《Reborn as an Extra》


 Chapter 1 1. Transmigration Is Real!?

    When he opened his eyes, he found himself on a big bed which obviously cannot be his. He looked around and confirmed that he was in an unfamiliar room, it was very luxurious and have several high-tech-looking machines which he even hasn''t seen ever.


    A ball of light was floating around in the room and was illuminating the whole room, even though there was no cable for an electric supply connected to it. A small white-colored machine was pumping out cold air, maybe that was an A.C.


    ''Where am I?''


    Just as he was getting more and more confused a sudden pain assaulted his head, a huge amount of foreign and strange memories started to flow into his head without any restriction:


    "argh!"


    After half an hour of hellish torture, the pain finally disappeared.


    "huff.....haa....huff..."


    Panting he walked towards the mirror and came in front of the mirror, the reflection in the mirror is a young boy around 14 years old and ordinary looks with ck hair and ck eyes. There''s nothing special or distinctive about the face.


    "I really got transmigrated? So, transmigration is real!?"


    He remember clearly that yesterday he was reading the novel ''Strongest mage with a system'' or something like that was its name, it was a gift from a friend, He just started reading it casually and after finishing it in one day, heid down on his bed to sleep, after that he can''t remember anything else anymore.


    But it looks like somehow he hase inside the novel world and be an extra character in the background.


    He shook his head and calmed down his mood. With the memories he inherited, he first found the kitchen. Starting that high-tech 3d printer, he made himself a tea out of thin air.


    Taking that tea with him, he walked towards the window and started to sort out all the things in his head.


    ording to the iplete memories, this guy is an orphan who awakened a talent rted to swords and got selected as a student of the biggest academy in human territory the great Freya academy.


    This is the biggest academy established by the government itself, to nurture future talents.


    ording to the novel that I read, this novel world has the background of modern society where dungeon gates open everywhere. Several different races have started to live on Earth and due to the space rifts, the size of the original Earth has increased by manifolds. (Expansion of space fabric has happened here)


    Nowadays, people with several supernatural powers live in this world and every human has a status window that only they can see. Obviously, the main protagonist has a more advanced one, he has a system that helps him in bing powerful as a mage by using Exp.


    "The entrance ceremony of the academy is about a monthter from today, in the meantime, I can go and steal some of the chances that the hero got, as for what will happen if the hero doesn''t get them? It doesn''t matter to me."


    I am an extremely selfish person, to begin with, even in my previous life, I lived contently by using my selfishness.


    You have to do everything to survive after all. In a world where strength is valued more than anything, being weak is basically a sin.


    And being weak will also make you the target of the bully in this academy, so why not just take whatever can increase your strength? Why will you worry about the story plot or the protagonist losing, when your own life is miserable?


    He looked at the horizon, sipped his still-warm tea, and stopped thinking about this issue.


    "I am an orphan again this time, well doesn''t matter anyway."


    "Let''s first check out my status."


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    The first three chapters are gonna be short since this is my first novel I don''t have much experience so forgive any mistakes you may find in it. If you like the novel be sure to read it till the end, thanks for your time.

 Chapter 2 2. Stealing Feels Really Good...

    <Status>


    plete!>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: F+] [Max. Rank Potential: C+]


    [HP:800/800] [MP:300/300]


    [STR: 37/100] [SPE: 29/100] [AGI: 27/100] [DEF: 35/100] [INT: 26/100]


    [Talent: Sword aptitude(C)]


    [Techniques: Basic swordsmanship(F+)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(F-)]


    [Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation.]


    "As expected of an extra....sigh"


    "Well at least, I am still a little stronger than the main protagonist, after all the main protagonist will get his cheat just before the mid-term exams."


    In the novel the main protagonist is a guy who was constantly bullied by others, then a week before the mid-term exams, he awakens his heaven-defying system and face-pped all bullies, top-scored the written exams, and increased his rank from lowest to top 100 directly.


    "It''s such a cliche story"


    I should not dwell on these things first I will go and steal some things.


    After preparing for half an hour, Rio left the student dorms and came to the nearby station. Although he has previous Rio memories, he was still amazed by all the high-tech things around him, not to mention the bus he got on is a flying bus.


    After traveling on the bus for an hour, Rio finally reached his destination.


    "so this is the famous rift mountain, it''s really tall"


    This mountain is very tall and is surrounded by several space rifts, no one has climbed this mountain because even its top is surrounded by space rifts and these space rifts open to unknown destinations in the void, if you got lost, it will be nearly impossible toe back.


    But this rule doesn''t apply to the protagonist they are children of heaven after all, how can they die just because of a space rift. When on a tour the viin will kick the protagonist into a rift and unlike other rifts, it will lead him inside a room in this mountain.


    "Hmm, let''s see, a ck and sinister-looking rift surrounded by 5 blood color rifts on the backside of the mountain near a beautifulke"


    "oh! found it!"


    It really looks sinister but he can''t do anything about it, he will have to go inside, this is the only way to be strong. Reo jumped into the rift after hesitating a little, suddenly a sense of weightlessness came and his senses got blocked.


    After a few minutes, he found himself standing in an ancient-looking room. Everything here is very dpidated. Rio walked to the middle of the room and took out a dagger from his storage ring and made a small cut on his finger. He dripped a few drops of blood on the floor.


    Suddenly, aplex magic circle appeared in the whole room and started to glow brightly.


    "argh!"


    Rio started to feel pain all over his body and after 5 minutes the pain disappeared and the glowing magic circle faded away and a portal opened in front of him.


    Without hesitating, he entered the portal and after a few minutes, he found himself standing near the sameke. It was already getting dark. He checked the time on his wrist clock and found that it has been only one hour since he entered the rift.


    "I will look at my statuster, let''s leave this ce first, after dark due to some unknown phenomenon these rifts will produce a suction force that can swallow a weak person like me easily."


    Only people above Rank C can resist it. Without wasting any more time Rio headed toward a nearby hotel.

 Chapter 3 3. The Elemental Sword Art

    Human Continent, The Capital City ''Astra'', Inside the room of a Hotel near Rift mountain, Era 4345


    "Hoo...I got tired just from this much, I will have to do training after I go back to the academy"


    In the end, Rio was sessful in stealing the protagonist. He didn''t expect it to be so easy but this one was not really much, he still has one more thing that he needs to steal.


    ''I will do it tomorrow.'' (Rio)


    As for checking the status let''s do it when he gets that thing tomorrow, it will feel better that way.


    "Hehehe.....life''s so good"


    In the morning, Rio took the bus again and headed on a new journey, of stealing.


    After a few hours of traveling, he reached his destination, The dark forest.


    "It really is dark here, even though it''s daytime, I have to use a torch to see the way, If not for the fact that, I know the way from reading the novel, I would have got lost already."


    After about half an hour of walking, Rio stopped in front of a huge boulder, then he started to inspect the trees around the boulder they were all ck in color and there were white spots on them, he walked to the tree in the middle, this tree is taller than others.


    He gave a punch to the tree trunk and surprisingly such a huge trunk broke open easily and inside a lever was attached to the trunk. Rio pulled that lever and waited for a few minutes. After a few minutes, the huge boulder started to move on the left side slowly and revealed a staircase.


    Rio started climbing down, and after 15 minutes he reached the bottom where a wooden door was shut tightly. He opened the door and move inside without hesitation.


    Inside was a small room where a single old book was floating in thin air. Just as Rio touched the book it turned into light particles and entered his head. A huge amount of memories started to pour into his mind, and after an hour he finally digested all the memories.


    [You have sessfully learned ''The Elemental Sword Art''!]


    [Your understanding of ''The Elemental Sword Art'' has been upgraded to F+!]


    [You have unlocked the first skill of ''The Elemental Sword Art''! ''Lightning Sword'']


    "Hmm, good I got it, let''s head back to the academy now."


    Although there are no monsters in the dark forest, I don''t want to stay here.


    After a few hours, Rio came back to his dorm room and immediatelyid down on his bed.


    "Today was a good day! let''s check my status now!"


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: E-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP:800/800] [MP: 300/300]


    [STR: 37/100] [SPE: 29/100] [AGI: 27/100] [DEF: 35/100] [INT: 26/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship(E-), Elemental Sword Art(F+)]


    [Skills: Body strengthening(F-), Lightening sword(G-)]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly! although you are weak right now, you have unlimited potential!]


    "oh! even my evaluation has improved, good!"


    "Hmm, I got this limitless talent from the rift mountain, surprisingly it upgraded my sword aptitude too!"


    Now the only thing left is to train this whole month and wait for the entrance ceremony. As for what will happen to the main protagonist? How will he be strong without this talent, which should have been originally his?


    "It''s simple, that guy has a system shop, he can buy any talent, item, or skill book there. Although this talent must be very costly when buying from there, he can get it easily!"


    So, there''s no need to worry, the original plot will not change due to my small stealing activities.

 Chapter 4 First Day In The Academy!

    For the whole month, Rio trained himself in the small training room provided by the academy. Every student has a private training room in this academy. There are only 1000 students which are selected from all over the world to enroll in this academy. He was rather surprised how did the previous Rio get into the academy without any connections.


    And it turned out that there is a system of fixed seats. Children frommon families or Orphan children are randomly selected among all the students who have applied. Around 100 seats are fixed for such children and they can enter the academy even if they do not have any connections, free of cost.


    Surprisingly, the original Rio was one of these 100 lucky children. The main protagonist is also from these 100 children and he has a family of ordinary people.


    "let''s check my progress this month"


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: D-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 1000/1000] [MP: 400/400]


    [STR: 42/100] [SPE: 33/100] [AGI: 31/100] [DEF: 39/100] [INT: 29/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Basic swordsmanship(D-), Elemental Sword Art(D-)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(E+), Lightning Sword(E+)]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly!; although you are weak now your potential is unlimited!]


    "I have already reached rank D-, it''s because my sword aptitude has increased, due to which my growth was so smooth, but after reaching D-rank it will slow done considerably"


    Well, it looks like my hellish training was sessful.


    ''Now, I should leave for the entrance ceremony, I will get punished if gotte for the entrance ceremony. This academy is very strict on its time schedule.'' (Rio)


    After walking for about 15 minutes, Rio was already in front of the ceremony hall, he entered without hesitation.


    ''So many students are here already, I should find a seat too!'' (Rio)


    At correct, 9 am the gates of the ceremony hall closed and all the lights turned off, except for the lights on the stage. Then a beautifuldy walked onto the stage and started her speech:


    "Hello Students, nice to meet you, I am Raji Croft, the Principal of this academy and a SS Rank awakened."


    After hearing this amotion started in the hall, and all the students started to talk to each other excitedly.


    "Oh my god! The legendary Raji Croft, one of the only 3 SS rank humans, the strongest frost mage is right in front of me!"


    An excited kid who was sitting on my left side was shouting this, at top of his lungs. Obviously, Rio was also surprised by when he saw her, not to mention she is a great beauty, she is one of the only 3 SS rank humans present on earth. There are no SSS ranks in the human race or any other race in this world because it is very difficult to reach SSS rank, due to which SS rank people represent the power of a race.


    The Elfs have 4 SS-ranked people in their race. The very presence of a SS rank is enough to maintain the survival of a race in this world. The races which do not have SS ranked awakened, can only live as a subordinate of other races and some even get destroyed due to the opening of an SS rank dungeon in their territory. There are very few SS-rank dungeons that are recorded in history.


    And there has not been any SSS rank dungeon yet. But as you have already guessed, the main protagonist will be an SSS rank in the future and will save humans from a SSS rank dungeon and thus bing a humans savior, getting beauty, taking other races as subordinates h h h.


    After about half an hour of speech, the highest-rank student was invited to the stage.


    ''herees the main viin''


    "We would like you all to wee our first ranker from first-year students of this year, Link Rex"


    Link Rex is the main viin of this novel, hees from the highest background possible, he is the only son of the SS rank awakened and the head of the awakener''s association, Ashtel Rex. Link has the potential of an SS rank and he has been trained by his father in martial arts since he was young.


    He is a very talented individual and if given enough time to develop can even be an SSS rank by talent alone. Link is the biggest challenge, which causes the protagonist a huge headache. On the surface, he is kind and good but is a sadist on the inside. He can go to any limits to achieve what he wants, a perfect and terrifying viin.


    Link has a huge amount of subordinates under him and even an S-rank person guards him every time from the shadows.


    ''This guy is dangerous, I should never get involved with him''


    Only the main protagonist, Fade Crest can contend with that bastard. But it will take a long time for Fade to be strong enough to defeat this guy. Link is already at D+ rank right now and ording to the novel, he will be C rank after the mid-terms.


    "Now you all can go to your respective sses, I wish that all of you will work hard and be a support for humanity in the future!"(Raji)


    All the students started to leave the hall one by one, and Rio also followed behind. After a few minutes, he was already in front of his ss.


    "A-3, this is the same ss as the protagonist and other named characters. Looks like my academy life won''t be peaceful"


    He opened the door and walked in without hesitating. After scanning around, he sat on the desk on the right side at the third desk, which is near the window. After a while, all the students sat at their desks and some of them started to chat.


    Well, Rio has always been a loner in his previous life anyway, he doesn''t have an interest in socializing.


    After a while, a cold-faceddy walked in and started to inspect the students with her gaze. She was a great beauty too, although not as good as the principal.


    "I am your ss teacher from now on and I expect that you already know my name"


    Yeah, she is an S-ranked fire magician, Anna Datt.

 Chapter 5 Introduction

    "Now, I will be taking attendance, introduce yourself when your name is called."(Anna)


    "Rank 1. Link Rex"


    "Present!, As everyone knows, I am Link Rex, although I am the son of a SS rank please treat me equally, I am looking forward to the academy life!"(Link)


    ''Hmph, two-faced bastard, I know you are actually already making ns, to bully the lowest-ranked person in this ss.''(Rio in his mind)


    "Rank 2. Kira Bloodlight"


    ''Herees the main heroine''(Rio)


    "Nice to meet you, everyone, I am Kira Bloodlight, I am a mage. I am looking forward to our academy life"


    "Rank 3. Lia Silver"


    ''oh, She is Lia, the only viiness in the novel''


    In the novel Lia is the only girl who never epted the main protagonist and yed the role of a viiness, always harassing the main heroine Kira. Lia is a Swordsman too, and she strongly despised mages. Since the protagonist is a mage, she never epted his approach and always rejected his confession. Later, she was killed by the boss monster of the SSS rank gate.


    After 5 minutes-


    "Rank 505. Rio sh"


    ''oh, my rank is decent enough.''


    After a brief introduction, he sat down and started to wait for the main show, which will be starting with the entry of the protagonist.


    "Rank 1000. Fade Crest"


    "Rank 1000. Fade Crest!, Rank 1000. Fade Crest!"


    Anna got really angered after no one answered, she immediately scanned the ss to find a particr student. That student was sleeping on thest desk of the ss, she walked toward him and gave a p to the face of the protagonist.


    "ah!"


    Fade flew away from the force of the p and crashed on the wall with a bang sound.


    ''oh! she is as ruthless as described in the novel.''(Rio)


    Fade was now fully awake and trembling in fear.


    "Next time pay attention in the ss!, same goes for everyone, if I found anyone sleeping in my ss he will get a p on his face!"(Anna)


    Everyone gulped their saliva and the whole ss got silent. Anna walked to the front and dered:


    "Since it''s your first day, we will not do much today,e to the training grounds with me and choose your weapon, follow me"


    Every student started to follow behind her in a line and after 10 minutes of walking, we finally reached the training grounds. Seriously these training grounds are huge they can easily contain thousands of people easily.


    "Now choose your weapon among these, there is every weapon present you can think of. After that, you can do light training on your own. Since it''s your first day there will not be anything more"


    After that, she walked out of the training ground as if leaving the students on their own, but I know that she will be observing us all through the cameras with other teachers.


    ''Let''s not dy, I will just mind my own business.''


    Every student started to pick their respective weapons, Rio also choose his weapon, it''s a double-handed long sword.


    ''This will do for now


    You can only use these training weapons given by the academy when you are here. Obviously, you can use other weapons too, only if you are certain that you will not get caught.


    ''Let''s enter the gravity room first''


    After all the students got their respective weapons they left for the training without dy. Except for one, the protagonist Fade Crest. He was still standing there in a daze, no one knows what he was thinking about, after about half an hour of standing in a daze he finally picked up a mage''s staff and walked towards the practice dummies.


    When he tried to shoot some fireballs at the dummy, the fireball created was as small as a lighter''s me. All the students nearby started tough at him. Seeing this all the teacher''s in the monitoring room also shook their heads.


    Not to mention Anna was already enraged after seeing that pitiful fireball:


    "Damn it! how did that shit get in our academy!"


    All the other teachers wereughing in their hearts, finally, after all this time, the perfect record of Anna of being the only teacher, whose all student passes with good marks, will be broken this year.


    After two hours of training, Anna came back to the training field and announce the end of the ss.


    Rio immediatelyid down on his bed aftering back to his dorm.


    "hoo...today''s training was only average, I need to train more after the protagonist got his cheat he will rise very fast, I need to be strong enough to be able to protect myself"


    Although Fade''s personality is a coward before he got his cheat system, after he gets his cheat, he will be very arrogant not to mention he will start beating anyone he will want. If someone''s standing in his way, he will beat him. If someone is not following hismands he will beat him.


    ''Tsk, I won''t get bossed around by that brat, a sword to his neck, and all will be good''


    Although you have the liberty to fight in this academy, the rule is that you cannot kill anyone, cannot torture anyone, and cannot cause a fatal wound. Rest can be done. Due to this rule, the protagonist will be beaten, by theckeys of Link every day. They will not cause a fatal wound, but will just beat Fade every day, for their entertainment.


    Well, it''s not like he will die from such small things, how can he be the child of the heavens, if he died so easily. Instead, this bullying will cause him to awaken his system.


    "I looking forward to it!"

 Chapter 6 First Event

    After the first day, our daily sses started and a regr training regime was provided, everything was going peacefully, except for one person, yeah the protagonist.


    It seems he got on the nerves of the bullies from the very first day and became the primary target of bullying for the whole group of bullies present in our ss.


    ''They are beating him on a daily basis as if providing a set dose of medicine. Even I am tempted to go and give a few kicks but, sadly I am too busy training.''


    For the next four months, everything continued, as usual, In the early morning after a few hours of training, I attended the sses regrly on time, then after ss, I did some meditation to increase my mana capacity, and thente-night training again.


    In this novel''s world, you can increase your mana capacity infinitely through meditation alone, the only thing you need to be careful of is, that you don''t end up sting yourself by having too much mana in your body. Your body should be strong enough to store the corresponding amount of mana.


    During these four months, I increased the amount of my mana considerably. Although my rank and skill also increased the growth has slowed down, instead it has be a steady and stable growth. Anyway, steady and stable growth is better than fast growth where you have several ws in your body.


    In these four months, I have already adapted to the academy life and my soul has fully synchronized with this body. Now I have all the memories of the previous Rio. It turns out this guy also had a family until he was 10 years old but then, due to a demon attack on his hometown the whole city was destroyed and a huge massacre took ce, which is now known as the Drift city massacre.


    Rio is one of the few survivors of that event. He was covered under a pile of debris and was unconscious, thus he was not detected by the demonster he was rescued and sent to an orphanage where he trained and got lucky enough toe here.


    ''I don''t know, how my soul came into this body, but it feels as if instead of recing his soul, mine has merged with his soul. While his will got destroyed and I maintained my sanity


    Anyway since I have already got this body, I will put it to good use. Let''s check the result of my four months of training first.


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: D+] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 1200/1200] [MP: 800/800]


    [STR: 50/100] [SPE: 45/100] [AGI: 43/ 100] [DEF: 50/100] [INT: 41/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship(D+), Elemental Sword Art(D+)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(D), Lightening Sword(D)]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; your growth rate is terrifying and you have unlimited potential!]


    "My strength and defense both have reached the major bottleneck of 50, They can only be increased more, after rank B"


    Okay, it''s time to go to the ss now. Today is the day when the protagonist will get his cheat. ording to the novel, Fade was still a G- rank in his magic until he got the system and it will still take him very long to be strong enough, to be able to contend with me.


    The only advantage Fade have is that his system has the famous skill appraisal, not only it can appraise others, but it can also help him in his exam by showing him correct answers.


    ''That''s a real cheat, it''s a relief he can''t appraise those who are too high in rank than him. But I will have to find a way to block his appraisal after these mid-terms, I don''t want him to know my secrets.''


    After half an hour, Rio was already on his seat, waiting for Anna''s announcement about the mid-terms. And as expected she announced it at the end of the ss:


    "As you all know, it is time you show what you have learned in the past few months. Your Mid-term exams will start a weekter be prepared for it."


    After that, she left the ss. Generally, most of the students would have left the ss now too, but today amotion has started in the ss, due to this announcement:


    "oh, shit! I was so busy training, I never learned anything!"


    "Damn it! I was so engrossed in the luxury room of the academy, that I justzed around, what to do now!"


    "Eh, then you are an idiot, do you want to rank even lower than that vermin Fade."


    "Nope, even if I never read a single book, at least I can get enough marks in physical tests, unlike that vermin, I am strong."


    Some were sad, some were spouting curses and some wereparing themselves to Fade. And our protagonist Fade was already depressed and despair was clear on his face.


    Then suddenly Fade got in a daze and started to stare at the thin air in front of him.


    ''It''s starting, the show is starting!''(Rio)


    After a few minutes of daze, Fade''s eyes gradually cleared and a newfound me of confidence was burning in his eyes. A huge grin appeared on his face and then he startedughing loudly like a madman:


    "HAHAHAHAHAHA...HAHAHA....FINALLY!!!...HAHAHAH!!!!"(Fade)


    "w-what the heck, did he get mad due to stress!"


    "Hey! it looks like this trash''s mind finally gave up on him"


    "Damn it! Shut up you piece of shit! I will beat you if youughed again!"


    Suddenly a few bullies started to beat him in the ss, in front of everyone.


    ''even though you have got a cheat, you should not try to catch attention like that, it will get you in trouble.''(Rio)


    Most of the students ignored this ruthless beating just like Rio because they don''t want to get involved with this matter. These bullies have been beating Fade, for months continuously and everyone just ignored it.


    But obviously, someone will eventually stand against this bullying. Just like now:


    "Hey! Stop all of you! Otherwise I will beat you all, just like you are beating him!"(Kira, the heroine)


    Hearing her all the bullies finally stopped and after thinking about something they finally left. But fade was already beaten blue and ck, he was already unconscious.


    "Hey you, carry him to the healer''s office"(Kira)


    ''as expected of the main heroine she has a strong sense of justice''(Rio)

 Chapter 7 Fade’s POV

    Fade''s POV:-


    My name is Fade Crest(the original protagonist), I have been recently selected by the great Freya academy. You must envious of me, aren''t you? Let''s talk about myself first, I am the only son of an ordinary family and I had a dream of bing a strong awakened. My luck has always been good since birth, I can get all I want, I just have to work hard for it.


    When I was selected for the academy, I and my parents were both very happy, they packed several gifts for me and even apanied me to the station. Even my little sister was there to see me off.


    After a long journey, I finally got to my dorm room, this ce is extremely luxurious. You can say every facility you want is avable with luxurious touch to it. My first month here was amazing. I slept all day long and even forgot to train my magic which I have recently awakened but I am sure that, I will be able to catch up to others easily if I work a little harder.


    During the entrance ceremony, I was in awe, because several of my idols were present here not to mention Raji, whom I have been a fan of since my childhood was right in front of me.


    I shouted at the top of my lungs to get her attention for a few seconds and I was sessful, I am sure of it! Her eyes were on me for a few seconds, definitely!


    Then all the students started leaving the hall, I also walked towards my ss. After a few minutes, I was already at my desk and students were stilling in. The atmosphere in the ss was extremely peaceful just like in my hometown. The slow and warm winding from the window made me rx. I was ying games all night yesterday on my smartphone, due to which I got sleepy and thought that I will take a short nap and will wake up when the teacheres.


    But that day my luck betrayed me, Ms. Anna caught me sleeping and I became theughing stock of the whole ss and since my rank was also the lowest some bullies started to target me.


    First, I thought it will be okay after a few days, they will leave me alone for a few days, but they never left and continued to create trouble for me. When I tried to fight back the bullying became even more intense. I started to regret my decision of not training during the first few months, now every time I try training, those bullies will start beating me spouting curses at me.


    I was already very depressed from all this. I even tried to inform the teachers but they just ignored it, saying that it''s your fault that you are not strong enough. This caused me to break down even more.


    Four months passed by and I was never able to learn or train due to those bastards. My parents sent me letters asking about my health but I cannot tell them about all this. They will get overly worried if they heard about this.


    When Ms. Anna announced the exam date, it caused me to sink into the depths of despair, I was already considering leaving this academy, but then a ray of hope shined on me very brightly.


    [Ding! The appropriate host found!]


    [would you like to bind with ''The strongest system of Magic'']


    [Yes/No]


    I was in a daze due to the shock. I knew about systems from reading novels. It was really unbelievable thing that a real system came in front of me. I hurriedly agreed with it.


    [Permission Granted!]


    [Binding to the host''s soul!]


    [Sessful!]


    [Generating New Status plete!]


    <Status>


    [Name: Fade Crest]


    [ss: Mage]


    [Rank: G-] [Max Rank Potential: E (can be increased)]


    [HP: 200/200] [MP: 50/50]


    [STR: 15/100] [SPE: 12/100] [AGI: 13/100] [DEF: 9/100] [INT: 31/100]


    [Talent: Mage Aptitude(E)]


    [Technique: Mana maniption(G+)]


    [Skill: Fireball(G)]


    [Evaluation: You are the favored child of the heavens; you are weak for now but can be the strongest in the future.]


    [Shop: Locked] [Exp Points: 0]


    I was so happy that augh leaked from my mouth unconsciously which caused me to be the center of attraction again. The bullies got irritated with me and started beating me again.


    I tried to fight back but there were too many of them. I thought that someone will help me since right now we were in the middle of the ss, but everyone just ignored it. Some were even secretlyughing at me.


    I lost consciousness just like that and now I am in the healer''s officeying on the bed.


    Fade clenched his fist and gritted his teeth; a wave of unfathomable anger rose from the depths of his heart, remembering thoseughing faces.


    "I will definitely beat you one day; I will beat you until you beg to be forgiven! Just you wait, you bastards!"


    Then the door of the office opened and an extremely beautiful girl walked in and sat on the chair ce near my bed.


    "Hello, ssmate Fade, I am Kira your ssmate. I helped you get here, are you feeling well now?" (Kira)


    "Ye-Yeah, I-I am feeling well n-now." (Fade)


    "Okay then, I will leave now, I have to prepare for the exams." (Kira)


    "Y-yeah okay, B-Bye" (Fade)


    After that Kira left the office but Fade was still in awe of her beauty.


    ''Now that I have be the son of heavens, I will definitely be strong, at that time I will take her as my woman. If someone came in my way, humph! I will destroy him!''

 Chapter 8 Saving Lia The Villainess...

    After thest ss, every student started to focus on their training, the library which was always vacant is now full and very lively. Everyone is trying their best so that they can improve their ranks. Because everybody knows, in this academy your rank is extremely important. If you get a good rank in these mid-term exams you can get a chance to visit a better guild and the top hundred rankers will be invited by the strongest guild and can even get the chance to meet high-ranked awakeners.


    When everyone is trying their best, a rumor is also spreading everywhere and you have guessed it right, it''s about Fade obviously:


    "Hey, you know that trash Fade dered an official dual with those who bullied him."


    "Eh, is he trying to get killed?"


    "Who knows, I just heard about it."


    "do you really think that trash will win?"


    "No, I think he will lose. In fact, I think he will end up disabled this time"


    "when is that duel?"


    "I heard that it is in a month, after the mid-term exams"


    All the students have already heard this rumor, most of them are sure that Fade will lose, except for one:


    ''ording to the novel, that guy will win this duel.''


    It was actually because during the physical test Fade will get a fruit that will help him in increasing his strength.


    "isn''t it too cliche?"


    ''anyway, even if I take that fruit it won''t be useful to me, I am already at the peak of D rank''


    A weekter, in the exam hall: -


    ''Hmm, these questions are decent, I can easily pass this one.''


    I have always been good at studies, so I don''t really need any cheat like the protagonist to pass this, but obviously, I am not so good that I will score first in the written exams.


    After an hour Riopleted his exam and walked out of the exam hall and saw that Fade has already left the exam hall. Only a few of the students are left who are still writing their exams.


    The next day, I was already standing at the site, where the physical exam will take ce. In front of me is a small portal, this is an E rank dungeon, where we need to kill monsters for this exam.


    After half an hour all the students gathered here and Ms. Anna started her speech:


    "You all have to enter this E rank dungeon. In order to get marks, you have to y a monster orplete hidden missions in this dungeon. And if you kill the boss monster you will get extra marks too. The teachers will be monitoring your performance so don''t worry about your safety. Now enter one by one."


    All the students immediately started to enter the portal and when Rio entered, he was transferred to a lush mountain.


    ''I just need to kill 15 monsters to get in the top 100''s, this way I can get benefits and can also ignore the spotlight''


    Just after Rio walked a few 100 meters he already encountered his first enemy.


    ''It''s a giant bear, it is said that a mature one is at E+ rank, this one is definitely mature''


    The bear also noticed Rio''s presence and immediately started to run towards him. This bear is around 1.5 m tall and has sharp nails on his limbs. It has a thick skin strong enough to defend against blunt attacks of low level easily.


    When the bear was only 3m away from Rio, suddenly a shing sound came. Rio was already on his way to find the next one now. Behind him, a Giant bear copsed with a bang sound and its head was sliced very neatly in a single strike.


    ''I have gotten fast, even though I didn''t use any skill it was really easy to slice it with pure strength and speed.''


    Just like this Rio killed 15 monsters of E+ rank with a single sh in just half an hour. It was so easy as if he was taking a stroll around here.


    ''Now what should I do, there is still an hour before this test ends, let''s visit the boss monster then.''


    Although I will not kill the boss I will just help someone in killing it. I can test my swordsmanship a little on that monster''s body.


    In the middle of the forest, there are no trees in sight and just an open field with grass on it. It''s as if the trees were deliberately not present here.


    A young girl can be seen here, she is fighting the boss monster of this dungeon. There''s a determined look on her beautiful face. Although there are few injuries on her body she is fighting without paying any mind to her injuries.


    With her every sword strike she is making a deep wound on the body of the monster.


    After getting a few more wounds on its body the monster suddenly got enraged, its eyes turned crimson and strong blood lust was oozing out of its body. It started attacking the young girl madly. Clearly, this was itsst effort at survival.


    Lia suddenly panicked after seeing this, it was her first time facing a monster like this. This short time of distraction caused the monster to get an opportunity and the monster immediately gave a punch to her face.


    The impact of the punch caused her to lose her standing and she fell down. Just as the monster was about tounch its next attack a shadow shed by and a sound of meat slicing came this time. The boss monster fell down and its limbs were sliced neatly, just its head was intact, clearly, it was left alive on purpose, a boy with ck hair and ck eyes was standing near the body.


    But before Lia could say anything or ask about what happened, the exhaustion from the previous fight caused her to faint.


    "Hmm, looks like I got a littlete, anyway let''s just finish this guy."


    Rio immediately shed the head of the monster and left the scene of the incident, before the teachers came to take Lia back.

 Chapter 9 Meeting Lia Again...

    After helping Lia, Rio left that ce and headed to the ce where the protagonist should bepleting his hidden mission. Yeah, Fade got that fruit bypleting a hidden mission in this dungeon. It''s a mission you will get if you enter the desert area. In the middle of the desert area, you can trigger that mission by standing near theke. Yeah, ake in the middle of the desert.


    ''Well since this is a plot hole, it can''t surprise me much.''


    For getting that fruit you have to reach the middle of theke which is protected by a D rank monster. How did Fade get that fruit when there''s a monster of D-rank? Oh,e on, just shut down your brain for a while and start thinking with your knees for a few seconds, you will be able to understand how he got it.


    There were some people who came before Fade near thatke and got attacked by that monster and Fade got the fruit amidst all this then other students started to pursue him and got face pped by him.


    At the end that D rank monster was left there without any care in the world. I am going there to test my sword on that monster.


    After 15 minutes of running at full speed, Reo was already standing near that ce behind a huge stone. Observing all the plot happening in front of him as written in the novel. After Fade ran away with the fruit all the students ran after him and the Snake shaped monster was left alone it stood there for a few min continuously looking in the direction the students left but it did not chase.


    ''Hmm, so it''s true that D-rank and above monsters generally don''t leave their territory.''


    Then Rio left his hiding ce and walked towards the monster. The monster instantly got wary. Unlike other monsters, it didn''t rush to fight because it can sense the aura of a D-rank. Unlike humans, monsters are sensitive to the aura of other creatures. Rio did not dy anymore and unleashed a sword sh on the snake. The attack causes a huge wound on its head but it did not die but just got wounded.


    ''Hmm, looks like pure strength cannot kill D rank monsters in one strike, I should train more after going back.''


    Seemingly frightened the snake tried to escape, but with another sh, Rio sliced its head off before it can even move. Then without waiting he left the ce and after 5 min he found a stone, he sat on it and started to meditate. The mana density inside the dungeons is high so he just spent the rest of the time meditating.


    After a while, a white light covered him and teleported outside of the dungeon. There were few students herepared to the number of students who entered the dungeon.


    "Good work, everyone we have recorded your kill count through your wrist clock so the results will be released in a few days until then you can rest. The students who got injured or fainted have been taken to the healer''s office. You can leave now."


    ''Let''s head back, it''s good that I didn''t reveal my strength, the teachers can only figure out the kill no or the health of the students through the wrist clocks but they can''t see the process. So, I can ignore being seen easily.''


    After a while, Rio was already in his room. He changed his clothes, took a bath, andid down to sleep. Next morning when Rio was training in the gravitational training room an uninvited guest visited him.


    Now Rio and Lia were inside a small caf¨¦ and sitting in front of each other. While Rio was just sipping his tea, Lia was staring daggers into his face.


    "Say, what do you want in exchange for saving me." (Lia)


    "Transfer money to my ount" (Rio spoke in a calm tone)


    "Don''t you need anything else?" (Lia)


    "If you are unsatisfied then transfer even more money in my ount." (Rio)


    "O-Okay then." (Lia)


    After saying that Lia left her seat and walked away. Rio continued to sip his tea until the bill was given to him.


    ''Damn it! She didn''t pay for her tea''


    Rio left the caf¨¦ and started to head back while taking a stroll.


    ''If I remember correctly Lia''s personality was a tsundere type.''


    Lia is actually the only daughter of an S rank Awakener. Her father is the guild master of the guild name Silver Shadow. It''s the second strongest guild in the world several S rankers work in that guild. Lia''s father is the strongest S rank in that guild.


    The first guild is obviously belonging to Link''s father, who is SS ranked.


    ''But it won''t be a bad choice to join her guild in the future, I can stay there until I be SS rank myself, I don''t want to get entangled with that Link''s guild.''


    Not to mention that bastard will cause trouble for me, he will also end up getting killed by Fade together with his guild. Although I don''t care about Fade it''s better to let Fade end that viin himself, it will help him in developing his strength.


    ''But if Fade really tried to go as far as bing an enemy of mine, I won''t mind destroying him and his system both myself.''


    There''s no absolute in this world, as long as you have enough strength you can do anything you want.


    ''Now it''s time I look for that thing which will help me block Fade''s appraisal. It''s time to start the second round of stealing protagonists'' chances.''

 Chapter 10 Influence Of Luck

    After the mid-term tests, the next 15 days are without any ss schedule. So, most of the students have gone to visit their family or some have gone on a rxing vacation, Except for me.


    ''Here I am standing in a C-rank dungeon looking for a chance to carry out a stealing spree, oh! don''t mind that pile of dead monsters behind me, they were just weaklings''


    So, I was saying that after leaving the caf¨¦, I booked a ticket for this dungeon named ''Lizard Nest''. It''s a C-rank dungeon and now I am looking for the ce where I will be able to trigger the hidden mission.


    Well as you know extras like me have to find the hidden mission but protagonists can stumble upon them with sheer luck.


    ''Such terrifying luck.''


    If luck was actually a type of attack stat then Protagonists would have been invincible long ago but it''s a relief that there''s no such thing yet, who knows if there is this world is already unscientific, anyway. I won''t be surprised if it was found that a pig has grown wings in this world.


    After about half an hour of running, Rio was in front of a massive cave.


    ''This should be their nest.''


    This time fight can''t be avoided because in order to get what I need we will have to kill our way inside.


    Just as Rio entered, a 3 m-long Lizard covered with scales pounced on him. Its speed is slow but its strength is high, even the ground is cracking beneath it.


    ''Not to mention this is just a low-ranked one in this nest.''


    When the lizard was only 2m away from Rio it''s head flew away with the sound of a sword shing, and that 3m body copsed on the ground as if a doll losing its strings.


    ''Hmm, they are still weak though''


    Just like this, a great massacre urred in this nest. Poor lizards were ughtered like vegetables. About an hourter Rio was already standing in front of the boss''s room, he opened the huge door and walked inside.


    It was dark in here but then suddenly torches lit the whole ce. A huge 5 m-long lizard can be seen staring right at Rio. Its mouth was spitting mes and its scales are obviously very hard.


    ''This guy is at C+ and since I have not be a C rank it will be a good fight this time.''


    Both of them stood in their ce for a few seconds and an eerie silence covered the surroundings. Suddenly both of themunched at each other.


    The monster spat a thick me toward Rio but it was avoided very easily. At the time when it stopped Rio was already near its face.


    Rio shed at its neck, but to his surprise, it only created a shallow wound on the monster. Rio hurriedly moved away from his previous position. When looking back, the lizard''s tail can be seen stuck on the floor where he was standing before.


    ''looks like today I can use my skills, after such a long time


    [Body Strengthening!]


    Rio''s mana covered every part of his body from the inside. From the outside, everything is still the same but his body has been strengthened by mana.


    Using body strengthening increased his all stats temporarily.


    ''it consumes too much mana; I will increase my mana capacity after going back.''


    The monster was already impatient, it spat another me at Rio. But again, the me was avoided and Riounched the sword strike with concentrating mana in his hands this time, a huge wound appeared on the lizard''s back.


    It attacked with its tail but Rio deflected it with a swing of his sword, it seemed simple but all this could not have been done without his high understanding of basic swordsmanship.


    ''Let''s finish this.''


    [Lightening sword]


    An extremely fast and precise sword strike was unleashed, it was so fast that it can''t be seen with the naked eye at all.


    The monsters got beheaded with this final strike. Obviously, it also caused Rio to deplete his mana. He found a nearby stone and sat down on it to meditate and recover his mana again.


    In this world, there''s no natural way to recover mana. Either you recover it by meditating or by using mana recovery potions which are very expensive to buy.


    ''well I have a mana recovery potion given by the academy, but I don''t need to use it here.''


    It will be a waste to use it now, instead, it will be better to use it when I am in a life-and-death battle.


    After half an hour Rio recovered his mana and walked toward the wall on the right side of the hall. This wall has several statues standing in front of it.


    Rio walked towards the statue holding a spear and a shield. He used his all his strength and pushed the statue to the left side. As if a mechanism has been triggered the wall started to open and a corridor was revealed.


    Rio walked into the corridor without hesitation. While walking he again had a thought:


    ''when Fade came here this statue was destroyed during his fight with the lizard monster thus revealing this corridor. But when I was fighting it that lizard never came near this statue.''


    Is it because it doesn''t want me to find this ce or is it simply the doing of luck? But one thing is certain being the child of the heavens is really beneficial. Not to mention you will get rare treasures as easily as breathing, even life-threatening situations will lead you to amazing fortunes.


    Unlike an extra like me who has to find his own way.


    ''have I been abandoned by the heavens? Who cares?''

 Chapter 11 Face Slapping By Fade

    When Rio was on his stealing spree. The main protagonist is also not silent, he has already entered the ring.


    ''Today I will beat you all just like you did to me.'' (Fade)


    After the mid-terms were over Fade entered E rank dungeons to get points and upgraded his status. Now he has already be Rank F+. If someone found out about his growth they would die from envy. Not to mention he bought a few skills from the shop he can even appraise his opponent''s status.


    When he used appraisal on these bullies, he found that they were just at E rank. Although it is still higher than him he is the son of luck he can easily cross the rank boundaries and defeat people even stronger than him.


    The spectator''s area was already full. Several first-year students have gathered here to witness this match. They were all whispering among each other and showing disgust towards fade as if they already knew Fade will lose.


    "Hey see that trash really dare toe here"


    "heh, he will definitely get disabled today."


    "He doesn''t understand that he doesn''t stand a chance against them."


    "He will get beaten blue and ck; I am looking forward to it."


    Fade nced at these students and sneered in his mind:


    ''Humph, I will show you all my greatness, you dumb heads'' (Fade)


    After about half an hour of waiting, one of the five bullies entered the ring.


    "Trash, if you admit defeat now maybe I will let you go"


    Fade just ignored him and brought out his wand to cast spells. Seeing his nonchnt behavior, the boy got enraged and started spouting vicious curses on Fade.


    After a while, the referee announced the start of the match.


    The bully instantly ran towards Fade with his dagger andunched a vicious attack on his face. Seeing this some students gasped in shock:


    "Looks like that trash is finished today"


    "Such a strong attach, even I won''t be able to stop it"


    "As I said before, this trash will die today"


    "At the very least, our academy will be free of trash today"


    But a sudden change happened, before the dagger can pierce Fade a Huge blue fireball reached the bully''s face, the burning pain cause him to lose his standing. He started crying while rubbing his face.


    It was truly shocking how the situation got reversed instantly. Everyone was extremely shocked. This is the power of pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger.


    The bully fainted due to pain and got carried away to the healer''s office.


    This caused the other four bullies to be enraged and theyunched their attack together without warning.


    "Although he defeated one of them, this time he will definitely be injured."


    "yeah, even the students in E+ rank will not be able to leave unscathed when facing four of the same rank."


    "I think he will get fatal wounds this time, as expected of a trash."


    Fade sneered seeing all four attacking together and he calmly chanted four fireballs andunched them on the bullies. The bullies tried to avoid the fireball but shockingly the fireball changed its trajectory in mid-air and followed them until they did not get hit by it.


    All four of them were also carried to the healer''s office. Every student was too shocked after witnessing this dangerous fireball.


    "wha-what was that attack!"


    "I don''t know! I have never heard of a fireball that can change its trajectory in mid-air!"


    "That attack was ridiculous; how could that trash use such an attack!"


    "Did you notice the color of his fireball was blue!"


    "Only when you master a fire spell to its peak can it have a blue color to it, could it be that trash mastered the fireball spell!"


    "How can it be! Mastering a spell is not child''s y, it takes huge effort!"


    A hugemotion erupted among the students who witnessed this. Everyone was discussing the attack Fade used. Seeing this Fade smiled in satisfaction.


    ''See I told you, this young master is too good!''


    Above the arena, in a luxury room, a young girl with red hair and dark red eyes can be seen staring at the figure standing in the arena. A shocked expression is on her beautiful face.


    ''How did he master fireball to such a high degree, even I haven''t mastered it yet. I have been training under my father since childhood yet I was not able to do it. How did he do it?''


    "I am getting interested" (Kira Bloodlight)


    "In that young man, mydy?" (Kira''s maid)


    "No! what are you talking about! I am interested in that spell not him!" (Kira)


    But unknown to her, a slight blush appeared on her face.


    This is the start of the romance story of Fade and the journey of Fade to be a full-proof harem king.


    After the match ended Fade left the ring and headed to his dorm. But was invited by suddenly invited by Kira''s maid for tea. He was instantly excited and agreed.


    ''Looks like I have gotten a good fortune again this time.''


    Then they discussed about the spells and Fade answered Kira''s questions on how he got so much mastery in fireball. Obviously, most of it was a fake story, created by Fade to impress a young maiden but who cares. If you are getting a beautiful girl to hear your boasting, it will naturally not be cared how much you boasted.


    Only Rio Knew the real story that fade just increased his proficiency through the system using Exp points not by efforts. This is the difference in a protagonist and an extra.

 Chapter 12 Progress And Unexpected Surprises!

    In the C rank dungeon, Lizards Nest. Rio was walking in a dark corridor ignoring all traps easily. It was as if he was just taking a stroll around here. After half an hour of walking, he was already in front of a small room.


    Rio walked in without hesitation; this small room had several books in it. It is like a small library that has not been cleaned for a long time. Even the books have be so old that nothing can be deciphered from them.


    Without wasting any time Rio walked towards the table in the middle and picked up the book named ck records, he took the book and ced it in the drawer of the table. A mechanism got triggered and a magic circle covered the library. After a few seconds, the magic circle disappeared and a beautiful sk appeared on the table from thin air.


    Rio picked up this beautiful sk observed it for a few seconds and threw it on the floor with all his strength. The sk broke and


    And its broken pieces are scattered everywhere. After a while, all the pieces turned into white light photons and rushed towards Rio''s body. A warm feeling started to envelop Rio.


    After all the photons entered Rio''s body the warm feeling disappeared snapping him out of his daze.


    [Acquired A passive skill, True Immunity!]


    "Hmm, good I got it. Let''s leave this ce now"


    Rio immediately left this ce and headed back to the dormitories.


    True Immunity is a passive skill, it can make you immune to any unusual type of skill used on you, like an appraisal. Although an appraisal is not an attack skill it''s very stealthy and can use others'' brains to get information about them. But True Immunity can block such skills. Not only it can block appraisal other unusual skills can also be nullified using it. For example, spirit attacks, mental attacks, and curse-type skills all can be blocked by it. Obviously, it isn''t useful against physical and magic attacks.


    ''Its true worth will show when fighting the boss of SSS rank gate actually.''


    That monster has a skill called atomic disintegration, it can cause every single atom of your body to disintegrate and will instantly reduce you to nothingness. But True immunity can block this skill.


    ''Isn''t this skill overpowered? Yeah, it is. And Fade gets it with sheer luck. But now that I have taken it, he will have no choice but to buy it from the shop. No free things for you buddy.''


    After a few hours, Rio was already in his dorm room, on the way to his room he heard about Fade''s duel.


    ''That guy must be spending his time with Kira now. Well, she will be his greatest support in the future.''


    Not to mention when Fade will be a SS rank, he will marry Kira. Thinking about this a sudden thought came to his mind:


    ''Should I look for a girlfriend too? I mean it''s not ban to get in rtionships in this academy.''


    Due the increase in the percentage of appearing a better potential in the next generation, love marriages are very famous in this world. Everyone wants to marry only the one they love. It strengthens the potential of your children.


    Thinking this far Rio shook his head and threw this thought in the back of his mind:


    ''I will think about itter, there''s still a long road left in front of me.''


    After Rio came to his room, he directly entered his private training room and prepared for the breakthrough. Yeah, the fight with that Lizard boss caused him to reach the peak of D+ rank and now he can breakthrough and be C rank anytime he wants.


    He has been suppressing his breakthrough in order to reach the academy.


    ''Now the time, let''s start.''


    He sat cross legged and released his suppression and immediately started to focus on breaking through. This time the breakthrough is of special importance because after reaching rank C you can finally project mana outside your body. Before he was only able to strengthen his body from inside. But after entering Rank C he can even use mana to defend, by covering his body with it.


    Even the sword can be covered with mana due to which its damage will increase by many times. It is said that entering Rank C makes you a real warrior.


    After a few minutes of concentration Rio finally breakthrough and became a C rank Swordsman:


    [The advancement has beenpleted; you have been promoted to Rank C- sessfully!]


    [The rank of all the techniques and skills has been increased!]


    [Due to your ''Basic Swordsmanship'' bing Rank C you have acquired a new skill, Sword Energy!]


    [Due to your high talent in swordsmanship, your skill Sword Energy has been evolved to a high rank and has be, Sword aura!]


    [Your ''Elemental Sword Art'' has reached Rank C]


    [You have acquired new skill, Handling!]


    [You have acquired the ability to control your aura freely now!]


    After a while the notifications finally stopped and snapped Rio out of his daze. He was extremely shocked by all these notifications.


    ''I knew it will cause me to be strong, but I didn''t expect it to be this fruitful, amazing!''


    After calming himself for a while Rio checked his status which he hadn''t checked in a while now:


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: C-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 1800/1800] [MP: 1200/1200]


    [STR: 50/100] [SPE: 50/100] [AGI: 50/ 100] [DEF: 50/100] [INT: 50/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship(C-), Elemental Sword Art(C-)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(D+), Lightening Sword(D+), Sword Aura(G-), Handling(G-)]


    [Passive Sills: True Immunity(X)]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; your growth rate is terrifying and you have unlimited potential!]

 Chapter 13 Was Lia Always A Chatterbox?

    In a blink of an eye the days passed by and the day before the reopening of the sses came rather fast. The students who had gone home have alreadye back. The training grounds and the shopping areas became lively again.


    Amidst all this the results for the mid-term exams got released and were currently being disyed on a huge screen in the Public training ground of the academy.


    A huge crowd can see staring at the screen some were happy some were sad and some were still looking for their ranks. After the crowd dispersed a young boy with ck hair and pitch-ck eyes walked towards the screen and started to look for his rank and in just a few nces he found his rank:


    [Rio sh Rank 72]


    A satisfied smile appeared on Rio''s face and he left for his training grounds.


    ''ording to the novel a new event should be starting in a few days, I should train and get ready for it.''


    After a few days Ms. Anna made an announcement:


    "As you all know that your mid-terms have ended. And I am happy to announce that due to your efforts in the exams the overall result of the ss was highestpared to other sses.


    Due to this, your ss has gotten a chance to go on a tour of the Rault inds. I don''t need to tell you about those inds you already know about them. So be prepared we will be leaving in two days.


    And I warn you all not to rx too much and don''t forget to bring your weapons. You will have to take part in activities on the inds. Now you can leave."


    As you must have already guessed it Roult inds is a ce where several small andrge Inds are located near each other and are collectively called the Roult inds. Its name is Roult because a famous S rank water mage was born here. A small poption lives here and several luxury hotels are also located here.


    Not to mention these inds have great scenery it also has several low-rank dungeon gates too. ording to what was written in the novel Rault inds is a very beautiful ce, I mean it was.


    Yeah, they will get destroyed due to our disaster ma, Fade. An S-rank Dungeon gate will open suddenly at these inds when Fade and all his ssmates will be enjoying their free time there.


    In the starting, everything will be normal and a few peaceful days will be granted to the citizens of Rault inds then suddenly an S rank dungeon will open spurting a huge quantity of monsters.


    In this world, every newly opened gate releases a particr number of monsters when it''s newly opened. The same goes for the S rank dungeons. Obviously, it will not release S rank monsters but a huge number of monsters below S rank will be released which will cause several students to be killed. Later, those inds will need to be evacuated due to increasing casualties.


    Although several students will fight and a stalemate will form for a while but due to the high number of the monsters, they will have to leave the inds on the same ship they came.


    ''Let''s prepare some potions to help me in difficult circumstances and increase my training intensity too.''


    Unlike the protagonist I don''t have the protection of heavenly luck, if I encountered an A rank monster, I will not be able to make it back alive.


    After two days the students were already gathered on the spot where they will be boarding their train to the nearby port. Every student has an excited expression on his face. Well, it is really rare for the students of this academy to go on such tours. After all, this academy is famous for its strict disciple.


    All the students boarded the train, Rio got on the train and sat on a seat near the window. Just as he was going to close his eyes, he heard an arrogant voice calling him:


    "Hey, I am sitting here because there''s no other seat, don''t you dare think anything else." (Lia)


    "Yeah¡­Okay" (Rio) (Rio said with an expressionless face as if he didn''t care)


    ''what is with that unemphatic tone, humph who cares'' (Lia)


    "Maintain a distance from me and don''t you dare touch me, otherwise I will give such a hard punch on your face even your jaw will break, humph." (Lia)


    "Don''t think that since you have saved me once, I will let you have your way with me, this youngdy has a long line of suitors behind her, not to mention several young masters and heirs of big families are dying to have a single talk with me, you are already lucky enough to even get to talk with me, humph" (Lia)


    "Not to mention I have already transferred enough money in your bank ount, anyway I have a huge amount of money it doesn''t matter if I threw away some of it in the garbage, humph." (Lia)


    "Do you even know how many luxury cars I have? Do you know how big a vi I live in? Obviously, you won''t, how can someone like you have a vi, humph" (Lia)


    Hearing this non-stop talk of Lia, Rio was already in a daze:


    ''Was Lia always this chatty, in the novel it was mentioned that she is a type of girl who won''t even consider chatting with anyone and despised every single person. Not to mention chatting with others the only time she spoke she did so to spout curses on Kira in the novel, then why is it so different?'' (Rio)


    ''It''s really strange. Was Lia always such a chatterbox?'' (Rio)

 Chapter 14 Fooling Around With The Villainess..

    Seeing that Lia was going to continue her endless talk, Rio just ignored her and fell asleep.


    ''There is still a long way to figure out the truth''


    Lia continued her self-talk for a while until she noticed that Rio has fallen asleep:


    "You-you! How can you fall asleep! When I am still talking!"


    "Hey! You wake up!"


    Just like this the journey on the train continue and after a few hours, they were already at the port. This is a famous port and it''s very huge. Yeah, in order to describe this ce, you can use a single word that is, huge.


    Several big and small ships are docked here. Ms. Anna talked with the captain of the ship we will be boarding, then he guided us to his ship. This ship has a name for itself, Stormwalker. You might wonder why its name is stormwalker.


    Even I was surprised when the captain introduced its name. ording to the captain this ship has ovee hundreds of thunderstorms and monster attacks, thus getting the name Stormwalker. The captain bragged that he has been working with stormwalker since his childhood. Maybe it was bragging or maybe it was real but the captain was really happy talking about his adventures on Stormwalker.


    "You can take a walk around the port until the ship leaves the port tomorrow morning. If someone got left behind you will not be able to join us again and have to go back to the academy. So be sure toe back to the ship before morning. You can leave now." (Anna)


    Most of the students directly ran towards the shopping area only a few stayed on the ship. Rio also left to stroll around. It''s rare to have a chance to waste time like this. But since there are no training facilities here nothing can be done about that.


    ''Let''s see, should I buy some clothes, I haven''t used the money Lia transferred yet.''


    When Rio was walking toward the shops, he saw a few students argue about something with the shopkeeper. Then he suddenly remembered a face pping event should take ce here at the port.


    As you know Fade is from a poor background, when he enters the shop and tries to buy a few expensive clothes for himself the shopkeeper shows his disgust at him saying you can''t afford this, you can''t afford that h h h.


    Then magically Kira appears and buys the whole shop and gifts it to Fade for free. The shopkeeper gets face pped. Then he starts arguing with Fade saying you are taking advantage of ady from a rich family. Then the shopkeeper starts violence and calls his friends to beat Fade. Yet Fade and Kira beat them instead.


    ''Hmm, should I go to another ce? I will get irritated seeing these clich¨¦ developments.''


    Just when Rio was thinking of going to another shop his hand was caught by a small hand:


    "Where are you going! Come with me I want to visit that bar!" (Lia)


    "Oh¡­okay" (Rio)


    Since Rio didn''t have anything else to do he decided to go with the flow when Lia asked him toe with her.


    Both of them then entered a small bar and Lia did not wait for anything but directly started to drink. A slight blush appeared on her face. Due to her being a beauty several hooligans got attracted to her but Rio just make them faint by releasing a bit of his aura on them.


    ''Hmm, such small fries can''t do a thing in front of me. Only the protagonists have to pretend to face p.''


    A sigh of disappointment escaped his mouth.


    "Hey! what are you waiting for a drink this!" (Lia)


    "Yeah okay." (Rio)


    ''Sigh~, this woman is a real headache...Well, ordinary drinks like this can''t really affect me much, since I have already be a C rank.''


    After a few hours Lia was already too drunk she started to chatter non-stop again:


    "You know! Since I was a child, no one ever saved me, even my father was very strict with me. You were the first one who dare to do so."


    "If not for the fact you ran away, I would have beaten you ck and blue for interrupting my fight with that monster!"


    "My father said that only if you are in danger can you be strong. So next time don''t get in my way!"


    "Otherwise, I will beat you to a.....a¡­.pulp..."


    And just like this, she fell asleep.


    ''I didn''t know she had such a hard childhood; well her past was never written in the novel. The only role she had in the novel was to spout curses on Kira. Maybe it was due to some incident rted to her childhood. Anyway it doesn''t really matter to me much either way.'' (Rio)


    Well if there is some change, then it is a good chance. Maybe she won''t die as she did in the novel. The rest is dependent on fate.


    ''In my case, there''s no fate or destiny, I have my path myself. Unlike her, I am an extra.''


    Rio got up and carried Lia back to the ship, he didn''t know her room no so he just took her to his own room. Heid her on his bed and slept with her.


    ''Although, I am a loner, I am not a pure-hearted person, it doesn''t really matter if someone''s there to apany my sleep, I will tease her a bit in the morning.'' (Of course, he isn''t gonna do anything to her, she is still a kid.)


    I wonder what expression she will make when she will wake in the morning. Obviously, I won''t do anything to her but a little bit of teasing can still be done. A very devilish smile appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''hehe¡­''


    In the morning the boat left the port and all the students returned back. Fortunately, or unfortunately, no one was left behind thus heading towards the Rault Inds.


    It will take 15 days to reach the Rault inds. It''s going to be a long and peaceful trip, except for a few people.


    In the evening the next day:-


    "hmm¡­.where is this?..." (Lia)


    Lia looked around and she found the room unfamiliar. Then she checked her clothes and seeing they were still neat and clean she heaved a sigh of relief but then a voice made her lose her mind:


    "oh you are awake take this coffee" (Rio)


    "..." (Lia)


    Lia continued to stare at the coffee and Rio for a while, her mind was already nk, several calctions and thoughts were running wild in her mind her eyes started to lose color and be lifeless as if the sky was falling on her. Just as she was about to burst into tears a voice calmed her:


    "Oh,e on, what are thinking about. I didn''t know your room number so I took you here, in my room. Why are you behaving like a child whose candy has been snatched by a bad uncle?" (Rio)


    "I-I am not a kid! Yo-you wh-what did you do to me!?" (Lia)


    "Well what did I do? I wonder what has been done when a young beautiful girl was on my bed. Completely defenseless." (Rio spoke with great emotions on his face)


    "Yo-you! How can you do that to me!" (Lia)


    Seeing the grin on Rio''s face Lia had a sudden urge to punch his face. But due to the effects of drinking too much, her body was not reacting to her will.


    "Take this coffee, you will get some energy. Last night you spent so much energy clinging to me after all." (Rio)


    Seeing Lia irritated Rio widened his grin even more.


    "wh-wha¡­its impossible! Why would I cling to someone like you?" (Lia)


    "well if you don''t remember then what can be done? Even though you were so aggressivest night." (Rio made a face as if he is being wronged.)


    "Impossible! That''s Impossible!" (Lia)


    Seeing that Lia was at her limit Rio decided to stop now:


    "Okay Okay don''t cry. I didn''t really do anything to you. You are still as pure as milk. Don''t worry." (Rio)


    "Are you speaking the truth!" (Lia)


    "Yeah I was just fooling around with you" (Rio)


    When Lia figured out that Rio was really making a fool of herself, she got really embarrassed. In the end, she left Rio''s room angrily:


    "Humph! You idiot! You meanie! I am going! I will definitely get back to you one day!" (Lia)


    After Lia left, a satisfied smile appeared on Rio''s face, he sat near the window and continued to enjoy the scenery. It was already evening actually. Then suddenly the ship started to vibrate a little and screaming sounds started toe from outside.


    Rio sighed at thismotion and said:


    ''What happened now? Good grief, can an extra, not even enjoy his coffee in peace? Let me rest for a while~''

 Chapter 15 A Strange Dream...

    Walking out of the room Rio saw several sea monsters attacking the ship. But the main thing that caught his attention was the huge octopus that was right in front of the ship. It is so huge that it can be considered a small mountain.


    ''This is definitely an S rank Monster, but why would it appear here?''


    Generally, S rank monsters don''t leave their territory, and not to mention a monster above B rank have a certain amount of intelligence, it wouldn''t attack anything like a mad beast.


    Only when necessary do such high-rank monsters fight.


    ''There was nothing written about this in the novel, I should not lower my vignce just because this octopus was not mentioned in the novel.''


    This is not a novel now it''s a real-world here are things that happen outside the plot too. Just as Rio was deciding on what to do next. The giant octopus attacked the ship with its huge tentacles. But before it could evene close to the ship a huge magic circle covered the ship. This magic circle was so big that any mage can faint from its magic consumption alone.


    Yet now this magic circle is being formed like nothing. After the magic circle waspleted a rain of fire started to bombard the octopus monster. Seeing that its attack did not seed the monster dived down into the water and left the ce.


    Then Ms. Anna appeared on the ship''s deck and a new magic circle was created. This time all the monsters attacking were counter-attacked by her magic. Unlike the giant octopus monster, these low-rank monsters all got burned alive on the spot. After doing all this Ms. Anna walked away leisurely as if all that happened was of no importance.


    All the students who witnessed this scene were totally dumbfounded. The mage students were shouting in excitement and were admiring the huge magic fluctuation produced by the attack used by Ms. Anna so easily.


    ''So, this is the strength of a true S rank, Killing thousands in a mere flick of a finger, how terrifying.'' (Rio)


    Then the trip continued peacefully for a few days but then the giant octopus returned again. This time it was apanied by a huge army of sea monsters.


    Several different types of sea monsters can be seen here in this huge army. Not to mention a few sharkman can be seen among this army.


    ''what the heck is going on, why is this guy so desperate to attack our ship? Don''t tell me this guy is attracted due to me?''


    ''but why?''


    Suddenly Rio felt his heart palpitating very fast. He immediately rolled away from his previous ce. Looking back, he found that the ce he was standing has been destroyed by a huge tentacle attack.


    ''It really is targeting me, I will have to find out, why is it targeting me?''


    Rio walked towards the deck of the ship where most of the students were gathered, he brought his sword out too, just like the other students. Looking at Ms. Anna it can be seen she has been irritated by this monster.


    Ms. Anna cast a simple flying spell and announced before flying toward the octopus:


    "I will handle that monster, you all deal with those small fries in the meanwhile."


    All the students alsounched towards the sea monsters and attacked the monsters who tried to climb the ship. Although these sea monsters are all low ranked but their number is too high. When you kill one, or two more attacks you back. Rio also joined the fight and started to carry out a ughter. Even without using skills, he was already at C rank these monsters of E rank were ughtered like vegetables.


    While fighting he carefully avoided ces where the giant monster canunch a sneak attack on him. For half an hour the fight continued and a stalemate was formed. But then the shark men joined the fight and started to overwhelm the students. Injuries started to appear on the students. And some were already exhausted from the relentless attacks.


    When Rio was fighting, he noticed 10 shark men directlying toward him. These Sharkmen are all at Rank B, without using his skill he will not be able to fight them. So, in order to not get exposed, he slowly left the deck pretending to be in a fight and came towards a rather deserted area, where other students were not present.


    And as he expected the Sharkmen followed right behind him in an orderly manner as if they were trained professionals.


    [Body Strengthening]


    Rio directly covered himself with mana andunched an ambush on the first Sharkmen. With a swift and precise attack, it died in an instant. All the other Sharkmen following behind it became alert seeing this.


    But due to the first attack advantage Rio directly shed the next one''s neck easily. The sharkmen reacted now andunched abined attack on Rio. But before their attack cannd Rio backed away.


    The sharkmen were surprised by this sudden change and lost their concentration. Taking advantage of their mistake, Rio directly killed another two of them with two more precise attacks. Then he backed away and waited for them to follow. But this time the sharkmen did not fall into his trap.


    They directly dived into the water and attacked from both sides, cornering him in the middle. Seeing this Rio did not hesitate anymore and directly used his skills now:


    [Lightening sword]


    An extremely precise and fast sword shnded on the Sharkmen who attacked from behind and all three of them got killed instantly. Seeing an opening, the sharkmen on the other side stabbed with his spear and created a wound on Rio''s shoulder.


    Before it could do more damage Rio backed hurriedly backed away but still got stabbed once more in his right leg. When the monster tried tond one more attack, Rio counter-attacked this time:


    [Handling]


    Rio used his sword to deflect the spear''s trajectory in the wrong direction which caused the sharkmen to lose their standing. With another sword strike, Rio killed two more Sharkmen. Now only one more was left in front of him.


    ''One more to go''


    [Sword Aura: Fire strike]


    Suddenly, Rio''s sword got covered in blue mes, this me was a type of fire attack in itself. Rio shed with the sharkmen and used the me to cause a distraction for the sharkmen. The sharkmen being a water creatures got a little distracted by these highly condensed mes.


    This short distraction caused its head to fly away. Thus, dering Rio''s victory. Rio hurriedly brought out a healing potion from his storage ring and drank it. His wounds started to heal at a speed visible to naked eyes.


    "Haa¡­.haa¡­huff¡­haa" (Rio)


    ''That was the most difficult fight I had until now.''


    After a few minutes of resting, Rio recovered from his fatigue. He hurriedly ran back to the deck, to see the fight''s result. When he returned, he saw that Ms. Anna and that octopus monster''s fight was already near its end. Although Ms. Anna was looking visibly tired the monster was also seriously wounded.


    Seeing that it has gotten too wounded the monster escaped the ce and swam away from the ship to recover. Obviously, it can be seen that the monster has not yet given up, it will eventuallye back after it recovers. But Ms. Anna did not pursue it anymore and let it go. She was already too tired to give chase.


    Not to mention it is very difficult for a fire mage to show its full strength on the sea. She has already used up her mana. After confirming that the monster has left. Ms. Anna flew back to the ship and cast a spell to kill the rest of the monsters. After that, she walked into her room.


    Seeing that the main fight has ended. The students started to evacuate all the injured students. Rio also helped in the process and carried the students to the Healer. Looking around he found that the other named characters like Fade, Lia, Kira, and Link all has not sustained such injuries.


    ''If they had encountered the sharkmen then they would have been injured. But it looks like they did not encounter them''


    It''s really strange why was that S rank monster targeting only me? Did I offend it somehow, No? That''s not it, there must be something else, something that I am overlooking. What is it?


    ''Calm down Rio and think more thoroughly¡­. Now that I think about it what were those palpitations I felt back then?''


    I am certain that those palpitations were not because of the monster''s attack. It was as if my body was telling me a certain thing. But what it is, I can''t figure it out yet.


    ''Maybe I will find it the next time, I will meet that monster.''


    After this monster attack, the calm returned to the ship and after a few more days the ship reached its destination safely. All the students that got injured have already been cured. And Even Ms. Anna has recovered from her mana exhaustion. When the ship docked, all the students got down the ship and followed Ms. Anna to the nearby Hotel.


    It was already evening when we reached the ind. The setting sun and the vast ocean were creating extremely beautiful scenery here. Seeing this peaceful scene, the moods of the students calmed down a bit. After all, they were all on constant alert during this time, in fear of an attack from the sea monsters again.


    The ind on which the ship docked is a small one. It is one of the several small inds around the main ind of this ce. The Rault inds are in a pattern, here small inds surround the big inds. Although such a presence of pattern seems strange this is just one of the many strange things in this world. The main eye-catching thing here is the stable teleportation portals on every ind which connect each ind with another like a spider web.


    These Portals were created at the request of the S rank Water mage Rault. Generally, teleportation portals are very expensive to create, their operating costs are also very expensive due to which they are used very few times.


    Only when arge number of materials are needed to be transferred are the teleportation portals used. Normally only small boats are used to travel between these inds. Several seafood-rtedpanies are also located on these inds. And the high number of low-rank dungeons provides a stable stream of awakeners visiting this ce.


    After reaching the hotel all the students directly headed to their specific rooms. Rio also left for his room and after he got in his room, he directly took a refreshing bath and thenid down on his bed. Instantly he felt exhaustion taking over him and he directly fell asleep.


    Suddenly he felt someone calling for him, he got up and looked around but no one was there, he walked to the window and looked outside, the sky was pitch ck there was no moon or star in the sky tonight.


    ''I have a strange feeling about this.''


    He was feeling as if something was calling him, something was urging him to go towards the beach. He directly jumped from the window and walked towards the beach. The closer he got the stronger that feeling in his heart started to increase. Just as he was only a few meters away from the ocean a sudden hoarse and rigid voice interrupted him:


    "SO, YOU ARE HERE!! YOU LITTLE RAT!!! TODAY I WILL KILL YOU!!!"


    A huge octopus appeared in front of him its tall body was right in front of Rio. Its huge eyes were directly looking at him as if looking at a lowly being.


    Suddenly Rio''s dream ended and he woke up from his dream while panting. He took a ss of water and gulped it down, then he walked towards the window and looked outside. The was illuminated with two moons and bright stars. He heaved a sigh of relief after confirming that it truly was a dream.


    "What a strange dream. Was it giving me some kind of message or something? It is getting reallyplicated now."

 Chapter 16 S-Rank Dungeon Opens!

    Rault Inds, Morning-


    The next morning, we took a small boat and left for the main ind, where we will be staying for about a week before the S rank gate will open. During this time the students are free to do anything they want, exceptmit crimes obviously. The rules and regtions are rather strict here on the Rault inds, since several awakeners visit this ce every day, throughout the whole year. High-security measures are thus important here.


    There are several battleships stationed on these inds to protect the inds from any kind of sea problems. A huge number of fishermen enter the sea every day and since the marine industries depend on these local fishermen the fishermen get rather special treatment. Of course, you can''t get away aftermitting a crime though.


    Only those who are C rank or above can get away aftermitting crimes by payingpensation, well you will only get used of a crime if you get caught red-handed. Otherwise, as long as you don''t cause a massacre, your crimes will be ignored. After all, this is a world where only the strong have the chance of survival, weak ones are always disregarded here.


    ''Hmm, should I take part in that event or not?''


    Before the S rank gate opens there is still an event. ording to the novel, when the original protagonist Fade defeated the bullies, he triggered a chain viin event. You must know what a chain viin is right? It''s when you defeat one and its backeres to make trouble for you, then you defeat them and even one more persones to make trouble with you. Yeah, that type of viin.


    So, when those bullies woke up and found out that Fade has defeated them, they got enraged and requested Link, their ultimate backer to avenge them.


    Now when on these Rault inds the students will divide into two factions. One supports Fade to stand against the bullies and the other is Link''s group including hisckeys. To sort out their fight they will challenge each other through a dungeon hunting contest. In a dungeon hunting contest, you have to clear dungeons of a particr rank in a set time period.


    The team which will clear the most dungeon at the end will win and the one with a lower dungeon clearing number will lose this game. It''s a type of team match where coordination is extremely important, after all, you can''t clear several dungeons by yourself. It can only be done if you are too high in rank than the dungeon itself.


    But in the novel, the rank of the dungeon decided in this contest by these two groups was E rank dungeons. Since it was a contest obviously there will be a bet. And the bet was on who will get a kiss from Kira the main heroine between Fade and Link.


    If you are thinking that Fade must have won this contest. No, you guessed wrong this time. Fade didn''t win this contest. Actually, Link was going to win this contest. But then destiny or you can say luck shined on Fade and an S rank gate was opened thus, the contest was never concluded.


    But if the gate had not opened then Fade would have lost this contest. Are you wondering why?


    Just close your eyes and think with your solid knees of yours, how can a mere Fade win against Link who is already midway to C rank? Even though Fade is the son of the heavens and has heavenly luck protecting him, it can''t equal true strength.


    No matter how much of heaven-defying cheats you have, you can''t fight someone who is too high in ranks than you. Not to mention Fade is still an E rank there''s a huge gap in their strength.


    ''In the end, I will choose not to get involved with the business of the protagonist again.''


    After thinking about all this Rio came to the conclusion that rather than wasting his time on this clich¨¦ thing. He would rather polish his skills which will help him survive the next disaster, which will being in just a week.


    Do you think that he should make others aware of the disaster? How will he make them believe it even if he told them everything about it? Not to mention people will mock him saying he has gotten mentally ill, instead.


    ''I just like minding my own business. Even if someone thinks that I am selfish it doesn''t really matter much to me.''


    In the following days, the plot developed just like Rio has expected it to be. The contest was decided and a lively atmosphere can be seen around the low-rank dungeons on several inds. The students who have already entered a dungeon before during the mid-term tests were already fearless about the dangers in the dungeons and were running toward them as if looking at a sweet.


    Even the officials got a headache seeing the student''s attitude, they tried to control the situation a bit, but the students just ignored them and continued to do their contest battle. In the end, the official sighed deeply and left while rubbing their heads. Ms. Anna just ignored it saying that the students are rather lively today.


    While Rio was concentrating on his training and working on improving his skills, a fierce battle was going on between the students and the monsters:


    "Come on! This is our 5th dungeon! We can win this contest!"


    "Let''s go!"


    "Kill these nasty monsters!"


    "Kill"


    The students which have been fighting continuously have already their reason temporarily and just fighting like a madman, not caring for their own wounds, the only thing they care is about killing more monsters.


    This is the infamous battle poisoning phenomenon. This can only be seen when you are fighting inside a dungeon. This phenomenon is also the reason why awakeners have to take breaks between their raid to a dungeon.


    In this phenomenon, an awakener who has been fighting in the dungeon for a long time non-stop will slowly start to lose their sense of reason and the only thing they will care is about killing. Although, this can be cured rather easily by just carrying that particr person out of the dungeon after he ends up exhausted from his/her endless fight. But it can get extremely dangerous if you are not carried out of the dungeon on a time.


    Because if you are not carried out and are still inside a dungeon even though you have copsed from exhaustion, your desire to kill will start increasing very rapidly in that state, eventually it will affect your brain and cause serious brain damage to you, thus reducing you into a brainless killing machine. There have been examples of such people in the past and even now you can hear all this on news every once in a while


    The students which have been fighting endlessly are obviously affected by this phenomenon but it''s a relief that the officials have expected this oue and a team of awakeners is nearby waiting for the students to copse, in order to carry them out this ce.


    After clearing the fifth dungeon Fade''s team of 10 students copsed from exhaustion and got carried out by the awakeners hired by the officials. Although Fade was very unwilling to lose, in the end, he also copsed from exhaustion.


    Link''s team was also not faring too well and except him most of hisckeys also copsed. But since he is a C rank his resistance is obviously higher than others. So, he just continued until he got satisfied and Link was alreadyughing in happiness after finding out that he has already won the contest so easily.


    Not to mention tomorrow is the day when the contest will end and he will be able to create his dominance among all the students. He was already thinking about how to punish those who were daring enough to go against him and helped that trash Fade.


    But fate yed a joke on the poor viin, the very next day at right 8 am a huge spatial shockwave ran throughout the inds. A huge area of space in the right middle of the all inds started to rumble and produce spatial cracks.


    ''It''s finally starting.'' (Rio)


    All the space cracks started to merge and after merging they formed a small circr hole, which started to widen slowly and reached a diameter of 500m in just half an hour. Then the hole started to change its color, from pitch ck it turned into purple, with tremendous spatial fluctuations surrounding it the dungeon gate finally stabilized itself and started to collect mana from the surrounding madly. Seeing such a huge dungeon gate opened in the middle of the Rault inds, the face of the officials became extremely ugly. They immediately sealed the location and started to prepare a blockade formation.


    Everyone can understand from the amount of mana this dungeon is absorbing that it''s preparing to spew a huge number of monsters out of it. If the blockade was not prepared at a time then the monsters will kill the citizens living on the Rault inds indiscriminately.


    Even the fastest reinforcements will take about 4 hours toe to this ce because of the distance of the Rault inds from the nearby military camp. Although there are warships stationed here, they are too few in number to fight against the monsters spewed by such a huge dungeon.


    ''So, this is how a Rank S dungeon looks like'' (Rio)


    Rio was already in awe after seeing this dungeon gate, the number of space fluctuations it is producing is already enough to destroy any creature below B rank immediately. Even B rank individuals will not be able to resist the sheer might of this gate for more than half an hour.


    Only S rank or above creatures are qualified to enter it, without breaking a sweat. Others can only look from a distance. This is the might of an S-rank dungeon.


    ording to the history of this world, during the starting days when S rank was the mainstream and S rank people were extremely rare. These S rank dungeons were considered a huge disaster. Although these S rank dungeons would not release an S rank monster, the number of monsters released below S rank was already a huge headache. There''s some kind of restriction which prevent monsters of the same rank as the dungeon gate cannot use that dungeon gate. There are only two way for monsters of the dungeon world to enter our world, one is through a dungeon gate of higher rank than you and another one is by bing SS rank or above, thus acquiring the ability to open your own teleportation portal.


    A huge number of casualties have been done by these S rank dungeons over time, but with the emergence of SS rank awakeners, these danger gates have been reduced to factories that provide several crucial things like mana stones for daily consumption. The number of S rank gates determines the economical conditions of a Race nowadays.


    After observing the Dungeon gate for a while Rio''s face was covered with a look of excitement. Although, he knew that he is not protected by heavenly luck like other named characters. But it''s also true that:


    ''I will get to test my skills on several B rank monsters today, not to mention I can even increase mybat experience.''


    ''I am looking forward to it now!''

 Chapter 17 Retreat!

    After the dungeon gate opened Ms. Anna who is the only S rank present right now on the Rault ind obviously showed up in front of the dungeon gate. She was standing with a sour expression on her face. All the students also gathered to help the blockade.


    After an hour of long and nerve-wracking wait, the dungeon finally stopped absorbing mana. It starting to spin slowly and just like this, several low rank monsters started toe out of it.


    Starting from low rank to high rank, a huge army of monsters started toe out of the gate. The monster army consisted of several different species, basically every type of monster can be seen marching here, except for the really rare ones. There are several rare species among the monsters like phoenix, dragons which can''t be seen so easily.


    Not to mention legendary species like phoenix and dragons have intelligence from the very day they born. Due to which they never take part in fights where they have to act like cannon fodder for others. In this you can''t have dragons and phoenix as your pets, if you tried to enve a dragon the very next day a huge army of giant dragons will greet you on your doorsteps with a concentrated Dragon''s breath, right at your face.


    Although, species like dragon''s doesn''t have much of aradeship among them but they really get extremely angry after finding that a dragon has been enved. Due to which the aspiring youngsters who always wanted to be a dragon knight can only dream of riding dragons while still sitting on a pig''s back.


    With the entry of the monsters the fight started immediately both sides started to attack each other and the battlefield became extremely chaotic. Although, the monsters were being ughtered one sided, their high number started to show its advantage and the defenders started to be pushed back.


    Rio just fought nonchntly at the very end while shing his sword boringly. He was basically distancing himself from the center of the battlefield, its not that he is scared it''s just he doesn''t want to get entangled with more than he can''t chew. Unlike the other named ones which are basically fighting on the very front he knew he does not have a heavenly protection.


    ''Although, I can kill B rank monsters easily but, there''s several A rank monsters fighting with Ms. Anna there. Any one of their casual attack can instantly kill me.''


    The named characters like Fade are all protected by the heavenly luck so there won''t be a stray attacking their way. But same is not true for him because he is just an extra.


    ''I would use my energy more, when retreating.''


    After deciding his course of action Rio continued his stroll around the rear of the battlefield while shing a few monsters nonchntly. Then suddenly a huge explosion attracted his attention:


    ''I was wondering why Ms. Anna who is an S ranks needed to retreat from a mere A rank monsters in the novel, but it seems the reality is rather mind-blowing.''


    The S rank gate was still releasing monsters endlessly but the most problematic thing is that several A rank monsters areing out of the dungeon gate. Even if Ms. Anna is an S rank, she can''t really fight so many of A rank monsters alone, not to mention she is a mage not a warier type. Due to which she is in disadvantage in the current situation.


    Looking around, it can be seen that she is being attacked by atleast 40 A rank monsters together.


    ''That''s really a dangerous situation. Not to mention the Gate is still releasing more monsters out of it. She can''t handle it for long and will order retreat soon.''


    And as Rio had expected it even more A rank monsters started toe out of the dungeon gate as if they are forcefully being send here to fight. Maybe an S rank monster is forcing them toe here. If they can seed in taking over this ce and can maintain to stay here for a long time, they can upgrade the S rank dungeon gate and thus even more high rank monsters will be able toe out of it.


    ''ording to the novel they seeded in doing so and upgraded the gate before the reinforcements can reach this ce.''


    When Ms. Anna saw that even more A rank monsters areing out of the dungeon gate, she immediately ordered the officials to start evacuating the people of the ind nearby to ensure their safety.


    Slowly the defense line started to retreat more and more and monsters started to push forward more and more. The battle started be unfavorable for the ones defending as time passed. When Ms. Anna retreated the A rank monster who were fighting her directly targeted the people defending on the very front of the battlefield.


    A huge onught started several awakeners and some unlucky student got killed instantly by their attacks. Seeing that the battle was turning unfavorable, Ms. Anna ordered the students to retreat to the ship too. Yet some students which were caught in the monster tide were still not able to retreat on time and got overwhelmed.


    In the end no one waited for them and even Ms. Anna shook her head. It was clear that they have been sacrificed and no one will save them now. This is the very reason why Rio did not join the fight on the front. It is good to be on front if you know that you can push forward during the battle.


    But when ites to retreat the people on the very front are targeted first. There will be no way for you to go in that situation and will be like a rat trapped in a cage. Waiting to be killed by the monsters following you right behind your back, taking pleasure of your despair filled face.


    Just as Rio was going to retreat, he remembered something and looked around to find a certain person. And after looking carefully he found her retreating in a panic state.


    She was visibly exhausted and was struggling hard to even take steps. Yet seeing the monsters following behind she had a desperate expression on her face.


    ''I can''t die here; I will get out of it!''


    Lia was encouraging herself by saying this in her mind. But her tired body was not listening to her desperate will.


    ''I shouldn''t have rushed to the forefront topete with Kira, tsk, what do I do now!''


    Suddenly she saw a huge lion type monster rushing straight at her. It was definitely a B rank monster and in her exhausted state there was no way to defend herself. The monster did not care about her state at all and directly used it front paw to attack her face, but just as it was only a few inches away it stopped.


    As if time has stopped for the monster it stayed on its ce for a second then it copsed down with a bang. Its body was sliced neatly in several pieces as if an experienced Chef has sliced it very carefully. In an instant, a B rank monster was reduced to a neatly cut meat.


    Then she heard a calming voice to which she was extremely familiar:


    "Need some help? Tsundere-chan!" (Rio spoke with a grin on his face)


    Hearing him she suddenly felt an urge to punch this bastard on face. But due to extreme exhaustion she fainted. Just as she was about to fall, Rio caught her and carried her on his back. After taking Lia, Rio immediately left the battlefield and started to retreat towards the Ship, the Stormwalker.


    While on the way he started to think about the previous event.


    ording to the novel he read in his previous life, it was described that Lia was an extremely beautiful girl before her face was destroyed by a Lion type monster.


    Yeah, in theter parts of the novel Lia always covered her face under a mask, so as to hide her face. Because during the fight on the Rault ind she charged right at the front, so as topete with Kira, she made a bet with her that the one who will kill more monsters will win, her being a battle maniac type she directly used her strongest skill from the very start and lost her mana very quickly.


    Due to which, she was not able to retreat on time and got caught up with a lion type monster. That monster had very sharp nails. It directly attacked her face several times and ruined her beauty which she has been proud of since young age. Although, she was rescued by Ms. Annater because of Lia being the only daughter of an S rank. She enjoyed the privilege of being rescued thus saving her life.


    But it was already toote at that time. Her face has been ruined already. I Know what you are thinking, why did she not used healing potions, right? Actually, there''s a big w in the healing potions of this world. That is, only a wound within a particr time period can be healed by potions and healing skills.


    When Lia was rescued, she has been injured for around 2 days you know. Yeah, the monster did not kill her, instead it dragged her out of the battlefield and took her to a hidden location.


    Like I said every monster of B rank or above have a certain intelligence in this world. Obviously that lion was not and idiot, but it had been demonized thus it had the tendency to enjoy others misery. It liked to y with its prey. So, for two-day Lia got tortured by that monster. Every time that monster attacked her face. Due to pain she was not able use her healing potions which she was carrying in her space ring.


    This long torture cause Lia to develop a fear of monsters in her heart. She became extremely depressed type of person and her targeting Kira became even more extreme after that. Thus, making her a full-fledged viiness.


    In the end she tried to get on the good side of the boss monster of SSS rank dungeon by telling him the secret information about Fade''s party which will be going to fight him. But she miscalcted and got killed by the monster. Thus, concluding her sad story.


    ''But since I have saved her, she shouldn''t be going on that path now. It''s a relief I remembered before I gotte.'' (Rio)


    When Rio was going to retreat, he suddenly remembered the side story of Lia thus he decided to save her. Anyway, since he has a good rtion with her, it not that bad to save her from going on the way to her doom. It won''t do any loss to him anyway.


    Since he had the ability to save her, he just did it...


    After about an hour of running at full speed Rio was already in front of Stormwalker. He immediately boarded it, looking around there were already several students on the ship. Most of them have injuries and are being treated by the healers.


    Rio took Lia to an empty bed in the healer''s office andid her down, while waiting for the healer to check her health condition. In a while the healer came and checked her. The healer dered her okay, while only unconscious. She can be discharged.


    Hearing it Rio took her to his room, while a sense of relief was filling his heart. This fact brought great confusion to Rio, since he had never felt love due to being an orphan for two lives...


    ''Why am I getting so fired up? Could I really be falling....'' (Rio)

 Chapter 18 Lia’s POV

    The students stayed on the ship for a few hours while fighting with the monsters continuously. When the reinforcements came, they reced the students. The students are still children afterall and are not yet mature enough to fight a prolonged battle with the monsters. So, Ms. Anna ordered for the students to get on the ship.


    After the students who were still alive got on the ship, the Stormwalker left the Rault inds. The expression on everyone''s faces was extremely sad. About 50 students died during this monster raid, and every student is more or less injured. This matter is extremely serious. Not to mention the academy will have to bear the scolding of the families of the students that died on this trip.


    Academy will have to take responsibility now for this. Afterall this tour was the academy''s suggestion in the first ce. And as expected the news about this incident reached media in just a few hours. A hugemotion broke out on the social tforms discussing about this incident.


    Several enemies which has always been in unfavorable behavior with the academy instantly used this opportunity to criticize the academy. The inte got filled with questions about how the academy will take responsibility of such a huge incident.


    In the end, Academy had topromise and pay a huge amount ofpensation to the family members of the students who died during the battle. Although the questions raised on the media calmed down a bit by thispensation, but this incident led to a decline in the academy''s poprity, which will cause a huge problem for the academy in the following years.


    All this happened in just a few days of time period when the students were on their way back to the academy, through the ship. It was truly a shocking incident in the history of the academy. This was the first time when so many students under the guidance of the academy died together.


    Obviously, there has been incidents where students died but this time the number of casualties was just too high, leading to the current situation. Without a doubt this incident will leave its dark shadow in the history of the Academy. Always highlighting itself, when necessary.


    Ms. Anna also got an official notice from the academy. I don''t know it is but its true that this incident will cause her perfect profile to be ruined.


    ''In the novel she did not got suspended she still continued to be the one teaching the protagonist and his ss''


    Putting all this at back of his mind, Rio focused on the current situation of the students.


    ''After a few days of rest everyone has woke up already, why isn''t she waking up yet?'' (Rio)


    ............................


    .


    Lia''s POV: -


    When I was 5 years old my mother died in the hands of a monster, right in front of my eyes. Back then my dad saved me at that time and I slowly recovered from my depression, with his help. But something inside me changed due to that incident.


    I started to feel extremely jealous of others, whenever I saw them being happy with their families, I got jealous. My best friend Kira was so happy with her family. I was so jealous of her in my heart, that I was not able to control myself from spouting curses on her every time I saw her. I didn''t get to know when my friendship with her turned into hate. Eventually I started to see her as my nemesis, my mortal enemy.


    I was rather panic, when I realized these changes within me. I was getting more and more of a bully by each passing day. I asked my father for help in hope, that he will definitely help like he always did. But what crushed my hopes was that my father became a workaholic after my mom''s death. He started to raid more and more dungeons. Eventually he even stoppeding home for several months. I got distanced from him too. Now I was really alone.


    It was really very lonely time of my childhood. But then I found a way to relieve my loneliness, I started to practice swordsmanship. I focused my whole focus on my sword training, I got really good in it with each passing day. It also helped me to stop my symptoms of depression.


    Eventually I started to enjoy swordsmanship so much, that I started to train day and night. Weeks and months passed by, people started to call me a battle maniac or with other ridiculous names, but I didn''t mind it and just focused my whole being to the sword.


    My hardship showed sess and I got the invitation for the great Freya Academy. I was really happy that time, who wouldn''t want to go to the biggest and greatest academy. It was like a dream hase true. I was already imagining my happy academy life. I was thinking that I will make several friends.


    Aftering to the academy, reality burst my bubble of dreams like giving p to my face. The atmosphere in the academy was no better then the outside. All the students were busy scheming something on others. Trying to take advantage of other by different methods. Not to mention Link the son a SS rank awakener was always trying to make his domination all over ss. The bullying and scheming caused me to feel disgust towards these people.


    Due to my gloomy nature I didn''t approached anyone but those who approached me ran away a few secondster with fearful expressions on their face. I was very depressed seeing others running away from me. Me being a battle maniac or a battle crazy woman, such type of rumors started to spread among the students.


    Maybe it was because whenever someone approached me, I always invited them for a battle first. This is the only way for me to get to know others more easily afterall. I have never learned about those scheming talks those other children have learned. ording to me only when in a fight do your real personality will shows up.


    But this way of mine caused a misunderstanding, but correcting it would have been a huge hassle. So, I just ignored it and minded only my own business.


    Things got really irritating when I saw that Kira always surrounded by several friends. Not to mention several boys are trying to please her with several ways. She has a huge friend group. She seemed so happy.


    Seeing her like this I got really angry and started to harass her even more. This cause even more rumors about it. The rumors started get very annoying when that Kira started walk around everywhere with that trash Fade. They were like a couple walking all around. She seemed talking to Fade with such a shy expression on her face, that expression make me really annoyed. I was already at my limit.


    Day by Day I was feeling my heart darkening a bit. The emotions which I had buried in my heart by concentrating on my swordsmanship were starting to show up again. If it had continued just like that, I would not have been able to hold for long. But a ray of hope shined on me. During the mid-term exams I met a rather interesting fellow.


    When I thought that I was going to end up injured by that boss monster he saved me at the crucial moment. I knew it was maybe just a mere coincidence him saving me. But I felt a sudden warmth in a while remembering that moment.


    It was my first encounter with that strange fellow. He had pitch ck hair and eyes. Such a colour of hair and eyes has be really rare after the dungeon gates opened in this world so many years ago.


    It was said that a mutation cause human to develop supernatural powers and in the process the humans lost their original colour of hair and eyes. That pitch ck colour, which was rathermon, became extremely rare, even close to not being present at all.


    I got interested in that fellow, so I did a background check on him through my father''s guild information sources. What I found was rather sad. This young boy was and orphan and the victim of the drift city massacre. Seeing this I developed some sympathy for him and since he has saved me, I chose to visit him.


    When I asked him, if you want something in exchange of saving my life, he just replied that he wants money. I was really dumbfounded by his answer.


    Afterall everyone knows in the academy that I am a S rank awakener''s daughter, who have a high rank guild under him. So, if he asked for skill books or something, I will be able to provide it to him. These skill books can''t be bought with money they can only be bought if you have connections.


    But since it was his choice, I didn''t mind it much and just transferred it to him. Obviously, I transferred a huge amount worthy of saving my life. After that I started to observe him, he was really just a decent student, there was basically nothing much special about him, the only thing worth noticing was that he had great speed. Yeah, his sword attack speed really fast.


    I don''t know why is that but its just abnormally fast. One more thing is that, this guy is even more of a battle maniac then I am. Basically every time I saw this guy out of his private training room was either to attend ss or to use gravitation room for training. Even I was dumbfounded by how much he trained. I started to doubt if he was neglecting his studies, but his marks in written exam denied that possibility too.


    He had better marks in written exams than me. Then on one fateful day when the tour was decided I got the seat right next to him. But due to me suppressing my emotions I ended up talking about irrelevant things too much. Remembering that makes me embarrassed even now.


    I was really flustered when I found myself in his room but then he said he was fooling around. I don''t know but I felt a little sad in my heart. Maybe I was really hoping for something? No! that''s not it! I was just¡­. just¡­.


    Anyway, what I was saying is meeting him really changed my course of life. Same goes for today:


    "Hmm¡­." (Lia)


    "Oh! You finally woke up! You got me worried you know!" (Rio)


    "¡­.where..?" (Lia)


    "Obviously, you are in my room again! You fainted when running from a monster! I saved you!" (Rio)


    "Oh,¡­..th-thanks¡­" (Lia)


    "..." (Rio)


    "What? Why are you silent?" (Lia)


    "Nothing. Take this food, you will get energy by eating it. I will go out now" (Rio)


    Saying this he immediately left the room as if he was running away. Seeing this Lia got really confused but she stopped paying it any mind and started to eat.


    A beautiful smile appeared on her face, unknown to herself:


    "Even though he doesn''t show any expression on his face. He is kind" (Lia)


    Outside, On the back of the ship-


    Rio came running straight. He hurriedly calmed himself and sorted out everything in his mind.


    ''What the heck was that!?''


    ''As I have read the novel, I know Lia''s character, she never said a word of thanks to anyone. Yet! She Just now thanked me!? That''s very strange from any way you look at it!¡­.''


    After a few minutes, Rio managed to calm himself down:


    ''What''s going on here? Maybe I have triggered some unknown plot without even knowing, well whatever... I will observe first then decide what to do next...''


    "Looks like this world has be even more interesting now"


    Just as Rio was lost in his fantasies, the ship suddenly shook violently and a very familiar presence revealed itself.


    "This damn Octopus is here again!"

 Chapter 19 Named Monster: - ’Karpil’

    ''That damn octopus is here again!''


    Rio looked back and the monster standing right in front of the ship, as if stopping their way forward. Seeing this octopus everyone''s mood became gloomy again. Not to mention that they have just suffered heavy casualties a few days ago. A fight with a S rank monster can be more dangerous at a time like this.


    Just like thest time it is here with his huge army the only change is that now there''s no monster above C rank in its army. Obviously, its because they got killed in thest fight. Unlike low-rank monsters, high-rank monsters are rare, they can''t be found so easily.


    But still, other than Ms. Anna, no one on the ship can fight that octopus.


    Just when Rio was thinking all this, suddenly he felt pain in his head the pain was like an instant killing attack, it directly attacked his consciousness. Rio instantly fainted from the pain and copsed directly on the ship floor.


    Unknown to others, a creepy smile appeared on the octopus, as if it has aplished its greatest goal. It started to wave its tentacles in victory. Seeing the octopus so happy, Ms. Anna sneered in her heart.


    ''The heck is this monster so happy about, do it think that it can win easily just because I am injured?'' (Anna)


    In thest fight against those A rank monsters Ms. Anna got injured and hasn''t recovered fully yet. But she can see that this monster also hasn''t recovered from itsst wounds. Yet, this guy is celebrating as if it''s already victorious. Thinking about this Ms. Anna''s face instantly became cold, the anger of losing her perfect record red up now, her eyes became bloodied and a crazy smile appeared on her face:


    "It''s been so long, since someone dare to look down on me! Today either you will leave alive or me! I will chase you to the depths of the hell today! A mere monster dare looks down on this honorable Mage! If my colleagues knew of this! where will my face as a Fire wizard go!" (Anna)


    She immediately released her immense aura towards the monster. Yet, the monster just ignored her and started to leave, instead of fighting. Seeing the monster leaving the expression on Anna''s face became even more crazy. She immediately casted a fly spell on herself and a shield spell on the ship, then she immediately flew towards the monster''s direction.


    Just as the octopus thought it has left the range of the mage''s attack, it was immediately greeted by a fire arrow bombardment of a terrifying scale. It was as if the whole sky has been covered by the fire. This is the true might of a S rank Mage.


    There has been a saying in this world: - "Never insult a mage and a knights honor, even if they are weak".


    This saying came to be in existence due to a low-rank mage who was once despised due to his talent being low by a martial artist. The mage became crazy after being insulted, he started absorbing mana like crazy and used even his life essence to cast a S rank spell even though when he was Only at B rank. This spell destroyed the whole city at that time. Even the martial artist''s with strong bodies got reduced to ashes.


    The same goes for a knight, once a knight''s honor is insulted, he will definitely take revenge on you even if costs his own life for this. Due to these crazy events there has been a tacit understanding between people. Due to which Mages and Knights are always honored everywhere they goes. Overtime, this prestige became unique to them.


    The octopus became wounded by that sudden attack, it got enraged by this sneak attack and stopped fleeing. It used its huge tentacles, strengthened them with mana andunched towards the mage. Yet, it yielded no result.


    Anna just flicked her wand and a huge hand made of pure blue mes appeared out of nowhere, the hand directly caught the tentacles and burned them to ashes. Although the octopus''s monster can regenerate its tentacles but it takes time and energy. If all of its tentacles got destroyed, it will be killed very easily.


    The monster applied water affinity to its tentacles this time, giving itself a cover of mes thus protecting itself from the burn of Anna''s Fire. The both of them fought just like this and their fight continued with oneunching powerful spell as easily as breathing and the other trying to defend itself by covering its body with water.


    The monster and Anna both were in a stalemate now, Anna knew that if this continued, she will run out of her mana eventually and the monster also knew that it can''t protect itself for long by using water. The was being turned into steam by Anna''s fire magic which was hurting the monster itself. Although, it was a little slow but it was hurting it and the octopus knew it won''t be long when it loses its defense.


    The stalemate continued for a while and the unavoidable happened, the monster not being a mage exhausted its mana source which was small inparison to Anna who is an official mage. Obviously, Anna have also use about half of her mana just in exhausting this octopus. It still has its huge body, which can endure several spells.


    The monster became desperate now and started to wave its tentacles wildly towards her. The biggest disadvantage of a monster now showed itself. Generally, monsters have skills when they evolve but since almost every monster only depends on their body for everything, they never really train their skills. Only a few monsters like Dragons or phoenix''s do train their skills. Other monster just fights with their body.


    This causes them to lose advantage of their huge body when they run out of mana. Without mana they cannot strengthen their body anymore, thus making them venerable to the skills of their enemies.


    In desperation the monster used its own body to tank Anna''s spells and started to get wounded and exhausted but Anna was not doing much well too. If this remained same, both the octopus and Anna will die together here in the battle today.


    Even though they knew this, they still continued to fight for each other''s life because there''s no going back now this is already a life or death battle no one of them will step back now. Only death can stop this battle now.


    Suddenly the stalemate broke, the octopus which was still fighting until now suddenly went limp. Its tentacles dropped in the water lifeless. Its body became pale. Its gigantic body started to sink in water lifelessly and any sign of life was already absent in its body.


    Seeing the monster die so suddenly Ms. Anna became confused but she was already too exhausted to care so much she directly left the scene and came to the ship. After shended on the ship, she directly copsed on the deck. In the end the students carried her back to the healer''s office.


    Everyone thought that Ms. Anna was the one who killed the octopus''s monster in the end. The ship continued its way towards the academy and everything returned to peace. Except for one person.


    .


    .


    A few hours ago: -


    Just when Rio copsed, Lia walked out of the room. She has already recovered from her state of exhaustion and when she wanted to take stroll in the fresh air, she found that the ship was under attack. But due to her still not being fully recovered she was not able to take part in the battle.


    But then she suddenly noticed that Rio can''t be seen fighting among the students. She knew that Rio has always fought together other students in every battle, so its impossible for him to hide somewhere from the battle.


    She got worried in her heart and started to look for him and eventually she found him. He was copsed on the backside of the ship. No one was around here due to which he was not yet taken to the healer''s office. She checked his heartbeat and he seemed fine to her.


    She thought that he has copsed from exhaustion just like her. So, she took him to the healer''s office. The healer said that he is just unconscious and will wake up when he has recovered. So, she just started to take care of him in the meantime.


    .


    .


    Rio''s Pov-


    When I lost consciousness, I suddenly felt someone calling me, I looked towards the voice and a familiar gigantic octopus appeared in my vision. It was looking down on me as it has always been doing, just like that strange dream:


    "IT''S BEEN SO LONG!!! LAST TIME YOU GOT AWAY DUE TO THAT MAGE''S INTERFERENCE!!! BUT NOW I WON''T LET YOU GO AWAY!!! TODAY YOU WILL DIE!!!"


    "Who are you? What do you want from me?" (Rio)


    "A RAT LIKE YOU!!! YOU DON''T NEED TO KNOW!!! ABOUT THE GREAT FRAGMENTS!!!"


    "What fragment?" (Rio)


    "YOU JUST DIE!!!"


    Suddenly, an immense pain assaulted Rio, he felt as if his soul and will are being attacked. He had a feeling that he will die today if he did nothing now. If his soul and will copsed, his body will just be a living corpse, which will just continue to breath and exist without any will of its own like a rock on the side of a road.


    [Ding! Your soul and will is being attacked by a name monster ''Karpil''!]


    [Warning! defend your will and soul or you will be dead!]


    Seeing this message, he became desperate now, all the memories of this world started to sh in his mind.


    ''tsk, didn''t expect to encounter a named monster''


    ''A named monster'', as it is suggesting, when a monster gains its own true name it bes a named monster. ''Karpil'' is just a single letter of that octopus monster''s name. Generally, when a monster awakens its true name it is 20 letters long, and in species like dragons and phoenix this name can even be as long as 50 words! Yeah! They have such long names, so they use a letter from their name to use as the representing letter of their name.


    A true name gives the power to understand thews of world to the monster. Monsters who have aplished their true name are extremely rare and they are just like the child of heavens and are protected by the heavens.


    You are thinking, why would heavens will protect a monster? Its rather simple humans are not the only species in this world and all the living creatures are creation of the heavenly will. Every race is equal in its eyes. So, they enjoy their own benefits. Same goes for monsters. They can achieve the power to understand thew of world by awakening their true name, but this is extremely rare.


    And very few name monsters can live to their prime because they are targeted by several forces all over the world. The power to understand thews gives you great help in understanding unusual type skills, which can be used during the battles on your opponents. Obviously, they have several restrictions on these skills. They generally have a long cooldown time too.


    Just as Rio was getting desperate due to the pain, suddenly the pain disappeared as if blocked by an imprable wall. All the energy of the attack was absorbed by this wall. It defended his soul and will perfectly:


    [An unusual skill has been used on you!]


    [True immunity has been activated!]


    [The attack has been blocked!]


    [The energy of the attack is being absorbed¡­..Complete!]


    [Counter-attacking with the absorbed energy of the unusual skill!]


    [Counter-attack sessful!]


    [The opponent''s soul and will has been destroyed due to the counter-attack!]


    Just as Rio thought that messages will now stop, he was surprised again by a mysterious notification:


    [You have killed the holder of the ''unknown fragment'' Karpil, the fragment is being transferred to you now, as a reward!]


    ''What?''

 Chapter 20 Stealing Sessions: Continued!

    After a few hours Rio woke up from hisa, it was already early morning when he woke up. The first thing he noticed upon waking was that, Lia was sleeping on the sofa nearby his bed. He got up from his bed and covered her with a nket. Then he walked out of the room. The sky was still dark and the red sun can be seen rising at the horizon.


    As always, the air of this world is extremely pure and clean bringing a freshness unique to this world. He made himself tea and continued to enjoy this small moment of peace.


    ''The ship should be returning to the shore soon, it''s already time a new event will take ce. I should also get ready.''


    In order for me to maintain my head-start over Fade I will need to get more of his chances which will not alter the main story too much. Thinking this far it has been a while since I resumed the stealing sessions. Well it will have to wait a bit, until I reach the shore again.


    Stormwalker continued to move forward with its usual might and after a few hours the shore was already visible to all. Students got really excited seeing thend again. They have been on their guard throughout this whole journey in fear of any more attacks and thus all of them were exhausted. Some of them has already copsed due to releasing all the pent-up stress and rxing their nerves after seeing the shore.


    The ship stopped on the same port and the students got down from the ship with their luggage and finally a rxed sigh escaped from their mouth.


