I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12. A Thirteen-Year-Old and World Erosion?

The incident at the Star Sanctuary.

While Belokin had decided there was no need to attend a gathering of children and stayed away from the Star Sanctuary, Crash made the choice to participate this time.

He’d wondered what kind of embarrassment that fool was courting with such an action.

But the news that came back was entirely unexpected.

Crash had fought Anix to a draw.

Though Crash had been carried out of the hall by Darling Danpelion, admittedly.

Still—he had achieved a draw against Anix, the most formidable talent in Starron besides Charlotte.

When Belokin heard that news, he simply couldn’t believe it.

The Crash he’d known all along was utterly devoid of talent.

The boy himself had come to realize this fact, and wasn’t he wasting away his days at Cheongsong Pavilion?

Yet a draw with Anix?

It made no sense.

And so Belokin had come to see for himself.

To determine whether this absurd rumor attached to that fool was truth or fabrication.

Somewhere deep in his heart lingered an unease, but he chose to ignore it.

“You’ve gone to the trouble of seeking me out, and you must be quite busy—are you certain this is all right?”

Upon hearing Crash’s voice, Belokin lifted his gaze.

Busy? What was that supposed to mean?

As if answering Belokin’s unspoken question, Crash smiled with what appeared to be genuine courtesy.

“Now that Rahelon Academy is opening, everyone’s in quite a stir, aren’t they? I hear admission depends entirely on passing the entrance examination, regardless of one’s station. You should be preparing as well.”

The remark was pure provocation.

House Valheim stood on an entirely different plane than any other noble house.

Even the world’s mightiest empire feared incurring Valheim’s wrath enough to leave the Starron Kingdom untouched—such was their might that every member born of that house was a natural prodigy.

Belokin had been overshadowed by Charlotte’s emergence, admittedly.

Yet he remained of Valheim’s Direct Line.

Even if Anix was proclaimed the second genius after Charlotte, he was still nothing but a child beside Belokin in both age and ability.

So he—of all people—had to prepare for some academy entrance examination because he was busy?

As if Rahelon Academy wouldn’t prostrate itself and beg to recruit him?

“You certainly do say interesting things.”

Belokin’s thick eyebrows began to twitch of their own accord.

Then, a somewhat softened smile formed in his eyes.

“Well, I suppose when you look at things through your eyes, everything might appear that way. Dear me, I was mistaken. It’s only natural that someone of questionable character would find Rahelon Academy impressive.”

Belokin did not hold Rahelon Academy in particularly high regard.

He believed it could never match House Valheim, no matter how far it advanced.

So his true aim was merely to broaden the boy’s perspective on the world.

In fact, another reason he wanted to send Crash to Rahelon Academy was that Charlotte herself showed little interest in it.

If he went there, he could at least avoid being compared to her.

But Belokin would never breathe a word of this truth aloud.

“Indeed.”

And Crash readily agreed with Belokin’s words.

Belokin was displeased by how readily he acquiesced, yet he pressed on.

“The reason I came looking for you today is that the family has issued an order.”
“An order, sir?”

This revelation caught even Crash off guard.

He had assumed Belokin had come to vent his frustration about the incident with Anix and everything else that had been ignored.

But there was an actual reason after all.

“A World Erosion has occurred on Gerilak Mountain, which belongs to House Valheim. You are to go and contain it.”

Yet what followed made Crash feel deeply bewildered.

“Doesn’t the family’s order only apply from age fifteen onward, sir?”

Like other noble houses, House Valheim sends members of the family to purify World Erosions when they occur in Starron.

For direct family members, such obligations are duties, but the threshold for such duty begins at fifteen.

Crash would not turn fourteen until next year.

He was therefore still below the age at which family obligations applied.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already agreed to take you along as your guardian.”

Watching Belokin speak as if bestowing a favor, Crash clicked his tongue.

It was clear that Belokin had come not only to assess his abilities but also to keep him in check.

“Surely my younger brother, who fought Anix to a draw, won’t be intimidated by this much?”

Crash blinked as he watched Belokin smile with a thin, mocking edge.

‘Surely they’re not trying to wound my pride now.’

Crash nearly let out a laugh before catching himself.

Challenging Crash over pride—as if he had any left to wound. How self-centered could one be.

This was precisely why Crash held Belokin in such low regard.

The man’s vision was always narrow, always bent inward on himself.

‘That nature of his—unable to acknowledge anything but his own truth.’

And it would ultimately be the noose around his neck.

“Very well, then.”

To Crash, World Erosion was far more familiar than this peaceful world could ever be.

Whatever task fell to Belokin would hardly be dangerous.

Even if Belokin had laid a trap, Crash had his own thoughts on the matter.

“Crash.”

At that moment, Crash turned toward the voice he’d heard.

There stood Bianca, the one who had fled not long before, her face expressionless.

“Where are you going?”

Bianca had apparently caught enough of the conversation to ask.

He couldn’t very well keep it from her now, since he was leaving anyway.

“I’ll be gone for a while on account of the World Erosion.”
“You, going to handle World Erosion? Why?”

Bianca’s expression betrayed her incomprehension.

Crash was only thirteen, though he carried himself with a maturity beyond his years.

It made no sense, by any ordinary measure, for a thirteen-year-old to be going out to stop World Erosion.

“Unless you’re thinking of following me or something like that—”
“I’m not going.”
“Then that’s settled.”

Bianca, who usually tried to follow him everywhere, gave a flat, immediate answer this time.

Then she turned to face Belokin.

“A child not even fifteen years old going to deal with World Erosion makes no sense whatsoever.”

Bianca delivered the fact to Belokin like a blow.

Belokin flinched as though struck, then his face twisted in irritation.

“That girl, Crash—”
“She’s my betrothed.”

Belokin exhaled a breath tinged with contempt.

“So. The cursed Snow Maiden of the Northern Region….”
“Since it’s just a child not even twelve years old speaking, as you say, I’m sure a generous person like yourself won’t hold it against her.”

Crash cut off Belokin’s words and fixed him with a steady stare.

The message was clear: he would tolerate no further remarks.

Seeing Crash’s expression, Belokin turned away without another word, though something unsettled lingered in his chest.

He had accomplished what he came for, after all.

As Belokin walked out, Crash turned to Bianca.

“Well done.”

He placed a hand lightly on her head in praise.

“I don’t think I did anything well.”
“That’s just a difference in how we see things.”

Crash withdrew his hand from her hair as he spoke.

“I’ll be going.”
“Don’t collapse again.”

Crash promised to remember that and moved away.

Bianca watched his receding figure in silence, her fingers idly touching the strands of hair he had ruffled.

＊ ＊ ＊

World Erosion.

The phenomenon of one world encroaching upon another, World Erosion manifests in countless different ways.

Sometimes Erosion Species emerge.

Sometimes the surrounding environment transforms.

Sometimes a place is consumed entirely and becomes another world altogether.

Gerilak Mountain, where Crash and Belokin had come with several intermediate Knights of House Valheim, was precisely such a location—a place where World Erosion was actively unfolding.

‘The mountain has become a swamp.’

Where there should have been green meadows, trees, and mountain slopes, a thick, viscous marsh now sprawled without end.

Vegetation sprouted here and there in shapes that recalled the Paleozoic era, growing in wild profusion.

Most notably, the acrid stench rising from the swamp assaulted the nose—potent enough to bar entry unless one’s Aura provided protection.

But the real danger lay elsewhere.

For reasons unknown, headless insects swarmed through the marsh in every direction.

They paid no attention to Crash, who stood outside the World Erosion boundary, but the moment he crossed that threshold, they would surely attack without mercy.

World Erosion shows no mercy to intruders.

“What about the Purification Team?”

In the meantime, Belokin—who had already ventured into World Erosion several times before—turned to ask the knights.

“We’ve sent word. They say they’ll begin purification work immediately once the master is dealt with.”

Unlike the typical World Erosion where only Erosion Species appear, this time the surrounding environment itself had shifted—a full-scale environmental degradation.

So it seemed the Purification Team had been summoned to reverse those changes.

“So Belokin, how many stars is this Erosion?”
“Three stars.”

Three stars was a level that an intermediate Expert-rank knight unit could handle without much difficulty.

Belokin, for all appearances, was upper-tier Expert rank.

He would be able to dispatch the master without much trouble.

‘Now I see why he brought me along.’

Crash was lower-tier Expert rank.

Belokin meant to demonstrate the gap between himself and Crash—to put him in his place once more.

Belokin was afraid, no doubt about it.

Afraid that Crash, riding an upward surge like Charlotte before him, might one day surpass him.

“Crash, I’ve brought you today purely so you can observe and gain experience. Watch carefully and learn.”

Speaking as though he were a senior, Belokin proclaimed this with evident satisfaction and began to move forward.

Watching him, Crash gave a light shrug.

Who was teaching whom about experience here, he couldn’t say.

Of course, since Crash had no real experience at this point, the House Valheim knights regarded him with concern too.

But Crash himself was carefully masking a bleak smile.

There was only one reason Crash had followed Belokin into World Erosion.

‘The Extreme Blood Needle Poison.’

Though he still hadn’t resolved the madness, now was the time to test an alternative solution.

* * *

House Valheim’s Darling.

Crash Valheim.

Belokin had deliberately brought Crash to the World Erosion today for exactly the reason Crash suspected—to put him in his place.

At fifteen years old, Belokin remembered well.

The suffering he had endured on his first visit to the World Erosion.

The World Erosion was the place where his once-proud arrogance had been shattered for the first time.

And Crash was only thirteen.

Younger than Belokin had been then, and weaker in cultivation stage besides.

The boy had only just reached the lower ranks of Expert, and already the world seemed to belong to him.

Belokin meant to shatter that illusion.

Besides, Crash had already been humbled once before.

The moment reality dawned on him, he would plummet—helpless, unprepared.

Belokin had been flushed with triumph at the thought of engraving that gap so deeply that Crash would never look upward again.

But moments later, confusion spread across his face.

The marshland, by its very nature, wore down both body and spirit—the heavy mud adding weight to every step, the damp air a constant drain, stress that never ceased.

And with Erosion Species emerging one after another, there was no time to catch one’s breath.

Such an environment naturally exhausted people. Yet Crash moved through it with unhurried ease, as if taking a casual stroll.

“These Erosion Species have no heads, but their teeth are real enough. Bites swell badly and bring seeping wounds and itching—wrap your Aura tight around your whole body.”

Crash gave the warning to the intermediate Knights, observing one of the creatures that had flown toward him.

He seemed thoroughly at home in the World Erosion, and his advice, woven casually through the chaos, proved invaluable.

“Crash, have you already had experience with the World Erosion?”

One of the Knights, having listened to Crash’s instructions on handling the marshland, posed the question.

At the question, Crash’s expression turned bemused.

“I’m thirteen years old this year. Does it sound plausible that I’d have visited the World Erosion before?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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