VOL 2 Chapter 57: Pride is a tool.

After letting out a defeated sigh, Erik entered the room behind Ngozi, where he found several Master-level individuals with overwhelming presences gathered around an elegant figure. They all immediately turned to look at him with various expressions. But without a doubt, the most notable were those of Sigrún and Eleonora, who wore huge smiles on their faces and exuded an aura that seemed to shout happiness and satisfaction.

"I greet you as the disciple of Master Eldurdóttir and Master Silverwood, the Ascended-level Erik."

While Ngozi walked over to her seat at the table, Erik bowed respectfully and spoke in a formal tone, which made the people present nod in satisfaction. At that moment, Sigrún spoke with a huge smile and a sing-song voice, just as Seraphina was arranging a new chair between Eleonora and herself.

"Come, Erik. Sit next to your masters."

"Right away, Master."

Erik quickly responded in a serious tone and went to sit on the chair, at which point Eleonora placed a large plate filled with a mountain of special cookies on the table. This made the star-haired boy's eyes light up, which caused his master's smile to grow considerably wider.

At the same time, Seraphina quickly served a cup of the finest tea that money could buy and set it on the table next to a plate. Erik thanked her with a smile, which greatly pleased the dedicated maid, who immediately began carefully massaging her young master's shoulders, completely ignoring the looks from everyone else present.

"Congratulations on making it through the tournament, Erik." the Director said with a pleasant smile on his face, ignoring Eleonora and Seraphina's actions. Erik immediately bowed his head respectfully and thanked him in a serious and formal tone.

"Thank you very much, Director."

"There's no need to be so formal, but I am curious about something: why did you choose to withdraw and not try to claim the champion's prize?" the Director asked with genuine curiosity, to which Erik responded in a calm tone.

"That was because I didn't feel it was worth it. I'm really not lacking anything. I have a bio-mystical technique, many spells to learn, tons of artifacts, and I even got the advanced pass for the library, which is what interests me the most. So I had no reason to keep going."

Upon hearing Erik's reply, the Masters present couldn't help looking at him with a bit of surprise on their faces. After all, the boy seemed to be ignoring the best part of winning the championship—precisely what typically motivated other direct disciples to participate in such events. After all, like him, they rarely lacked anything thanks to having a Master-level mentor behind them.

"And what about reputation? That doesn't interest you either?" The one who asked wasn't the Director, but rather Ryoma, which surprised everyone present, since he was well known for only caring about his granddaughter.

"…" For his part, Erik hesitated a bit before speaking, but upon seeing his masters smiling confidently, he decided to go on.

"The truth is, I'm not interested."

"Why not? Reputation is very important. It's your calling card to the world and makes many types of things much easier." Ryoma asked as he carefully studied the boy with the iconic starry hair, who began to explain seriously.

"The esteemed Master could be right, but I still don't feel like I'm lacking 'reputation' at this moment—or at least I'm not lacking the reputation that comes from being the tournament winner because it's just a tournament for mana users under 300 years old, and there are countless like us throughout the galaxy. So, in terms of 'reputation', winning it wouldn't be anything out of this world.

"But by the same token, although it wouldn't be too impressive, it would certainly be quite complicated and would require its fair share of effort. Winning would bring me nothing more than a not-so-impressive achievement. And if things went badly, I'd have a bunch of enemies everywhere. So it's not worth it—especially considering that my publications in the university journal are quite well known, which is already a great source of reputation for me."

"And what about your own pride? Don't you want to be recognized as the best of the young generation of the Arcane Order?" Ryoma asked with an unreadable expression, staring directly into Erik's green eyes. Erik took a sip of his tea before answering, returning Ryoma's gaze.

"And what good would that do me? In the best-case scenario, it'd make some people treat me with more respect or give me certain benefits, thinking about my future potential—things I honestly don't need. I'm already the disciple of the two youngest Master-level individuals in history, the youngest to be a certified Alchemist and Artificer, and I publish as a main author in the university's journal. So whether I win the tournament or not, they'll still treat me with respect and try to use me by offering benefits.

"So, what point is there for me to win the tournament in the first place? Frankly, it doesn't give me any real benefit. Besides, pride is a tool that must be used intelligently and not wasted worrying about meaningless things like being recognized as the best or anything like that. That's a reckless way of squandering a valuable asset."

"Pride is a valuable asset? What do you mean by that, Erik?" Thalia asked, sounding somewhat curious as she regarded Erik with a smile that Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina did not like. He responded with a calm, composed expression.