    Rio looked back at the Stormwalker and remembered the long adventure he has been facing on this ship. Aplicated feeling rose from his heart. If that day he had not acquired true immunity then he would have already been killed by that giant octopus bing a living corpse with no soul and will.


    ''In the end, I was able to make it back alive.''


    The students boarded the bus and rode back to the academy. In the evening Rio was already in front of his dorm room. Ms. Anna has dered that they will be given a holiday of a week and will have to return to their sses at the start of the next week. Everyone was happy from this news, finally they will be able to rx for a while.


    Rio opened the door and walked inside after taking a bath heid down on his bed and started to sort out all the things that happened during this trip.


    ''That octopus was an anomaly to all the things; I knew about the novel. Or it is possible that it was created because the anomaly is me myself.''


    Anyway, it doesn''t really matter what is the reason but one thing is for sure that I should always take in consideration that always everything will not go ording to what I know, there can be some oddities every once in a while. Afterall this is a real world not a novel where only things happen during a set plot. Here things happen everywhere without the knowledge the people.


    ''It''s around time I go to steal some of Fade''s chances again, its been a while since I did so.''


    After confirming his thoughts and deciding his next n of actions, Rio fell asleep. At morning he did his daily exercise routine and then left the academy by a bus. No one''s going to say anything to him or ask him why he is leaving, because the students are free to do anything when it''s a holiday.


    This time it took him a long time to reach his destination and it was already evening when got to the location. So, he just booked a room to stay for the night and then slept there. Next day he left his room and walked towards the most famouske of this city. The Lake of Sean, it is the most beautiful and biggestke in this city.


    Due to its natural beauty thiske is extremely beautiful and have clear water in it. Thiske is a tourist spot for several people and it is always crowded due to its poprity among the people for fulfilling wishes. Yeah, its just a legend but people believe that if you wish something when standing in front of thiske it wille true.


    This legend drives people toe here and try their luck but obviously this is just a legend if it was true then the protagonist did not need to go through so many life and death situations, he would have directly gotten what he wanted just by wishing for it. Even heaven defying luck can''t fulfill such conditions, not to mention ake with no concept of luck bound to it. But since people believes it, then no one really goes against it to stop it.


    Talking of belief and all, there was a concept of belief in humans too at the starting of the time when dungeon gates first appeared in this world. It is said that some people had awakened some skill that were capable of collecting the power of belief at that time, but in the end those people all disappeared and now there''s no concept of the belief or simply saying there''s no concept of divine power, only mana is dominating this world. No one knows why that is.


    ''Let''s get to the thing I came here for, now.''


    After reaching theke, Rio crossed the bridge which is right on the middle of the Lake. After crossing the bridge, Rio walked straight in the forest and never looked back. After he walked for a few minutes, he was in front of an empty space in the middle of the trees. It was as if the trees are not growing at this ce due to some unknown reason.


    Rio walked to the middle of the ce and sat down therepletely rxing his body as if he did not care about anything in the world. No danger means anything to him. Basically, he pretended that he had rxed his vigncepletely.


    And as he had already expected, after about half an hour all of his surrounding started to be covered in fog. The fog continued to increase and finally stopped increasing when his was restricted to only 1m. Rio then got up and walked towards the direction where the sun was before the thickened. After walking for about 2 hours non-stop, he found that he was still standing on the same spot.


    ''So, this is the endless path of perseverance! Really something interesting.''


    In the novel Fade came to the Lake of Sean with Kira on a date. They wanted a quiet ce to spend time for a while since it was really crowdy around theke. So, they looked around for a ce in the forest. At that time, they found this ce by luck. I mean they found this ce by the help of the heavenly luck. They camped here and just when they were about to leave, they noticed that the whole area around them is covered in thick fog.


    Not to mention the fog was still increasing, they tried to walk towards the direction of the way from where they came, but every time both of them found themselves standing on the same stop after a few minutes of walking. Then Kira proposed walking towards the sun''s direction because she knew that there was an office of here father''s guild in that direction so she noticed it at that time.


    And by sheer luck they got the treasure walking in that direction continuously.


    Rio also did the same he continued to walk in that direction, even though he found himself standing on the same spot every time, he still walked because he knew this is just a test to get that treasure. After who knows how long he finally noticed some difference in the area around him. He immediately fastened his pace and continued to walk forward with all his might.


    "WHO ARE YOU HUMAN, YOU HAVE SOME GREAT PERSEVERANCE, I AM IMPRESSED FROM YOUR BOLDNESS!"


    A giant snake appeared in Rio''s vision, all the fog around him faded away as if it did not exist in the first ce. When he carefully saw the body of this snake, Rio was extremely shocked. Although he knew that there would be such a scene from the description of the novel but he was still extremely shocked.


    The size of this snake was so huge that Rio wasn''t able to see the end of the snake''s tale with his eyes at all. The diameter of the snake''s eyes was already twice the size of Rio''s body. From this you can imagine the might of this giant snake. Even the octopus from before looks like a small baby in front of this snake. The snake''s body is ck in colour and its pupil are red in colour.


    Rio could feel an unfathomable deep pressure being released from this snake''s body unconsciously, just by its mere presence.


    ''So, this is how powerful the presence of a SS rank monster looks like, Wonderful''


    "My Name is Rio sh"


    "WHY HAS YOU COME HERE TO DISTURB ME?"


    "I have lost my way and was looking for a way out of the fog, I didn''t know that, your excellency was resting here, please forgive me." (Rio)


    "HMM, YOU HAVE A GREAT CONFIDENCE TO STILL BE TALKING SO CALMLY WITH ME, YOU ARE A STRANGE KID."


    "I am just talking the truth, your excellency. I will really be grateful if you can tell me the right way, your excellency ''Marik'', The great Illusionary holy beast." (Rio)


    "OH! I AM SURPRISED THAT YOU KNOW ME! I WILL TELL YOU THE RIGHT WAY IF YOU ANSWER HOW YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?" (Marik)


    "Of course, how can I not about the legend of you trapping the army of the fourth demon general with your illusionary magic in an infinite time illusion. It is all written in the history books of the humans. I just appreciate reading history books, so I know of it." (Rio)


    "YEAH! COME TO THINK OF IT, YOU HUMANS DO RECORD THESE THINGS IN YOUR TEXTS. HMM, YOU HAVE IMPRESSED ME, AS PROMISED LET ME SHOW YOU THE WAY TOWARDS YOUR DESTINATION." (Marik)


    Marik opened a portal out of thin air and signaled Rio to enter it. Rio entered the portal without hesitation.


    After Rio walked out of the portal at the other end, he waited for the portal to close. When the portal closed, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief. Looking at himself, he found that he was already covered in sweat, it was really taxing to stand in front of that monster for so long. Although it only has been few minutes but these few minutes were already like eternity when standing in the presence of that snake.


    One wrong word and Rio''s life would have been ended by that snake in a matter of a mere seconds. But in the end, he survived that ordeal and sessfully reached the ce he wanted to.


    Right in front of him was and old looking tomb. Seeing this ce, a smile appeared on his face and he started to walk inside the tomb.


    ''Now only half of the journey is left''

 Chapter 21 The Wish For Strength!

    Marik''s Pov:


    When I was sleeping today, I felt that someone has entered my illusionary field around me. First, I thought it might be some blockhead who got trapped here and will die like several others in this mist illusion after a while. Because if you don''t have an extreme determination and a very strong will you will never be able to get out of this ce, and will die of exhaustion on the infinite loop illusion due to mental breakdown.


    Thousands of people has died like this and extremely few were able to achieve it. Yet those who achieved died because of standing in my presence alone, because they lost their determination and will just by looking at me.


    It was the first time someone had make it out alive through my infinite loop illusion. That kid had an extraordinary determination as if he knew that he can get out of the illusion easily and there was nothing to worry. He kept walking without any sign of exhaustion and fear of unknown, as if he knew that there was nothing to be afraid of.


    Although the time inside my illusion moves faster whenpared to outer world. But the illusion still gives a real sense of time passing. It was already 15 days in my illusion when that boy made his way. He had been walking with his strong will for 15 days straight and never showing a sign of wavering on his path.


    This really impressed me. It has been so many decades since I wasst impressed like this. So, for thest test which was of standing in my presence, I tried to increase the pressure on his will, yet he still remained as unwavering as ever, while facing me and talking calmly.


    After bing an SS rank you can see through several truth and lies just by your intuition alone, yet due to some unknown reason my intuition was not working at him, I was not able to determine if he was saying truth or was lying when he said that he read about me in human records. So, I was even more surprised. This kid really has something special, but I can''t pin-point what it is.


    So, as to fulfill my promise I opened a gate to his destination, due to my illusion powers the person who go through my gate will find themselves at the ce they wanted to go, It can be anywhere in this world. I wonder where that boy has gone, even I don''t know about the destinations on the other side afterall. I just hope that boy knew where he wanted to go and will make it back alive.


    ''That kid was really a strange one''


    Marik thought in his mind while sighing after remembering that strange encounter with the human kid. After a while the huge snake put down his head and closed its eyes to sleep again for a few decades waiting for the next person to visit him. Looking forward to more such interesting encounters.


    Rio''s Pov:


    After walking towards the tomb, he was already in front of a huge gate. This gate was very big and seemingly made of iron it was showing signs of being rusted over a very long time. He started to remember everything from the novel about this ce.


    ording to the novel Fade and Kira met Marik on their 6th day of walking through that infinite loop illusion and finally made their way towards the giant snake. Well you might wonder why it took so long for me to reach Marik when Fade and Kira was able to do the same in just 6 days, were they even more strong in their will than me? Nope, it''s just that they are both protected by heavenly will and these illusions can''t trap the heaven''s children for long.


    Due to which they were able to reach Marik so easily and so early even Marik himself was dumbfounded by this and was angered because it was the first time that his great illusion was not able to keep someone suffer the loop illusion. His pride as a great illusion master was hurt because of it. But then Kira mediated and was able to recognize the name of Marik.


    She is not the main heroine for just being a mere harem member of Fade, she has a strong backing and she had been in presence of history books since childhood because of her father providing her with the best of his abilities. She has been always interested in history and was instantly able to recognize Marik because of her reading about this giant snake in the history books.


    Kira Purposely praised Marik''s past achievements of trapping the demon army in an eternal illusion due to which, Marik forgave them both and opened a gate for them to reach their destination. Although, Marik seems as a humble snake with a good personality but he takes extreme pride on his strength and achievements and will be pleased easily by praising him.


    So, he was impressed from that little praise by Kira and let them both go, just because of this. Unlike me who was being tested by Marik to figure out if I was saying truth or was lying. It''s a relief that my True immunity can block such unusual things used on me like the intuition to test me.


    If not for this skill I really would have never been able to survive this illusion test. Afterall the heavenly luck will not help me to reach the end and Marik could have seen through my lies if not for this skill. It really was a close call this time, I could have been dead due to a single mistake this time.


    But in the end, all of it was resolved without much of a problem urring in my way. This also proves that the heavenly will is not really an absolute thing, it can be altered to some extent and your fate can be changed by sheer hard-work.


    ''Now that I think about it Fade and Kira really find this ce by mere coincidence or can be said luck''


    When Fade and Kira walked in the portal their destination was to get out of this forest and reach academy, but how could the heavenly will let them go without giving any reward for passing this ce.


    Suddenly, strange fluctuations happened in the portal and they were led to this tomb to collect the rewards for themselves. Really a great coincidence isn''t it?


    Rio sighed in his mind and looked at the huge words written above the iron gate. These words were written in some ancientnguage which he didn''t knew but since he had read the novel, he knew that it meant "The Tomb of Wishes".


    Kira was able to figure this out because knew of these ancientnguages and stuffs. Her talent in history is even greater than her talent in being an excellent mage. She really is a walking book of history with so much knowledge.


    ''Tsk, that Fade really got a gem by his side. Well nothing can be done about that''


    It''s not like, I want to get involved with that girl. She is also a disaster ma and will get in several disasters and Fade will save her life every time she gets stuck in these disasters. I don''t have that much energy to spend on saving someone, not to mention, I am extremely selfish to the core. For the only purpose of getting these ancient texts tranted, I can''t waste so much time building a rtion with her.


    ''Let''s leave these things forter and do what I came here for''


    After sorting out everything, Rio walked towards the gate and gave it a light push. The gate opened without much effort. There was a long corridor behind the gate. As Rio entered the corridor the huge gate closed behind him by itself, but Rio was not surprised by this, because he knew this is just a mere mechanism of that gate.


    After walking continuously in that long corridor, Rio finally reached its end. There was a huge hall at the end, and a beautifulke was present at the middle of this hall. Looking at the Right side of the Lake a Grave was present there. Rio walked towards the grave and observed it for a while. A thought came to his mind:


    ''So, this is the grave of the greatest Magician Ivan of all time. Such Irony''


    It was said that Ivan was the greatest magician recorded in history and was capable of destroying continents with a mere spell. He was one of the few people who had reached the peak of SS grade and were already qualified to breakthrough the limit and reach a new realm.


    Yet the great bottleneck hindered his way to ascension and he failed to ascend, which lead him to his death like every other person''s who tried the same before him. In the end he used hisst magic to create a separate dimension for his grave. This dimension was extremely well hidden and only by passing the test of Marik can be entered.


    Ivan and Marik has been friends from a very long time and were like real brothers to each other. Marik has been protecting his brothers grave since decades. He really deserves the title of the great holy beast for his unwavering loyalty to his long dead friend.


    Thiske is the trueke of Wishes, it was condensed by the magic power and essences that escaped Ivan after his death and is capable of fulfilling 5 wishes at most. All this was written on the huge stone ced near Ivan''s grave in the ancientnguage. Of course, Rio can''t read it but he just knew about it because Kira tranted it for Fade in the novel.


    Theke in the outside world is just a fake one, thiske right here is the trueke of wishes. It can fulfill your wishes in ordance to the worldws. Although, it has several restrictions on it, but thiske is a real treasure.


    ''But the problem is that one person can only get one wish and that wish can''t be too ridiculous like asking for immortality or something, it can only be under the scope of SS rank''


    Right now, thiske hasn''t been used by anyone yet and still have all its 5 wishes intact. So, there won''t be a problem even if I make a wish here. Afterall I can''t do any harm to this ce. This ce is made up of the essence of an SS rank individual. It can only be destroyed by someone who himself is an SS rank, only if he was able to pass through Marik first.


    When Fade and Kira used thiske, they both asked for advancement in their knowledge or strength as a mage. Fade got what he wanted because heavenly luck helped him and his fire magic was evolved into the High rank one. Giving a huge boost to his strength. After which he was capable of defeating a D rank while still being an E rank himself.


    Kira got the advancement in her knowledge about history and other magical phenomenon''s from the memory of the great mage Ivan. Leading her to be even better in her understanding of different magical phenomenon''s.


    ''I wonder what will be the reward for me. Afterall you can only choose knowledge or strength and the rest will depend on theke; reward will be random and can be anything.''


    Rio walked toward theke and concentrated his mind to wish for strength, since he already has the knowledge of future from the novel, he doesn''t need that for now and strength is more important for him at this time. If he didn''t increase his strength as soon as possible Fade will catch up to him very quickly.


    ''I wish for strength!''


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:- This is a poll, what do you want Rio to get.


    1. A Sword- [Leads to the end of this adventure. Will focus on the academy more.]


    2. A Skill- [Will lead to a new journey after the next events.]


    3. Increase in Swordsmanship- [will lead to the way of interacting the other characters.]


    Tell me in thements about your opinion. Story will be based on your opinion, be careful to choose what you like about the story. Thank you for your support.

 Chapter 22 Skill Information’s And A Mystery!

    [Ding! Your wish has been granted]


    [A Random reward is being generated¡­]


    [Error¡­.]


    [Re-generating¡­]


    [Ding! An appropriate skill has been selected!]


    [You have acquired Skill: Concentration(?)]


    [Would you like to see your skill details?]


    [Yes/No]


    "oh! I didn''t know that there was a detail function in the window too. That''s unexpected"


    ording to the novel Fade''s system was capable of giving him several information''s due to appraisal he had, but it seems that this window which everyone in this world have, is also capable of giving information but only about your own acquired skills.


    "It''s good too. But let''s get out of this ce first, I will check detailster at the dormitory"


    Just as the wish waspleted a portal opened in the hall, obviously this portal was urging Rio to get out of this ce already. Seeing this Rio fell in thought:


    "The essence of an SS rank is really strong, even though he is dead, his essence is still capable of ensuring that only one wish is made by one person."


    In the end Rio walked fast and entered the portal without any hesitation. He doesn''t want to be like Fade who was forcefully thrown out and fell on his face, humiliated by a mere essence of a dead person.


    "Remembering that, a smile appears on my face every time¡­that was an interesting thing that happened with Fade."


    Yeah, even after he got his first wish fulfilled, Fade was thinking of getting more, due to the system he had, he was thinking of resisting that old essence or maybe absorbing for his own use. Afterall his system points are earned from the essence of dead creatures, if he could have absorbed this huge essence of a former SS rank, he could have gotten so many points, enough to promote him to B rank directly.


    It could have given him a great boost and could have made him be strong enough to get rid of all those who humiliated him. This desire for revenge made him think about it, so he decided to try this, Fade convinced Kira to walk out first and wait for him outside.


    After Kira walked out of this ce, Fade started his work and ordered system to absorb this essence, obviously the system is not an idiot like him, it first tried to absorb a small amount so as to be cautious, but the essence already found out that someone was trying to harm it.


    The essence of a SS rank in no joke, not to mention Fade was still a low rank at that time, the essence directly opened a portal under Fade''s legs and threw him out. Fade directlynded on the ground with his face towards the ground. Being humiliated, he got angry and sweared to destroy this ce and all those shits a normal protagonist does, cursing the essence and saying that he will absorb it one day.


    After cursing Fade walked away with Kira towards the dormitory. But he didn''t know that he has already angered Marik by trying to harm his friend''s essence. Although Marik could note out personally to punish Fade, due to him being bound by the treaty between the SS ranks to not enter other race''s territories without permission.


    Marik always sent his snake subordinates to punish Fade from time to time. Making a huge trouble for Fade until the day, Fade killed Marik and destroyed the Lake of wishes, absorbing all the essence in it. This is the result you get by offending a son of heavens.


    "Those snake subordinates were a real headache for Fade though¡­. Not to mention some of them even targeted Fade''s harem¡­. The biggest sin a viin can do against a protagonist!"


    While thinking all this Rio got out of the portal and now, he was standing on the same spot where it all started, yeah, the ce where he came to look for the illusion field, inside the forest near the beautifulke.


    Rio didn''t wait and ran as fast as he can, out of the forest. He knew that traps haven''t finished yet, if he waited too long, Marik will capture him in his illusion again and this time he will not be so friendly like thest time. There''s a high possibility that Marik will misunderstand him waiting here, he may think that Rio want to get to that ce once again.


    "Let''s not take unnecessary risks, and get out of this god-forsaken ce. It''s notfortable to be in someone''s illusion for too long"


    Illusion based fighters are always hated in the battlefield, not to mention they can trap people in their illusions, long term stays in an illusion can even cause your brain to be affected badly by their constant control over your thinking process. Due to these reasons an illusionist is greeted by attacks from all the sides making it very dangerous for them to be on battlefield without any guards around them.


    When Rio walked out of the forest it was already evening and was gettingte. So Rio returned to his dormitory room directly and after a good bath heid down on his bed to see all the information and check out his gains now.


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: C] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 2000/2000] [MP: 1400/1400]


    [STR: 50/100] [SPE: 50/100] [AGI: 50/ 100] [DEF: 50/100] [INT: 50/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship(C), Elemental Sword Art(C)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration(?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(C-), Lightening Sword(C-), Sword Aura(D-), Handling(D-)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X)]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; your growth rate is terrifying and you have unlimited potential!]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???)]


    "Hmm two new slots have been created, this concentration skill I got is an Ultimate skill, that''s really an unexpected surprise."


    Having an ultimate skill is extremely rare in this world. Not to mention, only a few people has been recorded to have unique skills throughout the history of humankind. Of course, Fade is an exception, at his peak he had 3 ultimate skills which was really overpowered.


    But it didn''t matter that much because, Fade rarely used them afterall how can a protagonist show off if he directly use all his strength to kill the opponent, he needs to pretend to be forced so in order to gain more and more attention from the world.


    "Such a troublesome life¡­"


    Shaking his head Rio focused on the detail of his skills he hadn''t seen the details of his skill since he got them, so he was eager to know the details. Afterall the better you know yourself, the better you can perform in fights.


    "Rio concentrated his mind and imagined himself getting information on the skills"


    Soon enough, a notification from the window made him smile unconsciously:


    [Generating skill information panel¡­]


    [A separate panel has been created for skill information!]


    [You can get information about any of your attribute here!]


    [Would you like to open the panel?]


    [Yes/No]


    "Yes!"


    Immediately a nk panel opened in front of him with, Rio was confused for a moment, then he thought of something and concentrated on his technique section first:


    [Basic Swordsmanship(C):


    - A basic skill every swordsman has, it shows your understanding and mastery of swordsmanship. It is the easiest sword anyone can learn, yet the most necessary sword art to qualify as a true swordsman.


    -Generally, it can only be increased to peak of D rank, but your sword potential has surpassed the general boundaries of basic swordsmanship. Causing 25% extra damage to your opponents, when using sword to attack.]


    [Elemental Sword Art(C):


    - A unique sword art, created by an extremely strong swordsman, itbines several elements in the swordsmanship at the peak.


    - It has several sword skills, that has yet to be unlocked by you. The gradual increase of your understanding will help you to unlock more of its secrets.


    - 40% extra damage in every attack when used.]


    "This is really a huge detailed information on my skills, I am getting more and more interested in it now"


    Next Rio focused on his skills to check them out too¡­


    [1. Body strengthening(C-):


    - A basic skill every swordsman can acquire by training basic sword arts.


    - Generally, it can be only be raised to D+, but your sword talent has surpassed these boundaries, giving you an even stronger body, then normal.


    - Defense increase by 45%, when used]


    [2. Lightening Sword(C-):


    - The first sword skill that can be unlocked when training elemental sword arts. It causes a precise and extremely fast sword attack with every strike when used.


    - Damage and Speed increased by 40%, when used]


    [3. Sword Aura(D-):


    - A skill evolved from sword energy due to your sword talent.


    - Can use elemental energies to concentrate on your sword and elemental attacks like ''Fire strike'' can be used through this skill.]


    [4. Handling(D-):


    - The second unlocked skill of elemental sword art. Provides greater defense.


    - A defense skill, can be used to defend opponents attacks and diverting them in wrong directions or toward the opponent.]


    [True Immunity(X):


    - A passive skill, can help block unusual skills used to harm you.]


    [Concentration(?):


    - A skill with extreme potential.


    - All the stats, reactions and senses will be boosted by 2 times when used.


    - It is still a halfplete skill a second part is still needed toplete it.


    - Required skill forpletion:???]


    Seeing the information about the skill concentration Rio was already dumbfounded.


    "2 times the stats, reactions and senses? This is too overpowered!"


    This small sentence means that once this skill is used all the stats of Rio Like Attack and Defense, will be at 100 from 50 directly, even though its mana consumption seems high and ording to Rio''s calctions he can only use this skill for 5 minutes at most, it can already be considered a deadly weapon.


    Not to mention the stats even the reactions and sense will be boosted, which can help Rio to use his sword even more fast and precisely. Simply saying, this skill is tailor made for Rio and can boost his strength very high, even for only five minutes its already so damn good.


    You should consider the fact that only someone at the peak of A rank can have 100 stats but Rio will be an exception to this limit from now on.


    "But thisst sentence confuses me a bit, this skill is already good enough yet it says that it''s notplete yet?"


    I wonder when I will be able to find its other half toplete this skill. Well for now let''s check thest and most awaited thing that I always wanted to check out. Let''s see:


    [An Unknown Fragment (???):


    - ???


    - ?? ¡­Need more fragments¡­(1/???)¡­???]


    "The heck is this? I never read anything about this in the novel, there was no exnation about this mysterious fragment in the novel, I wonder what this thing is for."


    "It seems to need more fragments to get more information about it, that''s such a headache, why do it feel like I am being dragged in some big problem, having this thing with me."


    "Not to mention I can''t even throw it; this thing seems to have been stored in my soul space and can''t be separated so easily."


    Figuring it out that he can''t do anything about this he just put it at the back of his mind and decided to fell asleep. It has been a long time since he had a good sleep. The incident at the inds and the encounter with Marik, all this took a huge toll on his body.


    After closing his eyes Rio fell asleep instantly. In the morning he was enjoying the beautiful sunrise standing near the window with a tea cup in his hand. A peaceful start of a new chaos filled event.


    "New Year ising soon, with a new event along with it¡­..can''t an extra have a peaceful life? Well I am looking forward to it as always."


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:- On the demand of several readers, I decided to go with the skill option, leading Rio to a new journey by leaving an iplete skill, Let''s see where this leads Rio.


    Thank you all for your support.

 Chapter 23 New Event: The New Year!

    The great Freya Academy, ss A-3


    The ss was near its end for today, one more day in the daily life of the students has passed just as usual but today was a peculiar excitement in the students as if they were waiting for something. The students are livelier today than usual. And as expected the thing they have been waiting finally came:


    "As you may already know the new year festival will be held in a week''s time, be ready with your preparations for it." (Anna)


    The new year festival, as the name suggest is celebrated in the first year of the students in the academy and it gives the students to participate in severalpetitions and other things which will not affect the rankings of the students so they can enjoy the new year festival without any worry of affecting their grades.


    Obviously only the first years are allowed to carryout this festival every year and the second- and third-year students don''t have the liberty to celebrate they have more strict routine to follow in order to be stronger.


    During the New year festival students can have friendly duels or can participate in functions like singing and dancing etc. The academy has established this new year celebration to relieve the stress from the first-year students who are still new to the academy.


    But it is also an obvious thing that the festival will not be so ordinary as always, this time and is one of the starting events of the novel Rio read in previous life. This new year celebration event will be one that will cause a huge sensation in human race. Questioning if the great Freya academy really stand up to its big name.


    A Mind demon will be teleported through the nearby portal in disguise of an ordinary person and will enter the academy as a parent of one of the students of the academy. Since during the new year celebration parents are also invited to visit the academy, he will enter without much of suspicion.


    But it was actually just a bit ofziness from the security staff of the academy that caused the demon to enter the academy so easily without so many problems, otherwise it would have been impossible for even A rankers to enter the academy without any restriction.


    At that time the demon was able to control some of the staff members mind and made them install a high-rank mana bomb near the middle section of the celebration area, this caused a huge st and about 300 people along with 50 academy students were killed and several were injured in this incident.


    The celebration area was located in the open field on the back side of the academy where most of the celebrations of the academy are carried out every year. The mana bomb is dangerous bomb which can cause the surrounding mana of the area in its radius to go chaotic and cause mana sts randomly in the region causing the people in the area nearby to be sted away.


    It damages a human just like a missile would have on Earth. The only difference is that you will die more painfully in this kind of way. This was one of the reasons why mana bombs are banned all over the human continent and anyone carrying them is directly captured or killed.


    Not to mention a mana bomb have its own levels from low to perfect (Low, intermediate, high, perfect). Each version is more dangerous as its rank increases. While Perfect mana bombs are said to extinct already and are only mentioned in legends and myths. They are said to be 10 times stronger than any regr nuclear bomb back on earth. Such bombs are capable of injuring a SS rank and even destroying continents.


    But the most terrifying thing about the Perfect-mana bombs are said to be their after effects. They cause mana of the environment be chaotic. Chaotic mana can say to be equivalent to a high-grade poison and can kill a being from insides. Corroding every single part of the body.


    The Maya continent is the living example of the terrible perfect-mana bomb. It is said that dark elves lived on that continent but the demon race used a perfect-mana bomb and the whole continent is now nothing more than a wastnd.


    Nowadays it is said that dark elves are already extinct with no records of them being surviving anymore. Even the S ranked individuals perished. It is a pity that the race did not had a SS rank individual, if they had someone of SS rank, he could have stopped the extinction of dark elves by reducing its damage on the cost of personal injuries atleast.


    From this we can already assume the threat a mana bomb can have but the good thing is that making them is even more so, a very difficult task and the demon race of today is not capable of creating perfect-mana bomb anymore. It is possible they have some in their armory even today but they must be saving those bombs for the time they have to fight for survival.


    Every race has its own trump cards when ites to survival of the race. Like the elves have the great world tree, the dragons have the collision breath, the orcs have the hammer of death and the humans have the spatial teleportation.


    Coming back to the main topic, the protagonist will find the existence of the bomb due to his suspicion on the person who infiltrated the academy. He will inform Ms. Anna about it but before she could have confirmed it all the bomb was already triggered and caused several deaths.


    But fortunately, it was still a good thing that the effects of the bomb were drastically reduced due to the early finding of the bomb otherwise it could have been even more dangerous then it is right now.


    You must have thought why Fade not directly stopped the demon from installing the bomb in the first ce. Well I will give you the same advice I always gives, just close your brain and think with your knees you will be able to see this vast and colorful world more carefully this way your perception, your way of seeing it will improve. Cough¡­..I mean it''s obvious this whole event is to make the reputation of the protagonist to have a drastic improvement.


    Up until now, Fade have a terrible reputation of being a trash and by saving some lives he can improve his standing in the ss, he can improve his face, he can improve his impression in the mind of Ms. Anna, he can improve his chances of catching more harem members, cough¡­.I mean making more friends in the ss.


    The other reason is also that he simply is too weak to even stop the demon. Fade has recently entered the D rank and is still not capable enough to fight a Peak B rank Demon who has the advantage. Even though Fade is the son of heavens, he still can''t cross-kill such a powerful enemy.


    Even though luck may be a very powerful factor in this world but it is also restricted if the power difference between the people are too high.


    Since Fade have appraisal he can estimate if he can fight against an opponent or not this all affects hisst decision. Well appraisal is a very convenient skill in this fact. But it also has its disadvantages like you will start to depend on appraisal for your every action and your instincts will start to decline.


    Just as Rio was thinking all this the ss was already over and most of the students has already gone out of the ss Rio also walked out of the ss and left for his dorm room to carryout his usual training session.


    But he had forgot one thing during his analysis and that was the involvement of the heroine and the viiness in this event. There was a description in the novel that Fade became suspicious of the person when he was crossing through a dark alleyway and secretly contacting someone through his phone, it would not be that unusual if the person carrying the mana bomb was seen by anyone else, but Fade had appraisal which helped him find the man suspicious.


    At that time Fade came near that suspicious man because he was sent by Kira to bring some stuff from the ssroom to their supposedpetition area. At that time Kira had taken part in a history-basedpetition and was going head on to fight with several teachers with her huge history knowledge gaining the praise of several teachers.


    But Lia as the viiness was unhappy about all of this due to which she started arguing with Kira as usual. Kira sent Fade out of the ce so as to prevent him from being affected by their arguments. As you know Lia is the daughter of a S rank and can obviously harm Fade''s family by using her background.


    The twist now is, that recently Lia has started to behave different she has stopped arguing with Kira and nobody know where she is busy nowadays, she seems to be staring at her phone, seemingly on someone''s photo and don''t interact with Kira anymore. (Tell me in thement who is the one Lia stares at.)


    This can lead to a different and unknown situation now, since Fade will not be passing through the ce and will never find out about the person. This can lead to uncertain possibilities.


    Yet, Rio oblivious to all this was now busy on his daily workout like a madman as always. He was not that much interested in training in his past life but now everything has changed and he had developed an obsession with extreme training which even he himself doubts.


    "Maybe I have started to get addicted to the mysterious feeling of bing stronger every time I train."


    Thinking about it further, life in itself is very mysterious and can go in the opposite direction when don''t expect it to go making all your nning go to waste, giving a feeling of powerlessness and regret in the end.


    "Sigh~, can''t a extra have a smooth life, Sigh~"

 Chapter 24 Offer From A Villainess!

    Recently, there has been a strange rumor spreading around the university, it seems that the rumor has spread like wildfire and nearly every student has heard of the rumor. No, its not about Fade. I agree that generally Fade is the center of rumors because he always causes strange things.


    He generally gets the most spotlight out of all the students. But it is different this time, the rumor is not all about Fade but also has someone else in it now:


    "Hey, did you hear that madwoman recently has be silent."


    "shhh, idiot, do you want both of us to be killed. Don''t use that name so brazenly, she is the daughter of a S rank, we will get killed if she heard it."


    "Yeah, Yeah, but what I wanted to say, isn''t she acting weird these days?"


    "what''s weird? To me it seems she is still training like a crazy person"


    "Oh,e on, I am not talking about training, it seems she has not been arguing Ms. Kira recently, it''s a relief she has stopped annoying our goddess."


    "Yeah that seems true she seems to be busy with something recently, maybe she has some urgent thing to do"


    "Whatever it is, I hope she just remain busy and stop pestering Ms. Kira, Ms. Kira is such a kind and good person I don''t like when someone hurts her."


    "You are right Ms. Kira is really an angel, but recently that trash Fade has been wagging around Ms. Kira too much, that bastard irritates me too much!"


    "Should we go and give him a good beating today at evening?"


    "Heh, let''s invite some of our friends too, we can enjoy beating him in peace" (The boy said with a devilish grin)


    Talks like that are going on everywhere in the academy the only person who has been harmed by this rumor is our disaster ma Fade. Even though people were talking about someone else, they still found some reason to make trouble with Fade. But only Rio knew these are just some small events to set up Fade''s reputation by face pping the bullies.


    While passing by the talking students Rio just shook his head after hearing their nonsense. Recently people are just focused on bing cannon fodder for Fade:


    "Such is the life of a protagonist, so troublesome"


    But one thing caught his attention that is these rumors seem to be talking about the viiness, the infamous Lia.


    ''I wonder what''s going on with her, ording to the novel she had been in great depression around this time due to her face being ruined but now that oue has been changed by me, I wonder what happened to her?'' (Rio)


    In the end Rio decided to have a talk with Lia once they met next time.


    Unknown to Rio himself, he has started to develop concerns about someone for the first time. Since he was an orphan even in his first life and never had experience in such things, he himself was not aware of his condition.


    .


    .


    (Lia''s Pov)


    Recently, Lia is in great trouble, she herself can''t understand what''s going on with her, she can still suppress when training with her sword but the problem is, when she is not training she always have the urge to see a certain someone''s face, the urge to meet that certain someone and talk to him for an endless period of time.


    She knows that this all seem to be nonsense when heard but it is happening to her recently, she has been denying herself by thinking that it might be due to her body fighting against the darkness covering her heart. Maybe seeing his face or maybe talking to him can help her recover from the dark clouds covering her mind.


    ''Yeah, that it! certainly there''s nothing else!'' (Lia)


    But the reality has been betraying her, she has been capturing photos of him secretly. While training, while jogging and while in the ss too. It''s fortunate that she has her father''s gift, an artifact that can hide your presence from anyone under rank B, due to which she has not been caught by him yet.


    But obviously she is not immoral enough to sneak in his room though. Recently she has even started to doubt that maybe she is bing a stalker or something. But she just shook her head saying that, its just for curing herself, no bad ideas.


    Even rumors about her strange behavior is flying around the academy but she never cared about rumors in the first ce and will only do what she wants.


    But a talk among girls did catch her attention though:


    "Hey, where did you bought that blue dress?"


    "Eh, why would I tell you? Hmph, I want to look unique in the new year party"


    "Hah, I know you just want to show off yourself at the new year party."


    "Hmph, so what, there will be a dance that day, maybe I will have a chance to have some boys attracted to me~"


    "You shitty bitch! Anyway, I can assure you, if you ced your evil eyes on my boyfriend, then I will gauge out those eyes of yours."


    "Hmph, we will see who will do what, not to mention your boyfriend I will charm everyone that day, just you see."


    The sparks of raging lighting were seeming to be colliding with each other. Such fights are rathermon around this period of time in the academy and since the academy don''t ban rtions between the students it''s amon sight.


    Just like the boys were preparing to impress a girl, the girls had to defend against the enemies they might be facing, it a natural phenomenon and is verymon everywhere.


    You may think why the academy is not banning this, but the main reason is also that the academy doesn''t want to ban it. Because the researches had already proved, that the chance of having a more talented individual being born among a family based on love is more than the family with no love in it.


    Since the humanity itself is in great need of talented individuals they never restrict the rtions between anyone but there''s still restriction to the official marriage. Marriage can only be done at the age of 18. It''s a solid and firm rule which can''t be overlooked.


    Leaving these matter''s aside, everyone was preparing for the dance party. Obviously, Lia had to prepare too. She had never interacted with any boy in the academy except Rio, so it was obvious who she will pair with at the dance party. But hearing the talk between girls she became wary of the girls and started seeing them as her rivals now.


    It''s really ironic. Those who gave her the idea to prepare for the party are her rivals themselves now. But she knew that she can''t falter here, a newfound determination was raging in her mind and she had a very bright me of confidence burning in her eyes until one familiar voice interrupted her thought process:


    "Are you preparing for war or something?" (Rio)


    Lia looked behind her and was instantly surprised to see him sitting on the desk right behind her, the main reason for her surprise was that she never sensed himing. You must consider the fact that she already is at the peak of D rank and will be able to get into rank C in a few weeks.


    The difference between a D rank peak and a rank C is not so huge that she can''t even sense him approaching her. A huge expression of surprise appeared on her beautiful face.


    Seemingly as if reading her mind Rio replied:


    "well it''s just that I am a little bit stronger, nothing else."


    Obviously, Rio didn''t mention the fact that he is already near the peak of C rank himself. But who cares no one will find out as long as he doesn''t show it himself?


    ''is he reading my mind?'' (Lia)


    "No, I am not" (Rio said with a very innocent expression)


    "Y-you liar!" (Lia)


    "No, I am not" (Rio)


    "You are! How can you read my mind without my permission!" (Lia)


    "Oh,e on! Obviously, I can''t read your mind it was just all written on your face, why are you acting like a child in its rebellious phase." (Rio said while smirking)


    "I am not a child!" (Lia)


    "Yeah, yeah, I give up, women are really hard to understand" (Rio)


    Hearing his remarks, Lia became a little embarrassed and a little blush appeared on her beautiful face. Thinking back, she now understood that he was just messing with her and she fall for his trick easily. This made her even more embarrassed.


    She has always been treated respectfully by everyone else for fear they might face the wrath of her S rank father in any case of mistake. It was the first time someone was messing with her so much while seemingly enjoying her foolishness.


    Thinking this, an aggressive expression appeared on her face and she started to stare at Rio as if looking at a sandbag, which needs a good, beating.


    "Oh, I am starting to get afraid." (Rio)


    Even though Rio said this he was having trouble holding hisugh in. He knew that if heughed now, she may really get angry on him. So, in order to stop this matter from escting anymore he decided to end it all now, by changing the topic.


    "So, what were you preparing for, are you going to beat someone? Invite me too" (Rio)


    Well this time Rio was really thinking of taking part in beating someone. He also wanted to experience what it felt to act like a bully for once. After all its always good to have change of dishes in your dinner. It makes the food more delicious and prevents you from getting bored by eating same food every single day.


    He will not be surprised if Lia bullied someone since she is the viiness. Anyway, who cares as long as you not go to excessive lengths. Just a little bit of bullying will not harm anyone.


    Just as Rio was busy in his own world Lia broke the silence by a rather surprising offer:


    "Why would I bully someone, more importantly I wanted to go buy some clothes for theing new year party. If you are free then your ca-can apany m-me too" (Lia)


    "But i-if y-you don''t want t-to, then it okay too, humph, I can go myself." (Lia)

 Chapter 25 Old Memories....

    The shopping area of the academy is rather more crowded today, due to the New Year celebration event. Instead of decreasing, the crowd is increasing even more as time passes. Some people are shopping alone, some are with friends and some are couples shopping for the New year.


    The atmosphere seems to be a bit romantic today. You can see several couples, all around the area. Enjoying their date, while some are still waiting for their partners toe.


    The small artificial pond has be the famous waiting and meeting ce for those who are waiting for their partners toe, here. This area is also a bit crowded but not as much as the shopping area.


    Among all those who are waiting, there one such fellow with ck hair and ck eyes. He is also waiting for someone toe; his face is as expressionless as ever. He is sitting on a desk, near the small pond.


    The scenery today is really peaceful, if it was on Earth, this peace could have been maintained for a rather long time but such things are not true for this chaotic world, where powerful people are present everywhere.


    Putting the depressing things away for now, the weather is also very good today. A clear Blue sky, a warm sunshine and slow-refreshing breeze of air, which is making the trees rustle every once in a while. A perfect day for love-birds to have their way around.


    A luxury car arrived at the entrance with several ck cars following behind it. Someone important hase here. But this has be amon sight now. During this time of year several big figures like to visit the academy.


    The cars stopped and a team of bodyguards in ck suits, rushed down from those ck cars. They cleared the road and one of them walked towards the luxury car to open the door.


    The door opened and a beautiful girl in a breathtaking dress came in sight. She started to walk towards the artificial pond, heading towards a particr desk. The extravagant clothes and the amazing entry of a beauty certainly caused amotion.


    The looked at the guards and as if they understood her, the guards immediately cleared the way and after their work was done, they bowed towards her respectfully and left without further dy. Seeing this the girl had a satisfied look on her face, she started to head towards the desk on which a particr boy was sitting.


    "Such extravagant entrance, are you trying to make trouble for me, by making me the target of others envy?" (Rio)


    A little blush appeared on the girls face after hearing his yful tone. She red at this idiot, muscle-head rather fiercely but that expression made her even more cute, several random guys around the area are already going crazy. She sat down on the desk while still ring at Rio:


    "Hmph! Who cares, I just wanted to re-reach the ce faster s-so, I took the car. I-its no-nothing else." (Lia)


    "Well anyway, you look rather good today." (Rio)


    Seeing the grin on Rio''s face, she had the urge to punch this idiot on his face but she decided to just intimidate him with a death re. Even though, the re didn''t really work on him at all, maybe due to his thick skin or shameless personality.


    Just as they both were busy talking to each other, it was impossible for Rio to not get envious stares, some people even seemed to be talking bad things but Rio ignored them for the time being. He knew from the moment Lia arrived, that it was impossible that such a situation would not happen. After a small talk, both of them got up and walked towards the shopping area.


    Unknown what gave the people such courage, a youngster tried to approach them. Rio noticed that the guy had drool dripping from his mouth and even his eyes was staring at Lia with a rather bad intention.


    Rio felt an insuppressible angering from the bottom of his heart he stared at the approaching youngster and used a little amount of his aura on the guy. The guy''s perverted look was instantly reced with a face filled with horror. His legs gave away and he copsed down, his whole body drenched in sweat.


    Seeing this Rio just shook his head and ignored the guy, he nonchntly followed along Lia as if nothing happened at all. Without Rio''s knowledge, he has be really protective over Lia, maybe this is the side-effect of being alone for two lives or maybe its something else, which he himself is unaware of yet.


    After Rio and Lia both left the area, the ce remained silent for a while before amotion started:


    "Oh! Who was she, she''s so beautiful?"


    "Maybe she is a student of the academy."


    "Heh, what do you know she is the daughter of an S-ranker, her name is Lia, I saw her on tv, with her father during an interview."


    "Amazing! She must be really talented then."


    "Yeah! It is said that she has the talent to be an S rank in the future."


    "But who was that boy with her? Do you know him too?"


    "Nope, I don''t know."


    Nobody knew much about Rio who was apanying Lia. Rumors started to spread around rather fast. Afterall this was the first time Lia appeared in the public. Before this she was only seen on tv.


    The guards who were still monitoring the situation around also found it strange. They had assumed that Lia would havee here to just buy something or for a walk maybe. They were all confused when they found that Lia was apanying an unknown boy.


    They immediately took photo and a thorough investigation started on the unknown boy''s background. One photo was even sent to Lia''s father as a report and asking for his further guidance. This time Rio really have triggered a big event.


    Unaware of theing disasters, the two continued their way towards the shopping area. While Lia was blushing from all the attention she was catching, Rio was rather indifferent and had the same expressionless face.


    But Unknown to Lia several young men had already copsed along the way due to someone''s dangerous aura being released on them. The two became the cause of talk for people. Yet, both of them still maintained their pace.


    .


    .


    Somewhere near an S-rank dungeon. A burly man was standing there looking at the portal in front of him. He was totally unfazed by the dungeon''s mana and was lighting a cigar in peace. He had a huge broadsword hanging behind his back. And he was wearing light armor.


    The man seemed to be in his forties. He had a rather rough and barbaric appearance. A huge scar was on his face making him even more intimidating to look at.


    Suddenly a man in a butler''s outfit came running towards him and respectfully bowed towards him. The person seemed to be in hurry to report something. Seeing the butler in such a strange state the burly man was surprised.


    "What happened, why are you so out of breath?"


    "Master, see this photo. It has been taken about a few hours ago."


    The burly man looked at the photo with a confused look. But after he saw the photo his confusion was suddenly reced by a surprised look. He looked towards the butler:


    "Is this even real?"


    "Yes, Master"


    The burly man was even more dumbfounded by this. The photo had a girl and a boy in it. They seemed to be a good couple in a nce. But the most surprising thing was that the girl in the photo was smiling. Yeah, she was smiling.


    As if understanding his puzzlement, the butler replied:


    "Young Lady seems to be rather happy in the photo"


    "Yeah¡­"


    The burly man put the photo in his pocket and he started to stare at the horizon with calm eyes. Several old memories resurfaced in his mind but he suppressed those unpleasant memories.


    He knew that ever since his wife has died, he and his daughter became very distant but he couldn''t do much about it. When she was young, his daughter had a pleasant smile on her face every time but after her mother''s death, his daughter has lost her smile and happiness.


    He is happy that his daughter can smile once again and is recovering from her depressed self but as a father he need to make sure that his daughter is not being deceived by someone.


    As if he had already decided he ordered the butler:


    "Did you investigate the boy''s background?"


    "Yeah, he is an orphan and seem to be one of the top 100 rank students."


    "Top 100 rank, that means that he has the potential to be an A rank or above in the future. Anything else?"


    "Uh, Well, there''s not much extraordinary about him, but his past seems rather depressing¡­He is a survivor of the drift city massacre"


    Hearing about the event, the burly man suddenly recalled some old memories. He remembered the day when he was in that city¡­suddenly he shook, his head and stopped recalling that horrible memory. He doesn''t want to remember that event, afterall his wife had died around that time too.


    The butler spoke again:


    "And well it seems he have saved our youngdy''s life once during that S-rank dungeon event. They must have grown familiar around that time, I think."


    "Oh, why don''t I know that my daughter was in a life-threatening situation?"


    "Well, uh, i-its be-because she w-was rescued safely,ter, s-so¡­" (Butler)


    "So, what''s the name of that boy?"


    "Uh, his name is Rio, Rio sh"


    Suddenly the burly man faced towards the butler and looked in his eyes, he had a serious look:


    "What name did you say?"


    "I-Its Rio sh" (Butler, while a little panicked)


    The burly man again looked in the distance nkly, he was lost in his thoughts again.


    "It brings back old memories hearing that surname..."


    A name suddenly leaked out of his mouth unconsciously:


    "Kevin sh, the ''Soul splitter''...."

 Chapter 26 First Talk With Fade!

    The City outskirts, An Abandoned small house.


    This house is located in a very remote area on the west side of the city, behind a mountain and near a small river. There''s no house nearby. But only forest and mountains. A narrow road, which seems to not have been maintained for years is leading to the road. A masked man suddenly appeared and entered the house, through this road.


    From the outside the house seems to be in a very damaged state even several parts of the roof can be seen missing. But strangely the house is close from every area except for the roof which is broken. The windows are still there and do not have any scratches.


    Even the furniture is still present in the house. Everything is covered in dust. The man hurriedly walked towards the uppermost floor and entered the master bedroom. He walked towards an old looking painting and tilted it towards right.


    As if a mechanism has been triggered, all the furniture in the room slide away by itself and the middle area of the room was cleaned instantly. Then a magic circle started to shine brightly.


    Seeing this the man hurriedly made a little cut on his finger and dropped some blood on the middle of the magic circle. Instantly the circle brightened even more than before.


    With a sh of light, the man disappeared and the circle faded away. The furniture automatically moved to its original location and everything returned to as it was before.


    This is how a short distance teleportation circle with blood recognition ability works. These type of teleportation circles have small teleportation range and several restrictions but are very fast and secretive. You can even add your or several other people''s blood samples. This way only those specific individuals will be able to use this circle.


    .


    After the man teleported through the circle, he was in a dark area. He brought out a manamp to see the area. He started to walk through the dark corridor and after walking for about 15 minutes he was in front of a small gate.


    Although this gate looks small and very frail but it is actually so durable that it can withstand an attack from a S rank individual. The stopped in front of the door and knocked with a particr rhythm. The door opened and the masked man walked inside.


    There were several other simr masked men sitting around a huge round-table. The man also sat on an empty seat and remained silent. No one said anything and time passed. After 15 minutes thest person also came and finally the person sitting on the middle table spoke:


    "Now that we all have gathered, let''s start the meeting. Report your taskpletion status first."


    "One, I havepleted mine."


    "Two, I havepleted mine."


    "Three, I havepleted mine."


    ...


    ¡­.


    ..


    After the 10th person also reported, the middle person nodded his head and spoke:


    "Good, all the work is going as nned. The person has also infiltrated the academy as nned."


    "The n will be carried out as nned before."


    "we have to capture ''Lia'' and ''Kira'' before the chaos from the mana bomb dies down."


    "There should be no mistake."


    "We have to force both of their father to give up that artifact to us. Kidnapping them is the best method."


    "Do anyone have anything to report?"


    One of the other mask men suddenly raised his hand.


    "Yeah, seven, what do you want to say?"


    "I want to report that myckeys have found that the girl Lia is seen frequently with a ck hair kid. What to do if he gets in the way."


    "Ah, about that kid¡­. just kill him if he gets in the way. There''s no need for any hindrance in our way."


    "Okay"


    "Since no one else have anything to say then let''s end the meeting?"


    Others also nodded their head on the man''s question:


    "Okay then, the meeting ends here"


    After the man ended the meeting, all of the people left the ce, one by one. The actions were carried out in a very smooth and secretive manner.


    It is clear this is not the first time these people have done the same thing. They are far more proficient in these secretive things to be called novice. All of these people have the rank of B+ and the middle person have the rank of A+. This can already be considered an elite team from any of the S rank guilds.


    Although they would not be a match for and S-rank individual but any individual below S-rank can be killed if they work together, with such a well organised team.


    .


    .


    The Freya Academy, Shopping area.


    Rio was sitting on a desk, waiting for a certain someone to finallye out after wearing the dress, she chose among all the several dresses.


    Thinking back to the moment they entered this shop. Thedy at the counter gave a very gentle greeting to them and showed around the dresses. Just as Rio was having a bad premonition, it came true. He was bombarded by a huge amount of questions, about how the dress looked, how that one is etc.


    Seriously, he was totally dumbfounded by the sheer amount of talking speed. In the end he was only able to just passively nod his head. Not knowing anything about dressing and fashion trends, he waspletely beaten to the pulp in this fight, without even being able to say anything at all.


    Even the passerby looked at him with sympathy in their eyes. Rio didn''t know why thedy at the counter was smiling so much, as if she was enjoying a drama movie''s romance scene.


    ''It seems this thing is more tiring than training.'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was getting bored a familiar voice brought him out of his dream world:


    "S-so, h-how do-does this l-look on me, its n-not like y-your opinion matters, bu-but I am ju-just asking." (Lia)


    Rio looked toward Lia who was wearing a tight top and a mini-skirt with stockings. His mind instantly became nk and he was not able to respond at all.


    "Wh-what i-is that expression, just tell me already" (Lia)


    "cough! ¡­. Well, you look really cute in this¡­.. cough! But¡­ cough! Isn''t that too short¡­. Cough! I mean¡­.. you know¡­" (Rio)


    "Eh, what do you mean short?" (Lia)


    Lia tilted her head in confusion, suddenly a small breeze of wind passed by and cough! .....


    Instantly, Lia''s face became bright red as an apple, and she ran away inside instantly:


    "Idiot! Don''t look!" (Lia)


    "Hahaha¡­." (Rio)


    After about half an hour of boring wait she came back in a new outfit. This time she is wearing casual clothes, yet she looks so damn good. Even the expressionless Rio can''t help but stare at those huge mountains and curves.


    Seeing Rio staring at her in such a manner Lia blushed a bit, but gave a re to Rio and pretended to look fierce. Yet this only made her even more cute.


    The shopping continued with several such small sweet and heart-warming incidents. Time passed and it was afternoon now. Rio and Lia decided to have a lunch in the nearby restaurant.


    While both of them were sitting together, some passerby nced and praised how perfect they looked together, but some looked at Rio with envious eyes, before they fainted from a certain someone''s aura.


    Just as the peaceful time continued two uninvited guests arrived. Obviously Fade and Kira hase.


    Since there were no other empty seats left, both of them sat opposite, Rio and Lia. You can consider this meeting a mere coincidence or the y of destiny. But this is how the original mc, Fade and the biggest anomaly of this world, Rio met for the first time, face to face.


    Rio remained expressionless, while Lia became cold in an instant, Kira and Fade, had an expression of surprise on their face. Yet they all sat together silently for a while. Before Kira broke the silence:


    "What a coincidence, I didn''t expect you to be here too, Lia" (Kira)


    ''As expected of the heroine she knows how to break an awkward situation'' (Rio)


    "I just happened to be here, it is indeed a coincidence to meet you, out of all people in the world" (Lia)


    ''Lia is really cold towards Kira, just like in the novel''


    Hearing Lia''s remark, Fade had a frown on his face.


    ''Fade and Kira should already be very close around this time-period, only a step away from bing a couple''


    "Why are you even here, since you knew I was here?" (Lia)


    "well¡­." (Kira)


    Kira didn''t say anything further and her head depressed downwards.


    ''as described in the novel, Kira have caring personality. She still cares about Lia as a friend'' (Rio)


    Even in the novel, when Lia was on the verge of death, she still cared a lot about Lia. She even tried to negate the effects of Last viin''s skill to save Lia, but she failed. Let''s leave that story for some other day, and focus on the current situation:


    Seeing Kira so depressed, Fade got irritated, as a mad-lover how can he stay shut after witnessing this scene:


    "Oh,e on! Would you stop arguing with Kira, I am fed-up by your constant fighting with Kira!" (Fade)


    "How can you not understand that it is already enough, I warn you not to trouble Kira anymore, otherwise- (Fade)


    "Otherwise what?" (Rio)


    Suddenly, Fade stopped and looked towards the person sitting beside Lia. This person had been silent since the start but now he is looking right in the eyes of Fade. Instinctively Fade felt something wrong about this guy.


    He cannot describe this strange feeling which is making his heart beat very fast, making him feel uneasy. This is the very feeling Fade got when he was looking at that S-rank octopus during their trip. He can''t help but be more vignt around this unknown person.


    "and who are you?" (Fade)


    The next answer that the unknown person gave made Fade, Kira and Lia, all dumbfounded:


    "Me? I am Rio sh, a swordsman and Lia''s boyfriend." (Rio)

 Chapter 27 System Crash And Romance!

    "What!?" (Kira)


    "What!?" (Fade)


    Both Kira and Fade were so surprised that they ended up yelling very loud, attracting strange eyes from people. They looked towards Rio and then at Lia whose face has turned into a red tomato.


    Seeing Lia behaving in this way they thought it was really true. For a while both of them just looked at Rio and Lia with bewildered expression on their face and then finally calmed down.


    "uh, congrattions! Lia!" (Kira)


    "y-yeah, th-thanks" (Lia)


    Lia''s face blushed even more, she looked at Rio and red at him, yet Rio was just sitting there without any care in the world, as expressionless as ever.


    He looked at Lia and smirked a bit. Seeing that smug face, Lia had a strong urge to punch this bastard, but she did not do so.


    ''I will see youter, just you wait, you idiot, I-I-I will¡­.'' (Lia)


    While Kira started to ask several questions from Lia, Fade decided to use his skill, which his system can use to scan others information.


    ''[Appraisal]''


    [Generation information...]


    [Error!!!!!¡­. retrying¡­. Error!!!!!.... Retrying ...Error!!!!]


    [Defending counterattack¡­. high amounts of energy consumed¡­.]


    [deducting EXP to meet energy requirements¡­.]


    [Defending sessful!]


    [Appraisal failed!]


    [System Warning!!!!]


    [Please do not use appraisal on this individual again!]


    [Otherwise system might not be able to function properly!]


    [Due to high damage sustained, System will go offline for a day]


    [10¡­.9¡­.8¡­.7¡­]


    [System shutting down!]


    [¡­.]


    ''WHAT!!!, WHAT THE F***!!!, WHAT HAPPENED.'' (Fade)


    ''How can it be! Appraisal has never failed before!'' (Fade)


    Instantly Fade became even more vignt against this dude named Rio. Fade knew that something has gone wrong. And due to the fact that this guy can even counterattack after detecting his appraisal, Fade''s system has gone offline for a day now.


    Not to the system has given fade a warning to not use appraisal on Rio again, otherwise system might sustain even more damage.


    After seeing this Fade had a chill ran down his spine. He knew that everything he today has is given by the system. If something happened to his system, he will again be reduced to that helpless person who he once was.


    Fade looked upward and found Rio was looking right in his eyes. He seems to have found out what Fade has done. Fade gulped his saliva and his whole body was covered in sweat.


    Looking in Rio''s eyes he felt the cold and ruthless nature hidden. Fade suddenly felt the feeling he has forgotten for a few months. The very felling that drove him into the depths of despair.


    Fear


    Fade was trying very hard to remain calm but, in his mind, he was already too scared to even scream or say a single sentence.


    Just as Fade was in a very suffocating situation, a voice saved him suddenly:


    "Hey, Rio, isn''t it time we leave now?" (Lia)


    "Yeah let''s go" (Rio)


    Rio and Lia both got up and left the restaurant.


    Seeing them leaving Fade heaved a long sigh of relief. He had started to think that he will faint due to suffocation.


    "What happened, Fade?" (Kira)


    Fade just shook his head and med his beating heart down:


    "Nothing" (Fade)


    .


    .


    "Hey! Wh-why did you say that?" (Lia)


    "What did I say? (Rio)


    "Don''t act like you don''t know! Didn''t you say that, that¡­ I-I¡­.." (Lia)


    "Heh, what did I say, I don''t remember correctly why don''t you tell me yourself~" (Rio)


    Seeing that shameless smug face, Lia had a sudden urge to sh this bastard with her sword, she immediately brought out her sword from the space ring given by academy.


    "I-I will wipe that smirk off today! Die you sex fiend!" (Lia)


    "Heh, you won''t be able to evennd a single attack on me." (Rio)


    "Yo-you! Die!" (Lia)


    Rio just dodged those half-assed attacks without much of a problem. Anyway, he is already at the peak of C rank, while Lia is still in the D rank. It is impossible for her tond even a single attack on Rio.


    After a bit of shing with no result. Lia got frustrated and stopped taking long breaths. I normal situations, she would not get exhausted in such a small time but due to her emotions being disbnced and her performing the sword techniques in unbnced way, she ended up exhausted in just 10 minutes.


    "Yo, exhausted already? Should I carry you, princess style? if you are unable to walk?" (Rio)


    Hearing the remark from Rio, Lia subconsciously imagined herself being carried princess style¡­.What! wait! Wh-what am I even thinking!?


    ''This bastard!'' (Lia)


    Lia red at Rio with a death stare, but this only made her look cuter. But seeing that the situation had started to get out of hand, Rio decided stop teasing her more. She might end up crying if he continued doing this.


    ''I wonder how she will look like when crying after being teased.'' (Rio)


    ''Huh, I am starting to have idiotic thought recently. No, no, I shouldn''t make her cry.'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and patted the ring cute girl''s head.


    "Okay, okay. Let''s stop now. Do you want to eat ice-cream, my treat?" (Rio)


    "I don''t want to talk to you anymore!" (Lia)


    "Good grief, and here I was thinking of buying a vani vor one." (Rio)


    "Who said I won''t eat!! let''s go!!!" (Lia)


    Rio can even see stars shining in Lia''s eyes after hearing about vani vor. Seriously, no one would expect that the coldest and arrogant looking girl in the academy is so obsessed with ice-creams.


    The duo bought ice-creams and sat at the bench near the smallke artificialke.


    The scenery and weather, everything seemed to has be livelier and more beautiful. It was already evening; the sun was now shining with red colour giving the atmosphere a calm and beautiful feel.


    The slow breeze of air and the faint sound of tree''s rustle added an amazing charm to the beauty of nature. It was a perfect time to say the feelings hidden in your heart now. It is now or never.


    "I think, I like you, Lia" (Rio)


    "WH-wha-wha, what are you saying so suddenly!" (Lia)


    "What about you?" (Rio)


    Seeing Rio be serious all of a sudden, Lia gulped and looked in Rio''s dark ck eyes directly. Although her face was bing more and more red as the time passed, determination shed in her eyes.


    "I-I l-like yo-you to-too, R-Rio" (Lia)


    Instantly, Lia''s face became as red as a tomato, she lowered her head and tried to hide her embarrassment, but suddenly Rio sealed her lips. A romantic atmosphere appeared surrounded the two.


    When Lia came to her senses, even her neck became red from embarrassment.


    "It was Delicious" (Rio, whispered in a small voice)


    Lia''s phase became even more redder. Not being able to bear this much shock, she ended up fainting. Before she crashed Rio caught her.


    "Good Grief~ Maybe I went too far." (Rio)


    .


    .


    Behind a bush, several meters away from Rio and Lia.


    Amotion has already erupted without the knowledge of Lia and Rio.


    "wha-what! They kissed!!!" (Kira)


    "Ye-yeah. I-it se-seems to be t-true" (Fade)


    "I didn''t expect that they have already gone so far!! Doing shameful things in broad daylight!!!!" (Kira)


    "¡­.." (Fade)


    "What happened, why are you not saying anything, Fade?" (Kira)


    Fade looked at the duo spending time with a romantic atmosphere and then he looked at Kira. Seeing his strange behavior, Kira immediately understood his meaning.


    "We-well, I-if you want, w-we can also¡­..." (Kira said in a very small voice)


    Although, Kira was saying this in such a small voice. But Fade was able to hear her clearly. His face also turned red in embarrassment. Being inexperienced himself, he was also flustered hearing this. Not to mention, a kiss, He had never even held a girl''s hand before.


    Just as the two were still thinking about what to do next. They found that the effect of the artifact suddenly weakens. They have been using an artifact given by Kira''s parents to make themselves invisible to people''s sight.


    Afterall if someone found them stalking, they will end up embarrassed. Due to which, when Rio and Lia had left after talking, Kira had proposed the idea to follow them.


    Since, Kira was concerned about Lia''s well-being and wanted to find out if she was not being deceived. Fade also apanied her. The artifact they used to hide their presence can help them avoid the perception of anyone below A rank, as long as they don''t use any attacking methods or the artifact run out of mana.


    Since the artifact has now started to run out of mana its effect has started to weaken. Kira and Fade both decided to leave the ce in order to not get discovered by Rio and Lia.


    What they didn''t knew was that, Rio had already sensed their presence the very moment they started following Him and Lia. Ever since Rio has acquired the skill ''true resistance'' he can resist against any illusion and deceitful skill as simply as breathing.


    But the skill ''true resistance'' is not restricted to skill only, it can even resist against artifact effects and other unusual effects. Which helped Rio to directly avoid the artifact and sense them both following behind. But he didn''t say anything.


    The thing that surprised him more was the fact that Fade was lingering around here. If this continued how will he reach the ce of the bomb? If he didn''t reach there on time several normal folks will be killed. Far more damage will happenpared to the damage happened in the novel which Rio had read.


    ''do I have to fix this shit myself?'' (Rio)


    ''Well, this mess is created by the butterfly-effect, caused by me, in the first ce.'' (Rio)


    ''I don''t really want to do the hero''s work, but since this involves the life of more than a thousand people, I should act this time, otherwise, I might not be able to sleep with peace tonight.''


    A viinous smile appeared on Rio''s expression-less face. Scaring the nearby people, some even ended up fainting due to the evil aura released by Rio subconsciously. (Do you think, Rio have the potential to be a viin? Tell me inments.)


    ''It seems I will have to get involved with the main story myself this time. Let''s dive in this shit-show for once.'' (Rio)

 Chapter 28 27.1 Extra ...Power Intro! (Skippable)

    [This is not a chapter but an introduction or you can take it as an extra chapter.]


    Power Hierarchy of the world: -


    Every rank has early(S-), middle(S) and peak stage(S+).


    Rank-G: The lowest rank for any creature of any race present. Every newly awakened is in this category, except for some powerful races (Like Dragons) and extremely talented individuals (Like Link Rex, the viin), who directly start from rank E since birth.


    Rank-F: The stage every talent less awakener can achieve. (This was the original talent potential of Fade before he awakened his system)


    Rank-E: A bit more talent and hard work can make you achieve this. (Most of the students are in this rank right now.)


    Rank-D: Talent is still the important factor and hard is also important. (Lia, Kira and other top 10 students are in this rank right now.)


    Rank-C: Only one out of every 500 awakeners, someone awakens the C rank talent. (This was Rio''s original talent potential)


    Rank-B: After rank C there''s a major bottleneck, which need hard work and suitable conditions to breakthrough Rank-B. Rank B makes a way for improvement in stats of every awakener. (Currently Rio is stuck at 50, this is the reason.)


    Condition for advancement:


    - Your main technique should be at Rank-B. (Like the elemental sword art in Rio''s case.)


    - Your stats should be max. (Like Rio''s stats are all at 50)


    - You should have talent potential of rank-B or above.


    Rank-A: Only one out of every fifty thousand B rankers bes an A rank (when he has talent, of course). There''s no particr condition though.


    Rank-S: A major step in a creature''s journey of strength. You can break through your racial limits once you advance in this realm. (Like 100 stat points are the racial limit for humans.)


    Conditions for advancement:


    - All stats should be max. (100 in human''s case.)


    - Main technique should already be at Rank-S already.


    - You should have talent potential of rank-S or above.


    - You should be able to endure the pain inflicted by racial advancement. (Most of the awakeners die in this process.)


    Rank-SS: The current peak of strength in this world. Currently only three such individuals exist in human race. They are capable of destroying continent alone with their power. There''s no limit ced on their stats. These individuals can already be considered ''Demi-gods''.


    Condition for advancement:


    - Enduring Extreme pain due to breaking of limits on the body and mana quality improvements.


    - All stats should be max after bing S rank.


    - Main technique should already be at rank SS.


    - Talent SS or above. (This is the main reason why there''s so few SS rank individuals. Only one or two individuals with such talent appears in 100''s of years in a race.)


    Rank-SSS: No individual is in this rank right now. Information Unknown¡­. (Link Rex, the viin has the talent potential to reach this rank, ording to the novel Rio read, but he was never able to reach it, because he died in Fade''s hands.)


    Condition for advancement: Unknown¡­.


    Remark: (A rank above demi-god, what could it be? Tell me inments.)


    [There''s one more rank above this but this is a secret for the end of the story.]


    Author''s Note- Sorry for thete introduction of power structure. This is my first novel, so I didn''t know that, there''s a need to add such an introduction. But thanks to all those readers, who gave me the inspiration to create this chapter.


    Thank you for all of your support,


    Your beloved author

 Chapter 29 New Year(Part-1)- Start!

    The central area of the New Year Festival.


    A beautiful and calm river water moves slowly from the mountain behind the academy and then out to the city passing through this famous sightseeing spot.


    Every year thousands of people visit this ce during new year. There''s an amazing firework''s show during night and the lively and heartwarming atmosphere during the day.


    Just like every year, today a huge crowd has appeared again to witness the beauty of this ce and enjoy the firework''s show. Since it''s already around evening people have started to gather around the edge of the river and has started to prepare for the oing show.


    But what they didn''t knew was the fact that several disguised individuals have set up a death show for them today. Which can show them a death dance that they will not be able to forget.


    .


    .


    Unaware of the oing disaster people are still busy with their routine. One such group is the group of a young boy and a girl.


    The boy has Dark Red hair and Dark Red Eyes. Even his aura is so dense that''s particrly screaming that this guy is dangerous. The passersby are subconsciously avoiding the person.


    He is wearing clothes with golden linings on it, depicting that its really expensive. And any expert who knows a little about clothes can say that these are the limited-edition clothes well known for their extreme defensive capabilities.


    Andpletely opposite the young man is a girl with short white hair and white pupils. She is also wearing an expensive dress colored in light blue. She has an exited expression on her face and coupled with her beauty she has the charm of a lively and cute girl.


    "See! I told you, we should visit the festival, its so lively around here. What do you think Link?" (Riya)


    "hmm, yeah its really lively around here." (Link)


    Link looked around and found the ce really annoying but he still did not show his dissatisfaction. He walked along with the with Riya without speaking much. But as if representing his direct opposite personality. Riya was speaking continuously; she is literally a huge chatterbox:


    "See! That fish there! It looks so cute!" (Riya)


    "See! There''re so many people dancing there! What are they doing?" (Riya)


    "Oh! What''s that Link? Hey! Link you heard me! There that huge tower. Should we see it up close." (Riya)


    "That''s the machine which will be used for firework show. It''s dangerous to go around it, only someone at Rank-B or above can use it safely." (Link)


    "Eh! Then what is that person doing around there!?" (Riya)


    Link looked towards the person Riya was pointing at, the person was wearing a worker staff''s uniform and was doing something with the firework''s machine.


    "Maybe he is doing maintenance work." (Link)


    "oh! Is that so!" (Riya)


    Although Link did say that to satisfy Riya''s curiosity but he still became a bit suspicious. Afterall the maintenance work is always done only before the day of the show which means there''s no reason for someone to do something with the firework at the day of the show.


    But since Link had not came with his guards today, he decided to let this matter off for now. He decided to ask about itter from his guardian. As for now, let''s just pass time somehow.


    Afterall these fireworks and shows are simply boring for him. The only thing worth mentioning is that Riya is apanying him today. He didn''t want to destroy this day due to just boredom. Instead the lively behavior of Riya is more entertaining to him.


    ''If only I was able to torture that guy Fade freely, it''s a shame that Dad has restricted me from doing anything that damage reputation.'' (Link)


    ''But those guys I sent, to beat Fade were all useless. Maybe I will have to beat him myselfter, sigh~'' (Link)


    Just as Link was busy in his fantasies, Riya''s voice awakes him to his senses again:


    "Oh! Look! The show is starting, Link!" (Riya)


    "Yeah, I am looking" (Link)


    As the show was starting the crowd around them also started cheer loudly, the atmosphere was filled with the cheers and shouts of the people looking forward to their deaths. Thousands of people cheering for their oing death, it''s ironic isn''t it?


    Just as the first firework wasunched in the air, it directly rushed towards the crowd. The cheers suddenly died down seeing the fire massing towards the people. Before anyone could have responded the bomb touched the ground and exploded directly killing around twenty people in the surrounding.


    Link suddenly sensed that something is very wrong here. He immediately decided to leave this ce. But just before he could do so. The second bomb make its way directly towards their location.


    Seeing that the situation was getting worse by every second. Link brought out his gloves and directlyunched in the air.


    [Dragon Arts: Intermediate punch!]


    As if the bomb was as frail as an egg, Link burst through it. The bomb sted in the air, causing no damage to civilians. Linknded down on the ground. Looking around he found that Riya was nowhere to be seen.


    He jumped again andnded at a higher position to confirm Riya''s location. It seems she was led by the panicked crowd towards the edge of the ce and was struggling to move.


    Just as Link was figuring out the way towards Riya, he found that several more of the bombs were fired but some of them were taken care by someone else and only a few of them wereing his way.


    ''Maybe someone is trying to help the civilians escape.'' (Link)


    Link Jumped towards the bombs and burst them one by one in mid-air. After solving this problem, he, then again jumped towards Riya.


    Seeing him appear suddenly in front of her, Riya got surprised but also rxed a bit. Link directly carried her in his arms and jumped out of the people''s range towards a rather uncrowded area.


    "You okay, Riya" (Link)


    "Yeah, I am okay but you should help out the people, since you are so strong" (Riya)


    Link knew that this girl is rather immature and have a great sense of justice in her. She always thinks more about others safety than herself. But only hesitates in carrying out her justice filled actions when it involves Link.


    If Link said that he can''t save everyone, she will not argue anymore. But since he has to figure out the situation he has to go for now.


    "You sure, you will be safe" (Link)


    "Yeah! I am very strong! I can protect myself" (Riya)


    ''She looks cute when pretending¡­.'' (Link)


    Link shook his head and moved towards the oing bombs. He was getting curious, who was the one destroying so many bombs, afterall with his perception he is not able to sense anyone else higher or simr in rank with him.


    But the matter of the fireworks takes the initiative. He immediately looked towards the firework machine. With his amazing senses he can see several individuals in ck clothing standing around the machine.


    He immediately sensed that these individuals are all atleast B-rank. But he didn''t care. He has even tortured several peak B-rank individuals before, this is nothing new to him.


    He directlyunched towards the center of these people, directly ignoring the oing attacks and destroying all the mana bombsing his way. If it was someone else, they would have been killed by the aftereffects of sting these mana bombs but these lethal bombs seem to have no effect on his body.


    He can literally destroy and resist a bomb with his body alone, this is the horror of the person with the potential to be a future SSS rank. His body defense is alone so strong that even three high-grade bombs which are capable of killing peak B-rankers instantly are ineffective on him.


    [Dragon Arts: Fire aura!]


    A dense blue me appeared on Link''s both hand and with a punch a huge fire explosion urred destroying the machine and stopping the continuous bombing.


    Seeing that their n has failed the people in ck became extremely angry and all eight of themunched towards Link together. But Link didn''t care about them.


    [Dragon Arts: Consecutive advanced punches!]


    A rain of punch began and the heads started to explode instantly. Seeing this the individuals in ck clothes started to panic and decided to flee the scene now. Afterall the academy''s authorities must be on their way by now.


    "Who allowed you to run!" (Link)


    [Dragon Arts: Enhanced speed!]


    Immediately, Links speed increased significantly and he started to rain punches and kicks even faster with increased lethality.


    The fight continued for about three minutes and all the individuals were killed leaving only Link and one more person standing among a huge number of corpses.


    Just as Link was going to st this onest individual to death, he suddenly sensed a powerful individualing towards him:


    "Stop, don''t kill him, otherwise I will kill this girl, a gruesome death!"


    "Link! Don''t worry about me!" (Riya)


    Link looked behind him and found that an individual in same ck clothes has caught Riya and a dagger is pointed around her neck. It is sure that she will die if nothing was done at time.


    The individual is stronger than the previous ones. Even Link is not certain if he can win this one.


    ''This guy is definitely a peak A-rank. I can''t deal with this alone.'' (Link)


    A B-rank and an A-rank have a huge difference inbat power. Not to mention a Peak A-rank individual have a huge vitality. Link is sure to escape safely but he can''t defeat him, saving Riya will be even more of a difficult task.


    "Okay, I will let him go, you leave her too." (Link)


    "That won''t do boy, you have to ask for forgiveness on your knees! You have killed so many of my men afterall."


    "No! Link don''t do that, don''t worry about me!" (Riya)


    "Do that and I may leave this fragile girl alive, hahahaha¡­hahaha¡­"


    .


    Author''s Note:- The moment hase, our viin has entered the field. What do you want to happen now, make a choice and tell me inments:


    1. Riya dies (A tragic ending, maybe.)


    2. Riya lives (Something new, something better for a viin, maybe.)

 Chapter 30 New Year(Part-2)-Link Vs Rio!

    "Hey! Link! Would you like to climb that tree with me?" (Riya)


    "Nah, I don''t want too" (Link)


    "What, you scared? Hah, the son of such a great person is scared?" (Riya)


    Seeing the smirk on the cute girl''s face, Link got annoyed he felt his pride was being hurt.


    "Who said I am scared; I am not scared! Let''s climb!" (Link)


    "I will climb before you can, you little scared cat!" (Riya)


    "I am not a scared cat! Wait I will catch you" (Link)


    Link started running towards the running girl, he tried to run as hard as he could yet he was not able to catch him, as he continued to run desperately just so as he can catch her for once, he saw her tripping and falling down.


    He immediately ran towards her and checked her knee for wound:


    "Are you okay, Riya!" (Link)


    "Ye-yeah, just a little scratch." (Riya)


    "You shouldn''t run so fast, you silly girl!" (Link)


    "I am not silly though~ Link''s sillier than me~" (Riya)


    Ignoring her teasing, Link helped her get up. Both of them then started to walk towards the tree they had wanted to climb:


    "Hey Link.." (Riya)


    "What" (Link)


    "w-would you always save me in the future too?" (Riya)


    "Yeah" (Link)


    "I-I see¡­" (Riya)


    .


    .


    Looking at the same girl he had promised to protect being in grave danger, Link''s heart started to beat faster, he started to feel extremely anxious and worried. He wanted to protect her no matter what, no matter what


    ''No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her, No matter what I will protect her''


    ''Protect her''


    ''Protect her''


    ''Protect her''


    ''Protect her''


    ''Protect her''


    Suddenly the mana started to concentrate around Link he started to lose is sanity by the mere thought of losing the most precious person that he ever cherished. Until he finally snapped¡­..


    "Wh-what''s happening!?" (A-ranker)


    A strange silence appeared and an eerie atmosphere surrounded them, until the silence was broken by Link:


    [Dragon Arts: Mana Overload]


    Instantly the mana in the surroundings started to tremble and madly rush towards Link, even the ground started to crack from the mere impact of the mana moving. If not for the fact that Riya was right now held captive and was inside the mana shield of the A-rank individual, even she would have been affected by this much mana.


    Thest ck clothed individual who the A ranker wanted to save also burst apart into pieces and his body''s mana was also sucked dry by Link. Link''s muscles started to bulge up, even the blood vessels started to be visible on his hands and face.


    His red eyes started to glow even more brightly as if they have already locked their prey and obviously his prey was the individual holding Riya.


    Seeing the boy suddenly transform like this, the A-rank individual suddenly felt a chill ran down his spine. His senses were telling him that this boy is no good. Even though he might not be able to him but this boy can do some fatal damage to him in this state.


    The A-ranked individual was not a fool, he knew that the professors of the academy should already be rushing to this ce and must be on their way. Since, the person he wanted to save was already dead, he immediately came to a decision:


    "You forced me to do this boy, see how I kill her and remember that me, Yug, An A rank assassin had killed her." (Yug)


    *sh* *thud*


    Just as Yug was about to do the final attack, a sudden shing sound came, with something falling. He found that the girl he was holding in his left hand up till now disappeared without him even knowing.


    His mana shield suddenly copsed and just as he was getting more confused, he felt a bit pain in his right hand. Looking at his right hand, he found it was missing. Yeah, you read it right, his right hand was now on the floor!


    "wh-what the f**k" (Yug)


    He immediately tried to stop the fountain like bleeding from his right hand using his mana to seal it up. He is an extremely talented assassin yet he never got to know what suddenly happened. This was just because he was just too fixated on Link.


    Seeing that Riya was nowhere to be seen, Link''s rage suddenly reached its limit, he immediatelyunched towards Yug with extreme speed. In a mere blink of eye a punchnded on Yug''s face with so much force that even the ground split apart due to air pressure.


    Yug was sent flying straight towards the nearby pirs, yet his body continued to prate right through the pirs, which caused the entire upper floor to copse. It is fortunate that the copsed building was just a one story building and was already empty from the start.


    Not satisfied yet, Link directly jumped to the exact location where Yug''s body had stopped, he broke through the debris and dragged Yug''s body out while holding him from neck.


    Yug was already coughing out blood his several rib bones had broken from the previous punch. He had already lost his strength to fight back anymore.


    Link was not satisfied though, he threw Yug''s body directly to the ground and strated to rain punches right on his face like a madman, one by one the punchesnded with more and more lethality.


    As time passed more mana started to fuse with Link and his punching speed and lethality increased even more. He continued to punch and punch until he found that the body was already reduced to a meat paste.


    He had thoroughly killed Yug, a well-known assassin in a matter of seconds by simply punching from the start to the very end.


    As Link found that the person had been killed, he immediately got up to look around. He was still in his maddened state and wanted to went out his anger on someone. He has long forgotten his real goal and now he is at the peak of his insanity.


    Just as he was going to look towards the area where the people had evacuated his attention was attracted by a voice that appeared from right behind him.


    "It looks like, I am a bitte today, sigh~"


    A boy with dark ck hair and pupils suddenly was standing behind Link. He had an expressionless face and an average look. All in all, he looked average from every aspect, yet his aura was telling that he was not ordinary at all.


    Link wasn''t in the right mind to differentiate between friend and foe right now. So, just as he saw the boy, he directlyunched towards him with an extremely fast speed. In a blink of eye Link''s punch was right in front of the boy''s face.


    Just as the punch was going tond, Rio tilted his face a bit to the left and his face moved away from the punch''s trajectory in a matter of a millisecond.


    "Well, speed is my specialty." (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Wind sh]


    Instantly Rio''s figure blurred and he appeared right behind Link. Rio sword moved even faster and he directly shed at Link''s face with even faster speed than before.


    [Dragon Arts: Extreme defense]


    Link wasn''t a pushover though; he immediately sensed the danger and with his increased mana he strengthened his body and used his extreme reflexes to block the sword attack with his bare hands. Yeah, he blocked Rio''s sword with bare hands.


    Even Rio was surprised for a second but instantly he jumped back and made a safe distance between the two.


    ''as expected, he really is strong. But this is just the starting.'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Moon sh]


    Rio''s sword suddenly started to glow with a faint white light simr to the moonlight and with the next swing of sword a thin wave of light cut through the air with extremely fast speed.


    This time Link got caught off-guard a little cut appeared on his right arm, which he ignored and attacked with his punch.


    [Consecutive Punches]


    A rain of punches started to be unleashed on Rio. Rio struggled a bit to dodge these punches and most of them were dodged sessfully, as for the rest:


    [Handling]


    Rio used his sword as a medium to deflect the trajectories of his punches.


    Both Rio and Link were attacking each other at speed faster than the naked eye of someone below C-rank can''t even see. Yet their speed was increasing as time passed, both of them continued to exchange blows. When a punchnded on Rio, he deflected it using ''handling'' while Rio''s sword only made small cuts on Link''s body even though itnded on him sessfully.


    ''Tsk, this guy has such a thick skin, I am not able to cut it.'' (Rio)


    Now Rio totally understood why Link was considered the biggest challenge for Fade. This guy just that much strong and can''t be defeated so easily.


    ''I doubt if not for the plot armor, Fade would have never been able to even make a scratch on him.'' (Rio)


    ''Not to mention this guy is even more unbeatable when in this rage mode of his, its fortunate that he can only maintain this for a short period'' (Rio)


    Afterall the Mana overload puts a huge stress on Link''s body and if used for a long time it can cause serious damage to him. Due to which after ten minutes of activating this skill, Link will automaticallye back to his senses and this rage mode will go off.


    This is the only way for Rio to deal with this situation now. Obviously he is not using his all and is only trying to pass the time somehow, while distracting Link''s attention from the people in the evacuation hall.


    Considering that Link was already fighting Yug before Rio came, he must only:


    ''two more minutes left, I just have to kite him for a while more.'' (Rio)

 Chapter 31 New Year (Part-3)- End!

    ''I just have to kite him for two more minutes.'' (Rio)


    With this thought in his mind Rio continued to dodge all the different types of attacks Link unleashed. Although it looked as if Rio wasn''t putting much effort but actually, he was putting effort in dodging Link''s blow or maybe not¡­ cough! Cough!


    Two minutes may seem a small time period but right now Rio felt that time was moving rather slow right now, suddenly Rio remembered a great person''s golden words from his previous life:


    [When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it''s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it''s two hours.]


    ''I can feel why it was said, huh'' (Rio)


    Looking at the wrist watch, Rio sighed, to him it seemed as if he has been kiting Link for so long, yet there''s still time left. He put this thought at the back of his mind and then continued to focus on the battle.


    [35 seconds¡­ 32 sec¡­ 31sec¡­ 30sec]


    Suddenly Link stopped abruptly and baked off from Rio by jumping a bit he moved his hand in a strange motion as if he was preparing for something, Rio instantly felt that the situation was not right, he also backed of and took a defensive style ready to counter any iing attack.


    As the movement of Link''s hands stop, the mana in the surrounding became turbulent and started to rush madly towards his hand concentrating at his hand forming a formidable pressure around Link.


    Rio had a suddenly felt a bit nostalgic seeing this situation:


    ''Why does moment feel very simr to the protagonist''s preparing for their final in order to kill an unbeatable viin, catching the viin off-guard.'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was thinking this, Link finally prepared his attack, his insanity has reached its limit now and Rio knew that Link will definitelye back to his senses after he unleashes this blow.


    ''Okay, then let''s end this now. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    [Concentration!]


    [Body strengthening!]


    [Elemental sword Arts: Sword Strengthening!]


    [Sword Aura: Fire energy!]


    Rio continuously buffed himself and finally decided give his all in this attack, he knew that the next attack of Link can''t be taken as a joke. With all the buffs on his body, his mana concentration in the body increased, his sword started to burn with blue mes, his muscles tightened up to the extreme¡­


    Thinking a bit more Rio decided to take the initiative now:


    ''Here Ie!'' (Rio)


    [Lightening Sword!]


    The sword moves with extreme precision and speed. The blue mes made a dazzling arc in the air, yet the power contained in this one strike was even more lethal than how beautiful it looked. In an instant Rio''s sword was right in front of Link''s face.


    Link wasn''t called the most talented individual in the novel for no reason, he immediately reacted and his punch directly collided with Rio''s sword.


    [Dragon Arts: Extreme Dragon Punch]


    The two of the forces collided, the ground cracked even further leaving deep cracks all over the ce, a huge shock-wave was produced from the collision and the nearby buildings which were still intact finally copsed too¡­


    .


    .


    "Hey! You are so slow in climbing, hurry up Link!" (Riya)


    "Yeah, yeah, I am climbing, wait a bit" (Link)


    Riya pouted her cute face and looked at Link with a teasing face:


    "Heh, the great and almighty Link can''t even climb a tree, such a cowardly cat you are, hahaha¡­" (Riya)


    "I-I am not a coward! Just you wait! I will catch you!" (Link)


    "Oh! Then why don''t you climb up faster! Mister great Link!" (Riya)


    Hearing her teasing words, Link hurriedly climbed the tree, so that he can give this naughty girl a good punishment. Seeing that Link was finallying up, Riya also started to climb more upwards.


    "Hey! You shouldn''t do that up, you may fall,e back down immediately!" (Link spoke with concern)


    "Heh, are you scared? Then see how I climb this tree; you should learn from me" (Riya)


    Ignoring Link, Riya continued to climb the tree and eventually she reached the second highest branch, but the distance between the second branch and the first branch was quite big. Seeing this Link tried to convince Riya to not try something dangerous, yet Riya ignored him again and directly jumped at the highest branch.


    In the end she barely and unsteadily made it to that branch, looking around all the things looked small, she can see the setting sun in the horizon even more clearly, she can see that this grasnd was so big that she can only see grass all around them.


    The only exception was the huge vi situated nearby; this vi belongs to Link''s family.


    Just as Riya was busy in looking at the surrounding, she didn''t even notice that the branch on which she was has started to crack a bit. But Link had long noticed it, so he tried to alert Riya:


    "Riya! Be caref-" (Link)


    but before he could do so, the branch directly broke and Riya fell from that ce¡­


    .


    .


    "I WILL DEFINITELY PROTECT HER!!!! RRRRaaaaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" (Link)


    ''Oh! Come on! Come back to your senses already!'' (Rio)


    Both Link and Rio pushed each other with more and more strength and mana yet none of them moved even a single centimetre back from their ce, they were now in a stalemate. Until it broke up in an instant.


    *sh* *Bang*


    Two high pitched sounds rang out and the mana in area finally calmed down. Everything returned to silence instantly, as if the previous loud noises of battle never existed in the first ce at all.


    Closely looking you can see that both Rio and Link has moved from their original location to forward a few steps and now both of their faces were directly opposite each other, while their backs were facing towards each other.


    But none of them move for a few seconds and remained in the same position for a bit, then they both copsed down directly on the ground.


    "Ugh¡­my hands¡­" (Link)


    Link''s both hands were now blooding and they looked as if they have been cut by several des. There were several wounds on both of his hands while one wound on his right hand was the biggest and most terrifying.


    It is a cut mark extending from his wrist to the shoulder, such a long cut, ordinary individuals would have died from this wound due to excessive blood. This wound was created by thest attack of Rio''s sword. (Obviously Rio struck on his hand on purpose, otherwise he could have struck his heart if he wanted to.)


    Rio wasn''t faring too well too; his hands were also bloody and his palms were also affected and bloody. Rio looked at the sword lying on the left of Rio. The sword had several cracks on it.


    Although Rio had attacked with all his strength, he was not exhausted yet, he immediately got up and picked his sword. But his sword directly broke apart and crumbled into pieces leaving a broken de.


    Seeing this scene Rio sighed and shook his head:


    ''As expected, an ordinary weapon can''t withstand my true strength, I will have to look for something better after I finish this mess, sigh~'' (Rio)


    Even though Link has been fighting like a madman and is now totally exhausted, he is still able to remain conscious for a few seconds, he looked at the unknown guy who had helped him calm down. Link wasn''t a fool, after he came to his senses, he immediately understood that, this unknown guy could have wounded him more if he wanted, but he didn''t.


    "What your name?" (Link)


    Rio looked behind and he was surprised for a moment that this guy was still conscious.


    ''Such talent, as expected of this guy.'' (Rio)


    "I am Rio sh, a fellow ssmate." (Rio)


    After saying that Rio''s figure blurred and he immediately disappeared from the spot. Link wanted to stop him but his vision suddenly darkened and he became unconscious.


    Rio suddenly appeared again, this time he picked up Link and walked to the ce where Link killed Yug. After Rio ced Link near that dead body, he hurriedly destroyed all the evidence of his and Link''s fight.


    ''Hopefully, this should help me in not getting detected. I should leave now; professors should being in a few minutes.'' (Rio)


    Rio immediately left the ce with the fastest speed possible. And as he had expected, after a few minutes Ms. Anna was the first one toe. Her face was rather cold and she had an irritated look on her face. After seeing all the mess in front of her face darkened even more.


    After her several more professors also arrived at the spot and started to help in evacuation and rescue work. Several staff members and guards also arrived at the location one after one.


    Seeing the sheer amount damage to the buildings and area had been done it can be seen that a huge fight has take ce. Corpses of several individuals wearing ck clothes were scattered everywhere. Not to mention looking at the body near Link, which was clearly reduced to a meat paste, it was really a devastating scene.


    ''what a mess, tsk'' (Anna)


    .


    .


    Somewhere far away from the academy, a slum area. A man hiding his face walked in a broken and dpidated small house. After entering the house, he brought out a peculiar device from his clothes.


    He channeled his mana in that device and the device started to showplicated codes on its screen. The man seemed to be in hurry, he immediately typed something in codes on the device, with a panicked expression and after that, he immediately broke the device into pieces and put the broken pieces in his storage ring.


    ''I have already informed the higher-ups that the n has failed and even Yug has been killed. Now I should leave this ce as fast as possible otherwise-''


    Just as he was thinking of leaving, suddenly he felt a pain in his chest looking down there was a huge hole and his heart was pierced directly. The man died just like that.


    A man in the clothes of an assassin appeared and took the storage ring from the corpse, then he left as silently as he came.

 Chapter 32 Link, Back To Senses...

    Just as Riya was about to fell from the tree, Link immediately caught her hand and tightly clenched it.


    "I have caught you, don''t worry¡­" (Link)


    Although it took huge efforts for him to finally drag her upward. After a few minutes of efforts Riya was standing again on the branch with lingering fears. She looked at Link with a scared face and a bit of guilt that she ignored Link''s warning:


    "t-thanks¡­" (Riya)


    "Be careful in the future¡­" (Link)


    .


    .


    Suddenly Link got up and instantly looked around to observe the situation. He found that currently he is in the healer''s care and is lying on a bed. Just as he was about to get up and go out, the gate of the room opened and a nurse came in.


    When she looked at Link, she was immediately shocked:


    "Yo-you wake up already!?"


    The nurse immediately ran out after screaming this sentence, Link was immediately puzzled seeing this reaction from the nurse. He frowned a bit from annoyance, but he still decided to wait for someone to show to exin about what is going on here.


    ''It seems due to using mana overload my body is still in a state of weakness.'' (Link)


    Then Link tried to remember the things that happened during the battle. Although right now his head hurt when he tried to think too much, he still tried to remember everything. This headache is also temporary and will go away after he recover in one or two days.


    If it was anyone else who had used Mana overload, he would have ended up dead or have been ina due to brain damage. Yet here he is, you can understand why talent is so important in this world. (Yet there''s no urate way to measure it in this world.)


    ''I don''t know what happened to Riya, she suddenly disappeared during fight, just before the guy named Rio came. I will have to investigate more, in order to find about it¡­'' (Link)


    Just as Link was busy thinking his next ns suddenly the gate was rudely burst open, a beautiful and cute looking girl entered the room she immediately came near Link''s bed and her eyes were filled with tears.


    "yo-you are finally awake, Link, i-I was so worried!" (Riya)


    "ye-yeah, I am awake¡­ are you alright too?" (Link)


    "Even now you are worrying about me¡­ sob..sob.. i-I am okay¡­" (Riya)


    "It''s a relief then, sigh~" (Link)


    "What about you! Are you ufortable anywhere?" (Riya)


    "Are you hungry? I will made food for you personally if you want!" (Riya)


    "They said that you hurt your arm, does it hurt?" (Riya)


    "And why are you not lying on the bed!? the healer said you have to rest properly!" (Riya)


    Link suddenly felt his head spin from the sudden rain of questions, yet he can only smile bitterly and answer all these questions one by one. He knew that this girl just can''t help herself from talking too much.


    Once she started talking, she can continuously talk for hours without giving others a single chance to say anything at all. Link has always thought that if Riya learns music, she can be one of most famous rappers, her talking speed is just too remarkable.


    In the end, Link didn''t mind her annoying behavior and just let her continue as she pleased. She is just concerned about him, that''s all. He put this matter at the back of his mind and heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''At-least, she''s safe.'' (Link)


    As the two were busy talking several healers came together and started to examine Link''s body. They were surprised to find that Link''s body which was fatally wounded just one day ago has already recovered to half and shows tendency of recovering even now.


    With this speed of recovery, the healers conclude that Link can be discharged in three days at most. The healers advised Link to take more rest and after giving careful instructions they left to see other patients eventually.


    After asking from Riya, Link found out that they are currently in the Healer''s office of the academy and only one day has passed since Link fainted. The staff is still busy repairing the destroyed areas.


    Some of the teachers are dispatched to investigate the reason behind this incident. While some of the teachers are sent to deal with media and other possible problematic factors. Even the principle of the academy Raji Croft herself has announced that a thorough investigation will be conducted about this incident.


    Coincidentally, Raji was not in the academy at the time when all this happened, otherwise she could have rushed to the area in a matter of seconds using the power exclusive to SS ranked individuals. The power to open their own portals, which can be used to travel through space, to ces where you have once gone before as long as that ce still exists.


    Although this skill has the condition that you must have gone to the ce atleast once in order to open a portal to that ce. Yet, this skill is too overpowered and can even provide great help in battles besides how cool it is. Imagine an enemy targeting you and the next moment you are behind him with the help of the portal. (Tell me inments, what would you do, if you get this power?)


    Link also asked Riya about how she escaped and Riya said that she don''t know she had already fainted when Link was concentrating the surrounding mana on him to attack that bad person.


    She said that, the when she woke up, she found herself in the healer''s office too. But she was totally fine and there''s wasn''t even a single scratch on her.


    Just as Link and Riya were having a good time talking to each other an unwanted visitor entered the room. With her entering the room, the surroundings became a bit cold and the temperature dropped a bit.


    The woman seemed to be in herte twenties, she has beautiful white hair and light blue pupils. Snow kes seemed to be spinning around her. Her aura alone was enough to tell that she is a very strong powerhouse. Her beautiful face is having cold expressions. The perfect image of a cold personality type.


    She slowly and gracefully came towards Link and looked at him for a second:


    "You are indeed worthy of being an SS ranked person''s son, you killed so many B rankers and even an A ranker yet you were able to recover so fast. I am now even more certain that my choice of having you engaged with Riya was really right."


    Her voice is extremely cold and devoid of any emotions, which can make someone wonder if she is being friendly or is and enemy. But after looking at her Link didn''t say much and just nodded his head silently.


    ''Every time I see her, she is always same, devoid of any emotion¡­'' (Link)


    As for Riya, nothing can stop her from talking:


    "Oh! Sister you are here! I was really frightened!" (Riya)


    Without any hesitation, Riya directly jumped on the women and surprisingly the cold woman did not reject her and just shook her head helplessly. As if this is amon urrence to her.


    "Link and Riya both of you will be under the care of the academy for a few days, I will send someone, if you need something you can contact meter."


    "Okay!" (Riya)


    "Okay." (Link)


    After she left the ce Link heaved a sigh of relief in his mind.


    ''Riya is always so casual around her, its really hard to believe that, Riya can talk to the greatest Frost mage in human race without tensing up.'' (Link)


    .


    .


    .


    After Riya left Link''s side, he finally had time to look at his status. When he was fighting there has been so many notifications popping up, he directly ignored them at that time. But now he can finally look at the status. (Every awakened in this world have status but only Fade have a system with advanced functions like Shop, appraisal and Exp etc.)


    <Status>


    [Name: Link Rex]


    [ss: Martial Artist]


    [Rank: C+] [Max Rank Potential: SSS+]


    [HP: 2500/8000] [MP: 200/1200] (currently recovering)


    [STR: 50/100] [SPE: 50/100] [AGI: 50/ 100] [DEF: 50/100] [INT: 50/100]


    [Talent: Martial Aptitude (SSS), Enhanced Vitality (SS)]


    [Techniques: Basic Martial Arts(C+), Dragon Arts (C+)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Extremeprehension(B+)


    [Skills: Body Enhancement(C+), Draconian Movement Arts(C+), Dragon''s Aura(C)]


    [Passive Skills: Fast Recovery (SS)]


    [Evaluation: You have enough talent to make even heavens envious of you, due to which you will be targeted several times and you will always be facing bad luck.]


    Looking at his status Link can''t help but smile, he knew that he was a genius ever since he awakened. Others didn''t need to tell him, as long as he is given enough time he can develop and be strong enough to even surpass his own father.


    With his talents it wouldn''t be a dream to do so. He has enough talent to be the very first SSS ranked individual in this world, this will a huge achievement. Not to mention he will be the strongest but will also be able to control the whole world including all the races in this world. Even dragons will have to bow down to him at that time.


    What he didn''t knew that this was all just his pipe dream, with Fade and Rio here, he would not be the only one bing an SSS ranked.


    But one thing is for sure in this world. As long as you put enough efforts you will be able to achieve everything in this world. The premise is you should have sufficient strength for achieving what you want. There would not be free food after all. You have to work in order to get it done.


    Even someone who have low talent can advance to high ranks as long as you train for years diligently. Although your speed of advancement will be slowpared to prodigies like Link and anomalies like Rio but you can do it as long as you work hard enough for it.


    Author''s Note: What do you guys think, should I make a chapter focusing on exining Link''s? (0_0)


    1. Yes


    2. No

 Chapter 33 Who Is Riya?

    Jold district No-4, Arte''s star-watching tower.


    A huge tower stands majestically here right in the middle of the Jold district No-4 in the city''s core area. This ce is rather close to the great Freya Academy. This tower has a very magnificent look from outside, several clouds can be seen covering its top, due to which the tower''s top is always hidden from the people looking from outside.


    But the difference about this tower is, in this magical world filled with magical phenomenon this tower''s insides arepletely without any mana and it''s not a tower containing monsters or floor bosses etc. like in those tower raiding novels.


    This is also the reason why this tower is actually more of a tourist attraction spot rather than a spot for awakeners to raid. Every day thousands of people visit this ce just so they can reach its top to view a beautiful scenery and try their luck.


    Even though this tower doesn''t have any mana inside it, there''s still a strange phenomenon, there exists illusions in this tower. There'' only one single thing inside this hollow tower and that is a seemingly unending staircase in a circr fashion.


    Several thousands of people try to climb it every day but all of them just gets stuck in some kind of strange illusion and find themselves standing directly outside of the tower, even though they have been climbing fine until now.


    Due to the reason that no one has been able to climb this tower people has started to call it by the nick name of ''Illusion stair tower''.


    You must be thinking why didn''t S Rank or SS rank individuals check it out then? Well, the answer is simple, simply give a little holiday to your brain cells and fill it with water, then think with it, cough! Cough! (Warning- Don''t try this in reality)


    I mean just like in every other cultivation novel there is restriction that individuals with high realms can''t enter, the same is true here individuals at A or above ranks can''t enter this tower in the first ce or it will self-destruct itself.


    Which will cause a devastating blow to the money this tower generates every year with tourism. This will not only affect the total annual ie of the investors of this ce but will also reduce the per annum ie of the Jold district.


    Now you must be thinking why hasn''t it been conquered by B-rankers yet then, right? Then now focus you brain which has now immune to cell damage with presence of the legendary spiritual liquid protecting your brain from any bacsh, cough!


    Simply speaking this all setup is done for the heaven''s chosen, the child of luck, the individual who can make world spin around him due to his sheer luck, Yeah Fade the protagonist. Then how can anyone else get to climb this tower when it''s only reason for existence is for protagonist to put a show of face-pping.


    The backstory of this tower is like this, on a cloudy night during Awakeners Era 3108, suddenly lightening appeared and with that lightening a tower descended on a barren area filled with nothing but dead soil all around it. That area was originally called Arte''s dead desert, on the name of the Earth Wizard Arte a former S-ranker, who died in this area. (current Awakeners era 4345)


    After the sudden appearance of this tower, some lucky passing by awakeners got to witness the sudden appearance of this tower and they then decided to explore. But due to repeated failure they decided to give up in the end and returned to the city to report this incident.


    The history records tells us that this new spread like a wildfire among the human race. A huge number of awakeners started to visit the tower but failed to aplish anything, still the continuous visits of awakeners continued.


    This caused a small town to form around the tower in this barren area. Gradually, that town has now be a district, now known as the ''Jold district'' inside. Due to the huge expansion of human race, now the nearby city has expanded so much that the once faraway tower is right in the core area of the city.


    But over thousand years passed and no one ever confirmed or imed about sessfully climbing this tower. Due to which this tower is now so famous that even some neighbour races also know about it. Now peoplee here for the mere purpose of entertainment and the real purpose which was to climb it has long been out of the mind of people.


    Afterall no one would like to waste their efforts on something that is impossible to do, this is totally normal. Over the years no one has been able to climb this tower. Such a disappointment for a good-looking tower, right?


    .


    .


    .


    ''Hmm, so this is how it looks at the top of this tower, it''s actually a better scenery to look at.'' (Rio)


    ''Sadly, I can''t bring Lia here, sigh~'' (Rio)


    At the very top floor of the tower there''s no ceiling and you can directly see the sky clearly from here. If you look downwards you can actually see right through the clouds as if they didn''t exist in the first ce.


    ''A rather strange phenomenon¡­" (Rio)


    What Rio didn''t consider was, that it was even more strange and ironic for him to be standing at the ce which no one has ever visited since a thousand of year. Not to mention he was even considering having a date here, truly ironic.


    Rio looked at the evening sky which has slowly started to turn darker, the fading red shine of the sun illuminates the sky making the scenery even more beautiful. Even though this ce is extremely high in sky, the winds are still slow and steady, bringing fresh breeze making Rio''s ck hair rustle in the air.


    ''It seems it will take a bit more time for it to appear¡­. I will have to wait a little more¡­" (Rio)


    Seeing that there was still time for the thing to appear for which he hase here, he decided to wait for a bit.


    While waiting for it, Rio remembered the things that happened in the past few days. He had been very busy to sort out all that had happened and now it seems that it is and appropriate time for it.


