I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills Chapter 172: The True Value of the Midterm Evaluation

After defeating Mary, on the scorched ground.

Kraush staggered to the forest and leaned his back against a tree.

His mind was hazy.

Pain radiated from all over his body, stabbing here and there.

It was the result of pushing himself to the limit repeatedly to move within Mary’s Light-Speed World.

“…Anyway, what a monstrous being.”

Even after desperately fighting tooth and nail to get here, the line he walked was precariously thin.

Once again, he keenly felt the extent of Divine Spear’s power.

And he recalled the pri era of Divine Spear, a ti when Mary herself couldn’t even compare.

Even she couldn’t prevent destruction back then.

Now, the one who had broken her spear had to stop it.

[ Will you take the exam in that state? ]

When Crimson Garden asked, Kraush exhaled a shaky breath, drenched in cold sweat.

“I’ll be fine after a little rest.”

[ Sure you will. ]

“Squeak, squeak.”

Even the corpse rat, peeking out from his pocket, showed a worried reaction.

“At least my outfit’s undamaged, so it should be fine.”

Perhaps it was because he had blocked all of Mary’s attacks with every ounce of his concentration.

His clothes remained intact, but his mind scread with exhaustion.

‘Damn it, my eyes keep closing.’

Kraush shook his head to snap out of his haze.

‘The points are the issue. What should I do?’

On his way here, Kraush had taken down several Eroded Species.

Moreover, Mary had also defeated quite a few of them while reaching this place, and her points were transferred to Kraush.

Thanks to this, Kraush currently ranked first with 1,632 points, as displayed in the sky.

But the second-generation wouldn’t just sit idle.

Even if the Red Line was out of reach, so of them would surely challenge the Orange Line.

‘Those elites will definitely try.’

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be impossible for the scores to reverse in an instant.

‘I’d like to take down a few more on the Orange Line, at least.’

He thought he would have to start moving again as soon as he recovered.

It was at that mont when Kraush made up his mind.

Twitch—

Kraush’s shoulder moved reflexively.

His sixth sense detected a presence approaching this way.

This wasn’t good.

If he encountered soone here, there was no doubt they’d attack.

It was a once-in-a-lifeti chance to hunt down a first-place contender who was completely exhausted.

‘What rotten luck.’

Kraush gripped Thunderstorm once more.

However, Annihilation Erosion wasn’t functioning properly.

It could barely form a blade, let alone unleash its full power.

‘Anyone who’s made it this far at this point…’

It was clear they had to be one of the more skilled second-years.

As Kraush watched the forest with tense eyes.

Rustle—

The sound of soone stepping on grass reached his ears, and Kraush lowered his posture, ready to strike.

Whoosh!

Soone burst through the bushes.

At the exact mont Kraush stepped forward, he caught sight of hair streaked with black and purple and a pin shining in the strands.

The next instant, a bright smile blood on the person’s face.

“Kraush!”

She called out joyfully, her voice filled with delight.

Kraush imdiately lowered Thunderstorm.

“Haring.”

He hadn’t expected her to make it all the way here.

Though Kraush had poured everything he had into the fierce battle with Mary, he had also given his all running to this point beforehand.

For her to have followed him this far spoke volus about how much her skills had improved.

‘Guess I’m not the only one who’s been growing.’

For so reason, Kraush felt a deep sense of pride.

He knew his influence on her recent training wasn’t insignificant.

When Kraush called her na, Haring ran toward him but quickly noticed the state of his body.

“Did you fight soone?”

In response, Kraush lightly lifted his clothes to show her.

“As you can see.”

“It wasn’t an Erosion Species.”

Her intuition was sharp.

Kraush nodded calmly, and Haring approached him.

She opened her poison pouch and began taking out various items.

“These will help restore your vitality. If you take them, you’ll feel a bit better.”

Caught off guard, Kraush accepted the elixir from Haring, blinking in surprise.

Haring, however, simply looked at him as if urging him to drink it right away.

“…Haring, aren’t you forgetting sothing?”

“What?”

Haring tilted her head, looking as if she genuinely didn’t understand what he ant.

Her innocent expression was so disarming that Kraush almost forgot they were in the middle of an exam.

“We’re in the middle of the midterm evaluations. You and I are competitors.”

Haring’s eyes widened in realization.

Her expression suggested she had only just understood what Kraush was trying to say.

“I didn’t lace it with poison.”

She said confidently, puffing out her chest to emphasize that the elixir was safe to consu.

Considering Haring was from the Lagrin family, her claim that she didn’t poison it might be taken lightly, but she genuinely seed unconcerned about the midterm evaluations.

“Besides, there’s no rule that says we can’t help each other during the evaluation, right?”

She had a point.

Indeed, there was no explicit rule against assisting others.

At that mont, Kraush noticed a loophole he hadn’t considered before.

‘…How do they handle points when Erosion Species are hunted together?’

He hadn’t thought about it earlier because he had been preoccupied with Mary.

The Orange Line’s 6-star Erosion Species were already beyond the capability of most of the second-generation.

As for the Red Line’s 7-star Erosion Species, they were untouchable.

Quite literally, no one but Kraush could deal with them alone.

However, Professor Gannon had only encouraged competition among the students. He hadn’t forbidden cooperation.

