Seth sighed as he saw his stats. It had been a pretty successful second year for him... in some ways. In others... well he had to explain on that one.
First he had grown in the only way he could.
Seth Silverfang
Age:17
Race: Human
Class: Hero (Soul curse)
Level: 23/30 (Rest of levels sealed)
HP: 1150
MP: 575
Str: 230 (+194)
Agi: 230 (+140)
End: 230 (+99)
Magic: 230 (+89)
Skill: 230 (+79)
Equipment:
Heroes sword of legend (God rank): X5 users level added to str and agi
Heroic gauntlets of the chosen (Legendary rank): x3 users level added to end and str
Grimoire of the Sage (Legendary Rank): x3 users level added to magic and skill
Holy symbol of Saints (Legendary Rank): User is immune to all diseases and poisons
Basic iron adventurer armor set: +20 End (Level requirement 7)
Ring of Swiftness: +15 agi, +10 skill (Level requirement 10)
Mantle of the Warrior: +10 to str, agi, and end (Level requirement 10)
Necklace of recovery: Heal 15 HP back per minute, and 10 MP back per minute (Level requirement 10)
Ring of Magic: +20 to Magic (Level requirement 10)
He had found ways around his limited levels but with limited success. Anything more powerful would require him to reach higher ranked gears. He didn't have the luxury at the moment. However with his funds steadily growing from the past year he knew he would soon be able to buy a family home for himself soon and maybe even find some rare and higher gear to enhance himself further without worrying about the level limit hitting him soon.
He just needed one more year to grab a large house with at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms for he wanted as much room as possible for any of his childhood friends who wanted to be with him, Kijo and Centorea and their resulting children.
However he only had one girlfriend this last year. And it only lasted a month. She was a cute and kind cleric girl... who took pity on him for being solo and alone in the city. She gave him pity dates and pity hang outs.
She even went on pity team ups with him for dungeon conquering.
He misses her but knew their relationship was doomed as she revealed that she couldn't love him due to his slow growth being a hindrance for where she was in becoming an evolved cleric soon. And he knew what she saw him as then, a mere anchor that was holding back her potential.
If anything this last year had some good jumps to his reputation and his standing in the city.
He had finally reached Rank C! Only after outfitting himself with all of these magic items to increase his stats. And the fact that his stats had a base value beyond 200, finally, certainly helped. But he defeated the proctor!
He had been saving for the exam to see if he could upgrade his rank with his current gear. And entered after paying the fee of a silver coin.
That took some saving. In this nation the coins were priced rather expensively but there were ample times to save up to them.
100 copper equals 1 silver.
100 silver equals 1 electrum.
Then 100 electrum equals 1 gold.
And finally 100 gold equals 1 platinum.
He has saved up in the guild bank at least 4 electrum. A large house like his goals costs at least 1 to 2 gold. Finding a magic version of the house he had in mind that grows with the families needs and numbers would be at least quadruple that but it would be worth it. He had more saving up to do but with being C rank the savings will quickly add up.
But back to the exam.
He entered the exam arena with many adventurers wanting to see the "strongest D ranker"
Also known by the adventurers who hated him as "The eternally stuck D ranker".
Make a fool of himself for thinking he was able to become a C ranked adventurer.
The examiner entered and saw who it was. He grinned in confidence. The examiner was a barbarian class who was level 45. He had heavy strength, endurance, and some skill. But only a bit of agility and no magic stats.
They were the damage dealers of the adventuring world. His race was also an ogre meaning he had the mindset of over power the target and you'll never lose.
He lost.
Badly.
Seth readied himself in his balanced stance and the proctor came towards him with his heavy double sided great axe ready and yelled out, "Ready to be stuck at D rank forever?! I'll make sure you will be so traumatized that you'll never want to take the exam again! Hahahaha!"
Let it be noted ogres were brutish and blunt. Also not too bright.
That was reserved for their variant race called Oni who are skilled and intelligent and usually held a hybrid class of mage and warrior. He liked that side of Kijo, she was tall, strong, and brutal when needed. But thanks to her race being an Oni variant she had higher intelligence, kinder tendencies to those she cared about, and knew how to rock it. But back to the fight.
The ogre came rushing at Seth with his axe ready to cleave right into Seths head. But instead only crashed into the arena grounds causing a new gash to appear on the floor.
The ogre looks around trying to find him only to suddenly feel three slashes that chip away at his large HP pool. He turns to see Seth already backing away from the strikes to keep the distance measured and open for him to move around.
The ogre activates the one skill a warrior before level 50 can use to boost themselves without a mage present. His rage ability the weaker version of berserker and the evolved skill controlled fury.
The simple rage version makes your stronger and faster. But lowers your defense and skill by a large amount. The trade off for many... is not worth it.
For a prideful ogre who just wants to crush the insect who dares bite him?
It's ideal.
For the first minute.
As the time passes the ogre realizes he didn't think his actions through and instead is on the receiving end of Seths continuous and effective strategy of hit and make space.
Making the ogre tire out. Hit the time limit of his boost. Lose too much HP. And finally gain too much damage to where he promptly fall unconscious from low HP and exhaustion being past his normal threshold.
Everyone who came to watch the slaughter, is stunned. They came to see the eternal D ranker get crushed... they didn't expect him to win!
Some began to cheer. Others began to respectfully clap. While other grumble and pay a hobbit who made a betting pool and the hobbit won from betting on the under dog.
Seth shakes his head at their antics ad heads off to update his card. As a C ranker he was no longer stuck with a simple plain card. His card color was updated to green to show he was now a mid ranked adventurer.
Seth gripped his card tightly and cheered at that piece of news.
He knew he had a high up hill battle to endure but he would do his best to beat that hill and break his limits and the expectations around him.
Sadly the next year only gave him more grief.