271 Not good enough

[Sophie's Pov]

*BOOM!*

Another ogre was sent flying in response to the force emitted by my fist, unable to stay on its feet as my fiery, blue scales made contact with its leathery skin. 

At the same time, another one had somehow made its way behind me, now swinging its large steel club toward me, its large spikes threatening to smash my spine to pieces. However, despite that, I wasn't particularly worried. Because...

"[Arc of Light]!"

*Grooo!*

A large blast of light made quick work of the ogre that tried to ambush me, illuminating the dimly lit cave that we were hunting in. Naturally, that attack came from none other than Arthur who had already taken care of his share of the monsters. 

After that, it didn't take long for him to sheathe his sword and come up to me with a worried face. 

"Are you alright, Sophie?"

"I'm fine, Arthur. Anyway, was that it for today? It's only 14.40 but I think Tom told us that we weren't allowed to venture further in than this."

Taking a quick look around us in the cave, we had finally arrived at a large door, a door which in turn was the entrance to the actual ogre settlement within the dungeon. Following my eyes, Arthur also took a second to spectate the large wooden door, much larger than what was necessary for a human to pass through it.

Strangely enough, there was something within his eyes that told me that he didn't want to stop, that he didn't want to give up just yet. This, even though Tom had given us strict orders about not venturing into the actual settlement before he judged us to be strong and experienced enough. 

Eyes of someone who felt so incredibly inadequate, a desperate strive for improvement so that he could change not only himself but the world around him as well. And if it wasn't for the fact that I was here with him, I didn't doubt for a second that he would have passed through that door, even if it might have meant that he never passed through it again. Because he knew that I wouldn't hesitate to follow him.

Yet he spoke while carrying the same illuminating smile as always.

"Let's get out of here and get some lunch."

--------

"So, how did it go?"

"It went as well as we could have hoped for."

"That's good! But man, I can't believe you two have barely been part of the guild for more than two months now. You both are doing great. Remember that."

It was a bit hard to accept Tom's words as we sat down on the gray couch in his office, his voice filled with pride and happiness regarding our progress. At the same time, it was hard to miss the fact that he was subtly telling us to keep ourselves in check, to not overestimate our current abilities.

Sadly, Arthur wasn't able to let it go.

"Thank you. But I still think..."

"No. You aren't ready to enter A-rank dungeons, even if you were to go with a support team. Even if you are able to manage a medium-difficulty B-rank dungeon, that is nothing compared to the nightmarish scenarios you could find yourselves in in an A-rank dungeon. Even if you were to enter a lower difficulty one you might still lose your lives in the blink of an eye."

Clenching his fists, Arthur was unable to hide his frustration any longer. But that didn't mean he could oppose his superior. Even more so as he knew that a part of the reason was that he was genuinely worried about us.

'A-rank...'

Thinking about it, it was truly absurd. A C-ranker was in many ways seen as a borderline elite in this world, while a B-ranker was undoubtedly just that, an absolute elite.

B-rankers were pretty rare, with most of them belonging to either the bigger guilds or the royal army. And somehow, we had both now entered that world.

I already knew that this accomplishment wasn't my own. I had reached B-rank through hard work, yes, but it was obvious that I wouldn't have gotten here if it weren't for the fact that I was originally from Earth.

Although I would like to say that it was the same for James, and that was the reason why he became so powerful, I sort of knew that that wasn't the case.

Because he had already ventured into the realm of something akin to divinity.

A-rankers were just that, almost otherworldly, with some of them wielding powers that were akin to an army. Something that James had done a more than good enough job of showing us.

Tom was also part of that group of extreme individuals, and though we hadn't actually seen him fight we had heard from the other guild members about how powerful he was.

So how could we not feel pressured to grow stronger as fast as possible?

'I need to stop him...'

There was no logical reason behind my sense of duty while thinking of James, but no matter what I did, I couldn't stop feeling this way.

I needed to be the one to stop him. No, we needed to be the ones to stop him.

'Even if it means...'

I didn't want to think about it, but it wasn't as if I could pretend like there wasn't a very clear outcome for when we finally managed to confront him.

But that wasn't even close to feasible right now. Because compared to him, we were weak.

'-Weak... You're all so weak...'

His words still echoed in my mind, reminding me about just how far ahead he was.

But the worst part was the fact that I doubted his growth would slow down.

Because there was yet another group of people who existed in this world, and one of them was even part of Obelisk.

An S-ranker, part of a group of hunters who went against any and all logic in terms of human constraints.

Leonardo Stone, Tom's father as well as the current guild master of Obelisk, belonged to that group of almost extraterrestrial beings.

It wasn't until that day... that day when both Peter and Brad lost their lives... that I fully understood what kind of monsters existed in this world.

An unknown man clad in tight black pants and wearing nothing but a jacket with a fluffy collar on his torso had come to our rescue against the wind-wielding ambushers.

Or rather, it looked like he was simply passing by as he simply swatted the air and with the one movement all of the attackers had their bodies smashed into the ground, breaking all of the bones and rupturing all of their organs in a split second.

It was to the point where it couldn't even be judged as a fight, nor simple violence. It could only be said to be an act of judgment, a higher being condemning the lower lifeforms on nothing more than a whim.

So what would happen if someone like James was to reach that level of power?

Impossible to find, seemingly immortal while having a seemingly endless amount of mana...

In my mind, James was already a monster. But if he were to grow even further, what was stopping him from becoming...

"Sophie! Are you listening to me?"

Tom's voice suddenly brought me back to reality, making me meet a face filled with both worry and frustration.

At the same time, I finally felt Arthur's hand on my shoulder, obviously put there in an attempt to get my attention.

"Sorry, I was just... thinking about some stuff. What were you saying?"

With a deep sigh, Tom stood up from the couch, "Haaa... I said that you two are from now on going to become part of group B-3."

"B-3...? But didn't you say...?"

"I know what I said, but it can't be helped. Because of pressure from the government, all of the A-teams are required to be on standby and help in case of another attack. And no matter what you say, you are too inexperienced for that. No, you are too valuable for that. If you die it's not just our guild who loses a future talent, the country as a whole will lose two individuals who might come to be cornerstones of the hunter world in the future."

I wanted to say that it was an overreaction, that he was thinking too highly of us, but I knew that I couldn't. Not only did I know what Arthur was capable of, but I also knew that what I had inside of me wasn't exactly normal.

"I understand..."

In the end, I had nothing to say. Not because I agreed but because there was nothing I could say that would make him understand our position and as Arthur kept his silence, he seemed to have been thinking the same thing. 

The problem was... how were we supposed to catch up to someone who had already launched himself with reckless abandon into this world, with no care for his own or anyone else's safety?