The Revenge of the Soul Eater

thirty and so on.

Naturally, an adventurer who can’t get above level one would only get in other people’s way.

 

I know because I lost the adventurer companions that I had in the past because our level differences got too big…

 

If I were to put it bluntly, I was booted out of the party.

Just like how I was left behind by my younger brother and my fiancee back in my hometown island, I was left behind by my companions here as well.

 

Different people had different opinions on how to level, but if you ask the ones who are always fighting, they would all tell you that the most important element of leveling seemed to be “to always fight those that are stronger than you”.

You will never level up even if you killed a hundred monsters that you can for sure beat.

 

In other words, weak people have lots of opportunities to level.

Humans who are level one would have a much easier time leveling than humans of a higher level.

Even though that was supposed to be the case, I could not raise my level when I was back on the island or when I’m living here in this city.

 

This would sound strange to whoever you tell it to, but there is actually a theory that could explain this phenomenon.

 

The Talent Limit.

 

There is a limit for humans.
The sword saint who sealed the demon god three hundred years ago seemed to have managed to level to 99, but it appears that he wasn’t able to get any higher than that.

If there was a limit for even the sword saint, then there’s no reason why there wouldn’t be a limit for other humans as well.
And just like how different people had different opinions on how to level, different people would have different limits as well.

 

…If that’s true, then it wouldn’t be that strange if some people had a limit of level 1.

 

◆◆◆

 

Having a talent limit that did not let me level was total despair.

However, it did not mean that all hope is lost.

The theory of there being a talent limit was not proven yet.

 

Right now, there is magic that you can use to check your current level with.
It seems that a higher level caster would be able to see more information with those spells, but even with that being the case, the existence of there being a “talent limit” has still not been confirmed.

 

No one knows for sure yet whether the cause for me not being able to level was because of a talent limit or because of insufficient experience value or something.

Back on the island, those who did not finish the trial ceremony were not allowed to participate in actual battles.

That’s why my level should go up if I become an adventurer and experience real battles.
At that time, I really believed that. 

 

However, reality was ruthless.

 

No matter how many monsters I beat, no matter how many bandits I killed, my level did not rise.

 

Even though me and my ex-companions fought the same enemies, did the same quests, and ate the same meals, only their levels went up quickly. 

The only thing that changed for me was the gap that started to form between us.

Since a person’s level value was important personal information, people would not share that information easily even with their companions.
However, my ex-companions were honest people and they all revealed their levels to each other.

When they do that, the one who doesn’t want to show their level would naturally stand out.

 

I was haunted by the fact that they would become suspicious of me at that rate, so I chose a day and confessed to my party members.

I had a good relationship with the party members and I could even call the leader of the party a friend.

 

That’s why I thought that they might possibly show some understanding towards me.

 

…But what I got in return were only painful slanders.
I was called a fraud in front of my face and I was kicked out of the party.

 

After that, all the other adventurers looked at me with eyes of contempt and labeled me a “parasite”.
I’m pretty sure that was started by my original party members.

 

The action of a low level adventurer hiding their level to get into a high level party was called being a “parasite”, and it’s something that’s frowned upon.
In cases that were done with malicious intent, it is an offense punishable by the guild.

 

I was not punished at that time, but everyone around me looked at me like I was a criminal.

 

Due to the infamous news of me being a level 1 parasite widely spreading, everyone most likely reached the conclusion that I might have reached my talent limit as well.

That was what happened about four and a half years ago.

 

Since then, I have only been acting alone.
No party out there wanted to take a level 1 “parasite” into their team.

There was also a limit on what kind of quests that I can take solo.

And those few quests were only paying rewards in copper.

I could no longer afford the weapons or tools that I needed.
And because of that, there were fewer and fewer quests that I could do.

 

Then, three years ago, I took a demotion from the ninth-tier to the tenth so that I could lessen the commission fees that I have to pay the guild.

Until that point, I’ve stayed as a ninth tier adventurer for about a year and a half because I thought that it would be easier to form a party as a ninth-tier adventurer.
Also, it was because of my pride.

But I couldn’t afford to stay stubborn like that three years ago.

If I were to be demoted to the tenth tier, the variety of quests that I could take would inevitably narrow down, but since the quests that I can do as a “solo” were mostly tenth-tier anyway, there was no problem.

 

After that, I couldn’t come up with the energy or money to get to the ninth tier again.
Then, I was expelled from the guild yesterday. 

 

That was my entire situation until now.