    ''I didn''t expect that my interference can cause such a huge change in the story¡­well, atleast the results are better than the original'' (Rio)


    In the novel which Rio had read in his previous life, the number of people killed were counted over 100 during that bombing and then even more of them were killed by that group of disguised individuals.


    Originally, Fade was supposed to cause amotion there before the start of the firecrackers. Since he knew that there is something wrong going on with the machine, he tried to tell people that they should leave the area and evacuate in order to save their lives.


    But this method actually backfired, due to Fade being a disaster ma, several individuals in the crowd didn''t listened and started to argue with him causing his actions to be dyed. Then he directly gave up and left to find Ms. Anna. He thought was good a choice but actually caused more damage. It took about half an hour for him to bring Ms. Anna.


    When they arrived, they found hundreds of dead bodies scattered around the ce. Link was sitting near a corpse of a girl at that time, right in the center of the area. He was repeatedly saying ''Riya please wake up!''.


    Riya was a cannon fodder type extra in the novel, she died in the very first chapter she appeared in the hands of now dead Yug. After which Link goes on a rampage destroys everything around and after killing Yug, he attacks the evacuating people until hees back to his senses automatically.


    This incident not only affected the academy but also triggered the starting of Link''s downfall. From this moment onward Link started to get defeated by Fade on every way until he was killed by Fade at the end of the academy arc.


    Link became mentally weak due to witnessing the death of Riya. He didn''t care much about the people he killed but Riya'' s death was a huge blow to his mind. Even Link''s own father scolded him since he was not able to protect Riya, even though he was engaged to her.


    With even Link''s father not supporting him, he broke even further and slowly started to darken bit by bit. His sadistic tendencies which has started to heal due to Riya immediately increased. He became even more cruel and sadistic than he originally was.


    His reputation fell down from the very top to the very bottom in a matter of a few months after he got defeated by Fade continuously.


    But Link didn''t care he had long developed a grudge against Fade and considered Fade guilty for Riya''s death. His mind was already messed up in the first ce and Fade being the disaster ma he attracted Link''s grudge on himself.


    I don''t need to tell what would have happened after; you can guess it. Yeah, Link died in the end and then Link''s father started to chase after Fade, then after Link''s father died, his subordinates started to chase him and the cycle continued for two whole years, just like that.


    Butpared to this tragic ending, the reality has been altered to a rather better direction. Even if you calcte the casualties, only 40 individuals died, including all killed by the bomb and the ck guys.


    Since Rio had diverted Link''s attention, Link wasn''t able to kill those innocent people and his rampage never happened. Although Ms. Anna and the professors arrived a few minutester than the original time, in the end it all turned out well.


    The most important change to the story is:


    ''I was able to save human''s Greatest Frost Mage, Raji Croft''s younger sister, Riya Croft.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note: Finally Riya''s identity has been exposed. Were you surprised?


    1. Yes, (since the author said i had shut down my brain and was thinking with my knees, so i was surprised.)


    2. No, (i already guessed it!)


    3. Other, (I have been affected by Rio and can''t be surprised by anything!)

 Chapter 34 Father And Children Talks...

    Academy''s healer Office.


    (Lia''s Pov)


    After fainting during the date with Rio, when Lia woke up, she found herself on a bed in healer''s office. Her personal maid who have been taking care of Lia since childhood was sitting there, beside her bed.


    "Are you awake, Mdy?" (Maid)


    "Yeah¡­ why am I here?" (Lia)


    Maid''s eyes narrowed a bit and she said with an expressionless face, without any emotion:


    "You fainted¡­..On your boyfriend''s Lap¡­.so, he brought you here" (Maid)


    "wha-wha, what are you saying!? H-how did you know!?" (Lia)


    Hearing that the maid knew about Rio, Lia panicked a bit. If the maid knew then it is possible for her father to know this too.


    To Lia''s question, the maid still replied expressionlessly:


    "I am your personal maid, it''s obvious that I will know about you." (Maid)


    "Ye-yeah" (Lia)


    "I even know that you two kis-" (Maid)


    "wha-what are you saying!? I never kissed him! who will even talk to a bastard like him!?¡­.i-I am going to sleep! ye-yeah I feel tired!" (Lia)


    "You can''t sleep, Mdy" (Maid)


    "Eh, why?" (Lia)


    "because you may start dreaming about something more lewd stuff-" (Maid)


    "stop fooling around with me already! Who will even think about something like that! Not to mention with that idiot!" (Lia)


    "Ye-yeah, so I wanted to say that you can''t sleep because Master had asked for your presence during today''s dinner in the family mansion." (Maid)


    "Wh-what father is home!? And he wants me to be present during the dinner today!?" (Lia)


    "Yes, Mdy" (Maid)


    "Can''t you just say that I have to attend ss tomorrow?" (Lia)


    "Well, due to an incident during the new year, your academy has dered a holiday for a week, so you don''t have any ss for now, Mdy" (Maid)


    "Sigh~ do I really have to meet him? Sigh~" (Lia)


    "Your face look like someone has told you about your execution date, you shouldn''t make a face like that Mdy, you can do it" (Maid)


    "Are you trying to motivate me? Thank you, Mel" (Lia)


    .


    .


    The Capital City Astra is divided in several areas, the areas are divided on the basis of how powerful the individuals living in that area are:


    Outer Area: Ordinary Humans (Un-awakened) (Most of the poption Lives here in ordinary and low-quality houses)


    Inner Area: Individuals from Rank-G to Rank-B all live in this area.


    Core Area: Individuals from Rank-A to S live in this area, most of the high ranked guild and building are also in this area, like the academy.


    Central Area: Currently only three Families live here along with their subordinates and the highest quality guilds. These three families are backed by an SS-ranker each. They are the Rex family, Croft family and the Aldif family.


    .


    Central Area, Rex Mansion


    Link was heading towards his father''s office. While he walked towards the office, an extremely beautiful scenery can be seen passing by, all of this is an artificial garden made by the top human engineers. You can experience anything you want in this huge garden.


    The garden around can be turned into a grasnd spread for hundreds of miles, even though this garden is just a few miles long. This is the extent of spatial technology humans have acquired after hundreds of year''s hard work.


    But Link wasn''t interested in these high-tech stuffs, he has grown up in this mansion and he has long been bored from all these things. He just can''t wait for the day when the academy to open and go back there. That ce looks more better to him.


    ''I wonder what father wants to talk now, I hope he is in good mood today, sigh~'' (Link)


    Link''s father has always been very strict on him, he always wanted that Link work hard and live up to his name as the son of a SS-ranker. Due to which Link have been trained since the very day he was born.


    Yeah, you heard it right, he has trained from the very day he born. You see there exists a secret method to increase your talent and only SS-ranked individuals know about this method, they have strictly restricted the spreading of this method.


    Afterall, if it was possible to increase one''s talent was possible then it could cause a huge sensation in the humans and several individuals will also go to any extent to do so. Which will instead be more dangerous for the humanity itself.


    The method is that, when and individual is still in un-awakened state, if he baths in water containing, atleast one or more Perfect rank Mana potion every day they can increase their chance of awakening with a high rank talent to a very high percentage.


    But the twist in this method is that, a single Perfect rank Mana potion is so expensive that even A-ranked individuals can''t afford it, only some Rich S rankers can afford it after saving money for several years.


    And if this knowledge about the talent improvement method goes public, people will try to acquire the potion at any cost which will make the already expensive potion to increase further in price and the materials needed for it will also be expensive.


    The SS-ranked individuals frequently use these perfect potions and they can''t ept this thing and the other reason is human greed. Afterall no one want to see others be more stronger than you, right?


    .


    After a while Link finally arrived at the office, before he could knock at the door, he heard a rough and stern voice:


    "Come in, my son" (Ashtel Rex)


    Link didn''t say anything and directly entered the office.


    After he entered the office, he felt himself in a totally different area. Even though the office looked extremely small from outside. It was actually very huge inside. This is also due to advance spatial magic and high-tech engineering.


    Link walked towards the table and sat directly opposite to Ashtel. Sitting here he can feel the oppressing aura of his father. If Raji''s aura is like a cold and freezing like Ice then, you can consider Ashtel''s aura is like, a domineering and cruel king.


    His aura is extremely restrained at the moment if he does not restrain it, Ashtel might kill Link in a matter of second with his aura alone. This is the difference between a C-rank and SS-rank.


    "I heard you saved that girl, Riya" (Ashtel)


    "Nope, it wasn''t me, it was a ssmate of mine, I was affected by mana overload when fighting with that A-rank person" (Link)


    Hearing this Ashtel wasn''t surprised at all because he long knew it. SS-rank is no joke. Children like Link and Rio are still too young for this old monster. He has a well develop intelligencework and Link also knew this.


    That''s why he said the truth and didn''t hide the fact that he failed to protect Riya. Although he knew that this can make Ashtel angry to some extent, but if Link said a lie that would be more terrible.


    "At the end of the day, everything was okay. If you didn''t kill that A-ranker Riya wouldn''t survive, I doubt that kid Rio would have been able to do the same right?" (Ashtel)


    "Not really, he was able to hold his ground against me for several minutes even when I was in the state of mana overload, I think he have the talent to be a peak S ranker." (Link)


    "Hmm, that''s surprising, well, peak S rank talent is very rare too, anyway it''s a good thing that we found him early, you should make him your ally when he is still a hidden gem." (Ashtel)


    "Yes, father" (Link)


    "And since you didn''t cause a major incident this time, I will ignore that little mistake of yours. But you should take your guards with you, don''t be careless like you were at that time. Now you may go" (Ashtel)


    "Yes, father" (Link)


    After that Link left the office and the previous silence returned:


    "A peak S rank talent, as expected of Kevin''s son, maybe we will be able to see ''that sword'' once again¡­" (Ashtel)


    .


    .


    Core area, Silver family''s mansion


    In the dinning room, Lia sat on the seat farthest from her father''s seat. Although her face was normal, her mind was in a great mess, she was thinking about running away from this depressing ce already.


    After a while, a burly man waked in and sat directly at the head seat. This man is James Silver, an S-rank warrior (tank type). He looked at Lia who was sitting so far and frowned a bit, but decided to ignore this.


    James has straightforward personality; he doesn''t like to talk nonsense and hates the people who talks too much. The only problem is that he is too straightforward:


    "So, who''s Rio?" (James)


    "H-he¡­" (Lia)


    "are you okay with him?" (James)


    "I-i¡­" (Lia)


    "does he treat you in the right way?" (James)


    "H-he¡­." (Lia)


    "Should I give him a good beating, so that he listens to you?" (James)


    "N-No! what are you even saying!?" (Lia)

 Chapter 35 Rio-Professional Thief (Stealing Session)

    "S-Stop talking nonsense, father! And say why have you summoned me already!?" (Lia)


    "¡­" (James)


    "Wh-what!? Why are you making a face as if you are about to cry!?" (Lia)


    "It has been so long since you called me father!! How can I not cry!?" (James)


    "Wh-wha¡­ I didn''t say anything! You are just imagining stuff!" (Lia)


    Remembering about the photo his subordinate gave him earlier, James was feeling a bit happy in his heart. He was able to see his daughterughing after so long in that photo and today Lia even called him ''father''. All because of that boy:


    "Sigh~, in the end, should I ept him as my son-inw¡­.." (James)


    After hearing this Lia''s face immediately became red:


    "Wha-wha-what the heck are you talking about!? Who would marry that stinky guy! Not to mention he is a training maniac and is so untalkative!" (Lia)


    "Oh! What a coincidence!? Aren''t you two rather simr then!? Could it be a match made in heave-" (James)


    Lia blushed even more and her face became as red as a tomato:


    "Oh!e on! I am leaving!" (Lia)


    "Okay, okay wait! I will talk about the main thing now, stop!" (James)


    Hearing him say that he will stop talking nonsense Lia reluctantly stopped from running away:


    "Th-then say it already, I have to train, humph" (Lia)


    ''She resembles her mother so much when she gets angry, sigh~'' (James)


    James shook his head and decided to get serious now:


    "So, the main thing that I wanted to say is" (James)


    "hmm?" (Lia)


    "Bring that boy Rio with you this weekend to meet me, I have to talk to him about something" (James)


    "Wha, why would I bring him though!?" (Lia)


    "Just do as I say" (James)


    "But-" (Lia)


    "No Excuses, just bring him here, otherwise I will go myself" (James)


    "O-okay, but why do you want to meet him?" (Lia)


    "I have to fulfil the promise which I did to an old friend of mine" (James)


    Lia got confused but, in the end, she agreed to this brazen request, and left for her own room. After Lia left James butler who was quite until now suddenly said:


    "Master, are you really going to give ''that'' to him?" (Butler)


    Hearing the butler''s question, James just nodded his head and spoke in a rather calm voice:


    "Yeah, ''it'' belongs to him anyway¡­" (James)


    .


    .


    .


    Jold district, Arte''s starwatching tower.


    Rio looked at the sky and after a few seconds a faint and hazy figure of a star appeared in the sky. Although there was still some time for the sun to fully set down but this star can be seen without much problem.


    ''It''s time'' (Rio)


    After a few second the thing Rio was waiting finally came:


    [You have discovered the entrance to the hidden floor of the Arte''s tower]


    [Would you like to enter?]


    [Yes/No]


    "Yes" (Rio)


    Suddenly, a blinding light enveloped Rio''s whole body and as the light slowly started to fade away, Rio''s figure also disappeared from where he was before.


    Unlike the teleportation magic where mana and mana circles are needed to carryout teleportation this method only involves a set mechanism and a medium to teleport an individual from one ce to other.


    The star and the tower both are the part of the set mechanism capable of teleporting anyone standing at the roof to the hidden floor, while the individual''s body is the medium through which this teleportation urs.


    This method has actually long been lost during early times since the arrival of mana in this world. Nowadays this method is just recorded in the legends and myths, only history lovers Like Kira know about its legends and myths. Most of the world don''t even have any idea about its existence.


    .


    .


    When Rio opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a dpidated library of some kind.


    ''It really is a unique experience to travel through a method which is considered only be possible in legends'' (Rio)


    He looked around for a while and found that most of the books here are still in good condition just like it was described in the novel. But since Rio knew that these books are written in some kind of differentnguage which he can''t understand at all. Only someone with great knowledge can do so, like Kira.


    ''Well, ording to the novel these books all contain historical records which are not really much interesting for me anyway'' (Rio)


    Although for history lovers this ce is just like heaven, for him this is simply a waste of time. He shook his head and started to walk around in order to find the biggest book-shelf in this library. After a while he finally found it.


    He then started to look for a book with thebel of a dead dragon whose head is pierced by a spear with a mark of a star on it. The shelf being so big it contained about 100 books due to which it took about a few minutes for Rio to find this book.


    After Rio finally found it, he picked the book and started to walk towards the statue in the center of this library. This statue is a resemnce of a great individual who was once know by the nickname of ''the most knowledgeable man in the world: Dirham''. Obviously, Rio just read about it in the novel he doesn''t knew the history at all.


    Rio ced the book in the empty hands of the statue in a holding posture. As if a certain mechanism has been activated, Rio then again walked towards the book-shelf and tried to slide the it on the side. Surprisingly it opened rather smoothly, without using much strength.


    A small room appeared in Rio''s sight. He walked in without hesitation and as he had expected a pure white colored stone was floating in mid-air, while the whole room was empty.


    Rio didn''t care looking around he already knew there''s was nothing of interest except this stone. He directly grabbed the stone and started to direct his mana in the stone.


    [Perfect-Rank Enhancement Stone discovered!]


    [effects: unknown]


    [Would you like to use it?]


    [Yes/No]


    "Yes" (Rio)


    The stone disappeared slowly and crumbled into dust particles, while a steady and warm flow of energy poured in Rio''s body from the stone. The warm energy made Rio feel extremelyfortable and rxed, it started to spread all over Rio''s and slowly the warm energy disappeared as if never existed in the first ce.


    After the warm energy disappeared Rio felt that his body has be much stronger than before:


    [Perfect-rank Enhancement Stone Absorbed sessfully!]


    [The hidden attributes; Resistances, perception, reaction speed etc. all improved significantly]


    [Your skill ''Body strengthening'' has been promoted from C+ to B- sessfully]


    [Your resistance to physical and magical damage increased!]


    ''As expected, it really was a good choice that I came here.'' (Rio)


    After getting familiar with his strengthened body, Rio then walked towards the ce where the stone was floating before. He then touched the ground with his hand and put channeled some mana in the ground, a teleportation circle lit up and Rio was directly transported back to the topmost floor of the Arte''s tower.


    Just as Rio was about to rx a bit, he suddenly felt danger from behind. He directly moved away at an extremely fast speed. Looking back, he found that huge ogre was standing there and its enormous and heavy club had destroyed the floor where Rio was previously standing.


    Obviously, that was an attack with the intention to kill. Rio was surprised for a bit but then his mind became calm for a bit his hand unconsciously slid towards his sword but unfortunately there was no sword hanging on his waist.


    ''I forgot, it broke during my fight with Link, such bad luck, sigh~'' (Rio)


    The ogre didn''t give Rio any time to think it directly carried out its next attack and fortunately Rio dodged it too. The ogre is just too slow even if it continues to attack, it will never be able to even touch Rio''s hair at all.


    ''But this is not a permanent solution¡­" (Rio)


    Seeing that the little human was so slippery and was able to dodge its every attack the ogre became even more angry and its face have a human-like irritated expression.


    ''Oh, I didn''t know that monsters can make such expressions too, a new discovery, indeed.'' (Rio)


    The ogre suddenly started to move faster maybe it was due to some skill which made it go berserk and increased its speed too.


    ''Should I finish this now, let''s finish it, there''s no point dragging this¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio used his mana to look inside his spatial ring and suddenly brought out an ordinary wooden stick, yeah, an ordinary wooden stick:


    [Sword Aura: Sword Enhancement!]


    [Lightning Strike!]


    Rio flicked the stick slightly and the ogre stopped moving, after a while its head fell down followed by its body.


    ''I wish Lia was here to see how cool I am, sigh~'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note: So guys a new stealing session is here, do you want the stealing sessions to be continued or it is good to make this one thest.


    1. Yes, i want to continue seeing Rio go further on the road of a professional thief.


    2. No, its time we make Rio a bit good and stop making the protagonist''s life miserable.

 Chapter 36 Plot-Holes Can Damage Brains...

    Looking at the now-dead Ogre''s corpse Rio didn''t know what he should do now. ording to what he read in the novel there shouldn''t be any monster here, yet Rio met this damn ogre here.


    Not to mention the fact that ogres are rather rare and can only be found in very few dungeons, they are also a race with intelligence, although their IQ is still low than an average human, they are still capable of carrying outplex movements like using heavy swords and battleaxes in a skillful way.


    Thinking about the event of the Arte''s tower in the original novel it was as follows:


    Fade and Kira chose this tower for their date. While walking around Kira told Fade the whole history of the tower, as you know she is very good with this aspect. She has deep knowledge of history and generally, she always likes to read history books whenever she has free time.


    So, as you must have already guessed what would have happenedter. Fade being the protagonist how can he lose such a great opportunity to show off in front of Kira. He led Kira with him towards the stairs and just he was about to start climbing up, he was stopped by a passerby:


    "Kid, this is not a ce where you should be, go away and y somewhere else."


    Instantly everyone''s attention was on them now. As if a mysterious phenomenon urred the huge ce filled with about a hundred people became silent and everyone started to look at Fade with mocking expressions.


    Plot-hole 1. Did so many people forget their own thing and focused on a single guy just like that? Isn''t this rather idiotic? Has the author also damaged his brain? No, consider this a plot hole and the effect of the protagonist''s halo. (If you are still not convinced then ask Rio! how he survived reading a poisonous book!?... cough!)


    So, where were we¡­ yeah, then after that, the event followed the same clich¨¦ patterns:


    ''Heh, these braindead people are considering me a pushover. Humph, see how I p your face now.'' (Fade)


    "Huh, I am here to climb this tower today and no one can stop me from doing this! Come if you dare stop Laozi!" (Fade)


    (Those who are still newbies to the cultivation world ''Laozi'' means ''I! your father!'' Generally said in arrogance and contempt)


    "Heh, see how I beat you today, you smelly brat!"


    Several burly men surrounded Fade and Kira. But Fade''s face was still expressionless. In front of an awakener, these ordinary humans are absolutely nothing and are just ants. Fade didn''t even put them in his eyes, he can kill them with a mere act of breathing¡­ cough! Cough!


    Plot-hole 2. No adult in their right mind would use violence against a kid. Except for some those who love the walls of the jail. (jail exists in this world too. So loli-lovers you have been warned if you get transmigrated here, remember to be a gentleman, just like fade¡­ cough!! I mean don''t be like fade!)


    Fade didn''t even bring out his staff to beat these people he just cast a fireball with his barehand which is a rather inefficient method to cast but even with this inefficient method he still cast a huge fireball and directlyunched it towards the ordinary people, the people became scared and their faces were now full of fear.


    But before the fireball could harm anyone, a security staff member stopped the fireball from doing so. Coincidentally this security staff member is actually the brother of the individual who Fade had scared before. He is also an awakener. Now he directly attacked Fade to take revenge for his brother, then was also beaten, then he called more of his friends to gang up on Fade, then they were also beaten¡­. Cough! Cough!


    Ahem, I got carried away a bit, so at the end of the day Fade was then arrested due to causing harm to innocent people but him being the protagonist how can he stay in Jail. Kira contacted her father and helped Fade to get out of this huge and unreasonably created mess.


    Plot-Hole 3. During the whole process Why didn''t Kira stop Fade from arguing and used her contacts to get rid of this nuisance before the situation red up and became so big? (I don''t know too, ask Kira yourself, don''t look at this author''s exnation)


    Fade got out of the Jail just one hour after he got arrested. Then Kira and Fade continued their date as if nothing happened and I don''t know how they even came back so early, from the Jail, which was located about an hour away, while traveling through the mana train.


    Ignoring the fact that this time even though there were even more people than before, the event didn''t happen twice and this time Fade and Kira both started to climb the stairs with excited expressions.


    [You have encountered the illusion of Arte''s tower, would you like to pass through it?]


    [Will consume 25k EXP]


    [Yes/No]


    Ignoring the fact that by paying 25k Exp Fade and Kira both passed through the illusion right in front of many people causing a huge scene again. Several talks started to erupt again, but who cares, nothing can stop this event to ur once it is started.


    Only when the event has not yet started can it be destroyed just like how Rio has been doing it ever since he started stealing Fade''s chances.


    After they both passed through the illusion they came to the same floor where the now-dead ogre is sleeping with a happy expression. Kira being a history-loving maniac directly recognized the lost teleportation method.


    Without wasting time, she instantly figured out how to trigger the mechanism just like Rio did. Actually, Rio was just following what Kira had done to make the mechanism work all along. The only difference was that, Unlike Fade who used Exp, Rio passed through the illusion using ''True Immunity''.


    The rest of the process was all same. Then Fade and Kira were both teleported to the library Kira got interested in those books and directly stuffed them all in her space ring. Just when she was about to store thest book too, she found that her ring has run out of space. Due to this, she had to carry it with her.


    Coincidently that book had the same pattern of a dead dragon with a spear piercing its head and a star pattern on it. Again, coincidently that book slipped off from her hand and fixed itself in the statue. (I don''t know how that is possible, Rio''s brain cell must have been damaged due to this, poor Rio)


    Unlike in Rio''s case, the door opened itself and they found the stone. Kira directly gave that stone to Fade, since she has already taken so many books. So, she gave that stone to Fade without hesitation. Fade didn''t disagree and used it on himself.


    Then, they found the way out by finding that teleportation circle by looking at the wall which had some ancientnguage written on it. No monster stopped them and they left the same way they came, through the stairs.


    When downstairs they were directly surrounded by a huge number of people who couldn''t wait but ask about how they passed through the illusion and what they got etc. And just when the situation was getting out of control Kira''s bodyguards arrived and helped them clear the way.


    This way this event ended.


    .


    Rio looked at the monster corpse again and the same thought that he had been thinking about for a while now came to his mind:


    ''Is the heavenly luck trying to stop me from stealing Fade''s chances?'' (Rio)


    If that is the case then it will really be a problem for him, but even if there are some troubles, this professional thief can''t be stopped.


    After pondering for a while, Rio shook his head. There''s no point in thinking so much and wasting my energy thinking about this dead monster. Rio put this matter at the back of his mind and started to walk towards the stairs.


    ''I wonder if there will be people greeting me? But I don''t want to get discovered so let''s do the same thing I did when climbing the stairs.'' (Rio)


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Concentration!]


    After using these two skills to temporarily increase his stats, Rio stood at the firstdder for a second, and then, as if an arrow wasunched, he ran so fast that all the way downward, no one was able to see him. After all, there are only ordinary people there''s no awakener and ordinary people can''t follow with his speed which is already faster than a bullet.


    People just felt a breeze of air when Rio passed by them and just like that Rio left the tower and headed in the direction of the dormitories.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note: Do you like the idea where; I am adding myments in the chapter to exin some things:


    1. Nope (that was distracting)


    2. Yes (you should do this in certain chapters, but not in all)


    3. I don''t know anything, I am still recovering from brain damage caused by Fade.

 Chapter 37 Unexpected Guest!

    It''s the second day since the academy closed, the news about a terrorist attack on the academy is currently in the headlines and every news channel is broadcasting this incident with more and more exaggerated remarks.


    The rumors are spreading faster than a wildfire. Not to mention, Link has be the star and there are several talks going around on Link:


    "Hello viewers, today we have invited Mr. Joseph who is an active member of the Rex family''s management department." (Tv Anchor)


    "Mr. Joseph, we wee you on our channel" (Tv Anchor)


    "Yes, thank you for your generosity, I am Joseph from the management department of Rex family." (Joseph)


    "So, Mr. Joseph we wanted to ask how the Rex family''s reaction to this incident." (Tv Anchor)


    "Well, as everyone already know that young master Link has shown his unparallel courage during this time. He even fought an A-rank terrorist, regarding this the Rex family obviously feels very proud and supports young master Link" (Joseph)


    The person named Joseph continued to rain praises there was no end to it. Once he started talking, he didn''t stop until the anchor had to end the show for fear that Joseph would continue talking until he fainted.


    *click*


    Rio closed the Tv with a rather annoyed expression. He has been enjoying his free time until these idiotic interviews spread all over the inte. (This is a modern world with mana and technology coexisting here.)


    But then this idiotic interview started and every channel he looked at, was all broadcasting this same thing even the channels which were not new channels were also doing the same. The whole inte is filled with talks about Link.


    ''Rex family is really a true giant, sigh~'' (Rio)


    All this showed only one thing, that the Rex family has enough power and authority that they can literally even shut down the whole intework. Not to mention the greatest guild belongs to the Rex family, they also have a huge business empire, trillions of wealth are nothing to the Rex family, from a small needle to a satellite the business empire of the Rex family is capable of producing everything.


    There are even unique ss awakeners like Alchemists etc. present under them and are capable of making several perfect rank potions and artifacts. Although most of the artifacts are generated from the dungeon raids, artificially crafting them is also possible but it takes enormous wealth and talented individuals.


    Rex family has both they have enough wealth to kill an S ranker literally by burying them in money¡­ cough! (that was an exaggeration.)


    ''Yet all this copsed in the hands of Fade, truly ironic.'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head; he knew that thinking this won''t really do anything. By saving Riya, Rio has already done a great favor for Link, this way Link has already got a chance to walk towards a better ending, but if he still doesn''t improve, he can''t do anything about it.


    ''I will only mind my own business until he doesn''t really cross the line and start killing thousands of innocent people.'' (Rio)


    Rio''s eyes narrowed and the surrounding became a bit cold:


    ''And even if that situation came, I will put all the me on Fade after resolving Link.'' (Rio)


    *Ding**Dong*


    Just as Rio was busy thinking, the doorbell suddenly brought him back to his senses. He got up and started to walk towards the door, although his face was as expressionless as ever, he was still confused in his head:


    ''Who could it be? I don''t even have friends, to begin with, let''s see first'' (Rio)


    Rio opened the gate and was surprised by looking at the person who was standing outside. The boy has dark red hair and dark red pupils, his aura so dense and filled with a sense of arrogance that it literally screams ''kneel down! You are just an Ant in front of me!'' (Rio''s aura gives the feeling of calm and mysteriousness.) (Every being''s aura is the manifestation of their personality, just like your fingerprints, it''s unique for everyone.)


    Then the boy said with a bright smile, which Rio didn''t like at all:


    "Hello, I am Link Rex, I would like to talk to you for a bit." (Link)


    "Come inside." (Rio)


    Rio invited this unweed guest inside his dorm room. He led him to the sofa and then brought tea for them. After that Rio sat directly opposite Link and his expressionless face never changed.


    Rio didn''t care much about Link but the main thing is that Link is not alone. Rio can sense the massive presence of two S-rank individuals. Even Rio didn''t know when they entered the room and how they entered. But one thing is sure from the fact that they are showing their presence but not their body, they are clearly warning Rio to not do anything wrong otherwise he will have to bear the consequences.


    Although Rio knew this, he didn''t really care about this. They can''t kill him because they have already shown their presence here and the dorm manager who is also an S-rank must have already sensed them too. If they really tried to kill me, they will not be able to escape so easily, Link would not be affected but these two will be punished.


    ''But obviously, two S-rankers are more valuable for humanity than a C-rank kid, they will not really suffer much, my luck''s really bad, sigh~'' (Rio)


    "So, what do you want?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s direct and blunt question, Link''s smiling face twitched and he looked at Rio with narrowed eyes. This guy is the first one to speak so disrespectfully to him, except for his father and his mother no one ever dared talk to him without any respect.


    "Was it you who save Riya?" (Link)


    "I don''t know what you are talking about?" (Rio)


    "Don''t pretend to not know, tell me what do you want in return?" (Link)


    "Hmm, if you really want to give something then I can''t reject, it would be good if you can provide a movement type skill book or something." (Rio)


    "You are rather greedy than I originally thought, do you even know how precious a movement skill book is?" (Link)


    "Obviously I know, but to the great Rex family this much is nothing." (Rio)


    "Well that''s true, okay then I will ask someone to deliver it to youter." (Link)


    "Now tell me how you did that? How you saved Riya from that A-ranked one?" (Link)


    "Everyone has their secrets, why would I tell you mine¡­" (Rio)


    The atmosphere in the room suddenly became chilly:


    "Don''t you think my subordinates will kill you?" (Link)


    "Hmm, that could be possible but secrets are secrets, they can''t be revealed by threatening." (Rio)


    "You are very stubborn you know, what if I myself beat you up?" (Link)


    "Well, that''s not possible, I have already fought you once and you know the result who was the winner and who was the loser" (Rio)


    "tsk, okay fine, don''t say if you don''t want to, here take this card" (Link)


    "This is?" (Rio)


    "This is a VIP bank card, I have transferred some money in it from my private savings, since you protected Riya I am giving this as a gift to you" (Link)


    "But didn''t you already?" (Rio)


    "That is from the Rex family, it can''t be considered given by me, also you stopped me from going on a rampage otherwise I would have harmed innocent people, thank you for that" (Link)


    "¡­.." (Rio)


    "What? Why are you quiet?" (Link)


    "It''s just that I am surprised that you can also say thank you, that was really unexpected." (Rio)


    "Tsk, what do you take me for, I am a gentleman, you see" (Link)


    "That''s the biggest joke I have ever heard." (Rio)


    Link ignored Rio and got up from his seat:


    "It''s time I leave now, we can talk more some other day" (Link)


    "Yeah, sure" (Rio)


    Then Rio escorted Link outside. As Link left the two present also left along with him. Rio closed the door when Link was no longer in his sight.


    ''That was the most dangerous situation I faced since my reincarnation, sigh~'' (Rio)


    Thinking back, it was a really dangerous moment, he could have died in the hands of those S-rankers, even though the academy would have punished them, Rio would have been the victim. His death would have been really meaningless. But anyway, he survived it so everything''s okay.


    ''I must be stronger though¡­'' (Rio)


    I have to be strong enough to not worry about dying an unreasonable death, today was a reminder of the fact that I am still far from the peak of my journey.


    *Ding**Dong*


    Just as Rio was considering all this suddenly the bell rang again. Rio opened the door once again. He thought it must have been Link who came back to say something else but it was actually a familiar person this time. I would say it was a very familiar one.


    "Uh, well, C-Can Ie in?" (Lia)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note: What are you keeping those power stones use them here. Don''t forget to leave your reviews about the book. It helps me in improvements.


    Thank you for the support.

 Chapter 38 Personalities And Characteristics... (Skippable)

    Well, I know it''ste to do it now, but let''s do it anyway. It can reduce some confusion at least. I am introducing this now because all the characters were not introduced during the early chapters and it would have also ruined the suspense. So, I hope you will forgive this poor author.


    Character introduction: -


    Rio sh:


    Characteristics: Dark ck Pupils and Hair. Expressionless and ordinary face.


    An individual reborn as an extra in the novel Rio read in his previous life. His friend gave him that book and read it casually just like he has been doing always been. But when he woke up the next day, he found himself in the body of Rio sh.


    He has a good memory but he wasn''t a superhuman in his previous life so he doesn''t remember the novel he read from word to word. But he has the knowledge about the main events, sub-events, and the ces where valuable things can be found like he got Elemental Sword art, etc. all of were acquired using the plot knowledge he has.


    Most of the time his face is expressionless as if he doesn''t feel any emotion at all, but actually, he can feel everything it''s just he doesn''t show them on his face. He wasn''t like this in his past life but after his soul fused with the original Rio, he has be like this. He doesn''t show emotion on his face most of the time but there are some special asions where you can find him showing emotions, like when he talks with Lia.


    Past life ¨C


    - An orphan and does not have any rtive


    - An ordinary and average college student


    - Age: 20 (before transmigration)


    - Past name- Unknown (He forgot.)


    Current Life-


    - Orphan, both parents died when he was 10 years old during the Drift city massacre.


    - One of the top 100 students out of 1000 first-year students in the great Freya academy.


    - Age: 15 (Current)


    Personality: Loner, calctive, selfish, and battle maniac. He is selfish enough to kill anyone who is a problem in his way. Don''t like to talk ormunicate and only does so when it''s really important.


    Most of the time talks to himself in his head makes every n in his head and wants to avoid the crowd''s attention. As long as not important he tries to avoid people but if important he can talk very well too.


    Wasn''t much interested in battles and training in his past life but aftering into this world he has be a total battle maniac and he likes to try his skills on those monsters which are deadly to other students.


    [Author''s Remark: This personality can be modified slightly in the future, but there will not be any major change in it. Except for Lia, Rio doesn''t want to talk to anyone as long as it''s not important.]


    When there''s nothing to do, he generally likes toze around at home and sleep all day long, he isn''t really interested in doing troublesome things, instead, he would prefer sleeping.


    Favorite work: Sleeping all day long, talking to himself, and stealing Fade''s chances


    Past thoughts: "what else should I steal from Fade?"


    Current thoughts: "should I beat Fade to give his system shop to me? Should I buy some cool-looking clothes, maybe I should invite Lia too."


    .


    .


    Fade Crest:


    Characteristics: Light brown hair and pupils, ordinary face.


    The original Main protagonist, the blessed child of the heavens, destined to be the savior of the world, is professional in face-pping people.


    He has a system that can help him in improving and learn anything he wants. This system has the system exclusive skills like Shop, appraisal, exp, proficiency, loyalty meter, etc.


    Before getting the system:


    - A target for bullies


    - A person with a cowardly and weak mindset.


    - Loved his family more than his life.


    Thoughts at that time: "how do I stop these bullies!?"


    .


    After getting the system:


    - A yboy with an arrogant and overbearing mindset.


    - Loves to flirt with girls, and wants to expand his harem. (currently, only Kira is in his harem but there will be more eventually)


    - Likes to target anyone whoes his way. Have a revenge-type mentality.


    After awakening his system his personality changed extremely quickly, from being a coward he became an arrogant and overbearing person. He has already considered Kira as the woman in his heart and he also wanted to take Lia as his own but Rio''s presence causes him fear and suffocation, thus he gave up this idea after their first talk.


    Originally his potential and magic both were at their lowest and he suffered through bullying due to his own carelessness. But after he got the system everything changed and he face-pped everyone who despised him.


    Favorite work: Being with Kira, flirting with random girls, saving damsels in distress, pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, face-pping people, and trying to expand his harem.


    [Author''s Note: Afterpleting his harem, Fade''s personality will change a bit more again and he will start liking showing off in front of his harem and face-pping people to increase his reputation even more.]


    .


    .


    Link Rex:


    Characteristics: Dark Red Hair and Pupils. Extremely handsome with a gentle smile on his face with a devilish charm to it.


    The son of an SS-rank awakener, blessed with great talents and born with unparallel wealth. Trained by the very best professionals since birth, his father had awakened a draconic bloodline and Link is born with an even stronger draconic bloodline. If not for Rio who is an anomaly, Link is a genuine talent.


    Even when Fade and Link fought a deadly battle in the original novel, it took a huge effort to finally kill him. During that battle Link was poisoned and there were several de-buffs on him, he was fighting against five individuals of the same ranks, yet he caused fatal wounds to every member of Fade''s team and even caused the death of one out of four heroines present at that time.


    Original personality in the novel:


    - He is arrogant and sadist to the bones, yet he shows a gentle smile on his face.


    - After Riya''s death his sadistic nature increased even more and he caused the death of hundreds of innocent individuals.


    - Is proud of his identity, but doesn''t show it on the surface.


    Personality after Rio saved Riya:


    - His sadistic nature got suppressed and his arrogance decreased due to the defeat he faced at Rio''s hands.


    - Has be more protective over Riya and wants to be strong enough to control his berserk mode.


    - Has started to try making Rio his ally.


    Previous thoughts: "This person is so annoying; I will torture him to death"


    Current thoughts: "I must be strong!"


    .


    .


    Lia Silver:


    Characteristics: Golden hair and beautiful golden pupils( her pupils turn silver whenever she uses her skill they give her enhanced vision). Cold expression and perfect beauty.


    Daughter of an S rank, her mother died when she was young and her father didn''t give her enough care after her mother''s death making her jealous of Kira who had a perfect and loving family.


    In order to not feel loneliness, she trained with a sword and awakened as a swordsman.


    If someone tries to approach her, she invites them for a training duel directly, thus her reputation in the academy has be of a battle-crazy woman. People think that the only thought in her mind is ''training''.


    Personality: A Tsundere (there''s no need to tell more).


    Although she likes the time when she is with Rio she isn''t able to tell him that due to her Tsundere personality. She gets flustered and panicky when Rio teases her.


    Except when with Rio, she faces everyone else with a cold attitude. Although she often says in her mind that she doesn''t like Rio, she is happy to be with him.


    Her jealousy has also disappeared and she has stopped arguing with Kira now. But she doesn''t talk to Kira yet. She respects her father but doesn''t show it. She is caring and loving on the inside but cold and crazy on the outside.


    Previous thoughts: "Ugh, Kira irritates me so much, I want to kill her!"


    Current thoughts: "To-today I-I will definitely take my revenge on that bastard! For all those times he made fun of me! Just wait, Rio! Bu-but which dress I should wear today!?"


    .


    .


    Kira Bloodlight:


    Characteristics: Orange hair and pupils with a reddish tint. Beautiful and caring.


    She has been raised in a caring and loving family, due to which she also cares about her close ones. She is even worried about Lia even though Lia badmouths her several times.


    Personality: Caring. (She even cried at the sad death of Link)


    She is the main supporter of Fade and without her Fade''s life will be very miserable. Basically, she is the one who cleans all the mess created by Fade every single day, otherwise, Fade would have been punished by the academy several times and would have been sent to jail several times.


    Favorite work: Reading History books and deciphering ancientnguages.


    Previous thoughts: "How did Fade create such a perfect magic circle!?"


    Current thoughts: "Lia got a boyfriend! She is so awesome, they even Ki-kissed!" (>v<)


    .


    .


    Riya Croft:


    Characteristics: white hair and white pupils. Cute and beautiful.


    She is a cannon fodder extra who should have died in the original novel in the very first chapter she was introduced. But due to Rio changing the story her destiny has been changed, she is no longer limited to being cannon fodder whose only purpose was to make Link a sadist. But she has the opportunity to achieve more.


    She has awakened the rarest ss healer and her healing capabilities are very strong. Her every move is filled with overflowing cuteness (she is not a loli.)


    Personality: Lively, energetic, and a chatterbox.


    She enjoys being with Link and wants to be with him for the rest of her life, she stopped eating for three days in order to convince her sister of Riya and Link''s engagement. She is a childhood friend of Link.


    Favorite work: Talking non-stop.


    Previous thoughts: "I want to eat candies and want to marry Link"


    Current thoughts: "I want to eat even more candies and want to marry Link immediately"


    .


    .


    Author''s note: It took more time to create this than a normal chapter would have taken. So, no chapter for today. Don''t forget to tell me your thoughts on the characters.


    1. Rio (He is best because I like selfish and cool personalities. His teasing Lia are the best moments)


    2. Fade (I like Fade''s talent of making normal people go brain-dead and his thick plot armor is the best)


    3. Link (He is better because he gives the vibes of a viin yet he is so caring for his loved ones.)


    4. Lia (Tsundere is the best! No excuses!)


    5. Kira (Caring people are the best, her loving nature is heart-touching...)


    6. Riya (I want to hear Riya''s non-stop talk, she is just too cute!)


    Hidden option:


    7. Author (The author''s heavenly writing technique and his heaven-destroying keyboard are the mightiest... cough! cough! this damn mouth of mine! cough! cough!)


    Also, use your power stones here why are you saving them? Use them and Riya will bless you with her non-stop talk when you will be trying to sleep.

 Chapter 39 Butterfly Effect?

    Rio''s dorm room


    ''I wonder what she is doing here?'' (Rio)


    ''W-why is he staring at me like that?'' (Lia)


    "W-would you stop staring like that!? you perv!" (Lia)


    "Well, it''s your own fault, you have such a cute face, i just can''t help but stare~" (Rio)


    "I-i... Y-you are teasing me again! aren''t you!?" (Lia)


    "Oh! You found out! Indeed, you have grown up, even though you used to be so naive back then, sigh~" (Rio)


    "Stop talking like an old man! And I am not naive!" (Lia)


    "Heh, you are so naive~, you even came inside a boy''s room all alone, don''t you think something might happen to you?" (Rio)


    A yful smile spread over Rio''s face, he totally looked like a perv.


    Lia had a sudden urge to beat this bastard into pulp, but she held back her hand, while clenching her fists.


    ''maybe I should stop teasing her now, sigh~'' (Rio)


    "Okay, okay, calm down... So, why are here today?" (Rio)


    "Y-you better not mess around next time, i-i will forgive you for now, I am here to invite you... Father wants to meet you..." (Lia)


    ''hmm, Lia''s father? There wasn''t much written about him in the novel, the only thing I know about him is how he died'' (Rio)


    In the novel, Lia didn''t talk about her father ever so there''s not much known about her father, then why is she... Could it be also one of the butterfly effects I caused?


    "Why do he wants to meet me? Is he going to fix our marriage date?" (Rio)


    "I don''t know why he wants to meet you-" (Lia)


    "W-what are you saying!? You idiot! W-who would marry someone like you!?" (Lia)


    "Eh, you don''t want to?" (Rio)


    "Th-thats not it....i-i..." (Lia)


    "M-More importantly! Would youe with me? I-if you don''t want to, th-then it okay too." (Lia)


    ''she changed the topic'' (Rio)


    "Of course, I aming. There''s no way I will refuse to meet him" (Rio)


    "O-okay then, meet me outside the academy at 8 am tomorrow, now I should get going!" (Lia)


    "Oh, okay" (Rio)


    Rio looked at Lia who seemed to be in a hurry to run away from here.


    ''Maybe i teased her a bit too much today.'' (Rio)


    After Lia left, a sudden thought came to Rio''s mind:


    ''Lia''s father, well known for his heavy sword and ridiculous strength'' (Rio)


    In the novel his past wasn''t described only thing was said that he is currently a S-ranker and a guild master. But one thing was described in the novel very clearly:


    ''He died in his own daughter''s hands, which means he was killed by Lia.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Dungeon- Lizard''s Nest, Entrance gate


    A young boy with Brown hair and pupils is currently standing in front of this gate. Beside him is a girl with orange hair and pupils with reddish tint to them.


    The girl have an excited expression on her face. The same goes for the boy too.


    Anyone can tell that they are novice by looking at their expression, afterall an experienced person will not look at a ce filled with monster with a smile on their face exept if they have some problem in their head.


    With smiles on their face both of them entered this dungeon.


    This is a low rank dungeon and generally C-rankers are eligible to enter this ce. Anyone below it is not allowed to enter this ce.


    After they entered the dungeon both of them brought out their staff to be ready to cast spells at any moment.


    They immediately encountered a lizard monster, the monster didn''t even gave them time to think and directly attacked them.


    "Be careful, Kira. Although it''s slow, it''s attack is strong."


    "Yes, Fade." (Kira)


    [Fire-Magic: Fire arrow rain!]


    The attack sessfullynded but it only caused some little damage, to the monster.


    It''s not that the spell is weak, it''s just that this type of monster is more resistant to fire type attacks.


    "Fade use water magic on it, it''s resistent to fire magic" (Kira)


    "Yeah!" (Fade)


    After that Fade immediately attacked with water magic.


    [Water-Magic: water de!]


    This time the monster got injured fatally and died after Fade casted a small water arrow spell, in a few seconds.


    [+1500 Exp!]


    ''Good, although these monsters are strong they really gave a good amount of Exp to me.'' (Fade)


    "Let''s get going! We still have a long way ahead!" (Fade)


    After three hours:


    "Haa...huff...haa...we finally killed that boss monster. It was really a difficult fight. Wasn''t it?" (Fade)


    "Yeah, it was rather tough, but luckily we got a monster core from it!" (Kira)


    "Yeah we are rather lucky this time" (Fade)


    "But what about that hidden area that monster opened when we were fighting? Should we go inside and check it out?" (Kira)


    "Yeah! we should go there! Maybe we will find out something good there!" (Fade)


    "Okay!" (Kira)


    After deciding both of them immediately got inside and after walking for a while they found a room.


    Looking around they found broken pieces of something like a container.


    There wasn''t anything else of their interest. Fade suddenly felt strange after he didn''t got anything here. This was the first time in a very long while he suffered with bad luck.


    ''Actually this feeling is rather different, it feels as if I have lost something that should have been mine, strange.''


    "There''s nothing here, let''s go" (Fade)


    "Y-yeah" (Kira)


    Fade''s mood got worse suddenly he didn''t knew why but he fel rahe.


    [Ding! It is detected host''s Fate has been affected due to an anomaly!]


    [Would you like to find the reason behind it?]


    [Will cost 5K Exp!]


    [Yes/No]


    ''Yes'' (Fade)


    [Ding! Calcting the reason and probability using threads of fate!]


    [Error.... Retrying.... Error....]


    [The Fate rted to you have been altered due to some anomaly, please be cautious host.]


    ''what?'' (Fade)


    "Hey, Fade did something happen? you look depressed" (Kira)


    "Nothing, let''s leave this ce." (Fade)


    .


    .


    .


    Outside academy


    A luxury car can be seen standing there, seemingly waiting for someone.


    After a while a young boy with ck hair and ck pupils came, wearing casual clothes.


    Rio looked at the luxury car and then at the butler standing beside it for a whileand then decided to walk towards it.


    Noticing himing near the butler looked towards him and then opened the gate of the car fully show-casing his professional training in mannerisms.


    "Mr. Rio, please get inside. I will escort you to the white mansion." (Butler)


    "Yeah, okay" (Rio)


    After Rio got inside the butler slowly closed the door making sure that no noise is created again disying his ridiculous training on how a butler should be.


    '' Not to mention, this guy is giving off the aura of an A-rank, even the driver seems to be a peak A ranker. If not for the fact that I know I was invited, i would have thought I am being kidnapped.'' (Rio)


    While the car moved steadily without even a single bump or ufortable move, Rio''s mind drifted off to somewhere else.


    [An unknown energy has tried to detect your origins.]


    [Skill ''True Immunity'' has been triggered...]


    [Blocked the interference sessfully!]


    ''what is happening suddenly? Is this also a butterfly effect. Atleast it failed to detect me, this skill true immunity is really a gem. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was busy admiring his skill. The car also came to stop.


    "We are here" (Butler)


    Rio opened the door and walked out of the car. A huge mansion appeared in his vision. Although he already has guessued that the mainsion will definitely be very big.


    But seeing it in person is really a different thing.


    After looking for a second Rio followed behind the butler who lead the way inside. The gardens all around are very beautiful and several rare flowers can be seen in these gardens.


    The scenery around the mansion is also very beautiful. Looking very different from outside and inside.


    .


    .


    Authors note: my pc snapped today so I wasn''t able to update and gotte, and the chapter length is also a bit small.


    Well here''s today''s question.


    What do you think will fade be able to determine who is the anomaly stealing and destroying his luck or he will continue to suffer:


    1. Yes


    2. No


    Also don''t forget to use those power stones guys. We need to rank it this month. Let''s go we can do it.


    Also there''s the win- win event going on. It seems that if we win in it then the cost of purchasing chapters will reduce considerably for a while month so I am looking forward to your support guys.


    In return I will be updating a new chapter everyday. So you guys won''t get bored. Although it may take a bit of time for my pc to be repaired and the updates may be slow but I will try my best to not miss the days.

 Chapter 40 Kevin Flash- The Soul Splitter!

    "We are here, master is waiting inside." (Butler)


    After we reached the door of James office. The butler suddenly said and then he stepped aside. Clearly disying that Rio will be the only one going inside.


    Rio didn''t care about it much and without hesitation, he entered the room. Once inside he found a burly man sitting on a sofa in a liesurely way.


    The man seemed to be sleeping at that time but when Rio entered his eyes immediately opened and locked with Rio.


    Rio felt as if he was being watched by a beast, a hungry beast eyeing its prey. But after a few seconds that deadly aura disappeared.


    ''he restrained his aura, but why did he released it in the first ce, to intimidate me?'' (Rio)


    "So, you are Rio..." (James)


    "Yeah." (Rio)


    James then pointed towards the sofa right in front of him and said:


    "You can sit..." (James)


    Rio nodded his head and quietly sat on the sofa. Although, Rio was still expressionless, but inside his head he is actually already thinking about several things.


    ''If he suddenly attacks, my chances of running away alive will be 5% and if i use every single skill I have to just run, the chances are still rather slim. But first figure out his motive.'' (Rio)


    While Rio was busy nning his ways of action and making a full proof n to not die, James was also eyeing him.


    ''Hmm, this guy is clearly vignt and I am sure that he is capable of dodging a few attacks from me if am not serious. Indeed, he is a talented kid.'' (James)


    "Do you know about your parents kid?" (James)


    "What do you mean by that? Please be specific, so that I can understand." (Rio)


    ''why is he asking about my parents suddenly? I thought he was going to give me some kind of warning like ''how dare you deceive my daughter? Or something'' (Rio)


    "Well you see, Rio sh, your father was an oldrade of mine, do you remember his name?" (James)


    "Yeah, Kevin sh but how can he be arade of an S-ranker like you, i remember that he was an ordinary man he wasn''t even an awakener. Both of my parents were non-awakened, i remember it as clear as day." (Rio)


    "Yeah right, I forgot to tell, In public''s eye he was a non-awakened human." (James)


    "In public''s eye?"(Rio)


    James suddenly got up and walked towards the window, looking in the distance he said:


    "Yeah, your mother was a non-awakened human, but Kevin was a Peak S-ranker" (James)


    Rio frowened a bit and said:


    "Even an S-ranker can''t hide his aura so thoroughly that others won''t get affected, this is a well known fact, there''s only one way for a awakener to hide his aura so thoroughly...could it be!" (Rio)


    "Yeah, he was an assassin. He was the most lethal assassin ever recorded in human history." (James)


    "He he liked to work hidden from everyone''s sight, even his own family never knew that he was an assassin, his proficiency to his ss had reached close to perfect." (James)


    "He was capable of infiltrating the most haurded areas and he had collected a huge amount of important information about several races and that all information was then given to the alliance." (James)


    "He had been a high ranked member of the alliance and was a a very capable man" (James)


    ''Aince? The alliance of all the S-ranker and above. He was part of that aince!?'' (Rio)


    ''Now i understand. It is definitely possible to hide his identity then. But I got reborn in this body was it really just a coincidence?'' (Rio)


    ''But there wasn''t any mention of Kevin in the novel though, even during the aince was first brought to light, there was still no mentio of the name Kevin'' (Rio)


    "He was known by the nickname of The soul splitter. Although I don''t know how he got that nickname but one thing was for sure he was capable enough to sneak right behind any S-ranker without them sensing his presence at all. This is also the reason why he was well known, I have evenpleted several missions with him, so I can be considered an oldrade." (James)


    "But when he died he was killed while fighting with the huge swarm of demons attacking the drift city. I was one of the reinforcement sent that time but we gotte and that whole city was destroyed. Every single human was killed mercilessly thus giving that incident the name drift city massacre, i still remember that horrific sight of thousands of dead bodies scattered all over the ground." (James)


    "Twenty-five thousand humans, including awakners and all others were killed on that bloody day, the purpose was to collect enough blood to summon a new SS-rank demon." (James)


    "Twenty-five thousand!? But didn''t the records say that only five thousand had died?" (Rio)


    Hearing this Jamesughed bitterly and a sad expression appeared on his face:


    "Obviously, the information was manipted so that panic doesn''t spread, even five thousand had created enough panic that people were protesting everywhere and we top rankers weren''t able to give answers to those whose family members were never found." (James)


    "Those who were rtives, we shut their mouth either by force or bypensation. We had no choice, dead doesn''tes back afterall." (James)


    "Then what about by father?" (Rio)


    "He fought untill hisst moment and created opening for your mother and you. You may not know that" (James)


    "Yeah, i don''t have memories of that time, when I opened my eyes I was already in an orphanage. I don''t know how i fainted" (Rio)


    Rio looked at James with questioning gaze asking for the reason. But James also shook his head:


    "I also don''t know about that. When I reached the ce your father was long dead. Your mother was also right beside him both died while holding hands, your mother must havee backter to find Kevin." (James)


    "We thought that Kevin''s son died too and his body was destroyed by demons, so further investigations were never done. But it seems you managed to survive that bloody day. A remarkable feat, indeed." (James)


    ''That means, if i hadn''t came to this world, this guy Rio would have never been able to talk with James and would have died without even knowing about his father. As I thought this world is indeed very cruel. Only strong are valued here.'' (Rio)


    The room suddenly queitened for a while, then James looked at Rio and said:


    "That''s all I know but there''s one more thing for which I wanted to talk to you. (James)


    James then started to walk toward the cab at the corner of the room, he opened it and brought out a small box.


    He brought the box with him and then gave it to Rio. Rio held the box and looked at it for a while. He tried to open it but it didn''t even budge.


    "This is?"(Rio)


    "When I reached Kevin''s body i found this box with a letter, on the letter it was written that ''anyone who finds this box, please give it to my son.'' So I am giving it to you now. I don''t know what it is either. But i think you will be able to find if you inject your mana in it." (Rio)


    "Hmm, okay." (Rio)


    Rio slowly moved his mana towards the box and as if a mechanism has been triggered the box opened all by itself. A bright golden card came in Rio''s sight.


    The card suddenly lightened up and within a few seconds the light started to envelope Rio.


    "It seems this is a key to some kind of space, it''s transporting you somewhere so be careful!" (James)


    Before Rio could have answered him, he was engulfed by the light and his body disappeared with the fading of light. Now only James was standing in the room looking at the spot where Rio had disappeared.


    "Hmm, looks like Kevin prepared something for him. I hope he don''t get overboard, he always did things very thorough, so it is possible he will end up beating that kid too." (James)


    James shook his head, he knew that nothing can be done about it now, only Rio can choose what he should do now.


    "I havepleted my promise, it''s up to you now, boy" (James)


    .


    .


    .


    Authors note: so here''s the question of the day.


    What do you think where has Rio been transported off too?


    1. To a trail.


    2. To a ce filled with monsters


    3. All of them.


    Don''t forget to use power stones, we are already very close to our goal of rank 50. I know you guys can do it. So let''s do it together. I will make sure to update everyday in return.


    Also thank you all for your support.

 Chapter 41 Was This Really Made By Father?

    Just as Rio was teleported away the gate of the office opened suddenly with a bang and a person stormed in without a care in the world. Normally if someone had done something.like that they would have been already killed on the spot but the person who came inside is just that special to James, afterall, he never even pped his daughter, to this day.


    After Lia barged she looked all around and found that there was no one else in the room beside James. Her eyes suddenly narrowed and she red at James:


    "Y-you... Did y-you killed him!? You didn''t left his body!?" (Lia)


    Hearing this Jamesughed bitterly and thought that this girl really has changed. She never cared about anyone but now she has started to care about someone atleast.


    "No, I just gave him what was meant to his." (James)


    "D-don''t change the topic by talkingplicated things! Tell me! where did you send him?" (Lia)


    ''sigh~, as expected of my daughter she also have a short temper, sigh~'' (James)


    "Hey! Why are you nodding your head as if you are proud or something! Could it be! You are proud of killing a weak student!?" (Lia)


    ''sigh~, it seems her brain is also a bit small, sigh~'' (James)


    After about half an hour of pointless talk, Lia finally epted that Rio was teleported somewhere he should go and wille back eventually if he passes. And if he can really make it alive it all depends on him:


    "At most it should take three days for him toe back. The rest depends on him now, if he can make it back or not." (James)


    "But one thing is sure that he will be able to improve his strength. Speaking of strength you seems to have not been training regrly these days." (James)


    "Y-yeah, i seem to have encountered a bottleneck and I am Stuck at peak of D-rank." (Lia)


    "Okay, i will help you today since I am free let''s go to the training grounds" (James)


    "Y-yeah..." ( Lia)


    "Don''t worry about that kid, he will be fine I think,e on let''s go" (James)


    "Wha-wh! Who is worrying about h-him, i-i don''t really care!" (Lia)


    "Yeah, yeah" (James)


    ''seriously I am rather surprised that this idiot daughter of mine was even able to make a boyfriend, with her attitude I wonder how that kid got interested in her, sigh~'' (James)


    .


    .


    Rio''s Pov:


    After the light teleported Rio he suddenly found himself standing on the air. He looked down and found that he is actually at a veryrge height and if he dropped it can cause instant death.


    Not to mention snowkes are falling from the sky, even the air is chilly enough to freeze bones.


    ''well I can withstand temprature changes simply by using a small amount of mana. But the problem is something else.'' (Rio)


    Rio''s perception has greatly improved when he used that stone from Arte tower and right now he can sense a bad premonition, the current calm seems to be the calm before a storm.


    Without letting his gaurd down for a bit Rio continued to observe his surroundings, he found that the ground below is also covered in snow but his senses are telling him that even the ground is not safe.


    This has now put Rio in a dilemma. If he stayed here in the sky, he will eventually run out of mana. And there seems to be other dangers on the ground.


    Just as Rio was thinking about what he to do, he started to fall down, the ce he was standing has disappeared before he could even react.


    Looking down he found that the snow below him was radiating a dangerous aura. His senses were telling him that he should not fall on that snow at any cost.


    Rio suddenly had an idea in his mind, he brought out the same wooden stick he used before to kill the ogre and moved his mana.


    [Elemental sword art: serpent wind!]


    Rio''s body which was falling down suddenly continued to fall while moving in circles as if sliding on a coiled serpent and at the end just before reaching ground he slid in a different direction (the tail of the serpent wind was ced on that direction, think of it as Rio slid on a real serpent''s body whose tail was ced away from that dangerous snow on the ground) andnded on the snow a bit farther.


    Looking at the ce hended it seemed he was safe here. He got up and just as he was about to leave he suddenly thought of some. He collected a small amount of snow made a small snow ball and coated it with mana to enhance its durability a bit. (This a very crude method to enhance something and anyone with mana can do it.)


    After making the snowball a bit more durable he tossed it on the ground where he was supposed to fall.


    As the snow ball fell, the area of about 5 meter in radius all copsed down revealing the sharp and huge spears ced in that trap.


    ''these spears are enhanced with mana and looking at that pale green colour and judging from the strange smell ... They are coated with a thickyer of poison, from the tip to the ground.'' (Rio)


    Without a doubt this is a trap made to kill, if he even touched that poisen it will cause huge problem.


    Looking at this deadly trap, a thought came to Rio''s mind:


    ''am I really in a ce created by my own father? Or James sent me somewhere else?'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Lia''s pov:


    Standing in the training ground of the silver family. She felt nostalgic. She has been training in this ce since her childhood but it has now been several months since she trained here, since she was in the academy.


    Remembering those days, when her father never even came home and never even talked to her, she was at loss of words.


    She just can''t help but think that those were really some depressing days. When even your own family refuses to talk to you and straight up ignore your existence, you can''t help but doubt yourself.


    The same was the case with the young Lia. She wanted to draw her father''s attention to her, she wanted to tell her father about how much she had progressed but he never really paid attention.


    "Hmm, why are you making a face as if you have been cheated by your boyfriend, i am telling you girl that kid really looked suspicious to me, maybe he really cheated, sigh~" (James)


    "S-stop talking nonsense!" (Lia)


    "I am not talking nonsense though~" (James)


    Looking at Lia who seems to be pouting Jamesughed a bit.


    ''she is just like her mother, she looked same when she got angry and she then forced me to eat burnt food everytime she got angry, sigh~'' (James)


    "Okay, show me your sword skills, attack me with your full might. If you seed innding even a single blow i will buy you chocte." (James)


    "I am not a child! Eat that chocte by yourself!" (Lia)


    "Okay, you can attack now" (James)


    .


    .


    Half an hourter:


    "Haa...huff...haa" (Lia)


    "You got tired already? Come on attack with all your strength!" (James)


    ''even though he is saying that, not even a single attack of mine hasnded on him for thest half an hour. I will have to put all of my mana in one single strong attack.'' (Lia)


    [Silver wolf sword art: horizontal w!]


    Put all the mana in one attack, reaching James in a blink of eye Liaunched three sword attack continuously, her sword glowed silver.


    James was also surprised by the proficiency Lia was showing in this attack, but he easily dodged the attack. Looking at Lia, he found that she has already fainted from exhaustion.


    ''I can sense it she have broken through her bottleneck. Her strength will improve in the following days now.'' (James)


    James summoned Lia''s made and ordered her to bring Lia to her room. The maid bowed her head respectively and proceed as she was ordered.


    .


    .


    .


    Authors note: So, here''s the question of the day, would you like to have a event with Lia''s pov in it, after the current one ends obviously.


    1. Yes (her status needs to be exined.)


    2. Yeah (she needs more screen time!)


    3. Of course, yes! (We cultured men need a regr dose of the heavenly tsundere medicine otherwise our dantian might shatter and we will not be able to continue our journey to be a heaven piercing heaven destroying otaku!)


    .


    Cough!...Okay, I know, i am talking too much nonsense... Cough! I will reluctantly do a tactical retreat and stop talking too much.


    And there''s only yes option because you know right; ''tsundere is the best! No excuses!''


    .


    Also don''t forget to use your power stones, we have already reached rank 150 , the way is clear! We can make it to 50! Let''s go!

 Chapter 42 Betrayed By A Tree!?

    A certain snowfield in an unknown ce.


    In each direction you look you can only see snow. In all directions the snow can be seen scattered to the horizon, while the sky continuously pouring more snow on the ground.


    A young man with ck hair and ck pupils can be seen walking with a slow pace, he is obviously having difficulties crossing this snow. Sometimes he suddenly stops walking and as if avoiding something takes a small detour then continues to walk in the same direction.


    And sometimes he uses his skill to instantly cross over a huge area.


    After continuously walking for who knows how long, he found a dried up tree covered in snow. The boy first inspected around the tree and when he was fully sure he sat beside the tree and started to recover his mana, which he needed to do urgently.


    The winds are chilly enough to froze your lungs if you inhale them. Eventually you will die due tock of breath. A miserable death indeed.


    ''This ce is more dangerous than I thought. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    While recovering his mana Rio started to think about what happened after he came here.


    After, Rio sessfully avoided that deathtrap whilending. He was looking at the trap but suddenly a spear came flying at his face, if not for the fact that he used his skill concentration at that very moment he would have long been dead now. His improved reaction speed is the reason why he is still alive.


    ''It was a good decision to visit Arte''s tower before I came here, otherwise my corpse would have been buried under the snow'' (Rio)


    Things didn''t end at that single spear though, before he could stabilize more spears came flying at his face. It was as if these spears knew where he will bending next and where his face will be.


    ''My face is ordinary and can''t be considered handsome but that doesn''t mean you would dig some holes in my head, that won''t make me look better'' (Rio)


    Not mention these spears were not stopping, they all were coated with such a thickyer of poison that you could even see their weird tip colour, Rio already determined that if he got even a little scratch from that poison coated spear he will be dead in a very short time.


    But eventually Rio figured out what was going on here. Just like every trap needs something to make it trigger these spears are also triggered by a mechanism, Rio determined that the ground under this snow is that mechanism. As long as he will put his weight on this snow the mechanism will trigger and spears will continue to fly.


    There was only one solution that Rio could think for now it is:


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    After putting these two buffs just ''run'' like crazy, untill you reach an area where there''s no spear-firing traps. That''s the temporary solution he came up with. Yeah, I know this is a crude method but i don''t have the support of a Wind mage. Atleast they could cast a single floating spell or something on me.


    Anyway,ing back to the topic, Rio also found that these withered trees which appears at a certain distance can be considered safe zones and he can rest there. For two consecutive times that was true.


    But then the third tree betrayed, when Rio was just about to sit under it, that damn tree exploded creating a huge explosion which even sted off the snow scattered in a ten metre radius around that tree.


    You could already guess what would happened to Rio. He was directly sted off in the sky, his body spined madly in air and looking at the ce ofnding, those shitty spears came in sight again.


    From that time onward Rio lost his trust in trees. Everytime he saw a tree again, he thoroughly investigated around it, after all no one will enjoy sky diving without proper safety measures. (Except some super-humans, obviously.)


    He even had to use one of his precious healing potions to recover from the wounds because that explosion was not the main attack. It''s after effects are the main attacks. A huge amount of sharp ice des started to rain in every direction and Rio had run once again to avoid this thing.


    It seems he has been running the whole time from when he came in this ce but one thing is certain that this is not the end of these traps.


    Not to mention this whole ce is filled with traps which appears randomly, all the traps are lethal enough to take your life. There are even monster hordes in this god-forsaken ce.


    After around three hours of that explosion, Rio was liesurely passing through a narrow valley, he knew that generally these shady looking valleys contains dangers, but there was no other way. He had to pass through this ce. If he climbed the mountain to avoid this valley it will dy his speed consume a huge amount of mana and there seems to several withered trees on that mountain (nothing personal, Mr.Tree), so he decided to not go there, who knew if that whole mountain was actually made up of explosives, if it really blew then even perfect ranj potions will not be able to heal his body because he will end up as a corpse.


    Crossing the valley everything remained good and peaceful, until a sudden uninvited guy showed his face.


    ''Those damn snow wolves...'' (Rio)


    Even when Rio is only remembering he can''t help but get angry at those wolves. At first he thought it was just a few wolves blocking his path, he hurriedly killed them all and made his way out of the valley, but who knew that it was actually a huge horde of wolves which were currently migrating somewhere.


    That time Rio truly stabbed a ho''s nest, a huge horde of about two-hundred wolves chased him for atleast eight hours non-stop. That was a huge trouble. Although, Rio still killed about seventy or more wolves while running they pursued him until a certain tree saved him. Those wolves left and didn''t came near the tree, they even actually ran away from the tree. (Maybe they also knew that trees can explode.)


    It was really ironic. Sometimes the tree saved him and sometimes it exploded on his face. Forcing him to use healing potions two times in total.


    Returning to the current situation, Rio can''t help but look at the tree beside him unconsciously. Who knew when this guy got angry and made him have a great experience of the heights of the sky.


    ''if not for the fact that I already know that this ce is created by my own father, i would have thought that I am deliberately being targeted. Or maybe my own father is targeting me deliberately'' (Rio)


    While thinking Rio started to move again, it was already around the second day since he came here, he need to get out of this pace faster otherwise, he don''t have confidence that he can survive here for more that five days. Not to mention the sunlight is very dim here due those clouds covering the whole sky, there''s not even dry wood to burn fire, even those wolves don''t leave behind the dead bodies of theirrades. He won''t be able to get anything to eat. He didn''t encountered a single living creatures except those wolves until now.


    ''I think this ce is actually made ording to the survival abilities of a peak B ranker.'' (Rio)


    Which means Rio should have entered this ce at B rank but nothing can be done now. Either you survive till the end or die midway all depends on your willpower now. And certainly Rio have no thoughts of dying here.


    Rio looked at the card which brought him here, this card is currently showing the direction he need to go. An arrow symbol can be seen on this card. This symbol always pints at the direction he need to proceed, it''s functions are simr to apass.


    Due to which Rio know where he need to go. If he had to find out the way himself it would have taken more than a whole month''s time to reach his goal. Which would have been a disastrous thing. The academy would have not tolerated his absence for such a long time without any prior notice, the academy is very strict in their rules and regtions, they would have directly suspended him. Obviously privileged people like Link won''t be affected much due to their huge background and children of luck will also not suffer the threat of suspension but extras like Rio are bound to be affected.


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking about these things for now.


    ''Being an extra have advantages and disadvantages both, but i still prefer being an extra.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Authors note: Question of the day!


    Which perspective would you choose if you get transmigrated and have the chance to choose?


    1. Protagonist (Although you will have a great life at the end. You will suffer the mockery of people around you and in order to do even a single thing you will have to first face-p people, only then can you live peacefully.)


    2. Viin (A high risk profession. Will have to risk life everyday fighting protagonists and their thick plot armors)


    3. Extra (You will get no privge and will be abandoned by heaven, when you transmigrate in this type of character, it would not be even certain that you will even have a decent name. But at the bed of the day you will enjoy freedom a blessing on its own.)

 Chapter 43 Dreams...

    Standing outside Lia''s room, Mel (Lia''s maid) is currently looking at her watch. After a while she nodded her head and then knocked on the door.


    But no answer came back. She waited for a few seconds then knocked again but a bit louder this time. Still there was no effect.


    This time she didn''t wait and directly opened the door. Walking towards Lia''s bed, she ignored the photos on the wall of a certain ck haired boy.


    She looked at the sleeping girl, who seems to be having a very happy dream and spoke:


    "Mdy, it''s time to wake up." (Mel)


    Lia''s dream:


    Lia was praying in a temple when suddenly, a god, who looked like an old man heared her heart-felt prayers:


    "Say child, what do you want?" (Old man)


    "Old man! Give me a weapon to defeat that evil demon, Rio! He has been doing all type of perverted things to innocent young maidens, i must punish him!" (Lia)


    "Y-yeah, take this divine hunter then, it will give you unparalleled strength, every demon will be defeated by it''s power instantly" (old man)


    After giving that hunter to Lia, the old man disappeared in a hurry, as if he was running away or maybe he really was running away.


    Lia looked at the divine artifact and felt it''s incredible power, her happiness knew no bounds at this moment.


    "Just you wait! You vile demon i will make you beg for forgiveness! I will take ten times the revenge for all the crimes you havemitted! Hahahaha..." (Lia)


    Suddenly Lia saw Meling in the prayer hall, she is currently wearing the clothes of a high ranked priestess.


    "What happened, Mel?" (Lia)


    "Mdy, the demons are kidnapping young maidens from the church again." (Mel)


    "Heh, so those vile demons are here already, let''s go, i will beat them into pulp today." (Lia)


    "Mdy, they have already left, though" (Mel)


    "Eh, but you just said..." (Lia)


    "Their leader, the demon king Rio seems to have found the holy pants of mdy, thus they retreated." (Mel)


    Lia suddenly woke up from the sheer shock:


    "Wha-what! Who stole my pants!?" (Lia)


    Mel replied without any emotions:


    "Nobody, Mdy" (Mel)


    Lia looked around and finally came to the realisation that she has suddenly screamed something embarrassing, her face instantly became red like a tomato.


    "F-forget wh-what you heard..." (Lia )


    Mel fixed her sses and replied:


    "Yes, Mdy. I will definitely alert the gaurds to keep eye and not let anyone steal your pants" (Mel)


    "I said forget it! Why would they gaurd my pants! Now go out already!" (Lia)


    Lia hurriedly pushed Mel out of her room and closed the door, her face became redder than before.


    She looked at the photo on the wall and a word left her mouth unconsciously:


    "Pervert Rio...." (Lia)


    .


    .


    .


    Fade''s Pov


    Fade is currently in his dorm room, ying games in his mobile. Today he had suffered from bad luck. He wasn''t able to get anything from that dungeon. Thus his mood is very bad today, he parted with Kira earlier than usual. And came back to the dorm in order to releive the anger by ying games.


    Without him noticing he spent his whole night ying and didn''t even sleep.


    Looking at the time now it''s already morning:


    ''tsk, i didn''t even notice it. And it''s already morning. I wonder when I will be strong enough to make the sun set and rise ording to my will.'' (Fade)


    Shaking his head, Fade decided to sleep now. Anyway it''s holiday there''s no need to worry about beingte for academy.


    Fade got up from the sofa andid down on his bed to sleep. He drifted off to the dream world the very moment heid down. His sleeping talent is no joke.


    He wouldn''t have been punished for sleeping in the ss on the very first day, if not for this ability of his. Fade can literally sleep anytime as long as he wants to.


    The only unfortunate thing is that luck doesn''t applies to what kind of dream you will have. (I don''t know the reason behind it. Consider it a plot hole.) (???)


    Fade''s dream:


    Fade found he was sitting at a seat inside a cafe or something. He didn''t confirmed it. But since other people are also eating while sitting he decided to do the same.


    He picked up the cold drink and poured it in a ss. Just as he was about to lift it up to drink, he heared a voice that shook him to the core.


    "One ss for me too." (Rio)


    "Wh-when did you ca-" (Fade)


    "Oh, i just arrived." (Rio)


    "O-okay" (Fade)


    Fade poured cold-drink in another ss too with his shaking hands, though.


    ''why am I feeling this emotion!? even though I had promised myself to not fear anything after defeating those bullies!'' (Fade)


    " Hey, I heard you were eyeing Lia. Do you believe I will not gauge out those eyes of yours?" (Rio)


    Fade felt his heart palpitating, he clearly felt his heart stop beating for a second.


    "I-i-...." (Fade)


    [Ding! It so detected that the host is suffering from trauma]


    [Proceeding to wake host from the trauma!]


    Fade instantly got up and started to pant heavily. He started to use his mana in order to calm down his body. Eventually the shaking of his hands also stopped.


    "Damn it! It was that same nightmare again!" (Fade)


    Fade got up from his bed and walked towards toward the sofa. Sitting at the sofa he breathed a sigh of relief.


    ''Ever since that day when I met that guy Rio, I have been having these nightmares, even though I have long stopped looking at Lia, sigh~'' (Fade)


    .


    .


    .


    Rex mansion, Link''s private training hall.


    Link looked at the practice dummies and waved his fist casually. With a single casual fist, cracks appeared on the dummies.


    This is when he didn''t directly hit the dummies, the air pressure created by his fist attack alone was strong enough to do this much. Yet his expression is not satisfied at all.


    ''This is not enough, I need to focus a bit on my speed too.'' (Link)


    Link suddenly remembered his fight with a certain fellow ssmate, whose speed was just too fast.


    Not to mention Every attack of that guy was fast, it was also extremely precise and strong. It felt as if that guy''s all stats were too high. Even though they are in the same rank.


    Link looked at his hand which was previously cut off on half by thatst attack. He still remembers that vivid pressure created by thepression of the mana.


    ''Even though I have already analyzed that attack several time, but i am not sure if I can fully defend against it yet.'' (Link)


    Thinking back to that moment. Link ended up exhausted after his final attack but Rio still had enough energy to leave the ce without getting caught by the teachers. The more he thinks about him the more mysterious he seems.


    But that doesn''t mean Link will admit defeat so easily. He is confident in his talent and knows that he can win as long as he works hard enough.


    ''Let''s change to stronger dummies or maybe I should visit a dungeon instead. Just you wait, i will one day beat you ck and blue Rio!'' (Link)


    .


    .


    .


    Rio''s POV


    ''Hmm, why do I feel as if someone is talking about me behind my back?'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and cleared his mind from these unimportant thoughts. He looked at forward, a huge mountain appeared in his vision.


    This mountain is covered in snow and there are even more tree on this mountain than the previous one. Rio''s mood became solemn after looking at those trees.


    Rio looked at the card and found that the card was pointing at the mountain and was glowing brighter then before, which clearly symbolised that his destination is at the top of his mountain.


    Ever since the trees has betrayed mest time, I have be really cautious of them but there''s no ce to avoid them on that mountain.


    ''I hope, this whole mountain doesn''t end up sting me to death.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Without Ruo''s knowledge he have left a deep impression on the characters and his interference has caused several small changes. But overall, the flow of main plot is still progressing without much dy and it will remain the same in the future too, maybe.


    .


    Question of the day:


    Do you think Lia will be able to take her revenge some day and will be able to defeat the perverted demon?


    1. Yeah


    2. No


    3. I don''t know, i am enjoying Fade''s suffering.


    Authors note: Don''t forget to use your power stones! Also leave your reviews, my major source of inspiration are you readers, your casualments gives me motivation and Inspiration, so feel free to leave a thousandments. I will read them all!

 Chapter 44 Water Can Be Dangerous Too...

    After the struggle of several hours, Rio finally reached the peak of the mountain. To his surprise not a single tree exploded all along the way.


    Although, he still remained cautious but it seems that these are normal withered trees. At the end it is still good to remain vignt. Carelessness can cost life afterall. And he never liked to be careless in anything he does. Either don''t do it or if you do then do it thoroughly.


    Looking around, he found an altar. It seems to be still new and working. Rio walked towards the altar and started to observe it carefully.


    ''so, what do I do now?'' (Rio)


    Just as he was getting confused the card which he was holding in his hand started to glow brightly. And then it suddenly disappeared.


    As if certain conditions has been triggered, the altar started to glow brightly and after a while the glow faded and a small box appeared in front of Rio.


    ''what could it be?'' (Rio)


    [An object sealed with mana has been detected.]


    [Conditions requires to open]


    [1. The person should be the descendent of sh family]


    [2. The person should have a warrior type ss.]


    [3.The person should be atleast a D-ranker or above.]


    [All the conditions have been sessfully met!]


    [Would you like to unlock the seal?]


    [Yes/No]


    "Yes, open it!" (Rio)


    The box glowed faintely for a few seconds and then with a ''click'' sound it finally opened.


    Rio looked inside the box and the contents inside looked really ordinary to him.


    There are two things inside this small box. One is a rusty small knife and the other is a potion which actually looked just like water or maybe it''s really water.


    ''hmm, so my father was actually a very poor person. I thought there would be some amazing treasures left behind just like in every novel. But it seems such things are exclusive to protagonists only. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    .


    Rio took both things out of the box first and then searched the box once again just so that he could find something and fortunately he found a pice of paper, on which a few words were written:


    [The potion looks like water but it''s actually a ??? You can incre?? Your ??? With it. The knife don''t need any further exnation if you are truly fro? Fl?sh fa??? It will ????? With you. ?nd you wil? kno? by yourself.


    From Kevin sh]


    (The question marks represent that the pice of paper is damaged at those specific ces.)


    ''looks like my father was carefree type person, atleast he could have used a high quality mana infused paper. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    ''so, which should I start with hmm, let''s go with the potion first, I hope it''s not really water, that would be a terrible thing.


    Rio shook his head and drank the potion. It tasted like water, or maybe it''s water that''s why it tasted like water. (Water will taste like water. obviously, because it''s water thus it tasted like water.) (Naah, i didn''t mistake, it was written twice to annoy the readers.)


    Just as Rio was starting to get bored, finally the long awaited notification came.


    [You have drank the potion of ''Enhancement'']


    [Potion of enhancement!]


    [Rank: Extreme]


    [Effect: an overall and thorough enhancement in every aspect.]


    [ Restriction: Will only work on an individual below B-rank]


    ''what!? an extreme rank potion!!'' (Rio)


    Before Rio could have thought anything else an unbearable pain assaulted him. The pain spread all over the body. It felt worse than torture. Rio gritted his teeth and desperately tried to maintain his sanity.


    He sat down on the ground with great difficulty and continued to endure this hellish pain. Even though the pain was truly unbearable he didn''t sream even a little bit.


    His skin started to peel off and new skin grew rapidly, he heard his bones cracking and then felt them being rebuilt. The worst part was when he clearly felt his organs shatter and regrow. Even his heart shattered and regrow back again. (Don''t look at me, i don''t know how he lived without his heart or his organs. Let Rio exin it himselfter.)


    Eventually all the pain finally ended and Rio panted heavily. His breathing has long stopped the very moment he started to feel pain but even without breathing he still lived.


    "Haa.... huff....haa.... That was....those were truly the worst few minutes of my two life''s included." (Rio)


    ''Even though only five minutes have passed, it felt like eternity to me. Too dangerous, if given the choice to do it again, i would hesitate to use that potion.'' (Rio)


    [The potion have been absorbed sessfully!]


    [You have sessfully beome a B-ranker!]


    [Your skills have received great improvements]


    [Your mastery over ''sword aura'' has reached greater heights, you have achieved passive skill ''sword intent''!]


    [Your ''Basic swordsmanship'' have evolved into ''Intermediate swordsmanship''!]


    [Your hidden attributes have been enhanced greatly!]


    [Resistance like pain, physical, and magical resistance have been improved grameatly.]


    Rio heard all these notifications in a daze while stillying in his own pool of blood which oozed out of his body during that hellish torture.


    Hearing all these notifications he can''t help but smile slightly. Although the pain was really too much, but it seems the rewards were also generous.


    Several of his skills have improved and he have sessfully entered the B-rank along with that enhancement process.


    After half an hour of lying down, Rio finally got up and looked at his body. He found that he have be a bit taller, his muscles have be denser and stronger than before. Even his senses and perception have be much more sharper than before.


    Comparing the him now with the past him. It''s obvious that he have be considerably strong. If he fought Link now it wouldn''t be much of a problem toplete the Kill.


    Rio suddenly remembered something and looked at where his younger brother was and as expected this guy has be bigger too.


    A proud expression appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''When my heart got crushed i though I will die but hopefully i survived'' (Rio)


    ''I Never expected that my mana would be used instead of oxygen to keep me alive, that was truly bizarre.'' (Rio)


    When Rio''s organs and heartbwas crushed he felt his mana being consumed and it was actually being user by his body to keep him alive.


    The bloodpumping continued with the help of mana even without the heart. Same goes for other organs.


    For a second he thought that maybe his brain will also st and be rebuilt but it never happened instead he only felt the already present barin being enhanced instead of it being recreated.


    (Maybe this is also the reason why all those protagonists who undergoes body cleansing in a cultivation world survived.) (Give your opinion on thements too guys)


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: B-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 3500/3500] [MP: 2400/2400]


    [STR: 51/100] [SPE: 51/100] [AGI: 51/ 100] [DEF: 51/100] [INT: 51/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Intermediate Swordsmanship(B-), Elemental Sword Art(B-)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration(?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(B-), Lightening Sword(B-), Sword Aura(B-), Handling(B-)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; unaffected by fate and destiny.]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???)]


    ''hmm, i have be quite strong then thest time I looked at my status'' (Rio)


    Now that the liter on his stats have been removed he can continue increasing his daily training intensity. His stats were stuck on fifety for a rather long time but finally they can be increased again.


    ''but I got to learn something new today.... Even water should be drank cautiously who knows if it''s actually a potion to enhance your body.


    Well even though it may enhance your body but you see the price you will have to pay for it is also great. The feeling of your organs being crushed isn''t something pleasant afterall.


    And the pain caused in the process is no joke. Suffering this much is worse than death. But at the end of the day atleast the rewards will be generous. (So, don''t lose your beleif fellow daoists! you will only have to suffer it for a bit and you will be able to enter the next realm and hopefully will be able to face-p some young masters too.)


    Rio suddenly noticed that a few more words have appeared on the piece of paper which he found before.


    [If you are reading this then it means you have survived that potion. Congrattions you were able to survive even though the chances of survival were only 1 percent, indeed you have a very firm and strong will. I hope you will be able to achieve greater heights.]


    [I wish you good luck!]


    .


    .


    .


    Authors note: don''t forget to use the power stones and also tell me your opinions about the chapter in thements.


    Leave your opinions guys it helps me in many ways.

 Chapter 45 The Formless Weapon!

    Rio suddenly noticed that a few more words have appeared on the piece of paper which he found before.


    [If you are reading this then it means you have survived that potion. Congrattions you were able to survive even though the chances of survival were only 1 percent, indeed you have a very firm and strong will. I hope you will be able to achieve greater heights.]


    [I wish you good luck!]


    .


    Looking at the newly appeared words only one thing appeared in Rio''s mind:


    ''you should have told that earlier! I could have been dead by now! I wonder how my father became an S-ranked with such aid back personality, sigh~'' (Rio)


    If Rio had lost his consciousness he would have died immediately. That was a really dangerous thing but nevertheless he survive and there''s a saying:


    [If something doesn''t kills you, then it makes you stronger]


    After a while Rio put this matter at the back of his mind, there''s no point in crying over spilled milk now.


    Rio then focused his attention at that old looking rusty knife:


    [A boundable artifact has been detected!]


    [Artifact: Formless weapon]


    [Boundable target: Descendent of sh Bloodline]


    [Description: a formless weapon. It can be turned into any type of weapon you can think of.]


    [It can maintain its form as long as you do not order it to change form.]


    [Can self repair by using mana, will be strong with owner]


    [ Would you like to bound with it.]


    [Warning: unbinding isn''t possible untill you reach S-rank or die]


    [Would you like to bind?]


    [Yes/No]


    ''Yes'' (Rio)


    After thinking for a while, Rio epted. He currently do not have any sword and his increased senses are telling him that he should get out of this ce as fast as possible.


    ''let''splete binding first'' (Rio)


    [Binding....merging with soul....patibility calction.... 50 percent....]


    [Binding sessful!]


    The formless substance moved towards Rio''s hands and started to enter his hand. After the liquid entered his hand.


    Due to some unscientific and physics defying reason Rio didn''t felt anything even though the liquid entered his body. Instead he felt warm all over his body.


    ''i can instinctively control this thing'' (Rio)


    Rio tried to form a katana and it took shape instantly, he then made it into a broadsword, a longsword, a knife, a saber, a dagger etc. And he was able to do it as easy as breathing.


    ''and if I don''t summon it, I can carry a weapon without even carrying it, how convenient'' (Rio)


    ''hmm, there seems to be a new line on the page again.'' (Rio)


    [If you are able to read it than it means you have survived the soulpatibility. If notpatible your soul might had to suffer obliteration. Well all is good as long as you survived. Muhahaha...oh one more thing there''s a toy I prepared for you to try your new strength but that guy is a bit strong so be careful not to die... Muhahaha]


    After Rio read this, his expression-less face became a bit dark. For the first time since he came to this world Rio felt anger.


    ''damn it! Two times! Haah, this fu*cking old ba*tard! F*ck you!'' (Rio)


    But he calmed down in a matter of a few seconds.


    ''it seems that since my soul have merged with the previous owner I was able to pass thispatibility test, maybe that''s also the reason why it showed 50 percent earlier.'' (Rio)


    ''it''s fortunate that the soulpatibility checking can only be done till 50 percent. Otherwise if it was checking 51 percent or higher I would have failed for sure.'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was busy cursing a certain dead man, he suddenly felt danger, his all senses were screaming and warning him. Without thinking much Rio directly jumped away from the ce.


    Looking back he found that a huge golem has destroyed the ce he was previously standing at. The ground has cracked quite a bit. Obviously it was a attack meant to kill.


    ''hmm, a snow golem? Is this the toy, that old man talked about? This could be tricky'' (Rio)


    Golems are not living beings they are like machines and work on mana stones as their energy sources.


    Golems follow a pre-determinedmand. And they are incapable of doing things without amand from their creator. Due to a golems heavy defence its speed and agility is very low making it an easy target.


    ''but that is when you know it''s grade. An A-rank golem can adapt to opponents movements and have the ability to adapt to some extent.'' (Rio)


    The biggest problem is that you can''t tell the rank of a golem at a single nce, afterall golems are not living beings they don''t have aura. It''s rank can only be determined during actualbat.


    ''ording to the previous attack this one is not an S-rank golem. And from the power it is definitely stronger than a C-rank one.'' (Rio)


    After Rio dodged the first attack the golem didn''t stop and carried out its next attack, a single straight punch, but with huge power.


    ''if thisnded on me, it will be fatal.'' (Rio)


    With the help of strengthened senses Rio easily dodged the continuous attacks of this golem. With Rio''s speed he can escape a golems attack easily.


    Suddenly, the golem changed his fighting method and started tounch attacks more fiercely.


    ''its adapting to my movements.yeah, this guy is an A-rank, confirmed.'' (Rio)


    While easily dodging the attacks will give some time to Rio but golems do not get exhausted and can continue to function as long as their mana stone is still providing energy.


    ''then there''s only one way out now.'' (Rio)


    The katana got concerted in the form of a straight sword with pointed and sharp tip. It now have the simr shape as the Indian sword ''Firangi'' capable of thrusting and cutting both.


    Rio backed away a bit, calmed his breath and took the position to caryout a perfect stab in a mere fraction of a second.


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Elemental sword art: fire thrust!]


    The sword started to glow red and and the mes got condensed on a single point of the tip. In a single second the sword directly pierced the abdomen if golem and destroyed the mana crytal urately.


    After piercing the the golem Rio immediately moved away from the golem but still got affected by the huge explosion that followed after.


    ''tsk, I knew it would explode but it was still unavoidable.'' (Rio)


    Looking back Rio found that the snow golem has scattered it''s snow all around the ce and there are several broken pieces of mana stone scattered around the ce.


    ''phew, that was close, if i was only a bit slow, the golem would havended a punch on my face before I could have pierced him.'' (Rio)


    ''it seems it''s time to go back now.'' (Rio)


    ''let''s first check my gains before we leave'' (Rio)


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: B-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 3500/3500] [MP: 2400/2400]


    [STR: 51/100] [SPE: 51/100] [AGI: 51/ 100] [DEF: 51/100] [INT: 51/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Intermediate Swordsmanship(B-), Elemental Sword Art(B-)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration(?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(B-), Lightening Sword(B-), Sword Aura(B-), Handling(B-)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; unaffected by fate and destiny.]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???), Formless weapon(bound to soul)]


    ''hmm, it seems that except a new item nothing has changed, I will have to increase my training after I go back.'' (Rio)


    Rio then started to look around for a way to go out of this ce but he found that there''s no way out.


    ''what''s going on, there should be some portal or something right. Why is there nothing...'' (Rio)


    ''is this also that old man''s doing?'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was about to start cursing at the old man a new line appeared on the page.


    [I see, you are indeed strong. You have passed all the trails sessfully. I appreciate your strong will. Well then it''s time to say farewell. Have a happy journey, my precious child]


    The page started to glow and the light enveloped Rio in its grace. Rio felt as if he was floating on water, a rather strange feeling, indeed.


    What Rio didn''t notivmce was the fact that a certain old man was smiling while looking at, he was quietly fading into nothingness yet a relieved smile hung on his face.


    Before fading the man stretched his hand and ced it on now unconscious Rio''s head.


    "By the way, I am not that old, you silly child" (Kevin)


    Then he faded away with no regrets.


    .


    .


    .


    Authors note- Sorry for the dy. As for thepensation, let''s settle it with a bonus chapter:


    Which character do you want to see in the bonus chapter?


    1. Link the sadist viin


    2. Riya the chatterbox


    3. Lia the tsundere


    4. Fade the yboy


    5. Kira (caring girl)


    6. Rio the expression-less extra.


    ce you votes in thements.


    .


    Also don''t forget to use the power stones. A special thanks to all those who have send gifts.


    And thanks for all of your support.

 Chapter 46 Back To Home!

    Rio opened his eyes slowly and found himself standing at the very same ce where he had disappeared. Looking around he found that currently the room was empty, Lia''s father wasn''t there.


    He tried to summon his sword and it did appeared proving that it''s not a dream. He heaved a sigh of relief:


    ''so, I am back...'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    Somewhere in the far corner of the world. A ce filled with wails and deathly cries. A terrible climate and everything around covered in the ashes of never-ending wars. A huge giant was lying dead.


    An individual wearing dark ck armor with a purple aura surrounding him is currently standing on the head of the giant dead body. His eery ck sword which gives off a huge bloodlust is currently embedded in the head of the dead giant.


    Everywhere you look you can see dead bodies of creatures from several races scattered around everywhere. Elves, orcs, dwarves, and demons.


    This is a huge battlefield filled with the death and blood of those who fought for defending their home and those who wished for dominion.


    Yet, it seems that sometimes heroes not win and sometimes there are bad endings to Stories.


    Something simr seems to be the case here. A destroyed pce, a destroyed city wall, wails of dying people, despair filled atmosphere, and the attacker standing Victorious on the head of the dead king.


    A hero has reached a bad ending here it seems.


    Suddenly, a demon wearing simr-looking ck armor descended from the sky. He folded his demonic wings, bent on a knee, and lowered his head towards the one standing at the dead giant''s head.


    "Prince, we have sessfully taken over this city, which previously belonged to the alliance, now our army is currently hunting those few rats who identally slipped away." (???)


    "So, our work here is mostlypleted, what are your orders, my Liege" (???)


    The prince didn''t speak anything but he looked in a certain direction and as if he has already expected an arrow came flying at an extremely fast speed. Yet he wasn''t surprised and caught the arrow just before it even touched him.


    A letter was attached to the arrow, obviously, it carried a message. The prince threw the message towards the kneeling knight and said:


    "Durik, read it, it seems to be a message from my father..."(Prince)


    A cold and arrogant voice sounded from behind that intimidating ck and sinister-looking helmet. The voice alone carried enough authority that the kneeling knight felt a shiver run down his spine, he felt as if a higher being was ordering him.


    "Yes my Liege!"(Durik)


    Durik took the letter opened the demonic seal and started to read the letter:


    [I heard you achieved victory in that small battle, good. Now for your next task, go to Tehlem, there seems to be a situation over there, for further information ask ''Bartuk'' who is stationed there currently. That''s all for now, I hope you don''t disappoint me as my only son.]


    Durik gulped his saliva and folded the letter back as silently as possible, he wanted to quietly disappear from this ce, otherwise, he feared that the prince will kill him right there.


    Just as he was thinking of quietly slipping away he overheard the prince''s words which terrified him to the core:


    "My father really likes to order me around, I wonder when will be the day I take that throne and have that power too...heh" (Prince)


    The prince suddenly looked back and Durik felt himself being stared at by a monster. He felt his whole soul being seen through.


    "You heard it? Don''t you dare tell anyone otherwise, your pathetic soul will be my dinner for the day... Now go and gather the army we have to head towards Tehlem." (Prince)


    "Yes, yes! My Liege!"(Durik)


    .


    .


    .


    Academy dorms, Rio''s room.


    Standing at the familiar window again with a tea in his hand and looking at the rising and shining sun, Rio can''t help but be impressed by the sheer beauty of this world.


    Gazing at the rising sun while having tea has be a daily routine for Rio, ever since he came to this world.


    While Rio was standing at the window he remembered the hassle he had to go through when he came back. After he came back Lia was the one who spotted him first, she directly burst open the doors and stormed into the room. Followed by her father and a huge number of maids.


    After that Rio was bombarded with a huge amount of questions which seemingly were never going to stop if not for that maid of Lia restraining Lia. Lia being dragged back to her room by that maid while throwing tantrums was a sight to behold.


    She was behaving like a kid who was being dragged away from her favorite food. Remembering that brings a smile to Rio''s expressionless face even now.


    Lia''s father was instead very surprised when Rio told him about his adventure. (Obviously, he didn''t say anything about the things he got and he also skipped the part where he ended up being betrayed by a tree.)


    After Rio shared a delicious dinner with Lia and her father, he left their home. Their butler dropped him at the academy and this concluded his trip back to this small yetfy room of his.


    But the very first thing Rio did aftering back to his room was that he put that small nt away from the window. Who knows one day he is enjoying his tea and that nt exploded on his face, that would be depressing indeed.


    (Warning: Please don''t try harming a nt it can be dangerous for your knees, no knees mean no brain. When you spot a tree proceed with extreme caution and move away from it without thinking of even plucking a single leaf, who knows if that seemingly ordinary leaf is actually a leaf that has umted the condensed energy of light via photosynthesis and poses harm to your brain cell, cough! Ok enough for now. This is just a joke don''t take it to heart.)


    .


    But he only moved the nt away and not threw it, after all, oxygen is still important.


    ''putting these things aside, the next event seems to being closer day by day, also the academy is going to reopen tomorrow. I need to prepare too.'' (Rio)


    ''who said an extra doesn''t have any troubles... I personally think I may have more troubles than a certain hero named Fade, sigh~'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    In a certain corner of the academy


    *Sneeze*


    "Who the heck is back talking me now!? I dare you toe in front of me! Damn it!" (Fade)


    "Oh! Kira wait for me! I will apany you to that dungeon!" (Fade)


    "Oh, ok, let''s go together." (Kira)


    .


    .


    .


    Today''s question:- who is that prince?


    1. A future viin


    2. A future ally


    3. Something else, perhaps.


    Authors note:- yeah I know that the chapter is a bit small but please make it with it for today. Tomorrow is my exam so I am a bit short on time.


    Also don''t forget to tell me your opinions, because they are my sources of inspiration. Thanks to all who are supporting the book.

 Chapter 47 A Particular Book...

    Academy''s Library


    Even today the library is quiet as always, the librarian is sitting on his chair behind the counter, reading a book of his liking. There''s only a few students present in the library currently.


    Nothing out of ordinary. Really nothing out of ordinary....


    .


    .


    .


    ''hmm, where are those books, it would have been much easier to ask Kira instead... No! I won''t ask her!... I will find it...have to find it at any cost...'' (Lia)


    Determination shed in Lia''s eyes, as if her life depended on what was written in that book.


    While Lia continued to randomly look everywhere to find her desired book a certain book mysteriously started to move and fell in front of Lia with a sudden bang.


    "Wha!?..o-oh it a book, perhaps it fell by ident" (Lia)


    Just as Lia was going to put that book back at its ce she suddenly found the book she was looking for:


    (1200 ways to take revenge on a bully)


    ''thats it! I finally found it! Hahaha! just you wait! It wouldn''t be toote for me to take revenge now hahahahaha....'' (Lia)


    Lia imagined a certain ck haired guy begging for mercy, her eyes lit up with excitement, giving her a look simr to a hero who found ''Exc*libur'' just at the right moment.


    While she was busy in her fantasies about her revenge she didn''t notice that an extra book was now in her bag, without her noticing it.


    .


    .


    .


    In a certain small and worn-out home, located in a dark alleyway, a group of individuals wearing dark blue robes and ck masks on their face can be seen sitting around a small dinning table.


    On the head seat a particr individual with a rather slender figure is sitting, perhaps a woman. This scene and atmosphere of this ce looks like as if a demonic cult is heldiing it''s meeting.


    (A friendly advice from author:- If readers can''t bear gore than please skip the next paragraph.)


    Afterall what is served on the dining table isn''t normal food but human body parts of various sizes and shapes. There''s even human heads of children, well they all look lifeless of course.


    "This is a rather great meal you have prepared for us, even though it''s really difficult to abduct humans because of the alert protection of awakeners, indeed a feat worthy to be praised" (???)


    "Well I just kidnapped a few from rather remote areas well it was a family living in a rather secluded ce, it''s a pity their only son has been sent to the academy to train as an awakener. Well who cares..." (???)


    "Wouldn''t it be a problem? Afterall we are currently on a mission in this human nation. wouldn''t it be problematic if someone found out about this?" (???)


    "You worry too much i can kill several of the same ranked human awakener alone by myself. Humans are a very weak racepared to those white faced elfs who can literally shoot you to death with their bows in a fraction of second" (???)


    "Yeah they are indeed a strong race but still they aren''t that strong the only race we have to worry are the ''Dragons'' and their ''12 great dragon dukes'' but the biggest threat who is supposedly stronger than his highness the ''demon king'' is the the ''Great dragon King Dahaka'' " (???)


    The person sitting on the head seat intervened this moment with a cold tone:


    "Hey! Don''t talk so carelessly and stopparing those two great brings we aren''t even worthy to talk to them, you know that yourself, just finish the meal and focus on your work otherwise you know the consequences, right?" (???)


    "Yes!!" (All said in unison)


    "And as you all know our n has already entered it''s final stages we will be able to find that individual eventually. We just have to continue as his highness the princemanded us to do." (???)


    "By the waymander, who are we exactly looking for actually? The n is near it''s end but even we core people don''t know much, would you enlighten us all?" (???)


    Hearing the person''s question other individuals also nodded their heads in order to approve his question.


    "Well I wasn''t actually supposed to tell you but since the n is near it''s end I am giving you all a small hint, infact even I don''t know the true identity but his highness the prince only said that-" (???)


    (Find the bearer of the ''fragment'' by any means possible.)


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Academy cafeteria, on a table near the windows


    Two teenagers can be seen sitting beside each other even though the space is a bit small and the front seat is empty they still are sitting together bonnthe same seat. Passerby can''t help but nce at this lovely couple every once a while.


    The boy is expressionless and have pitch ck hair while the girl''s face have a little blush on it.


    "Is it really necessary to sit together in such a small space? I didn''t expect you to be so clingy today..." (Rio)


    Rio said with a face showing he was puzzled by the sudden clingyness of this normally tsundere girl.


    "I-its nothing, y-you have got the wrong idea. Don''t mind me." (Lia)


    " Well if you say so..." (Rio)


    ''what''s gotten into her today? She even took the initiative to hold my hand... hmm something''s odd...'' (Rio)


    '' wh-what''s going on why is it not working did i read that book wrong? T-then let''s try another method'' (Lia)


    Lia suddenly let go of Rio''s hand got up and sat on the opposite seat facing Rio. Her previous blushed face also returned to normal now, she then brought out a random book from her bag and satrted to pretend as if she is busy reading.


    ''the first way was to hold hands suddenly to make the individual annoyed but it didn''t worked well, the second way is to directly ignore the person deliberately to make them desperate to talk to you, this one will definitely make him desperate, I am so smart hehe..'' (Lia)


    While Lia was thinking that Rio will ask her ''what''s going on?'' she suddenly found that the book she was holding in her hands just a sec ago wasn''t in her hands now. Surprised she looked at Rio and found that the book was in his hands now.


    "Where did you get this book named ''astrology by Richard'' ?" (Rio)


    Lia was puzzled, she looked at the book but didn''t remember putting this book in her bag.


    "O- oh perhaps I identally brought it with me since I visited the library earlier. Are you interested in this book?" (Lia)


    "Yeah, kind of...since you don''t need it i will return itter after having a look at it..." (Rio)


    "Oh, okay" (Lia)


    " By the way didn''t you said earlier that you had to go somewhere..." (Rio)


    " Ah! I almost forgot I have to meet father today, i should get going now!" (Lia)


    While looking at the fading figure of the running Lia, Rio smiled a bit.


    Then he shifted his attention towards the book and his face became expressionless again, yet his eyes became a bit serious.


    ''I remember this book from the novel'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s note- yeah I know I am a bitte but sorry to you all I was busy in some things and actually wasn''t nning oning back this month but the huge demand you guys were showing made me exited to return back to writting, thus here we are with a new event.


    Question of the day- what do you guys think will that particr book be helpful to Lia:


    1. Yes


    2. No


    Don''t forget to doments and leave your power stones. Actually yourments motivate me more than even subscriptions do. Thanks for all of your support.

 Chapter 48 An Indistructable Item- Grimoire

    The book itself seems nothing different from an ordinary book, if not for the fact that Rio knew about it beforehand, he wouldn''t have been able to find anything wrong about it.


    ''i should go somewhere with less people first...'' (Rio)


    After paying the bill which that careless girlfriend of his forgot, Rio left silently. After reaching a particr hidden corner and confirming that no one was here, he brought out the book.