"Of course it's a valuable asset, Master Sunforge, and very useful if used correctly. For example, even though the life of a Master-level individual like you is hard for me to fully grasp, I'm also human and can understand that in your long lifespans, you've had to face crises, defeats, weaknesses, temptations, and all sorts of things just like everyone else. What kept you firm, with steely will, and humble enough to keep striving tirelessly to achieve what you have today?

"I believe a large part of the reason for that was pride because I've experienced it myself. What drives me to keep improving? My pride in my own abilities, which gives me the confidence that I can be better and not let others surpass me. Why do I keep working non-stop when I could live without doing absolutely anything? Because my pride won't let me become a parasitic freeloader—I'm better than that.

"What motivates me to take on tasks that initially seem impossible? My pride in my own capacity and intelligence. What's the most common trait in natural leaders? They're proud of who they are and what they have to offer others, which gives them an overwhelming charisma that draws in the masses and the confidence needed to lead them.

"In short, there are thousands of examples showing that pride is a very useful tool. The problem is that it's a double-edged sword, and the line between pride and arrogance—the mother of laziness and personal decline—is extremely thin and can be crossed quite easily if one isn't careful."

"What an interesting philosophy you have there, Erik…"

Adrian commented, looking somewhat surprised, a sentiment shared by everyone present, including Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina, who never stopped being amazed whenever Erik spoke such wise words. This filled them with even more pride, causing them to puff out their chests with broad smiles on their faces.

"It's not that big a deal—just random thoughts I have from time to time." Erik replied calmly before picking up one of the cookies, at which point Ryoma asked with an intrigued expression on his face.

"But if you know that pride is important, why not win the tournament? That would strengthen your pride in your own abilities, which could lead you to achieve great things in the future."

"Because, as I said before, pride is a tool, and like any good tool, you need to know when and how to use it to get the most out of it. Winning the tournament just wasn't worth it. After all, as I already mentioned, for me, its costs outweigh its benefits."

While his mood improved by leaps and bounds thanks to Seraphina's incredible massage and Eleonora's exquisite cookies, Erik responded in a more relaxed tone. That was when Jessica asked, leaning on the table with interest.

"What kind of costs does winning the tournament specifically entail for you?"

"Mainly time. In the best-case scenario, winning the tournament would take about six months, time I could invest in working on my projects, reading many books, and more. Besides, I have a trip planned with my masters, which in itself is far more valuable than winning a tournament.

"Moreover, an opportunity like this tournament is something that will come around sooner or later, and even if it doesn't, the loss isn't that great. After all, there are countless ways to gain reputation in the galaxy, and I'm only thirty years old—I've got plenty of time."

"And why do you think winning the tournament would take you six months?" Ngozi asked, somewhat interested in the reasoning behind Erik's assumption. He responded with a slight smile.

"For several reasons, really. First of all, you're required to obtain a staff in order to qualify for entering the palace I went through. Which implies that you can easily control the tournament's pace and how it unfolds, sending out at precise moments the elements needed to enter these palaces. And since the palace I entered wasn't the winner's palace, it only means that speed isn't an important factor in deciding the champion.

"Also, if we consider that the tournament is nothing more than a facade to select the most suitable individuals for the group in charge of exploring the ruin, one conclusion naturally comes to mind: They will control the tournament in such a way as to allow them to assess the skills they consider essential for exploring the ruin in all the participants, which will undoubtedly take time."

"That explains why you think it'll be a good while before they determine the champion. But what leads you to give that exact figure of six months?" Thalia joined in, asking with evident interest in her tone. Erik nodded and answered after taking another sip of tea.

"Well, that's because of certain considerations. For instance, in the tournament there are too many participants, and they vary incredibly in terms of strength and abilities. But if raw power were a vital criterion for selecting participants, you wouldn't have done this kind of tournament. You'd simply host a quick combat-based tournament with a minimum power level to enter, pick the strongest, and that would be it—something easily done at the university, and you wouldn't need to spend so many resources as you have on this one.

"So it's easy to conclude that although strength is important, it's not the only thing you're looking for in this tournament. Somehow, you need a simple and effective way to select participants best suited for exploration, minimizing costs and maximizing benefits. While there are various ways to do that, I'd guess the easiest method would be to split the tournament into two phases.

"That way, you could evaluate the strongest in one phase and those who aren't as strong but have valuable skills for exploration in the other. And since the tournament lasts one year, it's logical to assume that the championship—what the stronger ones stayed for—would be taken off the board halfway through, leaving the playing field open for the rest. In other words, six months."

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters.