The constant need to prove himself to those around him was a pit-hole factor Chiron saw clear as day in Ralph's life.
The reason the boy always wanted to do it was probably because he felt a standard or expectation for an A-grade user must be met.
Chiron saw this reason to prove himself as an exploitation.
And so he fed Ralphs ego with words he did not want to hear.
If it had been just Chiron saying it to him in a private space, it would have had no effect whatsoever.
However, the time and the place were without a doubt timed perfectly.
Delivering maximum damage to a reputation Ralph had worked so hard to maintain.
Besides, Chiron knew that the worse place to disrespect a man, was firstly, in front of his woman.
No man wanted to be called weak in from of his woman, and secondly, it was in front of people that he considered himself to be better than.
Naturally he was going to prove otherwise.
Even though his friends adviced him not to go, he did not do as they said and matched up the mountain.
However, even after climbing a significant distance and past the previous point they had been hunting, he did not see anything.
This prompted him to move further.
After a while more, he was starting to contemplate the idea that Chiron had even seen anything in this mountain top.
It was at that moment that a blue cored mountain Lion entered his eyes.
At first, he was afraid and wanted to run, but then he noticed that it was not moving and there was blood stains around it.
The blue cored mountain lion was dead.
Instantly, he leaped for joy as a thought settled in his mind.
If he were to go back down with evidence that he killed this beast, that would instantly become another badge under his belt.
After observing the dead animal well, he estimated that it had been dead for only a little over three weeks.
Core beasts had aura energy in their bodies that took significant amount of time to dissipate before decay occured.
Especially with the strength of this blue core mountain Lion, it would be a long she before it's parts start to decay.
And so he took out his blade and carved out the skin of the creature.
This was very useful and could be used as a blanket and the likes.
But better than that, no one would be able to determine the age of the beast's death from the fur alone.
In this manner, it would be easy for him to claim the kill for himself.
After two hours of waiting below for him, Claudia suggested they went up to find him.
However, it was at this moment that Ralph appeared with a smile on his face.
Under his armpit was the well wrapped fur of the blue cored mountain Lion.
The moment Chiron saw this, he could not help but shake his head a bit.
"Teenagers! So predictable," he thought to himself.
All the teenagers praised Ralph for his accomplishment.
None of them even for a second thought of the fact that Ralph was only a stone rank cultivator and not a copper rank cultivator.
Meaning that there was no practical way that he would have achieved such a feat.
There was also the fact that most humans could not fight core beasts of the same level and expect to come out Victorious without various scars and injuries.
In fact, it would usually take at least two to three cultivators of the same level to hunt core beasts of the same rank.
This was just as a result of their natural strength advantage over man.
Then again, these people were by now addicted to praising Ralph for his exploits and since they had watched him fight over and over again to become victorious, they instantly believed him when he said that he had been the person that killed the blue cored mountain Lion.
All the while, Chiron did not accuse him of lying nor spoke any doubts.
Like the others, he only sang Ralph's praises, helping him to further inflate his already blotted ego.
And Ralph took it all in.
And then after proving himself, he decided to do something even Chiron did not expect.
But then again, when Chiron saw it, Ralph's stupidity somewhat made sense to him.
Ralph took the fur and presented it to Claudia, saying that it was a gift, an expression of his love for her as her future husband.
This was a gift Chiron knew was practically considered to be an equivalent of a gold ring to these people.
The expense of this fur in the market would be astronomical, and yet, Ralph was gifting it away.
Chiron could not help but look at this teenager with the gaze of one staring at a fool at work.
But should he really be surprised?
After all, not even expensive gifts, men gave their own lives just for the pleasure of women daily.
Going through feats worse than hell just to prove themselves to women just for the basic biological and evolutionary opportunity to be picked as a mate.
In Chiron's eyes, it was a foolish feat.
After all, did one need to prove that he was the strongest if he was the strongest?
The logic that the world revolved around such notions as self sacrificing for another were not a part of his ideals.
Such self sacrificing feat for anything other than his goals for sustainance and eternal life were abominations that Chiron had long sworn would never be his potion.
While the teenagers admired Ralph and sang his praises some even showing their envy for Claudia, Chiron did not mention anything about the fur or the sudden dead core beast that happened to be lying around when an egotistic teenager wanted to please those around him.
It was in this manner that Claudia decided to follow Ralph home.
After all, a gift this expensive came with unspoken dues to be paid...
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