    While holding the book he pulled out his sword and


    [Elemental sword Art: zing fire]


    The book was immediately reduced to ashes in just a fraction of a second.


    After destroying the book Rio immediately backed away a few steps, and waited, he waited to confirm his doubt, and just as he thought the weird thing indeed happened...


    The ashes of the book started to rise ande closer to each other automatically, slowly the ashes started to take the shape of the once destroyed book again, as mind blowing as it seem, the most shocking part is that eventually the book was restored to original and this time it seemed more like a new book.


    Before being burned it could have been considered an old book with years of cuts and marks on it, but now it has bepletely new as if it has been printed just now. The changes didn''t stop here, as time passed the book started to age rapidly and the previous old apperance started to be restored, eventually it was back to normal.


    Seeing this Rio wasn''t much surprised.( Well now even if a monster suddenly jumped out of the book Rio would still not be surprised, he is just that fed up with these strange thing happening all the time.)


    ''hmm... As expected of an indistructable item, it can''t be destroyed by regr means...but it seems Lia really have a halo of bad luck on her... To think she would still encounter this thing, even though, I have already saved her from bing a viiness....'' (Rio)


    Rio looked at book on the ground with serious eyes, this is not an ordinary thing.


    ''I have to find a way to get rid of this ''Grimoire'', it can cause great harm to Lia if she got her hands on this...'' (Rio)


    Grimoire, a book containing dark magic, contaminated with miasma, once some starts reading this book they are bound by a curse, untill youplete reading it you can''t leave and once you read itpletely the miasma will make you a demon like individual from inside.


    These types of books affect the readers psychology, simply speaking they unconsciously brainwash the reader, starting by slow contamination of miasma to eventually making you totally dependent on miasma to live. This miasma makes your thinking and emotional behaviour extremely simr to demons who kind torture others for pleasure.


    And a being like that can''t be epted by anyone from any race, not to mention you harm others but yourself too. Afterall, maisma slowly eats away your life force making your life span shorter and shorter with each passing second.


    You may think that what does this have to do with Lia, but as you may know Lia was originally meant to be a viiness and there was a mention of this grimoire in the original novel.


    But the way she got it was different, ording to the original, Lia had been in herte stages of her bing a viiness around this time, being constantly bing more and more of a sadist due to her hate for Kira and one day when she was going to stab Kira in the library in hope of ending it all in one go, she was found out by Fade.


    As you may have already guessed, a hugemotion urred the news about this matter spread in the whole school in a matter of hours. Lia was desperate now, she knew that she will be eventually caught by teachers sooner orter.


    While she was desperate, this grimoire appeared in front of her from some corner of the library, it opened itself and a huge magic circle unfolded instantly. Before anyone could react Lia was teleported away.


    I don''t really need to tell where she was teleported right, she was directly teleported to the castle of the demon king, in the centre of the demon continent, far away from the academy.


    Thousands of people were hired to find Lia by her father but to no avail. At the end it was a heartbreaking event for Lia and her family. This incident finally made Lia into a full fledged viiness, while she became one of the subordinates of the demon king. Her father suffered depression and retired from work.


    ''I may not be able to properly feel any emotions, but for some reason only when I am with can feel slight emotions, she is too precious to be lost....'' (Rio)


    Looking at the brilliant scenery created by the setting sun on the horizon Rio let out a long sigh...


    ''When did i became so obsessed with Lia..... have i really fallen so down in this abyss of love, heh, an abyss of love.....it may not be that bad... if I can stay in this abyss then, for a while atleast...'' (Rio)


    ''As for how to make this book reach a ce far away from Lia, i have a good idea, it may cause a small problem to a certain someone with huge luck with him, even if I this book applies bad luck to him it will be converted into good luck so he will be the best way to deal with this thing...'' (Rio)


    ''But obviously I won''t ask for his help directly, i will just force this book on him. I don''t give a damn about being considerate of his feelings.'' (Rio)


    With this a viinous smile appeared on Rio''s face, if not for the fact that there''s no one here, people would have been scared to death by him.


    .


    .


    .


    "Achoo!" (Fade)


    "Do you have a cold, Fade" (Kira)


    "Nah! Perhaps someone is plotting something against me again, i have have a feeling that someone is targeting me. Can we go to your home tomorrow, i don''t feel safe here."(Fade)


    "Eh, uh, o-okay, if you say so, then...." (Kira)


    ''heh, you are so easy to take advantage of Kira, but sorry I must go afterall there''s so many high quality things in your house, not to mention, there''s so many cute looking maids there, hehehehe... (Fade)


    Suddenly a very strong wind came, it felt as he was going to be blown away, faintly he seem to have seen a shadow pass by but he wasn''t sure of it, this he ignored it and since Kira was too busy caring about her blowing skirt she also didn''t notice anything at all.


    But an unknown book suddenly appeared in Fade''s bag.


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s note-


    Question of the day:-


    What do yo think is Rio a caring boyfriend or is he too much obsessed, would it have been a good idea for him to ignore the grimoire?


    This time I leave the answer to you, no options this time.


    By the way, don''t forget toment, i prefer yourments more than anything. Thanks for all of your support.

 Chapter 49 A Sweet And Sour Combination. Link X Riya

    Chirp~chirp~


    The morning sun shined brightly and the golden rays passing from the window fell on a sleeping young boy''s face gently, the faint yet refreshing wind blew over that handsome face, his red hair also increased his charm quite a bit...


    But this peace didn''tst long, Link slowly opened his eyes, hezily sat up


    Yawn~


    "are you awake?"(Riya)


    "Yea-!!!!!!!!"(Link)


    "Wha!? What are you doing in my bed Riya!?"(Link)


    "Oh I was passing by your dorm room then I thought I should wake you up, but after seeing you sleep like a baby i also felt sleepy, yawn~(a fake yawn)"(Riya)


    "Sigh~, at least make a better and more convincing lie...."(Link)


    As if a little embarrassed, Riya blushed a little:


    "What are you talking about! I didn''t lie at all!...."(Riya)


    "Ok, now that I am awake you can go, i have to get ready..."(Link)


    As if annoyed by Link ignoring her, Riya puffed up her cheeks and tried to look fierce, but Link just ignored her after looking at her puffed face, he directly entered the washroom and looked the door.


    m~


    "Hey!Don''t ignore me! Hey!"(Riya)


    As the door closed Riya''s cheeks puffed up even more:


    "Hmph! I may not be sessful today but just you wait Link! once we go to the date this month! I will force you to buy the ultra rare candies for me! Hmph!"(Riya)


    "By the way, now that I have got the chance toe in Link''s room for the first time after so many years, how about i observe his room a bit...."(Riya)


    "When we were both young, i used toe in his room often to y back then , but when we grew up Link stopped me froming in his room, i wonder why though"(Riya)


    "Hmm, let''s see¡­ sister used to say that if you want to find a boy''s secret you must look under his bed for forbidden books¡­" (Riya)


    "But, I don''t really know what is a forbidden book, how am I supposed to find it then¡­.well let''s look for it anyway¡­here we go" (Riya)


    Unknown to the dangers of looking under a young teenage boy''s bed Riya started to find those forbidden books which for some reason wasn''t there at all anyway.


    While looking under the bed Riya bumped her head idently, and coincidently and very very coincidently a small box fell from some secret corner of the bed.


    "ouch!¡­ it hurts¡­what is this box, where did it fell from, oh! there''s a secret drawer under the bed, but this isn''t a book though, I wonder what might be inside it¡­." (Riya)


    While Riya was just about to open it she suddenly heard Link''s voice:


    "uh, well, what are you doing crawling under my bed like a worm? Is this your new way of sleeping or something¡­?" (Link)


    Surprised by his sudden voice Riya tried to get up immediately but bumped her head again but this time it was quite hard. Not being able to bear the pain tears started to flow from her eyes like rivers, but even her crying voice was so cute you might want to protect her.


    Seeing her crying, Link shook his head, heaved a long sigh and then finally helped her to get up from the floor. After crying in Link''s arms and rubbing her teary eyes to Link''s shirt for a few minutes, Riya finally calmed down a bit.


    "Hey, stop crying now, aren''t your ss ''healer'', you can heal yourself you know¡­here put your hand on your head and say ''heal''¡­" (Link)


    "sob¡­sob¡­b-but I don''t need to use heal anymore¡­" (Riya)


    While sobbing Riya hid the mysterious box behind her before Link could see it, of course she didn''t knew that a martial artist like Link was already able to see her hiding that box.


    "Huh, why? Don''t you want to heal your head? Oh! Sorry! I mean your injury of course!" (Link)


    ''After all, stupidity can''t be healed by any healing spell....'' (Link)


    "hmm, why do I have a feeling that you thinking something bad about me Link, are you?" (Riya)


    "you are just thinking too much, there''s nothing like that¡­." (Link)


    "I don''t need to use ''heal'', because I can directly use ''Greater Heal''." (Riya)


    [Greater Heal]


    "Here, see it''s back to normal now there''s not even a single scratch left now, aren''t I awesome, aren''t I amazing, go ahead praise me and worship me, muhahahaha¡­.." (Riya)


    Saying that Riya seemed extremely proud of herself. Of course that proud of her is backed by her actual talent. As she is the younger sister of an SS rank individual, she is also obviously very talented, her healing skills has already reached the point where she can already heal most of the fatal wounds on a person''s body, even the buffs she can cast for her teammates are quite strong, which makes her a very worthy teammate to have with you.


    Although, she is not strong physically and is basically too weak to even withstand a single attack from a monster.


    "Yeah, Yeah, sorry I forgot that you were already a B rank healer, but why are youughing like an elementary grader ying the role of an evil old man." (Link)


    ''I have to admit that I am always surprised by how her mood can change in a matter of seconds, she was crying like a child just half a minute and now she isughing and making a smug face. Well that''s also one of the many things I like about her, nothing can be done about, sigh~'' (Link)


    "anyway, what was you even doing crawling under my bed, you know it''s not a good thing to jump around everywhere in other''s room without their permission..." (Link)


    "I can''t tell you that~" (Riya)


    ''She is acting kind of suspicious¡­. Hmm, such times I have the best way to find the truth out of her. It''s time to use my special weapon on her¡­'' (Link)


    Link suddenly smiled slyly and said:


    "Huh, so you don''t want to tell me¡­ even though¡­ even though, I care about you so much¡­ well it''s okay if you don''t want to tell me¡­ I¡­I won''t ask anymore then¡­." (Link)


    "No matter what you say I won''t tell you that I have been looking for forbidden book-Ah!!!" (Riya)


    Realizing that she has already spilled all the beans she knew has messed up real bad now, So, Riya also tried to use her special attack at this very moment and that special attack is indeed:


    "Runnnnn!!!!" (Riya)


    Just as Riya was about to run away Link caught her hand and pulled her towards him, causing Riya to fall over Link, even Link was surprised a little bit due to her directly falling on him.


    "wh-what!... what are you doin-" (Riya)


    Although Link knew he has gone a bit too far, but he knew that there''s no way back from here, the only way is to go forward. So, taking the advantage of the moment he directly sealed Riya''s Lips with his own.


    The events suddenly took a turn to a wrong way and for the first time Link and Riya got to know what it feels like to kiss someone you loved.


    After half a minute of staring contest with each other both of them finally separated from each other, a sat on farthest corners of the bed.


    Riya finally broke the awkward silence after a few minutes while blushing:


    "huff¡­.huff¡­ y-you are a big pervert! Link!!" (Riya)


    "eh, don''t me me for that you was the one who fall on me, then you tempted me with your cute face, it''s all your fault, how am supposed to resist you when you put such a cute face of yours near mine¡­" (Link)


    While saying that, Link was making an extremely innocent face as if he was the one who was wronged, his acting so perfect that it nearly reached Rio''s level, just a bit below Rio of course.


    Hearing Link, Riya was out of words, she didn''t knew what to say to Link now:


    "n-no, tha-that, I-I¡­ you are a pervert!!! That''s it!!" (Riya)


    "You have really angered me now, am gonna punch your face real hard now!" (Riya)


    "No, don''t do that otherwise your small and weak hands will get injured too, your brain is already injured¡­" (Link)


    "What did you say!?" (Riya)


    "Nothing~" (Link)


    "hmph!, idiot Link!" (Riya)


    Seeing that the things were getting out of hand Link finally decided to change the topic:


    "So, who told you to look for such books, I am quite sure you couldn''t be the one toe up with this idea, by judging how injured your head is¡­. Was it you older sister?" (Link)


    "eh, how do you know that! And I am not injured anymore I have healed myself you know that! Hey! Stop ignoring me! Link!...." (Riya)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    So, here''s a chapter on our second main couple of the book, what are your thoughts about them, do tell me in thement section. Don''t forget toment your opinion, yourments are more important for me that anything else. Have a nice day, bye¡­

 Chapter 50 A Peaceful Day- Rio X Lia

    Step~Step~


    The sound of students walking in the hallway can be easily heard outside the ss, it is just a regr new day in the life of the students life today, the whole academy is as lively as ever. But you can sense the excitement in the students about something.


    Rio was first a bit confused but then after hearing the gossiping of the students he also knew what was going on around here:


    "Hey, you know there''s gonna be a big celebration event after the final exams this year."


    "Well, before the celebration there''s the final exams though, there''s only two weeks left now. I think the teacher''s must be announcing about the exam date soon too"


    "ohe on! Don''t make me remember that I have not studied much the whole year, I just want to attend the celebration fest!"


    "Yeah, indeed you haven''t studied much, but you know if you don''t get passing marks in the writing andbat exams both you wouldn''t be able to attend the celebration fest. Instead you would be crying in a corner after failing."


    "No! I am not that terrible in studying that I will end up failing, besides there''s still thebat test in which if you get good marks your writing marks can be covered."


    "Heh, we will see."


    ''Hmm, so it''s already time for that period of the year, now I have to go through one more event which wasn''t in the original novel at all.'' (Rio)


    ''Well, nothing can be done about that, after all even if there''s was no such an event in the novel the protagonist indeed became a second year student, which means these exams were directly skipped for plot development.'' (Rio)


    ''It''s understandable, Fade has already improved his grades and fame in the mid-term exams, so there wouldn''t be any problems for him to pass the finals too.'' (Rio)


    ''It seems theseing exams will be uneventful and there wouldn''t be anything much interesting for me, anyways I prefer this peaceful life more than the daily hassle a protagonist has to go through.'' (Rio)


    While unaware of theing dangers and changes in the main plot of the novel due to butterfly effect he has caused, Rio was just spending his peaceful time sitting on the desk under the shade of arge tree.


    This spot is quite famous among the students of the academy, Rio oftenes here to eat Lunch brought by his girlfriend.


    ''Even I didn''t expected that the pampered daughter of a big and rich family like Lia would be able to make food good enough to make any five star hotel to shame, Lia seems to have a great talent for food. The only thing is isn''t really that honest. But I like that side of her too.'' (Rio)


    "You seem to be listening those girls quite intently, are their talk that interesting to you!?" (Lia)


    Just when Rio was busy contemting about worldly things in his mind, the sudden voice of Lia surprised him a little, but of course it didn''t show on his face.


    "Nah, I was just thinking about the uing exams a little, but for the most part I was thinking how surprisingly good your cooking is." (Rio)


    "Hmph! You can''t divert the topic by praising me you know! But of course my cooking is that good who do you think my personal maid is? She is a winner of the silver medal in the national cooking contest you know, I have been taking lessons from her since I was ten." (Lia)


    "My personal maid is just like my older sister for me, she cares about me very much, I respect her very much¡­" (Lia)


    Lia seemed to be quite proud when talking about her maid, she even had a grin of her cute face. Her confidence in the maid surprised Rio a bit.


    ''She seems to really look up to her maid, to think this girl who respect her personal maid this much was also the one who started her killing spree from her personal maid too, after going insane from darkness.'' (Rio)


    ''Well it''s good that things are different, I wouldn''t mind if I have to face troubles in the future due to me changing the plot, if I can only protect those rted to me, I don''t care about the rest.'' (Rio)


    ''I just have to be strong enough, so strong that I could kill the protagonist easily during the end stages of this journey.'' (Rio)


    "You know what Lia, I care about you too, perhaps even more than your maid¡­ shouldn''t you be more nice to me too?" (Rio)


    "Well, of course you care about me-" (Lia)


    "Wait! Wait! What, is it what I think it is!? Are you perhaps jealous of my maid Rio!? Hey don''t avert your gaze look at me¡­heh! I didn''t expected to that even you can get jealous, even though you always seem so aloof and indifferent¡­ That was really eye opening!" (Lia)


    ''oh, she got me real good for the first time it seems, but that smug look on her face is also quite cute too, seriously, I am bing more and more obsessed with her. I never expected that this feeling-less body of mine can also feel something, sigh~'' (Rio)


    "Well, I am indeed envious of your maid, she can see you all day long, she can eat with you, she can stay with you, she can ba-" (Rio)


    "Hey! Stop! Stop you idiot, okay I get it, I get it¡­.. w-well¡­. Y-you know¡­. You can b-be w-with me i-if you ma-marry me in future¡­" (Lia)


    While saying that, Lia''s face became redder with each word:


    "of course, I am gonna marry you after we graduate from the academy, there''s no way I would let you leave me!" (Rio)


    "wha-wha¡­. You¡­ are you speaking the truth?..... I wouldn''t take no as answerter, you know" (Lia)


    "Of course, I am speaking the truth!" (Rio)


    Seeing the confident look on Rio''s face Lia became more embarrassed, but she felt very happy in her heart with each passing moment.


    ''M-my heart seems to be beating too fast, is it normal for it to beat so fast, this idiot Rio he really have a silver tongue¡­ but why do I feel this feeling of happiness¡­.'' (Lia)


    "We will see, how true you are in the future, hmph, idiot king Rio!" (Lia)


    "Hey, are you nning on keeping me hungry today, the lunch time is nearly over, are we gonna eat or not?" (Rio)


    "Ye-yeah, I nearly forgot about that¡­.here" (Lia)


    "Oh, it looks delicious, time to dig in!" (Rio)


    Ever since Rio got a girlfriend he has stopped bringing his own lunch, after all he has a girlfriend to cook for him. Eating the lunch made by Lia and having top ss dishes everyday has be normal for Rio now, in beginning he was thinking that all this was cooked by Lia''s family''s chefs but after seeing Lia''s skills in cooking by himself his doubts were no more.


    While Rio was busy eating this godly food, Lia was also busy eating and thinking:


    ''It seems the saying that ''the way to a man''s heart is from his stomach is right afterall'' I never expected that even Rio have times when he get jealous too.'' (Lia)


    ''I am d, I learned to cook, otherwise it would have been more difficult to know more about Rio''s feelings, this guy is extremely hard to read afterall.'' (Lia)


    ''There are very few times I have been able to see his true feelings for me, if not for the fact that I am such an understanding girlfriend, what would happen of this idiot without me?'' (Lia)


    ''The look on her face seems more smug than before, is she still thinking about me being jealous, sigh, she really got me good for the first time today, sometimes I think she is corrupting me with this godly food.'' (Rio)


    The beautiful white flower petals were slowly falling from the tree with the refreshing and slight breeze creating an amazingly beautiful scenery filled with peace. Anyone who see this will feel peaceful and rxed.


    ''I wish that time stop this moment and we could stay together always like this for the whole eternity.'' (Lia)


    ''I wish that time stop this moment and we could stay together always like this for the whole eternity.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    So, what are your thought on this chapter, write in thements and don''t forget to use those power stone and to continue reading this story add it in your collections.


    Here''s the question of the day:


    How much diabetes did you get from reading this chapter?


    1 Low


    2 Mid


    3 High


    4 Incalcble


    5 The heck with diabetes I am just feel lonelier after reading this chapter now. Curse you author.


    By the way I am thinking of writing a bonus chapter which character do you want it to be on? or do you want it to be on the background story of this world?

 Chapter 51 Childhood Sweetheart Of Ms. Anna!

    As usual the ss is lively with students talking today too. Most of the students are already waiting for the confirmation of the celebration fest from the teachers.


    As usual the ss started with Ms. Anna entering the ssroom and ring at the students with the eyes filled with intimating murderous intent. The whole ss fell silent and everyone returned to their seats.


    Well, it''s nothing new, everyone has already gotten used to the sudden mood swings of Ms. Anna by now, usually she have the personality of an iceberg and have the aura of indifference hanging around her but every once in a while she have this murderous intent.


    Some students were actually curious about it and tried to investigate the reason for this, but they ended up caught in just a few minutes while following behind her. After all, no matter how defenseless this woman may look but she is a genuine S-rank mage her perception is no joke.


    Now that I think about aside from the very first day when Fade was pped awake by her, she has already beaten Fade for Sleeping in ss about thirty times or something by now it seems¡­. Cough! Well the extraordinary ways of a child of luck are out of ourmoners thinking capability.


    Yeah, you have already guessed it right that this way of beating Fade every once in a while is the way to get Anna''s attention on Fade, there''s nothing else to it. And this is also quite true, Due to Fade getting beaten by her so many times, nowadays Fade is known as Ms. Anna''s favorite student. There are rumors spreading that Ms. Anna is actually a sadist who like beating people (of course, its false, she is actually just too depressed from stress.)


    ''Sigh~, the ways of a Fade are extraordinarily and amazingly idiotic'' (Rio)


    "Okay now that all of you have quieted down, I would first tell you that your final exams are starting two weeks from now and for yourbat based exam a tournament will be held in which students will fight amongst them." (Anna)


    "This time the winner of the tournament will be rewarded with the letter of rmendation from the principal herself. The principle has said that you can also get schrship from school too, every month if you won." (Anna)


    "By the way this reward is only for the top ten students out of all the first year students this time. So work hard and grab this golden opportunity. After all a rmendation letter from an SS rank individual herself is no joke, even S rankers don''t get such things easily." (Anna)


    "Also the students who will sessfully pass the exams this year will be allowed to attend the celebration fest. The date of the fest would notified to youter." (Anna)


    "Also¡­" (Anna)


    Suddenly the atmosphere around Ms. Anna became serious and more intimidating:


    "For theing one week you are will get special training regimen from Mr. Jin Walt. I assume you all know him well already-" (Anna)


    Just when Ms. Anna was speaking the gate of the ssroom burst open with a bang and tall man walked in slowly, with each of his step the floor cracked and deep crack appeared in the wall from the shockwave produced by the destruction of the gate.


    "The f*ck are you doing!? And who the hell even gave you permission toe here!?" (Anna)


    Anna got extremely angry by seeing this man, it seemed as if she has suddenly seen her lifelong enemy. For the first time students saw Ms. Anna cursing on someone. Before this no matter how frustrated Ms. Anna would not swear on anyone, not even the protagonist, the great and almighty Fade himself.


    The man just smiled a little in response of Anna and nodded towards the students:


    "hello students, I am Jin Walt, I would be responsible for training you fledlings for the next two weeks, don''t worry I would make you the strongest and the best students by imparting mybat knowledge to you all, bahahahaha-" (Jin)


    Just when Jin wasughing a huge hand made of mes appeared out of nowhere and punched him directly on the face. The forced created by the attack made the ckboard and the wall behind it to have a huge hole in it, even the bricks were melted intova from the mere heat of that attack. Anyone can tell that this is the advance me magic "Ifrit''s Hand".


    But to everyone''s surprise Jin wasn''t even fazed from this he just continued standing right there with same idiotic grin he had before. Instead his muscr upper body was now exposed due to the clothes getting burned down.


    You can see huge and horrible scars on his chest.


    "I see, you are as lively as ever, Anna¡­ bahahahaha¡­ I like that liveliness of yours, hey what do you think of my previous proposal, why don''t you marry me already, if you marry me every day would be so lively, bahahahaha" (Jin)


    "Who the heck would marry a brainless barbarian like you! And how dare you ignore my question earlier! Why are you here!?" (Anna)


    "Oh! I just came to introduce myself to my cute students that it, I didn''t knew you was also here at all, believe me. If I knew, I would havee in a formal suit with a bouquet full of red flowers which are your favorite, but anyway what do you think of marrying me though?" (Jin)


    "For god''s sake! I have already rejected you for more than a thousand times now! Yet you are still so persistent!" (Anna)


    "Sigh~, even though when we were kids you always used to say that you will marry me when we be we even made a promise too¡­ Sigh~" (Jin)


    "I never promised that! You are just having delusions in the middle of the day! In the first ce we were kids back then!" (Anna)


    Professor Jin suddenly looked sad and started sulking:


    "b-but you even forced me to sign the marriage certificate when we were in first grade, sigh~" (Jin)


    "Just F*ck off already from here! Or we are going to have a duel right here and right now!" (Anna)


    Although Anna was saying that her face was getting redder with each word, she was really embarrassed now.


    ''This bastard haspletely ruined my reputation in front of my students. Every time I hear him, my stress goes up, tch'' (Anna)


    "Okay, okay don''t get so aggressive honey, I was just about to go anyway, by the way how about we go on a dinner date today, It would be my treat, I would order your favorite food buhahaha" (Jin)


    "Bye then" (Jin)


    Jin left straight away before Anna could say anything because he knew she was gonna reject anyway.


    "Just go away! And I am not your honey!" (Anna)


    "I can''t believe this man''s shamelessness, urg, my head hurts now thinking of his idiotic face. Tch!" (Anna)


    Then Anna suddenly remembered something, her face returned to normal in an instant, her aura of intimidation returned again and she said with the straight face:


    "cough! So, I suppose you all know Mr. Jin Walt now, he would be your teacher for the next few days, you should all study hard and work for excellence because all of you are the future of the humanity itself. Now the ss is dismissed." (Anna)


    After she dismissed the ss, Anna left the ss through the broken doorway as if nothing had happened.


    Only the students were left confused. They couldn''t even believe what just happened. If someone has said before that Ms. Anna can swear like that, they would have justughed it off, but after seeing it by themselves they are certain of one thing, that ''the world of adults is insane!''


    "Hey, how did Mr. Jin tanked that Advanced rank magic so easily, isn''t that just insane¡­."


    "I don''t know man but it seems his name ''The Tiger of North'' isn''t for show, after all."


    "But to think that Mr. Jin and Ms. Anna are both childhood sweethearts, that''s very surprising."


    "Idiot, don''t ever say that in front of Ms. Anna, if she heard that she would make fried meat stick out of you, didn''t you see how concentrated and dense the mana of that me magic was¡­."


    "y-yeah, that''s true"


    While the students were chatting about this and that our child of luck, Fade was having a heart attack right now.


    ''How dare that piece of sh*t propose to Ms. Anna, it should have been me, tch, if not for the fact I am in the ssroom, I would have challenged him for a dual.'' (Fade)


    Of course this is just Fade''s wishful thinking Jin is not something a mere C rank like Fade can even touch at all. Even a single finger of Jin would have more destructive power than Fade''s maximum magic output.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Hello friends, so what are your thoughts on the chapter? Write them down in thements!


    Question of the day


    What do you think, will Jin ever seed in marrying his dream partner Anna?


    1 Yes, Every persistent effort always get rewarded in full. (Seems kind of unreal to me.)


    2 No, He would die single¡­. (Sounds interesting)


    3 I don''t know, the only thing in my mind is that I want Fade to die!


    Don''t forget to use your power stones and golden tickets if you liked the story. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 52 Rio’s First Defeat, Lia The Mad Sword Demon...

    Academy training Ground No. 4


    This ce is a huge hall, from huge I mean extremely huge¡­. Approximately five thousand people can be umted in this hall, even then there would still be enough free space for everyone.


    Generally this ce is only used when a teacher is going to take a practical orbat ss which. The tiles and materials used to create this ce are so tough that if an A-rank uses his full force attack on them it would still not receive much damage.


    This ce is perfect forbat, since there''s basically no way a student can put a single scratch on this building afterall. Right?


    [Body strengthening!]


    [Concentration!]


    [Sword Aura: Fire type!]


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio used all his buffing and enhancing skill at once and the B rank aura emitted by his body was so great that it alone was making cracks in the floor.


    "Here Ie, Mr. Jin¡­" (Rio)


    Without waiting for any answer Rio attack right away his sword directly aimed for the neck, he was aiming for a direct one shot kill attack, but the problem is using a huge amount of mana in all this making it a do or die situation, if he doesn''tnd this attack sessfully, he would run out of his mana and if this attacknd he will be the winner.


    ''Now is not the time to think too much, I would give it my all¡­ here we go!'' (Rio)


    Just when the attack was about tond on Jin''s neck, it stopped¡­. it wasn''t Rio who stopped it of course! Jin was holding a great-sword in his right hand which seemed to appear out of nowhere and blocked Rio''s sword very easily. Rio''s sword wasn''t even able to move a little bit against that huge great-sword.


    A surprised expression appeared on Rio''s face for the first time since he had transmigrated in this world, after all this is the first time he wasn''t able to defeat his opponent. Although, Rio was not expecting his attack to actually seed but he didn''t thought it would be so easy to stop his attack¡­


    ''So, this is the strength of an S-rank swordsman, I wasn''t even able to see my sword being blocked¡­'' (Rio)


    "Heh, you are better that I originally expected kid¡­" (Jin)


    A satisfied smile appeared on Jin''s face:


    "This is the first time a student was able to force me bring out my sword ever since I have joined this academy as a teacher, generally, I just block it with my two fingers¡­ as I expected you are talented kid¡­but you are still too young!" (Jin)


    A cold smile appeared on Jin''s face and he punched Rio on chest with his left hand. The shockwave produced by that punch made Rio fly away.


    Rio''s body flew away like an arrow and directly collided with the wall of the hall.


    The floor of the hall got destroying all the way from Jin to where Rio was flown away to, just only this can show how powerful that single attack was.


    "Uck!" (Rio)


    Rio spit out blood from his mouth, but Rio didn''t waste any time and tried to stabilize his body and stand slowly:


    "What!? You are still conscious? You are surprisingly tenacious¡­ that punch would have been enough to make an A-rank go unconscious!" (Jin)


    Just when Rio was trying to stand, Jin hit the back of his neck and Rio fell unconscious directly by this blow.


    "You should go and sleep kid don''t struggle so much¡­" (Jin)


    .


    .


    Academy Infirmary. Room No. 598


    ''hmm¡­.. I¡­ lost¡­. As expected of an S-rank¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio slowly opened his eyes and sat on the bed and the very first thought that came to his mind was how he lost so easily to Jin. But instead of making him demotivated, Rio''s determination increased even more and a slight smile appeared on his face.


    ''But now I know the difference between me and an S-rank, if I just work hard I would eventually reach that level too someday!'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was contemting on how to increase his strength in future and was busy in his own world, the gate of the infirmary room burst open with a bang.


    "Are you awake now Rio!? Are you alright!? Are you hurt somewhere!? Hey! Tell me if you are hurt!" (Lia)


    Lia''s eyes were filled with tears while she tried to inspect Rio''s chest but since she wasn''t able to see it because it was covered by his shirt she chose to ask instead.


    Seeing her worried expression Rio felt sudden warmth inside him, this was an unknown and strange feeling for him, after all seeing someone caring and worrying about you is a new and unknown feeling to an orphan like him.


    ''I must be strong, if want to protect her that is¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio smiled a little and said:


    "I am okay, you can rest assured¡­." (Rio)


    "As I thought you are injured after all, the Rio I know never smiles at all, are you sure you are not feeling unwell or something." (Lia)


    "Do you take me for an emotionless machine or something, of course I smile too." (Rio)


    "But I am happy to see that you are worried about me, Lia my dear girlfriend¡­" (Rio)


    Rio said with a teasing look on his face:


    "Wh-wha, who said I am worried about you!? I just came to see if you are okay or not, don''t mistake, hmph!" (Lia)


    "Since you are capable of teasing me even now, then you must be feeling alright, right?" (Lia)


    "Yeah, I am feeling good, just a bit tired, that''s all¡­" (Rio)


    "w-well if you say so, I am relieved that you are okay. I will bring something to eat for youter, you should rest more, the head healer said that you need to rest for a whole day, he wasn''t even allowing to let mee here but I convinced him that by saying that I will only visit for a few minutes¡­. so I won''t disturb you anymore, get well soon, bye." (Lia)


    "Bye, love you" (Rio)


    Hearing this Lia''s whole face became red, but her heart was already feeling extremely excited right now.


    "hmph, idiot Rio!" (Lia)


    .


    After Lia walked out of the Room she met Riya standing outside the room next to the one Rio was in.


    ''Hmm, isn''t that the younger sister of principle, what is she doing here, oh! I see she''s a healer! She must be looking out on a patient or something. Well it doesn''t concern me anyway.'' (Lia)


    ''Even if I approach her, given my reputation she might not even talk to me, so let''s just ignore the fact that I see her.'' (Lia)


    Just when Lia was about to leave the ce Riya called out:


    "Uh, are you perhaps the ''Mad sword demon'' Lia? I am your huge fan! Can you give me an autograph here on my notebook¡­" (Riya)


    Stars were shining in Riya''s eyes as if she was extremely excited to see Lia.


    "hah! What!? I am not mad! Who the heck even came up with that name!? It make me sound like a killer or something!" (Lia)


    Riya didn''t take it to heart but she became even more excited every second she talked to Lia.


    "eh, but all the students in the ss say that when referring to you, don''t you know about that, well if you don''t like it I won''t say it again, but give me an autograph please! Please!" (Riya)


    "What? Why are you even my fan in the first ce, I haven''t done anything for you at all¡­" (Lia)


    Visible confusion appeared on Lia''s face.


    " Well you see, you are strongest of all the female students in our ss, not to mention your all the students fear you, you looked so cool the other day when beat down those ten guys all by yourself, I also want to be like you can you be my friend, please, pretty please!" (Riya)


    ''She is making me sound like a school bully¡­but her face seems so enthusiastic, could it be that this girl have some problem in her brain¡­'' (Lia)


    "W-well, I don''t mind being friend with you¡­" (Lia)


    "Yes! I am so happy! Finally I was able to make friends with the cool and intimidating Lia, I feel like I am gonna explode from excitement¡­. Ah! As an appreciation gift I would give you these ultra-rare candies of mine, here!" (Riya)


    "o-oh, thanks¡­ I should get going now¡­" (Lia)


    "bye-bye¡­" (Riya)


    .


    Inside Rio''s infirmary room, Rio wasn''t able to hearing what was going on outside due the walls being soundproof, thus he was not disturbed by the overly enthusiastic Riya.


    "fuuu¡­ finally I have recovered all of my mana... but judging by the fact that I was out of mana from just one attack I must work hard to increase it." (Rio)


    ''To think a Mid-rank viin like Jin would be so strong¡­'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Thanks for reading the chapter, also don''t forget to use your power stones, your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 53 Jin The Devil...

    Rio''s Dorm Room


    While sitting in the private training room, Rio meditated for a long time and then slowly opened his eyes. The aura around him has be considerably stronger than he had before.


    ''Hmm, after fighting Jin I got to know more about my weaknesses and with a bit of training I have made a breakthrough, although it''s not a huge one but even a little enhancement in strength is still considerable.'' (Rio)


    ''It''s been so long since Ist looked at my status, I should give it a look¡­'' (Rio)


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: B] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 4800/4800] [MP: 3700/3700]


    [STR: 71/100] [SPE: 79/100] [AGI: 67/ 100] [DEF: 63/100] [INT: 78/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Intermediate Swordsmanship (B), Elemental Sword Art (B)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration (?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening (B), Lightening Sword (B), Sword Aura (B), Handling (B)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; unaffected by fate and destiny.]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???), Formless weapon (bound to the soul)]


    ''Although the speed of my advancement has slowed down considerably, I am still progressing steadily. All my skills have reached the ''B'' rank from ''B-'' rank.'' (Rio)


    ''But, I still have a long way ahead, I am not even halfway there yet.'' (Rio)


    Suddenly Rio remembered what happened yesterday while training¡­


    .


    Yesterday, the Training area


    All the students has gathered in the huge hall and were now chatting happily with their friends, of course, Rio was standing quietly in the corner without any care in the world.


    After half an hour, Mr. Jin suddenly appeared in the center of the hall out of nowhere. Obviously, he must have been so fast that no one was able to find him when he appeared all of a sudden. But his deep and domineering voice made the students put their attention directly on him:


    "Good Morning everyone, I assume everyone is here by now, so let''s start with the ss now. All the close-ranged warrior-type individuals stand on the right side and the other types stand on the left side." (Jin)


    Everyone did the same, students with sses like a swordsman, martial artist, knight, spearman, etc. all stood on the right side, while the students with courses like a mage, archer, summoner, healer, etc. stood on the left side.


    After all the students sorted out, Mr. Jin said:


    "Now, all the students in the left group containing healer, archer, etc. your first task is to run tenps of this hall, I would not hear any excuse even if you are all not good in physical fitnesspared to the right group you also need to work on your physique a bit to stay healthy, start now¡­.Go!" (Jin)


    The quick-witted students immediately made a run for it, but there were still many confused students, who didn''t run immediately and were left behind.


    Jin suddenly appeared behind thest student and gave him a p on the face, the student''s face directly collided with the floor and made small cracks on the floor, the student was now coughing blood, but Jin remained cold.


    "I said run, otherwise, you all gonna end up like him! And you four over there carry this guy with you to ask a healer type to heal him, run go! Or do you want the tonic too?" (Jin)


    A chill ran down the student''s back and from the previous good impression of Jin now he looked like a demon in the student''s eyes. The students ran desperately in order to not get the p and end up like the other guy who was forced to kiss the floor until it cracked.


    The previous cheerful atmosphere suddenly became grim and heavy, in just a few minutes.


    Looking at the students now running as if their lives were on the line, Jin felt quite satisfied:


    ''These guys from sses like mage etc. have be too physically unfit due to them never needing to focus on their physique, now even if I make them train to death it would not be that effective, and there''s not enough time, the exams are just two months away¡­'' (Jin)


    ''So, the only way to increase their physical fitness is by making them believe that their life is online, only then can their body improve fast enough¡­ although some of them might get trauma that can be healed by the psychic of our university so there''s no problem in this¡­'' (Jin)


    ''I can''t believe how good my n is these students must be loving me right now for my generosity.'' (Jin)


    "kukuku¡­" (Jin)


    Looking at Jin''s evil face and hearing his devilishugh students became even more frightened and ran even faster.


    ''It''s working! It''s working! I am a genius!'' (Jin)


    After observing students running for a while, Jin diverted his attention to the other student''s group, the close-range warrior group.


    "First, you ck hair kid, you stand aside and that red-haired kid you also stand aside. Yeah, now the rest of you choose a partner to spar for yourself. Fast!" (Jin)


    While Rio and Link stood looking at each other in confusion, all the other students chose their partners to spar with. After a while, all students chose their partners.


    "Now, you have to spar with each other, you all go and choose a ce for yourself to spar, but remember one thing you are not allowed to kill the opponent rest is still manageable depending on the situation. Good now go." (Jin)


    While the students were just about to disperse, Jin had a sly smile on his face as he said:


    "Ah! One more thing! The losers will have to double the training the academy allots as punishment, so you better not lose¡­" (Jin)


    Sudden desperation appeared on every student''s face, they immediately started to look at each other as their lifelong enemy. After all double the training is no joke, you will have toplete the whole training regimen twice, even doing it once is a huge difficulty for most of the students, and twice is like an impossible task.


    The academy assigns a training regimen to all the students at the end of every week, in which they have to fulfill the minimum requirements to sessfullyplete their regimen.


    The requirements are like ''ABC no. of squats, ABC no. of push-ups, etc.'' (Here ''ABC'' is different for every student so I am not writing a permanent one.)


    After hearing the punishment, the spars between students which should be friendly on any other asion, have now be desperate struggles to win and not get punished by their demonic teacher.


    ''Seeing the enhanced determination of these students I am sure they will get much stronger in the uing day, s, I can''t take their ss for the whole year, otherwise, their minds might get damaged, but it''s okay for a week or two, at least their strength would improve much more drastically.'' (Jin)


    After confirming that the student are fighting properly and had enough determination, Jin finally looked at thest two students left, who seemed to stand in confusion.


    (Of course, Rio already knows what is going to happen...)


    ''I can''t see Fade anywhere, ording to the novel he was also chosen by Jin, so there must be three individuals including me, but now Fade is nowhere to be seen, I wonder where did that guy go¡­'' (Rio)


    "you know why I made a step aside out of all the students¡­. That''s because you two are too strong for the rest of the students to fight against and even if I make you fight each other there''s not gonna be any progress¡­ Afterall you both seem to have already mastered the basics to the core." (Jin)


    "So, there''s only one way, I will train you both personally, get ready to fight me¡­" (Jin)


    An excited look appeared on Jin''s face and he looked at the two students as if he was looking at his prey¡­


    Link suddenly raised a question though:


    "But teacher, how do you know that we are stronger than others?" (Link)


    "haha, who do you think I am kid? I already have an official title given by the alliance, which means I have been through hundreds of battles and I have already faced thousands of opponents, all my experience from the battlefield has honed my intuition and perception to a great amount, and I can feel that you red hair kid have the aura as dense and strong as a B-ranker.." (Jin)


    "As, for you ck hair kid, you are strange, even my strong perception isn''t working on you, I truly wonder how strong you might be¡­" (Jin)


    "But don''t worry I am not so nosy that I will force you to spill your secrets, after all everyone has their secrets¡­" (Jin)


    Rio could see the unhidden curiosity on Jin''s face¡­


    ''Ah! That must be because of the ''True Immunity'' skill'' (Rio)


    But of course, Rio wouldn''t tell this to Jin.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    What are your thoughts on the chapter write them in thement section. I always look forward to yourments¡­


    Don''t forget to use those power stones and thanks for reading.

 Chapter 54 Comparing Waifus...

    The training grounds, Seventh Day of the training.


    ''After he beat me up on the first day, he hasn''t attacked again, but instead, he gave me and Link both the task tond an attack on him by any method possible. Landing an attack may seem to be an easy task but¡­'' (Rio)


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    Rio''s sword attack continued to fall on Jin yet not a single one was even able to touch him even a little bit. Jin is just too fast, after all an S-ranker''s speed is no joke.


    ''Speed is my specialty, yet this man is beating me up thoroughly in my own specialty, this feels like I am being pped for being too arrogant in my abilities¡­ but I mustnd at least one attack on him today¡­'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Wind type: 1000 strikes!]


    "Oh! that''s quite a strong sword art you got there kid! But still not enough to touch me, you have to work harder hahaha¡­" (Jin)


    "Don''t forget about me Mr. Jin!" (Link)


    Just when Jin seemed to be too concentrated on Rio, Link immediately understood that this is an opportunity created by Rio for him to attack, after all, they are both working together to fight Mr. Jin¡­ Thus, Link sneaked on Mr. Jin from his blind spot¡­


    [Dragon Arts: Roaring fist!]


    Just when Jin seemed to be stuck between the attacks of Rio and Link he caught Link''s hand without even looking at him and diverted it toward Rio, causing both of their attacks to get disturbed¡­


    [Handling!]


    Rio sessfully diverted Link''s hand aside before it could hit him with handling but Link wasn''t able to do so, Rio''s wind sword energy pierced through Link''s left hand. Link got injured from friendly fire¡­


    "When working together the first thing you need to confirm is that your partner doesn''t get caught in friendly fire, also you should be able to divert your attack any moment. Rio, you have to work on directly your own attack mid-way, while Link you have to learn a way to handle an iing attack Like Rio otherwise you would continue to get injured like this..." (Jin)


    Jin suddenly looked at his wristwatch and saw that time was nearly over:


    "Okay, today''s ss is over for now, remember what I taught you both and focus on your weakness, aside from that you both are doing quite well, any other A-ranker would have gotten seriously injured by yourbined attacks, I am sure both of you will make a good team one day¡­" (Jin)


    "Oh! I should get going now, if I took more of your time Anna will get angry at me, saying ''are you trying to kill my students by your barbarous methods!? You piece of sh*t'' aah! Love mimicking her she really is quite a lively woman, if only she loved me more-" (Jin)


    "Is that so, heh~" (Anna)


    Anna suddenly appeared out of thin air behind Jin, hearing her dark lines appeared on his face because he already knew what was going to happen now:


    "He-hey, Anna he-hear me out! There are student''s here, don''t use that spell!" (Jin)


    A panicked expression appeared on Jin''s face for the first time since he started to train the students. Just as he was about to run away:


    [Silence of Nether!]


    "...¡­.!!!!....!!!!!...." (Jin)


    "Now stay silent like that for a while now¡­ at least my headache will be reduced by ny percent if you stay silent for a while." (Anna)


    A satisfied smile appeared on Anna''s face.


    ''Except for this type of auxiliary magic, other magic of mine won''t actually do much damage to this guy because his physique is too strong for that, only he is a bitcking in the mind, thus I can still put auxiliary magic on him like this.'' (Anna)


    ''Although, if someone with low int stats tries to put this magic it won''t work on him, for me, this is a piece of cake!'' (Anna)


    While Jin was sulking in a corner of the hall, Anna was feeling proud of herself, the more she thought about it.


    Meanwhile, Link and Rio have already copsed on the floor due to exhaustion from the previous spars.


    ''Come to think of it I haven''t seen Fade and Kira since the first day of the training, what could have happened I wonder, this didn''t happen in the novel, strange¡­'' (Rio)


    "Huff¡­ you have¡­huff¡­ also recovered from your wounds Rio" (Link)


    "You were beaten more than me, yet you recovered faster than me, you really have some tenacious physique." (Rio)


    "Nah, it was Riya who worked day and night to heal me continuously, she is a very good person¡­" (Link)


    "Heh, are you trying to show off your girlfriend in front of me, let me tell you, Lia can cook godly food, even a pig would gain wisdom if it eats that food.." (Rio)


    "Oh,e on~ there''s noparison in them, Riya is much cuter than an elf!" (Link)


    "No way, Lia is as fierce and smart as a demon princess!" (Rio)


    While the two most talented students of the ss wereparing waifus, other students could be seen fainting all around the hall, some were still trying to spar, while some were groaning in pain, and most of them were copsed on the floor.


    ''All of them seem to have suffered a war, this scene looks like they have been beaten and tired for many months, for young students this is indeed quite a tragic thing, Jin really doesn''t know how to hold back, he is literally making them go insane from all this training..'' (Anna)


    ''But since the principal has asked me to not interfere in the training of these students, I can''t really do anything about this¡­ let''s just give Jin a warning, so that he would go easier on them¡­'' (Anna)


    ''Except Rio and Jin all the students have not really suffered any serious even once, but these two are getting injured on daily basis, every time I think about this my head hurts, that shi**y barbarian, if the top talents of our ss suffered mental problems, the scores of my ss will suffer considerable damage¡­'' (Anna)


    "All the students are dismissed for the day, return to your dorms, and those who are injured visit the healer''s office." (Anna)


    Anna left the hall while dragging Jin with her Right hand, from Jin''s face it seemed he was actually enjoying it¡­


    "sigh~"


    "sigh~"


    "sigh~"


    After Anna and Jin left students heaved a long sigh of relief¡­


    "Ah! I have survived one more day! Thank god! Thank you, my dear ancestors!"


    "Someone! Please carry me to the infirmary, I can''t feel my legs anymore they seem to have gone numb from all the training!"


    "I want to sleep!"


    "Water! Someone¡­give me water¡­.I am dying¡­"


    "Help! Help! My lower body is stuck in the floor, someone pull me out of here!"


    Girls in the corner:


    "Sister! Don''t stop me I am going to die today!"


    "Pull this sword out of my shoulder first¡­ I have to go to the infirmary!"


    While most of the students were still crying and whining¡­


    The healer team arrived on time and started to cast healing spells on the students and carry them to the infirmary.


    "Hey! Pull me out of the floor a bit slower! it hurts! Hey! Don''t pull my head it will sever!"


    .


    "Mad Sword-, I mean Lia, are you feeling unwell anywhere, let me heal you!" (Riya)


    "O-oh thanks, by the way did they healed Rio?" (Lia)


    "eh? Rio? Who''s that? Is that a new candy?" (Riya)


    "N-no, he is the boy with dark ck hair and pupils with an expressionless face which you would want to punch whenever he smirks¡­cough! I mean he must be around the central area of the hall¡­" (Lia)


    "Oh! That''s where Link is! Don''t worry senior healers from the second year are healing them¡­" (Riya)


    "That''s a relief¡­" (Lia)


    "Here, your wounds are all fully healed now you just have to rest a bit and you would be okay to go!" (Riya)


    "uh.. can I ask you something, Lia?" (Riya)


    "Hm?.. what is it?" (Lia)


    "How did you make them big? Is there some secret way? (Riya)


    "What? What are you talking about?" (Lia)


    "No-nothing, by the way! Do you like that ck eyes?" (Riya)


    "Who would like that idiot! I just¡­just wanted to know if he is okay or not, nothing else!" (Lia)


    "Well, I also like Link so I know just by looking at you, but to think the great ''mad demon sword'' whom all boys avoid and fear also has someone she likes, that''s actually shocking¡­" (Riya)


    "Actually I am more concerned about those who will be liked by you, after all you seem to have a serious head injury¡­ and don''t call me by that nickname again!" (Lia)


    .


    Academy''s student prison, cell no: 57


    A dark and eerie ce:


    "How did I end up here!?" (Fade)


    "Who the fu*k did put me here!? I would kill you all!?" (Fade)

 Chapter 55 The Book Incident- Fade’s POV

    While Rio and other students were still training in the hall with Jin, Fade was suffering from problems of his own.


    Due to a certain someone a certain book appeared in Fade''s bag¡­


    .


    .


    Prison Cell


    "Now that I think about it, everything started with the mysterious appearance of that strange book in my bag¡­" (Fade)


    ''It was the day when Jin first appeared, also the same day when the book first appeared in my bag mysteriously out of nowhere¡­ could it be that guy noticed that I was pursuing Ms. Anna, thus he took revenge on me this way¡­'' (Fade)


    ''Tsk! That bastard! Once I be a strong person I must take my revenge on him, just you wait I will pay this humiliation back to you hundred-fold no million-folds!'' (Fade)


    Even though Fade never confirmed that Jin truly was guilty or not he directly judged him guilty just because he was jealous of Jin being able to talk freely with Anna¡­


    .


    After Fade left ss that day his wristwatch had a notification:


    [Student Fade you are summoned to the principal''s office, please reach the office immediately by yourself otherwise, security would be sent to escort you here- The Principal]


    "O-oh! Oh my god! Is it finally the day when I would be able to see my idol, the great and almighty Raji, I must go there! I must go there right now!" (Fade)


    "Hey brother Jiang, I have an urgent thing to do today, so I will get going! See youter!" (Fade)


    "Bu-but you promised to help me breakthrough today! Brother don''t go if you don''t help me I would not be able to control my mana and will not be able to breakthrough! Brother Fade please!" (Jiang)


    (By the way here''s the quick intro of this side character, Jiang is a fat side-kick type character whoes from a wealthy family and is the only friend of the protagonist Fade, Just like every protagonist has a fat friend who can''t get any girls, Jiang is that guy. Today he was going to breakthrough with Fade''s help since his own potential is low, but Fade promised that he have a secret way to help him)


    (Ever since Fade told him that, Jiang has been helping Fade with numerous amounts of supporting materials, like money, mana stone, skill scrolls, etc. Just so that his potential can be increased from the original D rank.)


    "Eh, when did I promise? I never promised that, and you can break through on your own, I have a very important thing to do today bro, I HAVE TO MEET MY IDOL TODAY!! So I can''t help you, don''t waste my time I am going, I would help youter on some other day, I am going now!" (Fade)


    After saying that Fade immediately ran towards the main building, obviously going towards the principal office¡­


    "No! Brother Fade, if I don''t break through today they would expel me from the academy tomorrow! I am the only person who is still in the D rank out of the whole ss¡­even my family has run out of all the money, just because I gave you all my resources¡­.pleasee back¡­.." (Jiang)


    Tears started to run down Jiang''s fat cheeks and he had a mental breakdown at this moment, but Fade didn''te back, all the passing students avoided him like the gue. And of course, he was kicked out of the academy the very next day.


    (Don''tin to me about this, this was bound to happen if not now then in the future he would have been kicked out of the academy to cover up the wrong things done by the protagonist being med on him instead.)


    .


    .


    Principal''s office


    "Ms. Anna are you really sure about this? Because if it is true then it could be a huge problem for the academy¡­ and if it''s wrong¡­ then, you know what will happen to you¡­" (Raji)


    "Believe me, principal, it''s indeed true, if you don''t believe me, let hime and you could see it by yourself" (Anna)


    Drops of sweat were running down Anna''s face, no one outside could imagine that Ms. Anna who is always so indifferent and arrogant outside is in such a state right now, while she is talking to Raji.


    ''She is as cold as ever, her title ''The Princess of Cold'' is really fitting for her, not to mention she is the greatest Frost mage there ever was in the human''s history, even her personality is as cold as an ice.'' (Anna)


    ''I could feel the pressure in my bones, if I even said a single thing wrong she''s gonna kill me¡­'' (Anna)


    "I see¡­.he''s here¡­" (Raji)


    *Bang*


    While Anna was stressed out from Raji''s cold stare, the gate was kicked open and a young kid walked inside with an excited look on his face.


    Fade looked around in excitement and when he spotted Raji, he ran as fast as he could and directly sat on the seat nearest to Raji, even Raji was confused by seeing him so excited.


    While Fade was excited, Raji was confused, Anna was having a heart attack looking at the daring Fade, she couldn''t believe that someone would be so disrespectful in front of Raji that they will kick open the door and barge in without any respect¡­


    ''This guy would not only get himself in trouble, but he would also get me in trouble for this¡­ if only I could have beaten some sense into him beforeing here!'' (Anna)


    "So, you are the student named Fade¡­ you seem quite ordinary to me, tell me how did you have that book corrupted with demonic energy in your bag?" (Raji)


    While Raji was saying that, Fade''s bag started to fly in the air, it opened and the Grimoire flew out of it, flew towards Raji slowly, and fell on the table in front of her.


    "Amazing! Such amazing control over telekinesis! Oh my god this is amazing! As expected of the Great Mage Raji!" (Fade)


    Fade totally ignored Raji''s original question and started to ask questions himself instead, his face was bing more and more excited with every moment.


    "Are you ignoring my question? How manner less can you be¡­" (Raji)


    "Kneel!" (Raji)


    Raji''s face turned cold and a huge pressure fell on Fade, making him directly kneel down, to the point that his face was kissing the floor now. The pressure from Raji''s aura made even the air particles settle down, making it difficult to breathe, even though the pressure was not targeted toward Anna she could still feel a bit of it from afar.


    ''She has already figured out that Fade''s bag had that grimoire the moment he entered this building it seems, at least I am safe for now, my guess was indeed correct.'' (Anna)


    "Tell me where you got this book or I would erase your existence from this world, right here, right now¡­" (Raji)


    Fade was feeling fear more fear than he had ever felt, yet his excitement was not decreasing instead he was liking his idol even more now¡­


    ''As expected, she is even colder in person, aaaah! I love it!'' (Fade)


    If someone could see Fade''s expression at this moment they would find disgusted by looking at how perverted it looked right at this moment. But since his face is touching the ground there''s no need to worry, only the floor is suffering here. (Two minutes of silence for the floor, Rest in peace)


    "I-I don''t know anything about this book, be-believe me I have never seen it before!" (Fade)


    "Hoho, then how do you exin it being in your bag, if not for the fact that Ms. Anna had faintly sensed its presence in your bag while she was teaching your ss, even I would not have found out about this." (Raji)


    "This contains the demon version of the teleportation magic, if it gets activated by magic it could teleport more than a thousand people to a random location without them being able to resist it. This thing is clearly something which even an S rank individual can''t handle¡­ if this thing goes out of the 100 m range even I wouldn''t be able to detect the presence of demonic energy on it¡­" (Raji)


    With each word, Raji said her voice became colder and colder, if looks can kill, then Raji''s cold stare could have killed Fade thousands of times by now. s, she can''t kill a student of her own academy without having proper evidence, otherwise, the academy will be criticized.


    The next thing Raji said made Anna and Fade horrified them:


    "Bring this student to the experimentb we will extract his memories and find out about this.." (Raji)


    .


    .


    Author Note:


    Question of the day


    Which person do you think deserves justice more?


    1. Jin ¨C He is suffering from false usations by Fade.


    2. Jiang ¨C Suffering from losing everything to Fade.


    Hidden Options:


    3. You ¨C Suffering from reading about Fade.


    4. Author ¨C Suffering from writing about Fade.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 56 Power Of Plot Armor-Turn Wrong Into Right...

    "Bring this student to the experimentb we will extract his memories and find out about this.." (Raji)


    "Wh-what? N-no you ca-can''t do that to me, you will not be forgiven if you do such a heinous thing¡­ I willin about this¡­ you would be punished!" (Fade)


    "Heh, and who would be daring enough to punish an SS-ranker like me, hmph take him away!" (Raji)


    After saying that Raji directly ignored Fade:


    "I have more important things to do, an SS-rank gate has opened in the southern region, so I have to go there, after all, I can''t miss this opportunity, those two must have already left by now, I shouldn''t get toote¡­" (Raji) (She is talking about other two SS-rank individuals of the human race)


    "But Principal, the final exams of the students are just in a few days¡­ if you go at this time¡­" (Anna)


    "You don''t have to worry about what I do or I don''t, more than that you should be focusing on how your ss is gonna perform this year, after all, it would be a shame if your perfect record got broken just because of a single student, you can leave now¡­" (Raji)


    For the first time sinceing into the principal''s office Fade''s face became serious, after all, he can''t let them see his memory otherwise they would know about the abnormality in his system, and he might end up bing ab rat, and would be experimented to death.


    ''No, no no! I can''t let myself be ab rat, I am a chosen one I am bound to achieve greatness in the future, I have a boundless future, I can''t let my story end here, I must do something! But what do I do!?'' (Fade)


    "I-" (Fade)


    Before Fade could say anything he felt his consciousness losing control over his body and he directly fainted, his body fell on the ground as if a puppet whose strings have been cut off.


    ''Chantless magic!?... As expected¡­ an SS-ranker is no joke'' (Anna)


    Every time Anna witnessed Raji''s magic she became more and more surprised, even the strongest of S-rank wizards can''t use chant-less magic even for a very low-rank spell, generally, either there must be a chant or a magic circle to support the stability of magic, but this rule doesn''t apply to an SS-ranker, they are individuals who have gained a small amount of authority from the worldws.


    They can use magic below Master rank without any chant or magic circle, just with the authority they have gained by mastering thews of the world itself.


    ''This is the main reason they call an SS-ranker a ''Demigod'', truly mesmerizing'' (Anna)


    (Ranks of magic in this world ¨C


    Beginner Magic- G to E rankers use this type of magic


    Basic Magic- D to C rankers


    Intermediate Magic- B rankers


    Advanced Magic- A ranker


    Master or mystic magic- S ranker


    Divine Magic- SS ranker)


    An SS ranker would need to use either chant or a magic circle to cast divine or master rank magic, but magic below master rank can be cast instantly with just the authority.


    Generally, all magicians can only cast the magic of the same rank or below by using chants or magic circles only, the other way is by using authority, andstly you can cast magic higher than your own rank by either using an artifact or if several of the same rank mages gather and cast together they can cast magic of higher rank than them.


    .


    Just when Anna was about to take Fade out of the office and carry him to the experimentb, the door of the office opened again, but this time it was opened slowly and respectfully unlike a certain protagonist who kicked it open without any manners.


    A Man Wearing a dark purple suit with golden linings on it walked inside of the office, behind him Kira also entered the office now. Only god knows how Kira found out that the principal has summoned Fade and was going to do something bad to him, she has already prepared a way for Fade to escape this huge mess. (Of course, this is the power of plot armor)


    Raji looked at the unknown man for a few seconds and said:


    "Those purple hair and pupils, are you perhaps Aldif family?" (Raji)


    "Sorry for thete introduction, I am Neo Aldif''s eldest son, Shin Aldif. I am today here on behalf of my father. I have a message to deliver from my father, please give your precious time and listen to the message¡­" (Shin)


    ''Hmm, as expected of Neo''s children their whole family has that aura of shrewdness around them, actually no human canpare to the shrewdness of the Old fellow, I wonder what he has to say too, even though he should have already left for the SS-rank gate in the south.'' (Raji)


    (Aldif family''s head Neo Aldif is the third SS-rank of the human race besides, Link''s father Ashtel Rex, and Academy''s principal Raji Croft)


    "hmm¡­ say what you have to say, but make it short I don''t have much time for chit-chat." (Raji)


    "Yes¡­" (Shin)


    Shin brought out a letter from the inner pocket and slowly opened it with neat and steady movements as if he has practiced how to open a letter properly for many years. (Actually, that''s true, he has indeed practiced that. Aldif family focuses on educating their children on proper manners and other kinds of stuff like dancing etc. Just like noble families used to do in the distant past.)


    "Hah, what age is this, your family is still using letters, can''t you just use a hologram directly¡­ such pretentiousness, tch" (Raji)


    Shin just ignored Raji''s sarcasm and started to read the letter without any care in the world:


    [Hello, Ms. Raji Croft]


    [How are you doing these days, I have been looking for an opportunity to meet these days but I can''t seem to get rid of my huge workload, so I can''t visit in person, thus I am sending my eldest son to bring this message to you-]


    "Don''t waste my time just get to the point!" (Raji)


    "Ye-yeah" (Shin)


    Shin seriously scanned the content of the letter for about a few seconds then moved to the seventh page directly on which only a few words were written:


    [Ms. Raji Croft, please don''t harm that kid Fade he is an innocent and good child although he may be a bit manner nheless he is still a good person, my dear niece Kira has asked me to protect him after all, so go a bit easy on him. You see since childhood my niece Kira hasn''t really asked me for anything, so today I am fulfilling my duty as a good uncle and helping to get her to wish fulfilled, so give me some face for the sake of old times and leave that kid Fade.]


    [Neo Aldif, your beloved Senpai]


    "Who the heck is your beloved!? That piece of old sh*t! even during the time of academy he was always like an old bully of a senior! If I get to see him now! I will kill him!!" (Raji)


    "Not to mention he married before even asking me! He even has the gall to show off his kids in front of me!? Once I see you near that SS-rank gate we are going to have a death match! Just you wait!" (Raji)


    Before anyone could say anything else, Raji started to levitate she directly broke the ceiling of the building and flew off in distance like a supersonic missile, the air currents created by herunch destroyed the whole building together with the principal office, if not for the fact that Anna protected them with magic shield all of the people in the building would have been killed by that shockwave.


    While Raji left in her uncontroble fury, Anna and others were now left behind in confusion, now they have no idea what to do with Fade anymore.


    "Well, let''s keep Fade in the student prison for now¡­" (Anna)


    "B-but" (Kira)


    "Kira you can still visit him in the prison every three days, and if the principal doesn''t return before the exams we will free Fade then, as for that book¡­ principal seems to have taken it with her, perhaps she''s gonna put it in the association''s treasure hallter, I suppose¡­" (Anna)


    "Well, Sister Kira, since this matter has been solved why not we go and eat something niceter¡­" (Shin)


    "O-okay, if you say so brother¡­" (Kira)


    Kira looked at Anna''s leaving figure, unconscious Fade was floating beside her, after a while when she could no longer see them, Kira finally left too.


    And thus this incident came to an unexpected end due to the interference of Fade''s plot armor, if it was any other student who was subjected to the experimentb he would have indeed ended up with his memories being extracted and known by the teachers.


    Yet here Fade is unaffected even after destroying an extra like Jiang''s life and just suffering a few days in prison.


    This is the dark reality of a protagonist.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Ques of the day


    If given chance, would you take plot armor, even if it will make your life miserable at times like a protagonist being hunted like a mouse by several dangerous big-shots in the world?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 57 The Mysterious Past And Future...

    "Okay! Today''s training ends here! Now get in a line I want to tell something important to you all." (Jin)


    After the tired students heard that the training was they were all cheering happily in their minds but dared not show it in front of Jin because just a few days ago Jin punched a guy and made him kiss the floor until cracks appeared in it, just because he was cheering, while standing too close to Jin.


    That guy still has trauma from that punch.


    Slowly all of them stood in lines and the lines were made very neatly not even any uneven gaps were left, this scene could be mistaken for a military doing a death march on the battlefield. That''s just how organized these students have be now.


    .


    (Caution- detail bomb ahead)


    After the hell-like training sessions, all the students present here have reached at least ''C-'' rank by now. While the most talented students are in the ''C+'' rank only two students are in ''B'' rank(Link and Rio, and even Fade is still in ''C-'' rank since he missed the training.)


    And those students who were not able to enter rank C by now have been literally kicked out of the academy, nearly fifty students have been eliminated in this training itself. This was also one of the reasons why students were able to reach C rank faster, as someone has said before ''Pressure makes diamonds''. (Credit to the original owner for this quote)


    At the start of this semester, this ss A-3 started with two hundred fifty students in it, now only fifty students are left at the end of this term. (Fifty students including Fade, and Kira also those who are not in the training ground right now or are in the infirmary).


    The rest of the two hundred students either got eliminated due to theircking talents or they died in disasters like the Roult ind one.


    Not to mention now, more students will be eliminated after this final exam and the number of students which is currently fifty will be reduced to no more than twenty or thirty would be left all ssesbined, until the time of graduationes.


    This means, out of the original one thousand most talented people chosen by the academy from all over the human nation less than twenty students will sessfully get graduated from this academy. But each and every one of those graduated students would be a huge pir of support for the whole of the human race.


    After all, only those who can sessfully enter A-rank till the end of the third year of their academy can graduate.


    If you are still B-rank at the end of your third year in the academy you wouldn''t get your graduation certificate. That''s the cruelty of this world, they only need strong individuals to represent their academy, and weak people have no ce here.


    Every year the academy takes one thousand students and separates them into four sses: A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4


    All four sses have two hundred fifty students each and there''s no such thing as a division on the basis of talents, the distribution of the students in each ss is random. Even the letter A is used in naming all the sses so that it can be ensured that no one thinks that one ss is better than another just because their namees first, not at all.


    Everything in this academy depends on your own abilities. If you have the talent you would make it to graduation otherwise you would get eliminated even before you get to give your final exams of the first year.


    This is also the reason why the graduation rate of this academy reaches a hundred percent because only talented students are left till the time of graduation examse.


    .


    (Yeah, we are back to the chapter now)


    After all the students finally settled down, Jin looked at the fruits of his guidance with great satisfaction.


    ''Out of all the four sses I have been giving training these past two weeks, this ss will definitely achieve the highest grades during thebat exams, aside from these two monstrously talented kids, there are still many promising talents in this ss, the only problem in their way would be ss A-4 since they also have a high number of promising students¡­'' (Jin)


    ''As for these two kids the only challenge they can face I suppose is when they have to fight each other or have to fight that purple hair kid from the ss A-1, rest should be a piece of cake for them¡­'' (Jin)


    "Okay, as you all know today will be the end of your two-week training session with me and after two days your final exams will start, after your written exams you would be participating in a tournament where yourbat capabilities would be assessed by the teachers, be sure to rest these few days andplete your final preparations." (Jin)


    "And Since you all havepleted this training sessfully, I am sure as long as you don''t actively provoke strong people you could still live a good and happy life outside the academy even if you fail these exams, so if you feel too pressured feel free to leave the academy immediately." (Jin)


    "As for those who will make it to the celebration fest after passing these exams, I would personally reward them as my precious student who stood up to my expectations." (Jin)


    Then Jin''s face became serious for the first time since he has started to train the student for the past two weeks and he said:


    "Although I might not get any more chances to teach you in the future but remember one thing, as long as I and you live, you would still be my students and cane to me anytime you want for pointers on your strength, if you feel confused and have any doubt in the future you always have me for guidance." (Jin)


    "Now you all may go back to your rooms and rest while preparing for the exams¡­" (Jin)


    Jin''s voice seemed to be a bit sad at this point, no one could have expected that the teacher they hated for giving hellish training to them, would care so much for them.


    But no one said anything and slowly all the students left the ce after taking a few nces at Jin''s smiling face.


    ''Children grow up so fast these days¡­'' (Jin)


    "Why are you making such a sad face, have you still not recovered from that incident with ''Durik'' you should let bygones be bygones, he is not your student anymore anyway." (Anna)


    "I wish I could let it go as easily as you say, but he used to be like my own son for me, that ungrateful direct disciple of mine, sigh~" (Jin)


    Looking at Jin, Anna knew that this guy who generallyughs like an idiot still have moments that depresses him too:


    "You are really hopeless¡­ how about we go and eat something delicious to make your mood better today?¡­" (Anna)


    "Sigh~, let''s go¡­ I should get my mood refreshed too, remembering the past would do me no good anyway¡­" (Jin)


    After a while, both Jin and Anna left the training hall and the ce fell to silence again.


    .


    At the same time...


    In an inconspicuous ce near the academy, an abandoned area full of old and damaged buildings, a few individuals wearing strange masks and ck robes are sitting around a small dining table.


    "Are you really sure about this, we are putting our n ahead of time you know that¡­"


    "I know, originally ording to the n we should have done this two yearster but fortunately we have found a very appropriate host for carrying out our n, we can''t let this opportunity go from our hands"


    "Did you inform the prince about this thing?"


    "Of course! He even said that he wille here in person!"


    "What!? But isn''t that dangerous for him, since this is very close to the heart of the human territory"


    "Don''t worry, all the three SS-rank individuals of the human race are currently in the southern area and are busy conquering the new SS-rank dungeon there, this is the perfect opportunity for us to strike¡­"


    "You do have a point, but how much time would we have before other S-rankerse as reinforcement?"


    "Well, we will have about three hours at most, I suppose but since the prince himself will be here so this much time is enough for finding that ''fragment'' and its owner"


    "Yeah, I hope everything goes as nned and we don''t end up empty-handed likest time in the Elf''s capital city."


    As things were heading towards the unexpected events, Rio was still unaware of all theseing challenges he has to face ahead of time, as they say:


    ''If you try to change one string of Fate it will affect all of the world and fate would start to follow an unknown direction.''


    Perhaps this is the counter-measure of the heavenly luck against an anomaly or just the disruption in the destiny of the world for a better ending, who knows ~


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    A major event ising guys, so continue to stick and support the novel, this is the point where the main plot of our story starts, and everything before this was just the introduction¡­


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 58 Steal And Copy

    "I always wonder what this ce actually is¡­ how strange..." (Rio)


    Rio is sitting and meditating, while the ce around him is all empty, a clear and dark void. This ce is like you are in space but there are no stars,s, or any other celestial objects to look at, everything and everywhere is just dark without any end in sight.


    "Even though it''s so dark here in this ce, how am I still able to see myself clearly, I can see myself as clear as a day¡­this ce is extraordinary¡­" (Rio)


    Strangely Rio can''t feel any kind of emotion in this ce, nor fear, nor anxiety anything, he can just feel indescribable calmness. Everything seems calm and steady to him.


    Ring~ Ring~ (Sound of an rm)


    "hmm, it''s time to wake up it seems¡­(Rio)


    Suddenly the ce was covered in light and that dream-like state broke up and Rio found himself sleeping in the same bed, he had slept in yesterday.


    This may seem strange to those who don''t know, but for Rio strange things like these have be asmon as breathing since he came into this strange world.


    After Rio got up from his bed he clicked a button on his wrist watch the 3d printer started to print a cup of tea, taking the cup of tea Rio walked towards the window and stood there looking at the beautiful scenery outside the window.


    ''It''s been nearly a year since I came to this world, time sure flies fast...'' (Rio)


    While sipping the hot tea, Rio started to think about the strange dream he had:


    ''why am I seeing that Same dream every day? I can''t understand... But ever since I have got that skill ''true immunity'' i seem to have lost the ability to see dreams...'' (Rio)


    True immunity blocks any type of mental or spiritual attack magic that could harm Rio in any way, but as a side-effect of this Rio seems to have lost the ability to see dreams like a normal human.


    Instead of dreams all Rio sees while sleeping is pure emptiness, a never-ending void with basically nothing in it.


    ''It''s not like I amining though...'' (Rio)


    After all, inside that void Rio only feels indescribable calmness as if all his emotions don''t exist anymore, it should have been terrifying for any normal human but since Rio can''t even feel terror in that dream, he can''t actually get terrified, indeed this is too strange from any angle you look at it.


    But for Rio now this has be a regr thing, after all, he hasn''t seen a single dream other than this ever since he got true immunity.


    Thus this skill could be considered good and bad both. But given any number of chances Rio would still take that skill even if he knew beforehand that he will lose his ability to dream.


    ''Not to mention that, I am still losing my emotions slowly with each passing day, this is a real problem. I fear that I might even lose the feelings I have for Lia, that could be a really huge problem, I hope such a thing doesn''t happen...'' (Rio)


    ''Tomorrow is the start of the written exams, I should revise all the things that I have learned so far from the books'' (Rio)


    Even though Rio said that he still walked towards his private training room to practice hisbat skills more, he really has be a battle junkie at this point.


    Aftering to the training room, Rio sat down and started to meditate, gathering the mana and then using it to sense the mana fluctuations in the surroundings to better understand the surrounding area.


    [Passive skill: Mana sensing has been learned sessfully]


    [Mana Sensing: Use the mana fluctuations in the surroundings to sense the changes in the area]


    [Current sensing limit: 500m] (can be increased with training and the improvement in the rank of the individual)


    Hearing the remark from the status window, a rare smile appeared on Rio''s expressionless face.


    ''Finally, I was able to steal a skill, although it took some effort it was worth it...'' (Rio)


    Since Rio saw Jin avoiding and blocking his attack easily, he suspected that Jin was using some passive skill for that.


    So, while training with Jin, Rio started to observe everything Jin did very closely during those spars, and he found that Jin was using the smell of his opponents to detect them through the air, by just breathing naturally.


    This may seem like a very inefficient method, but for someone who is already an S rank and has gone through hundreds of battles, this is nothing.


    Originally Rio was also thinking of stealing this method by just observing Jin but when he tried to apply it he found that he wascking something.


    A thought ran through his mind:


    ''could it be because of the sword arts that he is able to do that?''


    And Guess what, Rio was correct, Jin was indeed using his sword arts but passively, just like normal breathing.


    Rio knew that Jin used ''Predator king sword arts'' which is heavily based on the attack patterns of a tiger and since smell catching is easy for tigers Jin could achieve that with his sword arts.


    Thus Rio knew he couldn''t copy it, but just when he was about to give up a sudden idea came to his mind while he was in that void-like dream.


    ''Since Jin could use ''smell'' as a base for detection because it is his sword arts, I should be able to use mana and elemental energy in the surroundings as the base of my detection because my sword art also depends on them'' (Rio)


    To confirm this Rio decides to train and finally just before the exam starts he has achieved his goal. Everything in this world contains mana in it, even a small particle of sand to have mana, so you could detect mana fluctuations without much of a worry.


    Now, this has proved one more thing to Rio:


    ''Even skills can be stolen or copied if you have the ability to do so...'' (Rio)


    Although, of course, it can''t be done so easily, it is possible to do so.


    ''Now I can easily sense every minute detail in this room easily, I can even tell the number of bricks in the walls of this room, actually, I can even sense what the person in the next room is doing'' (Rio)


    ''But I shouldn''t vite someone''s privacy, that would make me a degenerate'' (Rio)


    After trying the newly gained skill Rio trained in his room again and again, of course, he has already learned enough for the written exams too, otherwise, why would he be so nonchnt about it.


    ''Mana sensing has drastically improved mybat ability and all other aspects, indeed having more senses during a fight could be very good...'' (Rio)


    ''Using this skill inbat may actually prove to be very useful, I wonder what face Jin would make if he knew that I have copied his skill without him even knowing this.'' (Rio)


    .


    In a certain small cafe:


    "Achoo!" (Jin)


    "I wonder which of my cute students is talking about me, behind my back..." (Jin)


    "You really think those students are cute and all, you know they might be more devilish than you could ever imagine..." (Anna)


    "Eh, you are such a boring person, Anna, perhaps the students might actually hate you or something that''s why you are saying that..." (Jin)


    "Are you trying to pick a fight with me!?" (Anna)


    "Hey, keep your voice down, otherwise people around us will recognize us, after all, everyone has already seen our faces when we debuted as S-ranker on the inte. Be sure to not catch attention as much as possible..." (Jin)


    "Last time someone recognized me, they created a huge crowd and it became really difficult to get rid of all those clingy women..." (Jin)


    "Oh, is that so? Then why not bring those women with you to eat, why even bother with me?" (Anna)


    "Ah! are you perhaps jealous? Here eat this ice cream and don''t get pouty, haha... of course, I would only bring my wife to date why bother with anyone else~" (Jin)


    "Hmph, idiot, who said I am your wife... but this ice cream is great... I wouldn''t minding here every once in a while...." (Anna)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Question of the day


    What would you do if you had a skill that could detect surroundings like a sixth sense?


    1. Cheat in exams


    2. Learn martial arts, and treat this skill as ultra instinct


    3. Go further on the road of cultured men.


    4. other (Write them in thement section.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and golden tickets if you like this book. Comment your opinions about the book and write your reviews about the book, these are good manners. Every professional otaku should follow these good manners. (Just kidding)


    Lastly, Thank you all for your support.

 Chapter 59 Final Exams- Start

    Academy''s Examination hall


    Sitting on the allocated seat Rio was now looking at his question paper for the exam on the mana systematics. This is the most important subject out of all the subjects students study in this academy. If you score well enough in this exam you could consider yourself to havepleted half the requirements for passing the exams.


    (Don''t Skip these questions I am answering your questions too in this one.)


    Ques 1. What is the difference between the way a mage type, nonbat type, and a warrior type awakener''s usage of mana?


    ''Hmm¡­ the first question is already quite difficult, for normal students, this might be a nightmare of a test for real. But as I have been an excellent student in my past life, I have learned most of the things that I need to answer these exams, so it''s easy for me..'' (Rio)


    Rio picked up his mana-imbued pen provided by the teachers along with the answer sheet and started to write the answer on it.


    Mage:


    A mage generally uses mana by storing it around a major organ like the heart, brain, dantian, etc. in the form of mana rings, the quantity and quality of mana rings determine the upper limit of your mana.


    (Generally, the heart is used for this purpose since it is the most efficient out of all. There''s one more hidden way to store and enhance the mana of a mage but that''s a secret for another time.)


    When a new mage awakens the first ring of mana is already created by the awakening automatically butter more rings of denser mana could be created by the awakener using simple meditation and increasing his mana by absorbing it from the surrounding.


    When you exhaust your mana ring fully and meditate or rest to fill it again then the next time the mana ring would have denser mana, this is also the reason why most mages exhaust their mana on a daily basis so that they can have denser and stronger mana next time.


    Nonbat type:


    Nonbat type individuals like healers, buffers, cksmiths, etc. All store mana in their dantian, but they don''t have mana rings and the mana is directly stored inside of the dantian. Most of them store mana this way because nonbat type individuals don''t generally have much mana and mostly use the outside mana for casting their skills and carryout-heals.


    This is also the main reason they can''t fight, they don''t have sufficient amounts of mana with them and have to gather the surrounding mana to cast skills like- heal, forge, buff, etc.


    Warrior type:


    Warrior-type individuals don''t use a specific organ to store their mana and their mana is directly stored throughout their whole body and circtes through the pumping of blood.


    Most people use it this way because if not stored this way then the most basic skill of warrior-type individuals ''Body strengthening'' which covers and strengthens the whole of the body with mana wouldn''t be activated if there''s no mana present in the whole body.


    Also, the storing of mana in the whole body passively strengthens the whole body of the warrior, since mana is everywhere inside the warrior''s body, it strengthens the physique of the warrior by nourishing it with mana passively all the time.


    Ques. 2 why can''t mages store mana like a Warrior?


    ''This one is easy too¡­'' (Rio)


    Mages have to use huge amounts of mana to cast their spells, they have to create magic circles in a matter of seconds and make the structure of the spell as fast as possible, so they need to store mana all together and as densely as possible, so that it can flow through the medium to the outside as fast and efficiently as possible. (Here medium refers to the magic wands and other simr artifacts)


    If the mages store the mana like a warrior the density of their mana would be very low because the mana would be too spread and less in density all over the body and this will cause the flow of mana to be very slow and inefficient. Making a simple and easy spell ''Fireball'' to be cast very slowly and even if it would be cast, the firepower would be very meager.


    Ques 3. How do races other than humans store mana in their bodies?


    ''Easy¡­'' (Rio)


    Most races other than humans condense mana into a mana core and store all of their mana in their core. The mana core is present in them since birth, although very small. The stronger an individual the more bigger and condensed their mana core would be.


    (Here other races refers to - Elves, demons, vampire, goblin, etc. except divine races like the phoenix, dragons, etc.)


    They use mana by deriving it out of the mana core, but unlike the humans, they can never fully empty their mana otherwise the mana core which provides mana as energy to the body of the individual would totally disappear and that individual will be crippled after all the mana core can grow back out of nowhere, it appears only once when you are born.


    (Of course, if you swallow the mana core of some other individual you still have a small probability of regenerating it.)


    Ques 4. Define the mana characteristics of humans that are better than other races.


    ''Too Easy¡­'' (Rio)


    The human body''s strongest mana characteristics are its high level of adaptability, its fast growth ability, and the ability to ascend its physique towards higher realms with increasing ranks.


    The huge number of humans due to their fast reproduction has given rise to the biggest civilization in this world. Every other race has less poption than humans, in this world.


    Although an individual human might not be strong like a dragon or a demon, might not be agile as an Elf, might not be as shrewd as a goblin, might not have the insane strength of Orc and ogres, might not have the natural born physique of a beat person, but you could find all these aspects in bnced amounts in every human.


    .


    .


    Academy''s dungeon activity monitoring room:


    "Ms. Anna the dungeon we have selected for the students to carry out theirbat exam seems to have a bit of abnormality in it¡­ look!" (Observer 1)


    Anna looked at the monitor screen which was disying the activity of the boss monster of the dungeon, she noticed the monster seemed to be extremely agitated for some reason and was staring at a certain area constantly, even though it could be seen that there was literally nothing there.


    (In thest exam there was no such thing as direct monitoring but this time the academy will be observing the students using the Nano camera bots functioning on small mana cores.)


    "Why is that monster behaving so strangely, that''s very unusual¡­ send two assistant teachers to check out the ce and find out what''s going on there¡­" (Anna)


    (An assistant teacher is a person who is still in rank A, There are only four full-time teachers in the academy and all four of them are S rankers. Including Anna and Jin)


    "Okay!" (Observer 1)


    ''I just hope nothing goes wrong at this time, even the principal is not in the academy right now, if something goes wrong all the teachers would be med for it¡­'' (Anna)


    ''Actually, the principal might even expel me this time since I have already been unable to fulfill my duty during Roult ind trip, I must ensure not to get dragged in trouble this time¡­'' (Anna)


    A concerned look appeared on Anna''s face but she waited for the assistant teachers toe back with their reports about the situation.


    After an hour both the assistant teachers returned:


    "Ms. Anna, ording to our observation the monster is perhaps just going through its aggressive phase and there seems to be no abnormality at all¡­" (Assistant teacher 1)


    "The only thing we observed to be different is that there seem to be very small spatial ripples in that area, but since many dungeons are generally unstable, to begin with, this is not much of a problem in my opinion¡­" (Assistant teacher 2)


    "Well you are right, let''s just hope nothing goes wrong while the students are inside the dungeon¡­" (Anna)


    What Anna didn''t know was that one such simple and small spatial ripple would be enough to cause severe damage, but since no one could know the future, there is no other way out of this.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    All right I have answered the questions you guys asked in the early chapters, although I didn''t do it in the bonus chapter I suppose having them this way might be a bit better than putting them in between a bonus chapter containing Lia.


    As for the bonus, chapter let''s do it after Iplete releasing the chapters of this event, after all, we need to make you guys feel that chapter deeply.


    Question of the day:


    What are the huge mistakes you did with just a small overlooking?


    (Tell only if you arefortable with sharing your sadness with others¡­)


    Mine- Personally I have done many, I don''t even remember all of them, one of them was that I once forgot to bring a particr subject''s notebook in my school days, and that day, my teacher gave me the scolding of the year. But thanks to that, I never forgot my things after that. ''(OwO)''

 Chapter 60 Teams And Partners...

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake


    On a huge cliff, two people could be seen standing and looking at the horizon¡­


    "But really, to think I would end up teaming up with you in this dungeon, that''s quite an amazing coincidence we have encountered here, isn''t it?" (Link) (Link''s voice seemed to be sarcastic.)


    "Indeed, I also never expected to end up being paired with someone, who brags about his girlfriend all day long¡­" (Rio)


    Rio said in a calm and emotionless voice as always, while looking at the huge volcano in front of him¡­


    Hearing Rio, visible annoyance appeared on Link''s face:


    "You are thest person who has the right to say that, you know!? And how can you even mock someone with that straight face!?" (Link)


    Suddenly Link''s face turned extremely serious and he said in a very serious tone:


    "Hey, tell me seriously¡­" (Link)


    "What?..." (Rio)


    "Are your face muscles made of stone or something? They barely even move¡­ put some emotion on that face, dude!" (Link)


    "Even a statue made of stone would have more emotions on its face than yours, you know~" (Link)


    "Even if you say that¡­" (Rio)


    "Tch, how did I end up with someone as boring as you, sigh~" (Link)


    .


    .


    A few hours earlier, outside the dungeon.


    "Now that all of the students have in front of the dungeon, I should make you all aware of all the rules and important things you need to know¡­" (Anna)


    "But first, each one of you draws a slip out of that box, those slips have two numbers on them, one written in blue and the other in red, the blue one denotes your number, and the red one denotes your partner¡­" (Anna)


    "After you all draw a slip each pair up with the corresponding person, this exam will not only check your ownbat skills but also your team cooperation skills too." (Anna)


    "Now start drawing out your slips one by one¡­" (Anna)


    After getting instructed by Anna all the students started to draw their slips from the box one by one, and after a few minutes Rio also was able to get his slip.


    [Blue: 34, Red: 23]


    ''Hmm, I wonder who number 23 is. Perhaps I should look around¡­'' (Rio)


    Just as Rio was about to look around, Link was already standing beside him looking at both the slips.


    "So, we are gonna be partners again, heh I am looking forward to seeing how much you have improved since then Rio!" (Link)


    "Is that so¡­" (Rio)


    .


    (Back to the present)


    "But isn''t it overkill¡­" (Link)


    "What do you mean?" (Rio)


    "Well I mean, we both are strong enough to conquer this whole B-rank dungeon on our own, if we pair up, then wouldn''t it be just a one-sided ughter... I might not be able to even use my most powerful skills, having a good teammate also have its own disadvantages, sigh~" (Link)


    "Yeah, indeed, I am strong, you might not even get the chance to fight if it''s just some weak monster¡­" (Rio)


    "Sigh~, I wish, I was paired up with Riya, it would have been so cool when I would have yed monsters and protected her from all the monsters¡­" (Link)


    ''The Link I know from the novel was never so cheerful and energetic, he seems to be a totally different person¡­ Seriously, love has the power the make a poisonous snake like him into a cheerful house dog¡­ The power of love, so terrifying¡­'' (Rio)


    "Hey, Link, listen¡­" (Rio)


    "Hmm, what happened?" (Link)


    Link''s face looked as if he was very curious to hear what Rio has to say after all this is one of those few times when Rio has first said something, otherwise most of the time Link starts a conversation between them:


    "Drown and die in that imaginative dream of yours¡­" (Rio)


    "Wha-!" (Link)


    "Hey, are you trying to pick a fight with me!" (Link)


    Rio just ignored Link''s rambling and continued walking toward the foot of the volcano.


    "Hey, don''t ignore me you bastard! I will spoil your food, which you talk about every day so much, hey!" (Link)


    "I would kill you if you did so¡­" (Rio)


    While arguing with each other, Rio and Link continued to go deeper into the dungeon.


    .


    .


    At the same time, Near a Small River stream in the dungeon.


    "ohh! Look how pure and clear, this water is!" (Riya)


    "Yeah, it''s really beautiful, and that waterfall over there is even more beautiful." (Lia)


    Suddenly Riya got up and looked at Lia:


    "Hey, hey, can I take a bath in it, I promise I would be quick!" (Riya)


    "Wha-! What are talking about!? We aren''t sure if there are any monsters hidden in that river yet you know¡­" (Lia)


    "But I would be very quick ande out before any monster get me!" (Riya)


    Riya was looking at Lia with great anticipation now.


    ''Sigh~, how did I end up pairing with her, every time I meet her, I get more and more sure about one thing-''This girl has a problem in her mind'', but taking a bath here would be dangerous and if something happened to her our team would be eliminated, I Can''t let that happen. Sigh~'' (Lia)


    "Hey, tell me already, hurry!?" (Riya)


    ''Okay I would have to use that method now, perhaps she mind take the bait'' (Lia)


    "Well you can take a bath¡­" (Lia)


    "Hurray!" (Riya)


    "But, you know I have heard ''that there''s a legend that, such streams have a tentacle monster living in it, and when a young maiden enters the water it ys with her body and makes her go insane from pleasure''" (Lia) (What is that monster, I will leave it on your imaginations, hehe)


    "Although I don''t know what that means encountering a monster when you are unarmed isn''t good, since you want to go then go, I would stay here¡­" (Lia)


    ''Take the bait, take the bait!'' (Lia)


    After hearing Lia, Riya stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around, her face seemed pale and her body was shaking a little bit, she seemed to be genuinely scared.


    "A-are yo-you s-sure? T-then i-I won''t go there¡­" (Riya)


    Now Riya looked at the stream with great vignce and moved far away from it.


    ''Yes! She took the bait, but seriously, how much of a blockhead you have to be to fall for such a cheap trick, but at least we can move forward now'' (Lia)


    "Eh, you don''t want to take a bath now, well if you say so, let''s go towards that waterfall, perhaps we can find a monster worth many points there." (Lia)


    "y-yeah" (Riya)


    After that Riya maintained quite a bit of distance from the stream all along the journey, it seems even someone as nonchnt and carefree as her can get so terrified from just some made-up nonsense.


    .


    .


    Academy''s Monitoring Room


    "Are there any abnormalities so far?" (Anna)


    "No, all the students seem to have entered the dungeon sessfully and the first round ofbat would be starting soon" (Observer 1)


    "The boss monster also seems a bit stable now, everything is going good for now." (Observer 2)


    "Hmm, good, keep monitoring the student''s movements and be sure to record properly, this data will be used to give them marks, after all." (Anna)


    "Yeah!" (Observer 1)


    "Yeah!" (Observer 2)


    ''Everything seems normal, but what is this strange feeling I have, my intuition is telling me that something is not right, but what is it?'' (Anna)


    ''Perhaps, I am just thinking too much, it seems I am just worried over nothing. I should calm down a bit (Anna)


    .


    .


    Outside the academy, in a dpidated basement.


    "Get ready, the prince would be here any minute now, ording to the information we have, the prince would be teleported here with the help of the teleportation scroll." (???)


    "After that, when he gives his permission we can start our n immediately, there is no time to waste, get ready to wee his highness the prince." (???)


    ''I just hope he doesn''t get angry when he sees this dpidated ce,pared to the luxurious environment of the demon Castle this ce is nothing after all.'' (???)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Work harder guys we are still very far behind in the win-win rankings, I am looking forward to all of your support:


    Question of the day:


    Which team do you think is the best?


    1. Rio and Link


    2. Lia and Riya


    Top-secret Hidden options:


    3. Author and his keyboard


    4. You and your keyboard


    Don''t forget to share your thoughts on the chapter in thement section. Also tell me if anything in the chapter needs to be improved, as my precious readers I wouldn''t mind if you find any ws in the chapter, I would just fix them as fast as possible.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 61 The World Is Cruel...

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava Lake


    Forest area, behind the volcano.


    "But to think we would be teleported so far away from the central area of the dungeon, that really a shame, I might gette and wouldn''t be able to fight the boss before someone else finishes it up. This is the worst, sigh~" (???)


    "Seriously, aren''t you just too sad about the fact that you can''t get to fight? Perhaps that''s why they call you ''Insane Liam'', big brother Liam!" (Kira)


    "Oh, even you are calling me with that name now? And how many times I have told you not to call me your brother, huh?" (Liam)


    "But, since Uncle Neo is your father, I think it''s appropriate to say you my brother, isn''t it?" (Kira)


    Hearing that Liam''s face turned sad:


    "Even though you used to say that you would marry me one day when you were young¡­ Now you are making me your brother¡­ you know, we aren''t even blood-rted, it''s just my father who considers your father as his brother because they are oldrades, you don''t have to make me sad that way, you know¡­" (Liam)


    "What are you talking about? I can''t understand? Shouldn''t we be focusing on how to get more points as we are on the same team right now¡­?" (Kira)


    "Well, that true too¡­but, I can''t understand¡­.?" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s question Kira looked confused she, looked at the young boy sitting on the tree, he have dark purple hair and pupils and his face gives the impression of a person who have an extraordinary mind, his aura is calm yet oppressive, this is the youngest son of Neo Aldif, Liam Aldif, currently a student from ss A-1.


    "Hmm, what?" (Kira)


    Liam looked at Kira and said:


    "I can''t understand, what is so good about the loser, Fade? Why are you pursuing him? The Kira I know is nothing like that, she would never help anyone out unless she has something to aplish from it¡­" (Liam)


    As Liam said, his face has a strange grin on it, if someone sees his face now, they would think that he is a monster in human skin.


    (That''s an Aldif family trait. Every time they smile, their face looks scary as a monster, an ordinary person can directly faint by seeing their face alone when they smile, but there''s no doubt about their intelligence, there''s a saying that ''if someone says that they can kill people by smiling than either that person is lying or he is an Aldif.'' Of course that''s just a saying after all.)


    "So, what are you trying to aplish from doing something like this, Kira?" (Liam)


    .


    .


    Outside the dungeon, Academy''s Monitoring Room.


    ''Everything seems to be normal, it seems I was just thinking too much, after all, no one knows about the absence of the principal since we sessfully blocked the information from leaking¡­ But still, why is this feeling growing even more, it isn''t settling at all¡­'' (Anna)


    "Ms. Anna, you should take a little rest, if anything goes wrong we will inform you immediately about it." (Observer 1)


    "Naah, I can''t take rest right now, after all the principal is not in the academy, we can''t just sit back and leave everything to fate." (Anna)


    "O-okay, then perhaps you should take a stroll outside, it can refresh your mind¡­.Please, Ms. Anna, you have been working non-stop for the past whole month¡­" (Observer 1)


    ''Although an S-ranker like me really has no need to rest or eat or do any other things ordinary humans do, it seems I should take a small stroll outside, it might help reduce the mental stress, sigh~'' (Anna)


    ''Perhaps mental stress is also the reason for me feeling uneasy¡­'' (Anna)


    "Okay! Since everything seems to be fine here, I am taking a short break, if something happens inform me immediately!" (Anna)


    After saying that, Anna looked at the monitor screens onest time and then left the monitoring room, to take a small stroll outside.


    "Sigh, she is finally gone¡­"


    "Yeah, I can finally breathe properly¡­"


    "Really man, being in the presence of an S-ranker is really a difficult task, even the unconscious aura she unleashes when she is serious, makes it difficult to breathe, for even A-rankers like us."


    "Yeah, I was actually about to faint from theck of air, her leaking aura was making even the air heavy, I can''t believe I have to continue working like that¡­"


    As Anna left the room, the whole observer team started to take deep breaths, apparently, Anna was not able to control her aura properly when she was too focused on the students, she nearly made all of them faint, well¡­ being strong can also have some disadvantages too, after all¡­


    But this is the way things are in this world, even the aura an S-ranker unconsciously unleashes can make even A-rank individuals suffocate, that''s why the difference between S-rank and A-rank is considered much greater than the difference between an A-rank and G-rank.


    If an A-ranker is someone who has achieved the very heights of the limits of the body capacity, then an S-ranker is someone who has sessfully broken through those racial limits and has earned a physique far greater and stronger than any ordinary human.


    As someone bes an S-ranker they gets rewarded and they are considered a higher race different from ordinary human, they are called ''Ascended'' people.


    .


    .


    (Back to the forest area, Kira and Liam)


    "So, what are you trying to aplish from doing something like this, Kira?" (Liam)


    As Liam asked that question, Kira suddenly fell silent for a while:


    "W-what are you talking about, brother. I-I am just helping him be-because he is a precious friend of mine, th-that''s all there is to it¡­" (Kira)


    Seeing that Kira insisted on keeping the secret hidden Liam''s face became cold and he stared into Kira''s eyes, the atmosphere around them became serious all of a sudden.


    "Hmm, so you don''t want to say? Well, whatever, I will know eventually anyway¡­ But there''s one thing I must say, Kira, If I found that you like him or something by any chance, you know what I will do, right? Yeah, I will kill him¡­because I love you more than anyone else and I won''t let anyone take you away from me, as long as I live¡­ you are mine, Kira!" (Liam)


    "Y-you think too much, brother, let''s just focus on our task here, we still have to hunt for monsters, let''s go." (Kira)


    After saying that Kira ran into the distance, Liam looked at the fading figure of Kira and sighed¡­


    ''tch, even though I have tried so much, even though I have done so much for you, why are you still trying to run away from me? Don''t tell me that you are seriously interested in a lowly guy like that trash¡­'' (Liam)


    ''Have you gone blind enough to be unable to see the truth of that trash, he is just taking advantage of you, he is just using you for his own selfish goals, he has no interest in you at all, yet you choose to side with him? Have you gone insane after staying with him for just a few months¡­'' (Liam)


    ''Was that rtionship of ours so feeble, that you have started to distance yourself from me, just because of a trash you met just a few months ago!?'' (Liam)


    Although Liam''s expression still seemed normal and calm from the outside, from inside he was screaming, screaming from the pain, of being separated from a loved one, screaming from the pain, of your loved one abandoning you, for a measly reason¡­


    ''Yeah, I have decided it! I will kill that trash, I am sure you will return to normal if just that trash dies! That''s it!'' (Liam)


    Determination appeared on Liam''s face as if he has already decided what his true goal is, he instantly got up and left in the direction where Kira has ran off to.


    But one thing was proven no one bes a viin on their own, circumstances make a viin, not every viin is pure evil, the world deems them evil, and not everyone''s a viin of a story, it''s a matter of perspective that makes them a viin.


    Human''s always tend to be like that, driven by selfish goals, which is one of the main reasons for all the suffering, but if there''s no selfishness then humans will lose their ability to live and move towards their goals making them more useless, thus it''s just tooplicated to determine what is right what is wrong¡­


    That''s how the world is, ''Cruel and Merciless''. Only the strong have the right to do as they please, while the weak suffer and die a pathetic life¡­.


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Question of the day


    What is your opinion about the viins?


    There''s no option today, answer it from your own perspective, after all, you could also have been a viin, in someone else''s story, right?


    .


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 62 Blackout...

    Academy''s monitoring room


    "Oh! These two kids are so good inbat, amazing, what was their name? That one is Link Rex, I know him, but which ss is that kid from?" (Observer 2)


    "Hmm, that kid with ck hair?... Hmm, I think he is from Ms. Anna''s ss actually, I am not sure what''s his name though¡­" (Observer 3


    "But hisbat skill seems to be quite good too, I was against having Mr. Jin train the students but it seems it worked out quite well." (Observer 2)


    "Yeah! With the growth rate of these kids, they might even surpass us in just one more year, that''s an insane growth speed, even for geniuses¡­" (Observer 2)


    "Well, that''s why talent is important, there''s no point in getting jealous over some children, sigh~¡­" (Observer 3)


    "That''s true, if I had enough talent I would have been an S-rank by now, but since I have already be thirty years old without and can''t advance further from A-rank, the chances are extremely slim¡­ Anyway I can''t risk this, my family depends on me, and I can''t leave them behind yet¡­ there''s too much risk in trying¡­" (Observer 3)


    "Come on, cheer up! Let''s fulfill the dream we weren''t able to achieve by seeing these children grow into great pirs of support for all of humanity, right?" (Observer 2)


    "Yeah!" (Observer 3)


    "o-oy! The spatial stability around the boss area is getting extremely chaotic for some reason!!" (Observer1)


    "What!? How can that be!? The dungeon was stable until now! How can it all of a sudden get disturbed!? (Observer 2)


    "L-let''s check it first!..." (Observer 3)


    Looking at the monitor screen the three of them saw the readings of the spatial disturbances getting more and more chaotic¡­


    "A-a normal B-rank dungeon''s spatial disturbance can''t be so energetic, what''s going on!?" (Observer 2)


    "This high amount of spatial disturbance is oddly simr to-!¡­Inform Ms. Anna right now that there''s someone who is trying to use a ''Spatial Path Stabilizer'' to forcefully enter the B-rank dungeon, hurry!" (Observer 1)


    "Keep your eye on the monitor showing the area around the boss monster, we must confirm who is trying to enter the dungeon" (Observer 1)


    "Yeah!" (Observer 2)


    (Spatial Path Stabilizer- A type of special stone found after ying a monster with spatial power. Only an A rank or above monster with spatial powers can drop this item, but since this type of monster is extremely rare there are not many stabilizer''s all over the world, even the whole human nation has just seven of them.)


    (Effects- A spatial path stabilizer can be used to forcefully let people higher ranked than the dungeon enter it without any problem)


    (Generally, if an individual tries to enter a dungeon lower in two ranks than yourself the dungeon''s spatial path which connects the main world to the inside of the dungeon will be unstable making it impossible, due to excessive load on the space fabric, but if there''s a spatial path stabilizer the path won''t get unstable and won''t stop the entry of the individual.)


    (Although generally this item is not considered much useful, but since it can be used three times there''s no harm in having them. Even the academy has one given by the alliance.)


    The spatial disturbances slowly started to stabilize and a spatial gate opened slowly and formed inside the dungeon:


    "S-someone''sing out of the gate!!" (Observer 2)


    "That b-ck armor, that golden insignia! H-how can t-that be! Impossible! Unbelievable!" (Observer 1)


    "Wh-what''s a demon doing all the way here in the center of the human nation!?" (Observer 2)


    "H-how can there be demons¡­.all the way here¡­.impossible!" (Observer 3)


    Just when everyone in the monitoring room was about to lose hope:


    "What happened!? Tell me!" (Anna)


    "T-that¡­ s-see on the m-monitor¡­" (Observer 1)


    Anna looked at the monitor screen, someone wearing dark ck armor with a golden insignia on it, was standing near a gate in the boss area.


    The boss monster could be seen retreating in a corner, the fear has made even this boss monster terrified enough to go limp and forced to crawl like a bug in an attempt to save itself.


    Just when Anna was about to say something, the person raised his head and looked at them directly, as if he knew they can see him. Of course, he is just seeing the Nano-drone monitoring him.


    Suddenly the monitor of the boss area went ck, then one by one all the monitors started to go ck, and eventually, all the devices used to monitor the inner situation of the dungeon went ck and stopped working.


    "Wha-what''s going on!?" (Observer 1)


    .


    .


    A few minutes ago, in the underground chamber outside the academy.


    The teleportation portal suddenly opened out of nowhere and an individual wearing ck armor walked out of it.


    After seeing the person in ck armor, everyone chanted in unison at him:


    "Wee, General Durik, we are honored to witness your kind presence!!"


    "Here you can sit on this chair specially prepared for you to take rest-"


    A hoarse and cold voice rang out in the basement:


    "Cut the chit-chat, give me the coordinates and I will directly use the stabilizer to open the path and stabilize it, we don''t have much time left, if the information is correct then we are already running out of time, we have to hurry." (Durik)


    Durik looked at all the demon spies and said in a harsh tone.


    But no one answered him for a while, then the person who seemed to be their captain said:


    "Uh¡­You know, general, these coordinates are valuable¡­so you should¡­.you know pay us in return too right¡­ after all, no one in the demon world works for free, right everyone!?"


    "Ye-yeah, general Durik, since we have risked our lives to get this, you should at least give something in return for this, that''s how the demon world works, hehehe"


    All the demon spies started to look at Durik with pure greed in their eyes, some were even salivating over Durik''s armor.


    ''Hmm, as his highness expected, after living in the human nation for so long they have already lost all the fear and loyalty for the demon nation by now, they think no one can harm them in the human nation, heh foolish lowly trash.'' (Durik)


    A mysterious smile appeared on Durik''s face behind the armor''s helmet:


    "Right, I should repay you all¡­" (Durik)


    Suddenly a great sword appeared in Durik''s hands, as he spoke, a wild grin appeared on his face behind the helmet:


    "Here, take your reward, I have plenty for each of you so, don''t hesitate to ask for more¡­" (Durik)


    As Durik said that a massacre started in the underground basement but it ended when the whole of the area in two kilometers was destroyed.


