Back then, Noah had three choices.
Stay and hide.
Run and escape.
Charge and fight.
His instinct had been to hide, and his next thought was to run as fast as he could—as far away as he could.
But… he wasn't listening.
'I-if I can win. Then… I can try, right?'
His entire being despised violence. He wasn't very strong too, and his Skills were mostly useful for evasion and defense.
Yet… why did he want to fight?
'Ahh…' He realized it at that moment. '… Is this your doing, Rey?'
Noah realized how dissatisfied he felt—with himself, and with the scene playing out in front of him.
He had felt this way throughout his journey away from the Capital.
Despite that gnawing feeling, he constantly told himself that he made the right choice leaving his only friend behind so he could run away from responsibility.
However, when he stood there, hidden from everything in the world, Noah was finally able to confront himself.
'I don't like this… this version of me.'
The time he had the most fun, and felt most fulfilled, was when he was pretending to be some kind of powerful subordinate of Ralyks.
He liked the way people looked at him. Their respect, admiration, their fear… it made him feel warm inside.
It wasn't even like he sought their validation.
He wanted his own.
"So, I decided to fight." Noah shrugged smiled, narrating the experience as if it was no big deal.
He stealthily charged at the first Monster and gave his all into generating the perfect surprise attacks.
He used all the Skills in his arsenal to fight, and he pushed himself a lot more than he ever had.
"Faster."
He hastened his movements.
"Stronger."
He strengthened his muscles and increased his force.
"Smarter."
He read the Monsters and came up with perfect counters at the spot.
"Better!"
He repeated the process—over and over again—until he ended up killing all the adversaries.
"I changed a bit of myself that day. I was able to become a little like the man I pretended to be." Noah laughed as he began to conclude his story.
"After seeing the Adventurers in action, I realized my original perception of them was a little too generous. If I could defeat Monsters that Adventurers couldn't, then it was possible for me to become an Adventurer."
He followed the Adventurers back, and after the joint testimony of the people he saved, there was no need for him to even take a Test.
Noah had become an Adventurer, registered as Sherlock.
"The rest is history. I joined one of the most influential Parties, managed to defeat the leader, and became the leader myself."
In more ways than one, Noah changed. He found himself trying out new things, exploring everything he previously ran away from.
"Day after day, I keep changing in hopes that one day… I will become like that ideal image I pretended to embody."
"The errand boy of your friend?"
"Well… no, not that part." Noah laughed out loud once he heard that comparison. Jet's words weren't wrong, but they didn't properly embody what he strived to be.
"I want to be a better human being. Someone stronger, smarter, better than I used to be."
He wanted to be like his friend.
"Sorry for the long story, but that's pretty much it."
*********
'The hell…?'
Rey was shocked by how much Noah had matured as a person. 'So his change was a lot more than what I saw on the surface.'
In a way, he felt a bit intimidated.
As happy as Rey felt for Noah and his personal growth, he couldn't help but feel challenged in a sense. Perhaps he didn't want to get left behind, or he felt like he wasn't as mature as his friend was.
Rey didn't understand it himself, but he felt a tinge of envy.
'I guess this is pretty normal. Still…'
People wanted their friends to do well. However, no one wished for their friends to do better than them.
It was human nature, and Rey was the embodiment of that principle.
"I'm happy you were able to change. That was a pretty inspiring story." He said, meaning every word of it.
Yet, something about his tone rang hollow.
"Thank you. I would have loved to ask why you became an Adventurer, but it's gotten pretty late and I don't want to take up too much of your time."
"Ah, how right you are." Rey responded, laughing in his gentlemanly tone. "I enjoyed every moment of it, though."
"Likewise. Still, I would feel guilty if I kept you any longer than I already have."
The parties from both sides rose to their feet, and Rey ended up shaking Noah once again. He also watched as Noah shook Esme—a little too much, in his honest opinion.
"You'll have to leave without me, Jet and Lux. I need to have a discussion with the owner of this establishment."
"I understand, Sherlock."
After exchanging pleasantries for the last time that night, Rey parted ways with Noah and left the pub with Esme trailing behind him.
The moment they exited the place, the first thing that caught Rey's eyes was the group of Adventurers who were kowtowing close to the pub's entrance.
'The heck?!' Rey instantly recognized them as Sango and his five stooges.
'How long have they been waiting here in that position?'
It was already pretty dark outside, and there were no Adventurers in sight—probably due to being chased off by Noah's Party.
Rey couldn't imagine it being very comfortable for them to maintain such a posture for very long, but since they were Adventurers, perhaps it wasn't as bad as he imagined it.
Still…
"WE ARE VERY SORRY FOR DISRESPECTING YOU!" All of them yelled at the top of their lungs.
It caused him to stifle a chuckle.
'Noah has gotten pretty harsh. To think he'd make his subordinates to this just to appease me.'
This was yet another change that amazed Rey.