Gray Raven knew Captain Arc, until the captain picked us up at the hut. It turns out that Gray Raven had went down to meet Captain Arc who's on the way up, and asked a favor to get up fast and picked my team before quote, 'before the little rabbit get scammed by those Riviran slumdogs.
"Captain Arc, how did you know Gray Raven?"
I couldn't stop myself from asking. Captain Arc looks like he bitten a bitter pill.
"I used to be mentored by him. He taught me everything I know. You'd be surprised by this, but the guy you called Gray Raven is actually younger than me."
Really?? But he looked…
"He looked so much older right? Yea, that's what living your life being obsessed do to you. Don't be like him, Bell. Gray Raven is not someone you should take example from.
Captain Arc left us at his camp, and then he gone busy doing arrangements with the Rivira town. Then, he left to go back to surface.
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Nooo!!!
The Black Goliath still tries to regenerate, even after our final gambit had destroyed the upper half of its body! The core is exposed, and flesh are regenerating. Half of Riviran slumdogs had died defending us from the invading monsters, and Ryuu was down to count!
What could we do? My leg is broken, I couldn't run to destroy the core once and for all!
Thunder roars from the corner of Floor. From the entrance to Floor 17. And then, the Floor was illuminated by bright white and blue.
It was Gray Raven's Lightning!
His lightning dealt the final strike and the Black Goliath core is destroyed.
We are saved!
"Soren…"
Miss Ryuu looked at the barely visible visage of Gray Raven in his cloak, and he went back down, not bothering to show anyone he's the one that saved us.
I saw miss Ryuu shed a single tear.
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One day, miss Ryuu visits the Hestia Familia HQ. I was surprised to learn that this used to be her home.
Apparently, this building used to be an abandoned church, but Gray Raven, along with the other 2 Founding Members of White Raven Agency turned the half fallen rubble church into this messy patchwork of a building. She said that for three years of the establishment of the White Raven, it maybe shabby, but it was a happy home.
A Pallum called Liliruca would experiment with new concoctions of potions and something called Monster Oils that's supposed to increase weapons effectiveness against monsters when applied to a blade.
Gray Raven and Captain Arc would forge new guns and discuss how to make better and stronger bullets. They were discussing amazing things, like turning Magic Swords into special bullets that's supposed to change Orario's mining operation, as he would call it.
Miss Ryuu chuckles when I asked why she kept referring to adventuring as mining operations.
'Soren always said, we go into a hole in the ground and bring back magic rocks. What else are we if not a bunch of miners?'
It froze my brain processing that statement. Oh goddess!! We are all a bunch of miners this whole time!
Then, I asked her. Why did Captain Arc left White Raven Agency on a bad term?
Miss Ryu said it all happened just a few weeks after Gray Raven's birthday (6th of June) 2 years ago.
While the company was a close knit family, they also often fights over Gray Raven's obsession to dig deeper into the dungeon.
Liliruca would always takes Gray…. No, Soren's side, while Ca… Jaune would always argue for them to slow down. While Ryuu was stuck in the middle, not knowing which argument to side with.
One day, Soren had insist to push through Floor 27 despite running out of supplies. Miss Ryuu doesn't tell me the details but basically, they messed up and ended up abandoning the weapon supplies meant to be used to take down the Floor 27 Monster Rex.
Soren had pushed to take it down without the weapon, and as expected, Liliruca sided with him. Jaune was outvoted.
They won, but Liliruca died that day.
Jaune had never forgive Soren for that. They took an unnecessary risk and Liliruca paid the price.
'She looked up to you like you're her father! She always supported you no matter what! And you couldn't have think for her sake for once in your life!'
That's the last words he said before he stormed out of White Raven Agency.
After that, Soren's obsession grew even more stronger. He rarely comes back to the HQ anymore.
Miss Ryuu left the Agency, and then Soren sold the property to Hephaestus. He donated all the money to the Miner's Relief Fund, another contribution the Gray Raven had established to support the families of dead Miners.
Since then, Soren Ravencroft lived exclusively in the dungeon, ever so desperate to go deeper into the dungeon for reasons Ryuu had never understand.
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I used to think Heroes are flawless being. They can save everyone and lived a life where they do no wrong.
Gray Raven's story made me felt so conflicted.
How can such a great man can live so miserably? Why is he so obsessed to go deeper into the dungeon?
Whatever image I had of him before, it shattered.
Gray Raven was no hero.
He's just a flawed, deranged miner who just happens to do great things out of stroke of luck.
Since the day I realized this, I no longer grow my excelia as fast anymore.
There is no such things as heroes…
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I had given up all hope when we had fallen into Floor 37. The only reason I still moved forward was because I was desperate to at least get Miss Ryuu to safety. This is all my fault.
And then, he appears. Always, when I need him the most.
As if he's my guardian angel.
The Gray Raven may be a deranged madman obsessed over getting deeper into the dungeon, but there's no denying that he is strong.