‘So that’s why the point range for each line is so wide.’

As he thought this through, Kraush reached a conclusion.

‘Maybe the points are distributed evenly.’

If the point range was large, even distribution would make cooperation in hunting Erosion Species worthwhile.

And this likely reflected Professor Gannon’s intention.

He would prefer the students to form cooperative relationships under any circumstance rather than fight each other to the bitter end.

Kraush imdiately drank the elixir Haring had given him.

Chewing and swallowing with a deliberate motion, Kraush patted Haring on the shoulder.

“Haring, you’re right.”

“Huh?”

Haring flinched and looked up at him, puzzled by the hand on her shoulder.

Kraush’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“Cooperation, that’s what the professor intended.”

It was a relief that the second test participant he encountered was Haring.

If it hadn’t been for her, he wouldn’t have realized the loophole in the test.

“You and I are heading to the Red Line together.”

Haring blinked at Kraush’s words, then clenched her fists tightly, her determination clear.

“Okay, I’ll do my best.”

Her face lit up with joy at Kraush relying on her.

At that mont, Kraush began to sense multiple presences approaching simultaneously.

The top-ranking participants were finally starting to converge on this area.

Feeling the effects of the elixir Haring had given him, Kraush stood up, his body sowhat recovered.

“Whoa, people—oh, Kraush!”

“Kraush?”

“Kraush, sir!”

Suddenly, three figures appeared all at once.

Ballak Hogma

Glen Diana

Karandis Poseus

As expected, three elites had shown up from different directions.

The three glanced at each other warily, aware that they were all technically competitors.

“This is perfect, all of you.”

The key individuals had gathered.

When Kraush gave a aningful smile, the three displayed confusion.

Then, Glen glanced around, scanning the area carefully.

He had sensed another powerful presence besides Kraush when heading here—a presence that unmistakably belonged to Mary.

Glen’s gaze eventually t Kraush’s, who gave him a small nod.

Understanding the ssage, Glen tightened his grip on his spear.

“…I see.”

Mary had lost to Kraush.

For Glen, who had once regarded Mary as an idol, the realization caused him to raise his head high.

“Kraush, you’re planning sothing again, aren’t you?”

Kraush, who always pulled off extraordinary feats, was clearly up to sothing big this ti as well.

“Yeah, I’m about to stir up a bit of chaos.”

It was sothing he had initially intended to do alone, but now that things had turned out this way, aligning with Professor Gannon’s intentions didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“You guys, help take down a 7-star Erosion Species.”

Let’s create a temporary Skyborne Generation here and now.

＊ ＊ ＊

Beyond the barely restored screen in the situation room.

Gannon sat lost in thought as he watched the students begin to cluster together.

‘To think they’d start grouping at this point.’

After Haring joined Kraush, the students rapidly started to band together.

It was clear they had noticed the loophole in the test.

‘They’re quick to read the situation. Not just talented, but they also know how to gather people.’

One of the purposes of this test was to identify exceptional students.

But beyond that, it was also a test of charisma and leadership.

In the World Erosion, the stronger one’s skills, the better.

However, exceptional ability didn’t always co with the ability to inspire loyalty.

The ability to draw people in—charisma—was sothing different altogether.

Those with this charisma naturally beca central figures in any group.

But sotis, charisma could be a poison.

Just as a captain failing to steer the ship properly would cause it to sink,

a charismatic leader moving in the wrong direction would lead everyone following them to ruin.

The ability to set the right direction was just as important as the ability to gather people.

And Kraush clearly excelled in this regard as well.

Those blessed with imnse talent often didn’t know how to lead others.

After all, having never lacked talent, how could they understand or handle those inferior to them?

But Kraush was distinctly different from such prodigies.

Whether it was an innate sense or sothing he had cultivated.

He excelled at organizing people and allocating their strengths to the right tasks.

Even now, as he hunted a 6-star Erosion Species, it was evident in how he managed the group onscreen.

‘There was a ti when he was a half-wit.’

Gannon recalled Kraush’s past.

Though it was hard to believe, given how strong he had beco, perhaps the experiences from those tis had shaped him into who he was today.

‘The strongest one has also beco the best leader.’

For so reason, Gannon began to understand the interest that Headmaster Durandal had shown in Kraush.

Kraush wasn’t just a star; he was a star capable of leading countless others.

‘This generation has an unusually high number of exceptional individuals.’

It was no wonder that so had started calling this group the Skyborne Generation.

‘The Skyborne Generation.’

No one could say for certain who would take the lead among them as they soared to the heavens.

This generation was filled with so many outstanding individuals.

Even Kraush might hit the limits of his talent and end up following soone else’s lead.

But if he did take the helm of the Skyborne Generation and charge forward…

It might truly beco the strongest generation ever seen.

A generation that could reshape the world itself.

‘Who would’ve thought, back when I was invited to teach at Rahern Academy, that I’d just be watching over so kids.’

To think I’d end up witnessing soone who could potentially change the world.

Now, Gannon had a clearer idea of why Durandal was so invested in him.

“Professor, Kraush and the elites have entered the Red Line.”

Finally, after breaking through the Orange Line, the five of them made their way into the Red Line.

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