    .


    (After ten minutes)


    All this took only ten minutes, seven A-rank demon spies ended up dead, in just ten minutes. While the most damage was suffered by the humans living within the radius of two kilometers, Durik didn''t even suffer a single injury from this one vs seven fight.


    ''It''s about time I go back, I have already recovered the documents containing the coordinates, now there is no need to stay here¡­'' (Durik)


    After Durik used the path stabilizer using the coordinates of the dungeon he immediately entered the dungeon''s boss area.


    ''Good, it seems the entry was sessful now I just have to teleport his highness too-'' (Durik)


    ''Hmm, it seems they have deployed something to keep an eye on us, let''s just destroy it first before it bes a nuisance for us.'' (Durik)


    Durik used his perception to detect all the nano-drones in the dungeon and destroyed them by crushing them with his strong aura.


    (Every ordinary S-ranker have a wide range of perception, which can detect even minute things over a distance of ten kilometers when they fully unleash it since there''s no one to stop his perception in this dungeon Durik simply got rid of all the drones first, but since he doesn''t know who is the person with that ''fragment'' he didn''t kill anyone yet.)


    (Only an S-ranker or above can intercept the perception of another S-ranker. Generally, no one uses their perception to the maximum extent because using it for a long time puts an enormous load and consumes too much mana, this is also the reason why Anna or any other high ranker didn''t detect the fight in the basement near the academy too because it was out of the range of detection.)


    Durik looked at the stabilizer and said:


    "It''s time!" (Durik)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    What is your thought on the chapter? You can share them in thement section, if there''s any mistake tell me in thements and I will fix it.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Thanks for reading this.

 Chapter 63 Violent Introduction!

    Boss Area, B-rank dungeon- Lava Lake


    This area is right in the middle of the volcano, strangely there exists a tform directly in the middle of a hugeva-filled area, and a half-broken bridge connects the tform to the entrance of the volcano. This could be considered a perfect area for ava-type monster to fight¡­


    Yet, the boss monster''s body could be seen floating in theva its head severed from its lower body, and all of its limbs ripped apart with brute force, anyone can assume that this monster was tortured till it died of pain.


    ''What'' going on, his highness hasn''t yet ordered me to carry out the teleportation, is he busy with something¡­ hmm, even that monster died too fast, I am getting bored, is there no one strong enough to entertain me here, sigh~'' (Durik)


    Just as Durik was getting more and more bored, finally the message he was awaiting arrived, a letter appeared from a small teleportation gate and fell in front of him and Durik immediately catches it with his hand and started to read it:


    [Everything''s ready, you can carry out the teleportation now, I have decided who would be the third person to teleport, heh¡­ it''s going to be an interesting trip¡­]


    ''Okay let''s do it-...hmm! Someone''sing'' (Durik)


    Durik looked at the entrance of the volcano, his perception was telling him that an aura strong enough to be an S-ranker''s has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, inside the dungeon¡­


    ''Did they also use a stabilizer but aren''t they too fast, it hasn''t even been half an hour since I entered the dungeon¡­ well ording to the information the stabilizing stone the academy has can only be used once since it''s already used two times before, so if I can just keep this one person busy, his highness can do his work without any disturbances¡­'' (Durik)


    ''But his highness would only have three hours toplete his thing, otherwise more S-rankers will enter using the stabilizer from taking it from others, like the alliance might have two or three of them lying around in my opinion¡­'' (Durik)


    ''Let''s teleport his highness and that other individual first¡­'' (Durik)


    Durik brought out a grey-colored stone with strange markings on it from his storage ring and channeled his mana in it, the markings on the stone started to glow and after a few seconds its markings dimmed, finally, the stone broke apart into tiny pieces¡­


    ''Okay the teleportation was sessful, but since the other gates aren''t opened with pinpoint coordinates, those two might get teleported to other areas of the dungeon, well it''s better this way, otherwise, the battle between me and the other S-ranker may harm his highness too.'' (Durik)


    Durik felt the aura of the S-ranker getting closer with each second, the speed of the other person is extremely fast, they only took five seconds to reach the corner of this dungeon to the boss area.


    (Yeah the teleportation Durik did earlier didn''t even take a full second actually, it''s just because your reading speed is too slow and that''s why you think it took too long¡­)


    As Durik was busy looking at the door he felt something abnormal from above, he looked above and found that the person entered from above actually, after all a volcano is open from above too, for persons who are below S-rank climbing this giant volcano might take too long, thus they enter from the main entrance near the foot of the volcano¡­


    But as S-rankers don''t followmon sense to begin with, they can just enter from anywhere they want, if there was no entrance they would just brute force their way through the ground directly.


    [Master rank me Magic: me Meteor rain!]


    Meteors burning with dark blue me appeared out of nowhere, each of their sizes is as big as a two-story building both in height and width and even the density of the meteor''s material itself is strong enough topete with diamond. Yet there are a hundred such meteor''s rushing at a speed many times faster than the speed of sound towards the base of the mountain from the top.


    ''Not good!¡­'' (Durik)


    Durik immediately brought out his great sword from his storage ring, he could feel it in his bones, that if he didn''t defend himself properly any of those meteors can kill him.


    [Royal Demon Swordsmanship: Deflect!]


    Durik tried to deflect the trajectory of the meteors but the horrifying thing is that each of these meteors seems to have a way to track him, like a radar-guided missile, they would change their trajectory in mid-air to follow him and are even more precise in tracking him than a radar.


    ''Sh*t this is insane! when did such a strong me magician appear in the human race, looks like I have no choice than.'' (Durik)


    [Blessing of the demon king: Demonic physique!]


    Durik''s armor broke apart and a human wearing clothes of a butler appeared from inside, then his humanoid body started to bulge and his skin changed color to grey, his eyes became pure ck and his pupils became red, fangs appeared in his mouth and his face now resembled a werewolf, but he didn''t have any hairs like a wolf on his bare chest, just his skin became grey and his body bulged up and grew into height, making him about three meters tall.


    He brought out a new great sword from his storage ring which was muchrger than the previous sword.


    "Here Ie!" (Durik) (His voice is extremely hoarse now)


    Durik jumped toward the meteorites and shed at them, with brute force:


    [Royal Demon Swordsmanship: Striking fangs!]


    One by one he sliced all the meteorites in two and made his way to the top as he sliced thest meteorite and reached the very top of the volcano, he unfolded his wings and spread them to stabilize himself in the air.


    His wings looked like a bat''s wings, but they were grey in color.


    As the broken pieces of the meteorites fell to the ground one by one, makingrge shockwaves, they also destroyed half of the volcano already. Even the entrance was closed with the falling rocks, it''s a relief that no student has made it this far in. Otherwise, they might have been dead from coteral damage done by the fight between two S-rankers.


    "Why is a demon here inside a B-rank gate? Talk or I would make you unable to talk!" (Anna)


    Durik finally looked at the woman standing in the air, a little away from him and his eyes became wide all of a sudden, for a while he stared at Anna and then said:


    "I never expected that you would have be an S-ranker in just a few years I left, you have be strong, Anna" (Durik)


    "Wha!? How does a demon know my nam- wait! Is that you, Durik, are you the same Durik who used to be Jin''s direct disciple once!?" (Anna)


    Anna was shocked by how Durik has changed and be a demon.


    "B-but weren''t you a human back then!?" (Anna)


    Hearing Anna, Durik said in a Cold tone:


    "Well things happened and this is how I am now, I see, master has not told you anything about why I left the human nation and why I had a fight with him, tch! he really is a stingy person who deserves to die¡­" (Durik)


    "I don''t know why you have be a demon now, but I must confirm why you are here right now!" (Anna)


    "Answer my question or I would be forced to use violence, after all even if you may have been a former human, you are a traitor and a demon right now!" (Anna)


    "Traitor you say, heh¡­ What if¡­ I told you that the reason I am here is¡­" (Durik)


    Durik raised his hand and pointed his finger toward Anna:


    "You are the reason!" (Durik)


    .


    .


    "Hey can you feel the ground shaking, Rio?" (Link)


    "Yeah" (Rio)


    While standing in a huge pile of monster corpses Link and Rio looked at the two figures flying in the sky right above the volcano.


    "Isn''t that Ms. Anna, but where did that werewolfe from, do werewolves generally have wings?" (Link)


    "That''s not a werewolf, that''s an S-rank Demon, only their wings can be that big¡­" (Rio)


    "How do you know that?" (Link)


    "If you study hard instead of focusing on your girlfriend the whole day, you could also know such things¡­" (Rio)


    "Oh, is that so, then there''s no way I would know that¡­" (Link)


    "Indeed" (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Come on the fight is about to start everyone, do your best to support the book, I am looking forward to it. If there are any mistakes in grammar or spelling feel free to tell me in thements, and I would fix them as early as possible.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 64 A Certain Disposable Sidekick...

    B-rank dungeon, above the volcano, in the sky.


    The demon could be seen pointing his finger toward Ms. Anna, while Anna had a perplexed expression on her face right now.


    "What are you talking about? rify it!" (Anna)


    A smirk appeared on Durik''s demonic face:


    ''Although she has be stronger, she is still that short-tempered girl she once used to be, this is going to be easy¡­'' (Durik)


    "Well, you see, master likes you very much right, but the thing is I also love you from the bottom of my heart¡­" (Durik)


    "What!?" (Anna)


    "At that time I didn''t have the courage to confess to you, I was too weak to fight master after all, but somehow that blockhead of a master actually found out about this¡­" (Durik)


    "I don''t know how he managed to find this out but, when he finally found out, he immediately dragged me to an arena and challenged me to a duel¡­" (Durik)


    "He ced the bet that if I won he would stop pestering you, and if he won then I would have to leave the ce on my own ord¡­" (Durik)


    "I didn''t win the match in the end, he was too strong and I was too weak at that time to face him, he just defeated me in a single attack¡­ I don''t know why he left me alive but now I have be extremely strong I am sure I can defeat him now¡­" (Durik)


    As Durik continued to talk his face became more and more emotional, as if he was really in great awe of himself:


    "While I was wandering in the streets, I met with my savior, he is a noble soul, his existence is greatest among everyone and he is meant to achieve the realms which no one has ever achieved¡­" (Durik)


    "After meeting his highness, I was born anew, he gave me the chance to embrace this great body I have now¡­ This body can regenerate any part of the body as long as I have enough mana, as long as I have mana left I won''t die¡­" (Durik)


    As Durik mentioned his demonic physique his expression became like that of a madman:


    "I know, you want a great body like this right? You can alsoe and join the great existence of his highness and be one of his loyal subjects¡­" (Durik)


    Durik stretched out his hand and pointed towards Anna:


    "Be a Demon, Anna!" (Durik)


    .


    .


    Forest area of the dungeon, Before Anna cast the meteor spell.


    "Hmm, Brother Fade, look! What is happening there above the Volcano!?" (Another disposable Sidekick)


    "Oh, isn''t that Ms. Anna there, could it be she is here to look at the performance of the students personally! I must do better so that she gives us a better score!" (Fade)


    "But why is there such a huge magic circle below her feet, if that magic circle is that big, could it be she is going to use a Master rank spell!? But then even we will get caught in it, after all, we are quite close to it, brother Fade let''s leave this ce!" (Disposable Sidekick)


    "If we don''t leave right now, it will be dangerous for us both!" (Disposable Sidekick)


    "No! We must not go away otherwise how will we show her our prowess, we can''tpromise with our grades." (Fade)


    Seeing Fade''s face filled with determination and heroism, the sidekick was charmed instantly and got ready to give even his life, in order to stay with Fade:


    "Since you are going to stay, I can''t leave you behind brother Fade, I would rather die myself than let you die!" (Disposable Sidekick)


    "Good, you are my best brother!" (Fade)


    Just when the two of them were talking, Anna cast the spell and after the spell was cast ear-piercing roars started to sound from the inside of the volcano as if a monster was roaring in rage, after a while a huge werewolf rushed out of the volcano swung its great sword and destroyed all the meteors in its way.


    Meteor debris changed its trajectory and then after being struck by the werewolf the debris started to fall with great speed directly towards Fade, who was running towards the volcano the get closer¡­


    Just as the huge stone debris was about to fall on Fade''s head:


    "Brother Fade, look out!" (Disposable Sidekick)


    The disposable sidekick pushed Fade away, Fade was sent away flying from the force of the push andnded far away from the location he was standing before.


    He hurriedly got up and ran towards where the huge stone debris had fallen, he immediately started to look for his brother and found that the whole of his lower body was crushed under the rock and only his face and a small part of the upper body were not under the rock.


    "Brother, why did you save me! How can you do that!? Don''t leave me behind!" (Fade)


    "Brother Fade, cough! Cough! D-didn''t I said earlier¡­. That I would die be-before you¡­ Do-don''t worry about me¡­" (Disposable Sidekick)


    After he said that, the sidekick went silent for good, he left this cruel world behind and sacrificed his body for a child of luck, just because of a mere reason that he followed the child of luck, for a little too long.


    (Two minutes of silence for the ''Disposable Sidekick''¡­.)


    "Brother! No!" (Fade)


    (I always wanted to assume what would happen after a sidekick dies, the next few lines are just a possibility based on Fade''s personality, if you have any other assumptions you can tell me them too, perhaps we can use your suggestions to make the life of sidekicks miserable in the future too¡­)


    As Fade said that he looked at the guy who was now dead for a little while and he then confirmed whether this guy really was dead or not.


    "Sigh~, that was a dangerous situation, I could have died back then, I should leave this ce after all otherwise I might get caught up in debris too¡­" (Fade)


    As Fade''s face returned from the previous fake crying one, he smirked a little and said:


    "Don''t worry brother, I will take good care of your fianc¨¦e, I wouldn''t let you give a chance toin, after all I am your good brother right?" (Fade)


    [eleration!]


    As Fade cast an unranked spell ''eleration'' he left the ce and made a distance from the volcano.


    What Fade didn''t know was that a certain individual with a fat body and wearing ck clothes was standing not far away, but he was hidden using the ''Advanced rank spell: Presence Nullification''.


    "You still have not learned your lesson, I see, it''s time I give you back what you did to me¡­" (???)


    A strange shadow could be seen flying and coiling around the person''s body, the shadow itself has a mouth of its own, suddenly the mouth on the shadow said:


    "Calm down boy, we have enough time to fully enjoy this, hehehe¡­" (???)


    "Yeah¡­" (???)


    The shadow looked at the person crushed under the debris:


    "What a shame, that body is too damaged and is not useful anymore¡­" (???)


    After saying that both of them disappeared in the same direction Fade had left.


    .


    .


    "Should we go there too, Rio?" (Link)


    "I don''t think we need to go there, can''t you see the size of the debris created by the shattering of those huge meteors?" (Rio)


    "Well, yeah, we might actually get crushed under that huge debris, but if we both work together we can easily st that much debris by ourselves you know?" (Link)


    Although Link waited for a few seconds there was no answer to his question


    Link looked at Rio who was standing beside him and found that Rio was looking in apletely different direction from the volcano, for the first time Link saw Rio frown a little bit.


    "What happened? Why are you looking there so intently? Could it be you can sense that Lia is in that direction!? That''s a scary power you have! By the way, could you teach me that too? I want to know where Riya is!" (Link)


    Rio didn''t answer Link again for a while, just as Link was about to get annoyed by this strange behavior of Rio:


    "We don''t need to detect anyone, it seems someone is rushing our way, from their aura it seems and that person is a peak A-ranker¡­ Get ready Link!" (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Question of the day


    What are your thoughts on the personality of Fade?


    1. Trash


    2. Hateful


    3. Shameful


    4. Other (Write in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Also if there are any mistakes in the grammar or spelling in the chapter feel free to tell me about it and I will try to fix them as soon as possible. Lastly, thanks for your support of you.

 Chapter 65 Incoming Dangers...

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake, barren area


    Several students could be seen attacking a single bigva worm:


    [Mutant Lava worm: Rank- (B-)]


    "Seriously, this thing is very huge!"


    "Yeah! As expected of a B-rank dungeon!"


    "Oy! Dodge! Thatva worm is about to throw its acidic saliva!"


    "Yeah!"


    Looking around you could see about twelve students from various sses teaming up to fight this gigantic mini-boss-type monster.


    While the students were busy fighting the monster, suddenly a spatial gate opened out of nowhere directly above the head of theva worm, A person wearing dark ck armor, with golden linings on it walked out of it, but strangely he didn''t fall to the ground immediately.


    Suddenly, two bat wings appeared from behind him and stabilized him in the air, a strange golden emblem could be seen on his armor''s chest te and the cape.


    Seeing that all the students were surprised for a while and the ce became strangely silent.


    The person looked around and scanned all the students for a bit, then he said:


    "Hmm, so these are the young talents of the human race, but aren''t they a bit weak¡­." (???)


    "Hey! Who are you? And why are you wearing that strange armor?!"


    "Strange? Heh, so you don''t even recognize the great emblem of the demon army too? It seems the human children aren''t taught that well after all¡­" (???)


    Hearing the mocking voice of the person, all the students became angered, but no one moved yet because theva worm was still their main objective and they didn''t know who this person is, to begin with.


    ''Are they not going to attack even after being mocked? It seems that the brain of humans and demons indeed works differently, if they were demons they would have already attacked me by now, after hearing them being mocked, at least most of the demons are short-tempered¡­ except those few intelligent abnormal ones, the rest are all brutes.'' (???)


    The prince brought out a spear from his space ring, the spear was pitch ck in color too, but it had strange markings and texts written on it in red color. He stabbed his spear once in the mouth of theva worm lightly and a huge hole opened in the body of theva worm, not to mention the huge hole, the body of theva worm started to get destroyed further by mysterious energy and after a while, the body of theva worm turned into a mist of blood.


    The smell of blood could smell from the air now, all the students who witnessed this were horrified out of their wits, some were so scared by seeing the insides of the monster spilling everywhere in this gruesome way, that they ended up fainting.


    "H-how can that be!? T-that''s a B-rank monster, H-how can¡­ so easily?"


    Hearing the cries of the student, the prince looked at the fainted and scared students, he tilted his head in confusion and said:


    "Eh, you are getting scared from just this? It seems that the humans pamper their children too much, don''t tell me you all haven''t been on a real battlefield ever?" (Prince)


    ''Well, demons don''t even care about their children, to begin with and since their such structure like a permanent family in lower ranking demons all the demon children are left to survive for themselves since birth¡­'' (Prince)


    "Now that the distraction is out of our way, we can have a fight in peace, all of youe at me with your full strength, let''s fight to the death!" (Prince)


    The prince did say that, but not a single person moved a little bit after hearing his words:


    ''What? Did they not hear me? This is odd¡­ each of the battlefields I have been to, no enemy would wait so long, and would have attacked several times by now, if it were demons they would have been ready to fight to the death with honor¡­ could it be! That all of these human kids are cowards and don''t even have the honor to fight!?'' (Prince)


    After reaching this strange conclusion in his head, the prince shook his head a little and then pointed his spear toward the humans:


    "It seems you all are cowards, I can''t let such cowards like you live, it would be a disgrace to this world, let me free this world from your cowardly existence!" (Prince)


    After saying that, the prince moves instantly, his speed is too fast and only his afterimages could be seen by the students before anyone could have reacted all the students ended up having huge hole in their chests which were still increasing and destroying their bodies thoroughly.


    "Hmph, it seems not a single one of them is strong enough to even face an ''intermediate demon''¡­ Actually I think they might actually have to struggle to fight a lower ranking demon too¡­" (Prince)


    "Tch, humans sure are more pathetic than I was originally expecting¡­ if all of them are so weak then perhaps the holder of that fragment might be a weakling too¡­" (Prince)


    After saying that the prince left in a random direction to find the holder of the fragment.


    .


    .


    Waterfall area.


    "Oh! Look Lia! This waterfall is so beautiful and even the water is extremely clear here!" (Riya)


    "Indeed, this ce is extremely beautiful, if it existed in the outside world it would have been a good tourist spot¡­" (Lia)


    "When I go back I would tell Link how beautiful this waterfall is, look that flower there is so beautiful!" (Riya)


    "W-wait don''t run away, it could be dangerous!" (Lia)


    "No need to worry, it''s just a flower!" (Riya)


    Just as Riya was about to grab the flower, the ground split apart and a huge mouth appeared from the ground:


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Flowing divinity!]


    The vast mouth was destroyed in just a few strikes, and the whole nt copsed directly on the ground. The flower Riya wanted turned out to be a bait set by a nt monster trying to lure food for itself. Although this is ame trap that wouldn''t work on intelligent ones, every once in a while some idiots gets caught as its food though.


    Lia jumped and caught Riya who was blown in the air by the impact of the appearance of the nt monster and safelynded on the ground.


    Riya slowly opened her eyes which were tightly shut from fear and found that she was being held in the princess style by Lia. Stars appeared in Riya''s eyes:


    "Oh, thank you, Lia! You are so cool! As expected of the rumored Mad Demon swor-" (Riya)


    Before Riya couldplete her sentence properly, she was tossed away by Lia, and fell on the ground with a bang.


    "Ow! That hurts!" (Riya)


    "It should! How can you be so careless, have you lost your mind!? No healer would leave the protection of a warrior so recklessly like you! What would have happened if something happened to you, idiot!..." (Lia)


    Hearing non-stop nagging of Lia, Riya stuck out her tongue and tried to y cute in order to get forgiven, but that actually pissed Lia even more:


    "Hah! ying cute won''t work on me! I have seen someone else do that many times already you know!" (Lia)


    "Eeek! Scary! As expected of the mad dem-" (Riya)


    "Don''t call me with that weird name! and next time you run off by yourself, I am gonna feed you to ava worm!" (Lia)


    "N-no I don''t want to be eaten by such a disgusting thing¡­" (Riya)


    "Then keep following me without causing trouble!" (Lia)


    "Okay, Master" (Riya)


    "I am not your master!" (Lia)


    .


    In a hidden corner, behind a huge rock near the waterfall


    "Hmm, it seems one of them is easy prey, but that golden woman is strong¡­" (???)


    "Heh, looks like today''s prey is going to be better than my usual prey¡­" (???)


    "Interesting¡­" (???)


    After taking ast look the individual left the ce¡­


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Question of the day:


    If given the chance which race would you like to reincarnate into:


    1. Human (Just average and the same lifestyle you have now, but would have to contribute to society to live properly. Like be an awakener and protect others or be an ordinary sry man, etc.)


    2. Demon (Be strong oppress all, live in the endless fighting environment, and have an infinite adventure life. But would be the enemy of every race in the world, forget about long-range attacks and forget about going to heaven in the afterlife.)


    3. Dragon (Roam free in the skies, enjoy the leisurely and free life. But get hunted by literally every race except elves for treasure you possess.)


    4. Elf (Having a long life would give you the chance to be close to nature. But would not have many methods to attack and fighting close range might just be impossible.)


    5. Others (Tell in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Personally, my choice is Dragon, just because I want to roam the skies without any mortal problems binding me, I would like to experience how it would feel to use a dragon''s breath.

 Chapter 66 Hatred - The Worst Feeling

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava Lake, Barren Area


    "Someone strong ising our way¡­" (Rio)


    ''Why does it feel that I have felt this aura before?... But I can''t properly remember it¡­'' (Rio)


    "Eh, how do you kno-" (Link)


    Just as Link was about to say something, a spear came flying toward them..


    "Dodge!" (Rio)


    Both Rio and Link jumped back in order to dodge the shockwave created by thending of the spear on the ground.


    The spearnded on the ground and the ground around ten meters of the area was destroyed by the impact and a huge amount of debris was blown away from this single attack.


    "Just barely dodged it, phew~" (Link)


    "What I didn''t see any monster in this dungeon using spears until now, where did thise from-" (Link)


    "Here ites¡­" (Rio)


    A huge bang sound could be heard the very next moment as if someone has justnded from a high ce. The dust created by thending was blocking the view, but two red eyes can be seen glowing among that huge dust cloud.


    Slowly the huge dust cloud dissipated and a person could now be seen standing beside the spear, he is wearing a pitch-ck armor with golden linings on it, and there is a golden insignia on that armor''s chest te.


    "That insignia¡­. It''s a demon!" (Link)


    "That''s not the only thing, see that strange golden imprint on the helmet¡­ this guy¡­ he is from the royal family of demons¡­" (Rio)


    "What!? What''s a royal demon doing, so inside of the human nation!?" (Link)


    Link''s eyes widened in surprise, no one could have expected that they would meet a royal demon during their final exam. This could be considered the worst exam possible now.


    (Royal Demons- They are part of the family of the Demon king, they have a special token given by the demon king himself and they canmand a huge number of the demon army by using that token. Not to mention that token, they themselves have the strength of an E-ranker from birth, and their physique could rival a dragon.)


    (Every royal demon has to at least get a win on the battlefield or have to hunt a dragon to get the right to live in the demon castle freely, otherwise, they are not acknowledged as royal demons, to begin with. You could consider that every royal demon has to go through hellish battles to get the token from the demon king.)


    "Huh, you two seem to be a bit more stronger and intelligent than all the human children I met on my way here, everyone else was too weak, I wonder how much strong you two are, let''s cut the chit-chat and talk while we cross-fight, hahahaha" (Prince)


    ''That ck spear with strange incantations and words written on it in dark red¡­ those Red eyes shining through the helmet¡­. Ah, remember now¡­ how I forgot something so important¡­'' (Rio)


    "It was you¡­. wasn''t it¡­" (Rio)


    A crazed look appeared on Rio''s expressionless face for the first time, his eyes could be seen burning with immense hatred, and the aura around Rio became so dense and thick that it could be seen with naked eyes now.


    Even Link was surprised by looking at the expression Rio was making right now¡­


    [Body Strengthening!]


    The ground started to crack under Rio''s feet


    [Concentration!]


    Rio''s killing intent became so thick that it could give palpitations to anyone


    [Formless sword: Pierce-type sword!]


    Rio''s sword converted and took the shape of a very thin sword with a sharp tip on it, this sword is extremely optimal for piercing and thrusting through the gaps in armor.


    [Sword Aura: Sword sharpening!]


    The ck sword aura could be visibly seen looming around the sword due to its extreme density now.


    "It was you, wasn''t it Prince Alverto Chronosperdere!" (Rio)


    "Hmm, you know my nam-" (Alverto)


    Just as Alverto was about toplete his sentence, he felt an immense sense of danger from his back, he immediately jumped aside to avoid the attack, but as if his dodging pattern was already predicted the pointed sword followed him without leaving no room for rest.


    "You are strong! Human! Good this is what I have been waiting for!" (Alverto)


    [Blessing of demonic Bloodline!]


    [Blessing of Miasma!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Aura of fallen Blood!]


    "Let''s dance to our heart''s content human!" (Alverto)


    "I will kill you!!!!!" (Rio)


    The hate in Rio''s eyes could make a normal person dizzy, this hatred was so immense that it was driving Rio to fight and attack fiercer and crazier.


    The pointed sword stabbed towards those two red eyes but was deflected by the spear, the spear aimed towards Rio''s heart but was dodged and counterattacked at immense speed by more stabs, and the ground in the area was shattered from the huge air pressure created by these attacks alone, and an ordinary person would have died by these shockwaves by now.


    Just as Alverto was about to dodge the attack aimed towards his heart, the pointed sword changed its trajectory and stabbed towards the left hand¡­


    ''Not good! The attack at heart was a feint!'' (Alverto)


    The attack was already unavoidable now, the pointed sword stabbed the left hand of Alverto, but the impact created by it destroy the whole left hand of Alverto to pieces together with the armor, Alverto jumped back and stared at Rio for a bit and said:


    "Such immense hatred, I wonder why that is?" (Alverto)


    [Demonic Regeneration!]


    Alverto was trying to buy a small amount of time to regenerate his hand, but Rio didn''t even give him time to breathe let alone regenerate.


    "IT WAS YOU! YOU WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED MY MOTHER, MY FATHER!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!" (Rio)


    As Rio screamed that, he aimed at the neck of Alverto''s armor and attacked with full speed.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thousand fire thrusts!]


    ''Not good!'' (Alverto)


    "DIE!!!" (Rio)


    [Time eleration!]


    Suddenly the time for Alverto elerated and he moved two times faster in the same amount of time, he sessfully dodged the attack which could have concluded his story today¡­


    ''It seems I would have to go serious now¡­'' (Alverto)


    .


    .


    Forest Area


    "We have been walking in the same direction for a long time now, what are you looking for, Kira" (Liam)


    Kira didn''t answer Liam''s question at all and continued walking further. Liam clicked his tongue and followed behind¡­


    Suddenly Kira stopped and just as Liam was about to say something, a person appeared from behind the huge trees.


    "Oh! Kira! It''s you! What a coincidence that I met you here, inside the dungeon!" (Fade)


    "I was looking for you, that''s why we were able to meet, nothing else¡­" (Kira)


    "Oh, is that so!" (Fade)


    "Hey, what''s the meaning of this Kira! Don''t tell me you were looking for this trash all this time?" (Liam)


    "Who are you? And how dare you call me trash? Apologize right now otherwise I would kill you right here, I don''t care about who is backer or anything!" (Fade)


    "This trash, really has a huge ego, did no one teach you that a trash like you isn''t worthy of hanging around someone like Kira-" (Liam)


    Just as Liam was about toplete his sentence, Kira suddenly said:


    "Brother Liam, now that I have met with Fade, you can leave now, I will partner with Fade now, you don''t have to protect me anymore¡­." (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s words, Liam felt his heart being shattered to pieces, he knew that the Kira he once knew was no more now, he knew that there was no point in continuing this talk, there was only one way out now from this¡­


    "Good¡­.. Good! HAHAHAHA¡­. I can now kill this trash without any regrets now¡­. Good!" (Liam)


    He could now feel the immense hatred, he was feeling as if his heart was ripped apart and torn to shreds, his hatred filled eyes were now staring at Fade with immense killing intent.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Question of the day


    Have you ever felt immense hatred, how does it feel?


    Comment down your story¡­


    Personally, when I felt it for the first time, I was betrayed by a friend, he med me for a thing he had done. And the teacher actually believed him. That feeling of hatred feels like your heart is restless and your throat is dry, you can''t wait to tear apart the person who has betrayed you. But of course, I didn''t do that, I ended up going into depression for a few months and then recovered, that''s it, I never got the revenge...


    But of course, I never talked to that friend ever again till this day. The childhood friendship was broken in just a few seconds that day. This is the reality of the world.


    But whatever that''s a long gone past now¡­.


    .


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 67 Enemy Appears!

    B-rank Dungeon, LavaLake


    Waterfall area


    Lia''s Pov:


    ''What is going on I can feel huge amounts of mana disturbancesing from the north area,e to think isn''t that the area where the base of the volcano is¡­'' (Lia)


    ''Since this ce is quite far away and several trees are blocking the view, I can''t properly tell what''s going on¡­ has someone already started to fight with the boss monster¡­.'' (Lia)


    "Hey, I have been meaning to ask for a while now, what is that huge Red rock there, there are even several patterns on it¡­" (Riya)


    "Red roc-" (Lia)


    *thud!* *thud!*


    One after another huge sounds of footsteps could be heard all around Lia and Riya, it was as if several huge monsters are approaching them from each side from behind the trees.


    As the sounds of footsteps continued toe closer, now the monsters'' bodies could be easily seen.


    Several huge giants each around five meters or above appeared in front of them, all of them have dark red skin and strange ck tattoos on their bare upper body all over. Their faces had apparent madness on them¡­


    "That''s not a rock, Riya. That''s a Red Ogre¡­" (Lia)


    "What!? Th-then shouldn''t we start running now, we can''t fight this many red ogres!" (Riya)


    .


    (Monster Introduction)


    (Height: Young- 5 to 8m and Adult- 8 to 12m)


    (Red Ogre- As everyone already knows that generally ogres are the type of monster that have huge physiques and great brute strength, an adult ogre''s physical prowess can bepared to an adult wyvern.)


    (Among all the different types of ogres, Red ogres are the tribe that lives in ces with sizzling hot temperatures like volcanoes, deserts, etc. They are also the most violent and dangerous type of ogres. Most of the time they wander alone but every once in a while they also band together too.)


    (Precaution: If you are below B-rank and meet an adult red ogre then don''t think of fighting just start running as fast as you can¡­ but since adult red ogres generally don''t band together, thus any group of red ogres youe across will most likely only have young ogres in it, A C-ranker can hold his ground against a young red ogre for sure.)


    .


    "There''s no point in running now they have already surrounded us without even us realizing¡­ from the looks of it they all seem to be young ogres but generally young ogres are not so intelligent that they cane up with a n like this to attack an enemy" (Lia)


    "There might be an adult one mixed in them who is guiding them all, most likely that guy is a mini-boss of this dungeon¡­" (Lia)


    A faint smile appeared on Lia''s face¡­


    "Hey, don''t smile like that you are scaring me!" (Riya)


    Lia just ignored Riya''s rambling and slowly unsheathed her silver-colored sword. Few words could be seen written on the de of the silver sword ''Glory to the angel''¡­


    "If we sessfully kill all of these ogres and that mini boss too, we might get enough points to rank in the first ten easily¡­" (Lia)


    "Y-you must be joking right there are twenty no thirty of them, how are you going to fight them?" (Riya)


    Lia looked at Riya and tilted her head in confusion¡­


    "What do you mean how will I fight? Of course, we will charge head to head!" (Lia)


    "What!?" (Riya)


    .


    .


    Forest Area


    [Intermediate summon: Young wyvern!]


    A huge summoning circle appeared on the ground in front of a purple hair boy, slowly a huge monster of the height of around eight meters slowly appeared from the circle, and after it fully appeared it roared towards the sky as if cursing the gods.


    "Today I will kill your trash, this is the third best summon, it doesn''tpare to the other two but for a trash like you this is enough." (Liam)


    "Hmph! these mere monsters are nothing in front of me, I eat the wyvern meat every day for breakfast, you think you can kill me with this? It seems your parents haven''t taught you manners as you are a rich bastard, but since I am generous I will teach you manners in ce of your parents,e!" (Fade)


    (The thing is since Kira brings him breakfast most of the time, so he could afford to eat wyvern meat, otherwise, it is so expensive that even if he sells his whole body he would still not be able to buy a gram of it.)


    .


    (Monster Introduction)


    (Wyvern- Height: Young 8 to 12 m and Adult 12 to 15 m)


    (Legend has it that wyverns are the descendants of those dragons who have been banished from the dragon Kingdom, dragons consider the wyverns as a filthy and lower race and any time a dragones across a wyvern nest it destroys it to thest one.)


    (Although Wyverns are too weak inparison to a true dragon, they are still considered a race equally strong as the elf race. Like dragons, elves, and humans, wyverns also have an intelligent brains since birth. Don''t underestimate their thinking capabilities just because they look like a brainless giant bird.)


    (Precaution: A few of them can use magic like dragons but it''s very weak inparison to true dragon magic, but for others, this is still deadly magic. They can''t use dragon breath as they are not true dragon but a few of them can spit acid, so if you are nning to tame one, don''t be bold enough to put your hand in their mouth just for entertainment, it is possible your hand will end up disappearing in their acidic saliva.)


    .


    Fade brought out his wand from the space ring he got from Kira, and started to cast his magic:


    [Basic Wind Magic: tornado!]


    A huge tornado appeared and started to move toward the wyvern:


    Liam just sneered after looking at that weak spell as he hopped on the wyvern''s back. After Liam sat on the wyvern''s back the wyvern opened its huge wings and pped them, the air pressure created by the pping of the wings of the wyvern was enough to make the tornado calm down.


    As Liam looked at Fade from the sky, he said:


    "As expected of a trash, your magic is also trashy, do you not even know that magic of that level won''t even be able to scratch a wyvern¡­" (Liam)


    Fade looked at the wyvern flying in the sky with resentment on his face since he hasn''t faced a wyvern in any dungeon he has no idea of how strong it actually is, this is his first time fighting a real wyvern.


    Fade cursed in his heart and then looked at Kira standing behind him¡­


    "Kira do me a favor, lend me that want of yours, I promise I will return itter¡­" (Fade)


    After hearing Fade''s remarks, Kira smiled a little and said:


    "Anything for you Fade, here take this wand of mine, you can keep it as long as you want¡­" (Kira)


    Liam looked at the decorated golden wand and said:


    "Hey! I gifted that wand to you Kira on your birthday! Why are you giving that to him!?" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam, Kira''s face turned cold, she looked at Liam and said:


    "You have nothing to do with this, it''s my wand, I can give it to anyone I want¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing the cold tone of Kira, Liam couldn''t help but feel the pain in his heart increase, his sanity was already reaching a breaking point. He could snap anytime now.


    This is also the main reason why he loses in the main novel to Fade, he loses his sanity from the continuous cold behavior of Kira, and as a mage loses his sanity his spells be weaker, which made his wyvern weaker making it take damage from fade''s weak spells, eventually bringing Liam''s demise.


    As the saying goes-"Compared to the pain of a wound, the pain of a broken heart is hundreds of times greater" Anyone would have gone in rage if they were in Liam''s situation. (No need to think much Fade just won this due to plot armor, otherwise it would have been impossible.)


    But things are not the same as the novel Rio once read, butterfly effect has caused huge changes in the plot¡­


    *bang*


    Just as Fade and Liam were about to start fighting a huge sound of somethingnding on the ground came in the middle and a huge cloud of dust rose between where Fade and Liam were standing.


    A familiar voice rang out in Fade''s ears:


    "I found you, Brother Fade¡­" (Jiang)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    First of all, sorry for the dy in the update, I had some health issues. But now that I am back we can continue our daily update routine.


    Question of the day:


    Which monster would you like to tame as a pet?


    1. A Dragon (If it''s an egg and hatches and the newborn sees you as their parent, you might have a chance to raise it till it bes a young dragon, after that, it would leave the parent''s house for good, well it takes about three years for this to happen so, you still have a chance.)


    2. A wyvern (It is actually possible to tame one. The famous dragon rider legion of the demon army, actually doesn''t have a single dragon in it they are all wyverns.)


    3. Ogre (Forget about taming it will eat you as food even if it''s a newborn.)


    4. Others (Tell in thement section.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 68 Jiang’s POV (Skippable)

    (What happens to a sidekick or a viin after they get destroyed by the protagonist''s plot armor? This chapter describes one such possibility, but since this possibility has been triggered by an anomaly, it can''t be seen happen so often.)


    (Friendly advice: Those who don''t like fillers should skip this chapter. Of course, you are free to choose after all he has a good role in the current event.)


    .


    Jiang''s Pov:


    A few days after Jiang was Kicked out¡­.


    In a dark alleyway, in a corner, a fat young boy can be seen sitting with his head down with a look of absolute despair on it. It''s as if his whole world has crashed and there''s nothing left for him to live anymore.


    As Jiang was mentally breaking apart from the despair, he had shbacks of what has happened to him these past few months.


    .


    .


    It all started one day when Jiang was on his way back to the boy''s dormitory after a happy trip to the arcade, he had a stroke of very good luck that day, he won a lottery on scoring a new record in a very difficult game.


    The arcade owner had himself given him the VIP card which granted him ess to more games than he could have ever before, Jiang had now be literally one of the main guests of that arcade.


    While he was on his way back with a smile on his face and a ''soft drink can'' in his hand, minding his own business and busy in his own world, he heard a cry for help from a dark alleyway, first, he thought it was just a prank and tried to avoid but hearing the screams get louder made him a bit anxious.


    He could hear sounds of shouting like:


    "This trash really cries like a dog! Heh, what were you saying you are going to be an SS ranker one day!"


    "This trash has the lowest ranking of them all and he still thinks he can y cool!"


    "What were you saying? Ms. Raji Croft looked at trash like you at the ceremony¡­. Who do you even think you are¡­. A filthy sh*t!"


    Hearing the unceasing barrage of curses and the sounds of someone being hit and crying, Jiang felt his skin crawl. He felt a chill run down his spine.


    He suddenly had an idea in his head, he slowly walked near the alleyway and then suddenly used his fire magic to make a small explosion, which made a lot of sounds and then he shouted at the top of his lungs:


    "Oh no! A dungeon break is happening someone call the awakener association!" (Jiang)


    As Jiang had expected all the people who were bullying the person stopped when they heard someone calling the awakener association:


    "Sh*t, an outbreak had to happen at a time like this! We were just getting at the good part!"


    "Let''s leave this ce from the backdoor, we will deal with this trashter!"


    "Yeah, let''s go!"


    After a few minutes, all the bullies left the injured young man in that dark alleyway through the backdoor.


    Jiang walked inside the dark alleyway and since it was very dark he wasn''t clearly able to see the injured young man''s face, but by looking at his uniform he could tell that this is a student of the same academy as him, so Jiang decided to pick the guy up carry him back to the healer''s office.


    As he was carrying him back he noticed that this guy was actually very light-weight, perhaps the guy was very malnourished or something and he also had many wounds all over his body.


    .


    Healer''s office


    The healer looked at the injured man with a frown and said:


    "This guy again! Seriously how many times do I have to heal this guy, he has beening here for the past whole month daily and today he is even more injured than every other day!"


    "Hey! Are you his friend? Tell your teacher to consult this guy, he is only increasing my already huge workload and I don''t even get an extra sry for wasting my energy on a careless person like him every day."


    "Oh.. Okay¡­ I will.." (Jiang)


    After the healer was done healing, he left the room and now only Jiang was sitting there and waiting for the other guy to wake up.


    About half an hourter the guy woke up and asked for water, Jiang helped and served him a ss of water. And then the guy introduced himself and told his whole story of how he ended up bing a target of bullying¡­


    (I am not going to tell it again if you have forgotten go back and read the book from chapter 1 again.)


    Jiang felt a little sympathy towards this guy for some unknown reasons and decided to be friends with him.


    Jiang tried to cheer him up¡­


    "So, what do you say, brother Fade, let''s go a grab something to eat together and then talk everything over!" (Jiang)


    "Sure!"


    That was the day when the demise of a good person called Jiang started, this also shows that good people don''t always get good endings, don''t go and start believing others that ''if you do well to others they would do the same'' that''s not always true.


    .


    Before the New Year event (CH-29 to 31):


    "Brother Jiang, I am quite confused about where to take Kira on New Year''s Day, do you have any experience, please help me brother!" (Fade)


    "Well, I also don''t have any experience in it, but from all the shows I have seen on the inte, I think going on shopping or to a caf¨¦ would be a good idea I think¡­" (Jiang)


    "You think so? Then I should go on both!.... but there''s one problem in it¡­" (Fade)


    Suddenly Fade''s face looked sad, so Jiang asked out of concern for his best friend:


    "What happened brother? Tell me if I can help you!" (Jiang)


    "Really! Thanks brother Jiang! I was thinking that I don''t have enough money to take Kira on a date, but now that you have given me your word then it should be enough!" (Fade)


    "Eh, that¡­. But I don''t get that much money from my parents¡­" (Jiang)


    "Come on brother Jiang! You can''t go back on your words now! A true man never breaks his promise! I will definitely return them all back to youter!" (Fade)


    "Well¡­i-I will help you since I have already given a promise¡­" (Jiang)


    At that time, Jiang was too na?ve to understand the meaning of the hidden smile on Fade''s face and got scammed this way many times, over and over until one day his all worth ran out.


    He got kicked out of the academy, his parents died from stress from debt, his siblings avoided him like a gue and he himself was suffering from a mental breakdown while sitting homeless in a dark alleyway.


    Such irony, he was there to save someone from this dark alleyway of despair and anxiety, yet when he himself needs help there was no one to help him out of this despair-filled alleyway. This is the cruelty of the real world.


    .


    .


    Back to present


    When Jiang was sitting in silence and contemting where did he go wrong in his life and why did he end up like this?


    A few unknown young boys, who perhaps were some neighborhood bullies happened to enter the dark alleyway at this time, coincidentally. They saw Jiang sitting there, looked at each other slyly, and smiled as if they had found their prey.


    "Heh, look at that fatty, what are you doing here!"


    "Do you even have any idea that this is our secret base?"


    "Foring into our secret base without our permission we must discipline you!"


    As you can already assume, what followed after that was a brutal beating of Jiang till he reached a near-death state, his heart, and spirit were already shattered to pieces and despair made him go insane and lost consciousness.


    After the bullies had enough they left after spitting on Jiang and even took all the leftover money or belonging Jiang had.


    A strange shadow appeared in the dark corner and looked at the injured Jiang.


    "Kehkeh¡­ this human''s spirit has broken and he is facing immense despair, this is the ideal host, I have been looking for. After all a person whose spirit has been broken is the easiest to possess¡­kehkeh¡­" (???)


    That being flicked its monstrously long tongue and its body turned into a cloud of ck smoke. The ck smoke entered Jiang''s body sessfully without any resistance.


    Suddenly the closed eyes of Jiang opened, but except they had a shrewdness residing in them now.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    So what are your thoughts on the backstory of this extra, tell me in thements section.


    Question of the day


    Do you think Jiang fulfills the requirements of being a revenge protagonist with a tragic backstory?


    1. Yes (The only thing is that he doesn''t have a system as advanced as Fade''s.)


    2. No (The story needs to be more tragic than this, this is not enough yet!)


    3. Others (Tell me in thement section.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 69 Liam Moves On...

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava Lake


    Forest Area


    "I found you, Brother Fade" (Jiang)


    A young man appeared right between Liam and Fade, just before they were about to start fighting, his sudden appearance caused Liam to snap out of the increasing madness from hate in his heart.


    As everyone was trying to figure out what was going on, Fade felt that this voice is very familiar:


    "Hmm, I think I have heard this voice somewhere¡­ I don''t really remember it though¡­" (Fade)


    As Jiang heard this, his aura increased and blew away all the dust and trees in the area, Liam''s wyvern was pushed back a few meters in the air, and Fade and Kira had to step back a few meters to avoid the air pressure from Jiang''s aura.


    "To think you will already forget who I am, how rude of you, brother Fade¡­ It''s me your brother Jiang, who always used to help you or I say was always scammed by you¡­" (Jiang)


    "Wh-what are you saying¡­. Jiang? There''s no way you are Jiang, he was fatty, and a D-ranker on top of that, his aura can''t be so powerful!¡­." (Fade)


    As the dust settled Liam looked at Jiang from above and he couldn''t help but get surprised:


    ''I heard that there was a friend of Fade, who always was hanging around him, but wasn''t he a fat person, this guy looks like well-built and muscr as if he has been working out for a long time, not to mention that he have those two strange wings on his back even his aura is equal to an A-ranker, what''s going on!'' (Liam)


    "What are you talking about brother Fade, I am your old friend Jiange let''s hug each other as precious friends do!" (Jiang)


    As Jiang said that, the two wings behind his back opened and he leaped towards Fade so fast that even his afterimages were hard to follow.


    (In front of Rio and Link an A-ranker might look like not much of a problem as both of them are terrifying monsters, but for normal awakeners, the difference between a B-ranker and an A-ranker is very huge.)


    Jiang rushed towards Fade and before Fade could cast any spell, he was caught by Jiang and forcefully hugged, Jiang, locked his hands with the hug.


    "Don''t worry brother Fade, let''s enjoy this moment of reunion with great celebration, for the celebration let''s hold a show, yeah, the show about how a human behaves when tortured¡­" (Jiang)


    As Jiang said that, a smile that no human can make appeared on his face, his smile stretched from one ear to the other, and his teeth which looked like those of a beast were exposed, Jiang''s face looked extremely terrifying right now. The symptoms Jiang was giving looked very simr to those people who were possessed by beings of demonic origins.


    "Un¡­.hand¡­.me¡­." (Fade)


    As the strength of Jiang''s hand increased a few ribs of Fade started to crack slowly, all the air in Fade''s lungs was forcefully pulled out and it seemed too difficult to breathe.


    Just as Fade was feeling that his heart would be crushed he was granted a saving grace:


    [Basic me Magic: Condensed me beam!]


    "Get away from, Fade!" (Kira)


    The spell seemed weak against an A-ranker but it sessfully pushed Jiang away from Fade.


    As Jiang was separated from Fade, Fade''s body fell powerlessly on the ground like a doll whose strings has been cut. Kira rushed towards Fade and took his pulse first.


    ''At least he is alive! Although there seem to be severe internal injuries, his internal organs seem to have been crushed¡­'' (Kira)


    Kira brought out a high-rank healing potion from her space ring and poured it on Fade''s body, a green light appeared all around Fade and covered him in a healing green glow.


    Just when Kira was about heave a sigh of relief, she heard from behind her:


    "Why are you getting between the reunion of two brothers, woman!" (Jiang)


    Jiang appeared behind her without her even knowing, she tried to cast a spell but she knew she won''t be able to make it on time, just when Jiang''s hand was about to st Kira''s head off, she found herself levitating in the air.


    "What are you doing!? That guy is dangerous! We should head away from him, his aura is equal to an A-ranker! You will not be able to even make a scratch on him!" (Liam)


    ''I barely made it due to that guy Jiang not being serious while attacking Kira, otherwise, with the speed of my Wyvern I wouldn''t have been able to save Kira¡­ That was a close call¡­'' (Liam)


    Liam hurriedly ordered his wyvern to fly away from the ce at full speed.


    While the wyvern was flying at its full speed, Liam looked at Kira who was hanging in the ws of the wyvern, and heaved a sigh of relief after figuring out that she was okay.


    "Brother Liam! Stop we have to save Fade! He will be in danger if we leave like that, stop we can''t go like that!" (Kira)


    "Are you out of your mind!? Even if you go there you wouldn''t be able to do anything to stop an A-ranker, leave that trash on his own and leave this area with me, I am sure the teachers will save him when his health meter goes down." (Liam)


    "No! I must go away, I can''t let that monster harm Fade! Stop Brother Liam! I must save Fade!" (Kira)


    [Basic Wind magic: Slipping wind!]


    As Kira cast her magic, she slipped from the ws of the Wyvern and started to fall toward the ground:


    [Basic Wind magic: Wings of flight!]


    Two bird-like wings appeared made of wind magic appeared behind Kira and stabilized her in the air, after Kira pped the wings she rushed towards Fade''s location at an astonishingly fast speed, her speed was so fast that she immediately disappeared towards the horizon.


    Liam looked at the disappearing figure of Kira with sadness in his heart.


    "Sigh, how long are you going to keep pursuing that ungrateful woman, you should already forget her you know¡­She doesn''t care about you at all¡­" (???)


    For a while, Liam didn''t say anything and continued to look at the horizon, while the wyvern continued to fly away at full speed¡­ After a while he said:


    "Well, that was myst try to make here back to me¡­. But it seems to have failed¡­. Sigh, years of care and loves all gone to dust, just for a trash who appeared out of nowhere¡­" (Liam)


    "So, what are you gonna do now? Will you go and save them?" (???)


    Liam could hear the obvious sarcasm in that voice, he sighed again and again and then said:


    "No, let''s leave her for good now¡­ She is not the same Kira, she once used to be¡­. That calctive and intelligent Kira, has now lost her mind in love¡­" (Liam)


    ''At first, I was thinking that she was manipting Fade and was doing that to achieve something but today she has proved that she is serious about that trash¡­. Well, let''s leave her alone since she has chosen her path, as I love her I should respect her choice too¡­.'' (Liam)


    "I should get rid of these feelings I have for her¡­ Let''s go and challenge some other monsters¡­." (Liam)


    As Liam felt himself being hugged from behind, he again heard the feminine voice he has been talking to:


    "Don''t worry I will take good care of you, as you are my summoner, Master Liam" (???)


    Liam didn''t say anything and for the first time didn''t reject the hug, he has always been rejecting since he first became a summoner.


    Two clear drops of tear slid from the purple eyes of the young man and he continued to look at the horizon while venting his feelings.


    (Here ends the love story of a young man, who once used to love someone wholeheartedly. Now he can move forward in life without any regrets.)


    (He now understood that falling in love is easy and simple, maintaining it is difficult and hard, but forgetting your love is painful and depressing, only those with strong personalities can continue to move forward, and only strong can survive the aftermath created by the poison called love in their body.)


    (A wise sorcerer once said: Love is the most twisted curse of them all.)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    So the story of a love-stricken man ends here, what are your thoughts on this, tell them in thement section. You can also share your own sad story too if you want, as they say- "Sharing your sadness can decrease it."


    Question of the day:


    How difficult was it for you to move forward after your love arc''s ending?


    1. Easy (I am a professional in this matter.)


    2. Difficult (Suffered depression for months¡­)


    3. Never (Might not be able to move on, in this life at least¡­)


    4. I never had a love arc in my life. (Another level of sadness¡­.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 70 Torture Fade!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava Lake


    Forest Area


    After Liam took away Kira on his wyvern, Fade looked at them flying away with resentment in his eyes.


    ''How dare that rich bastard to take my woman away! Without my permission! I will kill that bastard one day! I will kill him! Kill! Kill kill kill¡­'' (Fade)


    [Warning! Host''s mental state is worsening!]


    [Caution! Host calm down!]


    [Mental breakdown measures are being activated¡­ error!... retrying¡­error!...]


    ''F*king shut up! I would kill them all! Kill them all! Kill! Kill kill¡­.'' (Fade)


    Just as Fade was having mental breakdowns, Jiang just looked at the sky and said:


    "It''s such a shame that I was able to torture that woman you like so much right in front of you, but don''t worry brother Fade, I will use your corpse to torture herter¡­ kehkehkeh" (Jiang)


    Jiang walked towards Fade who was powerlessly lying down, he grabbed Fade''s head with his one hand and picked him up like an object. Then Jiang whispered in Fade''s ears:


    "How about we start with this hand you used to beg me for money all the time¡­" (Jiang)


    (Severe Warning-Faint hearted people shouldn''t read the next few lines. I will tell you where to start reading again don''t worry.)


    .


    As Jiang said that, his nails became long and sharp like a knife, Jiang looked in Fade''s terrified eyes and then with a single strike cut off Fade''s right arm.


    "Ahhhhh!!!" (Fade)


    "Ah, what a sweet melody! I like this melody, please continue!" (Jiang)


    While Fade was screaming at the top of his lungs due to suffering from unbearable pain, Jiang''s face had the look of pure ecstasy, as if he has seen the best show of entertainment today.


    The more Fade screamed the more ecstatic Jiang became:


    "Such a good melody, I haven''t heard it sincest few decades, it''s so nostalgic,st time I heard it when I tortured a high elf woman that was a sight to behold, kehkehkeh¡­." (Jiang) (The demon possessing Jiang is many decades old.)


    Jiang released his grip from Fade''s head, making Fade fall on the ground powerlessly and writhe in maddening pain.


    Jiang picked up the sliced arm of Fade and showed it to Fade and said:


    "See this arm, doesn''t it look delicious, I will feed this arm of yours to the woman you liketer, of course, when I am finished with you! kehkeh¡­ but first I will enjoy you, let''s save the desserts forter¡­" (Jiang)


    As Jiang said that, his tongue slid out of his mouth and licked the bleeding arm making it look so disgusting that even strong-hearted people might end up vomiting buckets.


    "Next, how about I tear apart your stomach and force you to eat your own-" (Jiang)


    .


    (Yes, you can start reading from here now, we are done with the torture part, and seriously even I am horrified by what I am writing¡­)


    Just as Jiang was about to do something horrifying again, a huge me attack came rushing at him, the me attack looked like a long dragon, it had dark blue color and it was burning with intense heat.


    [Intermediate Fire magic: me dragon''s roar!]


    Jiang felt that if he didn''t dodge this attack he might get a wound so he instinctively dodged this attack, and stepped away from Fade.


    [Intermediate Wind magic: Float!]


    Fade''s body started to float in the air weightlessly, with his severed hand which Jiang dropped while dodging the attack. Then a strong wind came and an afterimage of a person appeared for a second and then disappeared with Fade and that severed arm together.


    Jiang looked toward the direction where he saw an afterimage fly past him, he spread his wings andunched toward the direction with an astonishingly fast speed.


    "Kehkeh¡­ I was thinking that this woman has already escaped but it seems she was more eager to be my prey than I originally thought, kehkeh¡­" (Jiang)


    .


    ''I somehow sessfully managed to take Fade away from that monster, but with the speed that monster is chasing us, it will not be long before it might catch up to me, it seems using the ''teleportation scroll'' is inevitable¡­'' (Kira)


    ''Using the scroll of magic enhancement given by brother Liam on my previous birthday, helped me to use intermediate magic temporarily for ten seconds, but it consumes too much mana, once I am out of mana, it would be over¡­'' (Kira)


    ''Well I wasn''t hoping to use the teleportation scroll here but it seems I will have to use it, otherwise, I won''t be able to save Fade today¡­'' (Kira)


    [Teleportation Scroll]


    [Item Rank: S+]


    [Description: An extremely rare item, hand-made by the strongest space mage in the human nation, by many years of hard work and mana. This item is extremely good for saving your life at critical moments.]


    (It was gifted to the youngest son of the Aldif family on his fifth birthday,ter it was gifted by the son of the Aldif family to a woman he loved the most.)


    [Effect: Can teleport you to any location you have been to before.]


    [Uses: One]


    ''I don''t really want to use such a precious item here, but¡­'' (Kira)


    As Kira was carrying Fade and was flying at a tremendous speed she saw a huge tribe of red ogres gathering in one ce, suddenly she had an idea in her mind¡­


    ''Well if I am going to go teleport anyway why not vent my anger on these ogres too, there seem to be some students fighting them, they can distract the monster from chasing us if he has any spatial abilities¡­'' (Kira)


    Kira stopped flying right above the ogres and waited for Jiang to catch up, after a few seconds Jiang appeared in front of her, there was a huge crazy grin on his face, he looked like a terrifying monster at this moment.


    "Kehkeh¡­ Why did you stop, woman? Did you finally understand you can''t get away from me? Kehkeh¡­" (Jiang)


    Kira didn''t say anything and brought the scroll of teleportation out of her space ring and channeled her mana through it.


    "You can''t do anything to us, you vile monster, now have fun with these filthy monsters down below, you only deserve to spend your time with them¡­." (Kira)


    Jiangunched toward Kira but before he could do anything Kira and Fade both disappeared into the air, they have been sessfully teleported away.


    As Jiang looked at the ce where Kira and Fade both vanished his eyes became red and madness appeared in his facial expressions, immense bloodlust started to spread out from him.


    "aaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhh!! FAAAADDDEEEE!" (Jiang)


    Even the ogres on the ground were terrified of this immense bloodlust, one by one they started to escape and run in panic. But Jiang was already in a deep state of madness, the only thing he wanted to do now was to kill, the demon possessing him had gone mad because his prey escaped from his reach.


    He doesn''t have any spatial abilities to chase his prey, thus he can''t go after them, and even if he was able to go after them, who knows where those two had teleported off to...


    Not to mention chasing, going out, and encountering the human awakeners would be even riskier right now, any A-ranker or above would be able to perceive the strangeness in his body through his demonic aura.


    Seeing your prey being stolen from right in front of your mouth is a very annoying thing it can make any predator angry and go into rage mode and that rage always ends badly.


    After all the rage of an A-rank demon is not to be scoffed at, it is very dangerous.


    Jiang looked down and suddenly said in a hoarse voice:


    "Smell of a fresh prey¡­. Prey¡­ kill¡­ torture¡­" (Jiang)


    As Jiang''s bloodlust was now directed towards those on the ground all the ogres who still hadn''t escaped went limp and fell down on their knees from the instinctual fear they were feeling from being targeted by the bloodlust of a being extremely stronger than them.


    (As you know, the young ogres are C rank and the demon is an A-ranker, the difference is huge. An A-ranker is already at the top of their respective race, it has achieved the full limits of their race on the other side, and an S-ranker has already surpassed his racial limits.)(Read the power intro chapter again if you don''t remember the rest¡­)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    And so with the help of the plot armor the protagonist has exited the battlefield with the heroine and thus has entered the safe zone, here ends their part in this event, their heavenly luck has shifted their danger to someone else. Can you guess who is in danger now? Tell me in thements.


    Question of the day


    What do you think, was the torture Fade suffered enough punishment for him or not?


    1. Yes (I think it was enough¡­. Perhaps¡­.)


    2. No (What are you talking about!? He has suffered nothingpared to how much he has tortured our brains from reading about him!)


    3. Other (Tell me in thement section.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 71 Battle Is About To Start!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava-Lake


    Above the half-destroyed volcano¡­


    "Traitor you say, heh¡­ What if¡­ I told you that the reason I am here is¡­" (Durik)


    Durik raised his hand and pointed his finger toward Anna:


    "You are the reason!" (Durik)


    "What are you talking about? Me?" (Anna)


    "Yes, you! If only you haven''t appeared in my life, I would have never fallen for you! If only you have never existed I would have never gone against the master, you are the reason for my demise, and you are the reason why I hate humans!" (Durik)


    "I was thinking that the day when I will be able to take my revenge wille veryte, but to think you will appear right in front of me without me even doing any effort! This is the best opportunity I could ever get!" (Durik)


    As Durik continued to speak his expressions continued to be crazier and a huge grin appeared on his demonic face, his killing intent was so immense that if Anna hadn''t covered it with her aura it could have harmed all the students present in this dungeon.


    "That''s why today, I must kill you and settle all the misery you have brought upon me! After I deal with you, I will then kill all those students which are going to be the humanities next generation!" (Durik)


    ''I can sense that there are two more demons roaming around and both are A-rankers, I must finish this fight fast and go help the students, otherwise, the casualties will continue to skyrocket.'' (Anna)


    "I don''t care what your motives are or what you want to do! But I won''t let you even touch a single student of mine, and I will avenge all the students you and yourpanions have killed until now!" (Anna)


    "I see" (Durik)


    Durik stopped pping his wings, he pointed his huge great sword towards the sky and a huge magic circle appeared under his feet, the circle had a crimson red color, it looked sinister and was giving off very huge amounts of killing intent.


    The weather suddenly started to change. Dense clouds started to gather and cover the bright sun in the sky as the sunlight slowly dimmed under the clouds, a silver moon appeared out of nowhere between the clouds. (That''s not a real moon it''s an illusion, built by aftereffects of Durik''s demonic spell.)


    [Blessing of the Silver moon!]


    The werewolf-type body of Durik suddenly started to bulk up, his muscles started to expand and strengthen, his aura pressure increased, and even the killing intent he was giving off increased by manifolds.


    Durik''s great sword''s color also turned Dark Red, even his pupils turned red.


    (All this happened in a span of three seconds.)


    "If you refuse to die, I will kill you!" (Durik)


    As Durik said that, heunched toward Anna at a terrifying speed, if the speed Jiang had was of a snail, then Durik''s speed can be considered a flying jet. There''s basically noparison between them.


    "I wonder if you can kill me!" (Anna)


    Even after all this Anna didn''t flinch even a little bit, she simply prepared her spell and attacked at the moment it was important:


    [Fire Domain!]


    (Domain- Every human who has reached S-rank, awakens their own domain when they be S-rank. A domain can help you predict and track the movements of the enemies around you, it can enhance all your stats temporarily, and it can even enhance your attacks.)


    Anna pointed her wand towards the sky:


    [Master rank Fire Magic: Fire dragon''s Descent!]


    A huge magic circle appeared behind Anna and a huge dragon, made of pure blue mes flew out of the huge magic circle, the dragon was big enough that it could be considered a young dragon who is about to reach adulthood. (Of course, it''s not a real dragon, it''s a mimicry of a dragon made out of condensed fire element.)


    Anna then pointed her wand towards Durik and gave hermand to the Elemental dragon:


    "Go!" (Anna)


    .


    .


    Water-Fall area


    "What do we do!? There''s so many of these Red ogres and they are increasing in number even now!" (Riya)


    While Riya said this looking at Lia who was looking at the ogres around them, Lia just replied:


    "Don''t worry it will take more than this to bring down the glorious sword of the silver family." (Lia)


    [Body strengthening!]


    [Blessing of Aura- Silver Lion''s protection!]


    (Silver Lion- This is a divine spirit, although no one can confirm its existence, it is a famous legend that the founder of the silver family had made a contract with the Silver Lion and was blessed by that spirit''s protection.)


    (Every member of the Silver family can use the blessing of the Silver Lion, to boost their stats temporarily but no one has awakened the Divine spirit after the founder of the silver family.)


    As Lia used her buffing skills, a grin appeared on her face, if someone looked at her now, they will understand why she have the nickname ''Mad demon Sword'' because her face now looked no inferior to a mad demon at this point.


    When she enteredbat mode her tsundere behavior disappeared in smoke, inbat she doesn''t care about emotions, only the mad swinging of the sword matters, that''s the way of her fighting, barbaric and unpredictable, just a mad onught.


    "Let''s dance!" (Lia)


    Lia sted off from the spot she was standing towards the ogre which was closest to them.


    As the silver sword in Lia''s hand shined with brilliance and elegance, the sword moved in totally a barbaric way, making the brilliance and elegance words eat dirt.


    She directly sted a huge hole in the ogre''s chest with brute force sting its heart and lungs to pieces, a huge amount of blood sshed on Lia''s face making her look even more terrifying and intimidating.


    What followed after this was a one-sided massacre. Every single attack Lia did was aimed at the vitals of the opponent, in just a few minutes she sted off the heads and hearts of many ogres making a huge pile of the dead bodies of the ogres around her.


    (Lia''s swordsmanship technique focuses more on thrusting stabbing attacks instead of slicing attacks.)


    Some of the corpses had their head sted off and some of them had a huge holes in their chest. This horrifying sight plus the huge grin on Lia''s blood-smeared face can easily give trauma to anyone.


    Looking at the agile and strong Lia sting through the ogres, Riya was totally dumbfounded. All the things that she has learned in the books looked like trash now.


    ording to the knowledge she got from the books it would have been very difficult for a C-ranker like Lia to even kill a single ogre, yet here she is carrying out a sided-massacre, she even seems happy about it.


    (Well Lia is a special case, generally, the C-rankers are not so strong. Lia is a battle maniac and has crazy amounts of battle experience.)


    ''I should also assist Lia!'' (Riya)


    The usual yfulness in Riya''s eyes turned serious at this moment.


    Riya pointed her hand towards Lia:


    [Enhance Recovery!]


    [Enhance physique!]


    [Enhance mana recovery!]


    [Protection of divine healing!]


    ''This should do! Now I just have to maintain the flow of mana to continue these enhancements going!'' (Riya)


    As Riya used her skills on Lia, she buffed the already strong Lia, to new heights, making her stats stronger than five ogresbined. Not to mention her physique now could bepared to an Adult ogre in pure brute strength, she even has amazing agility and is capable of dodging every attack these slow ogres do.


    The massacre continued but there seemed to be no end to the number of ogres.


    ''Lia really lives up to the name of the ''Mad demon Sword'' her fighting style is really like a mad demon, she is sting off all the ogres as if they are made of paper.'' (Riya)


    ''Lia is indeed strong but if this continues, we both will run out of mana eventually, the number of ogres is not decreasing at all, instead, it seems to be increasing.'' (Riya)


    ''Also I can now vaguely see that one huge ogre, it is much bigger than all of the others that must be their leader and the adult ogre who nned this.'' (Riya)


    Just as the adult ogre was about to reach Lia, a huge killing intent appeared from the sky out of nowhere, all the ogres stopped and went limp, some started to run and some started to scream.


    The adult ogre tried to reorganize the other ogres but just as it was about to shout, it was crushed by the person who descended from the sky.


    The person had two curved ck horns and two huge wings like a bat. His eyes were pitch ck like a demon and he was giving off huge killing intent while saying a single thing:


    "Kill!" (Jiang)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Question of the day:


    Which character are you worried about the most during this event?


    1. Lia


    2. Riya


    3. Rio


    4. Link


    5. Anna


    6. Other (Tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 72 Jiang’s Death, Demonification!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava-Lake


    Waterfall area


    "Kill!!!" (Jiang)


    As Jiangnded on the adult ogre, he crushed the ogre to death, the ground cracked due to hisnding and huge chunks of debris flew everywhere, killing every ogre standing nearby. Hisnding alone killed around fifteen ogres just from the huge impact.


    A huge chunk of debris flew towards Lia and Riya, and easily and instinctively dodged all the debris that flew towards her and didn''t have injured but the same was not true for Riya. She is a healer with nobat capabilities and a weak physique, she wasn''t able to dodge the huge debris and got caught up in it.


    After a few seconds, the dust settled and the visibility increased. Lia looked at where Riya was:


    ''Oh no! She got stuck under all that debris, at least her upper body is not stuck, but her legs are stuck under the rubble.'' (Lia)


    Blood can be seen flowing from Riya''s head, perhaps that blow caused her to lose consciousness.


    ''Tsk, I should not have dodged that, which was a huge mistake-'' (Lia)


    Just as Lia was distracted and was about to help Riya out of the rubble, Jiang came flying at her with immense speed, fortunately, due to all the buffs still being active Lia sessfully blocked the attack by taking the punch on her sword, but an A-ranker''s strength is not to be ignored.


    The immense force of the punch directly caused Lia to fly away and collide with the huge stone twenty meters away from the spot, she was standing before.


    "Ugh¡­." (Lia)


    Lia''s vision started to flicker and she coughed a mouthful of blood. Even with all the buffs, the head-on attack of an A-ranker was too much for her to handle, after all, she is still just a C-ranker, and any ordinary C-ranker would have already died ten times from that previous blow.


    (Link and Rio are different cases, they both are B-ranker and are too strong, and they can fight an ordinary A-ranker from toe to toe without much of a problem.)


    Lia stabilized her trembling hand and tried to stand straight, she channeled her mana at maximum capacity and strengthened her physique as much as possible, she used mana to forcefully stabilize her flickering vision and stood up.


    She picked her sword from the ground and tried to assume her stance, but the sword was already full of cracks and broke into pieces when Lia picked it up, now only half of the broken sword was left in Lia''s hands.


    Lia''s silver pupils looked at the monster which was screaming at the sky for some reason, the monster originally had a humanoid look to it but with every passing second it was losing its humanoid features and was turning into a creepy and totally other creature.


    The skin became grey and scales like a snake appeared on it, the eyes now have tears flowing in them except those are tears of blood, even the blood flowing has be pitch ck. The aura of the creature continued to be creepier as time passed.


    Jiang''s hair became grey like an old man and its length increased, the bat wings expanded and became reddish in color. A thin tail appeared behind Jiang and his teeth grew in size bing as sharp as a needle.


    With her flickering vision Lia looked at Jiang and she remembered a term that she had read in the books:


    ''I-is this¡­ ''Demonification''¡­'' (Lia)


    .


    (Demonification- This is an ability possessed by a specific type of demon. It can turn a member of any race into a demon.)


    (Description- This ability is mainly found in those formless types of demon spirits that can possess organisms, the main condition to possess an organism is that the individual''s will must be extremely weak and the individual should not have any blocking skills. Like- Mental attack resistance, mental immunity, true immunity, Blessing of intelligence, etc.)


    (Effect- Once a demon spirit sessfully possesses an individual, the individual starts to change from the inside and outside. The individual first turns into a demon emotionally and mentally, then their body also starts to resemble a demon as time passes.)


    (Cure- Only applicable until five days from possession. The curing method is simple- if a priest of the same rank or above as the demon spirit casts purification, the individual will be able to get rid of the possession.)


    .


    After a few minutes, Jiang finally became aplete demon through and through. Now we can''t call him Jiang anymore, the real Jiang''s will and soul have already been consumed by the demon spirit thoroughly. Even if a priest casts purification on him now, only the demon will get damaged, Jiang is already dead.


    (Two minutes of silence for the poor soul named Jiang.)


    An extremely hoarse and creepy voice rang out of the creature''s mouth:


    "Kehkehkeh¡­. After so many years, I have finally been able to fully possess a body, this feels so nice¡­ kehkehkeh¡­ now I can go and live without problems in the demon continent¡­. After so many years, the name of great demon Telmuk will ring out again¡­. kehkehkeh¡­." (Telmuk) (It''s a demon name don''t expect it to be easy to remember.)


    Suddenly, Telmuk''s eyes shifted toward Lia who was struggling to move. Looking at Lia, a wide and creepy grin appeared on Telmuk''s face making him look like a sadist who takes pleasure in making others suffering.


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ I didn''t expect that I will find a prey to y with just after I fully awakened¡­ kehkehkeh¡­ I must enjoy this prey fully¡­" (Telmuk)


    As Telmuk said that he licked his lips with his creepily long tongue.


    "The smell of fresh prey, I just can''t wait to break you, I wonder what face you will make when driven into absolute despair¡­.aaahhh! so exciting! Kehkehkeh!" (Telmuk)


    As Telmuk said that heunched towards Lia and punched with enough force to just make sure that his prey don''t die instantly. The creepy grin on his mouth increased and his expression became more excited.


    ''I-I can''t stop it¡­ move! Move! Move!'' (Lia)


    Looking at the iing attack Lia tried to move but her body which was already injured just refused to move even a single inch.


    And without any doubt the punch directlynded on Lia''s face, she wasn''t able to block it this time this attack directly made her unconscious sure. The force of the punch buried Lia in the ground in the middle of a huge crater.


    "Tsk, it seems she has gone unconscious, it''s no fun if she remains unconscious like this¡­. Hmm, there seems to be another human over there¡­. Let''s save this golden hair woman forter, how about I torture that weak woman first¡­ kehkehekeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    .


    .


    Barren Area


    *bang*


    A huge stone was cut into two pieces with a single strike and a ck hair boy rushed towards the demon in the ck armor.


    But unlike the previous good condition of the armor, now the armor had huge holes in it, and most of it was already destroyed, this armor is basically useless now. Even the red cape hanging behind the armor has been torn apart.


    [Elemental swords art: zing dawn of Fire!]


    [Heavenly demon art: Defensive curve!]


    The collision of the spear and the sword created huge shockwaves destroying the area in a hundred meters radius. There are already huge signs of destruction everywhere around here.


    "Hahahah! I never thought I could find a human as strong as you! What was your name, Rio? I will acknowledge you human, hahahaha" (Alverto)


    "There is no need to remember the name, you will die today anyway!" (Rio)


    [Elemental sword arts: thousand wind strikes!]


    [Heavenly demon art: Unceasing thrusts!]


    The attack of both of them was colliding and canceling each other out at immense speed. But when it came to speed Rio still had a little advantage, a strikended on the helmet and the helmet broke apart, revealing the face of the demon prince Alverto.


    As the helmet broke apart Alverto and Rio both stepped back for a bit.


    Surprisingly, Alverto looked just like a Normal human, the only this noteworthy which differentiated him from a human was those light blue eyes with a mysterious clock-like symbol in his pupils. His hair has a dark blue color. He looked so handsome that if Rio didn''t know beforehand he would have considered him a human.


    .


    While Alverto and Rio were fighting to the death, Link was sitting on a huge boulder nearby, looking at the amazing fight between Alverto and Rio:


    ''I would have liked to fight that guy too, but Rio said that this is his fight¡­ sigh, even if I fight that guy, he is just too fast, I can''t keep up with his attack speed, of course, I have the upper hand in raw strength.'' (Link)


    ''But anyway Rio can fight him, there''s no need to worry about him, after all he is capable of defeating even me¡­.'' (Link)


    Just when Link was getting bored, the ring in his hand started to shine in red color. Looking at that Link immediately got up and channeled mana in the ring.


    "Something has happened to Riya, I should go there! Rio doesn''t really need help anyway!" (Link)


    Link looked in a certain direction andunched at full speed¡­.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    There''s no question today, you can just tell me your own thoughts in thement section.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 73 The Divine Spirit, Kawaki!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake.


    Waterfall area.


    "Tsk, it seems she has gone unconscious, it''s no fun if she remains unconscious like this¡­. Hmm, there seems to be another human over there¡­. Let''s save this golden hair woman forter, how about I torture that weak woman first¡­ kehkehekeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    Telmuk walked towards the woman stuck under the rubble, she was half-conscious. He easily picked up the rubble and tossed it aside.


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ this one seems to have a very high concentration of mana in her, she would make for a good food actually, how about I eat her after I end ying with her, kehkehkeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    Telmuk stretched his hand to hold Riya''s head:


    "Here I go-" (Telmuk)


    Just as he was about to get his hands on Riya, he felt a huge amount of mana concentrating behind him. Telmuk turned back and looked at Lia with an expression of surprise on his face¡­


    .


    .


    Lia''s Pov: Some forgotten memories.


    Silver Mansion, Bedroom.


    "Mother, are you feeling pain anywhere? Should I call the healers?..." (Lia, Loli version)


    While looking at the woman resting on the bed, Lia asked with concern in her tone.


    The woman lying on the bed looked as if she was suffering from some kind of severe illness. The woman''s body looked extremely frail and weak, now there''s only traces of the past beautiful face are left.


    "No, I don''t actually think there''s enough time left for me, Lia¡­." (Alice)


    In reply to Lia, Alice said in a sad yet determined tone¡­


    "D-don''t say that mother¡­. The healer said that mother will get well eventually!..." (Lia)


    Looking at her young daughter, who is still ignorant about the ways of this world, Alice felt sadness in her heart, but there was nothing they can do about this.


    ''If only I was not affected by this curse, I would have lived to see my daughter live a happy life, s.'' (Alice)


    "There''s no need to worry, Lia. Even if I am not with you I will always look support you from wherever I will be." (Alice)


    Alice raised her frail hand and put it on Lia''s small head.


    "Always remember this, my daughter. There alwayses a time in your life where you have to use every ounce of your will to move forward in life. Even if it is difficult to forget or move on." (Alice)


    "I hope you will live a happy and great life, I will always give my blessings to you, after all, you are my one and only precious child." (Alice)


    A beautiful smile appeared on Alice''s face and her hand slowly lost its strength falling down from Lia''s head, the once beautiful eyes are now slowly closed while the rxed smile appeared on Alice''s face.


    .


    The Next Day


    Alice''s Funeral


    "Youngdy, your father is noting to the funeral, he is busy with work, an S-rank gate has suddenly appeared, so you should stop waiting for him." (Butler)


    Lia took onest look at the entrance and then left, the previous immature and ignorant young girl in her has already matured to be determined and strong. Her eyes could be seen filled with determination.


    ''I must be strong enough to destroy any curse so that I never lose anyone close to me.'' (Lia)


    .


    After a Year


    Lia''s private training room.


    "Why! Why! Why can''t I just be strong! What''s wrong with me!" (Lia)


    Frustration and anger could be seen on Lia''s face, she was screaming while shing her sword at the practice golems. Despite her saying that she was not strong, she was already far stronger than her peers of the same age.


    Her swordsmanship has improved tremendously, you could say she has much more talent in swordsmanship than her father once had. She is indeed destined to be an extremely strong person in the future but¡­


    "Mdy, as if said, bing strong is a slow and steady process, no one bes strong overnight, you should calm down¡­" (Mel) (Lia''s personal maid)


    "Actually, Mdy, you are already improving at a very terrifyingly fast rate, but you are putting too much pressure on your body, if this goes on you might get hurt, please stop mdy" (Mel)


    As the maid said in concern for Lia, Lia became even more irritated after hearing this:


    "The pace I am improving is too slow, if I don''t be strong faster, I won''t be able to protect anyone, and someone close to me might get hurt once again! I must be strong faster!" (Lia)


    After saying that, Lia started to destroy more golems and practice her swordsmanship even more.


    She often even skipped meals to practice her sword arts, not only this improved her mastery of the sword but it also increased her understanding of the silver sword arts.


    Eventually, Lia created the type of swordsmanship that suited her the best while using the silver sword arts as the base form, she created unique methods of stabbing and thrusting. Every time she stabbed her sword, the aura covering her sword spread in the golem''s body creating an explosion and destroying the golem from the inside out.


    Lia''s hard work gave rise to this amazing modification in the silver sword arts. But in the process Lia got herself injured many times, and she got caught in explosions created by her own mana various times.


    With each passing day, her training madness increased and her insanity for strength deepened. She eventually forgot her original motive of protecting others, now the only thing that she could think about is to be strong, and that''s all she had in her mind.


    The cycle of training and getting hurt just continued on and on for several years toe. Until one day Lia once again remembered her original purpose, the purpose to protect her close ones, the real need for her strength.


    She finally remembered it all now.


    .


    Unknown ce.


    Lia slowly opened her eyes and found herself standing in an empty void. This ce looks totally empty and dark. There''s absolutely nothingness everywhere around her. Lia looked at her hands and touched her face, she had a surprised expression on her face.


    "Where am I? I should have been fighting that demon? How did I get here?" (Lia)


    "This is the subconscious realm inside your mind. You fainted during the fight and your subconscious mind has be active after you lost all of your mana and fainted in the fight." (???)


    "What!? Who are you? And how are you inside my subconscious mind?" (Lia)


    "Hmm, Me? I am ''the divine Lion spirit Kawaki''. You can call me ''Kai''." (Kai)


    As the mysterious voice said that, a huge silver-colored Lion appeared in Lia''s vision. The lion looked extremely majestic and strong. Its mane was waving proudly. Its eyes looked domineering and terrifying.


    Kai''s voice is firm, strong, and domineering. He looked like a natural-born king, meant to rule all the lower beings. His domineering gaze made him look cold and strong.


    "I have been inside your subconscious mind ever since you were born, it''s just you never really were able to awaken me, today is the day I was able to awaken when you faced a great danger." (Kai)


    "Well, the saying ''high-risk high reward'' is sometimes true in some cases. If not for this situation you might actually have taken a very long time to wake me on your own." (Kai)


    "A-are you perhaps the same divine spirit that once was awakened by the founder of the Silver family, Tomar the silver dawn" (Lia)


    "HAH! Silver dawn my as*! That guy Tomar was a shi*ty brat! When he was young he always used to cry like a piece of sh*t! When he died, he forcefully bound me with the silver bloodline! So that his descendants can gain my protection, I swear if I ever met him in the afterlife, I will force him to eat sh*t!" (Kai)


    Looking at the majestic Lion spitting out curses one after the other, Lia was very surprised, she was wondering if this guy really is a divine spirit or not. If not for the fact that his wings and fur are silver and have no taint of demonic aura. Lia might have thought that this guy is secretly a demon spirit like Telmuk.


    After a while Kai realized that Lia was listening to his curses, he stopped his roasting session¡­


    "Cough! Cough! Forget it, let''s leave these things aside for now. We have a more pressing matter in hand right now." (Kai)


    Kai raised his huge paw and gently ced it on Lia''s head, his divine mana slowly started to flow toward Lia.


    "It''s time to wake up, we should deal with that oversized bat pping around outside first. We can talkter in peace." (Kai)


    "B-but-.." (Lia)


    Lia wanted to ask more questions, but Kai silenced her saying:


    "Don''t worry, I will answer all your questionster, let''s kick that oversized bat''s as* first!" (Kai)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Many of the readers were asking if Lia is a vase heroine with no strength. Don''t worry she is not there for show, she has the protection of a greater Divine spirit.


    Question of the Day


    What do you think, was Tomar really a brat?


    1. Perhaps or perhaps not. (Who knows, I don''t have interest in a person who is already six feet under the ground.)


    2. I don''t know. (I am busy stroking, Kai''s soft and smooth furry stomach, don''t disturb me.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 74 Lia’s Is Not A Villainess For Show!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake.


    Waterfall area.


    "Tsk, it seems she has gone unconscious, it''s no fun if she remains unconscious like this¡­. Hmm, there seems to be another human over there¡­. Let''s save this golden hair woman forter, how about I torture that weak woman first¡­ kehkehekeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    Telmuk walked towards the woman stuck under the rubble, she was half-conscious. He easily picked up the rubble and tossed it aside.


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ this one seems to have a very high concentration of mana in her, she would make for a good food actually, and how about I eat her after I end ying with her, kehkehkeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    Telmuk stretched his hand to hold Riya''s head:


    "Here I go-" (Telmuk)


    Just as he was about to get his hands on Riya, he felt a huge amount of mana concentrating behind him. Telmuk turned back and looked at Lia with an expression of surprise on his face¡­


    A huge amount of mana was flowing toward Lia and the concentration of Lia''s mana was increasing at an immense speed. Anyone, who knows how difficult it is to concentrate your mana is, would know how terrifying this scene is.


    .


    (Warning- massive detail bombs ahead, proceed with caution¡­)


    For any awakened, the amount and concentration of the mana in their body is a very big factor in determining their rank and strength both. The more concentrated your mana is, the stronger your attacks will be and thus more damage output would be possible.


    The base factor on which your talent is decided is that ''How much mana your body can handle at max and how much concentrated you can make your mana at your body''s maximum capacity. This is also why those born with bodies with low mana capacity are considered less talented and at most can only achieve rank E in their lifetime. (Just like how Fade used to be without his cheat system.)


    The reason why it is nearly impossible to increase your talent is that it is already determined at birth, the day you are born it is already decided how much mana your body can hold.


    This is the basic principle of this world.


    (Of course, there exists some unique methods which actually defy this basic principle of the world itself like- Fade''s system, Rio''s limitless potential, and Link''s potential enhancement training since birth. Out of them, Link''s potential enhancement training was actually the most genuine method, Rio and Fade are just a glitch in the matrix.)


    Getting a contract with a strong being like- a god, a divine spirit, a demon spirit, etc. is also one of the glitches in the matrix. With this method, the individual who has contracted can share the mana of that strong being for their own use. This way their mana capacity increases externally.


    Getting contracted with a strong being will increase your talent and mana capacity based on the being you have contracted. You can borrow mana without making your body suffer any consequences.


    And what the other being gets from it, you ask? The beings like divine spirits, demon spirits, etc. are made purely out of mana and don''t have a physical form until they can establish a contract with an individual when the contract is confirmed then spirits get to have physical bodies, and demons get to have souls and life essence, etc. this is basically a win-win situation for both parties.


    .


    (Okay, now we are back to our chapter.)


    "Wh-what!? Such tremendous mana! How can that be!? There''s no way a human can have such a massive and concentrated mana while not even being an A-ranker, that much mana, only peak A-rankers can have it! But that woman is not an A-ranker!" (Telmuk)


    As Telmuk looked at Lia slowly standing up, he felt a chill run down his spine, he was feeling as if he was in the presence of a top predator looking down on him.


    While Telmuk was looking at Lia with a perplexed reaction. Lia slowly stood up and picked up her broken sword¡­


    "Sh-she can''t possibly be thinking that she can beat me with a broken sword, kehekehkeh¡­" (Telmuk)


    The previous evil smile on Telmuk was now gone, and his emotions are now in chaos, if he was human you could have seen sweat covering his whole face, but since he isn''t human no one knew how much he regrets leaving that woman alive.


    Lia suddenly raised her sword and pointed it towards the sky, while her silver pupils were shining brightly her, golden hair slowly turned silver, shining and waving in the air. Slowly all the previous wounds on her body recovered automatically, Lia concentrated her mana on the sword:


    [Enhance armament: release spiritual mana!]


    The broken sword suddenly got covered with a silver aura and started to return back to its original shape, but this time it was better and stronger.


    As Lia fully restored her sword, she concentrated her mana toward her back:


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of light!]


    Two silver wings appeared behind Lia making her look like an angel. These wings are not for the show they can enhance speed and agility tremendously. Giving a huge boost to the user, in terms of mobility in battle. Of course, they are capable of flight too.


    Lia pointed her sword towards Telmuk and said in a cold tone:


    "ept your purification, evil being." (Lia)


    After Lia said that, Telmuk was about to say something but the very next second Lia was already right in front of Telmuk, pointing her sword toward Telmuk''s heart.


    "Wai-" (Telmuk)


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliterate!]


    Before Telmuk could have understood what was going on, Lia''s sword pierced Telmuk''s chest sting a huge hole in Telmuk''s chest, the impact of the attack made Telmuk fly away due to the immense shockwave caused by that one attack.


    "Cough! Cough! H-how¡­." (Telmuk)


    Telmuk continuously coughed huge amounts of ck blood, and he could feel his soul slowly falling apart, just a few minutes ago he was still enjoying torturing his prey and now he was lying on the ground waiting to die, such irony.


    But Telmuk was still not done yet, even if his soul was slowly falling apart there is still at least ten seconds for him to self-destruct and deal huge damage to the whole of the area. An A-ranker''s self-destruction is not something a B-rank dungeon can handle, it will easily make the whole dungeon fall apart and throw all the individuals outside of the dungeon.


    This might totally destroy their n of finding the fragment holder and might even put the life of the demon prince in danger, but at least Telmuk could drag a few people to death with him.


    After sting off Telmuk, Lia was not standing around in the show, she inserted her sword into the ground and put her hands on the hilt of the de, slowly inserting the mana into the ground through the sword.


    A huge silver-colored magic circle appeared on the ground and started to shine brightly:


    [Divine Lion''s Blessing: Summon Divine Spirit Kawaki!]


    After enough mana was concentrated, Kai slowly appeared from the summoning circle, making a grand entrance with his magnificent and huge body. As he was summoned he faced towards the sky and roared to announce his presence to all the lower beings that a king has arrived.


    ''It''s been many centuries since Ist saw the sky, but it seems today I would not be able to see the clear blue sky, an S-ranker seems to have expanded his domain here¡­'' (Kai)


    ''My perception is telling me there are actually two S-ranker''s not too far away¡­ This is troublesome¡­ If it was my heyday I could smack an S-ranker like it''s nothing, but since Lia is still not that strong, I can only disy the capabilities of an A-ranker at most¡­'' (Kai)


    (Kai is an SS-rank divine spirit, and Telmuk is an S-rank demonic spirit.)


    ''Well let''s not worry about that for now, I should finish this repulsive and disgrace to the name of spirits first.'' (Kai)


    Before Telmuk could have self-destructed, Kai already took action. A huge amount of mana was concentrated in Kai''s mouth, and a huge fire breath was released on Telmuk making him scream in pain and slowly burn away into nothingness.


    With this, a millennia-long existence of a malicious being was finally extinguished and all the people who suffered in the hands of this demonic spirit, finally their souls can rest in peace.


    ''This concludes one matter, next is¡­'' (Kai)


    Kai turned back and looked at Lia who had already fainted from the overuse of mana and Riya who is staring at him with a look of surprise on her face.


    Riya just can''t believe her eyes, she has seen an incredible event today. Today''s event might actually make her a little bit more mature, a little bit.


    ''I know that look very well¡­'' (Kai)


    ''Her stare is really troublesome, don''t tell me she wants to stroke me just like Tomar''s wife used to, sigh~'' (Kai)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    I have tried taking references from other anime in this chapter.


    Question of the day


    Do you know which things are referenced from which anime in this chapter? There are about five references, how many do you know? Tell me in thements.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 75 Kai The Fluffball!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake


    Waterfall area


    "So, you are saying that huge lion is safe, are you really sure?" (Link)


    "Yeah, Mr. fluffy is super fluffy and he feels so good to touch, he even helped Lia. He is totally safe." (Riya)


    While Riya was describing a great divine spirit as a fluff ball, Link was looking at this huge lion emitting the aura of an A-ranker with vignce. He doesn''t think this guy is as fluffy as he looks just by looking at those huge teeth, you can see that each of those teeth is about the size of half a human''s body.


    ''Could this guy be a summoned beast, Rio said that Lia is a sword user, she couldn''t possibly have summoned a beast.'' (Link)


    Link looked at Kai then looked at the unconscious Lia lying on his huge back, sleeping like a baby, and said:


    "Hey, you know, you would be in great trouble if a certain person saw you sticking so close with Lia." (Link)


    "Grrr¡­" (Kai)


    In response to Link, Kai simply groaned at him, while showing off his huge and sharp teeth.


    "Well, never mind¡­." (Link)


    Looking at Kai''s huge teeth Link just shrugged his shoulders and maintained a distance of five meters from Kai.


    (Let me tell you all a secret, actually Link doesn''t like animals at all, he hates animals like dogs, cats, etc. because he has past trauma of them. Animals also don''t like him either and don''t generallye near him.)


    Link looked at Riya who was looking at Kai with admiration and stars shining in her eyes as if she really wants to pet Kai, this made Link sigh in rxation¡­


    ''At least, she is safe, I can''t believe they actually fought an A-rank demon and won but since they are both safe then it''s okay.'' (Link)


    Looking at the golden hair girl, Link had a thought in his mind:


    ''So, this is Lia, whom Rio was bbering so much about, she looks like the daughter of a wealthy family, does her cooking really is as great as Rio described it.'' (Link)


    ''Perhaps, I should try her cooking sometimes too-'' (Link)


    Then suddenly he thought about Rio


    ''heh, you want to eat food made by Lia, do you want to die?'' (Rio)


    ''Yeah, he will definitely say that he wouldn''t really let me eat it in peace¡­ sigh, if only Riya also knew how to cook¡­ rather than her making food, instead I have to make food for her, if not for me, this airhead might not even remember to eat food¡­. Sigh~'' (Link)


    "By the way, weren''t you paired up with that gloomy-looking guy earlier, why are you here Link?" (Riya)


    "Oh, that, he was busy with something and since I got the signal from our engagement ring that you were injured I rushed here first." (Link)


    "Eh, our engagement ring has that function? And wouldn''t it be a problem for him to fight the monster alone?" (Riya)


    "This is nothing, our engagement ring can detect each other''s location and can even be used as a method for carrying out emergency teleportation when the need arrives." (Link)


    "And you don''t have to worry about Rio, he can take can take care of himself, after all he is even stronger than me¡­." (Link)


    "What!? That gloomy-looking guy, is actually stronger than you! you must be joking right?" (Riya)


    "Yeah, also you know, that girl over there, Lia, she is his girlfriend¡­ They both are a couple just like us¡­" (Link)


    "Eh!? Lia, my idol, is actually already married, that can''t be!?" (Riya)


    "When did I say she is married!?" (Link)


    "B-but didn''t you say they are like us, doesn''t that mean they are also married?" (Riya)


    Link looked at the airhead of the girl and sighed


    "Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you we are not married yet, we are still not of legal age, don''t say things that will make others misunderstand¡­" (Link)


    "B-but that day you did that to me¡­" (Riya)


    "I never did anything! Don''t cause misunderstandings!" (Link)


    Suddenly Kai who has been hearing their arguments looked at Link and said in a sly tone:


    "You are going to hell, pervert¡­." (Kai)


    "Come on! Even oversized animals are mocking me now! Sigh~" (Link)


    And thus the battle in the waterfall area finally ended with everyone being happy and safe, after some twists and turns.


    .


    .


    Barren Area


    Two individuals could be seen standing opposite each other about ten meters from each other.


    Both of them were panting and the ground in a radius of five hundred meters was filled with huge craters and shes all the trees and stones in this area has been destroyed and reduced to powder.


    Alverto''s armor has long been destroyed to pieces and there are several holes in his chest that are still healing at a terrifying speed. His hands has already been cut off many times, but it was growing back again at immense speed and it didn''t take it even a single second to grow back fully.


    He fully healed his body back, in just a few seconds, yet his extremely handsome face remained extremely serious, he knew that even with this cheat-like regeneration ability he was still not in a good situation.


    "I acknowledge that it was indeed me, who ordered that massacre you are talking about, but that''s just one of the many massacres I have done, there''s really no point in making me feel sympathize for it¡­" (Alverto)


    "But I also acknowledge that you are indeed a very strong human, Rio. If you are allowed to grow, you can reach immense heights in the future. After all, you have been able to hold your ground against an A-ranker even though you are still a B-ranker." (Alverto)


    "Although you look like an average human and don''t have any noticing features you are indeed talented¡­ and this talent is a threat to my future ns. You have wasted a huge amount of my time, and because of you I still haven''t found the ''holder'' yet¡­" (Alverto)


    "You are a thorn in my way and I must destroy you right here, right now!" (Alverto)


    "You have fought well until now, but now you are running out of time. I am still in full health and look at you. A broken left hand, a shattered left eye, several broken ribs, and a hole in your heart¡­ Do you really think you can still win?" (Alverto)


    As Alverto said Rio has been injured too much by Alverto just because of one single skill. That is ''Time eleration'' a skill that can only be used by royal demons. This skill can make the user extremely fast by speeding up the time for him when used inbat.


    Although this skill is ineffective on Rio due to his true immunity Alverto can still apply it to himself. This made him so fast that he outmatched Rio instantly. And unlike Alverto who has instant regeneration Rio doesn''t have such a thing, he doesn''t have plot armor so no one is going toe and save him either.


    It seems that heavenly luck has carefully nned this situation for Rio. Even Link has been sent away and there''s no one to get help from either. Such coincidences don''t ur somonly. This could be considered a counterattack by the heavenly luck towards this anomaly named Rio.


    If he doesn''t do something he might actually end up dead today.


    "I will always remember your name, NOW ITS TIME TO DIE!" (Alverto)


    [Time eleration!]


    [Heavenly demon Spear Arts: Chaos thrust!]


    Just as Alverto was about to pierce Rio''s heart, a slight smile appeared on Rio''s face and his pitch-ck eyes that were looking downward finally looked at Alverto:


    "Got you"


    [Elemental Sword Arts: me dragon''s roar!]


    Intense ck mes appeared on Rio''s sword and the slice carried out by Rio was so fast and precise that even with time eleration Alverto was still not able to see iting. He had already dropped his guard when he thought that Rio was not able to move anymore.


    The sword sliced the neck of the demon prince so fast that it could amaze even peak A-rankers, this can be considered ast-ditch attack carried out by a person who was already at the end of his line.


    As Rio stabilized his body by supporting himself with his sword, Alverto''s head and body fell on the ground dramatically. An expression of surprise could be seen on Alverto''s severed head.


    Rio sat down on the ground and looked at Alverto¡­


    "I never expected a B-rank human would be able to destroy such a strong clone of mine, well it seems I will have to meet you in my real body one day, Rio sh¡­" (Alverto)


    As he said that the cloned body, slowly turned into particles of light and disappeared into nothingness.


    Rio looked at the light particles disappearing and heave a huge sigh in rxation. He brought out the perfect rank Healing potion, which was given by the academy on the day after the entrance ceremony.


    "It seems I won''t be able to save this potion, sigh~" (Rio)


    Without hesitation, Rio drank that potion¡­.


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Finally, all the side battles are finished, now just one more chapter and we can go to our main battle. I am excited to write about Durik''s fight. You might think that the fight between Rio and Alverto was short but you see, they both have been fighting for more than two hours now.


    I didn''t describe their fight much because eventually they are going to cross path in the future. Anyway in this event, the main focus is not on Rio, but on the development of the side characters. Thus you are not able to see Rio much.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 76 Anna Vs Durik!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava-Lake


    Above the half-destroyed volcano.


    A huge dragon made of pure blue mes could be seen rushing toward a demon brimming with an evil aura around him. This scene is so eye-catching that anyone looking at the sky can see that huge dragon from the corner of the dungeon''s space all the way in the center.


    The mana of the whole dungeon was slowly concentrating on the central area, where two S-rankers were about to collide their attacks.


    Durik looked at the huge dragon with killing intent and rushed at it with his Great-sword which was covered by ayer of blood-like aura from Durik. Also, the silver moon he pulled out was enhancing his stats by a huge margin.


    In just a fraction of a second Durik and the huge fire, dragon collided with each other. Durik tried to destroy the core of this magic by targeting all his power but he failed to even reach close to it.


    The huge fire dragon was cut in half by Durik''s previous strike but it instantly recovered and rushed forwards unceasingly. Eventually, it engulfed Durik in those intense mes, which were actually hotter than the mes on the surface of the Sun itself.


    The mes collided with the volcano below and destroyed the rest half of the volcano creating a huge crater in the ce of the volcano. Slowly the mes diminished and Durik could be seen lying unconscious in the middle of the huge crater.


    ''That was actually very close, I have spent seventy percent of mana already. That spell was strong but cost too much mana, after all, I had to keep it controlled so that the damage doesn''t reach the students too.'' (Anna)


    (There''s a huge myth that it takes huge amounts of mana to use a master rank spell, this is actually not right. The huge amount of mana is used because it is very difficult to control and making it very more controble like Anna did would cost extra mana. The main attack of the mes takes only a little more mana than the advanced rank spells.)


    ''But at least, this guy has fainted now, I just need to evacuate the students out of this ce¡­.'' (Anna)


    Just as Anna was about to go and Look for the students, her senses told her of iing danger, she immediately dodged the attack, yet she got a small cut on her shoulder, making her hand bleed.


    "Hahaha, how does it feel to bleed! Tell me! Doesn''t it feel exciting!!..." (Durik)


    Anna looked at Durik whose wing has been destroyed and the other one have several holes in it. His face is also half burnt and his left hand seems to be missing.


    ''It seems he sacrificed his left hand to recover¡­ he must have used the ''forbidden demon art: Sacrifice'' ¡­ this is troublesome, why is he going so far, he is really hell-bent on killing me¡­ fine I will give you a fast death¡­'' (Anna)


    Looking at Durik smiling in madness, Anna''s face turned cold. She pointed her wand towards her left hand:


    [Advance Rank Fire magic: Divine mes of healing!]


    After covering her Left arm with the mes of healing Anna, pointed her wand toward Durik:


    [Master rank Fire magic: Unquenchable mes of Phoenix!]


    A huge magic circle covering the whole central area of the dungeon appeared in the sky. The circle lit up brightly with concentrated magic shining like gems. Suddenly a phoenix flew out of the magic circle it circled around Anna twice and then instantlyunched towards Durik who was preparing his attack.


    "I won''t fall for it twice!" (Durik)


    [Forbidden demon art: sacrifice, Life Essence: increase speed!]


    (Every forbidden demon art contains the name of the particr art like ''sacrifice'' in this case, the thing that is sacrificed to gain like ''life essence'' in this case, andstly the thing gained from the sacrifice like ''increased speed'' in this case. The downside of these things is that you sacrifice too much and gain less.)


    Durik''s speed increased tremendously by sacrificing his life essence of thirty years on this single spell. For any ordinary person sacrificing thirty years of his life might be a huge problem but for an S-ranker who can live for five hundred to eight-hundred years easily, this is nothing to worry about. Not to mention Demons can live longerpared to humans.


    Durik avoided the phoenix''s attack trajectory instantly by using his enhanced speed, he then rushed towards Anna.


    ''Humph, you think a master rank spell can be avoided by just simply dodging, how idiotic¡­ it seems you have never fought an S-rank fire mage before¡­'' (Anna)


    The phoenix changed its direction immediately and rather than decreasing, its speed increased instead. The phoenix pped its wing and rushed towards Durik, making Durik try to avoid it once again.


    Durik continuously dodged the phoenix with his enhanced speed several times but the phoenix adjusted its direction each time and became even faster every time he dodged.


    Eventually, after dodging the phoenix about a hundred times and failing to attack Anna, three-hundred times, the phoenix finally caught up to Durik and the unquenchable mes touched Durik''s body. (All this happened in just three seconds.)


    The very moment the unquenchable mes touched Durik''s body, his whole body started to feel extreme pain from the mes, this is no mere body pain this pain generates from the soul itself. The immense pain from the burning of his soul made Durik scream at the top of his lungs.


    (Unquenchable mes- The mes that once touch a living being can burn the soul of the individual continuously until the whole soul is extinguished from existence. Also, when the soul is burned, the victim feels extreme pain all over his body, which is even worse than torture. Additionally, these mes purposely burn slowly thus making the victim feel pain for a long time.)


    Looking at Durik howling in pain, Anna had only one thought:


    ''Every time I use this spell it always ends up like this, I didn''t want to use this one, but only this spell costs less mana to control and still do immense damage. Of course, this spell is not invincible¡­ after all, Jin easily destroys this spell with a single swipe of his sword¡­. Sigh~'' (Anna)


    Just as Anna was thinking that everything was finallying to an end. Durik sessfully extinguished the mes.


    [Forbidden demon art: Sacrifice, Life Essence: soul strengthening!]


    By sacrificing hundred years of his life, Durik finally extinguished the mes by strengthening his soul temporarily. This was actually a very idiotic move. It''s like drinking poison to quench your thirst.


    "Annaaaa!! It seems you are indeed the most talented fire mage of this millennia! But¡­. Everyone has a weakness you certainly also have a weakness too!¡­" (Durik)


    An angry expression appeared on Durik''s face, he pointed his great sword toward the sky and used the forbidden demon art once again:


    [Forbidden demon art: Sacrifice, Soul: enhanced Self-destruction!]