Ryuu had said, he is the true strongest Miner in Orario. And it showed.
The Deep Floor monsters are strong, very much so. No adventurer can venture into this dark caverns alone.
However, Gray Raven pushed through it like walking in a park and crush all the monsters like ants. Everything was burned away by his flame. He can outmaneuvered any monsters with his Hiraishin. He can unleash sword strikes that Scars the Wind that cleaved 100 in a slash.
He is strong. Definitely so.
When the Juggernaut comes, having grown stronger after consuming many monsters and the Monster Rex of Floor 37, I warned him to not use magic and stick to only swordplay. The Juggernaut is stronger than the one she saw before, miss Ryuu had said. And now its strength is roughly equal to Gray Raven.
It was a death match. Without magic, its hard for him to bridge the gap. The battle nearly broke Floor 37 as the 2 godlike beings battling for supremacy.
Miss Ryuu begged him to leave as he lost his legs, half blinded, lost his right arm and his intestines spilling out of his gut. But Gray Raven is a man with a will of steel. Even after losing so much, he keeps on fighting. To move, he burst jets of fire from the stump of his thighs and on his back as impromptu wings. When the flame of his bending did not get reflected by the Juggernaut.
I have a deep pit of horror and guilt rip through my heart.
The Juggernaut couldn't reflect his Bending….
Its all my fault….
Because I warned him to not used magic, Gray Raven is going to die!
However, Gray Raven is a far stronger person than me. When he realized this, he didn't fall into despair. He simply shrugs, as if he just made a common mistake, and proceed to blast Juggernaut with the strongest flame. his flame burn so hot it shine white and blue.
I collapsed after that.
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I came to miss Ryuu's apartment to apologize to Gray Raven.
Because of me, his career is over.
However, he just shrugged it off, saying its nothing.
"How can you say that?! Its my fault that I stopped you from using Firebending to fight from the start! Now... Now…!"
Whoever was the great Gray Raven used to be, now what was left was a husk. All he do now is just painstakingly try to write a new Manual with his left hand.
"tell me, Bell Cranel. If you have to choose between sacrificing the people you loved to save the world, or sparing them and let the world be ruined, what will you do?"
"huh???"
"I never get why people called Gray Raven as a hero. I sold my manual for the money you see. All I think about was making money to support my new family, the White Raven Agency."
What?
"When I chose to be a Miner, I do it not to seek fame or riches. I do it because I just want to protect my family. I wrote the Rookie Manuals because I just want a new generation of colleagues that is more professional and trustworthy. People who learn to work in the industry will be mould by my ideology, and become a better Miner. Become Miners I can trust."
I starts to shed my tears. It can't be.
"Code of Miner Number 1, Trust in your fellow Miners. I don't trust to so called Adventurers you see.. people who think going into a hole for some magic rocks to be a path a glory and all that crap? What is so adventurous about living everyday butchering monsters for materials? What's so heroic about that? I always think this city is filled with a bunch of delusional bastards, driven mad by gold."
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"I wrote the Rookie Manual so that a new generation will be born. Generation that is not being swayed by the Familia rhetoric's to beautify and conceal what they really are. That they are a bunch of murderous self indulgent mafias."
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"I have put my trust in the new generation to be people I can trust and work with. People who understands that we are actually Miners, and we are here to do a risky job for our loved ones. Code of Miners Number 2, Safety First for the sake of our Family. Code of Miners Number 3, Professional Conduct among Peers, Regardless of all Barriers. I can trust my fellow Miners that they will not sabotage me with false information. Not on purpose at least."
"What did you mean, Gray Raven?", I croaked amongst my sobs.
"You gives me crucial information and I trusted you. But it turns out it was false. None of it is your fault. You're just relaying to me the information you have. How could we have known that Bending doesn't get reflected?"
I broke into sobs on the floor. I cant believe this! Why wouldn't he blame me?!!
"If I didn't warned you, you would have used Bending right away! If only I had kept my mouth shut-!"
And he just shrugs
"But that's not what happened. Nothing we can do about it now."
"please, Just blame me! I'm the one at fault here!"
"You are. But not willingly. I will never blame a kid for an honest mistake. It's the job for the adults to guide kids to learn from their mistakes, not punish them for it."
Urrghhhh.. ghhh aaaa….
"Back to my first question, what will you choose?"
The world? Or the loved ones?
"I don't know…"
"well, for me, I always think I will always choose my loved ones. That's the only reason I do anything. Anything else I did, this manual? This code of conduct? This charity funds? Its all just a happy coincidence. Just because I have chose my loved ones over the world doesn't mean I want them to live miserably in a ruined world. I want them to live in a better world than I did."
……
"Bell Cranel, don't flatter yourself to think I saved you. I fought to the breaking point not for you, but for Ryuu. You just happened to be there. You are just a happy coincidence."
Soren Ravencroft has the smile of a saint.
