SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 45: The Value of What You Carry

He glanced down at the badge, and the information it carried.

Arthur Blackfall

Division: Sixth

Squad: Bronze

Talent: F

Class: None

That was how the world saw him.

He closed his fingers around the badge.

He wasn’t angry or ashamed. If anything, he felt strangely calm.

This was not his real measure and it never had been.

The man reached behind him and lifted a folded bundle of armor set.

As he offered to Arthur who accepted it.

The armor was light.

A layered cloth base reinforced with thin leather plating over the chest, shoulders, forearms, and thighs.

With dark gray fabric, muted brown leather and simple metal buckles.

On the left shoulder was a small stamped symbol of the Sixth Division.

On the right side of the chest, a bronze-colored tag was sewn in, marking his squad.

It was not impressive.

But it was real armor. Not rags or patched slum clothing.

An actual protective gear.

Arthur examined as he adjusted the weight in his hands.

"Fit might not be perfect," the receptionist said.

"Armor room can adjust minor sizing later."

Arthur nodded before he responded. "Thank you."

The man paused.

Just barely. Then added.

"Survive long enough and you’ll replace it."

Arthur met his eyes.

"I plan to."

For a moment, the man studied him. More like... measuring.

Then he nodded once.

"Good."

With that his professional tone returned.

"Next."

Arthur stepped aside.

He moved a few steps away from the counter and leaned against a wooden pillar near the wall.

He looked down at the badge again.

This small piece of metal was his proof of entry.

Not into comfort or safety. But into the system, into the grind, into the climb.

A Certified explorer.

The words felt strange.

In his previous life, he had ruled through fear and blood.

In this life, he was starting as the lowest of the low.

Bronze Squad.

F rank.

No class.

He did not feel insulted.

If anything, he felt a quiet satisfaction.

Because nobody would see him coming.

Arthur slipped the badge into an inner pocket of the armor, close to his chest.

He tightened the folded armor bundle under his arm.

With that done, he remembered Lyra’s words.

Find Squad Member Ryn.

But before that, there was something else he wanted to do.

He turned and walked toward another section of the guild hall.

The exchange counter.

It was a wide desk manned by two explorers, both older, both wearing gear with numerous scratches and faded insignia.

Behind them were shelves filled with small wooden boxes, labeled jars, and locked drawers.

A few explorers stood in line, as he watch the explorers place their monster parts onto the counter in turns.

Claws, teeth, cracked cores, bloodstained hides.

As he joined the back of the line.

He shifted the pouch on his shoulder slightly.

Inside were several materials taken from the dungeon.

Some where main boss parts, those parts that he could secure.

He still had the smaller pieces he had collected along the way.

He did not know their exact value.

But he knew everything had value. Even scraps.

As he waited, he glanced around.

Other awakeners were doing the same. Some clutched small bags tightly. Some whispered to each other.

Some new awakeners like him stared nervously at the counter, as if afraid they would be told their items were worthless.

The line moved slowly as Arthur watched the exchange clerks worked efficiently.

Quick inspections, short appraisals, and brief negotiations.

When it was almost his turn, he loosened the pouch strap and rested it against his hip.

Arthur stepped forward as the person in front of him finished.

The exchange clerk looked up.

"What’ve you got?"

Arthur placed his pouch on the counter and opened it.

"Monster materials."

Keeping his answer simple and direct

As the clerk gestured.

"Let’s see."

Arthur started pulling things out one by one, doing it slowly and carefully as he placed each item on the reinforced counter like he was arranging pieces on a board.

Cracked kobold fangs.

Two intact bone spikes.

A small heap of dull grey monster cores.

A bundle of sinew tied together with rough cord.

And hardened claws. All which carried faint traces of residual mana.

At first, the clerk behind the counter had been leaning lazily against the metal frame, half watching the flow of explorers and half pretending not to be bored, but as Arthur continued laying items down, her posture began to change.

Her eyes sharpened as she leaned forward slightly.

Arthur kept going.

More cores and monster parts followed.

Pieces that still carried faint mana signatures.

This was not everything he had hunted in the dungeon, not even close, but it was enough.

He had been forced to abandon a large portion of his kills simply because he could not carry everything, so he had chosen what to keep carefully.

Quality over quantity.

Parts that looked intact.

Cores that were not cracked.

Bones that felt dense instead of brittle.

Anything that looked damaged, unstable, or low value had been left behind.

Arthur remembered standing in the dungeon, staring at piles of monster remains where he had to make decisions under pressure.

Take this.

Leave that.

Carry what matters.

At the time, it had felt frustrating, but now, watching the clerk’s expression slowly change, he felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.

The rest were not truly wasted anyway.

Arthur already knew that once a dungeon was cleared, explorer teams were dispatched.

As a specialized mission where the job was to recover whatever remained.

They moved after and worked safer as they took everything frontline explorers were forced to abandon.

Altgough Arthur did not get paid for those leftovers.

He had accepted it.

You can’t take everything.

You take what you can carry. and you survive.

That was enough.

The clerk picked up one of the smaller cores and turned it between her fingers as a faint cloudy swirl moved inside the crystal.

"Fresh," she muttered.

She picked up another, then another, before beginning to sort everything.

Cores to one side.

Bones to another.

Organic parts grouped together.

And mutated pieces placed in a separate tray.

A/N:

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