    A substantial red-colored magic circle appeared all around Durik, this magic circle was so huge that it covered the whole dungeon. The immense aura of this demon art caused the whole B-rank dungeon to be unstable, several spatial cracks started to appear in the dungeon.


    A B-rank dungeon can''t handle the self-destruction of an S-ranker. Not to mention, the self-destruction alone is powerful, Durik has already enhanced it with forbidden demon art.


    "Damn! I didn''t expect that this guy would be so desperate that he will literally self-destruct himself, I must stop him if he self-destructs here, not only will he kill all the students he will also cause a fatal injury to me as well¡­" (Anna)


    ''I can''t let any more students die, I have already been unable to save many of the students earlier, but now I must not let the top students of the academy get killed that will make the future of humanity bleak. All these talented children must survive at all cost.'' (Anna)


    A serious and determined expression appeared on Anna''s face, she pointed her wand toward the huge magic spell Durik has created:


    "I just have to destroy the core of this magic¡­. This is gonna cost a huge amount of mana, but I must do it!..." (Anna)


    [Magic interference!]


    (Magic interference is a non-ranked spell, it can be used to dismantle magic circle of any rank, the only conditions are that the caster must be of the same or higher rank than the spell also it needs a monstrous level of mana control and mental strength to exactly attack the core of magic.)


    Using nearly all of the leftover mana Anna had, she finally diffused the self-destruct spell before it could have sted all the students to their untimely death. But...


    "As I said¡­ everyone has weaknesses¡­. Your weakness is that you care about those students!" (Durik)


    Durik pointed out Anna''s weakness as he stabbed his great sword into Anna''s heart¡­


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    I have been stuck in my internal debate on whether should I end Anna or not? But my thoughts have been in chaos for several days, I still am unable to decide what to do about this, so I leave this choice to you guys.


    Question of the day


    Should we end Anna''s character here?


    Make your choice guys:


    1. Yes (Only a teacher''s death can make the students grow¡­)


    2. Yeah (It is a hard decision, but we have to do this, for the sake of the plot¡­)


    3. Okay (Just do it, we want a tragic story!)


    Hidden option:


    4. Reader''s authority. (Post an interestingment and save the life of Anna.)


    (By the way, the author is not a bad person, he is just he bored.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 77 Dungeon Falls Apart!

    B-rank Dungeon, Lavake.


    Waterfall area.


    "Hey, Link what is that huge magic circle in the sky, it has such an ominous presence¡­" (Riya)


    Riya looked at the huge ominous magic circle covering the whole sky, the spell itself is giving off a very eerie aura. Not to mention the concentrated mana in that magic circle even the look of it is very ominous.


    The link also looked at the huge magic circle covering the sky, he is also out of words to describe this thing, and even he has never seen a magic circle so big. Although his father did say that, an SS-rank mage can make magic circles as big as the whole human nation, he really can''t imagine the sight of it.


    Only today he has seen such an overbearing sight.


    (They keep the huge magic circles created by S-rankers or above secret and don''t reveal them on the inte or in front of society. To make sure that people don''t get insecure at the sight of them.)


    "I think it will be alright since, Ms. Anna is there to protect us, so, don''t worry about it, Ms. Anna, as they say on the inte, is the strongest Fire mage of this millennia¡­." (Link)


    "Indeed you are right..." (Riya)


    [You sound unsure kid.] (Kai)


    [What!? You can use telepathy!?] (Link)


    Although Link didn''t say anything from his mouth, but a huge storm was rising in his head by knowing that Kai could use ''telepathy''¡­


    (There are only two types of beings that can use ''telepathy''. One is the person who has literally awakened the power of telepathy since birth and can thus use it like a mage uses spells. Another one is the being that has reached SS-rank and can thus use telepathy because of their huge mental capabilities.)


    (You can easily determine the difference between these two, the person who has awakened telepathy since birth is generally not so strong and is considered weakpared to any otherbat-type ss awakener. But an SS rank can''t be weak.)


    (Link knew this because his father has many times used telepathy on him. He has first-hand experience with this.)


    [D-don''t tell me you are-!] (Link)


    [Indeed, I am actually an SS-rank spirit, I look weak because this little girl is still young and weak, but eventually, I will get back to my prime¡­] (Kai)


    [This is insane! How did she even contract a spirit like you!?] (Link)


    [Well, things happened¡­ more importantly you also have sensed it right? That this is an extremely strong spell¡­] (Kai)


    [Yeah, if this spell seeded, I think that would be the end of us all¡­] (Link)


    [Hmm, not for all, I can still protect this little girl, but I can''t guarantee about others¡­] (Kai)


    Hearing Kai, Link fell in deep thought for a moment. He looked at the sky covered by that huge spell and as if he has made a decision, determination appeared in his dark red eyes.


    [Is that so¡­ hey, wanna make a deal?] (Link)


    Kai asked back in confusion.


    [What deal?] (Kai)


    [How about¡­ you protect Riya from the effects of this spell and in return, I will sell my soul to you¡­.] (Link)


    Hearing Link''s words, Kai was in total awe. He never expected that a young man with a bright future ahead of him would actually make such a choice.


    ''That'' quite surprising for a weak human like him¡­ well, I also used to be like that too when I was still weak and young, but in the end, death alwayses very suddenly, sigh~'' (Kai)


    Kai looked at Link and said:


    [You know that I am not a demonic spirit right?... I don''t need your soul¡­] (Kai)


    [T-then what do you need? How about my bod-] (Link)


    [Nothing! I don''t need anything! I have no interest in a boy''s body! I would have indeed protected you all but as I said, I am not at my prime and really have no choice here¡­] (Kai)


    Before Link could say anything in return Kai just simply broke the telepathic connection, he simply didn''t want the conversation to turn into weird chaos.


    Just as the atmosphere was getting awkward, the sudden cheering voice of an airheaded girl arrived to save the day:


    "Hey, Link! Look the magic circle is falling apart!" (Riya)


    Link looked at Riya who was literally jumping around in happiness while looking at the sky. She genuinely looked like a rabbit jumping around. After all she also has white hair. She resembled rabbits very much.


    After taking a look at the magic circle falling apart, Link heaved a sigh of relief but the very next second a chill ran down his spine. He hurriedly looked at the ce where Anna was fighting the demon and found out that mana even more concentrated than the previous spell was gathering at an insane speed.


    "Riya, look out!" (Link)


    Link trusted his screaming instincts and immediately dashed towards Riya, he carried her near Kai''s huge body and put her on the opposite side of the volcano. Surprisingly, Kai didn''t reject them this time and insteadid down in a defensive position, he ced Lia near them and covered all three of them.


    Suddenly, a huge shockwave appeared from the central area of the dungeon and spread all over the dungeon. Although it was not so strong that it could kill the students it certainly caused small injuries to all the students to present inside the dungeon.


    If someone looked at the central area they would find that a huge beam of fire was descending from the sky piercing the clouds and immense amounts of mana were being used. The spatial cracks started to widen and a panel appeared in front of every student.


    [Warning! The B-rank Dungeon Lavake has be extremely unstable¡­]


    [Ejecting all the challengers out¡­ starting the countdown¡­3¡­.2¡­.1¡­ Ejection starting¡­.]


    One by one all the surviving students who were still trying to defend against the huge shockwaves disappeared and were ejected by the dungeon outside. Safely and securely.


    After all the individuals, the dungeon started to fall apart, the spatial cracks increased in size tremendously and all the matter was reduced to nothingness. Eventually the B-rank dungeon, Lava Lake seized to exist.


    .


    .


    A few seconds earlier.


    In the central area, above the huge crater.


    "As I said¡­ everyone has weaknesses¡­. Your weakness is that you care about those students!" (Durik)


    Durik sessfully stabbed Anna''s heart by using the most opportune moment. He used the fact that Anna was fully concentrated on using mana interference to destroy the enhanced self-destruction.


    The premise to use mana interference is that you have to put all your mind and concentration into this one task and very few mages can actually do that. Even if they can do this, using mana interference makes a mage extremely vulnerable in that state.


    Durik has fought on hundreds of battlefields along with the demon army and he has already seen many things that most people don''t even imagine. The only reason he was able tond this attack was purely because he used the students as hostages and his experience of fighting against mages on different battlefields gave him an advantage over Anna.


    If not for his taking the students hostage, Durik would have never been able to sessfullynd a strike on Anna. After all, Anna is simply a prodigy when ites to wizardry.


    *Cough*


    Anna coughed a mouthful of blood while looking at the sword stabbing her heart and feeling that her body was rapidly losing strength. She already knew that this was inevitable, yet she focused on saving the students.


    Anna slowly raised her wand and pointed it at Durik, a small magic circle appeared at the tip of her wand, it looked like a weak spell, seemingly thest ditch attack of Anna.


    Looking at Anna struggling to move, Durik twisted his sword and scoffed at her, saying:


    "It''s useless, Anna. I know you are out of mana to cast a strong spell and weak spells won''t do me any considerable damage. As for the damage you did to my body, I will heal it easily after I go back to the demon continent." (Durik)


    "As for those weak kids, I will eliminate them and present their heads to my prince, when I go back. All your efforts have gone to waste." (Durik)


    "Now you know why those students are your weakness¡­" (Durik)


    Hearing Durik, Anna just smiled a little and said:


    "Those¡­. Students are not my weakness¡­. They are my hope¡­." (Anna)


    [Master Rank Fire magic: mes of divine retribution!]


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Hello guys, first of all, happy Valentine''s Day. I know most of you will see this after a few days of this chapter being published, so, I congratte you with thiste congrattion in advance.


    Question of the Day


    So, how was your day?


    1. It was good. (ssic response of a guy living the most destroyed life¡­.)


    2. I am single. (Sadness beyond redemption, watched movies all alone sitting in front of the TV all day.)


    3. I enjoyed my day with my partner. (.....)


    A piece of advice from your beloved author: If you are feeling lonely, don''t worry you are not alone. I am punishing my own characters in the novel just because I am lonely too. It is what it is.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 78 Final Exams-Ends

    B-rank Dungeon, Lava Lake.


    Above the destroyed volcano.


    "Those¡­. Students are not my weakness¡­. They are my hope¡­." (Anna)


    [Master Rank Fire magic: mes of divine retribution!]


    A huge beam of mes descended from the sky ripping apart a huge hole in the sky and distorting the space all around it. The sheer amount of concentrated mana in that pir of me is astounding.


    The pir of mes is so bright that it has paled the brightness of the sun and anyone who looked at this brightness without any protective measure got blinded in just a few seconds.


    If someone could look at this scene, they will think that the gods are punishing an evil being with divine punishment descending directly from the heavens. But this is simply the mightiest magic of an S-rank mage created by burning her leftover mana and concentrating it in a single spot so as to not harm any other student.


    As the might of this magic was too huge for this dungeon to handle, the dungeon finally started to fall apart and it started to be spatially unstable.


    .


    In the middle of the pir of mes.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" (Durik)


    As the unceasing mes descended on Durik his body started to ignite and burn at an immensely fast speed, he tried to escape but was not even able to move inside the dense and concentrated mes. It was as if he has been locked in a ce by these dense mes.


    The temperature inside the pir of mes is hotter than the core of a star. An S-rank fire mage is capable of creating artificial stars with there, although they are small in size they can''t be underestimated. The appearance of this artificial star in the form of a pir of mes has created immense spatial misbnce in the dungeon.


    If not for the fact that Anna is controlling the mes and not letting them harm the students, this magic could have destroyed an area of a thousand kilometers and would have created immense spatial destruction.


    "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! STOP!!!" (Durik)


    As Anna slowly started to lose her strength the pir of mes started to dissipate and the body of Durik also started to turn into nothingness. And in just a fraction of a second, the S-rank Demon Durik who was stillughing and acting menacingly was burned to nothingness.


    If he hadn''t let his guard down after stabbing Anna, he could have still been able to dodge this attack on time, but his arrogance and carelessness brought his doom. He underestimated Anna''s resolve to protect the students behind her.


    While Anna was starting to lose her consciousness slowly, a system notification appeared in front of her.


    [Due to increased spatial instability, the ''Spatial path stabilizer'' has lost its effect and ejection is being carried out¡­. Returning to the original location of entrance¡­.]


    .


    .


    Outside the B-rank Dungeon''s gate.


    Monitoring room.


    "p-please, Mr. Jin, we don''t have any other spatial path stabilizing stones within the academy we can''t do anything about it."


    "Hah, so you are telling me that, I should leave the safety of the students and an S-ranker to fate!" (Jin)


    Jin kicked the observer on his stomach and the observer was sent flying away, even though that observer is an A-ranker himself, he coughed out blood as he flew out of the monitoring room while destroying the walls andnding outside.


    A hole got created in the wall due to this. Well, there are already more than a dozen holes in all the walls of the monitoring room.


    "You all are f*ck*ng useless! Why are you even here if you can''t even save the students from a mere demon!?" (Jin)


    Jin''s eyes are already bloodshot and several veins are popping on his face, he seems so angry and irritated that he could be mistaken for a heinous murderer right now.


    "If only there was a way to get inside that dungeon!" (Jin)


    Apparently, while Jin was not in the academy and was on his way back to the academy from a mission, Anna rushed inside the dungeon by using the only spatial path stabilizer in the academy.


    And since there''s no other stabilizer in the academy it will take about three hours if they ask the alliance to deliver one in an emergency. It''s not that the alliance is inefficient in work it''s just these stabilizers are too rare and difficult to find.


    As Jin stomped his feet the whole building trembled from the shockwave. While stomping his feet Jin walked out of the building and came in front of the Dungeon gate.


    ''If only I was an SS-ranker¡­'' (Jin)


    .


    (SS-rankers and above-level individuals have the capability to forcibly enter any dungeon by forcibly stabilizing the space by using their own mana. Such individuals are capable of tearing a low-rank dungeon apart just by using their aura alone. They can forcibly expand and close a low-rank dungeon gate.)


    (The Dragon King, has even closed an A-rank dungeon gate by forcing it to close by hands. Yeah with bare hands. He is famous for pping dungeon gates close below S-rank.)


    (An SS-ranker can''t close an S-rank Dungeon gate forcibly, but below an S-rank gate can be treated like toys¡­ ironic isn''t it?)


    .


    While Jin was Looking at the Dungeon gate suddenly he felt spatial instability in the dungeon gate, and he immediately stepped back.


    Just after Jin stepped back, the dungeon started to throw the students out of the dungeon gate like a cannon throwing cannonballs. The students wereunched outside, some collided with the floor and some collided with the walls.


    While most of the students ended up kissing the floor, stronger students who are ranked above twenty stabilized themselves after being kicked out.


    Link even did a flip in the air andnded perfectly making him look cool. While he was still looking around Riya flew out of the Dungeon and collided with him, making him kiss the floor too.


    Rio got thrown out of the dungeon but his quick sense helped him lend perfectly too. But he was not shy like Link. Rio immediately used his sensing technique to sense the surrounding¡­


    ''Hmm, where''s Lia¡­'' (Rio)


    As Rio was still thinking Lia flew out of the Dungeon but unlike others, she was not thrown out a silver aura was carrying her slowly and stabilizing her in the air. The silver aura helped Lia tond on the ground by gentlyying her down.


    Rio walked towards Lia and checked her pulse on her wrist.


    ''Hmm, she is okay it seems, perhaps she is just tired, I wonder what happened, but what is this strange aura around her¡­ well I will ask her when she wakes up¡­'' (Rio)


    In a corner Liam could be seen standing looking at the Dungeon gate, he could be seen sighing heavily¡­


    ''Why are you sighing¡­ are you still worried about that nasty woman?'' (???)


    ''No, I am just trying to recover¡­.'' (Liam)


    ''Is that so?'' (???)


    One by one all the students who were still alive were thrown out of the dungeon and most of them were injured only a few have small injuries.


    After a few seconds, all the teachers and staff members also started to gather around the dungeon and the healers began to gather around. The students who are fatally injured were carried to the healer''s office. And those who are not seriously injured started to get treatment on the spot.


    As Rio looked at all the healers that gathered in just a few seconds, a thought came to his mind:


    ''It seemspared to the monitoring staff, the healing staff of the academy is very efficient¡­.'' (Rio)


    What Rio didn''t know was that all the healers were being so efficient just because they have seen the wrath of Jin beforehand. They saw that several A-rankers in the monitoring department were beaten unconscious by Jin because they were careless and didn''t notice the abnormality with the dungeon beforehand.


    .


    ''Where are you, Anna¡­ where are you¡­ why are you noting out!!'' (Jin)


    As time slowly passed Jin''s anxiety increased by every second and the strange feeling in his heart increased. He has been feeling awful since a while ago, his instincts are telling him that there''s something bad going on inside the dungeon.


    But he is restricted and can''t rush to help Anna.


    Just as Jin was getting impatient, he finally saw Anna being thrown out of the dungeon, Jin immediately rushed and caught Anna in midair, as hended and looked at Anna.


    His face instantly became pale and ashen. And words refused toe out of his mouth¡­


    "H-how can it be!?¡­." (Jin)


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    So, I am back again from my usual disappearing schedule.


    By the way, I have a piece of good news. I got paid for the first time a few days ago. I was finally able to receive your support guys. Thanks for all your support. (By the way, don''t you dare ask me how much I got paid, I am not going to tell you...)


    So, thank you all. You have been supporting me so much that it has moved my heart and I have decided against the original fate of Anna. We are gonna distort and change the fate of this character. What do you guys say:


    Would you like to see a chapter about going against the will of the heavens?


    1. Hell yeah (Let''s fight against the heavens supporting Fade, together!!)


    2. No (We want to support Fade and follow the original fate.)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 79 Jin’s Backstory Part-1

    (Severe Warning- those who can''t digest the betrayals and have trust issues should not read this chapter. Why make yourself more depressed than you already are? Well if you still want to read, then read at your own risk.)


    .


    About twenty-five years ago.


    The alliance has yet not made aw of giving subsidies to help the children living in orphanages and slums. Most of thews to support the poor and weak people were actually first made after the Mass Human genocide about twenty years before Rio got admitted to the academy.


    (A brief history of the Mass Human genocide- This incident was carried out by the collision of three different races. Orc, Undead, and Demons, these three races had made a collision attack on the human race in hope of destroying the existence from the face of the earth.)


    (The top notch-people didn''t care about the massacre of the people living in the slums until the central area of the human race was targeted. Eventually, humans formed an alliance with the Elf and Beast people''s thus, finally ending the war with a draw.)


    (Nearly Seventy thousand humans, most of them being from the slums were wiped out by this interracial war. Although other races also suffered huge casualties too. But the loss on the human side was the greatest as they had lost a few S-rankers in this war.)(Indeed the life of those S-rankers was the biggest loss not the life of those seventy thousand people.)


    (In order for this situation to never repeat in the future thew was made that they will start to give minimum education in the slums and several otherws. With the help of awakeners they have already reduced the number of poor people by twenty percent in these past twenty years.)


    .


    Jin''s story generally starts about five years before all this happened. Jin was born in a decent household with his parents both being B-rank awakeners. They both loved each other very much. Jin''s future seemed rather promising, he has sessfullypleted the entrance examination for the greatest academy and in a few months, he was about to enlist.


    "Father, where are you going?" (Jin)


    As Jin looked at his father standing at the door about to leave for a new dungeon raid, Jin asked in a sad tone:


    "Oh, I have to go to work, don''t worry, I will be back in a few days, my son." (Jin''s father)


    "B-but¡­ It''s my birthday this weekend¡­" (Jin)


    "I will be back before your birthday, my son." (Jin''s father)


    "Hey, Jin you must be a good boy and let your father go to work, he will bring you lots of giftster. Afterall he is going because he wants to buy you gifts!" (Jin''s mother)


    As Jin''s father heard her talking in an annoyed tone, he replied:


    "Hey, you don''t have to talk in such a rude tone in front of the kid¡­" (Jin''s father)


    "Then why are you going on such a dangerous raid, just to buy such an expensive present for Jin? It''s too dangerous!" (Jin''s Mother)


    "I have to go. It''s important for Jin''s future, I must buy him that strengthening potion before he gets admitted to the academy." (Jin''s Father)


    "I am off now¡­" (Jin''s Father)


    Jin and his mother both just stood silently as they looked at him fading away from their sight, Jin''s mother was worried sick for him for several days.


    Jin''s birthday came and passed but his father didn''t return. While the anxiety and tension were increasing every day in their house. A group of B-rankers who were originally members of the raiding party appeared one day.


    "I am the leader of the party, Mrs. Walt, I am very sorry to say this, but Mr. Walt has passed away during the raid, he died a valiant death, in order to save the party members as the vice-leader he sacrificed himself."


    "He earlier told me that he wanted to buy a high-ss strengthening potion for his son with the money from this raid. Although I can''t bring him back inpensation please take this potion and the money he has earned by saving the life of the party members¡­"


    The huge shock of that news made Jin''s mother depressed she didn''t eat for several days. Meanwhile, Jin who was oblivious to this found the potion in a gift box on his study table. He happily drank it. Onlyter did he find out the truth.


    .


    After a few days.


    "M-mother, please eat something you haven''t eaten for several days now¡­." (Jin)


    "Go away! I don''t want to see your face! You are a cursed child! If only I haven''t given birth to you, he would have been alive!" (Jin''s mother)


    Jin''s mother threw the food on Jin''s face and shouted:


    "If only you didn''t exist! Go away you cursed demon!" (Jin''s mother)


    That was thest time Jin saw his mother.


    Apparently, shemitted suicide that night by piercing her own heart with her de.


    .


    A few monthster.


    After Jin''s admission to the academy.


    Jin was not having a good time in the academy he was separated from the whole ss because everyone else considered him a cursed person, who ended up causing his parent''s death. (Most of the students studying in the greatest academy are from rich backgrounds and have the ability to investigate their fellow students'' pasts. Thus they already found out about his backstory. A few of them created the rumors of Jin being a cursed child, just for fun.)


    Of course, there''s not everything bad in Jin''s starting days. In his early days at the academy, he made a caring friend himself.


    "They are still talking bad about you, even after you have scored such high marks in the mid-terms. People really have no insight¡­" (Alex)


    "Whatever, I am already used to it. It''s not like that anything will change if I say something to them¡­ I would remain the same cursed child who caused the death of his own parents¡­" (Jin)


    "Seriously Jin, you should be more confident in yourself. It was all just an ident, you should move on in life. Your mother must not have meant those words, she was just too disturbed at that time. Be strong!" (Alex)


    "Well, there''s no point in arguing with you, you won''t listen anyway¡­" (Jin)


    .


    .


    Final Exam of the academy. Inside a dungeon.


    "Hey, We saw that monster first, you two go away from here!"


    As the arrogant boy screamed at Jin and Alex heughed with his friend.


    "A cursed child doesn''t have the right to participate in thispetition anyway, why don''t you simply give up already!"


    "Yeah, don''t get your hopes too up just because you got somepliments from the teachers."


    Jin simply looked at them and sneered:


    "I hear some desperate dogs bark at me, how amazing!" (Jin)


    Hearing Jin''s remark, the two kids became angry instantly, but didn''t attack¡­


    "What happened you don''t have the courage to attack now? Hmph, you are indeed a desperate dog it seems. All bark no bite-" (Jin)


    Just as Jin was about to curse the two kids, he felt pain in his chest. He looked down and found that a familiar sword with a familiar blue color has pierced his back and made a hole through his chest.


    Jin turned his head and found that the very close friend of his, who he trusted the most has pierced his back and made a hole through his heart. (If you remember the time when I described Jin''s scars, this one was the biggest of them all.)


    "W-why¡­" (Jin)


    "You are too talented, Jin. I hate that immense talent of yours. I have always hated the fact that you are so talented and I am continuously left behind by you. Sorry Jin, but I hate seeing you progress more than me¡­" (Alex)


    The two kids who were mocking Jin on purpose also had huge grins on their faces. It was as clear as day that these three have collided to plot against Jin. These two distracted Jin, while Alex who Jin trusted the most backstabbed him.


    Alex pulled out his sword and sheathed it.


    "This cave is out of the monitoring range of the teachers, nobody will know what happened to you, so just peacefully ept your fate, Jin." (Alex)


    As Alex said that he started to walk towards the exit of the cave the other two.


    "Goodbye, Jin Walt, the cursed child." (Alex)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note.


    Here''s the most awaited backstory of the character Jin and the backstory of how he became a viin.


    Question of the day.


    How many times have been you backstabbed before by your friends?


    1. One (That''s quite a low number, back in the day I used to get backstabbed every month, quite a newbie you are¡­.)


    2. Few (Oh, I see. You are a veteran in this field¡­.)


    3. On a daily basis (Hmm, you seem to have a sad past than most viins, are you okay?)


    4. Others (Tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 80 Jin’s Backstory: Part-2

    "Goodbye, Jin Walt, the cursed child." (Alex)


    As Alex was walking towards the exit of the cave, he suddenly felt mana concentrating behind him. He looked back and found that the cursed child which he had stabbed through the heart was still standing and his mana was concentrated toward his heart.


    "I didn''t expect you to betray me too, Alex¡­ What a disappointment¡­" (Jin)


    Jin concentrated his mana to stop the bleeding forcefully and temporarily patched his heart with mana. An ordinary awakener could never do such a feat.


    Jin has always been extremely talented when ites to mana control and he has mastered the ability to manipte the mana of his body to a great extent. (This might sound simple but forcefully patching your own heart with a mana barrier is no small feat, even if it''s temporary.)


    Jin brought out his great sword from his space ring and pointed it toward the three of them.


    "Well it''s not like I expected anything in the first ce¡­" (Jin)


    "How can that be!?" (Alex)


    Looking at Jin, Alex panicked and tried to run, he knew he was no match for Jin in the first ce, and the only way to take him down was to backstab, but that failed too. Now there''s no other way out, but to run and get out of this cave.


    If they get out of the cave they will be in the monitoring by the teachers and will be saved from dying.


    But how could Jin have left them to go after what they did¡­


    (By the way, Jin still has a sword made out of the bones of three individuals in his space ring¡­. Although it''s unclear how he smuggled those bones out of the dungeon¡­.)


    .


    .


    Twenty years before Rio''s transmigration.


    The human VS Orc war, Northern cold valley.


    A human could be seen standing on the head of the dead body of a huge giant Orc. The Orc''s body, this Orc once used to be an A-ranker and the leader of the Northern invasion toon''smander.


    However, now this Orc is lying down in the middle of a huge crater, peacefully with a great sword pierced through his head. All the previous chaos and loudness of the battlefield has died down all of a sudden. Whether it be human or Orc, everyone on the battlefield is looking at the human with shock.


    But the human didn''t care about the odd looks of those around him, he picked up his sword and pointed it towards the sky while saying loudly:


    "The general of the opponent army has been defeated! LONG LIVE THE IMPERIAL HUMAN ARMY!!!" (Jin)


    "YEAH!!"


    "YEAH!!"


    Everyone cheered up after the opponent was taken down, just a few minutes ago that giant Orc was raging on the battlefield trampling over humans like ants. But the next second a great sword came flying and pierced the head of the Orc pinning him down on the ground and creating a huge crater. The shockwave even killed the weaker Orcs around the crater.


    "Hey look at that cape, that guy must be Jin Walt, Themander of the Northern defensemand!"


    "Indeed I saw him while I was serving on my previous duty point. He indeed is strong but¡­"


    "But what?"


    "But that guy is famous for his cruelty on the battlefield-"


    Just as the guy was about to finish his sentence Jin turned his face towards him and threw his sword, the sword pierced the guy and killed him in an instant.


    While everyone was still shocked Jin simply said:


    "Don''t disrespect your superiors and focus on the battle!" (Jin)


    Hearing Jin, everyone immediately felt a chill run down their spine they immediately resumed their battle. With the death of the opponent general, the Orc army fell into chaos and started to retreat.


    "Where do you think you are going!! I haven''t had enough fun yet!!" (Jin)


    With a crazed smile on his face, Jin immediately jumped into the retreating group of Orcs and started a one-sided massacre of the Orcs. Bodies upon bodies continued to pile up, and as Jin''s face was smeared by the blood of the monster his crazed mentality started to make him look like a monster in the eyes of the other awakeners.


    (Jin''s title- ''the tiger of the North'' originated around the time he used to fight in the northern region at that time he was still an A-ranker. That was the time when he used to be a cruel and indifferent person, he was crazy for blood and killing.)


    .


    .


    A few dayster, the Northern defense force, Headquarters.


    Several A-rankers and other high-ranking members could be seen sitting in a hall. All of them seemed to be listening to the ns for the uing battles. The vicemander is the one describing all the ns while Jin and everyone else is providing their opinions every once in a while.


    "So, you are saying that we need to rescue a whole squadron which has been surrounded by the most elite force of the Orcs, howe those elite Orcs didn''te my way?" (Jin)


    "Well, to tell you the truthmander, thest overwhelming loss of the Orcs in your hands must have caused them to make a change in their attack strategy, they might be getting help from the demons this time." (Vicemander)


    "Or this could simply be a way to lure you away from the headquarters to that snowy in-" (Vicemander)


    "Hah, I don''t care about what traps they are trying toy, I will just break through them all!" (Jin)


    "W-well, but-" (Vicemander)


    "No buts! Get the awakeners ready, we are going to rescue the squadron immediately! Meanwhile you can take care of the headquarters yourself!" (Jin)


    "O-okay¡­" (Vicemander)


    As Jin said that he immediately dismissed the meeting and walked out of the hall, after he left everyone else also started to leave the meeting hall one by one.


    ''I bet he just wants to fight with those elite Orcs. He doesn''t even give a damn about rescuing the squadron, sigh~'' (Vicemander)


    ''Well, I have no choice, he might cut me in two pieces if I refused to obey, sigh~'' (Vicemander)


    .


    .


    The Snowy ins of the far north.


    "Commander, it seems that the squadron is still holding out somehow due to the several Fire mages among them and that mage over there, she must be the squadron leader, Anna Datt."


    The person looked beside him after he finished the report and found that Jin has already left and he has been talking to the air the whole time. He sighed in frustration and immediately ordered the other awakeners to start the rescue operation too.


    Jin found the area with the highest rank Orcs and immediately rushed at them at immense speed. While rushing he destroyed the pathway and all the Orcs that got in his way were killed by the mere air pressure created by his rush.


    What followed was a one-sided ughter again.


    "There indeed are some strong Orcs to y, hahahaha¡­.. Die you pigs, hahahahah!!" (Jin)


    After a few minutes of fighting the rescue was sessfullymenced and all the awakeners were now ready to retreat to the nearby post. The only problem was that Jin simply refused to stop the ughter of the Orcs.


    "Uh,mander! The Orcs are already retreating! Let''s retreat now too! Commander!"


    "ah! Shut up! The fight has just started I will kill all of these monsters, all of them! Hahahahaha!" (Jin)


    Jin kicked the awakener and sent him flying as he continued to ughter the fleeing Orcs.


    With each passing second Jin was going more and more insane, all the ughter he carried out has made him extremely bloodthirsty. The very day he first killed those three kids, he has been continuing to be more and more bloodthirsty and cold.


    All the previous sadness and guilt he felt when his parents died has now turned into hate for the monsters. With each monster, he ys, his hatred continues to grow instead of reduce.


    Just as Jin continued to drown in his hatred and was refusing to hear out the others asking him to stop, he felt a huge amount of magic concentrating and approaching him with huge speed.


    Jin immediately turned around and sliced the huge fireball with his great sword. He negated that magic by forcefully destroying its core.


    Although the attack could be considered a backstab it was not really powerful enough to even y a single adult Orc. But it sure brought Jin back to sanity. And the blood thirst in his eyes disappeared all of a sudden.


    Just when Jin was about to say something a woman in a mage''s clothing walked towards him and pped him on the face.


    "You finally stopped, you disgrace of amander! How long are you nning to go berserk, have you gone insane!" (Anna)


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    So, here is the second part of Jin''s backstory. Tell me in thements if you like it.


    Also, we are very close to thepletion of the first ark of the novel now. There might be only a few chapters left before we conclude this Ark and start with the next one.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 81 Shock The World!

    After the war ended.


    Being pped with reality Jin finally realized his increasingly out-of-control tendencies to do mass murders. When the war finally ended Jin was not able to satisfy his bloodlust for a long time, at that time he started to pay attention to the woman who made him aware of his insanity.


    As time passed feelings developed slowly Jin finally started to have a calm personality, he spent most of his final days in the army observing Anna from his office window, seeing her train the other war mages was a sight to behold.


    Of course, his strange personality never really went anywhere, though as he made Anna do theundry of about five hundred mages all by herself, as a punishment for pping her superior in the army.


    The puffed-up cheeks of Anna, washing theundry with her magic in the morning sunlight was nice scenery, for Jin teasing Anna was his second favorite thing, the first being massacre.


    He even followed her to the academy and ended up bing a teacher at the academy just to tease Anna after their retirement from the army. Eventually though, when that teasing turned into marriage proposals, no one knew.


    (Without Anna''s knowledge, Jin even managed to convince Anna''s parents, everything was ready, only Anna has to agree, and they would be married the very next hour.)


    .


    .


    Academy, outside the closed dungeon.


    While everyone was still busy taking care of the injured students, only a few people were able to notice Jin, whose expression looked pale, while holding Anna in his hands.


    With great difficulty, Jin was only able to mutter a few words:


    "T-this...this can''t be...¡­" (Jin)


    Just when Jin was being driven into insanity bit by bit, he heard the voice of the person he liked to tease so much:


    With half-opened eyes, and her face covered in blood, Anna said:


    "W-Well¡­.it seems¡­.i-I won''t be a-able to¡­.cough! cough!.... marry y-you¡­.afterall¡­.sorry¡­Jin¡­" (Anna)


    Even while saying this Anna''s face still had a rxed smile on her face. She seemed to be rxed¡­.


    .


    .


    .


    "H-hey, Rio, can you feel it too? The mana¡­." (Link)


    Link asked Rio with a perplexed face, he was not the only one who was perplexed though everyone seemed to have the same expression, time seemed to havee to a standstill all of a sudden¡­.


    "Yeah, the mana in the surroundings is increasing with tremendous speed..." (Rio)


    Rio replied with his same as-ever-expressionless face, but his voice was unusually quiet.


    All the teachers, the students, and everyone present in the radius of hundred kilometers of the area all felt the increasing concentration of mana, generally, this would have been a sign of arge-scale attack but surprisingly no one felt rmed by this mana flow.


    Instead, they felt a warmth from the mana currents, as if the mana itself was holding something dear to it in its warm embrace.


    .


    .


    Outskirts of Human Empire,


    Outside the newly opened SS-rank dungeon.


    Three individuals could be seen standing in the air as if gravity and otherws of nature don''t apply to them. As if the air was simr to ground for them, they could walk on it easily.


    "Finally, we managed to close it before a huge monster outbreak could happen¡­" (Neo Aldif)


    An extremely handsome man with dark purple hair and pupils said in a shrewd and yful tone. An insanely huge dragon could be seen flying beside him, this is his strongest summon, a spirit Fire dragon. The presence of this dragon is strong enough to distort the space around it. (Aldif family is a family of summoners.)


    (He has a p mark on his face, apparently, a certain frost mage pped him for his audacity¡­)


    "You are the one to talk, when all you did was fly around everywhere with your measly flying lizard, like a housefly! Such audacity!" (Raji)


    Looking at Raji''s face which is red from anger, Neo sighed and said:


    "As I said, I was just joking, forget about that letter already, will you. You are still as childish as you used to be in your freshman years in the academy." (Neo)


    "y-you¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Neo talk about the past Raji was just speechless, Neo is really an expert in changing topics without hesitation¡­


    "You used to cling to me all the time like a spoiled baby, and look at you now, you are hissing at me like a wild snake ready to pounce, how sad it is, my feeble heart can''t take this much stress, what am I gonna do!" (Neo)


    Looking at Neo who was being overly dramatic, Raji finally snapped:


    "I NEVER USED TO CLING TO YOU! DIE YOU BASTARD!!!" (Raji)


    She immediately started chasing Neo who was trying to flee.


    While they both were ying around, Ashtel looked at them as if he was already fed up with all this. Hearing their non-stop bickering for so long, he was having a huge headache from all this. The irritation could be seen on Ashtel''s face.


    ''Why do I have to suffer all this, I wanna go home¡­.'' (Ashtel)


    .


    Just when the three of them were messing around, they suddenly felt a mana wave all of a sudden. All three of them stopped and looked in the direction of the capital city with serious faces.


    In an instant, the mood filled with mischief turned into seriousness. They all looked at each other and remained silent for a while, all three of them had the same question in their mind:


    "This familiar lingering warmth in the flow of mana¡­is this¡­" (Neo)


    "Yeah, I am sure of it¡­" (Anna)


    "Sigh, after so many years we will finally be able to witness it again¡­" (Jin)


    As the mana continues to concentrate towards the capital, Astra, of the human empire, several neighboring nations also feel the strange mana flow.


    .


    .


    Elf Kingdom, Elf kings Castle


    Throne Room


    The elf king suddenly got up from his throne and walked towards the nearby window, facing the direction of the human empire.


    A faint smile appeared on his face:


    "Heh, it seems the alliance meeting this year will be much more interesting than I originally expected¡­" (???)


    "Indeed my lord, we might need to take humans a bit more seriously from now on¡­." (???)


    "Well, I always take them seriously, especially that human martial artist, Ashtel Rex, he is indeed a worthy opponent." (???)


    "Should I send someone to enquire about the situation in the human empire, my lord?" (???)


    "No, need. The next alliance meeting is not far away, we will know all the necessary details by then." (???)


    The same things happened in several other countries many SS-rankers felt the mana flow and rumors started to fly all over the world for a time the whole world was restless. Some were happy after hearing this news and some were not.


    .


    .


    Demon Kingdom, The prince''s castle.


    Alverto dismissed his retainers who has informed him of the recent rumors around the world. Although they couldn''t feel the mana flow because the demon kingdom is too far away from the human empire. But the rumors have already spread all over the world.


    Alverto''s handsome demon face twisted in irritation and anger and destroyed the furniture of his room:


    "tsk, it seems that I will have to do some changes in the n, the previous n was such a huge failure, not to mention that I didn''t find the ''fragment-holder'', now even this!" (Alverto)


    .


    .


    Academy, outside the dungeon


    Huge dark clouds suddenly started to appear in the sky and all of a sudden the whole sunny weather turned into a dark and gloomy one. In a radius of a hundred kilometers, the whole sky was covered with ck clouds. These are no mere clouds they are formed with the concentration of mana to the point that mana has started to turn into dense clouds.


    And the highest concentration is directly above Jin, who is holding Anna in his hands.


    Suddenly a huge pir of golden light pierced the clouds and directly descended on Jin. Everyone who was near Jin was pushed away several meters by descending golden light. The golden light seemed to be a direct blessing from the world itself, and the warmth of the mana seemed to be the caring touch of a mother for her child.


    The golden light was so bright that it could be seen from hundreds of kilometers away, but strangely it does not harm anyone''s eyes and does not cause any problems even if you look at it directly.


    Looking at this, everyone in the vicinity was dumbfounded, this spectacle was so great that the whole human empire seems to havee to a standstill. Everyone seems to be looking in the direction of the divine light.


    Looking at that pir of divine golden light, Rio had only one thought in his mind:


    "Enlightenment¡­" (Rio"


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Yes, I apologize, sorry for the long absence. But I was a little busy with some important work.


    Question of the day:


    What are your thoughts on today''s chapter?


    1. Waiting for so long, for this chapter seems to be worth it. (Well it took me a week to finallye up with the idea for the next few chapters so, the break was important.)


    2. It''s ok, but please update more! (I will try to improve the update rate, now that I have several new ideas and inspirations.)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 82 Enlightenment And World Authority!

    (Warning- Massive information dumps ahead.)


    1. Enlightenment- A unique phenomenon, during which an individual who has already reached the peak of his maximum talent forcefully breakthroughs the limits set on him by his physical body.


    Your max talent potential on your status window represents, how much strength your body is capable of holding. As we all know that too much of something can be harmful to you, simrly mana more than your holding capacity is dangerous.


    Many people all over the world die due to forcefully trying to break through their max potential thus damaging their own body and in extreme cases, it can lead to death too. If you forcefully try to break through by absorbing more and more mana in your body, eventually your body won''t be able to stand the pressure and st like a balloon filled with too much air. (So you will literally be a balloon if you do such a thing, so don''t try it at home.)


    But in some exceptional cases, when the individual has an extreme need for power or has an indomitable ambition, if their emotions and desire are strong enough that they get noticed by the world itself then, the world itself will help you surpass your limits by making the violent and rampaging mana flow into a slow and warm flow like a warmth of a mother''s hand helping her children to get up and go against their fate.


    The chances of this happening are extremely few though, there have been no witnesses of enlightenment being achieved by someone in thest two centuries. Thest time someone achieved enlightenment in the world was, the current dragon king, he achieved it about two-hundred fifty-nine years ago.


    (By the way, this is one of the main reasons why Rio did not let that opportunity of getting limitless potential go away from him. Rio is an anomaly to this world and there''s no way the world would have helped him break through his limitations that easily. This could have caused him to be forever slumped at C+ eventually getting expelled from the academy just like Jiang got.)


    (Of course, there are some other roundabout ways to increase your max potential, like Fade''s system or training your body to the point that it automatically breakthrough, although it''s a long and tedious process this is the most genuine out of them all, people like Fade and Link are just gifted children of this world.)


    .


    .


    Inside the giant pir of golden light.


    Oblivious to the whole world, Jin seems to be in a state of trance right now. He could hear several notifications sent by his status window in his mind, but he doesn''t have any time to listen or care about them, he seems to be totally focused on using the warm and steady mana currents to enhance his own physique, his body is slowly but surely breaking through the limits which used to be his biggest hindrance.


    ''I must save Anna, I can''t let this be ourst moment together, if I wait for the nearby S rank healers toe it would be toote by then and even the three SS rankers are not in the capital right now, I have to protect Anna! I must be strong! If I am strong enough I can stop Anna''s death! I just need to be strong!'' (Jin)


    Jin only had the thoughts of bing strong enough to save Anna in his mind at this moment, his intense emotions and desire caused a miracle to happen:


    [Ding! The host''s intense desire for strength has attracted the attention of the world''s blessing itself!]


    [Ding! The host has been blessed by the mana temporarily!]


    [Ding! The host has been blessed by the world temporarily!]


    [Ding! The intense me of ambition and the desire to change a destined death by the host has caused an alteration in fate!]


    [Ding! The host has opposed the heavenly luck and caused amotion in the threads of fate, several predetermined fates have changed!]


    [Warning! The heavenly luck is trying toe up with a countermeasure for the host''s atrocity¡­ error¡­. The ????? has been involved! Counter-measures are nullified!]


    [Ding! The host has sessfully fulfilled the condition for ascension!]


    [Ding! Ascending to rank SS-¡­.error¡­. the heavenly luck has denied the approval¡­. Error¡­. ????? Has been involved, proceeding with ascension¡­.]


    [Ding! Sessfully broke the limits of a mortal¡­ achieved world''s favor¡­.]


    [Ding! Choosing World authority type¡­.. error¡­.. ????? Has been involved ¡­.. World authority type changed to ''Time''¡­.. Finalizing the ascension¡­.]


    [Ding! Congrattions you have been upgraded from Rank S+ to SS-!]


    [Ding! You have been granted the Skill ''Space portal''!]


    [Ding! You have been granted the attribute of ''Time''!]


    [Ding! You have been granted World authority: Time (Level 1)!]


    During all these notifications, Jin was in a trance so he was not able to see the strangeness, he only had the thought of saving Anna on his mind.


    As the Notifications finally came to end, the weather started to clear and the pir of light started to dissipate, eventually, everything returned to as it used to be, as if nothing happened in the first ce.


    As the light faded, Jin woke up from his trance and felt his newfound powers, he immediately stretched his hand toward Anna:


    ''Please, work, save Anna!'' (Jin)


    [World Authority: Type Time (Level 1)!]


    Suddenly the time around Anna came to a standstill and the bleeding and the diminishing vitality stopped all of a sudden.


    ''Good, it seemed to have worked now I can carry her to an S rank healer, there''s still hope.'' (Jin)


    Thinking that, Jin immediately jumped into the sky and shot towards the direction of the alliance where you can find an S-rank healer easily. (The academy doesn''t have S-rank healers, they only have A-rank ones and below.)


    After many twists and turns peace finally returned to the academy.


    .


    (Warning- Massive information dumps ahead.)


    2. World Authority and Attribute: Every individual who has sessfully achieved SS rank is granted an attribute and a certain amount of authority over that attribute. An attribute is different from an element. Like the mage who has frost element and can use frost magic awakens frost attribute when they be SS rankers, just like Raji.


    A mage can use elements by spending mana as the cost, but attributes are different. An attribute represents your authority over that particr attribute like Raji has a frost attribute.


    Using attributes does not cost anything, you don''t need any mana, mental strength, chant, or magic circle. You just need to will it and you can use the power of that attribute limitlessly and without any cost.


    Of course, there are limitations. The limitation is your world authority level. The world authority level represents how much authority you have over the attribute. At level 1 you can only use it at a very small scale like Jin can only use it at Anna at once. But as your mastery over the skill increase your authority level increase, just Like Raji who can create huge mountains of eternal ice just by using her authority alone.


    World authority not only represents your attribute it even gives you the power to stand and fly in the air at will without using any mana. Travel underwater, live without oxygen, venture into the void, or be immune to damage below S-rank, all these things are possible with World authority.


    The higher your level of world authority the more ridiculous feats you can do.


    There''s a legend that if someone masters the world authority to the maximum level they can achieve the realm of a god and be capable of altering reality itself. But this is just a legend no one knows how true it is. After all, no one has yet discovered the maximum level of world authority yet.


    When two SS-rankers fight it is very likely that the one with more world authority will win but there are other possibilities too. The world is a limitless ce anything can happen here.


    .


    .


    As Rio was looking at the fading figure of Jin in the sky he heard an unexpected notification from his status window:


    [Ding! You have witnessed the enlightenment from extremely close proximity!]


    [Ding! Due to your talent ''Sword Aptitude (X),'' you had an epiphany!]


    [Congrattions! Your rank has been upgraded from B rank to B+!]


    Looking at these notifications Rio was very confused:


    ''What, when did I have an epiphany, why don''t I know about that?'' (Rio)


    The same thing happened to Link too, because he also has insane talent. He was upgraded from B- to B rank. Other people who also witnessed the enlightenment from close proximity also gained a little bit of enhancement but not so much like Rio and Link.


    Link ced his hand on Rio''s shoulder and smirked:


    "It seems I am actually quite smart, I had an epiphany just by looking at that pir of light, hehe" (Link)


    Rio got irritated by looking at that smug look on Link''s face and pped Link''s hand away:


    "Keep your hand away, or I will slice it and feed it to pigs¡­" (Rio)


    "Tsk, you are really mean. By the way, it seems the academy is going to close for a few days after all this has happened, how about we visit my father''s guild sometime together, you can get an overview of how guilds work..." (Link)


    Rio thought a little bit and agreed:


    "I wille if I am free¡­" (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    I know there are huge info dumps in this chapter but it was very important to exin these few things, they are important to the future development of the story.


    Also, the first volume ising to an end, I think there are only two or three more chapters left before we are done with the first volume. Then we can start with the next one. So, tell me in thements if you want chapters on any particr topic or character I will add some extra chapters to this volume based on your opinions.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 83 Reasons And Aftermath!

    After a week, since the ascension of Jin.


    Rio''s dorm Room.


    Rio is lying down on the sofa casually and looking at the TV, a reporter is currently rambling about the incident that urred in the academy:


    "The previous rumor that the academy has been under attack which was being suppressed by the alliance has been finally confirmed true!" (John, the reporter)


    (This guy seriously looks angry, even his face has be red from anger and his voice is loud as he is shouting at the top of his lungs as if he is nagging his children.)


    "It turns out there has been a huge demon attack during the final exams of the first-year students of the academy¡­ out of all the 300 students that took part in that exam and went inside the B-rank dungeon, name Lavake, only 160 of them have made it out alive!" (John)


    "Can you believe it! This is such a high death rate, those 140 children could have been major pirs of support for the whole human empire! Each of them had the potential to at least reach rank B- and support the society to flourish!" (John)


    "This is the second most devastating blow done to the academy over the span ofst 500 years!" (John)


    "The first being the attack carried out by a rouge berserk dragon suddenly appearing due to the mutation in the dungeon and killing about 200 students, which was about 350 years ago!" (John)


    "This just shows that we have repeated the same mistake again by not providing the young children with enough protection and care!" (John)


    "How are we supposed to send our children to schools after we hear the sudden and unreasonable death of so many of the students!? How are we supposed to trust the school staff with the safety of our children!?" (John)


    "Not to mention the death of so many students there are several students who are severally injured and will take at least a month to heal, several of them are even suffering from trauma!" (John)


    "Also new reports have confirmed that a well-renowned S-ranker Anna Datt, who has been working as a teacher in the academy for quite a few years now, has been seriously injured and an S-rank healer is currently busy healing her, she is suspected to be staying hospitalized for three months at the very least!" (John)


    "Although it''s a relief that the timely appearance of a new SS-ranker Jin Walt saved her life and she was able to survive this near-death encounter but it is suspected that it will take one or two years for her to return to her full strength again!" (John)


    "This means that out of the total 47 S-rankers humanity have, now there are only 24 active ones left, as Mr. Jin has moved up the ranks and Ms. Anna is injured, the rest are either retired or not capable of wielding their full strength anymore!" (John)


    "Although the gap can be easily covered by the appearance of a new SS-ranker, we seriously need to focus on improving the number of S-rankers, otherwise it could lead to major problems like disorder and chaos in society-" (John)


    *CLICK*


    After looking at the same news for a few days Rio got bored and finally decided to shut off the TV.


    ''Sigh, I am kind of bored now, it has been an uneventful week, nothing happened at all and all I have been doing is training and watching some inte to kill time¡­ now even the inte has filled with this news¡­'' (Rio)


    Apparently, the academy has canceled the celebration fest which was going to be carried out after the final exams and a month-long holiday has been dered so that the injured students can recover before moving to their next term. Due to this Rio has been living in his dorm room for a whole week without going out once. (He never really made friends to hang out with¡­)


    Rio got up from the sofa walked to the same old 3d printer and printed a tea for himself. He took the tea and stood near the window while gazing at the setting sun and sky tainted with red and golden sun rays. (Don''t forget this is a sci-fi novel, Rio is living in a highly advanced world with real lightsabers in existence.)


    Looking at the amazing scenery Rio started to think about the strange events that has happened during the exam.


    ''In the first ce, it doesn''t make any sense why did Alverto appear in that dungeon out of nowhere, just like that time when that octopus appeared out of nowhere.'' (Rio)


    ''Alverto didn''t mention anything about the ''fragment'' like that octopus though. What could be the reason for his sudden appearance? In the first ce Alverto never really appeared much in the novel I read, he is basically an extra character in the novel the only demon who had the most appearances was the demon king himself.'' (Rio)


    ''I don''t know why an extra character like him would suddenly get involved in the main plot, also when he appeared in front of me¡­ I suddenly lost control of this body, and my body shouted at him all on its own, is it possible that the original Rio''s soul which has been merged with mine has transmitted its feelings of hatred in me too?'' (Rio)


    (Indeed, our mc Rio is a cool-headed guy he could have never lost his cool like that, Rio is the type of character who would not even flinch a little bit if you cut his arm or leg, he is basically that emotionless. I am not bluffing.)


    ''There''s so many questions and no answers¡­. At least it''s a relief I was able to take back control of my body after just a few seconds but strangely every time I think about Alverto something inside me, makes me hate him, well Alverto did kill the previous Rio''s parents after all, the drift city massacre was his doing.'' (Rio)


    ''Also there''s one more very strange thing, why did Raji croft be absent during all this happened? ording to the novel she should have left a whileter for the SS-rank dungeon¡­'' (Rio)


    Until now, Rio don''t know that the absence of Raji from the academy was all his doing. If he hadn''t put that book in Fade''s bag, the heavenly luck would not have changed the plot, the changes done by Fade''s plot armor caused Raji to leave the academy early if she hadn''t left early, and there would have been no way that Alverto has dared to show up, even he knows that an SS-ranker is no joke.


    (That book was named the ''Grimoire of misfortunes'' actually, isn''t that a good name¡­)


    Anyone who held that book or got involved in the changes caused by the sh of the SS-rank item the grimoire of misfortune and Fade''s plot armor got affected by harm.


    Lia held the book first and ended up nearly being tortured by a demon, eventually saved by a divine spirit. Rio held the book and tried to destroy it, in turn, his heart and body suffered destruction but the high-ss potion saved his life.


    Fade held the book for the second longest time and ended up being tortured by a demon. Anna held the book for the longest time and suffered from destined death, but Jin defied destiny itself and saved her life by opposing the heavenly luck and the effects of the grimoire were also canceled by him.


    Everyone else like Liam, Riya, and all the students who died or got injured just got affected by the changes caused by Fade''s plot armor and became the innocent victim in this event which was not originally supposed to happen in the novel, which Rio once read.


    All this happened just because of a single book. If Rio had left that book with Lia and ignored its existence only Lia would have suffered from the consequences of the misfortune, and all the students who died could have easily been saved. (What do you guys think what would you have done, sacrifice the innocent students or sacrifice your tsundere waifu? Tell me in thements.)


    .


    *DING*


    Just when Rio was busy thinking about all the strange things which happened during the final exams, his smartwatch suddenly got a notification from Link:


    [Hey Rio, I have already asked Riya and Lia if they areing or not and they both agreed, we are going to go on a tour of my father''s guild after two days, be on time.]


    Rio looked at the message and veins popped up on his face¡­


    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1--§ão§® "When did this guy get Lia''s contact info¡­." (Rio)


    Rio crushed the teacup in his hand, and the tea spilled on the ground, but Rio didn''t care and a viinous look appeared on his face:


    "I am going to crush this guy''s **** " (Rio) (You know what he gonna crush I don''t need to write¡­)


    .


    .


    Author''s note:


    So, this is thest chapter of the first volume guys, another chapter will be a bonus or extra chapter, which would be about the characters, basically, the main plot of the first volume ends here and only a few side-stories are left to upload, after that we can start with the second volume.


    Question of the day:


    What are your thoughts on the novel so far? (You have already read a whole volume give me your opinions so I can further improve it. You can praise me if you want.)


    Lastly, I appreciate your support of you very much. Your support puts food on my table, so thank you all.

 Chapter 84 Double Date: Part-1

    Near the Academy''s main Gate


    An extremely luxurious limo could be seen. This luxurious car is obviously custom-made with red-tinted windows and a shining ck color with golden and red stripes giving it the look of a resting dragon.


    The number te has only one word written on it in golden characters-"Rex".


    (Yeah you thought it right, this is obviously Link''s personal car, which he uses to go to drink coffee sometimes. Like I said earlier Link is filthy rich like money is just a number for him.)


    Aside from the limo, there are several other cars standing in line all of them are muscle cars filled with several bodyguards. Each bodyguard is at least a B-ranker or above. Link''s personal bodyguard team has about 20 B-rankers, and 5 A-rankers and his personal butler is an S-ranker.


    Two young men can be seen standing beside the luxurious car, they seemed to be waiting for someone. Both have a rose in their hand and both are wearing expensive and fancy-looking clothes and sunsses.


    The young man with an expressionless face suddenly said:


    "Hey, do we really¡­. have to stand like this?... and why do I have to wear this fancy looking dress¡­" (Rio)


    "Tch! Don''t tell me you were nning to go on the date wearing your regr and casual clothes?" (Link)


    Hearing Link, Rio made a puzzled face and said:


    "No, I mean decent clothes should be enough, why are we wearing such fancy clothes¡­. How do I say it¡­. We look like rich scumbags who can''t walk straight after seeing a woman." (Rio)


    "What are you talking about dude!? We look like a rich gentleman, Hey Boris! Tell me do I not look like a handsome CEO of apany!?" (Link)


    The personal butler of Link and an S-ranker Boris made a face as if he was looking at garbage:


    "Young master, I think Mr. Rio is indeed right, I think your choice of clothes has some weird thinking behind it, this is why I told you not to look for love advice from the inte!" (Boris)


    After speaking that Boris proceeded to spit on the ground in annoyance.


    "F*ck, you spoiled shoes! Can''t you control your damn mouth, you old geezer!" (Link)


    Due to annoyance veins could be seen on Boris''s bald head:


    "Hah! Don''t forget this old geezer used to clean your diapers when you used wet yourself in the middle of the night!" (Boris)


    "I can''t believe how they agreed to your engagement when you are such a crybaby!" (Boris)


    "Hey! Stop telling my dark history to everyone! And why are you all looking at me like that!" (Link)


    While Link was busy bickering with his personal butler Rio started to think about how all this mess started.


    .


    On the day of the double date, at 1:00 A.M.


    Outside Rio''s dorm room''s door.


    *bang**bang* (Loud banging on the door)


    "Hey! Rio are you awake! Come out! I want to talk! Hey!" (Link)


    "It''s urgent bro! If you don''te out fast, I will have to destroy this door!" (Link)


    Just when Link was about to kick the door open, Rio suddenly opened the door and said in a very cold voice:


    "Just try it¡­ and I will rip apart your leg¡­" (Rio)


    Looking at Rio''s murderous eyes, Link hesitated a bit and then gave up destroying the door. He smiled and said:


    "W-well, putting that matter aside I have something to give you!" (Link)


    The butler standing behind Link handed him an over-decorated box. Rio could even see some rare gems attached to that box.


    "What is this?" (Rio)


    "I bought two sets of clothes both look the same I will give you one, wear them on today''s date, it would be so awesome!" (Link)


    Looking at Link''s huge smiling face, Rio felt ufortable and reluctantly took the clothes.


    ''It is really difficult to believe that this sunny and always smiling guy used to be a sadist who loved torturing people, Seriously the power of love is terrifying it can convert a wild wolf into a house dog...'' (Rio)


    "But why did youe in the middle of the night, don''t tell me you have caught the stupidity disease from Riya" (Rio)


    "Well I was so excited about the double date that I totally forgot about giving them to you the past few days, then I suddenly remembered about it a few minutes ago and came to deliver them instantly!" (Link)


    Rio just looked at Link''s face and felt that the shine of stupidity on this guy seemed to be too bright, bright enough to blind his eyes.


    .


    Back to present


    ''But seriously, this guy is beyond the redemption point, he is too deep in this abyss of love.'' (Rio)


    Rio looked at Link who was still bickering with his bodyguards and said:


    "Hey Link, why did you bring so many bodyguards won''t your Butler be enough to protect you, he''s an S-ranker after all." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Link stopped bickering with his bodyguards and said:


    "Well, that was the original n, but due to thest academy incident my father has increased the security measures, I can''t go against him¡­" (Link)


    Link shook his head helplessly, he himself was aware of this.


    "Well they will apany us till we get inside the guild after that we will be on ourselves so it''s not a big problem¡­ in a worst-case scenario, I will just sneak away with Riya, and I know hundreds of ways to sneak away." (Link)


    Hearing Link Boris sneered and said:


    "I advise you not to sneak young master, otherwise I will have to tell your friends how you broke your father''s favorite flower vase yesterday-" (Boris)


    "Hey, I said don''t talk about my dark history!" (Link)


    Looking at the continuous bickering of Link and Boris, looking at the other guards trying to control themselves fromughing, Rio felt that Link must have grown to be loved by everyone around him, not only his family even the servants have such a great connection with him.


    Since Rio had never experienced family love for two lives, looking at all this felt strange to him, he just thought he has missed something precious. Although Rio has the childhood memories of the original Rio they are too fragmented and discontinuous and he can''t feel any of the emotions in these memories at all.


    ''I must be nice¡­. Being taken care of by your mother¡­..'' (Rio)


    Looking at these friendly guards, it is hard to believe that they died tragically at the hands of Fade in order to protect Link, in the original plot they would have suffered the wrath of Fade the protagonist. Fade used his newly learned ck me spell on these guards.


    (ck mes- A forbidden magic spell, which creates pitch ck mes and burns the opponent slowly, like a long torture. This me was once used frequently used to torture enemy spies to get information out of them by demons. Its use is banned in the human empire.)


    ''I hope they don''t suffer the same fate¡­'' (Rio)


    Link stopped his chit-chat with his bodyguards and said:


    "But really! Where are those two, why are they not here yet, they are taking so much time¡­" (Link)


    "By the way isn''t aren''t we standing on the opposite side of the academy''s gate, we should be standing on the other side, right?" (Rio)


    "Ah, now that you say that Ipletely forgot about that!" (Link)


    Who knows what came into Link''s mind, he suddenly picked the luxurious car up and walked to the other side, and then put the car down.


    Rio looked at this with an emotionless face.


    ''Was it really necessary to pick that car weighing above a ton just to walk to the other side, can''t you just walk from the side¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head helplessly and looked at Link with pity


    ''I didn''t know that love can cause mental retardation, sigh, I should meditate more so that I don''t get affected by it too¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio Looked at Boris and said:


    "Perhaps, you should consider a high-rank healer, they might be able to cure him¡­" (Rio)


    Boris looked extremely serious all of a sudden and said:


    "Foolishness is not a disease, Mr. Rio, this is incurable¡­" (Boris)


    Looking at Boris shaking his head in helplessness Rio felt amused.


    Just then Rio heard Link''s surprised tone from the other side:


    "Ah, they are here, finally!" (Link)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    So, here''s the bonus chapter you guys have been waiting for. This is just one of the many, I am nning on writing at least four or five bonus chapters before moving to the next volume.


    If you guys have any suggestions you can tell me in thements I will write a chapter if your idea is interesting enough.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 85 Double Date:Part-2

    Lia''s Pov


    Academy dorms: Lia''s Room


    Although Lia is from a rich household she still prefers living in this dormitory, after all here she can avoid her dad who has been pestering her all day ever since he found out that she got a boyfriend. She used to miss her father when she was little and now she gets annoyed by his pestering. (Basically, she is suffering from sess.)


    Most of the students prefer living in the academy dorms just because they can reach the ss fast and easily. After all, no one wants to gette and since every student has a single room assigned to them, they can simply enjoy the facility for free. (Don''t forget this is the greatest academy in the human kingdom, this much privilege is nothing. Even the chefs in the cafeteria are extremely good, you can enjoy free food, and most importantly the gym membership is free¡­)


    Even today Lia was having a nice dream while sleeping peacefully and then all of a sudden someone started to bang on the door, Lia had to get up at 3:00 am and open the gate in annoyance.


    "Oh! You finally opened the door! Hey don''t close the door! Help me choose the clothes!" (Riya)


    Looking at Riya who had a pitiful look on her face, Lia had to finally let her inside. Riya who was carrying several huge bags with her entered Lia''s room and immediately started to unpack those huge bags.


    "What are you even carrying these many clothes for!?" (Lia)


    "W-well you see, I-I can''t decide what to wear for the date, so I brought them here for you to choose!" (Riya)


    "And why are carrying these many cosmetics!? Not to mention its 3:00 am right now! You even ruined my peaceful sleep!" (Lia)


    Although Lia was scolding Riya, of course, Riya didn''t even bother to listen to a single thing, she just continued her own things, then all of a sudden she noticed a white small cat lying near the window, the cat seemed to be looking directly at her as if inspecting her.


    *meow*


    "Wha! When did you get a cat!?" (Riya)


    Riya immediately jumped on the cat with shining eyes and took it in her arms. Feeling the smooth fur of the cat made Riya''s eyes shine brighter.


    ''Well, that''s not a cat, it''s a Lion..'' (Lia)


    Looking at Kai who was snuggling in Riya''s arms, Lia smiled evilly and said:


    "My father sent him to me, its name is Kai, and he is a veryzy and chubby fellow, he can''t even walk for a few minutes¡­" (Lia)


    "Meow!!!" (Kai)


    ''What is this woman saying, chubby!? Lazy!? Me!? You must be kidding!! This great and mighty Lion is by no meanszy! It''s just that I can''t stay in my Lion form all the time otherwise it will drain Lia''s mana continuously!'' (Kai)


    Kai said many things in his head to protest against the false usations, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was ''meow'', nothing else.


    "Indeed this guy is really chubby, but his fur is so smooth!" (Riya)


    ''Hey don''t rub your face on me, you indecent woman! I will sue you for animal abuse!'' (Kai) (Disimer- no cats were harmed when making this chapter.)


    (Well Kai has been with humans for a long time he knows how to sue someone, so be careful, who knows, your neighborhood cat is a spirit cat who might actually sue you one day, and thepensation would be 5 fish.)


    "Hey! Let''s get started


    .


    .


    5:00 AM


    Lia''s Dorm Room


    The whole room is a huge mess, with makeup materials, clothes, shoes, etc. Everything is scattered all over the room, and two young girls lie on the floor exhausted.


    "Like I said that blue one is better! You should wear that!" (Lia)


    "But that one is too revealing! It would be embarrassing to wear it!" (Riya)


    "Then how about this white one!" (Lia)


    Looking at Lia''s fierce face, Riya swallowed her saliva and finally agreed to the dress.


    As the two girls messed around, time went by in a blink of an eye. After the preparation, both of them left for the academy''s main gate, where they agreed to meet up with Link and Rio.


    ''Sigh~ it took so much time to get ready because of this idiot, we are already half an hourte¡­'' (Lia)


    "Hey! Stop running like that Riya! You will trip over!" (Lia)


    "Yeah I know! But I guess I am too excited, hehe!" (Riya)


    Riya smiled sheepishly and pulled Lia''s hand to run with her, Lia had no choice but to follow suit, and eventually, they reached the main gate.


    Lia looked at the huge luxurious car and a huge number of bodyguards, a huge red carpet wasid on the door of the car and bodyguards were standing on both sides of it. This is like soldiers weing their lord returning from a grand victorious battle.


    The moment Lia saw Link and Rio she was shocked beyond belief, not because they looked handsome but because they looked like those yboy second-generation young masters nning on taking a woman to her ruin.


    Link and Rio both had flowers in their hand and both looked like old yboys ready to enchant any women.


    Even though Lia was shocked she still proceeded steadily and came in front of them with Riya. The moment Riya saw Link she directly jumped into his arms as if she has been separated from him for many decades and can''t wait to reunite with him.


    "You look beautiful, my darling!" (Rio)(Rio is speaking in a cheesy ent here, imagine an extremely shiny background and a young master with a shining face flirting with a girl.)


    As Rio said that he gave the flowers to Lia.


    "Wh-who said I am your da-darling!? Any-anyway there was no need for these flowers, it''s not like we are ma-marrying or something¡­" (Lia)


    "Eh, you don''t need them, my darling!" (Rio)


    "S-stop with that strange ent!"


    Just when Rio and Lia were greeting each other a white cat jumped from behind andnded on Lia''s shoulder. The cat looked at Rio with human-like curiosity in its eyes.


    ''Lia, who is this guy, how do I say it, there''s definitely something strange about him, although I don''t remember properly he has a strange aura on him which I seem to have encountered before when I was with Tomar.'' (Kai)


    ''What are you talking about?'' (Lia)


    ''Anyway, you should be careful.'' (Kai)


    While Kai and Lia were secretly talking in their head, Rio looked at the cat, although his face was expressionless, he had a strange feeling in his heart.


    ''Hmm, the aura on this cat, I seem to have sensed it when Lia was thrown out of that B-rank dungeon¡­ in the novel Lia had no such cat, looks like the butterfly effect has appeared again.'' (Rio)


    Rio looked at the cat which was snuggling on Lia''s shoulder, jealousy shed by in his eyes. Just when Rio was looking at the cat, the cat was also staring at him, as if assessing him. (Imaginary sparks flew in the air due to the collision of the two staring at each other.)


    ''Should I kill this cat, it will take a single attack anyway¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Why do I feel killing intent from this human¡­ strange..'' (Kai)


    While Rio and Kai were staring daggers at each other, Link''s butler came to inform them all that they should get going now. Riya dragged Link and sat near him in the car, snuggling in his arms like a cat, Link had a troubled look on his face, and his preparations for impressing Riya went down the drain because Riya was already too excited to go on a date.


    Lia shyly took the initiative to hold hands with Rio and sat together. While sitting Lia looked at Riya.


    ''How is this girl so brazen, I can never cling on someone like that!? So embarrassing!'' (Lia)


    "You took the initiative to hold my hand, is it because I look extra handsome in this costume? Perhaps I should wear this often¡­" (Rio)


    "N-no, you look good the way you are, n-no need to go that far¡­" (Lia)


    Looking at Lia who was being extra nice today, Rio smiled evilly and said:


    "Heh, even you can be so romantic every once in a while, that''s unexpected¡­" (Rio)


    "I-I am just¡­just¡­" (Lia)


    Lia''s face became red like a tomato and she continuously averted her eyes from Rio, as if to hide her embarrassment.


    ''Oh god! How can I say such embarrassing things!....'' (Lia)


    As the four continued to pester each other, the car started and thus started today''s wonderful double date, which will be remembered as dark history by all four of them in the future.


    .


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    Here is the second part. Tell me your thoughts in thement section also if you have any ideas, like you want to see certain events during this double date, you can tell me in thements, I will consider your opinions and adjust the next chapter ordingly.


    Today''s question:


    Who is the best waifu:


    1. Riya (An energetic one, who will hug you all of a sudden.)


    2. Lia (A shy tsundere, who will make your heart bleed from cuteness overload.)


    3. Both (Who cares, I am gonna catch them all!)


    Hidden option:


    4. Author''s keyboard (This waifu will punch you with sweet chapters containing explicit content.... cough! Cough! I mean good study material¡­. Cough! Cough!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 86 Rio Became A Senior!

    An unknown forest area, outside the human capital.


    "huff¡­. Haa¡­"


    A man wearing luxurious red clothes, with golden essories all over his body, could be seen running desperately trying to get out of this huge forest. He has several wounds all over his body and his condition is very terrible.


    Looking at his clothes, anyone can tell he is wealthy, which can make people doubt why he doesn''t have any bodyguards. Right now, he seems to be running for his life from something.


    As continued to run desperately, he finally saw the end, he could see the clearance, and he thought that once he gets out of this forest he will be able to find others for safety. He could finally escape this nightmare that''s been haunting him for quite a long time.


    A smile appeared on his wounded face:


    "J-just a little bit more¡­ and ¡­. I will be able to get out¡­. Hehe.."


    "Hmm, indeed¡­" (???)


    Just as he was about to get out of this forest someone arrived from behind and whispered in his ears like a demon:


    "¡­. But toote¡­" (???)


    "W-wh-!?"


    Before the wounded man could say anything, he felt immense pain in his chest he looked and found that his heart was pierced by a dagger and a huge amount of blood was flowing out from the wound.


    The wounded man fell to the ground and his body started to twitch before he finally died a horrible death. His face still had the expression of surprise and fear with his eyes wide open, seemingly trying to figure out how he died so fast.


    A person appeared near the dead body and slowly checked and confirmed that the man was indeed dead. Just as he was about to leave, a one-handed man wearing the suit of a bodyguard attacked him from behind with a sword.


    But before he couldnd the attack an arrow came flying and sted the bodyguard''s head into smithereens, following which the bodyguard''s body also fell to the ground lying there dead and cold.


    The assassin wearing a ck mask suddenly heard a nervous voice from his earphones:


    "W-what are you doing, Ars! H-he co-could have killed you!" (???)


    Hearing this a frown appeared on Ars''s face:


    "I was just distracted a little bit¡­ nheless you saved me, I owe you one, Leo¡­" (Ars)


    "W-well, rush ba-back fast, the master is ca-calling!" (Leo Roserolt)


    "Yeah, I would be back." (Ars Lothario)


    After the voice fell silent, Ars looked at the two dead bodies once and shook his head, then he finally left the ce, leaving behind those two dead bodies to rot.


    .


    On a huge tree, a kilometer away.


    A young boy who had a bow in his hand sighed:


    "Th-thankfully that arrownded, otherwise, ma-master would have beaten me to death!" (Leo)


    "Ars is leaving the area and heading to the base, I should hu-hurry to." (Leo)


    While climbing down the tree Leo kept trying to ease his nervousness, this was the first time he had actually killed someone, simrly, this was both of their first mission together which was given by their master.


    But Leo didn''t understand how Ars can calmly kill people even though this was his first mission too.


    "No matter how many years, I never get used to this guy¡­" (Leo)


    Even though Ars is the same age as Leo and both of them are still very young, Ars was able to slice off all the other bodyguards of this wealthy man, easily. But the Guard Caption was a tough nut. He let this wealthy man escape by putting his life on the line to stop Ars. But in the end, they were able to finish their mission.


    After running at full speed for a few minutes, Leo came to a car that was floating in the air above the ground. This is the standard and cheapest flying car which is created with today''s advanced technology. It uses a mana core as its fuel.


    A man wearing a ck coat could be seen standing near the car. He has a ss of wine in his hand and he seems to be enjoying his time looking at the full moon in the sky.


    Leo looked and found that Ars has already returned before him, even though he was far from him.


    "Master, we havepleted the mission. But¡­" (Leo)


    The man drinking wine looked at Leo and smiled:


    "Good. What do you want to say?"


    "Master, why did we have to kill that man, though?" (Leo)


    "Well he was a murderer and did quite horrible deeds in the past, anyway it was a good opportunity to test both of your skills now I am sure that you both will be able to carve out your name in the future. Good. Now I should take both of you to the greatest academy of the human empire."


    The man took a sip of the wine looked at the two of his disciples and smiled brightly:


    "The day for the entrance ceremony hase after all¡­"


    .


    .


    Outside the Academy


    A young girl with pink hair could be seen running with a school bag. It seems she is running towards her school because she has gottente from sleeping too much in the morning.


    But the girl has a huge and bright smile on her face, her pink continued to flow in the wind as she ran. Her face looked cute and smiling as if she was a pure and shy maiden with a gentle and easygoing personality, who didn''t even know how to get angry.


    All the people who looked at her running figure smiled seemingly enchanted by her beauty.


    Yet the inner monologue in her mind seemed to differ:


    ''F**k! I slept too much, like an old pig! It''s my first day at the greatest academy and I am alreadyte for the entrance ceremony. This day is f**king sh*tty as hell.'' (Lenn Koffer)


    ''My academy life will be a sh*tshow if I gotte on the first day!'' (Lenn)


    If someone could hear the number of abusive words in her head, they would be shocked to death, thinking how someone who looks so pure and gentle like her could say such things.


    Although her appearance and her thoughts made a stark contrast she clearly had some skills she was able to run so fast and was able to avoid getting crashed, she have insane instincts indeed.


    After running for a while, Lenn finally arrived at the front gate of the academy, she showed her id and hurriedly entered. The gate closed after she entered.


    "Phew~ I barely made it¡­" (Lenn)


    Just when Lenn was sighing in relief a girl jumped on her and hugged her tightly.


    "Lenn! You are finally here! I have been waiting for you for so long, we both are in the same academy!"


    Looking at her friend, Lenn''s face had a frown on it. When she felt her friend pressing huge bazookas against her she could not help butpare them to her t board-like front page.


    ''Fu**king bi**h get off me, what do you even eat to get so big? Stop rubbing them against me, you wh*re'' (Lenn)


    Although Lenn was cursing in her head, her face remained the same, she still had a huge bright smile on her face like a shining sun emitting brilliance. (Although her inner version was emitting darkness and had horns on her head. Like a demon in the dark night.)


    Lenn hurriedly pushed her friend away, while showing a smile:


    "Ah, it''s been a while, but let''s go and attend the entrance ceremony first otherwise we will get in trouble¡­" (Lenn)


    "Indeed, let''s go, but you are still like an angel Lenn, just like you always used to be. You are so beautiful and gentle¡­"


    ''Yeah, in your dreams, bi**h'' (Lenn)


    While cursing in her head Lenn followed her friend to the ceremony. After all, she didn''t want to get in trouble just because she ended up wasting time with this old hag of a woman.


    What they didn''t notice was a young man with ck hair sitting on the bench, near the tree, looking at them with an expressionless face.


    "Hmm, I already became a senior, this lively atmosphere brings back memories¡­" (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note


    Okay, guys, we are back with a new volume with a new beginning and a new adventure-filled journey. There are new characters to look at. Also, our expressionless extra has be a senior now, you guys better start respecting him, chat with me ''All hail Rio!'' Cough cough! Well, thanks for reading.


    Question of the day:


    Which character are you more interested in:


    1. Ars (A gloomy-looking guy, with anger issues.)


    2. Leo (A nervous yet insanely handsome guy, with a weak personality.)


    3. Lenn (A double face girl a gentle person, with an abusive tongue.


    Top-secret heaven-defying earth-shattering Hidden option:


    4. The author. (Who likes to disappear and reappear out of nowhere?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 87 New Academic Year Starts...

    Inside the entrance ceremony hall.


    Looking at all the students sitting, Lenn also sat down beside her friend.


    ''But seriously this hall is so well decorated and even the air feels nice in here, they must be using magic powered air conditioners here¡­'' (Lenn)


    "Why are you squirming around so much, can''t you sit properly, tsk¡­" (Ars)


    Hearing Ars say that, Lenn''s anger reached a new height. Looking at the guy sitting beside her she had a fierce look on her beautiful face. (Sorry guys, there are no jade beauties here¡­. Cough! My cough is acting again perhaps I should stop reading those manhuas.)


    "What does that have to do with you, it''s my choice!" (Lenn)


    "Hmph, not only are your actions unpleasant you even have an unpleasant tongue, tsk women¡­" (Ars)


    "What do you mean unpleasant you were the one who started this, god damn bastard!" (Lenn)


    "Oh you can swear too, tsk tsk young people these days tsk tsk¡­" (Ars)


    "Hah, as if you are not one of the young people yourself, just shut up I don''t want to talk to you bastard!" (Lenn)


    "tsk, I should have sat somewhere else, why do I have to bear with this foul-mouthed girl, such an unlucky day¡­" (Ars)


    ''This guy is totally messing with me on purpose, yet even if I know I can''t help but get angry at him, this piece of sh*t is so annoying!'' (Lenn)


    Looking at the guy who was acting all high and mighty, Lenn had a serious headache.


    ''It''s been a while since Ist felt so annoyed with someone, this guy pisses me off so much, I just want to punch him in the face!'' (Lenn)


    Just when the two were arguing the principal came on the stage and everyone fell silent including Lenn and Ars too. The principal gave a simple speech for encouragement and then she started to brag about the previous year''s students.


    "The previous year''s students had some very excellent and talented individuals, especially that kid named Link, even though he was a B-ranker he was still able to defeat A-rankers during his first year in the academy, this level of talent is hard toe by in many centuries." (Raji)


    "You all should take him as an example and work hard to achieve great feats." (Raji)


    "Now then, let us introduce the first ranker of this year''s entrance exam ¨C Leo Roserolt!" (Raji)


    As the principal''s speech ended an insanely handsome blonde hair boy stepped on the stage, nervousness could be clearly seen on his face, he looked like he could faint from anxiety any moment now.


    "That guy, he can''t get past his stage fright issue, he really has an idiotic personality, ugh¡­" (Ars)


    "What does that have to do with you anyway, stop criticizing others, your own personality is terrible too!" (Lenn)


    "tsk, I am not talking to you, can you stop meddling in my business, tsk in the end all women are the same, they can''t help but meddle in others'' business¡­" (Ars)


    "Wha! You were the one who first messed up things, you were the one who meddled in my business first, and yet you are acting as if you are the victim, seriously how shameless can one be!" (Lenn)


    "Whatever, I don''t care¡­" (Ars)


    "Ugh, damn you!" (Lenn)


    After saying a few words awkwardly Leo left the stage and the principal told them about some other things and eventually the ceremony ended. All the students excitedly left for their sses one by one.


    .


    .


    ss A-3 (The same one Rio and others were in thest year.)


    Lenn sat on thest second row, near the window, a typical protagonist''s seat. Coincidentally Ars was sitting on her right and Leo was on her front side. May it be coincident or fate these three are already well acquainted with each other now.


    "Why are you sitting here, go somewhere else! You green-haired gori!" (Lenn)


    "I sat here first, you should go somewhere else, pink-haired chimpanzee!" (Ars)


    "G-guys, y-you should not fight, let''s just be friends okay¡­" (Leo)


    "You shut up! Golden mosquito!" (Lenn)


    "You shut up! Golden worm!" (Ars)


    "ugh, okay¡­" (Leo)


    Yeah, they are all well acquainted by now, they are so close that they even gave nicknames to each other.


    "What are you talking about!? He''s obviously a golden mosquito, can''t you see how his nervous buzzing voice makes people annoyed! Just like a mosquito!" (Lenn)


    "No! He is obviously a golden worm! Can''t you see how weak and pathetic he is, just like a worm!?" (Ars)


    Hearing both of them start roasting him instead, Leo had a helpless look on his face.


    ''I should have just shut up, now they are targeting me too!'' (Leo)


    While the three of them kept bickering back and forth, the teacher finally came and the whole ss went silent. The three of them also stopped bickering and finally shut up their mouths.


    The teacher was obviously not Anna, this is a new teacher, and he is an S-rank earth mage. Anna was too injured toe back to teach after all, and due to her failure to protect the students two timesst year, she has already been fired from her job as a teacher in the academy and this new teacher has taken her ce.


    Anna would have suffered more bacsh but the new SS-ranker Jin Walt helped her a lot and shielded her from every attack by the media. Nheless, her career as a teacher has ended because of the huge infamy brought about by those two incidents.


    The academy had to put the me on someone for these incidents and Anna became the perfect scapegoat for it. This is just how the world works, just a few mistakes can make your reputation go from being a hero to a great viin.


    .


    .


    Training grounds


    After the introductions were over, the teacher led them toward the training grounds to choose their weapons. Just like thest year. Although there''s not a protagonist this year there are still many talented and excellent students in this batch of students.


    Ars chose a dagger because he is an assassin, Leo chose a bow and Lenn chose the iron gauntlets because she is a martial artist like Link. (There is no infin*ty gauntlet in this world don''t even think about it.)


    All the students demonstrated their skills and the teachers who were observing from the monitoring room had a satisfied look on their faces.


    "These three kids, Lenn, Ars, and Leo are the most outstanding out of all the students this year."


    "Indeed. Although they can''tpare to the previous year''s top students like Link, they have great talent too. If taught properly they can surely reach rank A+ at least."


    "Speaking of A-rank has those previous year students entered A-rank, after all a few of them can already fight an ordinary A-ranker toe to toe¡­"


    "Hmm, we don''t know for sure but anyway it''s about time they will surpass us old bones in a few months. Sigh~ time passes by so fast, in a blink of an eye those weak children have grown to be pirs of support for humanity and they still have huge potential left in them¡­"


    "Speaking of the previous year''s students, Ms. Anna ended up teaching the most outstanding studentsst year, which was really unexpected."


    "Yeah, even that guy Fade, whom we thought to be useless ended up bing one of the top 10 ranked students, the way of Ms. Anna''s teaching is really profound. It''s a shame that she encountered such trouble, sigh~"


    .


    .


    Academy''s Dormitory


    Rio''s Room


    Standing near the window with the same 3D-printed tea in his hand and with the same expressionless look on his face, Rio looked at the scenery outside and sipped his tea peacefully. These peaceful times are what motivate you to be stronger and work to protect this peace.


    In Rio''s life as an Extra peace seldom appears most of the time he is busy with some unexpected events, which pop out of nowhere.


    Many thoughts passed by in Rio''s mind and eventually he reached a conclusion:


    ''It''s about time I go on the next stealing session.'' (Rio)


    .


    .


    Author''s Note:


    So, here starts the new academic year of our extra. Some new adventures and events areing, also he has be a ''Senpai'' now show some respect to him guys¡­ cough! My cough is acting again! Every time I say some ridiculous thing my cough acts up immediately!


    Question of the day:


    Which new character do you think is most interesting?


    1. The pink-haired chimpanzee, Lenn (The girl who gets annoyed easily.)


    2. The green-haired gori, Ars (A professional gaslighter, gaslighting others is his hobby.)


    3. The golden mosquito/worm, Leo (A nervous and handsome guy, who gets bullied by his friends for no reason.)


    Hidden option:


    4. Author (Author who is affected by severe cough, his cough acts when he writes some ridiculous things.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 88 What is SSA...

    <h4>Chapter 88 What is SSA...</h4>


    Near Academy''s Teleportation alter.


    Arge number of students are gathered near the altar today, the whole atmosphere is lively and filled with endless chattering of the students. Most of the students have excited looks on their faces. After all, today is an important day for them.


    "Ugh, why do I have to be in the same group as you two, how annoying!"(Lenn)


    "Hmph, I don''t want to be seen with a pink chimpanzee either! My social image has been destroyed by being with you!" (Ars)


    "Hah, you are the one to say, you green gori! And nobody cares about your social image at all!" (Lenn)


    "Go back to the zoo! Pink chimpanzee!" (Ars)


    "You go back to the forest and eat your bananas, green gori!" (Lenn)


    "H-hey, you two, c-can you please stop fighting, t-the teacher is about toe very soon¡­" (Leo)


    "Shut up, golden mosquito! Today either he will apologize or I am going to beat the S*it out of him right here right now!" (Lenn)


    "Golden worm, you stay out of this, today I will show this woman her ce!" (Ars)


    While Ars and Lenn continued to re at each other and imaginary lighting sparks were flying between them, Leo could only smile helplessly as he got roasted for absolutely no reason.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    (Caution- Massive info dumps ahead¡­)


    A month has passed since the entrance ceremony and all the first years have gradually adapted to their academy life.


    Several friend groups and couples are already starting to appear, yet some already see each other as enemies and make funny nicknames to taunt each other, nheless, a new year brimming with energy has started and the academy has slowly recovered from the depression of the previous dungeon incident.


    Today, the first-year students have gathered here to take part in a group activity.


    Groups have been made on the basis of your ranking, each group consists of three students who are nearest ording to their rankings, due to which Leo, Ars, and Lenn are in the same group as they are Ranked 1, 2, and 3 respectively.


    These types of group activities are seldom performed and generally, the academy only carries out single-person type activities.


    Today the first-year students are going to go on a three-day survival activity in the SSA.


    ''Species-specific areas'' or in short ''SSA'' are the ces in a specific region of the human empire where extraordinary creatures are kept for the purpose of providing training to the newly recruited soldiers of the army. These areas are generally some dense forests and extremely hot deserts, where survival is very difficult.


    Although going to dungeons to fight the monsters is a good way to learn to fight, they are not suitable for long-term survival training, due to which these SSA are created to provide the necessary training to the army. After all, there''s no knowing what the terrain and survival conditions would be when fighting arge-scale war on a huge battlefield.


    Academy students were never sent to survive in this ce before. This year is the first time the students are being sent to learn to survive in this ce. Otherwise, untilst year they used to send the students to the dungeons.


    But due to the previous dungeon incident, the academy has figured out the fact that surviving in difficult circumstances can make the students more adaptable and stronger, so as to avoid a simr tragedy from happing like the previous one.


    Also, it''s easy to defend the students in this type of activity. And being in a group would increase their cooperation capabilities on an actual battlefield.


    Teleportation alters are built near these SSA, because they are surrounded by the army and there''s no need to worry about defense.


    Generally, teleportation alters are only built near ces that are secure and have heavy protection capabilities. Like the academy where an SS-ranker sits personally to protect the area or the ces where the army is stationed nearby. (Of course, we are talking about an army made up of awakened people.)


    All other ces do not have a teleportation altar in the empire because teleportation jamming artifacts are ced there and teleportation can''t be carried out there, this is to prevent the direct teleportation of an invading species.


    All the species over the world do the same thing, they only put teleportation alter around the ces where security is guaranteed. As teleportation jamming artifacts are double-edged swords, not only do they stop the teleportation of the enemy they stop the teleportation of ours too.


    In this world there''s no guarantee when you are invaded so you have to take appropriate measures.


    The reason why the demon prince and his subordinate were able toe to the capital city was also that there''s no teleportation jamming device in the five-kilometer radius of the academy Because you literally can''t teleport in the radius of five kilometers around an SS-ranker in the first ce, Alverto only seeded in teleportation because Raji had left the area.


    Otherwise, an SS-rankers presence alone nullifies the possibility of teleporting around them, due to their ''world authority'' causing spatial solidification.


    [Spatial solidification- A phenomenon caused by the bearers of the world authority around them or caused by some certain world-level artifacts.]


    [Effects- Stops teleportation or other types of spatial activities.]


    [This effect doesn''t apply to individuals who are SS-ranked. SS-ranked can still do spatial activities freely. Also, spatial solidification doesn''t apply to dungeon gates, they can still open freely like everywhere else. Even the world-ss artifacts can''t close a dungeon gate whether it be an E-rank gate or SS-rank.] [Closing a dungeon gate forcibly is considered and even SS-rankers who are considered demi-gods can''t do this feat, but there are always exceptions and anomalies ¡­.. but who knows¡­..] ¡­


    ¡­


    (Yes, we are back to the chapter now¡­)


    While Lenn and Ars were bickering, a few minutes went by and their ss teacher came to the teleportation altar.


    When the teacher came all the students went silent and looked towards the teacher. As the teacher looked at the students and smiled slightly, he said:


    "Okay, now that all the preparations are ready we are going to teleport to the SSA in the Bismoil district."


    "But, don''t forget that you have to behave well in case you meet people from the army or any other officer. Don''t ruin the reputation of the academy¡­. Ahem, at the least not more than it already has been ruined¡­. Cough!"


    "Okay now step on the altered group by group, starting from group 1. Also, don''t forget to put your group number tag on you."


    As the teacher finished his speech all the students put their group number tags on their uniforms. Group 1 which includes Lenn, Leo, and Ars did the same too and stepped on the teleportation altar.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Bismoil District, outer area, Near the SSA


    A teleportation altar lit up with brightness in the basement of a huge building. Several officers in their military uniforms could be seen standing near the Altar.


    In this huge hall, there are several windows, and one of the higher windows is connected to the office of the military general of the Bismoil District. Every individual who can have the title of general in the army must be at least an S-ranker, the same is true here too.


    "Hmm, it seems that the young ones have arrived, it''s been so long since Ist saw that academy uniform, how nostalgic¡­." (General Bismoil)


    The name of this district is taken from the Bismoil family, which has been protecting and guarding this ce since the start of the dungeon gate era.


    Author''s Notes


    14:46


    Today''s question is here:


    The Bismoil family used to be a royal family which used to govern the kingdom of Bismoil. But after all the humanity merged and established a single human empire, the Bismoil family lost its royal status and became a family of powerful awakeners who protects thisnd and serves the nation.


    Generation after generation, the Bismoil family has provided an S-ranker who bes a general and protects thisnd from turmoil. They are well respected by the locals here.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    After all the students were sessfully teleported, the teacher also arrived:


    "Okay, all the students take your specific room keys and head towards the dorms, your survival test will start at 9 a.m. tomorrow, for today you can get familiar with the ce."


    After the teacher said this he left the ce to look for the general and the other army officers started to give the room keys to the students one by one.


    Eventually, the students took the key and went to their personal dorm rooms.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes


    Today''s question is here:


    Do you guys agree that Lenn and Ars are a good couple?


    1. Yes (Set sail, the ship is ready!)


    2. No (They are better off as rivals¡­.)


    3. I don''t care (SET FIRE TO ALL THE COUPLES, WHY AM I SINGLE!!!!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 89 The General’s dilemma...

    <h4>Chapter 89 The General''s dilemma...</h4>


    Bismoil district, Outer area, Near the SSA.


    A tall and sturdy wall enchanted with magic and made up of various magical materials surrounds the whole SSA to prevent the beasts from running outside of the area. This not only helps in maintaining the safety of the Bismoil district, but it also helps in better monitoring of the area.


    There are only two gates in these walls, one facing towards the north from where these beasts are put inside every three months. The army captures arge number of beasts in the northern border area and transports them here to train the soldiers.


    The other gate is the one used for the entry of the soldiers or any other individual who is going to train in this ce. There are also several watchtowers on these massive walls. The width of these walls isrge enough to make a luxurious house on them. Rumor has it that these walls can defend two full-power attacks from an S-ranker, but no one knows if it is really true or not.


    The huge building with the teleportation altar in its basement is close to these walls and is called the General''s residence.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    General''s residence, the meeting hall.


    "uh, would it really be okay to set up such a strong monster to fight the students¡­ how about we reconsider it general¡­."


    "I also think that we should reconsider putting that monster in the walls, general. After all even several high ranker squad leaders can''t fight such a monster alone¡­"


    Several officers can be seen arguing with the general on the difficulty of the test the academy students are going to face. All the officers want to suggest that the difficulty is too high and it should be lowered a little bit. But the general seems to think otherwise.


    Hearing all the officers, general Bismoil got up from his seat and walked towards the window. He looked outside while stroking his white beard. Several students from the academy could be seen wandering outside, they seem to be looking at everything curiously.


    Looking at those lively and carefree students a smile appeared on the cold face of the general.


    "There''s no need to worry about the difficulty of the test¡­" (General Bismoil)


    "But general, they-"


    Before the office could say anything the General raised his hand and the officer stopped talking, at this moment all the officers understood the fact that the general has already decided and there was no way he would change his decision.


    "The teacher of the students visited a while ago, he delivered a letter from Principal Raji and she has given her orders¡­" (General Bismoil)


    Hearing the name of Raji, all the officers gasped and their pupils widened, getting a direct order from an SS ranker is no small thing after all. In the human empire, the military has a clear ranking system that corresponds to the awakener''s rank.


    ¡­


    (Detail bomb ahead.)


    The military ranks are as follows:


    Soldier ¨C The lowest rank in the human awakener''s army. Anyone who has achieved rank D or below can be a soldier once they pass the corresponding exam.


    Squadronmander ¨C Every squadron consists of 1000 soldiers and a squadronmander. A soldier who has reached C rank can be a squadronmander or can directly give the exam to be the squadronmander if you are already a C-ranker at the time of joining the army.


    Major- Generally, there are at least 5 to 10 squadrons under a major. You need to be a B-ranker in order to be a Major, there are other factors too, but your strength is the most important in this world.


    Lieutenant General ¨C They are directly under the generals of the army and are considered right-hand men of the general. You need to be an A-ranker in order to be a lieutenant.


    General ¨C Every general is a very important and influential person. They have immense strength and responsibility. Generally, every district has a general protecting it. You need to be an S ranker to achieve the general rank. There are a total of 11 districts in the human empire and thus there are 11 generals in the army. These 11 S-rankers generally never leave their respective district and are always there to protect in case of emergency.


    Any individual who reaches S-rank in the human empire is delivered an official letter by the alliance offering them the post of a general directly if any post out of the 11 is vacant.


    The Special ones ¨C This is the highest rank in the military, whenever a new SS-ranker is born, that individual is directly given the privilege of this rank, they have the authority to mobilize the army on their own without taking any order from anyone. They have the authority to start a full-scale war without anyone''s consent.


    In human society, SS rankers are treated with immense love and respect by the people. They protect the whole race and are like a parent to the whole human race. Each SS ranker bears the immense responsibility to protect humanity from other races. They get the free support of every single being in the human race.


    Several majorpanies sponsor the SS-rankers free of any demand. If an SS ¨Cranker said that he needed money a mountain of wealth would be collected and given to him the very next day, without any demand orplication.


    ¡­


    (We are back to the chapter.)


    Raji or any other SS ranker has the authority to give orders to a general, thus all the officers went silent the moment they heard about Raji''s name.


    "In the letter, it was mentioned that they will send second-year students to lead the first years in this activity¡­. Thus, we don''t really need to worry about the difficulty of the test¡­" (General Bismoil)


    Hearing him say that all the officers heaved a sigh of relief after all the students present here are the pirs of support for the human race, they can''t afford to lose them unnecessarily.


    "You can leave now and prepare to monitor the student properly, we need every detail recorded this is a direct order from the ''special one''¡­." (General Bismoil)


    After hearing this all the officers started to leave one by one and after all the officers left the general looked at the students outside the window and sighed with aplex look on his face:


    "I wonder why they would need a video of the second-year student''s performance in this test¡­ even though this is an activity nned for the first years¡­. Something feels off¡­" (General Bismoil)


    "Are they nning on taking the second-year students to ''that meeting'' this year¡­. That''s quiteplicated¡­" (General Bismoil)


    Thinking this far, the general sighed and went on toplete his work.


    ¡­


    Next Day, Near the Entrance gate of the SSA


    Several students are chatting excitedly about their mission:


    "Apparently it seems that the second-year students would be leading us in this mission¡­"


    "Yeah, I was shocked when the teacher suddenly announced that the second-years would be here too¡­"


    "Hey, hey, what do you think which senior would lead our group, would it be the ''Berserk warrior'' Link or the ''Mad-demon sword'' Lia¡­ I am getting excited!"


    "Heh, in your dreams! Your luck isn''t that good! You, peasants, don''t deserve such amazing people''s guidance!"


    "What did you say, you wanna fight, hah!"


    As the students started to get more and more excited the teacher arrived and reminded them of the instruction onest time.


    "Now that everyone is ready move towards the second-year students with the same group number tag on them!"


    After the teacher said that, the second-year student appeared one by one from the General''s residence building. All of them have their respective number tags on them. All the first-year students started to look for their respective group leaders excitedly.


    The same is true for group 1, they also looked around for a while and found their group leader:


    "UH, are you the Berserk warrior Link, the one who was ranked 1st year?" (Lenn)


    "Yeah, I am ranked 1 but, who made that name ''Berserk warrior''¡­ from which angle am I a Berserker¡­" (Link)


    Link looked at the three excited students and shook his head:


    ''Children these days, sigh~'' (Link)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s note


    I was nning on putting Lia as the leader of group 1 but then I suddenly had an amazing idea and put Link here for the sake of it.


    Today''s question- What title would you like to give to these characters?


    1. Rio (Expressionless Rio, perhaps because of his expressionless face.)


    2. Riya (Healing angel Riya, perhaps because of her healing magic.)


    3. Fade (Miracle mage Fade, perhaps because he kills people with miraculous luck.)


    4. Kira (The goddess Kira, perhaps because arge number of students consider her their goddess.)


    Hidden option:


    5. Author (Invisible one, because he bes invisible for months.)


    These are just my opinion you can give them the title you like. Tell me in thements.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 90 Group survival test. Part-1

    <h4>Chapter 90 Group survival test. Part-1</h4>


    Inside the SSA.


    Link''s group.


    Group no.1 has been walking around here for about an hour or so. The survival test has just started and there is a long way to go as of yet. But that is not what the three first-year members of the group are worried about.


    "Muhahaha¡­ hahaha¡­. These monsters are so weak¡­ hahaha¡­." (Link)


    Link wasughing like a madman while punching the monsters into meat paste, most of the weaker monsters ran away terrified of Link''s terrifying aura, and the rest who were not able to run on time were smashed into meat paste by Link in a single punch.


    All three newbies looked at each other with aplicated expression on their faces:


    "Uh¡­ what are we supposed to do here, again?..." (Lenn)


    "Who knows, perhaps to watch monsters get ughtered¡­" (Ars)


    "H-hey guys, we should p-perhaps stop him, r-right?" (Leo)


    While the three were contemting what to do next, Link caught a huge bear with one hand and smashed the bear''s head into smithereens by banging his head on the bear''s head, resulting in Link''s head being covered with blood, making him look like a madman.


    "HAHAHAHA¡­ is that all!....e!.... I am not satisfied yet! Hahahaha!!" (Link)


    "Well, now I understand why they put his name ''Berserk warrior Link''¡­.." (Ars)


    "Y-yeah¡­" (Lenn)


    While the three were looking at Link in shock, Link stood at the pile of corpses and looked at them, he smiled like a devil and said:


    "Let''s go ahead guys, there should be stronger monsters ahead, hahahahaha!!" (Link)


    After saying that, Link hurried in a different direction, while the rest of the three struggled to follow behind him, due to his speed of jumping and passing through the forest.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    At the same time, Lia''s group.


    "Orcs generally have a few weaker spots you can target to defeat them, like their heart, eyes, or neck, I would rmend you go for the eyes first, it gives you an advantage over the opponent when fighting¡­ like this¡­" (Lia)


    While saying that Lia stabbed the eyes of the Orc lying on the ground. The orc started to il madly from pain, but since its hands and legs were sliced off by Lia, it couldn''t do anything but wail in pain. Its heart-wrenching cries made the surrounding monsters cower in fear.


    But Lia ignored these and calmly demonstrated the weakness of the orcs by stabbing and slicing them while exining it to the three first-years, who were looking at her in fear.


    Unlike the ignorant Link, Lia properly demonstrates the weaknesses of several monsters to them since they entered the area. It''s been an hour and Lia has already tortured about five monsters like mad demons with no emotions.


    Her calm torturing of the monster made the students realize why she is given the nickname ''Mad Demon Sword Lia''.


    One of the two girls in the group mustered up her courage and asked:


    "UH¡­ b-but, do you also use these weaknesses when fighting the orcs, s-senpai?"


    Lia looked at the girl strangely and then said:


    "Well, these weaknesses are meant to be targeted and used by those who are in equal or lower rank than these orcs, but someone who is higher in rank than these orcs, like me, would be able to brute force their way during the fight, like this.." (Lia)


    Lia channeled her mana and stabbed the wailing orc in the stomach, causing a huge hole to burst out, her attack made a hole of one meter in diameter, which went right through the body of the orc and even made a pit in the ground.


    The impact made the innards of the orc fly and ssh on the newbies, making them covered in blood, while they looked at Lia with a horrified look, as if they had seen a demon.


    Looking at all the dead bodies pierced through around them and looking at the horrifying death of this orc, all three of the newbies had only one thought in their minds.


    ''She is indeed a demon!!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    At the same time, Riya''s group.


    "Yosh, your wounds are all healed up!" (Riya)


    "T-thank you, Senpai!"


    "Hehe, wee! Hehe, they called me Senpai! Hehe" (Riya)


    Being called ''senpai'' made Riya very happy. A sweet smile hung on her cute face, making the newbies stunned by her, all of the three had only one thought on their mind.


    ''We must protect this cute creature!!!''


    One of the newbies asked:


    "By the way, Senpai, you are a healer, how would you fight if a strong monster came?"


    "hmm, well I can''t really fight, but I can buff you guys up so, there shouldn''t be much of a problem, after all with a B-rank healer providing the buffs you could easily fight a C-rank opponent at least." (Riya)


    Riya smiled and said:


    "And if a stronger monster came, we will courageously take our weapons and ¡­ run away!!, hehe" (Riya)


    "But don''t worry, as a B-rank healer my physical capabilities are as strong as an ordinary C-ranker at least, I think, hehe¡­ so we can run without worry.. hehe" (Riya)


    "yes! We will run away Senpai!"


    All three of the newbies cheered up with bright smiles on their faces while crying in their minds:


    ''Seriously, if a strong monster came, we would be so dead!!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    At the same time, Fade''s group.


    Fade sted a wolf monster with me magic in one attack.


    "Oh, you are so strong, Fade Senpai!"


    "Hm, this is nothing, I can even kill a B-rank monster in one shot, hehe" (Fade) (Obviously bragging)


    ''hmph, these idiots, believing everything I say like, blockheads, well bragging feels good too, hehehehe (Fade)


    "By the way, Senpai, is it really true that you once beat the No. 1 ranked Link Rex to the point he begged you for mercy!"


    "Of course, his face was covered in tears and snot at the time and he begged me to spare him in a trembling voice after I defeated him in that B-rank dungeon¡­" (Fade)


    "You are so amazing, Senpai!"


    Although Fade was obviously spouting nonsense his protagonist aura made others believe him unconditionally, making them think that he was indeed saying the truth.


    His hand which wasst time sliced by Jiang was reattached by an S-rank healer of the academy, he recovered to full health in the past month.


    Now Fade has already reached rank C+ and can be considered directly below Link, Rio, and Lia in strength. Only these three are ahead of him in strength due to their various abilities and B-rank.


    But obviously Fade doesn''t take any of them seriously at all, he believes he has endless potential and he can reach or even surpass even the SS-rankers one day not to mention the students of the academy.