"Don't be so arrogant to think this is your fault. You're just a passerby I happened to saved by chance while I was saving the girl that I love. Nothing more."
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Its all just a happy coincidence.
Is this how real heroes think?
Their thought process are so alien to understand.
But, I don't think he is wrong. To save the world by sheer coincidence just because he was just trying to provide for his family.
That's the kind of hero Soren Ravencroft is. Maybe that's why he is so pure.
There is no delusion in his belief. Even through selfishness, he can still help people. You don't need to be a selfless, caring for all saint to be a hero.
There's nothing special about doing the right thing. Its just a natural thing to do.
I don't know if I can be a hero like Gray Raven. I don't think I am as good at him to just save people through happy coincidence.
But still, I admire how nonchalant he is to treat something as grand as saving the world to be nothing more than a side chore for what is truly important for him. Family.
I don't think I can be a hero with big dreams anymore.
But there's nothing wrong about being a hero with small goals.
Since that day, my excelia grow even faster than before.
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"Miss Ryuu?"
I saw her went out from Naaza's clinic with springs on her steps. The Ryuu I remember jad always had this somber tone around her, but for the first time its like I'm seeing her glowing.
"Oh, its you, Bell Cranel.", she's even smiling. I had never seen her so happy.
"whats up with you today, miss Ryuu? I just saw you get out from the clinic. Did you finally got the prosthetics for Gray Raven?"
"Oh no Bell! Even better, I am pregnant!"
Oh
Oooohhhhhh
"That's great news miss Ryuu! So you and Gray Raven is finally together huh?"
Ryuu nodded. It must have been scandalous knowing how Elf culture are. Not only she had consorted with a human, she had also conceived a child outside of marriage.
"Today is his birthday too. Soren doesn't like celebrating his birthday, but I think he will be happy with this gift."
"Oh okay then. Have a nice day, Miss Ryuu!"
Today, Ryuu is the happiest woman in the world.
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Not long after, I hear roars echoes from all corners of the Horizon.
The city went into full panic!
The One Eyed Black Dragon is coming!
The One Eyed Black Dragon is coming!
The massive beast is the size of the biggest of mountains. The flap of its wings alone caused the strongest hurricanes. Its roar bleeds the ears of everyone under Level 4.
The moment I saw it's visage at the horizon, somehow I recognized it. As if it is the fated enemy I had always meant to fight.
The Dragon of The End.
I saw a fiery comet fly out of Ryuu's apartment building, and I chase after it. Only one person I know could do that. Along me, Captain Arc had joined the chase.
"Captain Arc! Do you know whats going on?!!"
"I don't know! But somehow, I know what is that thing! The Dragon of The End?!! No one ever called the One Eyed Black Dragon that! Why are we recognizing it as that?! And Why are we compelled to face it?!"
"I dont know!"
Captain Arc used one of his skills to boost our speed to catch up with Gray Raven. In an hour, we reached the Dragon of The End.
"ALDUIN!!!",
Gray Raven, hovering in the sky screams out the beast name.
How did he know about this dragon?! What is their connection?!
"Ahhh…. We meet again, The Sword. Its been a while."
The dragon spoke across all horizon. This is beyond a simple monster! This is! This is!
"The End itself.", I muttered the name of this absolute entity.
Gray Raven went into madness. He tries to engulf Alduin with his biggest flame, but how can you burn a mountain? Gray Raven is like a fly to it. Completely harmless.
"This is disappointing, Soren Ravencroft. I had expected better from you after this new cycle of complete reset you undergo."
Gray Raven halted in his flight. He has an expression of existential dread.
"What, did you think this is the first time you performed a complete reset? Discarding all your previous memories and playthrough logs? No, Soren. This is not the first time you did this. By my count, I think this is your 57th full reset? Or was it 75th? It's hard to tell.. it's been several hundred thousand of years since we started this game. Or maybe it has entered in the million range. I can't really tell actually. Its been forever."
"AAAGGHHHJJJ!!!"
Gray Raven descend into absolute madness, and in desperate attempt to keep him alive, Captain Arc pour all his power to boost his defense.
"its only your second run of this new reset, but you're already broken. You disappointed me."
With a flick of a tongue, Alduin sent a massive gust of wind that slammed Gray Raven like a fly swatter, and sent him crashing to the ground, cratered like a meteor.
"Soren Ravencroft. You are my only companion in this eternal struggle. You who defy The End. You sustains me. You nourish me. You are the one thing in my existence that gives me meaning."
It was as if brass gongs across all corners of Genkai had all been strike at once, as Alduin charged up its Atomic Breath.
"Do not disappoint me next time. I was insulted to see you came to me as a pathetic cripple. Its still too early for you to broke in this cycle."
My vision went dark as flames engulfed the world.
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[Player Soren Ravencroft, please set the date for you to merge with your 3rd run's iteration]
No…
Just let me go already…
Just let me end….