About 10 years of experience as a C-rank adventurer.

Commonly known as [Walter the Newcomer Trainer].

It was when Walter was still young that he first aspired to become an adventurer.

The trigger was a completely ordinary event: seeing an adventurer stylishly defeat a horde of monsters that had attacked the town and feeling admiration.

When he was 15, Walter became an adventurer and, perhaps due to his relatively abundant talent, was able to quickly rise to C-rank.

However, it turns out that he hit a major wall there.

Eventually, after realizing his own limitations, he began to give up on growth.

However, it is not the case that nothing was done from there.

He decided to pass on all the knowledge and experience he had accumulated over his long years as an adventurer to the new adventurers without holding anything back.

It seems that there was enough potential there, as adventurers who reached A-rank emerged among those who were trained.

Walter also felt a sense of pride about that.

However.

Even after such an event, there was still something smoldering within Walter.

Having gained the minimum necessary skills as an adventurer, he has also achieved enough accomplishments to be called the [Walter the Newcomer Trainer].

However, it was also true that he always felt somewhat unsatisfied.

―In the midst of all that, I met a young man named Yuuri.

Despite not possessing magical power and having no combat experience with monsters, the fact that he was trying to become an adventurer suggested a special background.

Regarding Yuuri, Walter thought about supporting him as usual.

It was almost a habit for him, something he had always done without thinking.

However, in the end, Walter found himself recalling emotions he hadn't felt in a long time.

The battle between Yuuri and the Chaos Slime.

After seeing that, Walter was deeply surprised.

That's only natural.

Despite lacking magical power, the ability to overwhelm the Chaos Slime.

How much talent and dedication would have been required to reach that state?

What Walter understands is only the fact that Yuuri is at the highest point one can reach as a human―

―Because he thought so, Walter was further shocked by Yuuri's next words.

"I can't get cocky just because I defeated an enemy of that level. I still have to work hard to be able to beat even stronger opponents."

"─Eh!"

The audacity to call an S-rank monster, the Chaos Slime, a mere "enemy." No, he can still understand that up to a point.

Indeed, Yuuri's skills had reached a level where such a statement could be confidently made.

Walter was shocked by the part that came after that.

Even though he already reigns at the pinnacle of humanity, Yuuri declared that he must strive for even greater strength.

Hearing that, Walter realized his own foolishness.

(...That's right. What have I been doing up to this point?)

Because he recognized the limits of his own talent, he poured his heart and soul into nurturing others.

It sounds good, but it's just running away from the reality in front of him.

Even though there were no limits from the beginning, he had convinced himself that there were.

In reality, there is no goal in the effort to become stronger.

No matter how painful it is, no matter how foolish it seems, no matter how little progress he feels he's making, there's nothing else he can do but keep pushing forward relentlessly.

Walter felt that he had learned that from Yuuri.

"...Yeah. You're right."

That's why Walter murmured to himself.

It might already be too late.

Even so, he would surely regain the will to move forward once more.

―The story doesn't end here.

From that day on, Walter decided to retrain himself from scratch.

Because he never wanted to make the same mistake again.

And the man who stood up after knowing failure once was strong.

By mobilizing all the knowledge and experience he possessed, he will gradually begin to break through the walls that had once seemed insurmountable.

As a result, Walter was promoted to A-rank after more than ten years.

From there, he surprisingly ends up forming a party with his former students to conquer a challenging dungeon―

Although that's another story.

Chapter 14: Walter the Newcomer Trainer