    "By the way, what is your main magic Senpai? I can see that you can use several types of magic¡­"


    Fade smiled proudly and said:


    "Well, I can use every type of magic there is in this world. Not to mention that I can even do quad-casting that even A-rankers struggle to do!" (Fade)


    [Quad-casting: Casting four types of different magic at the same time, for example, casting, fire, water, earth, and thunder magic all at the same time. This is a very difficult-to-implement technique that only a few extremely skilled mages can do. Even A-rankers struggle to do this. But Fade is an exception he can learn and do it with the help of his system.]


    "Wow, you are so amazing Senpai!"


    While Fade was walking with a smug look on his face, a huge hand punched him in the back making him fly away and collide with several trees beforending on the ground.


    "cough! Cough! Ugh!.. What the heck!" (Fade)


    Fade looked back and found a huge monster with a face like an octopus and a body like an orc standing behind him, its tentacles which were connected to its octopus head were carrying the newbies in their grasp.


    [Mimic-walker: A monster that can mimic the voices of its captured prey to lure or bring the guard down of the other prey. Its body is as strong as an ogre and it has a high magic resistance, generally, it''s better to fight it without a mage.]


    The monster opened its huge mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and said:


    "You are so amazing Senpai!"


    Hearing the monster mimic the voice of the newbies, Fade understood that all this while he was bragging to a monster.


    "Ugh¡­ damn you!" (Fade)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo, guys, the invisible author appears again.


    Question of the day:


    Which group would you like to be a part of:


    1.? Link''s group (Would you prefer Link brutally destroy all the monstersing near you...)(Difficulty-Nil)


    2.? Lia''s group (or would you prefer hearing Lia exin how to torture a monster without killing them too early.)(Difficulty- 1 star)


    3.? Riya''s group (or would you prefer running from monsters while looking at those huge mountains bounce and demonstrate jiggle physics.) (Difficulty- 2 stars)


    4.? Fade''s group (or would you like to be caught by a tentacle monster.)(Difficulty- 3 stars)


    Hidden option:


    5.? Author''s group (or would you like to stop the author from disappearing by being in his group¡­)(Difficulty ¨C unknown)

 Chapter 91 Group survival test. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 91 Group survival test. Part-2.</h4>


    Inside the SSA, the western area.


    The third day of the survival test.


    Three first-year students could be seen sitting near a bonfire, a huge boar is being cooked on the fire. While cooking, the only girl among them looked at the person looking at his smartphone while sitting on the tree branch and said to the other two guys sitting near the bonfire:


    "Do you think that guy¡­. Doesn''t n on doing anything until the end of the test?...." (Npc no1)(I am bad at naming and don''t have many good names for every new character so, just make do with any name okay their actual name is something else of course I just don''t know cough cough! My cough is acting again cough!)


    Hearing the girl, the two other first-years also looked at the ck-haired guy sitting on the tree for a few seconds before hurriedly averting their gaze, one of them shook his head and said:


    "I can feel an extremely dangerous aura from that guy, just looking at him makes me feel chills¡­.. Even my father who is an A-ranker doesn''t give me this pressure¡­ is this guy really just a second-year student¡­." (Npc no2)


    "Well, I think he just doesn''t want to do anything at all, other groups might have already progressed to the central area and we are still stuck here even though it''s the third day of the survival test¡­." (Npc no3)


    "We are halfway through to the central area but if we want to reach the central area before tomorrow, we will need that guy''s help, otherwise it will be impossible¡­." (Npc no1)


    The survival test has three stages in it:


    The first stage consists of reaching the central area before the fourth day of the test ends and right now it''s already the night of the third day, they only have one more day to reach the central area otherwise they will be eliminated from the test.


    Moreover, only the teams that can reach the central with all the members of the group, are eligible to take part in stage two of the test.


    The second stage consists of pairing up with the other groups to eliminate the boss monster of this ce which would be ced in the central area. All the groups who have passed the first stage can band up and attack the monster together, this stage will test the cooperation ability of the students.


    The third andst stage of the test consists of group battles. All the students that will pass the second stage will fight each other and will try to eliminate the first-year students of the opponent group, the group with the most number of first-years left standing will win this test in the end.


    "but looking at our condition we can''t even finish the first stage of the test, sigh~" (Npc no2)


    "By the way what is that guy''s name, I don''t even know who he is in the first ce¡­" (Npc no3)


    "Hmm, I don''t remember properly but perhaps it was, something like ''Dark star Rio''¡­." (Npc no1)


    "Why ''dark star'' though?" (Npc no2)


    "I heard that he is a dark horse who ranked 2nd just below Link the ''berserk warrior Link'', no one expected him to be so high in the rankingsst year¡­" (Npc no3)


    The guys looked at her with aplicated look on their faces.


    "Doesn''t that mean thiszy guy is the second strongest of thest year students and can go toe to toe with Link¡­." (Npc no2)


    "Well, that should be true¡­. Perhaps¡­." (Npc no1)


    ¡­.


    While the three of them were whispering and looking at Rio every once in a while with strange looks on their faces Rio was extremely busy with a very important thing.


    For the past few days, Rio has been busy with a very important thing, right now he is looking at his smartphone projecting the hologram of a book:


    "Hmm, this one looks nice¡­." (Rio)


    Looking at the content of the book Rio has a rare smile on his expressionless face.


    The title of the book- is "Childhood Album of Lia Silver".


    The first page has the photo of baby Lia nibbling on a cookie like a hamster. The second page has the photo of Lia (Loli version) pouting and facing the other way, perhaps it was taken by Lia''s father after he made her angry by not giving her a candy.


    There are about three hundred pages in this book and there are around a thousand photos of her in this book.


    While looking at the photos Rio thought in his mind:


    ''Lia''s maid really is a great angel, she gave this album to me without even asking, I should thank her next time I see her¡­.'' (Rio)


    Indeed this book was sent to Rio by Lia''s personal maid a day before they teleported to the SSA.


    Lia''s maid Mel sent a video message with the book to Rio, Mel said that she has stolen this book from Lia''s locker and sent it to him without asking Lia, Mel had a stern look on her face, and she adjusted her sses a little and said in a suspicious tone:


    "You can use them in any way you want, just don''t overdo it, so as not to damage your kidneys¡­." (Mel)


    Rio was dumbfounded by her message but his hands moved unknowingly and saved the book without thinking too much.


    Thinking about that, Rio thought:


    ''Well I have a girlfriend in this life, do I even need to make do with the photos, well, I can keep them for research purposes¡­. Obviously, I am not a lolicon, I will only just look at the grown-up Lia¡­..'' (Rio)


    While looking at the book three days went by and Rio was still looking at the book again and again like it was a treasure, every time he looked at the pictures he had a rare smile on his face. This body which can''t feel emotions most of the time seems to have a slight reaction only when looking at her.


    All of a sudden a huge tiger with a horn and two bat wings came and roared in the sky while standing at the hill near the bonfire. The first-years panicked while looking at the huge beast which was at least seven meters in height:


    "Th-that a winged tiger chimera, and it''s an adult one¡­. It''s a B+ rank monster! ¡­."(Npc no2)


    "We are finished, the scent of the boar must have attracted it here, w-what do we do now! We can''t even run away it can fly and catch us easily!" (Npc no.3)


    Just when the three of them were panicking, an emotionless voice rang in their ears:


    "So, noisy¡­." (Rio)


    Without the three of them noticing Rio was standing beside them and was looking at the chimera with an expressionless face, his jet-ck eyes contained a trace of irritation, after all this noisy beast interrupted his busy work schedule with its annoying and loud voice.


    Rio pulled his sword out, and the color of the de changed to dark ck due to the concentration of Rio''s mana on it, Rio shed his sword lightly in the air towards the beast.


    [Elemental sword art: Thunder type: Heavenly thunder strike]


    The thunder energy produced by Rio''s sh went straight toward the beast, it was so fast that it reached the beast in a mere fraction of a second, looking at the thunder arc produced one can feel its immense danger, the air pressure produced by the strike created a huge rift in the ground several surrounding trees in the area were destroyed and with a loud bang of thunder the attack split apart the beast in two along with the hill it was standing on.


    The beast had no time to react, and it died in an instant its body organs spewed out and the blood dyed the copsed hill in red, giving this ce a devastating look.


    The sound of thunder produced by Rio''s sword was so loud that several groups heard it in the SSA, several monsters fled away in panic from this ce and those who were not able to flee were crushed by the air pressure produced by this attack.


    The three newbies flew away and collided with the trees behind due to the residual air pressure, all of them had shocked expressions on their faces, looking at that valley created by that one attack they understood why there were rumors of Rio being able to fight toe to toe with Link.


    If not for the fact that Rio purposely adjusted the angle of the attack, the three of them would have faced even stronger air pressure.


    "This guy is insanely strong¡­" (Npc no2)


    While looking at Rio they gulped their saliva and finally understood why they felt strong oppression from this seemingly ordinary-looking guy.


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Author''s Notes.


    Well, this was bound to happen, only an idiot would disturb Rio while was looking at the pictures of Lia.


    Question of the day:


    Will you steal ''that'' book from Rio for a lifetime of free pizza?


    1.? Yes (Need it for personal research¡­)


    2.? Yeah (free pizza what a treat¡­.)


    3.? Of course (we need to get Rio to look away from that book)


    Hidden option:


    4.? No (I don''t want to get split in two along with my pizza¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 92 Group survival test. Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 92 Group survival test. Part-3.</h4>


    Inside the SSA


    Hearing the loud thunder noise, Link looked towards the west direction with a frown on his face, although others may not recognize that strong aura Link can recognize it even in his dreams. With a confused look on his blood-covered face Link said:


    "The h*ck is this guy trying to do¡­. Don''t tell me he is showing off his strength in front of the newbies¡­" (Link)


    But knowing Rio''s personality, Link thought that it was very unlikely for him to show off, perhaps his hand slipped a bit, otherwise, why would he use such a strong attack in this ce, there aren''t even A-rank monsters in this ce, only B-rank or below. Perhaps only the central area might have an A-rank monster though.


    All the other three members of group 1 also heard the loud sound of thunder but of course, they couldn''t distinguish who carried out that attack, so they were a little panicked:


    "Link-sempai, what was that loud sound of thunder just now!? Was that an attack from another Senpai of the second year!?" (Lenn)


    After hearing Lenn''s question, Link replied with a casual tone:


    "Well, that was the result of a sword strike from the rank no. 2 ofst year''s students." (Link)


    Hearing Link, Leo said nervously:


    "What!? Suck strong aura was from a single attack!? I-I thought it was from m-many attacks!?" (Leo)


    Ars had a dignified look on his face, he could feel from that aura that it was in no way weaker than what Link had shown in the past few days to them, thus he said:


    "That guy must be strong, perhaps as strong as you Link Senpai" (Ars)


    "Hahaha, what are you saying? Obviously no one is as strong as me! The great berserk warrior Link, hahaha, I can beat him in a single punch!" (Link)


    "Yeah! You are the best Link Senpai! Let''s go and beat that guy up, let''s show them that they can''t cause amotion in your noble presence!" (Lenn)


    Hearing Lenn asking him to confront Rio, Link was startled, he hurriedly said:


    "hmm, cough, cough, let''s do that some other time¡­. Cough cough our main purpose is to reach the central area right now¡­ let''s go!" (Link)


    Looking at Link rushing deep into the forest, all three of them also followed behind him, but Ars was able to read between the lines easily.


    ''This guy is bragging! He definitely can''t defeat the other person in one attack! I don''t remember the name of the second ranker but he must be a strong person from Link''s reaction, just now¡­.'' (Ars)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Lia''s group


    Lia looked in the west direction and thought:


    ''Hmm, so Rio is in that direction and Link should be in the east direction. Also, Riya went straight ahead while entering the area, thus she must be nearby my group somewhere¡­.'' (Lia)


    Although Lia did sense the strong aura, she was totally unfazed by it, instead, it increased her morale, feeling that strong and familiar aura, Lia clenched her small and cute fist, and determination shed in her beautiful eyes:


    ''He has be even stronger than thest time, I must also work harder, so as not to be left behind by him too much. He might start despising me if I am too weakpared to him¡­'' (Lia)


    (What Lia didn''t know was that even if she was as weak as a snail, Rio would still not abandon her, but since this gives her motivation then perhaps it''s fine, I guess.)


    The members of Lia''s squad also sensed that immense aura and said:


    "What was that!? Such a strong aura!"


    In order to calm the newbies, Lia replied:


    "Nothing just a stinky arrogant guy, trying to show off himself¡­. As if someone would be impressed by him that easily, hmph idiot¡­." (Lia)


    The other three students looked at Lia withplex looks on their faces, they wanted to say something but in the end, didn''t say anything, After these past few days they had developed a deep fear for Lia, they couldn''t even look in her in the eyes properly now.


    One time Lia, ripped apart a monster heart and ced it in their hands, when they asked what she was doing, she said that they should eat it, so as to get used to its horrible taste. ording to her, this will train them in eating whatever they can find, so as to improve their survival capabilities in case of surviving in a forest during a future battle.


    While exining all this her face was totally expressionless as if what she was saying was normal and they were the ones that were weird for not understanding such a simple thing.


    Of course, the academy also teaches what to eat in such circumstances but even they don''t make students eat a monster''s heart which was still dripping with green colored blood.


    Seeing the three of them get silent, Lia tilted her head in confusion but didn''t say anything.


    Ignoring the three of them averting their gazes from her, Lia didn''t waste too much time thinking, she immediately ordered:


    "Let''s rush to the central area we are just about to reach it, only a few more hours and we will be there¡­. I wonder how strong the main boss would be in the central area¡­.. will it be an A-rank monster perhaps?" (Lia)


    Hearing about the A-rank monster the three newbies panicked:


    "Wh-what! A-rank monster! H-how will we fight that!? We will die if fight such a strong monster!"


    "Yeah, Senpai, you should reconsider!"


    Listening to the newbies being nervous, Lia smiled a little and said:


    "Well, we would not be fighting it alone and there are those two stinky guys to make the way there''s no need for us to worry too much about it¡­ We just need to assist them¡­." (Lia)


    Lia shook her head and started to hurry towards the central area, seeing her leaving the three of them also hurriedly followed behind her, after all, this area is full of strong monsters they couldn''t afford to be separated from her, otherwise, they would definitely be able to survive the next ten minutes.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of walking Lia suddenly heard a familiar sound nearby, she suddenly changed her path and went towards the ce. And as expected she found a familiar figure sitting on a tree with three other newbies, all of them curled up in a ball hugging each other tightly and shivering in fear.


    ¡­


    "S-senpai! What do we do, this huge lion isn''t going anywhere at all, it''s been pursuing us for more than three hours and now it''s even squatting below the tree, it this goes on we will all die of starvation!"


    "Y-yeah Riya Senpai, you should have listened to your friends and should have teamed up with them instead of rushing here alone¡­ now we are all going to die!"


    Not surprisingly Riya and her group members were stuck on this tree and a huge lion-type monster was lying downfortably at the base of that huge tree.


    Obviously, the academy would not ask the healer-type individuals to lead a group alone, they were asked to team up with Lia''s group after all Riya being a healer had no fighting capabilities she couldn''t protect the students in this area alone.


    But Riya being a stubborn girl as ever rushed ahead with her group with a confident look on her face. Lia has been trying to find her for a while, due to which they have been dyed and have yet to reach the central area, if Lia was alone, with her strength as a ''B-'' Ranker she could have already reached the central area by now. (Simrly, Link was busy ughtering the monsters too much thus he was also dyed.)


    [Silver Lion swordsmanship: Obliterate!]


    With a single attack, Lia quickly killed the sleeping lion instantly without giving it any time to even react, her attack made the tree on which Riya was sitting crumble down too, which caused the four of them to fall down too, but fortunately, Riyanded on the other girl thus not suffering any damage and since the other girl was a martial artist she didn''t suffer much either, just her face was covered in dirt.


    Once Riya saw Lia''s face she immediately jumped and hugged her, tears fell from her big eyes like a waterfall:


    "Lia! Thank god! You are here! Sob sob¡­. I-I thought I was going to die¡­ thank you for saving me¡­ otherwise some other girl might have taken my Link away if I had died! sob sob" (Riya)


    While Riya was crying like a spoiled child in Lia''s arms, the newbies were too stunned to speak, thus they remained silent as Liaforted her by patting her head for a while.


    Lia shook her head in disappointment and said:


    "Seriously, what would you do without me, you better not rush ahead on your own again¡­. Otherwise forget about Link, even your favorite candies will be eaten by someone else you know¡­" (Lia)


    Hearing Lia mention her candies, Riya suddenly stopped crying, determination shed in her big cute eyes:


    "No I can''t let others eat my candies at all costs!" (Riya)


    "Then follow me properly from now on, let''s go now, we are running out of time¡­" (Lia)


    "Yeah!" (Riya)


    ¡­.


    Author''s notes


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 93 Group Survival Test. Part-4.

    Inside the SSA, Rio''s group.


    After the three newbies recovered from the shock of Rio''s splitting a peak B rank monster along with a hill in two with a single attack, they all looked at Rio with reverence in their eyes, like in any other ce strong are always respected, the same is true here, now the three of them respect Rio quite a lot after seeing his strength.


    They gathered up their courage, became excited all of a sudden, and bombarded Rio with many questions:


    "Senpai, since you are ranked no.2, then could it be you can fight the ''berserk warrior Link'' equally?" (Npc no.1)


    "Hmm, well I can fight him equally you could say, but I have yet to defeat him properly, all the fights I had with him ended up with a draw¡­" (Rio)


    (Indeed, after the New Year event Rio and Link sparred against each other many times, but no one got the upper hand in the end and all the fights ended up in a draw. If you look at it this way, even the fight during the New Year event was a draw too.)(The New Year event was around ch 30)


    "Wow! You are so amazing Rio Senpai! You can go toe to toe with such a strong person!" (Npc no.1)


    Listening to Rio mention that he can indeed fight Link equally, the three of them were even more amazed and looked at Rio with eyes that seemed to be shining with stars in them as if they had seen a great treasure.


    (Link is extremely famous in the human empire, first of all, he is exceptionally strong and talented himself, second, he is the only son of the SS-ranker Ashtel Rex, andstly, the SS-ranker Raji Croft is his sister-inw, has the support of two SS-rankers make him extremely famous. It would not be wrong to say that Link is the crown prince of the Human Empire. Countless young men are jealous of him but they don''t even dare topare themselves with him.)


    (Link was born into a super-rich family with amazing talent, he was trained by one of the strongest individuals of the human race since childhood and he has studied in the best academy possible, you could say he is so blessed that even the heavens are jealous of him. Moreover, unlike you single otakus, Link has had an extremely cute and beautiful girlfriend since childhood.)


    (Thus Rio being equal to him is a big deal.)


    While the three of them were staring daggers at Rio, Rio nced at the date on his smartphone:


    "Hmm, it''s already the night of the third day, we don''t have much time let''s go to the central area now¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio mentioning going to the central area, one of the three newbies said:


    "oh, yeah, Rio Senpai, aren''t we already toote now, with the speed of us three, it will take at least two days to reach the central area." (Npc no.3)


    "Yeah Senpai, moreover we can''t travel during the night due to the presence of several monsters in the forest¡­. Sigh~ we should have gone to the central area from the start¡­ sigh~" (Npc no.2)


    Hearing them say that they couldn''t travel during the night, Rio had a devilish smile in his mind, he used his storage ring and brought out a rope from it. Before the three of them could understand what Rio was going to do. They found that all three of them were tied tightly to each other and the other end of the rope was tied to the handle of Rio''s de.


    Rio turned his de into a broad sword and used his aura to make his sword float.


    "W-wait, wh-what are you trying to do se-senpai, do-don''t tell me-" (Npc no.1)


    Before the sentence could be finished Rio jumped on his broadsword, which was floating horizontally in the air, and after Rio stood on the sword he looked at the three of them, gave them a thumbs up, and said with an expressionless face:


    "Good luck!" (Rio)


    [Sword intent: wind type!]


    In that instant the sword flew into the night sky like a meteor, the air pressure created by the take-off created cracks in the ground and destroyed the rest of the trees that were still left after the previous attack.


    (Apparently, after Rio reached Rank B+ he could now use his Sword intent to fly in the air and soar into the sky. Rio was nning on carrying Lia princess-style while flying like this but since Lia already has her spirit wings now, he couldn''t do that yet. But perhaps it could be possible in the future.)


    The speed of sword was incredibly fast but Rio could control it properly like it was a part of his body, also he used his sword intentionally to protect the three newbies from dying due to wind pressure, but of course, he let them suffer a little bit just for the sake of training them.


    "Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhggggggggggg¡­.." (Npc no.1)


    "Sttttttooooooooppppppppppp, I am dyyyyyiiiiiiinggggggg!!!!!" (Npc no.2)


    Hearing them scream Rio said:


    "What? I can''t hear you up here at all~" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and rushed towards the central area with incredible speed.


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Outside the SSA, General''s Residence, Meeting hall¡­


    Three holograms could be seen in front of the General and all the other high-rank officers.


    "It seems only three of the ''Special ones'' are here, can I ask why thest one didn''t attend this meeting?" (General Bismoil)


    Hearing his question, Raji said:


    "Hmm, that arrogant guy Jin¡­. He is busy taking care of Anna¡­ I already informed him he refused to attend, he''s just being arrogant since he became an SS ranker¡­." (Raji Croft)


    "Well, you shouldn''t say that Raji, anyone would be distressed when their loved ones are injured..." (Neo Aldif)


    "You are in no ce to lecture me, so just shut up¡­. Ugh, why do I have to attend a meeting with an old fogey like you, tsk" (Raji)


    "Okay, okay, now calm down you too, we still have a very important thing to discuss here..." (Ashtel Rex)


    ''Seriously! When will this girl grow up, this is why I said that you should marry early, at least you could learn how to be patient from marriage¡­ if nothing else...'' (Ashtel)


    "Don''t try to act like a good person Ashtel, I know you must be mocking me in your head!" (Raji)


    ''How does she know that!?'' (Ashtel)


    "W-well let''s forget about this andplete this meeting first, okay?" (Neo)


    Hearing all three of them bickering General Bismoil had aplicated look on his face, it''s not every day you meet all three SS-rankers of the human empire all at once so it was a shock for him to see them bickering, it is like seeing gods you revere behaving like ordinary people, so of course it is quite shocking.


    The outside world might think of the SS-rankers as gods and higher beings that are totally impossible to imagine, but they are still humans and have their own personalities and emotions. There may be many differences between the three of them, but, one thing is the same, all three of them are the greatest protectors of humanity, and without them, the existence of humanity would be in danger.


    In this cruel world, Without an SS-ranker to protect, the race can only be a vassal race of another stronger one. Over the years, many SS-rankers have sacrificed their lives to protect the human race from extinction and the never-ending invasions of the demon race.


    Thinking that all three of them are not nning to stop this endless bickering, General Bismoil had to interrupt it:


    "Ahem! Well let''s start the meeting now, we will inform the results of the meeting to Mr. Jinter. For now, let''s talk about the main topic of why we have gathered here¡­ Let''s talk about the ''Meeting of gods'' that is going to be held this year¡­" (General Bismoil)


    Hearing the name of the ''Meeting of Gods'' all of the people''s faces turned serious and even the three ''special ones'' turned serious now¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here on the stage! So recently I saw manyments praising that the book is good, so thank you all. I am very happy to find that you all liked my writing so much.


    Question of the day:


    Compared to Link how much pathetic your life is? (Today there are no options since all of you have different stories to tell¡­)


    (Personally, if Ipare myself to Link, you could say that if Link is a dragon then I am amon fly, there''s basically noparison between us. Actually, I am a lot jealous of Link myself. This might be the reason why Link was originally a viin, he literally has everything that an ordinary person dreams of.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 94 Group Survival Test. Part-5.

    (Lore bomb ahead)


    Meeting of the Gods: An international meeting held once every ten years in the capital city of the Elf kingdom, many races send their SS-rankers to attend this meeting and represent their race on the international stage.


    This meeting is called the meeting of gods because since SS-rankers are basically considered demigods in the eyes of people, it would not be wrong to say that many of them gathering is indeed a meeting of gods.


    The many races that have at least two SS-rankers and are in a friendly alliance with the Elf race can attend this meeting, and those races that don''t have one or no SS-rankers and are in a friendly alliance with the Elves can only visit the meeting but they will have no say in the decisions made during the meeting.


    ''Only Strong are allowed to speak their voices freely'' or ''Only strong are respected'' these sentences are truly followed during this meeting.


    Humans have been one of the founders of this meeting thus they have enough decision-making power but the strongest voice is still the Elfs, afterall they were the ones who actually came up with the idea of founding the alliance between many races.


    During the War Era due to the emergence of the Demon race in this world, the Elf proposed the Idea of making an Alliance between races to collectively defend against the increasing strength of the Demon race, if not for this alliance there would have been no way to confront the demons for a single race.


    Generally, these meetings are held with the motive to increase the cooperation between all races which are the members of the alliance. But the main motive of these meetings is to discuss how to counter the Demons further. Many races suffer from the war-hungry nature of the demon race every year, without the help of this alliance many small and weaker races might have already gone extinct under the constant attack of the demons.


    Although Dragons are more powerful than the Demons they don''t interfere with the world most of the time they don''t even care if the Demons take over the whole world or not. Thus, they are not even part of this alliance, either.


    Along with the SS-rankers, all races send their young and talented individuals as ''representatives'' too. A small-scalepetition is held during the meeting, in which all the talented youngsters fight each other and represent the future of their respective races.


    After all, if the current SS rankers represent the strength of a race, their youngsters represent their future strength. Although thispetition is considered a friendly one, the main reason behind thispetition is to show off the strength of your race. The SS-rankers can''t fight each other, a fight between two SS-rankers would destroy even a continent, and thus there are many restrictions on the SS-rankers. (SS-rankers are like nuclear weapons, you have them to maintain your safety and repel prying eyes from enemy nations, but they are not meant to be used, they will harm the whole world. Don''t forget that a single SS-ranker can smash a whole continent apart.)


    So, in ce of the SS-rankers, the young talents of each race fight to assert dominance over other races.


    During these meetings, some people use underhanded means and attack the young talented one of other races before or after the meeting. Although such individuals suffer a lot in the end along with their respective races and are condemned by all, many such individuals appear every time the meeting is held, thus safety is a big issue.


    Thest time the Orcs targeted the human race, while they were on their way back to the human empire after the meeting, the attack resulted in the death of three youngsters out of the seven that went to the meeting that year. Although Orcs suffered more in that battle and six of their youngsters died out of their seven individuals, in the end, it was bad for both races.


    Are you thinking why didn''t the SS-rankers of the human side didn''t do anything? Well, it is simple he was blocked by the SS-ranker of the Orc race. In the end, the Elf king arrived and mediated the situation, many economic sanctions were put on the orc race, but the situation ended in both of the Races losing. (In a war between two nations both of them suffer, that''s a universal truth.)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Outside the SSA, General''s Residence Building, Meeting hall.


    "So, the main point is, that this time we have to increase the safety of our ''representatives''?" (Raji)


    "Indeed, if we don''t want the same thing that happened ten years ago to happen, then we must take countermeasures now¡­" (General Bismoil)


    "Well, how about we send, two of the SS-rankers this time, after all now we have four of us here and two are enough to defend the home, while the other two are on the mission¡­" (Raji)


    "Hmm, indeed, we should send two this time, it may even help us avoid the prying eyes of many unwanted people, after all showing your strength can deter many enemies." (Neo)


    Hearing them agree, General Bismoil said:


    "May I ask which of the two would go there, we have to make proper arrangements ordingly¡­" (General Bismoil)


    "Hmm, I think we should send Jin there because he has just been promoted and doesn''t have any other responsibilities yet, he is rtively free¡­ as for the other one¡­." (Raji)


    "I would like to go after all it is very likely my son will be chosen as one of the ''Representatives'' too¡­ and since I am free that time, I would like to go there¡­." (Ashtel)


    "Hmm, well if you go there, then we don''t have to worry about anything, just don''t be too obsessed with your son, be sure to remember that you have to fulfill your duty too¡­" (Neo)


    "I know, I know~" (Ashtel)


    "In the context of the ''representatives'' I think we can choose from the winners of this current survival test, after choosing the winners we will still conduct further tests on them before they can be taken to the meeting of gods¡­" (Raji)


    "Indeed, only strong and talented ones should be the ones representing humanity, we don''t want to make a joke of our race in front of the whole world¡­" (Neo)


    Hearing them mention the tests, General Bismoil brought out some papers from a file and said:


    "Well, since there are more tests to be conducted let''s decide on what the test could be¡­" (General Bismoil)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Inside the SSA, Central Area, evening of the fourth day.


    A huge teleportation circle can be seen on a massive altar. There are many chairs made of stone around the area, although the area is wide open and is located in the middle of arge forest, strangely no animals or monsters dare to wander around here.


    Sitting on one of the chairs Link looked towards the forest and said with a dissatisfied tone:


    "It''s already the evening of the fourth day, where is that guy Rio!? Don''t tell me he forgot toe here and went somewhere toze around on his own!" (Link)


    Hearing him, Riya had a confused look on her face:


    "Rio¡­. Who?" (Riya)


    Ignoring Riya, Lia also looked at the forest and said:


    "At least five groups are needed to be present on the teleportation circle at the same time for it to work, counting us three, there''s still a need for two more groups otherwise we all will fail, what is that stinky guy doing, anyway!?" (Lia)


    While Link and Lia were ring at the forest, waiting for Rio to arrive with his group, the newbies were also getting along with each other¡­ perhaps¡­.


    "Hey! Why did you eat my food! You pink-haired chimpanzee! Give my food back!" (Ars)


    "It was mine to begin with! Who said that it was yours, to begin with, green-haired gori!" (Lenn)


    "G-guys, c-calm down, i-I would make more if you want¡­" (Leo)


    While the three of them were bickering and scolding each other, the rest of the newbies were nibbling on their food while enjoying a live drama show.


    After a while Link had to mediate to make both of them stop fighting and shut up their loud bickering.


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Author''s notes.


    Yo, it''s the fourth day of continuous updates, hehe, don''t forget to praise me in thements, cough! Cough!


    Question of the day


    Would you like to be part of the ''representatives'' and represent your nation in front of the world, if so then which nation you would choose?


    1. Human (It''s unlikely for you to get a chance to go to the meeting after all, there are talented individuals like Link and Rio¡­)


    2. Orcs (Let''s go and show the world the power of h*g rider!!)


    3. Elf (I am smarter, I am stronger, I am beautiful, I am better, I am bettttterrr!!!)


    4. Other(choose on your own.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 95 Group Survival Test. Part-6.

    Inside the SSA, Central Area, on the Evening of the fourth Day.


    "Seriously, what took you so much time to arrive here!? I have been waiting for an hour here!" (Link)


    Hearing Link say that Rio replied without any expression on his face:


    "Doesn''t that mean that you have also reachedte here, I bet you must have been busy bullying weak monsters or perhaps you were showing off to the newbies..." (Rio)


    Ignoring Rio, Link looked at the copsed members of Rio''s group, he pointed his finger at them and said with a confused face:


    "Leaving that aside, what happened to these guys?" (Link)


    "Nothing, they are just too weak, can''t even withstand a shallow wind breeze¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head in disappointment as he insulted the newbies with an expressionless face as if he didn''t even care about them copsing on the floor and crying like a baby.


    Just then Lia also walked over from Riya''s side, she looked at the copsed newbies strangely but didn''t mention them.


    "Including Rio''s group now we have four groups here, but we still need one more group to be present to activate the teleportation circle only then will we be able to go to the boss arena." (Lia)


    "Indeed, but are there even anyone strong enough to even reach this ce on his own aside from us¡­" (Link)


    "You don''t even know that there are quite a few strong individuals in our ss? Do you even look at the rankings of other ss members aside from your own?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Link averted his gaze and said in a low voice:


    "O-of course, I look at them, like I know that you are ranked 2¡­. Wait you are ranked below me¡­. Doesn''t that mean I am stronger than you!?" (Link)


    "You just noticed that I was ranked below you?..." (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and thought in his head:


    ''Where is that shrewd and cunning Link I read about in the novel!? This guy has be so dumb! I never knew that having a girlfriend can lower your IQ!'' (Rio)


    "Come on bro! Don''t look at me as if I am garbage! You are hurting my feelings!" (Link)


    While Rio and Link were busy confronting each other, half an hour passed away quietly, and finally, the fifth group arrived at the central area.


    A huge wyvern appeared in the sky, the wyvern started to descend near the altar, looking at therge wyvern Link stood up immediately, he was about tounch an attack but Rio stopped him from doing so.


    "That''s a summoned beast of a ssmate, don''t attack it¡­." (Rio)


    "What!? That''s a peak B-rank monster! Someone from our ss is capable of summoning that!?..." (Link)


    "Indeed it is the first time, I have seen it too, is it really a summoned beast?" (Lia)


    Link and Lia both looked amazed by looking at the size of that monster, apparently, neither of them ever inquired much about the strength or profiles of their ssmates, they only care about their close ones after all.


    As the wyvern finally descended to the ground four individuals jumped down from its back andnded on the ground.


    Link looked at Rio with a smile on his face, he gave Rio a thumbs up and said:


    "You are indeed quite smart, Rio, just your face is a bit irritating that''s all¡­" (Link)


    "You are also quite annoying, you know¡­" (Rio)


    ''Well, I just know about it because I read about it in the novel¡­'' (Rio)


    Among the four that descended from the back of the wyvern was a boy leading them with a shrewd-looking grin on his face.


    Looking at the guy Link had a surprised face and he said in a serious tone:


    "Hey, Rio, this guy, he''s¡­." (Link)


    Listening to Link''s question in a serious tone, Rio nodded his head and said:


    "He''s strong¡­. Indeed¡­" (Rio)


    ¡­.


    Liam got down from the Wyvern''s back, he nced around the area and his gaze stopped on Link and Rio standing near the altar, a feminine voice rang in his head instantly with a tone of concern in it:


    ''Master! Be careful! These two guys are quite strong!'' (???)


    ''I know, I know, Ellie, both of them are quite high in the rankings, I am ranked 3 because of the presence of these two after all, don''t worry too much, there''s no need to fight them right now¡­'' (Liam)


    ''Okay!'' (Ellie)


    While Liam was looking at Link and Rio, they were also looking at him, thus a chilly atmosphere appeared between the three of them. All the newbies who sensed the chilly aura circting around here stepped back one by one.


    Ignoring the atmosphere Liam walked towards Rio and Link with his signature shrewd smile on his face:


    "Well, well, if it isn''t the invincible duo from ss A-3¡­ oh wait we are all in the same ss now¡­" (Liam)


    (After the death or expulsion of many students there are only enough students to be put in one ss now, the increasingly smaller number of the students in the ss as the years go on is actually a normal phenomenon thus generally there''s only one ss for the second and third-year students in the academy. After all from the original thousand students that enter the academy only a few of them actually graduate by the end of the third year.)


    Liam pushed his hand forward for a handshake, Link also did the same with a bright smiling expression on his face, and Rio just did the handshake with the same expressionless face.


    Liam looked at Rio for a while before saying:


    "Actually I am more impressed by you ''Dark Star Rio'', to be able to progress so much from a humble background, you have amazing talent and determination¡­" (Liam)


    Despite it looking like a taunting gesture from him, Liam was actually praising Rio from the bottom of his heart, it''s just his way of talking is twisted, and this is also the reason he doesn''t have any friends in the academy.


    "Oh, thanks, you yourself are quite amazing, to be able to summon such high-ranking monsters is also an amazing talent you have¡­" (Rio)


    Although Rio didn''t say it out loud he knew that this wyvern was not actually the strongest beast Liam had summoned, he had a much stronger one, which resided in his consciousness and was also the one that protected Liam from any mortal danger.


    Liam hurriedly let go of Rio''s hand, because he felt that Rio could look right through him and all his secrets were exposed in front of Rio, although he felt a little ufortable he sighed in his mind and changed the topic of the conversation.


    "By the way, when are we going to fight the boss, are there enough people now, I actually arrived here the second day of the survival test, but since no one was here I just went away to pass some time¡­" (Liam)


    Link looked at the copsed newbies who were being healed by Riya and said:


    "Including your group, now there are enough people to start the teleportation circle, but since it''s already night, how about we do it tomorrow though, the newbies still need to get some rest after all¡­" (Link)


    Hearing that Liam and Rio also nodded their heads.


    "Well since that''s the case, I would go and set up the bonfire with my group, let''s attack the boss tomorrow together¡­" (Liam)


    Saying that Liam went towards the group, Link went away to help Riya heal the newbies and Rio sat down near Lia.


    "Why are you so quiet today, did you get injured?" (Rio)


    "I am not so weak to get injured so easily, humph¡­" (Lia)


    Looking at Lia, pouting her cheeks, Rio shook his head:


    ''When will she learn to be honest with herself? Sigh~'' (Rio)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Outside the SSA, near the main gate.


    "How can you be so careless!? Why didn''t you protect the newbies, all three members of your group got eliminated!" (Teacher)


    "It was not my fault! They were all so weak they couldn''t even ask for help, how was I supposed to protect them!" (Fade)


    The teacher looked at Fade with anger on his face, thinking about the three newbies who got beaten half to death during the test due to Fade''s carelessness, his anger red up even more.


    If not for the fact that they had arranged an S-rank healer here specially for this test they could not have been able to heal those three students back to full health.


    The teacher red at Fade and said:


    "You are eliminated in this test! And you get zero marks! Now go back to the academy and write apology letters to all three of the students who got injured because of you!" (Teacher)


    Although it was indeed Fade''s mistake but, how could a protagonist apologize to some nobodies:


    "No! I didn''t do anything wrong! Why must I apologize instead those three should apologize to me for being so weak!" (Fade)


    "You!" (Teacher)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Author''s Notes.


    Don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 96 Group Survival Test. Part-7.

    Inside the SSA, Central Area, Night of the fourth day.


    "You know! That Lion was this¡­. No this big and she just killed it in one attack! It was so amazing! I am totally a fan of her, she''s so amazing" (Riya)


    While sitting beside the bonfire around the northern side of the altar, Riya was iling her small and cute hands in the air and was trying to describe the amazing feats of Lia the mad demon sword to Link, while the newbies of both of their groups had already gone to sleep, Riya was continuing here chatterbox tendencies.


    ''Ugh, how many times is she going to tell me about that, this is already the fifth time, can you let me sleep in peace already, sigh~ not even Rio talks about Lia that much¡­'' (Link)


    "Moreover, not only me, there are several other girls who are very big fans of Lia, after all, she was the strongest among all the girl warriorsst year." (Riya)


    "I even saw several first-year students asking her for autograph!" (Riya)


    While saying that Riya seemed to have stars shining in her eyes and excitement was written all over her face, she looked just like a fan girl who was trying to describe her love for her idol.


    Looking at Riya, Link shook his head and sighed heavily in his mind:


    ''If not for the fact that Lia is a girl and she has a boyfriend, I would have thought she was a womanizer, so many girls are chasing after her, sigh~'' (Link)


    Seeing that Riya was still going to continue her endless chat, Link had a thought in his mind:


    ''Looks like I have to use my secret weapon to get her to stop talking¡­.'' (Link)


    "Hey, it''s gettingte, how about you go to sleep now, Riya? We still have to fight tomorrow, morning¡­." (Link)


    Hearing Link asking her to go to sleep, Riya puffed her small and cute face and replied:


    "No, I still have many things to tell you, like how Lia ripped a monster''s heart apart and gave it to me to eat¡­. She said it tasted better than candy but it was horrible¡­" (Riya)


    (Listen, kids, don''t eat any suspicious thing given to you by a beautiful-looking girl she might have ulterior motives.)


    "If you are not going to sleep then I would tell your big sister that you snuck those ultra-sweet candies and ate them secretly at night¡­.. wait why did you even eat that monster''s heart!? I had already told you to not trust everything people say, you! Enough! This time I will definitely tell your big sister to ban your candies! " (Link)


    (Actually, Lia gave that monster heart to Riya because eating it could help her recover from exhaustion, after all, Riya had to run away for quite a while from that Lion monster and she was fatigued and anxious, Lia had good intentions but her way of expressing them is indeed weird.)


    Link was genuinely quite a bit angry from hearing that Riya was so na?ve to believe any nonsense Lia said. If not for Rio, Link would have already gone ahead to ask for an exnation from Lia.


    Link red at Rio and Lia sitting nearby with anger in in eyes.


    Looking at Link who looked angry, Riya burst into tears:


    "No! Not my candies! Anything but my candies!" (Riya)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    "Why is that guy ring at us like that, is he itching for a beating or something¡­." (Rio)


    "Who knows~" (Lia)


    While Link was ring at them, a small cat suddenly appeared on Lia''s shoulder out of thin air, the cat had pure white fur and it looked very soft and cute, yet it seemed to have humanoid wisdom in its eyes.


    [Well, Lia fed that girl a monster heart, of course, that guy would be angry, no matter the intentions it is still strange to do such a thing.] (Kai)


    [I have to say, you have some unique taste, Lia] (Kai)


    Rio and Lia both heard the voice of Kai, which he conveyed in their mind directly with telepathy. Yes, this small cat was the unsummoned form of Kai that he could take and appear beside Lia. Only when Lia summons him can he take his full form otherwise he could only make do with this small cat body.


    [But you know, I also prefer my summoner to have some unique traits otherwise it''s boring-] (Kai)


    Just when Kai was about to continue talking, Rio instantly caught his neck with his hand and pushed him against the ground with his left hand, his right hand brought out his sword, which was pulsating with a ck aura around it, Rio was ready to attack. (Note:- No fluffy cats were abused during the making of this. It''s just fiction. So, don''t throw rocks at the author.)


    [Wait! Wait! What are you doing!? Calm down, little guy! How about we talk it out!? Hey! Say something, Lia!] (Kai)


    Hearing Kai shouting for help, Lia looked at him for a while and said:


    "Who? I don''t know you¡­" (Lia)


    [What!? This is not the time to be kidding!] (Kai)


    Kai looked at Rio''s de that was hanging right above his head:


    [Wait! Is that sword intent!? K-keep that thing away from me! Sword intent is like poison to the spirit beings! Keep that away!] (Kai)


    Rio looked at Kai for a few seconds before asking Lia:


    "Is this an evil spirit? Should we purify it?" (Rio)


    [No! I am not an evil spirit! I am a very good spirit!] (Kai)


    "All bad individuals say that they are good people¡­." (Rio)


    [What!? No!] (Kai)


    After threatening Kai for a little while longer Lia told Rio about how Kai came to be and Rio finally sheathed his sword. Seeing that the misunderstanding had been cleared Kai finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    Just when Kai was about to jump at Lia''s shoulder to lie down, Rio caught him again, a demonic smile appeared on his face and he whispered in a very scary tone:


    "Listen, my buddy, don''t try any funny business with Lia. You better stay away from her, otherwise¡­.hehehe" (Rio)


    [O-okay] (Kai)


    (Imagine a punk or a delinquent-like guy whispering threats to your ear in an eerie voice, while putting his arm on your shoulder like a best friend. This is how Rio sounds to Kai right now.)


    Although Kai was agreeing on the surface, he was actually cursing at Rio in his mind:


    ''Damn it! This guy is insane! And he even has sword intent too! His obsession with this girl is huge enough to put the vast sky to shame¡­ better to stay away from this maniac!'' (Kai)


    In the end, Kai decided to stay a meter away from both of them, while lying down he nced at Rio from time to time:


    ''This guy''s eyes look so dead and empty, he doesn''t even seem to have emotions, is this guy even human!? And what is this unsettling aura that I feel from him, he is very strange, tsk, forget it! I would just go to sleep!'' (Kai)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    There are five bonfires around the altar for five different groups to spend the night, Link and Riya were staying near the one north of the altar and Rio and Lia were staying near the west one.


    But Liam and his group were staying away from each other near the southern bonfire. While the three newbies were already sleeping, Liam was lying down on the back of his summoned beast wyvern.


    "Looking at this clear sky filled with stars reminds me of the first day I summoned you, Ellie, it''s quite nostalgic, I was quite the na?ve kid back then¡­" (Liam)


    "Well, you used to run around with tears and snot covering your face all around your house when you were small, but you were very cute back then, hehe" (Ellie)


    "You make me sound like a brat¡­" (Liam)


    "Hmm, you were actually a very arrogant brat when you were young, you once ordered me arrogantly to eat the veggies that you used to hate, haha" (Ellie)


    "Is that even true? Or are you just making fun of me now?" (Liam)


    "You may have forgotten but it''s indeed true¡­" (Ellie)


    Suddenly Ellie''s voice turned serious and she said:


    "Do you need my help tomorrow?" (Ellie)


    "No, not tomorrow but perhaps when the group battle happens, then I will summon you, you just need to be ready¡­" (Liam)


    "Well, as you wish, just be careful..." (Ellie)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! Here''s your beloved author, we are at the sixth day of continuous uploads, but my main motivation actuallyes from yourments so be sure to write your thoughts about the chapter before leaving. Thanks for reading.


    Question of the day


    Would you eat any food given to you by Lia?


    1. Yes! (Anything for the maiden, protect the maiden!)


    2. No! (I-I will pass, don''t like the taste of a monster heart¡­)


    3. Others.


    Hidden option:


    4. Seal it! (Seal the food in air-tight packaging to take it as a family heirloom. Would be a good material to brag about to your grandchildren.)( Getting something from a gift from a maiden is an ultra-rare ss event after all.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 97 Group Survival Test. Part-8.

    <h4>Chapter 97 Group Survival Test. Part-8.</h4>


    Outside the SSA, the General''s Residence building, Meeting hall.


    "By the way, have you increased the difficulty of the boss fight for this test to max or not?" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s question General Bismoil smiled shrewdly and said:


    "Yes! I have increased the difficulty to the maximum the five groups that would activate the teleportation circle first, will be able to fight a peak A rank monster in the boss arena this time¡­." (General)


    "Ho ho, not to mention that the group leaders will have to look after the newbies they will also have to fight a peak A rank monster, while still cooperating with other groups too, hehe, this is indeed some hell-level difficulty, as expected, you are indeed excellent in your work¡­" (Neo)


    "Haha, you praise me too much! I am just following the orders, haha" (General)


    Ignoring the weird atmosphere, Ashtel said:


    "Hmm, what about the security measures? Have you taken care of them properly, we certainly don''t want the same thing as ''that'' one to happen again¡­" (Ashtel)


    General Bismoil smiled while listening to Ashtel''s question, after a while he said:


    "There''s no need to worry, we have arranged the boss arena with particr teleportation circles, these teleportation circles will teleport any student who has sustained heavy injuries out of the area." (General)


    "Moreover we have invited an S-rank healer just for the sake of this test¡­ and with me being here there''s no need to worry about the safety of the students¡­." (General)


    "Although I may seem old, these old bones are still able to move, enough to exert my peak strength at the least, haha¡­" (General)


    Hearing him bragging about himself Raji rolled her eyes and said:


    "Well, we certainly are not worried about the safety of the students with you being present there after all you have the experience of two hundred years under your belt¡­" (Raji)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    (Info dumps ahead.)


    Awakeners are different from ordinary people they can live much longer and healthier than ordinary folks. The lifespan of someone at peak C rank or below is actually simr to an ordinary human, even though their vitality and strength are in two different dimensions.


    The life span of human awakeners:


    C rank or below: 90 to 120 years. (90 years represents the minimum age and 120 years represents the maximum age, these parameters only tell an averagely recorded data, this is not true for all people, some people may even die earlier orter due to various reasons.)


    B rank: 120 to 150 years. (Although increasing your rank enhances your life expectancy, there are many other methods avable to increase your own life expectancy in this magical world.)


    A rank: 200 to 250 years. (Keep in mind that these are the life expectancy a human awakener have when they reach a certain rank. Other species have different life spanspared to humans, for example, even a C-rank elf can live for 500 hundred years.)


    S rank: 400 to 500 years. (S-rank is a major milestone, at this rank, you surpass your gic limits thus your life span increases exponentially.)


    SS rank: 1000 years approx. (There''s no record of an SS-ranker dying from age yet, but people estimate that it should be around 1000 years or something, it could be a hundred or two hundred years up or down depending on the individual.)


    (Most SS-rankers only die due to war or fights with other SS-rankers. Another reason is that most of the older SS-rankers like to live in seclusion thus nobody knows of their exact death date.)


    Since General Bismoil is about 300 years old, he could be considered to be in his fifties if put in the perspective of an ordinary human. Surprisingly, General Bismoil is actually much older than all the four SS rankers of the present generation.


    Regarding the age of the SS-rankers, there''s a theory in the human empire. It is widely acknowledged that most the human awakeners achieve their highest strength or potential by the age of fifty, after that enhancement of strength bes exceedingly rare and difficult.


    Most of the humans that reached SS-rank were below the age of fifty with only a few exceptions but even those exceptions were still below the age of eighty, which indicates that if a fairly talented awakener wants to reach SS-rank he will only have fifty years to do so, otherwise he will be stuck in the same rank till the end of his life.


    Certainly, you can enhance your skill and damage while remaining in the same rank for a long time, but you would eventually lose the hope of ever upgrading your rank. After reaching their highest potential most people decide to polish their skills and enhance their fighting experience.


    This is also the reason why it is said that:


    "You should fear an old man in a profession where people die young." (I don''t know whose quote this is, but I thought this was cool, so I just added it, but I give all credit to the original owner.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "Haha, you praise me too much¡­ well talking about the test reminded me, would this be the only test that would be taken, or there will be some others in the future¡­." (General)


    Hearing General Bismoil''s question, Neo said:


    "Hmm, well, we are nning on selecting a few strong and promising youngsters from the current test, after that, we may have to conduct one or two more tests on them, well the other ones would be secretive so¡­. Anyways there''s no need to think about it that much, just wait and see, haha.." (Neo)


    "Indeed" (Raji)


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Inside the SSA, Central area, on the teleportation Alter.


    Five group leaders and their respective groups could be seen standing on the altar in the center of it.


    Just when thest individual stepped on the altar, the altar started to shine brightly with the radiance of magic, the light produced by the teleportation circle was blinding so the students closed their eyes for a second and just when they closed their eyes they felt a wobbling sensation.


    But the strange sensation onlysted for a few seconds before fading away, which indicated that the teleportation was sessful, thus the students opened their eyes.


    When they opened their eyes a monster they were not expecting to confront appeared in the middle of the vast Colosseum-like area. The structure of the ce is like the Colosseum in which diators show their might, there are many seats all around the building for the audience to see the match.


    And the area the students were standing on was the middle area, the fighting ground. In front of the students was standing a monster with five snake heads and a body like an enormous lizard, it had small wings that were incapable of flight due to their shortness.


    Several newbies panicked from the sheer size of the monster.


    "A-a Hydra!?"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "wouldn''t a hydra be too difficult of a monster for the students to fight, It it''s very strong and very difficult to kill¡­" (Ashtel)


    [Hydra- A very rare type of monster with five head that looks like a snake two small wings that are incapable of flight and a body like an enormous lizard. It''s every head can use a different type of breath attack, moreover, it has fast regeneration, it can regenerate any body part in a very short time.]


    [Magic attack''s efficiency is dramatically reduced against this beast. Physical attacks seem ineffective due to its fast regeneration speed and spiritual attacks are useless against it because it has five brains and its collective spirit is incredibly strong.]


    [This thing is like an unkible and undefeatable cockroach that haunts you again and again till you are dead.]


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Authors Notes


    I wasn''t going to upload today but then I remembered the praise of all of you guys in thement section I thought it would not be fair to you guys, so it would be better if you guys praise me more, it may motivate me to create an amazing chapter featuring Lia giving a hug to you, cough! I mean to Rio. (Rio is staring at me with ring eyes.) Gulp, I-I think we shouldn''t joke anymore.


    But don''t forget toment. That is very important, that gives me motivation after all which helps me write better chapter for you.


    Question of the day.


    Which SS-ranker is your favorite?


    1. Raji Croft (We like our ice queen but she is a bit careless, she shouldn''t have left the academy defenseless¡­)


    2. Ashtel Rex (A loving dad is always the greatest wish you could get, isn''t it?)


    3. Neo Aldif (Liking a shrewd yet strong individual has its own benefits.)


    4. Jin (We like his loyalty.)


    Hidden option:


    5. Author (Is he even an SS-ranker, isn''t he just a good old ordinary mortal???)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 98 The face-slap...

    <h4>Chapter 98 The face-p...</h4>


    Outside the SSA, General''s Residence Building, Meeting hall.


    "There are only three ways to kill a hydra properly, if not killed properly it would regenerate to full health if given enough time, thus making your mission a failure¡­" (General)


    "Thus if the students want to finish this mission sessfully, they have to at least do one of the following things to kill that hydra¡­." (General)


    The first method to kill a hydra is by cutting or destroying it''s all its five heads together, which is a very difficult task, a single person may find it impossible but since there are many students to fight it, this method may seem actually the most feasible but this is the most dangerous one.


    Any one individual mistake can end up in the failure of all the attacking parties and it may even lead to fatal injuries. After all, each of the five heads can use different types of breath attacks like, thunder, fire, poison, etc. and the range of these breath attacks is very wide thus making it difficult to target the heads properly.


    If Link and Rio choose to use the first method they will most likely put the group of newbies in danger and since the breath attacks are very wide in range the newbies are likely to get injured in this attack. Thus this method might be the most dangerous one.


    The second method is to target and destroy the mana core of the hydra that is responsible for its seemingly infinite regeneration and also is the source of its vitality if it is destroyed the hydra will die too.


    But the problem is that the mana core moves all over its body continuously thus it''s very difficult to locate the precise position and attack it. Thus it makes it a very risky task to actually do it.


    As for the third method, it is quite straightforward. It is to just simply destroy the hydra with so much firepower that not even a shred of it is left alive. Basically, you need to be an S-ranker to do that, even a peak A ranker can''t kill a hydra in just one attack, even if they don''t have that much firepower.


    Only S-rankers have the firepower to reduce a mountain range into t ground in just one or two attacks. That''s the real horror of breaking your gic limits and venturing into the realm of legendary. This is the reason why they are revered so highly, they are basically walking nuclear weapons that can tten mountains change the course of rivers, and make the sky rain, with just a simple gesture of their hand.


    But obviously, the students aren''t S-rankers, if they were wouldn''t they have already got the title of a general at this point why would they waste time, fighting a hydra, which they could kill in a fraction of a second¡­


    "Hmm, indeed your nning is quite thorough, but I am still doubtful after all the students we have this time are some of the most talented ones, they have the talent to even reach the SS realm, and we will be pped in the face if we underestimate those children¡­" (Neo)


    "Actually, I agree with Neo too, this is one of the few times in human history when so many of the most talented types of geniuses have gathered together in one generation. I am quite sure that if they all grow up properly then maybe the human race will have its second golden era and this generation may also im the title of the second golden generation too, but that''s just my thought hahaha¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Golden generation¡­. That''s setting the expectations too high, in my opinion, if only one of them became an SS-ranker in the future it would be a great achievement for us as the ones that looked over them¡­" (Raji)


    As Ashtel mentioned the topic of the ''Golden Era of humanity'' the atmosphere became a bit depressed, seeing the awkward atmosphere General Bismoil changed the topic to stop it from escting too much¡­


    "W-well that''s a topic only someone at S or above rank is qualified to know, let''s not talk about it here, there are several people in this meeting room¡­. Ah! How about we look at the battle of the students with that hydra via the micro cameras that we installed beforehand in the battle arena!" (General)


    "If my guess is correct the students must have already engaged the hydra in battle around this time, Let not dwell too much on the past and focus on the future, these kids are the future pirs of humanity after all¡­." (General)


    While saying that General Bismoil gavemands to the officer responsible for monitoring the battle of the students via the cameras.


    When the General ordered him to disy the battle on the bigger screen the officer had a strange expression on his face, he seemed to want to tell the general something but the general stopped and didn''t think much about the strange expression of the officer and hurriedly asked them to get the things ready.


    The officer sighed and finally started to do his work, after a few seconds the main screen that was situated on the opposite wall of the general''s seat lit up with the live battle recordings but it was not exactly a battle recording.


    All the officers had their mouths opened in shock when they looked at the situation on the screen, even General Bismoil stood up from his seat due to shock. All three of the SS-rankers also had a dignified look on their faces, a strange silence appeared in the room, after all the recording was so different from what they were expecting originally.


    The hydra was lying t on the ground with a huge hole in its enormous chest, the hole had pierced through its body, and three of its heads had been cut off and were lying around the battlefield with huge pools of blood scattered around the arena. This scene was extremely shocking because it hadn''t even been half an hour since the fight had started.


    But the most shocking thing is that none of the students is injured one bit, some of them have a few small scratches but even they were being healed by Riya and one other healer student from Liam''s group.


    Looking at the Hydra it is clear that it was defeated using the second method, its mana core has been destroyed, its two heads have been cut, and one was smashed into pulp. Its wings had been cut off and its tail was to ashes. It could be said that the hydra was massacred very mercilessly. Its fate was very miserable, to say the least.


    The officer in charge of the monitoring wasn''t shocked perhaps because he had already seen this while monitoring the battle data. Thus he zoomed the camera towards where Lia and her group were sitting near the severed head of the hydra.


    ...


    Lia opened the mouth of the hydra and tore apart an organ out of it, she showed the newbies the huge organ.


    "Look this is the organ that helps the hydra use its breath attacks so efficiently it is actually very simr to the venom-spraying organs of some animals wemonly read about in the books, if you cook it properly and eat it you can increase your magical affinity, increasing your mana capacity¡­." (Lia)


    The newbies looked numb from seeing Lia, they seemed to have been ustomed to Lia giving people monster organs to eat. All they had in their mind was:


    "I want to go home!"


    The camera then moved towards the head that was beaten to a pulp, Link was standing near it with his group:


    "Hahahaha, like I said nothing can stop my fists, not even the steel-like skin of a hydra is a match for me hahaha" (Link)


    "You are amazing Link Senpai! (Lenn)


    Lastly, the camera moved towards Liam who was standing near his injured wyvern with his group.


    "Liam Senpai your wyvern is amazing, it stood against a peak A rank monster even though it''s only a peak B rank monster¡­"


    Liam smiled and stroked his summoned beast while hearing the praises of the newbies:


    "Haha, you think too much this guy has always been very brave since the day I summoned him¡­ he is one of my best buddies, he can''t talk though, hahaha" (Liam)


    (Rio is sleeping in the corner, thus the camera doesn''t focus on him. I sometimes wonder if he has a hidden ability that lets him avoid the spotlight very easily.)


    ¡­


    The meeting hall


    "W-well this is¡­. Unexpected¡­ I would say¡­." (Neo)


    "Ugh, these kids¡­. They face pped us so hard¡­. it seems I am getting too old¡­ and the younger generation might surpass me very soon, sigh~" (Ashtel)


    Raji just stayed silent, but she could also see that this might be the beginning of a legend she was witnessing¡­.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    Have you ever been face-pped this hard before?


    (Personally, I once mocked my friend that you are an idiot and wouldn''t even be able to pass the exams, the next thing I knew of that guy was that he became the top scorer of the year, even the principal praised him and he got several rewards. I can still feel the burning sensation of that face p... So nostalgic~ )


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 99 The Chase. Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 99 The Chase. Part-1.</h4>


    The meeting hall¡­


    "Well¡­ I expected them to at least have a little bit of difficulty but this¡­." (Ashtel)


    "yeah, this is just straight massacre, that hydra didn''t have a chance from the start¡­" (Ashtel)


    "This was a mistake on our part¡­." (Raji)


    While the three of them looked at the recording of the students working together to defeat the hydra so easily they understood that they had miscalcted. They used to think that these students needed to fight together as a group to increaseradeship and unity, but looking at the recording there is clearly no need for this, these guys are already united enough and can work together easily.


    Especially, Rio and Link both know what the other is going to use to attack due to their many sparring sessions even Lia has a good grasp on how to keep up with both of them and Liam might be new to this group but his extraordinary battle IQ has made him adapted to this group in just a single fight.


    You could say that this can already be considered one of the best batches of students in human history now. After all, defeating a peak A-rank monster while still in your second year of the academy is no small feat. It will be recorded in the books of history. Manying generations of students will read and learn about this.


    (In the future, when the students will read about the origins of the second golden age of humanity they will find that this was the day when it all started.)


    (It''s a small hint from your beloved author that, the main storyline is starting from this point guys. Everything before it was just an intro.)


    "It looks like we don''t need to work on the unity part¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Then let''s move on to the next phase¡­." (Raji)


    "Oh! About that! I suddenly have an amazing idea, heeheehee¡­" (Neo)


    At that very moment, Neo the ''Dragon Knight'' Looked at ''Ice Queen'' Raji and ''Elf Killer'' Ashtel (These are one of their many nicknames as SS-rankers.) with a shrewd smile leaking from his mouth, all three of their eyes lit up like old scoundrels who have been involved in many conspiracies and shady businesses.


    Looking at the three of them, General Bismoil had aplicated look on his face and a thought came to his mind:


    ''IS humanity safe in the hands of such people!!!?!!!'' (General)


    ¡­.


    SSA, Central Area¡­


    All the students got teleported back to the teleportation on the altar after a few minutes.


    While the newbies were happily chatting with each other there was excitement in the atmosphere. A sudden announcement started from all of their smartwatches, which were provided by the academy to all the students earlier.


    [Attention all students!]


    [Due to certain circumstances, the content of thest test has been altered a little bit. All the students except those who have passed the second stage have been expelled from this test, they will be all evacuated from this moment forward by the teachers!]


    [Only the students from group no. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 12 should remain where they are!]


    (For reader''s knowledge- Group no. 1 is for Link, no.2 is Rio, No. 3 is Liam, no. 5 is Lia''s group and No. 12 is Riya''s group. By the way, Lia is ranked no. 5 because Fade was ranked no.4 inst year''s rankings. They think Lia is weaker than Fade.)


    [For these five groups please confirm if you want to take part in the group battle stage or not?]


    [Yes/No]


    Looking at the announcement everyone was a little surprised by the expulsion of all the other groups, generally, the other groups would have been given a little more chance, but no one said anything and just clicked on the ''Yes'' option except one person.


    "Hey what are you doing Riya!? Your whole group will not be able to enter the next stage if you press ''No''!?" (Link)


    Riya looked at Link and smiled with a silly look on her face:


    "W-well I don''t think I will able to fight the following battles after I am a healer, to begin with moreover my group is too exhausted so I will just exit here¡­." (Riya)


    ''I can''t say that I don''t want to fight Link and my idol Lia, I just can''t do that... he will scold me if I told him that¡­'' (Riya) (Riya is too innocent for this cruel world. If not for Link she may not survive long¡­)


    Link wanted to say more but the words stuck in his heart and in the end he didn''t say anything, he isn''t sure either if he can protect Riya while fighting people as strong as Rio. (In the eyes of Link, Rio is an eternal Rival he can''t show any weakness to him.)


    After Riya exited, an officer from the army came to escort her back, and in just a few minutes only the four groups including Link, Rio, Liam, and Lia were left in the SSA with the newbies in each of their groups.


    All four of the groups made a little distance between each other and scattered in four directions. So as to keep a bit of secrecy about their strategy. The atmosphere started to be cold and tensions started to rise. Newbies gulped their saliva with a bit of nervousness and lots of excitement.


    A new announcement was released:


    [Attention all students the rules of the group battle have been changed!]


    [Instead of the one-on-one knockout matches between groups this time a new idea has been introduced¡­]


    [One of the four groups will be chosen randomly and will y the part of the betrayal group which has defected to demons and has important documents in their hands, while the other three groups will be asked to defeat or make the betrayal group surrender within the given time of an hour.]


    [Betrayal group condition for winning:- Surviving for an hour or defeating all pursuing groups.]


    [Pursuing group''s condition for winning:- Defeating, arresting, or making the betrayal group surrender before one hour of the time limit.]


    [The betrayal group''s random selector starts now!]


    A roulette like a lucky draw roulette started to spin like crazy on the holographic screen, as the needle of the roulette started to slow down all the students started to stare at it with nervous looks, anyone could see that the role of the betrayal group is very difficult and no one wants to do it.


    Being pursued by the likes of Rio, each group leader is a strong individual with each of their own advantages and disadvantages of their own.


    After a while the needle broke down and stopped at a group, the number of the group turned red while others stayed green, it was all followed by a loud announcement:


    [Group No.2 has defected to the demons, all the groups are ordered to capture or defeat the betrayers and retrieve the intelligence they have stolen from the cab of a secret agent of humanity!]


    [Time starts now: 59min, 59 sec.]


    ¡­.


    In the meeting hall, a few minutes ago¡­


    "I think group no. 2 is the most suitable to y the role of the betrayers¡­" (Ashtel)


    The other two nodded their head when they heard Ashtel.


    "Group no. 1 has Link and his insane defense, other students might not be able to defeat him in just an hour and it would be unfair for him to be in the betrayer group¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Moreover, that girl Lia, she managed to get her hands on that divine spirit, that thing is more than capable of hiding her group presence from even an S-ranker, so it''s total nonsense to put her in the betrayal group¡­" (Lia)


    "As for that kid Liam, he has a summon that can keep his group in the air for a very long time at a height that even a peak A ranker may not be able to fly to, so there would be no suspense and the test will be meaningless, so the only valid option is¡­ This little guy¡­" (Neo)


    All three of them looked at a guy with pitch-ck hair and an expressionless face, the young man was standing with nkness in his eyes and staring at air. He seemed like an ordinary person when looking at the recording but his aura seemed very refined and intimidating.


    It turned out the random selector was not random at all, it was all fixed from the start.


    Rio suddenly moved his face towards the camera and tilted his head in confusion as if he noticed the camera staring at him, but was a little confused about something.


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    Author''s Note.


    It''s starting the event that I have been thinking about for the past month has started, let''s see how it goes, I hope you guys will like it, I wonder if you guys are ready to see Rio''s viin phase¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which group do you think will win this:


    1. Link (Link seems to be favored by the author, he has the hand of the author supporting his back, so he may win¡­)


    2. Rio (Will Rio be able to fight Lia for this victory or not?)


    3. Lia (She may be in love but don''t forget she is called crazy for a reason, she may not think twice before fighting Rio for the revenge that she''s been waiting for.)


    4. Liam (A guy with a legendary summon, we do not know much about him, but that might y to his advantage¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 100 Chase. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 100 Chase. Part-2.</h4>


    Inside the SSA, Central area, Near the altar.


    [Group No.2 has defected to the demons, all the groups are ordered to capture or defeat the betrayers and retrieve the intelligence they have stolen from the cab of a secret agent of humanity!]


    [Time starts now: 59min, 59 sec.]


    ''It seems that they would need to knock out our team or make us surrender to win, hmm¡­ it''s gonna be troublesome¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at the three newbies standing behind him, they seemed nervous and anxious, certainly the type of people who die the fastest in a dungeon raid. Making them seem unreliable.


    While Rio was contemting others were not sitting idly to wait for him, Link nced a little at Lia and Liam they seemed to be hesitating from making the first move¡­.


    ''It seems I would have to start this on my own first, only then will they follow up.'' (Link)


    Before anyone else Link made his move, he assumed his stance, gathered mana on his fist, and flew like an arrow the ground under his feet cracked and made a huge crater, in the blink of an eye he was already in front of Rio.


    [Dragon Arts: Reckless Rush!]


    Rio was ncing at the three first-years thus he was a littlete to react but he sensed Link gathering mana from the start:


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Calming thunder!]


    With Rio''s sword swing, he seemed to have created a thunder shield, Link''s fist collided with Rio''s sword directly but Link was unharmed even after punching the sword with his bare fists.


    Link smiled shrewdly and said in a loud voice:


    "Goddamn you Rio! I didn''t expect you to betray us! I always had a feeling that you were hiding something but this¡­. Unbelievable!!" (Link)


    "I used to go easy on you before because I thought you were a friend but to think you will betray us! Today I will make you admit all your sins, die!!!!" (Link)


    Rio tilted his head in confusion:


    ''What''s gotten into him? Why is he acting like the righteous protagonist of some third-ss novel, well¡­ I might as well go with the flow then¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at Link with an expressionless face and replied:


    "Well, I was getting bored, so I thought why not do something exciting-" (Rio)


    [Dragon Arts: Consecutive hundred punches!]


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Scattering wind breeze!]


    Link''s every punch carried the might to st a hole in a small hill yet they were being deflected like nothing in front of Rio, but of course, the air pressure of these blows literally made the three first-years standing behind Rio fly away with air quite a few meters.


    ''What insane strength, is this guy still a human, even a berserk ogre would not have such strength in a casual punch, from the looks of it, he is still just using a little bit of his real power, it was right to not underestimate Link, this is insanity¡­'' (Liam)


    "I don''t want to hear any excuses from someone who has left his humanity behind! You have trampled on my good feelings, you have broken my heart, cough cough I mean you have broken this friendship! Anyway Just die!" (Link)


    Rio made a smug look on his face and teased:


    "Just try, you loser, heh!" (Rio)


    Looking at that smug face, Link really got irritated and now he became genuinely angry, veins appeared on his face and he looked terrifying even his group members stepped back a little due to his strong aura.


    "Y-you dare call me Loser! Die!" (Link)


    [Mana overload!]


    The mana in the air trembled like crazy even Liam''s mana shield spell became a little unstable which he casted to prevent his team members.


    "Do you think I will let you do that and stand in wait for your transformation! Dreaming!" (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio swung his sword, his sword intent scarred in the air, and calmed the mana in an instant, he directly stopped Link from entering his overload mode, the mana scattered away and Link looked at Rio in shock, this was the first time his strongest skill had failed and it had failed miserably.


    ''I shouldn''t miss this chance¡­'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Piercing thunder!]


    Thunder aura gathered on the tip of Rio''s sword and Rio directly shot toward Link''s eye:


    ''Hero without plot armor die the fastest, they die the most horrifying deaths¡­'' (Rio)


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Defensive thrust!]


    A pointed sword''s tip collided with the tip of Rio''s sword directly stopping Rio''s attack effortlessly. A familiar voice rang in Rio''s ears as he looked at the owner of the sword which has defended Link from his doom.


    "When ites to thrust attacks, I have more experience in that!" (Lia)


    "heh, so you finally decided to move¡­" (Rio)


    Lia ignored the grin on Rio''s face and assumed her role too:


    "I-I have nothing to talk about with a betrayer!" (Lia)


    As Rio heard Lia''s confident voice he tilted his head toward the left slightly, to avoid a punch carrying the power to st his head off. It was a smooth and neat dodged as if he had expected it long ago.


    "Tsk, you dodged that too, why can''t I evernd a solid hit on you!? You slippery slime!" (Link)


    Rio jumped back and created a little distance between the two:


    ''Standing there and fighting the two of them together will be a little difficult, better to distance myself¡­'' (Rio)


    [Intermediate Earth Magic: Crushing Gaint''s hand!]


    The spot Rio jumped to, suddenly a magic circle appeared there and a huge giant hand made of solid rock emerged from it as if it wanted to crush Rio in its grasp, it instantly tried to grasp Rio.


    [Concentration!]


    With his stats boosted Rio, directly jumped sideways and avoided the magic hand, and what followed was his sword attack:


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Thundering fury]


    A huge thunder arc was fired from Rio''s sword that literally obliterated the magic circle by destroying its core and even created a neat cut in the nearby altar.


    Rio nced in the air and surely a wyvern was flying not far away, Liam was standing on its back with his team members and his staff was pointing towards Rio.


    "Well don''t forget about me, I also want to join the party!" (Liam)


    ''This is getting more troublesome by the moment, it would be difficult to protect the newbies while fighting the three of them¡­.'' (Rio)


    ¡­.


    General''s Residence, Meeting hall, outside the SSA.


    "This kid, ahem, I mean Rio, he seems to have skills on par with your son, Ashtel. Did you know about this¡­." (Neo)


    Ashtel looked at the surprised face of Neo, he smirked a little and replied:


    "Well you can say that I knew a little about it, but even I am surprised to see his strength, he may turn out to be the best rival for Link, moreover he still doesn''t seem to have awakened a very important skill, I am amazed¡­." (Ashtel)


    "Hmm, I also noticed that kid''s talent when he scored second inst year''s final exams. You see he is, Kevin''s son, and you may have already guessed it, he has yet to awaken Kevin''s main skill, perhaps there''s a condition that hasn''t been fulfilled yet, who knows~" (Raji)


    Hearing the two of them Neo, nodded his head in realization and said:


    "Well, that guy was aplete mystery to us back then, even I don''t know how to awaken that skill, and this kid will have to find his own path it seems¡­" (Neo)


    While looking at Rio on the screen, Neo''s eyes narrowed, as if he wanted to see through Rio''s every secret.


    ''Actually, this kid may have the potential to develop that skill much further than, Kevin did in his lifetime after all, sword geniuses like them rarely appear, he has even mastered sword intent at such a young age, he has insane sword aptitude¡­'' (Neo)


    (For your reference, generally, all swordsman in this world awaken sword aura when they reach C-rank, and only after reaching S-rank does one awaken his sword intent, even that is possible only, if your sword aptitude is at least S-rank or above.)


    (But Rio is an anomaly, he awakened Sword Intent from the C-rank, it''s like having a nuclear bomb-level attack power at level 1. Moreover, Sword intent doesn''t consume any mana at all it totally depends on your spirit. It''s just that overpowered, and Rio uses it like he''s waving a toothbrush.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day:


    What would you like to focus on developing first if given the chance:


    1. Your Rank (Well steady ones often make the best decisions¡­)


    2. Sword Intent (High risk, high reward, can you take the risk of being left behind in rank by your peers¡­)


    3. Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 101 The Chase Part-3

    <h4>Chapter 101 The Chase Part-3</h4>


    SSA central area.


    Today''s weather seemed to know about the turmoil going on the ground, dark clouds started to gather and winds howled like the wails of resentful ghosts. The newbies shivered from the chilly atmosphere and lightning raged in the clouds like a beast, about to be released. It looked like the wind and mana had also focused its gaze on this ce.


    [Dragon arts: earthquake steps!]


    Link stomped the ground with his right leg, the ground cracked open and a huge crater was created in a matter of milliseconds, the few raindrops that were falling calmly were swept away by the air pressure of the impact.


    [Dragon arts: Rushed flurry!]


    Linkunched fifty kicks on Rio in a matter of two seconds most of which were blocked and the rest were deflected. But Link didn''t flinch he squatted down and just as he squatted down Liaunched her attacks.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Hundred-bee stings!]


    Both of their back-to-back attacks forced Rio to step back and avoid the onught, Rio already had a few scratches on his face and arms from the previous attacks.


    Time left: [ 52min, 45sec. ]


    "Th-this¡­. I-I can''t see anything at all!..." (Lenn)


    "They are on a different level than us¡­ we can''t follow their movements¡­" (Ars)


    "Th-the main problem is th-that¡­ we can''t get close to the members of team 2, only when we can keep Rio at bay¡­. But this¡­" (Leo)


    Lenn clenched her sweaty hands and looked at the four top-rankers fighting while standing on the sidelines. She can feel the immense gap that she would have to fill with her strength in the future.


    ''Even the aftermath of their attacks has destroyed the whole alter and nearby terrain has been totally changed. This is insanity! Can an academy student have such insane strength!?'' (Lenn)


    If someone had told her about this before she would haveughed it off but now that it''s happening in front of her very eyes, she is too shocked to say anything about this.


    For Lenn, the most difficult to digest is the fact that there exists an individual who is as talented as her idol, Link. (By the way, Link''s photos have been featured in many magazines and TV shows he is already very famous in the whole human empire as the most talented youth of this generation. Some have already spected that he would be the fifth SS-ranker of this era.)


    Lenn looked at the ongoing fight and determination shed in her eyes:


    ''Grandpa, I didn''t acknowledge your words before, but now it seems you were right, there are indeed many talented individuals in the human empire that rival even Link, I must also work hard to reach that level¡­'' (Lenn)


    ¡­


    Rio jumped and dodged a frost magic attack from Liam andnded right in front of the three newbies. He nced at the shivering trio and contemted:


    ''If I keep dodging and deflecting it would be difficult to survive an hour-long onught for the newbies. The air pressure from the previous attacks has already caused them dizziness. In that case¡­'' (Rio)


    "Why did you stop!? Are you already tired Rio!!?" (Link)


    "Dahahaha¡­ I didn''t expect you to have such a low stamina! Now die traitor!!!" (Link)


    [Elemental sword art: Wind type: flowing serpent!]


    Rio took his sword stance, dark ck sword intent concentrated on his sword and his dense aura caused Link and Lia to stand back¡­


    While concentrating on his attack Rio nced at the three newbies and said:


    "Hey you three¡­ start running towards the opposite direction like crazy¡­ and don''t stop for anything¡­ I will keep these guys busy¡­ but you will have to at least deal with your ssmates though¡­." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s words the three of them nced at each other, then they all nodded to Rio with determination in their eyes and they started to Run that very moment.


    "You think I will just stand here and let them leave, you are dreaming!!!" (Link)


    Link leapt towards the newbies with full force, but Rio blocked his way, Rio swords shed, and caught by surprise Link tried to defend but got hit in the stomach.


    Although the attack didn''t cut Link''s tough skin, the impact caused Link to fly away in the opposite direction. Taking the opportunity, Rio''s sword slid like a serpent, slithering in the winds, he deflected Lia''s stab attack and mmed the handle of his sword on Lia''s forehead.


    The impact caused Lia to stumble and lose her footing:


    "Better keep those wings away for now¡­"


    [Sword Intent!]


    As Rio whispered those few words in Lia''s ears, he used his sword intent and sliced off Lia''s spirit wings in a blink of a second. Rio jumped aside after and his sword continued to slither like a serpent.


    A huge fireball came and bombarded Rio''s location:


    "Got you this time!" (Liam)


    "You think so¡­" (Rio)


    Before Liam could cheer he found that Rio had jumped in the air and was already standing on the back of the wyvern.


    "You-" (Liam)


    In front of Liam''s shocked eyes, Rio raised his sword covered in dense sword intent.


    "Bye-bye, pesky lizard~" (Rio)


    With an expressionless face that was covered with a little burn mark on his left cheek, Rio swung his sword, the thick sword intent on directly severing the right wing of the wyvern.


    *grrrraaaaaaaaghhhhh!!* (Wyvern scream noises)


    Rio smiled a little.


    ''Atleast this will keep him busy for a few minutes¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio jumped off from the back of the wyvern his sword turned into a broadsword and hended on the broadsword. Using sword intent Rio flew towards the three newbies caught them one by one and left in the direction of the forest.


    Rio attacked Link and then flew away everything happened in just ten seconds. Newbies like Lenn and Ars didn''t even have the time to understand what happened all of a sudden, for them one moment Rio was struggling to cope with the trio''s onught and the next few seconds he flew away while dealing hefty damage to the three of them.


    "Wh-what just happened!!?" (Lenn)


    The newbies couldn''t evenprehend what happened in just ten seconds it was just too fast for their fickle eyes.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile on Liam''s side.


    [Intermediate Wind magic: wind curtain!]


    Liam cast his wind magic to save the newbies and himself from the fall damage, but he couldn''t cast the magic for his wyvern on time, which caused it to directly collide with the ground, causing its front legs to break.


    The wyvern wailed in agony due to the severe pain.


    ¡­


    On the other side, Lia used her spirit skill and regenerated her silver wings.


    "You can''t escape so easily!!" (Lia)


    Lia flew towards the retreating figure of Rio.


    "How are you all able to fly!!" (Link)


    Helpless that he couldn''t fly, Link stomped on the ground and jumped in the same direction Lia had flown to.


    Looking at the two heading off, the members of both of their teams also hurried off and left the central area.


    ¡­


    Liam hurried towards the head of the wailing wyvern. He ced his right hand on the head of the wyvern:


    "Don''t worry! I will cancel the summoning for now, it will be better for you to rest and recover for now." (Liam)


    A huge magic circle appeared under the wyvern and the wyvern disappeared with the circle in the sh of a bright light. (Liam''s summon is an astral being that can recover using Liam''s mana after being de-summoned.)


    "Rest well, my friend." (Liam)


    ¡­


    Rio nced at the three newbies hanging below, Rio bound them all together just like before and now they were flying towards the outer gates of the SSA.


    ''From the looks of it, those three might catch up to me in no time, I would need to put a considerable distance between us. If they caught up to me the same trick won''t work twice on them.'' (Rio)


    ''Sigh~ babysitting is a difficult task after all¡­ guess we will have to hang on for a while¡­. Such a pain¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! Fes, your beloved author is here. This is the first time I am writing an intense fight scene like this, so if I am making mistakes then cut me some ck will ya? By the way, you are free to give me some advice too. I want to write an amazing fight scene after all.


    Are the fights too fast-paced? Or are they too detailed? Tell me all your opinions. Making a better chapter is my goal after all.


    Question of the day:


    What is your opinion on the current fighting scene, which team do you think will win this matchup?


    1. Link''s team


    2. Lia''s team


    3. Rio''s team


    4. Liam''s team


    Tell me your opinions on your choice in thements section.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 102 The Chase Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 102 The Chase Part-4.</h4>


    Inside the SSA


    ''Hmm, it seems they are already catching up to me, I must acknowledge that Lia indeed has progressed a lot, those strange wings¡­ they have given her an insane boost in speed¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced behind him and he could already see the brightly shining silhouette of Lia''s wings in the distance. Due to the dark clouds, the sun''s been blocked thus her wings are shining even more.


    ''That cat is not an ordinary spirit beast, it must be at least an S-ranked beast for it to have the morphing abilities like that, it can be even higher¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Lia alone is not enough, the main problem is that meat shield Link, sword intent might work on him but that guy has an insane amount of HP¡­'' (Rio)


    (By the way, Link already had 8000 hp when he was only at rank C, now he is at rank B+ his hp has increased beyond twenty thousand. He has ten times more hp than Rio. A true meat shield with maxed-out defense.)


    Just when Rio was contemting on his strategy, his danger senses suddenly tingled like crazy, Rio directly jumped away from his sword and fell to the ground. Still, he got scratched on his right arm by a knife-like-shaped shining mana.


    The knife-shaped object exploded but since Rio was out of its range he didn''t get affected. As Rio was about to fall to the ground his sword returned and hended safely on his sword.


    Rio looked at the familiar figure that was getting closer and closer with each second.


    ''That seems to be a spirit beast-based attack, simr to her wings I think¡­ this is troublesome¡­ I didn''t expect her to have such long-range attacks¡­ even my mana detection can''t catch a spirit beast''s dense and controlled mana¡­ I need to work on improving it¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio looked at the three newbies and untied them from the ropes.


    "You guys go straight in this direction, if even one of you can survive this hour we can win, so run as if your life depends on it, I will keep them busy¡­ go!" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s serious tone, all three of them nodded their heads and hurriedly ran in the direction Rio had pointed.


    ''Well if not for that guy Liam, I could have hidden them somewhere so that they can''t be found at all, but that guy is one of the most talented magicians of this era, he can track them down easily¡­ it''s better to keep him here, they still have a chance if I just keep those three busy¡­'' (Rio)


    "You think I will let them go?" (Lia)


    [Divine spirit''s blessing: Rain of silver death!]


    Lia pointed her pointed sword covered in silver aura towards the sky, her silver pupils shined brightly like diamonds, and her silver wings gave her the appearance of a war angel. A huge magic circle appeared in the sky, its silver brilliance seemed to be blinding the eyes of enemies.


    "In the name of the divine lion Kawaki! I purge thee! Be grateful as your sins have been washed away!" (Lia)


    After saying her divine chant Lia pointed her sword towards the fleeing members of team 2. Her silver hair covered in divine aura shone brightly as a thousand divine swords were fired with insanely fast speed.


    Looking at that insane spectacle Lia had created Rio was extremely surprised:


    ''Oi oi, is this the same Lia from the novel, when did she get this strong¡­ moreover such a huge amount of mana¡­ is this even something an S-rank potential holder can do, don''t tell me that divine spirit increased her talent too¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Well, it could be possible that the Lia in the novel never reached her true potential as she was corrupted by darkness, but this Lia seems to have tapped into her true potential¡­'' (Rio)


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s expressionless face, and a rare spark of light appeared in his dead-fish-like eyes:


    "Huh, interesting, very interesting¡­." (Rio)


    Rio turned his sword into a katana and assumed his stance:


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Concentration!]


    [Elemental Sword arts: Thunder type: Horizontal spread!]


    Rio struck a horizontal sword strike and thunderbolts spread everywhere like roots of a tree making a huge shield-like structure.


    ''The best way to counter divine beasts is sword intent, but it consumes too much mana, and spreading it like this needs twice the amount of mana¡­ it''s a good thing I increased my mana capacity recently¡­'' (Rio)


    Ny-nine percent of the divine swords were blocked by Rio''s counterattack.


    ''It seems I still have to expend some more mana¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was about to attack once more, his mana-sensing skill triggered and he ducked to the left.


    Looking back Link was squatting at the ce Rio stood just a moment ago. His fist rested on the ground where a huge crater was created. (At this point I won''t be surprised if Link made craters in the ground with a sneeze.)


    "fuh~ finally caught up! You are certainly quite fast in running away, hah! Are you that scared of me, the mighty and righteous Link!?" (Link)


    ''He made me miss those one percent attacks, at least one of them would havended on those newbies¡­'' (Rio)


    "Bahahaha, Rio the sacredly cat, hahaha¡­" (Link)


    ''Change of ns, I will beat the sh*t out of this guy first, then rescue those three¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    SSA, Central Area.


    "I have already healed the other two, senior Liam!"


    Liam looked at the healer student and nodded his head. Then he nced at the direction Rio flew away and his eyes narrowed a little. The atmosphere around him became cold and a creepy smile appeared on his shrewd-looking face.


    ''You better be ready to face retribution for what you did to my familiar¡­'' (Liam)


    "Okay, you guys step back a little let me summon some help for us, we have to catch up to those three after all." (Liam)


    The trio nodded their heads obediently and moved as far as possible, to not get caught up in the dense mana, after all, no one wanted to faint from the overdose of mana in the middle of the forest.


    Liam brought out a floating orb with mysterious carvings on it, from his storage ring. This is Liam''s real weapon. For normal fights he uses a magic staff as a medium but only when he has to fight seriously does he use this weapon.


    (Weapon intro ahead)


    [Item Name: Azazel''s Dreaming Heart]


    [Item type: Magic medium]


    [Item rank: S+]


    [Item Description: An excellent magic medium suitable for a mage of any rank. Made out of the heart of the Demon General Azazel, it has excellent mana amplification capabilities. It was made by an elven cksmith at the personal request of Neo Aldif during his younger days. It is said that after ripping apart the heart of a general rank demon Neo forced an Elven cksmith to make this thing. It waster gifted to Liam Aldif on his 12th birthday.]


    [Item abilities:


    1. Mana storage: 10000/10000


    2. Mana amplification by 2 times.


    3. Keeps user in a calm state in every situation.


    4. The user is immune to all illusion attacks below SS-rank.


    5. Forced Summon - Can summon any one summon, from the user''s familiars without consuming any mana once a week. ]


    ¡­


    Liam put his arm on the ground and a huge magic circle appeared which covered the whole central area:


    [Forced Summon: Shadow Dragon: Elisia Mistilteinn!]


    Winds howled like they were weing an evil creature''s descent on the earth, the surroundings became darker and a chilly atmosphere spread around.


    From the dark ck magic circle, a shadow rose and slowly took the shape of a colossal dragon. The dragon''s eyes shined bright red and its aura made the newbies tremble in fear.


    The dragon looked towards the sky and made a huge roar as if it was trying to dere its presence to the world. Its strong voice spread far and wide making the monsters in the nearby forests shiver.


    Looking at the shadow dragon a creepy smile appeared on Liam''s face.


    ''I will go out this time, don''t let me down now¡­'' (Liam)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s note:


    Yo! A true dragon has entered the battlefield that was already very chaotic, I wonder what this will result in.


    Question of the day:


    Who do you think has the most broken and overpowered abilities?


    1. Rio (Sword intent is indeed a broken ability, it makes you immune to many things, and it''s good for all uses attack, defense, and support.


    2. Link (Overbearing strength and defense with near inexhaustible Hp, this guy is the true definition of pain in the-)


    3. Lia (Support of an SS-rank Divine spirit and its vast knowledge can be very valuable, indeed)


    4. Liam (Broken artifacts, insanely strong summoned beast a true dragon, huge mana pool, and a calcting personality.)


    Hidden option:


    5. Author''s Keyboard (Half of its keys are broken, like they are, literally separated from it. Years of stress have caused it to be broken yet still overpowered.)

 Chapter 103 The Sword King! Part-1

    <h4>Chapter 103 The Sword King! Part-1</h4>


    Inside the SSA.


    Pov Team 2.


    ''I must keep running, I must not let him down, I have to get away, as far as possible¡­'' (Qi Meng)


    Haa*haa*huff*


    Qi Meng nced at the martial artist girl running ahead of him, it seemed there would be no problem for her to keep going. She doesn''t seem to be tired at all. But the problem is that the mage guy, he is slow and is falling behind.


    "Hey! Keep up with us! We don''t have much time! Senior Rio may be able to keep them at bay, but even the wind pressure from their attacks can be dangerous for us newbies!" (Meng)


    "Huff* huff* y-yeah¡­"


    The mage replied as such, but Meng was not sure about it, he shook his head and slowed his speed a little, leaving your teammate behind is not his way of doing things.


    Just as Meng was about to slow down a little he felt his danger-sensing instincts tingle, he instantlyid down head faced on the ground to avoid the iing attack but the other two didn''t react so fast. Instead, it would have been strange if they were able to react to such a fast projectileing their way.


    "ack!..."


    The golden projectile directly pierced the mage guy right through the stomach, a teleportation circle appeared under the feet of the injured guy and he was immediately teleported away.


    [Announcement! Lia Silver has eliminated one of the four traitors!]


    [Traitors eliminated 1/4. Remaining time: 35min. 45 sec.]


    The one percent attacks of Lia that Rio missed due to Link''s interference were enough to eliminate one of the members of team 2.


    After the attacks passed away Meng got up and brought his sword out of its sheath:


    "This isn''t good¡­" (Meng)


    Meng looked at the trees in front of him and the newbies of the other team were sitting on them, looking down at him with cold eyes. Meng saw a cold-faced boy and a pink-haired girl, who must be team 1''s members.


    The pink-haired girl among them said in a mocking tone:


    "Hah! Senior Link was right, it was good to separate and go after them on our own, and we found them so easily!" (Lenn)


    As Lenn said that she punched her fists against each other and with an excited smile on her face she jumped down from the tree.


    Meng nced at his other teammate, but it seemed the previous attack still injured her left hand even after barely dodging it. Meng shouted at the girl.


    "Hey, how about you take care of that girl, I will take care of the other guy-" (Meng)


    But before Meng could say anything, an arrow flew out from the distance and directly pierced the girl in the back, she directly fainted on the spot, and a mouth of blood flowed from her small mouth. She was also teleported away instantly.


    [Announcement! Leo Roserolt has eliminated one of the four traitors!]


    [Traitors eliminated 2/4. Remaining time: 34min. 41 sec.]


    ''Sh*t! there''s an archer hiding!'' (Meng)


    [Body strengthening- hearing enhancement!]


    Using the hearing enhancement, Meng barely dodged the arrowsing his way from the dark.


    "Where are you looking!? I am right here!" (Lenn)


    [Sakura pearl martial arts: First flower fall!]


    Lenn''s punch was incredibly fast and Meng was caught off-guard, he tried to defend himself with his sword but obviously, he wasn''t fast enough, the punch''s trajectory deviated mid-attack and he was hit on the left side of his stomach, the impact caused him to flew away and collide with the tree behind him.


    "Ugh!.." (Meng)


    Three rib bones broke from that one attack. Don''t underestimate Lenn just because she is a girl, she has amazing strength and she is an aplished martial artist too.


    "hahaha, our victory is just a matter of time!" (Lenn)


    Lenn looked at Ars with a mocking tone as if to say that she was much better than him, but Ars didn''t pay it any attention and just stood on the tree branch with his eyes closed and just started to take a rest right there.


    "tsk¡­" (Lenn)


    Seeing his nonchnt reaction, Lenn was bored, she looked towards where Leo was hiding and shouted:


    "Hey, you cane back now!" (Lenn)


    Meng held his sword with his trembling hands and slowly got up.


    ''I can''t lose here, at least not yet¡­ Senior Rio will be disappointed in me if I fall so easily!'' (Meng)


    ''I can''t lose it all again!'' (Meng)


    Suddenly, Meng felt someone pulling his shirt''s cor, he was lifted off the ground before him even being able to react, he felt the air pressure against his face, and everything around him blurred all of a sudden.


    "Wh-what!?" (Meng)


    Just when he was confused he found himself standing on arge stone and a familiar voice entered his ears.


    "Take this healing potion¡­" (Rio)


    Meng looked at Rio in shock for a few seconds, and then he took the potion from his hand. Meng noticed that Rio''s left eye was closed and blood dripped from his head. His face was smeared with blood.


    Even the hand holding the potion was covered in blood.


    "uh Do you not need this potion, Senior?" (Meng)


    Rio looked at him with his usual expressionless face and replied:


    "Such a small wound is nothing to me, I have dealt with much worse than this¡­ Don''t waste time and heal fast¡­" (Rio)


    Meng didn''t ask any more questions and drank the potion under Rio''s intimidating pressure. His injuries healed and he was finally able to stop his hands from trembling.


    "It seems we will not be able to keep our distance from them anymore¡­ get ready for a long fight, you will have to deal with the newbies of the other teams, on your own, don''t be too serious, just try your best¡­ leave the rest to me¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s encouraging words Meng became more determined and held his sword tightly in his hands.


    "By the way, let me give you one crucial advice, try to be one with the flow of your technique and stop trying to go against it to control it forcefully¡­" (Rio)


    Meng was startled by the sudden advice, but he remembered it in his heart for the time being and nodded his head.


    "You can''t run from your doom!" (Lia)


    Lia appeared in the sky, her silver wings shined and her sword shined brightly with a silver glow, her golden hair had turned silver in color due to her silver bloodline, waving in the air gracefully and her eyes shined with determination.


    Link fell from the sky andnded on the ground perfectly like a hero of justice entering the battlefield. Dense mana swirled around him and his aura seemed to be trying to intimidate every being that stood against him.


    The ck clouds in the sky started to be denser and lightning raged like the roar of a dragon.


    All of a sudden the surroundings darkened even further and a huge dragon made of shadows appeared out of thin air, as if it had teleported here. Liam and his team members stood on its back.


    The dragonnded and the newbies got down from its back, but Liam stayed on its back.


    "This is the end Rio! There''s nowhere to run anymore! We have surrounded you from all sides, it''s better to surrender now!" (Link)


    As Link said all the newbies from the three teams encircled Rio and Meng from each direction. The situation has be dire instantly. If it was any other student they would have already surrendered after seeing this insanely strong lineup.


    Rio looked at Meng and said in an emotionless voice:


    "They are here it seems¡­" (Rio)


    Looking at Rio''s indifferent expression, Meng gained confidence too.


    ''I must not disappoint his trust in me¡­'' (Meng)


    As Meng focused on the opponents he failed to notice that a small white spark had appeared on his weak sword aura.


    "Let''s start the party¡­" (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Outside the SSA, the General''s residence, Meeting hall.


    "So, it seems that Liam''s strongest summoned beast was not that wyvern, but a true shadow dragon, this is quite surprising¡­" (Ashtel)


    Hearing him Neo nodded his head and replied:


    "Right, even I was surprised when he was sessfully able to contract such a strong summon at such a young age, he has extraordinary talent after all¡­" (Neo)


    "Hmm, that shadow dragon may be the best counter for Rio''s sword intent, after shadow type being has increased resistance to physical type attacks, if Rio was an A rank, then perhaps his sword intent would have been strong enough to fight a shadow dragon I think." (Ashtel)


    "Indeed, it seems this might be the end of this battle now. The situation is just too unfavorable for Rio''s group now¡­" (Neo)


    Everyone in the meeting hall looked at the oing fight with great anticipation.


    "But who knows, that kid Rio is also talented¡­" (Neo)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    What would you have done if you were in the same situation as Rio''s group?


    1. Surrender


    2. Fight


    3. Run


    4. Other


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 104 The Sword King! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 104 The Sword King! Part-2.</h4>


    (shback, to 5 years ago from now.)


    Jold district, an ordinary house, the store room.


    *ssh*


    Cold water was suddenly thrown on the face of the sleeping boy.


    He woke up with shock on his face, the cold water made him shiver and sneeze.


    He had been sleeping on the floor which was already cold, to begin with, and he had been shivering the whole night from the cold, now that cold water was thrown on him he couldn''t help but shiver uncontrobly.


    The shivering boy looked up and found out that two young boys, with the same brown hairs as his, were standing in front of him and they both had mischievous grins on their faces:


    "hahaha¡­ that''s what you deserve, trash! hahaha¡­"


    While the boy who threw water at him wasughing at his misfortune, the other one pointed at him and said:


    "Your expressions are so hrious, I can''t¡­ hahaha"


    The other kid also started tough at the shivering boy after seeing his shocked expression.


    "This is what you deserve, trash!"


    While the two wereughing, suddenly a feminine shout came from downstairs:


    "Ye! Zhen! Breakfast is readye down!"


    "Yes Mother!" (Ye)


    "Yes Mother!" (Zhen)


    Afterughing at the shivering boy for thest time, both of them left the ce at the call of their mother from downstairs. But before they left they didn''t forget to do onest thing.


    Ye (who had thrown the cold water first with a bucket) threw the bucket on the shivering boy''s face suddenly. Being caught off guard the bucket collided on his face and a small cut appeared on his forehead.


    "Agh!"


    "Bye bye, Brother Meng!" (Ye)


    After saying that to Meng, Ye and Zhen left the storeroom with a satisfied look on their faces.


    Qi Meng got up from the ground after his two younger brothers left the storeroom, he hurriedly found a Band-Aid and fixed his wound first.


    "Ugh, it''s so cold¡­." (Meng)


    Meng hurriedly found a Band-Aid and with his shivering hands, he took care of his wound, first thing in the morning.


    ¡­


    After He was done taking care of his wound, Meng walked towards a table nearby and grabbed the bread on it:


    "I hope it hasn''t gone bad yet¡­" (Meng)


    After a little hesitation, Meng ate the bread. Once he had his fill, Meng got up and walked out of his room, he went downstairs through the stairs on the back side of the house, so that he could avoid the death stares of his father and the taunting of his mother.


    Meng directly went to the garden outside, he took out his gardening tools and started to work on the flowers with his shivering hands.


    But fate didn''t allow his peace the weather today was exceptionally cold and since Meng didn''t have warm clothes, he kept shivering and sneezing repeatedly, his frail and malnutrition body was too weak to handle such extreme conditions. (He hadn''t be an awakener yet).


    His luck yed a horrible joke on him that day, his shivering hand slipped by mistake and one of the most expensive flower pots slipped and broke. The breaking of the pot created a loud noise, which alerted the family that was having a peaceful breakfast inside the house.


    Before Meng could do anything, a middle-aged man walked out of the house and caught him red-handed. Even though the weather was cold, Meng started to sweat and a chill ran down his spine.


    "Um.. thi-this¡­um¡­ f-father¡­" (Meng)


    "YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF BUL*SH*T! F*CK*NG TRASH!"


    The man directly punched Meng in the stomach and with the immense force from the attack of his father, who is a D rank awakener, Meng flew away and collided with the wall.


    Meng fainted directly, on the spot, from the impact of that attack.


    ¡­


    (The next day)


    The Qi household. Morning


    Meng''s father talked to an unknown guest with a smile on his face, while Meng stood beside him with a swollen face and a bruised body. His clothes looked like a beggar''s, they had be certainly more tattered than before.


    "Yes, our family conditions have been bad¡­ that''s why I request that Mr. Markus, please take this child to your orphanage¡­" (Meng''s father)


    Mr. Markus cautiously took the money from Meng''s father''s hands and hurriedly stuffed it in his pocket.


    "Cough! Well if you are insisting so much Mr. Qi, then I would have no other choice but to ept this pitiful child in our orphanage." (Markus)


    Markus waved at his bodyguard lightly.


    "B-but fa-father¡­" (Meng)


    "SHUT UP!" (Mr.Qi)


    The bodyguard caught Meng and effortlessly took him away.


    Meng was sent to an orphanage and even after leaving that hell of a home, his bad luck still did not go away, he was targeted by bullies in that orphanage and was beaten half to death several times.


    The staff of the orphanage didn''t care about anything they only cared about how to get more money. Some of the staff members took bribes from the bullies and simply turned a blind eye to Meng''s situation.


    ¡­


    (4 Year''s, 8 months Later.)


    The backyard of the orphanage.


    "ugh! Cough! Cough!... am I¡­ going to die¡­ today¡­" (Meng)


    Lying on the ground with a wounded body and blood flowing from his mouth and head, Meng wondered to himself if this was the end of his suffering, if this is how he would die.


    As his eyes started to blur, his miserable life shed before his eyes:


    ''I don''t want to die yet¡­ if only I was strong enough¡­'' (Meng)


    The bullies had several members who had awakened and had promising futures ahead of them, he as an ordinary human was simply powerless against those superhuman-like kids.


    Thinking about it, only one thought swirled in his head, he needed ''strength'' to change his fate for the better.


    ''I need strength¡­ yes! I must be strong and carve out my destiny!'' (Meng)


    As if the heavens had heard his determination and had recognized his will, Meng immediately got his way to greatness and opened that very moment.


    A blue floating panel appeared in his mind, and with a robotic voice, Meng finally heard the words that changed his destiny forever.


    [Ding! Your strong will has caught the attention of the heavens itself!]


    [Ding! Your wish for strength has been granted!]


    [Ding! Awakening Mana 10%...50%...100%...plete!]


    [Ding! Mana enters your body and blesses you with its warm embrace!]


    Meng suddenly felt a mysterious energy enter his body, the blurriness of his eyes faded away, his mind cleared and his body started to heal, automatically.


    "Th-this!!" (Meng)


    Meng''s eyes widened in shock and a bewildered expression appeared on his face. It was just too difficult toprehend this sudden turn of events for him.


    [Ding! You have been fully healed by the blessing of Mana!]


    [Ding! Calcting status¡­53%... Complete!]


    <Status>


    [Name: Qi Meng]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: F-] [Max Rank Potential: SS+]


    [HP: 50/50] [MP: 400/400]


    [STR: 5/100] [SPE: 3/100] [AGI: 2/ 100] [DEF: 4/100] [INT: 3/100]


    [Talent: Sword Aptitude(SS)]


    [Techniques: None]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening(F-)]


    [Passive Skills: Blessing of Mana(S), Sword King(S)]


    [Evaluation: Blessed by the mana and with sword aptitude against the heaven, you are destined to take the throne of ''sword king'' for yourself! Stand proud and reach the peak of Swordsmanship!]


    [Body strengthening: The basic skill of a swordsman, awakened at the time of awakening.


    Effects: Enhances your body with mana.]


    [Blessing of Mana: The blessing given by mana itself, to the ones loved by mana. Only a handful of people in the world can get this blessing.


    Effects: Increases maximum mana capacity, immensely.] (This is the reason for his huge mana reserve at such a low rank.)


    [Sword King: The ability granted to the one who has the talent to be a sword king and is recognized by the heavens itself, only one person can hold this ability in the world at once. Only after the death of the current holder will another sword king appear.


    Effect: Your ability toprehend any kind of sword-rted technique, has been immensely increased.]


    ¡­


    (One monthter.)


    Orphanage front yard. During the Talent assessment campaign.


    The talent assessment campaign is conducted by the envoys of the alliance itself, which is conducted every three, years. It is conducted to find talented children, for the top-ss academies across the human empire.


    Children with exceptional talent are selected and then trained to be skilledbatants after entering the academies.


    Later, Meng''s talent was discovered and he got entry to the great Freya academy.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is back! I am grateful for all of your support. Thank you all for reading this story that I put my heart and soul into writing.


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.


    Question of the day.


    Whose backstory is more painful?


    1.?Rio


    2.?Jin


    3.?Meng


    4.?Lia


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 105 The Sword King! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 105 The Sword King! Part-3.</h4>


    Inside the SSA


    Time left: [00 h: 25 m: 45 s.]


    While Rio looked at the three in front of him he also nced at the little guy standing beside him.


    ''I wonder if this little guy would be able to survive for even a few seconds¡­ sigh, we are outnumbered this time¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was contemting what to do next, others were also hesitating a little bit, thus the situation suddenly turned into an awkward stalemate, with both parties ring at each other warily.


    Suddenly Liam waved his hands and a huge magic circle appeared under the huge dragon.


    [Shadow dragon''s blessing: transform!]


    The huge dragon under Liam suddenly started to transform, its whole body which was made of shadows suddenly started topress and take a humanoid shape. In just a few seconds the huge dragon transformed into a teenage girl wearing a pitch-ck dress.


    Ellie''s pitch-ck hair waved in the howling winds and her golden serpent-like pupils glowed like a predator''s under the dim environment because of the dark clouds in the sky.


    ''Ah, so that is the dragon Liam contracted and used to fight against Fade as hisst effort¡­ hmm, but he is now using her powers to fight me¡­'' (Rio)


    Looking at that girl, Rio was reminded of the emotional final fight between Liam with Fade.


    Liam from the original novel was dead set on Kira and never noticed the loyalty and emotions of Ellie towards him.


    In the final moments of the fight, when Liam''s body below his chest was destroyed and his guts spilled out, Ellie sacrificed her life essence to save Liam from death, but she failed and both of them died in each other''s embrace.


    Liam and Ellie signed the contract that binds their life and death together, if one dies the other will also die, moreover, this contract can''t be broken even if both of them want to break it. Only death can separate them in this life.


    ncing at Ellie who was ring at him with an excited look on her face, Rio could sense great troubleing his way.


    ''Her loyalty to Liam is too high, I won''t be able to hit Liam effectively as long as she is on the battlefield¡­'' (Rio)


    Using the ''Forced Summon'' skill of the artifact Liam summoned Ellie without using his mana, but he still needed to provide a constant supply of mana to her to maintain her.


    Her mana consumption is huge and she can''t use strength above rank A+ because Liam can''t sustain the mana output.


    ''But the main problem is-'' (Rio)


    A ck scales-covered punch directly reached Rio''s face in the blink of an eye.


    [Shadow Dragon magic: Instant movement!]


    Without waiting for Liam''s order Ellie directlyunched her attacks because she knew that she couldn''t maintain this form for more than fifteen minutes.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental sword arts: Fire type: Vertical descent!]


    Rio''s Sword moved covered with intense blue mes powered by sword intent, and swung insanely fast, the movement of the sword created air pressure that even caused the droplets of rain to be shed and vaporize on touch.


    The sword collided with Ellie''s punch but didn''t stop and directly split her whole hand in two. But surprisingly Ellie didn''t even flinch and she raised her other hand and cast a spell.


    Rio already had expected this to happen.


    [Elemental Sword arts: Fire type: horizontal shift!]


    Rio''s sword bent mid-attack and struck Ellie''s body horizontally splitting her body in two with that attack.


    The sudden attack interrupted Ellie from casting but she still had a huge mocking smile on her face.


    A few thin strands of shadows rushed from both split halves of Ellie''s body and connected her divided body, but instead of fully connecting her body, the shadow threads pushed her upper half upwards and made way for a punch to pass through her.


    Link''s punch appeared from directly behind Ellie and with her help it didn''t damage Ellie and directly passed through her.


    [Dragon Arts: Mad rush!]


    Caught off guard, Link''s punch directlynded on Rio''s stomach. Rio flew away from the impact of the attack collided with the trees behind and finally stopped after colliding with a huge tree.


    ¡­


    On the other side just when Rio flew away, Ellie''s whole body connected back and a satisfied expression appeared on her face.


    "Bahahaha, this is the first time I was able tond such a clean hit on that slippery guy, hahaha¡­" (Link)


    Looking at Link being excited Liam shook his head and shouted:


    "Hey!, this is not the time to be celebrating we still need to take care of that little guy¡­" (Liam)


    "Yeah, yeah, I know-" (Link)


    Before Link could say anything his danger senses tingled like crazy, his neck felt cold and a chill ran down his spine.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Judgment!]


    The sword covered in pitch ck sword intent seemed to be aiming to kill this time, the attack was so fast that Link was not even able to rotate his head towards left before it came so close that the sword was already touching his skin and a little bit of blood started to drip from Link''s neck.


    But before the sword could move any further it stopped in track.


    "I won''t let you do that Rio!" (Lia)


    Lia''s pointed sword covered in silver aura stopped Rio''s sword on time. Only Lia was fast enough to react to that attack. Not even Liam and Ellie saw iting.


    ''Tsk'' (Rio)


    Seeing that the attack didn''t work Rio jumped back, his face was still expressionless but a rare coldness appeared in his indifferent eyes.


    Blood dripped from his head and covered his face before but now even Rio''s mouth was also covered in blood because the previous attack made him cough blood.


    ''That attack broke three rib bones¡­ this is irritating¡­.'' (Rio)


    ''Moreover, Ellie''s presence is suppressing my ''detection skill'' which caused me to be hit in the first ce¡­'' (Rio)


    (Ellie is a shadow dragon, she can use a wide area of magic where the enemy can''t use any detection skill. This caused Rio to be unable to predict Link''s attack. Ever since Rio copied the detection skill from Jin he''s been relying on it a lot, this was a mistake.)


    Thinking about this Rio''s eyes became even colder and killing intent shed in his eyes for the first time in a while.


    Looking at Rio''s unusual behavior Link was a little flustered and swallowed his saliva.


    "Easy, easy bro¡­ we are not here to kill each other¡­" (Link)


    While Rio red at the four of them, he didn''t notice that the brief moment Rio''s killing intent appeared, his sword trembled slightly as if something had awakened in it all of a sudden.


    ¡­


    Rio ignored Link''s question andunched his next attack directly.


    ''Don''t me me for being cruel now that you have started it yourself¡­'' (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental sword art: Thunder type: Death flow!]


    Rio clenched his sword and pointed it toward the four, a huge amount of thunder started to st out of Rio''s sword like a beam of Light, wherever the beam went it annihted everything. The mana consumption was huge but Rio didn''t care and used his mana like crazy.


    He swung that huge thunder beam in a whole 360 degrees and obliterated everything in a radius of five hundred meters into dust.


    The massive thunderstorm continued to st out like crazy for thirty seconds before it finally stopped.


    Every tree and stone was obliterated and even the grass on the ground was nowhere to be seen.


    "Ugh¡­" (Link)


    Looking at the aftermath, Rio found that, even though Liam cast a barrier Ellie tried to stop that attack by strengthening her body with mana. The attack still made a hole in the barrier and sted off the whole upper body of Ellie.


    Link and Lia were also not spared, Lia tried to use her silver wings as a defense by putting them in front of her but the crazy output of the attack directly caused them to shatter into pieces.


    Link''s state was also worse, he had put his hands in front to stop the attack, which caused his left arm to directly blow away into smithereens.


    ''That attack consumed one-third of my mana¡­ the mana consumption of such massive sword intent is huge¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at his sword which was now trembling very fiercely, Rio was barely keeping the sword in control at this moment.


    ''The hell is wrong with my sword all of a sudden!¡­ why is it trembling like that all of a sudden...'' (Rio)


    But before Rio can think of something else, a huge aura suddenly appears from behind Rio. He remembered that he asked that little guy to take care of the newbies of other teams earlier, but since the battle started he hadpletely forgotten about his existence.


    Rio hurriedly looked around and found that the little guy who was standing with his sword in his hand a hundred meters away from him and his sword was now covered with an aura, which Rio was all too familiar with.


    Although Meng was missing a hand at this moment and blood was flowing from his arm like a fountain, yet instead of pain, he had an excited look on his face at this moment.


    "So, that''s how it is! I understand now! So this is sword intent!" (Qi Meng)


    Everyone was bewildered and shocked by Meng at that very moment. No one expected him to get an ''epiphany'' all of a sudden.


    Oblivious to other''s reactions Meng smiled with an excited look on his face.


    ¡­


    (Author''s crazy ramblings: Everyone I hope that you all are reading this novel at panda-novel site only. I have noticed those pirated websites. This novel puts food on my table. Atleast buy a few chapters at least to show support if you are gonna read it on pirated sites anyway.)


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It seems our boy Rio is angry. That thunder-beam swirling attack was crazy! As the great meme lord says: ''He woke up and chose violence!''


    Question of the day.


    What do you think of Rio''s sword art?


    (In my opinion, Elemental sword art is a fitting technique for Rio, it''s versatile and effective. Moreover, Rio isn''t even using it to its full potential yet- oops! I said too much! It''s a secret!)

 Chapter 106 The Sword King! Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 106 The Sword King! Part-4.</h4>


    A few minutes ago.


    While Rio was fighting Link and others, Meng was not just standing there to watch the show, the very moment the fight started, he also focused on his fights.


    "This time you are dead!" (Lenn)


    When Meng was still standing behind Rio, Lennunched a sneak attack on him, but since Lenn was ready this time, he put his sword forward and defended himself from Lenn''s punch.


    Although, he sessfully stopped the attack, still the impact from that one punch pushed Meng back a few steps.


    ''Her punches are too heavy, my arms are already numb from that attack-'' (Meng)


    Before Meng could think further a very fast arrow fast arrow flew by and Meng barely dodged it by tilting his head away at thest second.


    The arrow went past Meng''s face at an astonishing speed but the me aura covering the arrow still grazed his left cheek and a little burn mark appeared on his left cheek.


    Meng jumped back three times to avoid more iing arrows.


    Meng''s situation is direr than Rio''s right now because there are a total of nine individuals he has to fight. Not only the top three rankers Ars, Leo, and Lenn are against him there are other six individuals too.


    The fire arrow was fired by Leo and the other arrows were fired by other two archers. In total, there are four close-range fighters including Lenn, Ars, and a mage student. Then there are three archers including Leo, rest are all healers.


    Even if Meng injured them, there are three healers to heal these guys.


    [Basic Wood magic: Cursed Binding!]


    The mage guypleted his chanting and before Meng could even react his left leg was caught by a sudden tree root. But that''s not the worst part..


    [Shadow wolf art: Shadow walking!]


    While Meng was focused on the tree root, Ars appeared from behind him like a ghost appearing out of nowhere, Meng noticed his presence toote and there was no time to even react.


    ''Move!! Useless body! move!!'' (Meng)


    Meng howled in his head for his body to move and dodge that attack. He knew if that attacknded Ars will pierce his heart with his dagger and he will be eliminated at that very moment.


    ...


    (Sudden shback)


    SSA central area, before survival test round 2. (Around Ch- 96)


    "Senior Rio, please teach me ''sword intent!''¡­" (Meng)


    At that time Meng was amazed by Rio''s sword intent, he had experienced how Rio used it to fly on the sword. He also wanted to know how to use ''sword intent'' from Rio.


    But Rio''s answer was too vague for him to understand.


    "Hmm, there''s just one thing to do if you want to learn ''Sword intent'', all there is to go with the ''flow'' and don''t go against it¡­. It''s like swimming with the flow of the river and not going opposite it¡­ you need to understand that ''flow''¡­" (Rio)


    After saying that Rio went away, but everything that Rio said sounded like nonsense to Meng, if anyone else had heard it, they would have thought that Rio was spouting nonsense to confuse others.


    But Meng contemted about that ''flow'' for a very long time. He tried very hard but was unable to make any sense of what Rio had told him. At that time Meng thought that the ''flow'' Rio was talking about the flow of mana in the body but that didn''t make any progress for him.


    ''What exactly is this flow?...'' (Meng)


    (The sudden shback ends)


    ¡­


    At that moment, when that cold de nearly touched his skin, Meng''s intense will to move from that spot seemed to have been heard by an unknown force.


    A very small spark of that legendary power ''sword intent'' appeared on Meng''s sword that little insignificant spark changed the course of fate for a side character ''Meng''.


    At that very moment the spark of ''Sword Intent'' pushed Meng to the left side and caused Ars to miss the attack on Meng''s heart.


    The daggernded on Meng''s right hand and his arm flew away from that impact blood flowed like a fountain but Meng had won that confrontation, he had changed the course of his fate in that small time frame of a millisecond.


    Although Ars missed that attack, others would not sit still.


    When Meng''s separated right hand flew away with his sword he became defenseless and that was the perfect chance for Lenn tond a punch.


    [Sakura pearl martial arts: Crushing flower!]


    Lenn''s punch directlynded on Meng''s chest. Meng flew away and fell. He ignored the pain and immediately used his handkerchief to tightly bind his arm and stop bleeding.


    The direct punch from Lenn also broke his rib bones, if it was any other person they would have already passed out due to immense pain, but Meng had suffered from pain his whole life and his bones have been broken many times in his childhood. His experience made him more resistant to pain.


    (After Meng awakened, his pain tolerance had reached the level of not feeling pain from near-fatal injuries. Not even Rio is capable of such a feat, yet. But I doubt Rio will even feel the emotion of pain and regret at all.)


    "Now it''s over!" (Lenn)


    Just when Meng thought that it was going to be over.


    A thunder beam appeared and a very strong sword intent spread everywhere, the sword''s intent in that attack was so strong that it obliterated everything around them, not even the grass on the ground was spared.


    The immense thunder swept the whole area and cleared all obstacles. The geography of the whole area changed after that one attack, one second it was covered by dense forest, and the other, it became a barrennd, contaminated with dense mana and sparks of sword intent lingering around everywhere.


    That attack alone eliminated six newbies.


    Except for Ars, Leo, and Lenn, all the other newbies were eliminated, if not for the fact that Liam cast a separate barrier on them they would have also been teleported away at that moment.


    Only Meng was not affected by Rio''s sword intent.


    ...


    Meng got up, he got a very close experience of that immense sword intent, and a sudden ''epiphany'' came to his mind.


    ''What if the flow, Senior Rio talked about was not the flow of mana, but¡­'' (Meng)


    Meng remembered all the times he had seen Rio use his sword intent. When Rio killed that monster with a single flick of his sword when Rio flew with his sword, and when Rio split apart that hydra''s body to expose its heart for others to attack, and now this thunder beam.


    Meng remembered them all.


    ''It was not the flow of mana from the start it was ''Will''¡­ it was the ''flow of Will''¡­'' (Meng)


    At that moment, when Meng reached his conclusion, his sword that was on the ground far away flew towards him on its own and Meng caught it in his left hand.


    "Hahahhah¡­So that''s how it is! I understand now! So this is sword intent!" (Meng)


    "Hahahaha¡­ it turned out to be so simple! Hahaha¡­." (Meng)


    ''You have to embed your will with the flow of mana itself¡­. It sounds ridiculous but it''s the truth!...'' (Meng)


    Meng finally figured out that the conditions to learn Sword Intent were extremely harsh.


    When Meng grasped his sword in his hand, his flickering and weak sword intent covered his sword in a very thinyer of sword intent.


    [Ding! You have achieved an immense feat!]


    [Ding! You have changed the course of your fate with immense willpower!]


    [Ding! You have learned a new Skill ''Sword Intent''!]


    [Ding! All your sword-rted attacks will be enhanced by 5 times from now on.]


    The aura of Meng''s sword intent spread in every direction and attracted the shocked eyes of everyone who saw this scene.


    ¡­


    Outside the SSA, General''s Residence, Meeting hall.


    All the officers in the meeting room stood up in shock and General Bismoil''s eyes widened at the sheer ridiculousness of this situation.


    Some of them even shouted in bewildered voices.


    "How is it possible to learn sword intent just after awakening for less than six months!"


    "Mo-monster! Absolute insanity!"


    "Th-this is bullsh*t!"


    People were so shocked that they even forgot about the presence of three SS-rankers in the hall.


    It was that shocking of a scene.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    (Sword intent''s conditions to learn are as follows:


    1.?Talent (The sword aptitude must be SS rank or above. This alone eliminates 99.999% of individuals in the world)


    2.?Will (A strong enough will to make the mana follow your orders and bend thews of physics to great extents.)


    3.?Understanding (you need to understand andprehend the flow of your will''.)


    4.?Luck (A certain push of luck is also important.)


    Exception:


    All these rules don''t apply to anomalies Like Rio sh and only affect him to a very small extent.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! This little guy Meng gave me a surprise, didn''t expect he would end up imitating Rio to that extent, even though I wrote this myself. This might also be the effect of him changing his fate with that ability.


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.


    Question of the day.


    Would you have been able to withstand the same pain Meng did?


    1.?No (I can''t do that too, I am a weak little author after all.)


    2.?Yes (Are you even human bro¡­ do you even feel fear at all!?

 Chapter 107 Rio Flash and God’s Grace... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 107 Rio sh and God''s Grace... Part-1.</h4>


    Inside the SSA.


    While everyone was in shock at Meng''s insane feat of learning sword intent, the thoughts in Rio''s mind werepletely different from everyone else.


    ''Ah, so that''s why I felt that this guy seemed familiar to me¡­ now I understand the name ''Qi Meng'' sounded so familiar to me earlier¡­'' (Rio)


    When Rio read that particr novel in his previous life he never really thought too much about sidekicks and side characters and forgot about their existence very fast. Because none of the side-characters were properly developed.


    Moreover, most of the side characters only appeared to praise Fade''s achievements for one or two chapters, so they were easily forgettable, but there was one side character who was the most significant side character among them all, he appeared for a full three chapters in that ''three-thousand-chapter'' novel. (It was still notpleted even with three thousand chapters¡­)


    ''That was the character ''The Sword King'' title holder Qi Meng¡­ who got horribly¡­. Cough! Cough!¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio didn''t dare think further about that traumatizing incident.


    ¡­


    (Lore Bombs ahead)


    The original story would have gone something like this¡­


    Around the first month of the second year in the academy, Fade would have been the rank 1 at that moment. He would have already killed off Link and Riya would have been dead from the start.


    Moreover, Lia would have already left the academy and would have already been demonized. Liam would have been beaten into a pulp and would have to drop out of the academy after the first-year final exams.


    Thus, Fade would have been the strongest among all the students at that time. (Still at C+ rank though. He would have beaten the B-ranked Link and Liam with plot armor.)


    Being the rank 1 student of the great Freya academy would have made him extremely popr and Meng was one of his fans. He was mesmerized by the fact that Fade achieved such great fame even though Fade was from a humble background.


    Several of the teachers had already acknowledged Meng and he would have already gotten the appreciation of many teachers at that time because he had incredible talent in swordsmanship. Without Rio''s existence, Meng would have been the most talented swordsman of this era.


    Meng had incredible talent for swords he was personally given the title of ''The soon-to-be Sword King'' by Raji Croft herself and he wanted to awaken ''Sword Intent'' to be strong.


    Every sword user dreams of awakening ''Sword Intent'' one day, Meng was no different. Meng''s biggest mistake was that he chose the wrong person to teach him.


    Fade had achieved ''Mana field'' which is the Mage''s version of ''Sword Intent''.


    (Just like ''Sword Intent'' is the ultimate ability for sword users, ''Mana field'' is a very rare and unique ability that makes the user''s spells more strong and effective, simrly ''Dao rhythm'' is the ultimate ability for martial artists like Link and others. It varies in different forms and shapes ''spear intent'', ''saber intent'' etc¡­ There are many forms of it, but it''s near impossible to achieve even one¡­)


    Meng decided to take advice from Fade and that turned out to be his biggest mistake in life. Meng had survived years of torture and hard work but he was not able to survive taking advice from a protagonist. (Friendly reminder: Talking and staying near a protagonist can affect your luck badly, don''t ever do that.)


    ¡­


    Unfortunately for Meng, Fade agreed to his request and told him that he would help Meng in awakening his ''Sword Intent'' on the basis that Meng would have to give him the location of a hidden dungeon gate that Meng found.


    Fade took Meng and Kira to that dungeon, he simply wanted to farm exp but who would have known that a dungeon wave would ur and thousands of monsters would have rushed out of that dungeon.


    In the first chapter, Meng was caught by hordes of Orc''s rushing out of that dungeon, Fade had to retreat due to there being too many enemies for him to handle alone. Kira used a teleportation scroll to save Fade''s life but Meng was taken away by those Orcs. (As you all would have already guessed what those Orcs did with that poor Little Meng I don''t need to tell you about it¡­)


    In the second chapter, Meng would have been demonized and would have started to spread terror everywhere. The demon possessing his body would use his talent and ughter thousands of people in just a few hours.


    Eventually, S-rankers would arrive, but even they would have been helpless because Meng would have awakened an imperfect version of sword intent with the help of that demon. (Just dragging the plot further¡­)


    In the third chapter, when everyone is helpless against that sword''s intent, Fade appears as a hero and uses his ''Mana Field'' to counter him, thus saving everyone and boosting his reputation further up. (I mean¡­ all this happened just to boost his reputation in the first ce¡­ saving a huge poption and bing a hero is the best way to increase fame after all¡­)


    Thuses the end of the tale of ''The soon-to-be sword king''. Meng dies a horrible and untimely death just because of one mistake he made. Well even if he went to that dungeon on his own, the same would have happened anyway. The name of that dungeon was ''The Orc Valley''.


    But now, all this has changed because of the appearance of an Anomaly named Rio sh. (Truthfully speaking Rio''s presence has changed many fates including Link, Riya, Lia, Liam, and many more extras who have been influenced just like Meng. All this happened without Rio even doing anything actively and just his indirect involvement has changed many things.)


    (Lore Bomb ends)


    ¡­


    ''Now that I think about it, wasn''t that dungeon ''The Orc''s Valley'' also one of Fade''s lucky chance spots, hmm¡­ I would go there to steal after this event is finished¡­ sigh~ I have be a master thief at this point¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Let''s finish this fight for now¡­'' (Rio)


    While everyone was in shock, Rio boarded his sword and used his ''Sword Intent'' to fly. Before anyone could react Rio caught Meng''s shirt''s cor and dragged him up in the air.


    Rio took out an advanced healing potion from his space ring and forcefully made Meng drink it.


    "Wha!? Gulp*¡­ cough!..." (Meng)


    After pouring the whole potion into Meng''s mouth, Rio threw Meng toward the surviving trio of first-years like a ball, while saying.


    "Go my pok*mon! ughter them all!" (Rio) (Just a joke don''t take it seriously...)


    "whaaaaaaaaaa~" (Meng)


    While Meng was screaming and falling his right hand regenerated and all of his injuries healed, then he heard Rio''s voice from above.


    "Use ''Sword Intent'' or I will kick your a*s before you even fall ¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Meng immediately covered his sword with sword intent.


    ''It''s too thin! I will die!'' (Meng)


    That fear of death made him surpass his limit and Meng was finally able to control his sword intent to a barely usable extent.


    [Sword Intent: Wind type!]


    Just before Meng was about to reach the ground he finally used his sword intent and was able to use his sword to fly in the air, just like Rio. An excited look appeared on his face and heughed happily.


    "I did it!" (Meng)


    Meng used his sword intent tond in front of Lenn and others, he clenched his sword in his hand and took his stance, determination appeared in his eyes and a smile adorned his usual depression-filled face.


    At that moment Meng had found his path, he had achieved a long dream of his, and now he had a ce in the world and a unique path to walk.


    ¡­


    In the sky, Rio looked at Meng and a rare smile appeared on his expressionless face.


    ''Hmm, this little guy¡­ he has a promising future it seems¡­'' (Rio)


    As if sensing that rare surge of emotion in Rio, his sword started to tremble again, caught off guard Rio almost fell, before he barely maintained his bnce.


    ''What happened now¡­ what a headache¡­. Sigh~'' (Rio)


    To avoid falling Rio decided to go down and face the four who were still trying to recover from the previous damage he had done.


    ''Let''s end this now.'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here. Well, even I was surprised by Rio''s smiling face. Although he looks ordinary a smile indeed brings a rare charm to him. I nearly escaped being charmed by him.


    Question of the day.


    Would you have taken the risk of taking the advice from Fade?


    1.?No (I wouldn''t want to be used as a stepping stone.)


    2.?Yes (Are you even fine in the mind bro, why are you choosing an obvious trap?)


    3.?Other (Kill this guy Fade! I want to torture him horribly!!)


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.

 Chapter 108 Rio Flash and God’s Grace... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 108 Rio sh and God''s Grace... Part-2.</h4>


    Inside the SSA.


    [Shadow dragon magic: Shadow field expansion!]


    Ellie put her right hand on the ground and a magic circle appeared on the ground. The magic circle shined brightly and shadows started to spread everywhere. In just a few seconds the shadow field expanded far and wide.


    This shadow field can suppress the enemy''s senses and detection capabilities but it doesn''t affect your allies. This is also the reason why Rio was unable to use detection properly when he got hit by Link earlier, Ellie''s shadow field can be expanded andpressed.


    Earlier it was in apressed state and only covered her body, but now that she has expanded the shadow field Rio''s detection abilities got suppressed even further.


    "Die traitor!" (Link)


    ''Idiot! Can''t you stay quiet¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio easily deflected Link''s iing punches even while the shadow field was suppressing him because Link is always loud. He shouts at the top of his lungs every time he attacks and even a slight sound is enough for Rio to predict the movements of an enemy. (Link even shouted when they were fighting Jin during that one-week training session. Ch-54)


    ''Let''s deal with this shadow field first¡­'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Thunder type: Bright pulse!]


    Rio pointed his sword towards the ground and bright and golden electric currents appeared on his sword. His sword started to shine brightly like a torch and everything around him was illuminated with its brightness.


    Due to the brightness, Ellie''s shadow field was canceled.


    [Divine spirit''s blessing: Divine wrath!]


    A huge magic circle appeared in the sky at Lia''s chanting. As Lia ordered it, the magic circle bombarded Rio with an insane amount of divine magic. The golden beam of divine magic poured like an endless fountain directly on top of Rio.


    ''tsk, divine magic is the most resistant against Sword intent¡­ But this will consume a lot of mana from her¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio pointed his sword upwards and used his sword intent to scatter that beam of magic pouring on him. The ground beneath his feet cracked from the impact of that huge impact, but Rio stayed unharmed overall. (His sword intent is just too op.)


    After a few seconds, Lia''s spirit magic disappeared and Rio stood there unharmed only the ground around him had been charred ck, and a huge crater formed around him.


    With this one attack, Lia depleted her mana reserve, now she was barely even able to stand, she was using her sword to give her support for standing. Her wings had disappeared and Kai had retreated in her consciousness back.


    Yet, a smile appeared on her face.


    "Hey, I kept my promise, I made him stay at one spot for ten seconds now it''s your turn¡­" (Lia)


    As she said that Liam nodded his head and looked at Ellie who also started to fade away.


    "You did well¡­" (Liam)


    Ellie smiled and disappeared.


    Then Liam looked at Rio and smirked.


    "It''s over now, I have the high ground, Rio!" (Liam)


    As Liam said that, a huge magic circle appeared on the ground, the circle covered the whole area that was covered by Ellie''s shadow field before.


    "You think I will just sit and let you do it?" (Rio)


    [Sword Inte-]


    Just when Rio was about to use his sword intent to destroy that magic circle, his sword suddenly trembled uncontrobly and lost its form.


    His sword turned into liquid all of a sudden. (Like literally it turned into liquid and floated in the air.)


    Rio''s eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time he had encountered something like this.


    Before Rio could do anything, the magic circle activated.


    [Advanced me magic: High Explosion!]


    A huge explosion took ce. A huge amount of dust and rubble flew into the sky. The explosion was so powerful it changed the cloudy weather. The ck clouds were pushed away by the heat and air pressure and a clear blue sky appeared again.


    The explosion vaporized everything in the radius of a kilometer. This was not the end of it. A dyed shockwave spread around andid destruction everywhere in the whole SSA.


    Wherever the shockwave went itid destruction and death. Hundreds of monsters inside the SSA were killed without them ever even knowing how. It would not be wrong to call this attack a small-scale nuclear attack.


    In the center of the explosion, trees were burned away and thend turned into a charred ck color.


    Only destruction and ashes could be seen everywhere around.


    ¡­


    [Traitors eliminated: 4/4!]


    [Time over! Time over!]


    [Calcting Result¡­]


    [Winner Team 1!]


    Lia and Liam both exhausted their mana and thus they were also eliminated along with the newbies.


    And since Rio''s sword turned into ''liquid'' he was not able to defend himself on time, thus he got eliminated and teleported away.


    Meng also used his sword intent to resist but since he had just recently learned Sword intent, he was not able to control it as proficiently as Rio. Thus, he also ended up getting eliminated.


    In the end, everyone except Link was eliminated. Only Link was standing alone after the fight concluded. Although his clothes burnt away and his whole body was charred ck, he won at least. Link coughed violently and thick smoke came out of his mouth.


    When he waster escorted out of the SSA, he shouted at the top of his lungs that whoever dared to take a photo of him would be killed by him.


    (How did Link survive, you ask? Don''t forget that this guy is a meat shield, he can indeed tank one or two advance-level attacks, with his body alone. If he was a game character people would have said "Bro put his all stats in defense!".)


    ¡­


    Outside the SSA, General''s Residence, Meeting hall.


    The observing officers looked at the monitor which had already gone nk. The previous explosion destroyed all the cameras in the vicinity after all.


    "How did they cast an ''Advance spell'' isn''t Liam still a B-ranker!? He should only be able to use ''intermediate spells''!"


    "It''s very strange! Did he use an artifact again!?"


    Hearing the officers, Raji nodded her head and said:


    "Indeed, he must have used an artifact to forcefully use an Advance spell¡­" (Raji)


    Then Raji looked at the general.


    After thinking for a little while she said:


    "It seems that I have already seen what I came here for, I would be off now. General Bismoil, I leave the rest to you¡­" (Raji)


    "Understood!" (General)


    As General Bismoil nodded his head, the hologram of Raji Croft disappeared and simrly the other two also disappeared after nodding at General Bismoil. (They dumped all the responsibility on him.)


    "Okay it seems the match is over now! Provide proper medical care to all the students none should be left unhealed!" (General)


    At General Bismoil''s order, all of the officers started to get back to work.


    The result of the ''group survival test'' was announced to all the students and even several media channels disyed the result on TV, which boosted Link''s reputation even further, also Rio became a little more famous on the inte for the first time.


    Later, Rio even got recognized as Link''s biggest Rival by theizens. Rio''s images appeared along with Link''s on the inte. Rio became famous in just a few hours.


    General Bismoil nced at the setting sun from his window, he sighed and contemted in his mind.


    ''It seems Link Rex is the winner in this whole ordeal, but that Kid Rio indeed has enough potential to rival Link, Looks like the future of humanity is in the right hands¡­Creating a second golden generation might not be a dream anymore perhaps¡­'' (General)


    Thinking about this a smile appeared on his old face. Soon he shook his head and went back to his work.


    Thus, the group survival test came to an end, with Team 1 as the ultimate victor.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here again!


    Seriously it was really difficult to make Rio lose. I had to put a much-unexpected level of plot twist to make Rio lose this fight. It was not easy. I had to think very hard for a whole week¡­ even though I am the author, it''s difficult, to write a strong character like Rio losing in a fight.


    Question of the day.


    Which type of character would you prefer?


    1.?Tank (Slow but high defense and HP. Might be able to survive even the worst attacks, Like Link.)


    2.?Offense (The old saying: "If I kill it fast enough, then I don''t need defense.")


    3.?Agile ("Why wear armor, when I am not nning to get hit in the first ce! all hail the ultimate technique ''Rolling!''")


    4.?Other (I am trying to summon dark s*uls yers, please tell us your preferences here.)


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.

 Chapter 109 Rio Flash and God’s Grace... Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 109 Rio sh and God''s Grace... Part-3.</h4>


    In a Vast Unknown ce.


    ''Hmm, what is this ce?'' (Rio)


    Rio tried to look around him but the dense fog blocked his view. Beneath his feet was a pure white floor shining brightly. The atmosphere of this ce seemed solemn, majestic, and ancient.


    Rio had a feeling in his heart that this ce, perhaps didn''t exist in the material world at all.


    ''Am I inside someone''s ''ne of consciousness, Right now?'' (Rio)


    Rio was sure that this wasn''t his ne of consciousness because his ne of consciousness was pitch ck and looked like a vast void between gxies and stars. (He visits his ne of consciousness every night in his dreams so he is sure about its looks as mentioned in a previous chapter.)


    Just when Rio was in confusion a figure of a man in luxurious clothes appeared in front of him. The person seemed illusionary, his form was unstable and his face was radiating bright white light.


    Rio couldn''t properly see his face, it was as if the person''s face was purposely being hidden by a mysterious force. Rio also noticed that the figure was wearing a golden Crown on his head and his dress looked simr to the dresses that Kings in the feudal era used to wear in Rio''s previous world.


    ''Is he a king of some empire or something like that?'' (Rio)


    As Rio looked at the man with great focus, he saw the man open his mouth.


    "Oh, It seems you have been acknowledged by my sword¡­ that must mean you have extraordinary talent¡­. Good, good¡­" (???)


    The man''s voice sounded ethereal, calm, and tired as if the speaker had gone through many years of hardships and constant struggles. Which made his voice reassuring and calming to the listener.


    "A piece of advice though, it''s a rebellious weapon, be sure to keep your emotions in check all the time¡­ otherwise you will end up like this¡­" (???)


    As the man said that, he pointed his finger towards the ground.


    All of a sudden, everything around them changed. The white and pure floor was gone, now reced with charred ck soil, and several volcanoes appeared everywhere around Rio.


    Rio even saw Lava Rivers flowing around.


    Then Rio looked at what the man had pointed his fingers to.


    Rio noticed several purple and red colored phantoms crawling around on the floor. The phantoms looked grotesque and ugly many of them were wailing in pain and shrieking like dying beasts. Their distorted voice contained immense hatred and killing intent.


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!"


    Those phantoms seemed to have gone under corruption and have now only two purposes left in their corroded will, which were kill and destroy.


    "But try your best, as long as you can keep yourself calm, you will be fine¡­ just don''t bring shame to the great name of the empire¡­" (???)


    Without Rio noticing, the person appeared behind Rio, he put his brightly glowing hand on Rio''s back and gave him a light push.


    "Walk the path of your choice, don''t leave any regrets behind¡­ now go!" (???)


    "Wait-" (Rio)


    Rio wanted to ask the man, who he was, but Rio''s view blurred rapidly and before Rio could say anything, he was thrown out of that ''ne of Consciousness''.


    ¡­


    Military Infirmary, Near General''s residence.


    Rio abruptly opened his eyes. A white ceiling appeared in his vision, he sat up and found himself on an infirmary bed.


    He was confused for a few moments before he remembered everything that happened in thest battle and how his sword turned into liquid and he ended up getting hit by Liam''s lousy and slow attack that could have been easily avoided by him, if not for that sudden situation. (He thinks of that small-scale nuclear attack as a lousy attack,e on Rio, have some respect for the poor guy Liam¡­)


    "Ah, you are up! Wait I will bring someone to do a quick check-up on you!" (Apprentice healer)


    Just when Rio was about to get up, an apprentice healer came by, so Rio had to wait and have his health checked before he could leave the infirmary.


    ''Hmm, it seems they have good infrastructure here¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio was quite surprised to find that every injured person got a separate room to recover. The infirmary in the academy has a huge hall and all the patients are admitted to that hall, Curtains are used as walls dividing the beds, but this ce has proper infrastructure.


    ''It seems they provide better health services to the military personnel¡­'' (Rio)


    After a while of waiting, an A-rank healer entered the room and did a quick health checkup on Rio using his mana and skills.


    Later, the healer left with a bewildered look on his face, he was surprised by how fast Rio had recovered. (Not even Link the Ultimate Meat Tank has recovered to full health yet. Rio only slept for a day and he recovered to full health with a little bit of healing by the A-rank healer.)


    ''My concentration skill must have focused the healer''s magic further making it more efficient¡­ I am more bewildered at the fact that the skill didn''t deactivate, even when I was unconscious¡­ that''s new¡­'' (Rio)


    Generally, all skills of the user deactivate after the person bes unconscious but if you master the skill properly and be extremely proficient in it, then your body can keep that skill activated on its own, without you even wasting efforts. (It''s simr to muscle memory¡­)


    Rio shook his head and got up from the bed. He left the infirmary and went on the rooftop to get some fresh air and feel the breeze to sort out the things in his mind.


    ¡­


    Rooftop, Military infirmary, Near the General''s Residence.


    Rio stood near the guard rail and looked at the setting sun on the horizon.


    ''It would have been perfect if I had tea to enjoy at this moment¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio sighed and shook his head.


    ''Let''s see¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio summoned his sword out and nced at it.


    Unlike usual the description of the weapon has now changed vastly.


    [Item: Formless Weapon]


    [Item name: Vinash]


    [Item titles: God''s Grace, Demon Destroyer, Soul Destructor, Extinction Watcher]


    [Item Rank: SS++] (Extra ''+'' here represents its extremely high possibility to ascend further.)


    [Item Description:


    A sword forged by an SS-ranked cksmith using his soul and will to enhance it. It was a weapon custom-created for King Allen Reinhart. It was used by King Allen during the thousand-year demon extermination war, this weapon killed millions of demons and witnessed demons being driven to near extinction, by the mighty power of King Allen.


    King Allen put this weapon on his throne for future generations to take it, when he ?????.... ?????.


    Then, a hundred yearster, It was obtained by demon general Azazel, when he exterminated the Reinhart royal family after the disappearance of King Allen and Azazelput this weapon in the treasury of the demon king''s castle.


    Later, A sneaky thief stole it from the treasury under the nose of the demon king. Eventually, this weapon reached the hands of an anomaly, who awakened it from its long sleep and made it recognize a new master after it wandered around in the world for two thousand years.


    Millions of souls, which were mercilessly ughtered by this sword, howl and curse this weapon with their endless hatred, be sure to not get corroded by the abysmal filth surrounding this weapon.]


    [Item Effects:


    1.?Summon/desummon: Summon and desummon the weapon at the user''s will without the use of any mana.


    2.?Formless: can change shape ording to the user''s will.


    3.?Locked due to the low rank of the user.


    4.?Locked due to the low rank of the user.


    5.?Locked due to the low rank of the user. ]


    [Item side-effect: Can cause a person with weak will and unstable emotions to go rogue and corrode, turning them into mindless beasts.]


    Looking at that long description Rio felt his head throbbing in pain, he had never seen a weapon as domineering and majestic as this one.


    He never expected that this weird formless weapon, which he got from the inheritance his father left for him, would turn out to be an ''SS-rank'' weapon.


    Moreover, it even has such a long history behind it, this made Rio dumbfounded, his eyes widened in shock, and only after a full minute did he calm down his mind.


    ''Now I understand why this sword trembled when I showed even a little bit of killing intent, it is a cursed weapon that rejoices at its user''s hatred and other negative options¡­'' (Rio)


    ''It even lost its form just to get its master injured¡­. Long story short, it can only be used when your emotions are calm and have no lingering killing intent or any other negative emotions in them¡­.'' (Rio)


    ''The biggest problem is that it is already bound to my soul and I can''t even throw it away¡­ how troublesome¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio sighed at this great misfortune, he never wanted to get a cursed weapon attached to himself.


    What Rio didn''t know was that this weapon is the most suitable for him, because he has a very small amount of emotional fluctuation left in him. If not for some rare asions he is as emotionless as a stone.


    ''Moreover, this weapon refers to my father as a ''Sneaky Theif'', how embarrassing¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    The more Rio looked at the weapon the more he sighed at his bad luck, if someone saw him behaving like this they would end upughing. Rio looked like a dejected lover, who was rejected by his crush at the very first mention of a confession.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    What do you think, why did that sneaky thief dare to steal a weapon for the treasury of the demon castle?


    (In my opinion, the demon king was too busy ying with his concubines and never even noticed that one thief doing his work.)


    (Wait does that mean Rio has inherited his stealing skills from his father!?)


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.

 Chapter 110 A Leisurely day...

    <h4>Chapter 110 A Leisurely day...</h4>


    Rooftop, Military infirmary, Near the General''s Residence.


    "Why the long face? Are you sad because you lost to Link?" (Lia)


    While Rio was still dejected about his sword, Lia appeared on the Rooftop, she walked towards and stood beside him.


    Her golden hair shined like pure gold under the setting sun. If not for the fact that Rio''s face is always expressionless, his jaw would have dropped to the floor just by looking at her once.


    A smirk appeared on Lia''s cute face and she said in a teasing tone:


    "You finally tasted defeat today, hehe~" (Lia)


    Rio rolled his eyes and stopped looking at her.


    Seeing that Rio was not paying her any attention, Lia pouted her cheeks, which made her look even cuter.


    "Here, take this¡­" (Lia)


    Lia handed the tea she was holding in her hand to Rio. Rio nced at the tea and took it.


    "How did you know I needed that?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s question, Lia dodged his eyes and vaguely answered:


    "T-that, i-I just thought you would appreciate a tea, th-that''s all!" (Lia)


    "Is that so¡­" (Rio)


    Rio didn''t think too much about it, he just nodded his head and took a sip of the tea. (Tea is Rio''s favorite drink, he is addicted to it. The habit of drinking tea five times a day was carried on in this life from his past life.)


    Lia nced at Rio sipping tea silently while looking at the horizon. She heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''I almost got caught, almost ended up saying that I saw him drink tea every day near his dorm window.'' (Lia)


    Lia has several of Rio''s photos drinking tea while standing near his dorm room''s window. (She took those photos using a long-range image-capturing artifact, Rio couldn''t detect her from so far so she was safe. Except for her maid, no one knew about those secret photos.)


    "By the way, where is that fat and smelly creature now?" (Rio)


    All of a sudden a white cat appeared out of nowhere and stood on Lia''s shoulder.


    [How dare a mere human call me fat and smelly!? Be respectful to this mighty Divine Lion!]


    "Meow!? Meow!" (Kai)


    Although Kai tried to retort in anger, all that came out of his mouth was a cat''s voice.


    Rio nced at Kai who was ring at him in anger and shook his head. Then he looked at Lia and said:


    "It seems to be angry, give it some dry fish or something¡­" (Rio)


    [Damn you human!!!]


    "Meow!!!" (Kai)


    Lia who could hear Kai''s wailing in her head, had aplicated expression on her face. Due to her mana exhaustion in the earlier fight, Kai can''t use telepathy tomunicate with others and only she can hear her voice right now, thus hearing Kai''s angry yelling she could only shake her head in sympathy for him.


    [Tch! I am going back!]


    "Meow!" (Kai)


    Kai disappeared with frustration in his heart. He didn''t want to see the face of this rude human for one more second.


    After Kai disappeared Lia shook her head, she was now used to Kai''s regr mood swings. Recently Lia even got a few friends because of this cat wandering around her. A smile appeared on Lia''s face while thinking about it.


    "Hey, will you answer a question for me, you must be honest with your answer¡­" (Rio)


    Lia nced at Rio who was still looking at the horizon and sipping his tea leisurely, with an expressionless face.


    ''Why is he so serious all of a sudden?'' (Lia) (Lia has been so ustomed to Rio''s expressionless face, that she can guess his emotions easily now.)


    "What?" (Lia)


    Rio continued to stare at the setting sun with his usual expressionless face for a few seconds before saying:


    "What would you do, if I became a demon or something like that one day?" (Rio)


    "Would you be able to put me to Rest?" (Rio)


    With his usual expressionless face, Rio asked Lia a very thought-provoking and weird question.


    Hearing his question, Lia stared at Rio for a few seconds without saying anything back.


    After a minute or two, a determined expression appeared on Lia''s face and she replied in a firm tone:


    "If you became a demon and started harming innocent people¡­ I would be the first to put you down, I wouldn''t want you to harm others, but I don''t know if I would be strong enough to do that¡­." (Lia)


    "That''s why¡­ I sincerely hope that¡­. You shouldn''t fall to such a vile path¡­" (Lia)


    Hearing Lia''s answer, a small smile appeared on Rio''s face.


    "Haha, you are as direct and decisive as ever¡­ I would be sure to not get on your wrong side, haha¡­" (Rio)


    Lia also smiled a little after seeing Rio''s smile, it is indeed rare for him to smile after all.


    The two continued to enjoy their alone time for a few more minutes before happily returning.


    They decided to go and visit Link and Riya and see what they were doing.


    ¡­


    Military Infirmary, Link''s recovery room


    "Ugh, I look so weird!" (Link)


    While looking at his face in the mirror Link had an unhappy expression on his face.


    "I will beat that guy Liam to a pulp, the next time I see his face!" (Link)


    As Link touched his burnt face and bald head, he felt more and more anger towards Liam. He couldn''t help but curse that guy Liam for burning his hair and making him bald.


    "Stay still Link, let me heal you properly, otherwise your hair won''t recover!" (Riya)


    Riya was having great difficulty in keeping Link still. She has been trying to heal him but Link wanted to go and beat up Liam immediately.


    "It''s not like you look bad or something, my friend said that bald guys have better vitality¡­ or was it speed?..." (Riya)


    Link looked at Riya with aplicated expression on his face.


    "M-Maybe you shouldn''t take advice from that friend, she must be talking about some other type of dude¡­ ahem! Well let''s focus on healing first shall we!" (Link) (Why does this remind me of a certain someone, hmm who could it be, tell me in thements¡­.)


    Riya tilted her head in confusion and continued to heal Link''s head.


    ''Please heal me before that guy Rio sees me in this state, if he saw me bald he will make fun of me for the rest of my life!'' (Link)


    Just when Link was praying in his head, the gate of the room opened, and Rio and Lia both walked in directly.


    Link''s expression turned into horror after looking at Rio.


    Contrary to Link''s expectations Rio didn''t even nce at him, he looked at Riya and said:


    "Hey, candy-girl, where is that fatso Link..." (Rio)


    All of a sudden Rio nced at Link and said:


    "Oh! You were here Link? I didn''t even recognize you¡­ ah! Could it be you are cosying that famous por-" (Rio)


    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" (Link)


    Link screamed at the top of his lungs as if he had seen a ghost, he got up jumped out of the window, and ran away while screaming at the top of his lungs.


    "W-what!?" (Riya)


    Riya was so shocked by this, that she couldn''t even process what just happened. Riya hurriedly left the room and started chasing Link while panting heavily.


    "W-what just happened?" (Lia)


    Lia who entered the room a littlete, had a confused expression on her face.


    Rio looked at the broken window and noticed that Link had jumped down from the fifth floor without any damage.


    He shook his head and replied:


    "Nothing much, It seems Link couldn''t hold the pressure and went to the washroom in hurry¡­" (Rio)


    "Oh, i-is that so¡­ but why jump down the window then?¡­" (Lia)


    Rio shrugged his shoulder in reply.


    "Who knows~ must have been holding it for too long perhaps¡­." (Rio)


    While Rio looked expressionless from outside he was alreadyughing at Link in his mind.


    Later this day would be remembered by Rio and Link as a content of ''Dark history''.


    Rio would go on and tease Link about today, for a long time toe. This happy memory will stay alive in their hearts for a very long time.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Continuous uploading day six, we are slowly getting on the steady track! Let''s cheer on this happy asion! Also, I am thankful for all of your support.


    What are your thoughts on the chapter tell me in thements.


    Question of the day.


    Which hairstyle do you like?


    1.?Bald (Cough! Cough! I won''t say anything or I will get banned.)


    2.?Random (Random bu*lsh*t goes brrrrrrr!!)


    3.?Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, recently I found out that people have been pirating my novel. I request everyone that whoever is reading this novel please read it from Webnovel only, otherwise, your support will not reach this poor author.

 Chapter 111 A Stormy Day...

    <h4>Chapter 111 A Stormy Day...</h4>


    The Great Freya Academy, Rio''s Dorm Room.


    Rio sat on the couch with a teacup in his hand. As he watched the TV, he ignored the thundering of the dark clouds outside.


    Lightning struck several times and deafening thunder sounds came one after another, but Rio paid it no mind. It seems that even stormy weather can''t make his expressionless face flinch even a little bit.


    The News anchor started his reporting, while Rio sat on the couch in a rxed manner. (Today is a national holiday in the human empire, today they celebrate the victory of the human empire in the fifty-year war against the ''Orcs'' and also mourn for all the people whose lives were lost in this war.)


    ...


    "As all our audience may already have noticed, the weather today is very unusual¡­" (John, the anchor.)


    "A huge thunderstorm has been artificially created today over the whole human empire, to celebrate the national sacrificial day, this is also to celebrate the appearance of a new SS-ranker¡­" (John)


    "The opposition points out and says that this is excessive and we should have used that money for helping the poor families, but the government disagrees¡­" (John)


    "The president has given his well wishes to all the citizens of the human empire and has said "This storm and thunder represent the war cry of the rising human empire, with the birth of a new SS-ranker our nation has be safer and stronger." This was the exact statement of the president¡­" (John)


    After telling all this John showed a bar graph on the screen behind him and said in a serious tone:


    "In this data, we can see that the military spending this year has increased by 300%pared to thest year, this is an astronomical sum of money being spent on the military¡­" (John)


    "The opposition party leaders questioned the government about where all this money is being spent, some great figures take this as a sign of a new war approaching us at a very fast speed¡­" (John)


    "This has made many people question the fact that is it really necessary to waste money on creating a giant artificial thunderstorm, or is the government trying to kill all the poor people in the disguise of this thunderstorm¡­" (John)


    The Anchor continued rambling about the extraordinary spending of the government on useless things instead of helping the people in need.


    ...


    Eventually, the anchor showed the videos of several reporters rushing and blocking the four SS-rankers and trying to ask them questions about this thunderstorm.


    "Ms. Raji, what are your thoughts on this matter?"


    A daring reporter pushed everyone aside and questioned Raji who was sitting in her luxury car through the half-opened windscreen


    Raji lowered the ss fully and replied in a vague tone.


    "I can''t tell people about the ssified information, but all I will say is that there''s no need to fear about the safety of humankind, with the addition of one more person in the ranks of the SS-rankers, our nation is stronger than it before was¡­" (Raji)


    After saying that Raji put her branded sunsses back on, the windscreen closed again and the car drove away in a hurry while being surrounded by many bodyguards and muscle cars.


    ...


    The video ended and the Anchor appeared again on the screen of the TV.


    "Only Ms. Raji has given a vague statement in this matter and the other three SS-rankers have refused to even see the reporters, which has made many people concerned¡­" (John)


    "In the end, all is up to themon people to decide. What do you think about this sudden increase in military expenditure, tell us your thoughts on the official website of our channel¡­" (John)


    Looking at all this Rio has only one thought in his mind.


    ''It seems that the ''Meeting of Gods'' is about to arrive and the government is trying to show off the appearance of a new SS-ranker to the whole world¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio could only sigh at this matter.


    ''No matter the world, politics is always aplicated topic¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    Then the anchor finally switched to another topic.


    "Now we show you a scene of General Bismoil giving rewards to the group of winners of the recent ''Group survival test'' conducted by the Great Freya academy¡­" (John)


    Then the video of Link, Lenn, Ars, and Leo receiving a golden trophy from General Bismoil appeared on the TV, All four of them had a huge smile on their faces. General Bismoil praised them all personally and gave them each a free head-pat.


    Then Link gave a small speech on how he felt upon receiving the reward, directly from the hands of a war veteran like General Bismoil. His Bright Red hair and pupils shined like gems and his face brimmed with unwavering confidence even when standing in front of hundreds of reporters and cameras.


    Later Liam''s group got the silver trophy and Lia''s group got the bronze trophy. Each of them gave a small speech and motivated the youngsters who are aspiring to be future academy students.


    All of their poprity received a huge boost after receiving great attention on the inte.


    ''It seems they didn''t even take a single photo of mine¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    Rio and his team were not able to survive the allotted time of one hour, thus they lost and didn''t get any rewards at all. The only reason people even knew about Rio was because they saw him fighting Link and others in thatst battle. (Even Meng''s existence was edited and cut off from the videos released to the public.)


    Rio''s half face was shown for ten seconds on the TV when they showed the audience at the start of this video. (Even though Rio was sitting in the very front row, yet, he was barely even shown on the TV¡­ Rio really has some extraordinary way of getting ignored by the sight of cameras¡­)


    ¡­


    Later the anchor continued to praise Link''s extraordinary talents and looks, Link was now certified as a guaranteed future SS-ranker all over the inte. (Actually, Link is also seen by many people as a celebrity nowadays, many famous magazine covers have a photo of Link on them. He has a whole dedicated fandom of himself. There are millions of fans in his fandom.)


    But Rio just had a single thought about this matter.


    ''Hmm, it seems he recovered from his baldness, his face looked quite funny with the bald haircut, if his fans had seen him like that, they would have had a heart attack¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was about to shut down the TV, suddenly the anchor put his hand on his wristwatch and a sudden break appeared as if something major had happened and the Anchor went away to get the information about it.


    This suddenly piqued Rio''s interest, thus he didn''t get up from the couch and stayed still, even though his teacup has already been emptied by now.


    The ad break ended after a minute or two and the anchor appeared again.


    "Just now we received shocking videos from our sources, the video show shocking scenes of the ''Group Survival Test'', which were not released to the public before, but our reliable sources got those videos¡­" (John)


    Then the video of Rio using that immense thunder beam appeared on the TV, the sound of the thunder produced by Rio''s sword, made the outside weather look tamer inparison.


    The absolute devastation that was unleashed upon the area from that 360 degree swing of the thunder beam appeared and made everyone watching the TV shocked beyond words.


    "Yes, we are informed by our sources that a student named ''Rio sh'' who is also famous among theizens as ''Link''s biggest Rival'' has awakened the legendary power of ''Sword Intent'', moreover his mastery over his ''Sword Intent'' has reached a remarkable level¡­" (John)


    Then the camera zoomed out and showed the aftermath of Rio''s attack. The area which was originally covered byrge trees was now converted into a barrennd, where thunderbolts crawled everywhere like snakes.


    "This attack eliminated six of the members from the opponent side¡­" (John)


    The anchor repeatedly described the power of that attack and also, showed many other videos of Rio, beating the daylights out of the others.


    Then the video showed the moment when Rio''s sword turned into liquid all of a sudden.


    "Look at this sudden change, I believe that student Rio''s sword must have been a defective one, otherwise there was a great possibility that the winner of this test would have been this underestimated student Rio, the Dark Star." (John)


    Later, all these videos made many people question who was stronger between Rio and Link.


    This sudden appearance of videos about Rio''s feats caused a major sensation on the inte and a war started in various forms about who is better among Link and Rio. Some argued that Rio''s attacks couldn''t even damage Link and some argued that Link''s attacks didn''t evennd on Rio. (This eventid the foundation of a new fandom, the Dark Star fandom.)


    ¡­


    Rio looked at all this with a bewildered look on his face and only one thing came out of his mouth.


    "F*ck!" (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! The continuous upload day 7 is here! Let''s go!


    Question of the day.


    Which fandom would you join?


    1.?Dark Star Fandom (Consists of people who like to be in shadows and prefer self over others.)


    2.?Berserk Rex Fandom (Consists of mainly the fan-girls who see Link as their future hubby and a small portion of guys who see Link as their motivation icon.)


    3.?The Golden Demon Fandom (Consists of nerds and filthy weebs who see Lia as their future waifu, the author is also a member of this fandom.)


    4.?Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 112 A happy day... Rio’s Birthday!

    <h4>Chapter 112 A happy day... Rio''s Birthday!</h4>


    (It''s a filler chapter, feel free to skip it if you want.)


    Academy, Market Area, 12. August. 4346.


    Caf¨¦:- Star Chaser.


    The caf¨¦ is filled with many students as usual, but today there''s a peculiar silence in the caf¨¦. On any other ordinary day, the atmosphere in the caf¨¦ is very lively with studentughing and talking to their friends with big smiles on their faces.


    But today there was no oneughing and even if someone talked, they deliberately lowered their voice as if they were afraid of someone hearing them.


    Even the staff members could sense this peculiar atmosphere.


    All this was happening due to the presence of a certain ck-haired boy sitting on the table near the window.


    The boy seemed to have been waiting for someone, he looked ordinary but everyone who had watched yesterday''s news knew, that this person was not an ordinary passerby.


    Some first-years whispered in low voices among them, while secretly ncing at the ck-haired boy.


    "H-hey, isn''t that¡­ ''Dark Star Rio''!?"


    "Y-yeah¡­ I saw him on TV yesterday¡­."


    "W-what is that guy doing here, Ie to this caf¨¦ daily! This is the first time I saw him here!..." (Actually, He has seen Rio many times in the caf¨¦ before, it''s just that Rio''s face is too ordinary and he is easily ignored among a group of people, that''s why this guy didn''t notice Rio, until today.)


    Suddenly Rio tilted his head and nced at the students who were whispering about him, but he didn''t think too much and looked away after just a single nce.


    But the two students felt that they were looked at by a predator and just that one nce from Rio, made them tremble.


    "Shh¡­ don''t talk about him, he is said to have been able to rival ''Link'', it''s better not to talk about it anymore¡­"


    "oh, okay¡­"


    The two first-year students took their belongings and hurriedly left the caf¨¦. Other students continued to mind their own business while avoiding even looking at Rio.


    Everyone could feel the intense cold aura leaking from Rio, they didn''t want to get beaten like the newbies who got eliminated by Rio''s one attack.


    The other staff members looked at this scene and urged a newbie member to go and ask Rio for his order. The newbie resisted with his all, but eventually, he was pushed by the other staff members and had to go in front of Rio.


    The newbie waiter gulped his saliva and slowly reached Rio''s table. Rio''s pitch-ck eyes nced at the waiter and the waiter felt his legs soften.


    "Tea" (Rio)


    "U-understood!"


    Although there was a smile on the waiter''s face his whole body was drenched in sweat by just standing in Rio''s presence. After taking Rio''s order the waiter left hurriedly with his trembling legs.


    ¡­


    Rio looked at the waiter wobbling around and felt weird.


    ''Hmm, does that guy have some kind of disease? Why is he wobbling like that? He looks fine to me though¡­'' (Rio)


    What Rio didn''t notice was that he was emitting a strong aura today that was making everyone in the caf¨¦ nervous.


    Rio shook his head and thought back to all that had happened in the morning.


    ''Ugh, did they really have to show my face on the national TV? now everyone knows me¡­'' (Rio)


    After Rio''s face was shown on national TV, he became famous overnight, when he got up in the morning, his smartwatch was filled with friend requests and various messages.


    In the end, Rio had muted his notification volume. Otherwise, he would have to hear those notifications every second. This ruined his mood a lot.


    Moreover, when Rio left his room he found that many students were blocking the way and standing in the corridor to wait for him. Some wanted to be friends, some wanted to talk and some wanted autographs. That was a real headache for him.


    He had to jump out of the window to safely leave his room while avoiding the students, who wanted to meet him. But this was not the end of it. He found that more students were standing all around the dormitory to meet him. Rio had a hard time sneaking out of the huge crowd.


    ''If not for the fact that Lia had asked me toe to this caf¨¦, I would not even have left my room for a whole month, sigh~'' (Rio)


    In the morning Rio got a message from Lia that she wanted to meet him at the same caf¨¦, where they talked for the very first time.


    ''This caf¨¦ brings back memories, at that time I had no idea, that one meeting would bring me so many surprises in the future¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    Eventually, the waiter came back put the teacup on the table, and hurriedly left while avoiding Rio''s gaze.


    Rio ignored his clumsiness and took his tea. While sipping the tea, several thoughts came to his mind.


    ''Come to think of it, it''s already been more than a year since, I came to this world¡­'' (Rio)


    In his previous life, Rio had no family and no lovers, there was only one friend who usually gave him novels to read. Rio was an orphan who spent his childhood in the streets, searching for food and fighting other beggars for a ce to sleep.


    One day he was taken in by a small orphanage and there he learned how to read and write. Eventually, the orphanage owner died of old age and all the children disappeared from the orphanage.


    Rio obtained a schrship due to his talent in studies and went to a Boys-only government school, where he made his very first friend.


    ''I had already forgotten my previous life''s name when I transmigrated here, and now I can''t remember that friend''s name either¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio had lingering attachments to his past life, neither did he want to return to his previous world nor did he have any need for that. The only regret was that he didn''t get to say ''farewell or goodbye'' to that friend.


    ''I just hope that he deleted my browser history after I disappeared¡­'' (Rio) (Consequences of being single for twenty years, sigh~)


    Just when Rio was contemting life and was busy in his thoughts, the door of the caf¨¦ opened and three students came in. Rio was quite familiar with all three of them.


    The trio directly came near Rio''s table and sat around him.


    "Here!" (Lia)


    Lia sat beside Rio and ced the huge box in her hands on the table. She removed the cover and brought out a beautiful and delicious-looking cake.


    The trio looked at Rio and said in a united voice.


    "Happy Birthday Rio!" (Lia)


    "Happy Birthday Rio!" (Riya)


    "Happy birthday Rio!" (Link)


    Hearing them Rio''s face stayed expressionless for a few seconds before a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Thanks, all of you!" (Rio)


    ''Ah, I forgot that today was this body''s birthday, themotion in the morning caused it to slip out of my mind.'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at the cake and sure enough, Rio''s name was written on it, and the number 17 was written on it. (Last year, Rio came to this body in June and he was trained for three months, thus he skipped his sixteenth birthday. Now, he is 17 years old.)


    "Quick! Blow the candles! The cake will melt away!" (Riya)


    Stars seemed to be shining in Riya''s eyes, she wanted to devour this cake already, and she was barely keeping her saliva from flowing out of her small mouth. (She loves sweet things too much.)


    Seeing her eagerness, Rio stopped hesitation and blew out the candles and the trio pped, moreover, the other people, who were present in the caf¨¦ also started to p together.


    In his two lives, this was the first time Rio had celebrated his birthday so luxuriously and happily.


    Lia brought out a small batch and put it in Rio''s hands. The batch had a star on it, which was shining with dark rays and several stars shined in the background.


    "This?" (Rio)


    Rio tilted his head in confusion after looking at this batch.


    "A gift from me. It''s the symbol of your fandom ''Dark Star Fandom'', did you like it, I got it custom-built for you!" (Lia)


    Rio nodded his head and said:


    "Good, I like it very much." (Rio)


    Then Riya also gave him a pouch that had several cookies in it. Rio found that most of them were burnt, perhaps Riya made them herself. Rio didn''t reject them and epted the gift. (He wouldter give them to Link, and Link wouldugh from ear to ear while eating these burnt cookies.)


    "Thanks." (Rio)


    Nheless, Rio thanked Riya for her gift, the thought behind the gift is more important to Rio, not its value.


    Then, Link brought out an expensive-looking box.


    "I heard from Lia, that you like tea, here take this¡­" (Link)


    "Thanks." (Rio) (I feel like, Rio said ''thanks'' more times in this chapter,pared to the collective amount of times, he said it in the whole novel.)


    This was the gift that Rio liked the most, tea is always appreciated by him.


    After the gifts were epted by Rio, the cake was divided into four of them. Riya got three-fourths of the cake and the rest was divided among the three of them.


    While Riya gobbled down huge chunks of the cake, the other three could only shake their heads. If not for their experiencing it themselves, no one would believe that a cute and small girl like Riya could eat so much.


    And just like that Rio celebrated his birthday with his precious friends.


    ''I hope, that every year, I get to spend my birthday happily and peacefully from now on¡­'' (Rio)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Let us cheer Rio together on his birthday!


    Question of the day.


    How did you spend your birthday this year?


    1. No Celebration (Slept all day and watched TV, there were no celebrations and no friends who gave any gifts. A boring birthday as always.)


    2. Small Celebration (Spent time with family and celebrated with a minimal amount of money spent.)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)

 Chapter 113 Rio’s Fragmented Dreams...

    <h4>Chapter 113 Rio''s Fragmented Dreams...</h4>


    "Come on sleepyhead! Wakey wakey~ How long are you gonna sleep! It''s time for school!"


    The warm hands of a woman caressed the small forehead of a seven-year-old boy with love and care. The woman patted and messed up the ck hairs on the boy''s head.


    As if disturbed in the middle of a sweet dream, the boyzily opened his eyes and his pitch-ck pupils shined like gems.


    "mm, let me sleep a little bit more~" (Rio, 7 years old.)


    "No sweetie! You will bete~"


    "Come down for breakfast after washing up..."


    After the woman said that, she left Rio''s room and went downstairs.


    The boy got upzily, his blurred vision cleared up slowly after he rubbed his eyes for a few seconds.


    ¡­


    (The scene changed to the breakfast.)


    Rio sat on the chair and started to nibble on the toast that was ced in front of him, he wore a school uniform and seemed to be ready for school.


    Suddenly he noticed an unfamiliar man sitting beside him, Rio was shocked that the man appeared seemingly out of nowhere.


    "Mom! Ghost!" (Rio)


    Rio screamed with a look of horror on his face. The woman who had woken him up before came running from the kitchen with a ss of water in her hand.


    "What!?"


    The woman had the same pitch-ck hair and pupils simr to Rio''s, her face was full of panic, and she seemed to have been surprised by the screams of her kid.


    The man who appeared out of nowhere had red hair and pupils with a ckish tint in them. The man looked at Rio with aplicated expression and then looked at the women and said:


    "It''s been a while Alicia." (???)


    The ss of water in the hands of Alicia slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. The water got spilled on the ground everywhere. But Alicia didn''t pay it any mind, instead, a shocked expression appeared on her face.


    "K-Kevin¡­ is that you!?" (Alicia)


    The man nodded his head in approval.


    "Yeah, it''s me, I am back¡­" (Kevin)


    While the two adults were busy in their happy reunion, the little Rio looked at all this and was shocked beyond belief.


    ''My mother is having an affair!? She said my father was dead, so this man must be her past lover!'' (Rio) (Yeah, the original little Rio was a dumb kid.)


    Kevin got up from the chair and just when he was about to give Alicia a reunion hug, Rio hurriedly defended his mother and stopped Kevin from approaching.


    "No! You can''t have Mom! She''s my Mom!" (Rio)


    Kevin looked at his son who didn''t even recognize him and rubbed his forehead.


    ''This is why I hate kids, they are all little sh*ts!'' (Kevin) (This guy hates kids actually.)


    Before Kevin could say anything, Alicia hurriedly took Rio in her arms and said in an aggrieved tone.


    "We don''t know you¡­ Sir! Please leave!" (Alicia)


    Kevin repeatedly tried to say something, he wanted to console Alicia, he wanted to ask for forgiveness for leaving her alone for whole seven years, but in the end, he could only sigh and leave with his head down and a sad expression on his face.


    Before leaving Kevin nced at Rio who was tightly held by Alicia in her embrace.


    "At the least, tell the kid about his father-" (Kevin)


    "No need! Rio''s father died seven years ago! There''s no point in bringing out a sad past! Please leave!" (Alicia)


    Kevin shook his head in defeat and hurriedly left the house.


    Rio looked at Kevin''s fading back and finally understood that this man was his real father. But Rio had no time to think about it, he had to provide support to his mother who started to cry after Kevin left.


    ¡­


    While outside the house Kevin nced back and remembered the day when he left this house seven years ago. At that time, he didn''t tell Alicia that he was going to go on a secret mission, he had no choice at that time.


    ''How do I tell you, the national security was at risk, I had to get insider Intel on the demon army, it was inevitable¡­'' (Kevin)


    Kevin sighed and left.


    That was the first andst time Rio had seen his father.


    (Later, Kevin stayed in an abandoned house on the nearby mountain, until the day he died while fighting the demons, during the Drift City massacre.


    No, he didn''t try to talk to Alicia again after this one time. He had no idea how to do that and he lived the rest of the three years of his miserable life while drowning himself, in alcohol and regrets. He thought that Alicia would forgive him one day and would look for him eventually but that day never came, instead, his death came for him earlier than that.)


    ¡­


    (The scene changes to the day of the massacre)


    Alicia ran with all her might with the ten-year-old Rio in her arms.


    She was an ordinary human, she had no mana or any other capabilities of an awakener, but to protect her child she ran forward even when her legs trembled in fear of her own life.


    In the morning when Alicia and Rio were eating breakfast, a demon fell on their home and shattered the roof, its enormous body destroyed the floor and messed up all the furniture in the house.


    Alicia knew that something bad was going on outside, she immediately grabbed Rio and ran as fast as she could. Several lower demons chased her but they were disposed of by a person wearing ragged clothes. (At that moment, Alicia was in a hurry and didn''t know that the person in the ragged clothes was Kevin himself.)


    When her stamina ran out and she could no longer run, Alicia put Rio down. While panting heavily she hurriedly looked for a ce to hide Rio. Luckily she found it. (Nearly all the houses were smashed and shattered around her, she hid Rio in the debris.)


    Alicia asked Rio to hide and hurriedly covered the spot with debris from the broken houses.


    "P-promise me, Rio! That you will note out until Ie back! Stay hidden here!" (Alicia)


    Alicia kissed Rio on his forehead and patted his head onest time before fully covering the ce with debris.


    And that was thest time Rio saw his mother. She never came back.


    (She was shredded into several pieces by a low-rank demon, just about fifty meters away, from Rio''s hiding spot. During herst moments, her only regret was that she didn''t get to see her son grow up into a fine young man.)


    The hiding spot was very small but Rio could easily fit in there. He had a thin physique after all. Rio stayed in that hiding spot as he had promised his mother. Time passed slowly and Rio fell unconscious due tock of oxygen.


    But luckily he was discovered by a man who had golden hair and pupils. Arge great sword hung on the man''s wide back.


    "It seems there is a survivor, his parents are likely not alive anymore, send him to a healer and inform a nearby orphanage¡­" (James, Lia''s father)


    James handed the unconscious Rio to his subordinates and flew away somewhere else. (At that time, James didn''t recognize Rio as Kevin''s son.)


    ¡­


    (The scene changes to the orphanage.)


    27 May 4345.


    "Here, this is your ID card and this is your uniform. If you have any questions please contact the help center using the smart-watch issued by the academy."


    After saying that the man in the ck suit got up and left hurriedly, as if he was in a hurry to leave and didn''t want to waste his time here.


    Rio didn''t pay it any mind and looked at the uniform with aplicated expression on his face.


    ''So, this is my uniform¡­'' (Rio, 15 year old)


    Rio got the enrollment invitation from the Great Freya academy, because of his background. (The government had announced that the survivors of the Drift City massacre would get special benefits in the future, to appease the anger of themon folks.)


    Rio got the special benefit of getting an invitation from the greatest academy of the human empire, this already solidified his future to be bright and good.


    With mixed emotions, Rio packed his luggage. He had to move to the boy''s dormitory of the academy the very next day.


    ¡­


    13 August 4346. (Present Day.)


    Rio got up from his bed, looked at his hands, and tilted his head in confusion.


    "These memories again¡­" (Rio)


    This was not the first time Rio had experienced these memories. Every once in a while these memories appear in Rio''s mind while he is sleeping.


    Rio has seen this same dream many times now.


    Rio shook his head and left his bed to wash up.


    He had to go and steal some chances.


    ''At the end of it all, your strength is the most reliable thing in the world¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here.


    This chapter sheds some light on the events that happened in the memories of the original Rio. I hope you guys will have a better understanding of the timeline with this chapter.


    Question of the day.


    What do you think, how much of a deadbeat is Kevin?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 114 Ambient Silver...

    <h4>Chapter 114 Ambient Silver...</h4>


    Great Freya Academy, Near the Main Gate, Bus Stop.


    Wearing casual clothes, Rio stood at the bus stop waiting for the ''Flying Bus'' toe. While Rio listened to music with his headphones, the flying bus finally arrived after a few minutes of waiting.


    The busnded on its designated stop and a few passengers got down from the front gate. Rio boarded the bus and after getting his ticket he sat on the seat at the very back of the bus. (Don''t think of it as a regr bus, it lookspletely different from the one you see in your everyday life. This thing is called a ''Bus'' but it doesn''t have any tires, it flies, uses mana stones as fuel, and looks extremely futuristic.)


    While Rio nced outside the window, the bus took off again.


    ''This brings back memories¡­'' (Rio)


    Justst year Rio used a flying bus to travel around and plunder the various cheats of the protagonist Fade, and now he is doing the same again.


    ''I havee a long way on the road of being a professional thief, perhaps someone will write a novel on me one day describing my glorious thieving activities¡­'' (Rio) (Yeah, I am writing a novel on your thieving activities, yeah¡­)


    While looking at the lively city, Rio had various thoughts about this past year. He remembered the time when he first beat up Link and warned Fade to note near Lia.


    ''Many things have happened in just a year¡­'' (Rio)


    While thinking about this, Rio opened his status panel. He hasn''t nced at his status for a while now.


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: B++] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    (The extra ''+'' represents that he is extremely close to a breakthrough¡­)


    [HP: 7500/7500] [MP: 4200/4200]


    [STR: 89/100] [SPE: 97/100] [AGI: 93/ 100] [DEF: 83/100] [INT: 88/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Intermediate Swordsmanship (B+), Elemental Sword Art (B+)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration (?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening (B+), Lightning Sword (B+), Handling (B+)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; unaffected by fate and destiny. Your growth rate is terrifying, your presence has altered many fates¡­]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???), Formless weapon (bound to the soul)]


    ''Hmm, I am quite close to the A-rank, it''s difficult to believe but it''s certainly true¡­ I just need a certain opportunity now¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Let''s grab those cheat items first today, and look for an opportunity to breakthrough on ater date¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and closed his status panel.


    (The status panel is just a formality for him, he can sense his body''s condition much better on his own. He doesn''t need any external factor to determine such a simple thing. I just opened the panel so that the readers can see his current condition.)


    ¡­


    Silver Household, James''s office.


    James looked at his daughter who was sitting opposite him, with a serious expression on his face, and said.


    "So¡­ how far have you two gone¡­." (James)


    A slight blush appeared on Lia''s face.


    "W-what do you mean!? Don''t tell me this is what you called me for!?" (Lia)


    "No, no, by ''far'' I mean like¡­. In the things that couples do these days¡­ I mean, you know¡­ahem! Forget about it¡­" (James)


    Looking at Lia who had confusion written all over her face, James shook his head in defeat.


    ''Ugh, don''t tell me that my daughter doesn''t even know the basics, no one told me it would be this embarrassing to talk about this stuff with your kids¡­'' (James)


    Just when James was busy contemting how to enlighten his idiot daughter about the ways of a maiden, his butler entered the room after a light knock on the door.


    The butler brought arge box and ced it on the table in front of James.


    James nodded his head to the butler and the butler left the office silently.


    Lia looked at the box in confusion and asked:


    "What''s this?" (Lia)


    "Take a look yourself, it''s a gift from me, for getting such good results in the ''Group survival test''¡­" (James)


    "Oh, is that so¡­" (Lia)


    Lia hurriedly opened the box and found a pointed sword inside. The sword shined with cold light and looked very beautiful.


    "Oh! Isn''t this our family''s traditional weapon! You are giving this to me!?" (Lia)


    Lia was surprised by the fact that, James who never let her even touch this sword in her childhood days, was now personally gifting it to her.


    During her childhood, Lia threatened James many times, that she would not eat anything if he didn''t give this sword to her, but James ignored her threats and never allowed her to even wander around the armory, where this sword was hidden. And see how times have changed now.


    "I can sense it, you have awakened the same abilities the founder of the silver household once had¡­" (James)


    While saying that, James nced at the white cat lying down on Lia''s shoulder and said:


    "This sword belonged to the founder and only those who have awakened the silver bloodline to the full potential can inherit this sword¡­" (James)


    "You are more than worthy to wield this weapon now, Lia the ''Mad Demon Sword''¡­ you have earned yourself a name in the world now¡­" (James)


    James''s voice contained deep emotions and his true feelings. Lia had made him proud, he couldn''t ask for more.


    The figure of little Lia struggling to hold her sword straight during her childhood appeared in James''s mind. Now that weak girl''s appearance was ovepped by the appearance of proud, confidant, and determined appearance of the grown-up Lia.


    ''She has grown up, now she doesn''t need the support of anyone else, she has found her path¡­ I am sure your mother would be proud of you too Lia¡­'' (James)


    "Go and try this sword in the training grounds, get used to it fast and don''t fall behind in strength, it would be good if you could stand shoulder to shoulder with the ones you swore to protect¡­" (James)


    Lia nodded at James''s remarks.


    Lia got up from her seat and walked towards the door of the office with her new sword in her hands.


    James nced at the white cat.


    ''I leave her in your care, please be kind to her¡­'' (James)


    [Hmph, you worry too much¡­] (Kai)


    James shook his head after hearing the reply from Kai. He knew that as long as a divine spirit like Kai was protecting Lia, there was no need for him to worry about the well-being of his daughter.


    ''Children grow up so fast, it feels like the day when Lia came to this world was just yesterday¡­'' (James)


    While Lia left the office James continued to reminiscence about the past and time continued to pass.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Ambient Silver]


    [Item Rank: S++]


    [Item Description: A sword created with the blessings of a Divine spirit. It is imbued with the power of a divine spirit.


    It was used by Tomar Silver during the thousand-year demon extinction war to st through the hearts of thousands of demons and monsters. This sword has seen many deaths and witnessed the change of many owners.


    It has witnessed the whole history of the silver household. Several Members of the Silver household used this sword but none were able to bring forth its true potential and eventually, it was put in the sealed armory of the Silver household, where it waited for a worthy person to appear and bring it back to its original glory.


    This Sword is said to be able to give the user the ability tomunicate with a divine spirit. Once upon a time, Tomar used to wield immense spirit magic using this very weapon.]


    [Item Effects:


    1.?Spirit magic amplification: Enhances the spirit magic used by the user ''two times''.


    2.?Spirit call: Summon the contracted spirit without using any mana.


    3.?Locked due to the low rank of the user.


    4.?Locked due to the low rank of the user. ]


    ¡­


    Nics District, Grand Market.


    The flying busnded and Rio finally got off the bus after half an hour of travelling.


    Yawn~


    ''Finally here¡­'' (Rio)


    Removing his headphones, Rio stretched his arms and started walking towards the Grand Market.


    ''Let''s start the stealing spree, hehe'' (Rio)


    Rio nced around him with excitement and an evil smile appeared on his face.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved Author is here! A new stealing session is starting, pack your luggage let''s go on a new journey with Rio, and steal some precious chances together!


    Question of the day.


    Which Sword did you like the most?


    1.?Rio''s sword (A cursed weapon may have its disadvantages but it''s cool nheless.)


    2.?Lia''s sword (A weapon embedded with the mighty power of a divine spirit is indeed very special.)


    3.?Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 115 Stealing Session! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 115 Stealing Session! Part-1. </h4>


    Nics District was named after a previous SS-ranker Nics Arsene. He was famous for his love for great Wine and his amazing Earth magic.


    After Nics died together with the Orc King in the fifty-year Orc war, his hometown''s name was changed and named after him, in his memory.


    Rio looked at the Giant statue of Nics standing proudly in the central area of the grand market. The statue depicts Nics as holding wine in one hand and a grimoire in another.


    ''It seems they take care of this statue regrly... It''s so clean and doesn''t even have a?single speck of dust on it...'' (Rio)


    The person in charge of cleaning this statue is taking his job quite seriously. (The families that Nics saved in his lifetime are paying his generosity back by taking care of this statue.)


    Rio looked at the statue for a few seconds, he shook his head and walked towards the statue. He ced his right hand on the leg of the statue and embedded a little bit of his mana into the statue.


    ''Thanks, Nics, I am grateful to you...'' (Rio)


    After Rio thanked Nics for his sacrifice and admitted that he was grateful to him, he suddenly felt a strange warmth surrounding him, as if his thanks had been acknowledged and he seemed to have received a blessing in return.


    [Ding! You have obtained the temporary favor of Nics Arsene!]


    [Time left: 1 day.]


    ''Good, it''s just as it was in the novel... Now to the next step...'' (Rio)


    Rio withdrew his hand back from the statue. Then Rio pretended he was about to leave. Suddenly, he heard an old voice nearby.


    "To think there are still people who care about this statue... Even though it''s been nearly 50 years since this statue was ced here... It''s indeed a rare sight..." (???)


    Hearing the voice Rio looked to his right and saw an old man sitting on a nearby bench. The person looked to be in his 80''s, his old and wrinkled face proved, that time had indeed taken its toll on him. When he looked at Rio, a gentle smile appeared on the old and wrinkled face.


    ''Old man, you nearly gave me a heart attack! I didn''t even notice when he came here... My detection is not even working on him... This old man is an S-ranker after all...'' (Rio)


    Although Rio knew that this old man would appear, he was still surprised how Rio couldn''t even detect him approaching from such a close vicinity.


    "Uh, are you perhaps... Thomas Arsene?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, the old man''s widened in shock and his smile widened even further.


    "Oh my, to think there are still people who know about this old man, this is even greater of a surprise... I had already retired 50 years ago..." (Thomas)


    "Haha, today must be a lucky day, I have met an interesting kid today... What''s your name kiddo?" (Thomas)


    Rio answered in his emotionless tone.


    "I am Rio sh" (Rio)


    Then Rio nced at the statue and said:


    "I am one of his fans. I have heard many of his stories in my childhood. My mother used to tell me about his great deeds..." (Rio)


    (Rio is lying. But it''s true that Nics indeed was a good person and he did many great and noble deeds for the sake of humanity''s future.)


    Thomas nced at the statue of Nics with a smile on his face and said:


    "Haha, that kid indeed was a good child, he always had a great sense for justice..." (Thomas)


    After seemingly reminiscing about something for a few seconds, Thomas looked at Rio and said in an emotional tone:


    "He is lucky to have such a good-natured kid like you as his fan..." (Thomas)


    After saying this, Thomas got up from the bench and slowly walked towards Rio. His steps were slow yet steady, if not for the fact that Rio knew beforehand no one would expect, that this frail-looking old man used to be one of the few strongest S-rankers of his time.


    "Here take this, it''s nothing special but at least it can be considered a lucky charm..." (Thomas)


    Thomas stretched out his hand and a golden medaly on his palm. His palm had many scars on them, which were left after he was tortured once during his military service in the war. (He didn''t have ess to healing potions at that time, the supply chain was cut short for his battalion, and he was captured by the enemies. Luckily, Nics rescued him on time.)


    (Once your wounds are healed naturally and the scar is left for a long time, then even high-rank healing potions can''t make them disappear. You would need the healing of either a peak S ranker or above, or you would need a supreme-grade potion for making those old scars disappear and recover your skin to its original state.)


    The medal in Thomas''s palm had the letter ''A'' printed in the center of it and was surrounded by many stars, it''s beautiful and elegant looking.


    Rio took the medal from Thomas''s palm.


    After giving the medal to Rio, Thomas shook his head and sighed in rxation.


    "This is a remembrance that Nics left behind, age is getting up to me, it''s better to leave it in the care of a youngster like you..." (Thomas)


    Rio nodded his head.


    "I will take good care of it..." (Rio)


    Just when Rio was about to put the medal in his space ring, Thomas suddenly interrupted by saying...


    "Hmm, that space ring... are you perhaps a student of the Great Freya academy?" (Thomas)


    "Yes" (Rio)


    "Haha...then, It seems you have a bright future... no wonder I can''t even sense your rank, you must have some extraordinary talent...." (Thomas)


    Thomasughed for a few seconds. (Bro is trying to pull someone''s grandma with that smile of his... cough! Keep your grandma safe fellow Cultivators... cough!)


    "Sigh~ look at me wasting your time, I should leave now, take care kid, and grow up to be a fine man, haha" (Thomas)


    After saying that Thomas nodded his head towards Rio and left with a gentle smile on his old face. He seems to be in a good mood today.


    Thomas disappeared into the crowd after giving the medal to Rio. He left as fast as he hade, his temperament indeed matches, those of the big shots. (Most of the time, popr people don''t stay more than five minutes after arriving at an unimportant ce... it''s just an opinion though don''t take it to heart...)


    Rio looked at the medal and put it in his space ring.


    ''This one was easy to get...'' (Rio)


    ...


    The ''A'' printed on the medal represents ''Arsene'', this medal was once rewarded to Nics Arsene by General Thomas Arsene, in honor of saving the lives of a hundred civilians during a dungeon wave.


    Thomas Arsene may have retired from his position of ''General'' long ago, but he is still a peak S ranker. He is not in the service right now, but he still has his indomitable strength under that old and frail body.


    He was known as Thomas the ''Savage Beast'', because he used to make meat-pastes of his enemies using his Earth magic, by crushing them in the grasp of giant stone hands.


    His fighting methods were savage and barbaric. The soldiers under his service used to say that they would rathermit suicide than get punished by him.


    (There''s an old saying: ''The older a mage is the more knowledgeable they are and the stronger they are.'')


    After the death of his son Nics Arsene, Thomas retired from the army, he have no grandchildren or any other family members. Nowadays, Thomas regrly visits Nics''s statue every day during the morning.


    This medal is one of the key items to reach the chance Rio is currently looking for. With this one in hand, he only needs to collect three more.


    ...


    Originally, Fade and Kira would pass by this Grand Market during a random hangout and while sitting on the bench near the statue of Nics, they would encounter Thomas staring at the statue with sadness in his eyes.


    Kira would immediately recognize him. (She has an extraordinary amount of knowledge about history...)


    She would take Fade and pay their respects to the statue by putting their mana in the statue. They will also get the favor of Nics for a day.


    (A mana stone is embedded in the statue, which powers the lights around the statue. Thomas maintains the statue every day and puts his mana to power the lights.)


    Thus, when they help Thomas by powering the mana stone with their mana, Thomas rewards them with this medal, whichter turns out to be an important key item for receiving a greater reward.


    As you may have already guessed, these heaven''s blessed children are really lucky, they can get amazing things with minimal effort. If not for the fact that Rio already knew about how to obtain this medal, it would have been quite a difficult task.


    Moreover, Thomas could have easily caught his lies if he didn''t have ''True immunity'' in his arsenal.


    Those who lie to vicious-hearted people like Thomas, don''t end well. (Thomas has a gentle smile on his face, but he is a cold-hearted person, he only understood the value of Nics after his death, otherwise, Thomas used to curse at Nics regrly saying that Nics was a cursed child who killed his mother at birth.)


    Rio looked at the ce where Thomas disappeared, onest time, before deciding to leave this ce.


    ''It would be better if I don''t see that old fox again, if not for the fact that I knew his real personality from the novel, I would have been fooled by him and would have thought of him as a gentle and kind old man he shows himself to be...'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and left the ce. He didn''t want to get involved in any other trouble right now. He still has quite a few things to do today.


    The favor Rio got from the statue, would onlyst one day, he had to get it all sorted in just one day. (The favor he received from the statue is also an important thing for obtaining the chance Rio is looking for.)


    ''Now to the second one...'' (Rio)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! This continuous upload day 10. Let''s go!


    Question of the day.


    What would you do if you were to be as lucky as Fade, for one day?


    1. Do the lottery (Getting rich would be a piece of cake with that much luck on your side.)


    2. Confess (Perhaps the insane luck might get you a girlfriend for the first time in your life, thus confessing to your crush is also a great option.)


    3. Gamble (With great luck supporting you, it may be the best job for you, thus bing a gambler might prove to be a better profession for you.)


    4. Other (Tell me in thements.)

 Chapter 116 Stealing Session! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 116 Stealing Session! Part-2. </h4>


    Rio got down at the bus stop, and the name ''Foggy Forest: Entrance'' was written on a nearby signboard.


    Rio ignored the signboard because he already knew about it and directly entered the forest area.


    ¡­


    (Detail Bombs Ahead)


    [Foggy Forest: It is an artificial forest created by humans after the end of the thousand-year demon extinction war, to purify thend and make it eco-friendly again.


    The war caused a major deforestation issue at that time, thus the humans used Wood-magic and covered the barrennd with forests and nts. These forests were named ''Foggy Forests'' because a dense fog surrounds them during winter. (Currently, it''s not winter so it''s not that foggy right now, but still, the dense mana causes fog in this area, even in the summer season.)


    Nowadays, these forests have spread all over the human empire. Aside from the cities and various military camps the rest of thend in the human empire is mainly just forest. Millions of animals and various wildlife creatures exist in these forests. Three big rivers water the forests, the ecosystem is vast and diverse.]


    (Yeah, they have already solved the problem of stic waste in this world. The low-rank awakeners who have no chance to progress further in their lifetime, generally end up joining the stic cleaning workers, to earn good wages. They have created a proper way to recycle this stic by using various magical artifacts.) ''(^-^)''


    (Simple Geography for 5-Year-Olds: The human empire is on the continent named ''Astrum'' which is named after the capital city of the human empire ''Astra''.


    In the north of the human empire is the snowy mountains where the Orc Kingdom is established.


    In the east is arge desert, which is a barrennd, only a few ogre and goblin tribes reside there.


    In the south is the vast ocean and various port cities. There are many fishing and otherrgepanies doing business here.


    In the west is a scorchednd, where various active volcanoes are located. Arge tribe of Wyverns reside here, this is the ce where millions of demons were once ughtered during the thousand-year demon extinction war.)


    ¡­


    Rio entered the forest, summoned his sword, and directly jumped on top of it.


    He made the sword fly very high in the sky to get a good look at the area around him.


    ''Let''s get started¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio brought out the medal that Thomas gave him earlier and put his mana in the medal.


    After Rio embedded it with mana, the medal suddenly trembled and its ''A'' sign turned into an arrow ''^'' sign. The medal floated in the air beside Rio and its arrow pointed towards a particr area of the forest.


    As you may have already guessed, Fade discovered this by pure luck. He was hunting a bear around this area when he identally embedded the medal with mana and it turned into a treasurepass. (I don''t know bro, but these lucky things do happen too often to this guy Fade¡­ the luck of these heaven''s children is truly overbearing.)


    Once the medal started to point in that direction, Rio flew in that direction without any hesitation. The medal floated beside him and led the way for him.


    ¡­


    After half an hour of flying continuously Rio, arrived at a small hut made out of wood and straw. It was located on the wide branch of arge tree.


    Rio flew down andnded in front of the gate of the hut. Rio stretched his hand and took the floating medal. After putting the medal back in his space Ring, Rio directly opened the door of the hut, without even bothering to knock.


    When Rio applied a little force and pulled the door, the whole gate broke and separated from the hut, even the side wall was broken off from that little force.


    ''It got destroyed so easily, no wonder it didn''t even withstand a single blow in the novel¡­'' (Rio)


    Fade is a protagonist after all, how could he obtain something without quarreling with people or beating the sh*t out of some monsters. When Fade arrived at this ce hut, it was inhabited by a group of wild monkeys.


    Fade directly used the intermediate rank me magic and burned the whole pack of monkeys to crisp and the hut also caught fire. (Fade used ''Intermediate'' rank magic on some random wild animals, it''s like using a missile to butcher a chicken¡­)


    Rio shook his head and went inside the hut. He looked around and found a ne hanging on a wall. There was also a small piece of paper hanging together with the ne.


    Rio stretched his right hand and took the ne. Then he looked at the piece of paper and only a few words were written on it.


    [May thee bring salvation to the sinful.]


    "Hmm, it''s a clue left by the owner of the ne¡­ tch, you should have given ''him'' salvation yourself, reckless people¡­" (Rio) (This will be exined in theter chapters¡­ Just remember that Rio knows who this piece of paper is referring right now¡­ but if he tells you right now, then it would kill the suspense¡­)


    Rio shook his head in annoyance and jumped down the tree.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: A Maiden''s Gift.]


    [Item Rank: C-]


    [Item Description: This Purple colored ne was once given by a Poor and sickly father to his lovely daughter, who eventually went on many adventures while wearing this ne.


    The girl fell in love with arade of hers and gave this ne to him as a symbol of their mutual love.]


    [Item Effect: Helps the wearer keep a calm and rational mind. (This effect doesn''t apply to anyone at the same or higher rank than the artifact.)]


    ¡­


    Rio looked at the description and sighed.


    He knew that the end of this love story was tragic and it ended up causing many regrets. It was a tragic ending to a lovely story.


    Rio nced at the hut.


    ''This piece of paper must have burnt away in ashes when Fade used the me magic to destroy everything around here¡­'' (Rio)


    This hut was made by a woman under themand of Nics. She was good friends with Nics and perished in the final fight together with several of herrades, including Nics.


    Nics wasn''t her lover if you are thinking about that. He was just a friend of hers. They fought together on the battlefield. She was an A ranker who served as cannon fodder on the vast battlefield.


    In a battlefield where S-rankers and SS-rankers died, A-rankers are just cannon fodders whose only purpose was to keep the other side''s A-rankers at bay. Anyone lower than A-rank couldn''t even be considered qualified to enter such battlefields.


    ''Let''s put this away first¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio put the ne in his space ring. He then covered his index finger with sword intent, destroyed the piece of paper, and turned it into ash.


    ''My control over ''Sword Intent'' has reached has improved considerably after fighting in the group survival test¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at his watch and it was already afternoon.


    ''I need to hurry, would be better to finish it before night and return home early¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio again used his sword intent and flew in the air by using his sword. After reaching a considerable height Rio brought out the medal again. He imbued it with his mana again.


    Rio again used his sword intent and flew in the air by using his sword. After reaching a considerable height Rio brought out This time the arrow symbol pointed in the direction of the deeper forest area. Without hesitation, Rio flew at full speed and headed in the direction that the arrow pointed.


    ¡­


    After flying for more than an hour, Rio finally saw a dark valley.


    ''This must be the ce¡­'' (Rio)


    After reaching the valley, the medal reverted to its original form, and all the mana Rio imbued in it was scattered away. Rio caught the medal before it could fall.


    Rio flew down and entered the valley. His mana detection started to look for any irregrities in the area. Although the area was a little dark, Rio didn''t mind it much.


    Rio flew around the whole valley and eventually, he noticed faint traces of mana fluctuations under a huge stone. If not for the fact that Rio was proficient in his detection skill, it would have been very difficult to notice such small mana fluctuations.


    ''This must be it¡­'' (Rio)


    Rionded on the ground and held his sword in his hand.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Moon cleaver!]


    With one attack from Rio''s sword the huge rock split apart in two. The broken pieces of the rock rolled down and a small ck colored box appeared in Rio''s sight.


    Rio took the box and opened it. A scroll was ced inside the box. Rio destroyed the box with his sword intent and put the scroll in his space ring.


    ''Good, now I have gathered all the necessary items¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio called his sword and flew out of the valley¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here!


    Question of the day.


    What type of flying power would you like to have?


    1.Wings (Practical and elegant¡­)


    2.Flying sword. (You would need to learn sword intent for it, but it is indeed worth the effort.)


    3.Wind magic (Wind mages can fly in the air without much effort. It consumes a lot of mana if you are low in rank, though.)


    4.Summon (Summoning a flying pet Like Liam, might be a good idea.)


    5.Other. (Tell me in thements.)

 Chapter 117 Stealing Session! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 117 Stealing Session! Part-3. </h4>


    Rio brought out the scroll from his space ring and opened it. Aplex magic circle was printed on the magic scroll. He put the scroll on the ground and put his hand in the central area of the scroll.


    When Rio put mana in it, the magic circle shined brightly, the scroll suddenly burned away and a huge magic circle appeared under Rio''s feet. Rio felt a strong suction force and he was teleported away by the magic circle.


    ¡­


    An unknown ce.


    When Rio opened his eyes he found himself standing in front of a huge gate. The gate looked majestic and ancient. Several weird monster figures were engraved on the gate.


    [Here lies the sinful, Aidel]


    [Those who dare to disturb his sleep shall face his wrath too.]


    Rio read the warning written above the gate and shook his head. He didn''t care about this at all, because he knew what was lying inside in wait.


    Rio brought out the ne and put some of his mana in the ne. The ne glowed with purple light after being embedded with mana. As if a certain mechanism was triggered, Rio heard several sounds of chains and gears rolling from the gate.


    The ancient-looking gate opened slowly. Just when the gate opened dense killing intent leaked out and tried to make Rio fearful of what was inside. But Rio was unfazed by this all.


    All he thought was:


    ''Ugh, this horrible smell, it''s the smell of rotten meat¡­'' (Rio)


    Ignoring the horrible smell and the dense killing intent, Rio walked in unfazed. His face stayed expressionless from the start to the end.


    [Ding! You have entered an area contaminated with dense demonic energy!]


    [Ding! The chance of getting contaminated and corrupted by demonic energy increases tremendously!]


    [Error!... ''True Immunity'' has been activated...]


    [Ding! You are immune to the demonic energy!]


    ''Just like I expected¡­ sometimes your ns work so well that, you can''t help but smile in happiness¡­ s this emotionless body of mine, can''t evenugh¡­ tch¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio already expected that this ce would have dense amounts of demonic energy here. But he didn''t need to worry about it, he had ''True Immunity'' with him after all.


    When Fade came here in the original novel, he already had this overpowered skill ''True immunity'' thus he was unaffected by the dense demonic energy lingering around in this ce. Simrly, now that Rio also had this skill, he too was unaffected.


    ''This is also one of the reasons why I didn''t bring Lia or Link with me here, they don''t have this ability afterall¡­'' (Rio)


    While thinking all this, Rio walked inside and looked around. He found himself standing in a huge hallway. Giant pirs were supporting the ceiling on both sides of the hallway.


    ''This ce is so huge that even an adult wyvern can fly here freely¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio slowly walked towards the end of the hallway. He noticed that the pired had various monster figures engraved on them, just like the door outside.


    ''The aesthetics of the people who made this ce is kind of weird¡­'' (Rio)


    As Rio continued to walk closer and closer to the end of the hallway, the killing intent became even heavier. The density of demonic energy continued to rise until Rio reached the end of the hallway.


    At the end of the hallway, a giant throne was ced in the middle, and a corpse was sitting on the throne. The upper body of the corpse was humanoid and the lower body was like an octopus.


    All the tentacles seemed mutted and their tips had a sharp pointed protruding out of them. The whole corpse was rotting in various ces, maggots crawled around everywhere. If a faint-hearted person saw this horrible scene they would faint from shock and disgust.


    ''It smells horrible¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio looked at the corpse with his expressionless face.


    "Hey, will you stop ying dead, let''s fight and get it done with early, you smell horrible¡­ " (Rio)


    "What was your name again? Aipel? Aimel? Ah! Aidel I challenge you to get up!" (Rio)


    After Rio''s continuous taunting, the corpse finally showed signs of activity, Aidel trembled a little bit as if he had sensed the arrival of Rio only just now.


    Aidel opened his eyes and one of his eyeballs fell out, moreover due to years of rotting the other eye socket was already empty and maggots were squirming around in it. Which means this creature is blind.


    Aidel opened his mouth and said in a horse and beastly tone:


    "N-nics? N-nicol-as is that y-you?" (Aidel)


    "Yes, it''s me, Nics¡­" (Rio)


    "Y-you finally ca-came back, forgive m-me N-nicos, i-I don''t have m-much t-time left-" (Aidel)


    Before Aidel could finish his sentence, his tentacles started to wriggle around like snakes. They became restless. The tentacles twitched and squired uncontrobly. The pointed bones on their tips scratched the ground and made scratches on the golden floor.


    Rio looked at all of this happening, patiently, if he intervened now, then he wouldn''t be able to get what he was looking for.


    "F-for-give¡­.m-me¡­" (Aidel)


    Suddenly, all of the demonic energy that was spread everywhere in this huge ce started to gather and enter Aidel''s body forcibly. His body started to mutate and transform even further.


    The huge amount of demonic energy made Aidel''s body bloat and increase in height and size. Aidel now looked more like a weird chimera-type creature.


    ''He looks like an experiment subject created by some mad scientist in his search for knowledge¡­'' (Rio)


    ''This is what happens when your body is notpatible with the demonic energy¡­'' (Rio)


    When an individual tries to be a demon using some forbidden methods and their body is notpatible with the demonic energy, then that person fails in demonification and gets stuck in a half-human demon body, which is horribly mutted and weird to look at.


    Aidel''s current state is the perfect example of a failed demonification. If his body waspatible with demonic energy he could have be a true demon and could have retained his human form, just like Durik was able to do so.


    But since he failed he ended up like this.


    The reason why Aidel tried to be a demon was very simple actually. He wanted strength. His sole motivation to be a demon was to be stronger. Although Aidel was already an A-ranker before undergoing demonification, he was not satisfied with just that.


    He wanted to reach higher, he wanted the same strength that his Childhood friend Nics possessed.


    Nics was a talented individual, but Aidel was not. He had already reached his maximum potential by entering rank A, he couldn''t move further no matter what he tried. He was not blessed. He was jealous of Nics and wanted to obtain strength at any cost.


    His obsession with bing strong causes him to be so delusional that he even forgets about the existence of his most precious person.


    Indeed, the ne was given by that woman to Aidel, and they both fell in love during their many years of fighting and struggling together. Nics was the leader of their battalion and a great friend to the two of them.


    Aidel eventually ended up losing himself in jealousy and defected from the army. He used a forbidden method and tried to undergo demonification. When Nics and the woman arrived it was already toote.


    Aidel had already turned into a mutted monster and his will, soul, mind everything was already corrupted by demonic energy beyond saving. There was no way to save Aidel from that state.


    Nics remembered their friendship and couldn''t kill Aidel. In the end, they decided to seal Aidel away until the war ended. They wanted to hide this matter from the army and didn''t want to cause Aidel''s name to get tarnished.


    But Destiny yed tricks on them, both Nics and the woman died in the final battle against the Orc Empire and thus Aidel remained here sealed for around 50 years.


    Thankfully, all the items that were needed to reach this ce were already arranged properly by Nics before he went for the final battle. Otherwise, no one would have been able toe here.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, Aidel''s body finally transformedpletely.


    Except for his head and neck, his whole body has now turned into a monster. His arms turned into snake heads, his chest and stomach now had a turtle-like shell covering it, and his tentacles have now regenerated fully.


    "Are you finally ready now?" (Rio)


    Aidel didn''t answer but looked up and roared at the ceiling like a mad beast, his snake hands wriggled around and spit poison everywhere, corroding the floor and producing foul smells.


    *rrrrrrrroooooooooaaarrrggggggghhhhh*


    ''Ugh, it''s even more horrible now¡­'' (Rio)


    After Aidel finished roaring, he faced Rio.


    "F-ffff¡ªfffffor----ffforgi---ve" (Aidel)


    "Yeah, yeah, I forgive you for bing a monstrosity like that¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders. He knew that Aidel must have deeply regretted his decisions at thest moments when his sanity was fading away.


    Aidel must have wanted to get forgiveness from Nics for breaking their trust andradeship, but now that Nics was long dead, there''s no point in asking for forgiveness.


    ''Instead, you can ask for forgiveness when you meet Nics in the afterlife¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    What are your thoughts on Aidel?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    New Novel is Here!

 Chapter 118 Stealing Session! Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 118 Stealing Session! Part-4. </h4>


    The huge monstrosity roared in a loud and hoarse voice. The voice seemed to be mixed with pain and anger. (If not for the fact that Aidel''s mind and senses have already corroded, that transformation would have caused him horrible pain the pain would have been so unbearable that his mind might shatter again.)


    After roaring Aidel flung his snake arms and charged at Rio madly, there was no strategy, no thinking done it was a brutal and violent charge of a made beast, who just wanted to devour and kill its opponent with just its brute strength.


    ''Easy easy, what''s the hurry¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio easily jumped out of the way, which caused Aidel to collide with a nearby pir, the massive pir broke apart and the debris went flying everywhere.


    The pointed tentacles were flung randomly in the hope of hitting Rio somehow, but most of them ended up hitting each other.


    ''He has several eyes all over the tentacles, but he is still not able to urately hit me¡­ a weird sight indeed¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio clenched his sword and got in the stance.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Fire Type: Horizontal Shift!]


    mes covered Rio''s sword and continued to extend. The mes condensed and took the shape of a sword, extending the length of the sword. Rio swung his sword horizontally and the intense mes melted away everything that stood in his.


    With that one attack Rio split Aidel''s body in two. All the tentacles got separated from Aidel''s upper body and fell apart, even several nearby pirs were also cut into two neatly.


    There was no wastage of mana in Rio''s attack, his sword''s mes were so condensed that they only burnt a very small area with intense heat while the other ces remained unharmed. This shows that Rio''s control over his mana has already reached a terrifying level.


    ''This thing is kind of weak¡­ well¡­. after rotting for 50 years, he has lost a lot of his strength¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head in disappointment. He had expected this oue but not to this extent.


    ''Compared to Link, this thing is soft like butter¡­'' (Rio) (What Rio doesn''t take into consideration is the fact that he isparing this badly injured monster to the greatest talents of an era. Even during his peak, Aidel would not have been the opponent of Link at all.)


    (Rio''sparison standards have gone haywire after fighting a meat shield like Link for an extended period.)


    Rio slowly walked towards the tentacles which were still wriggling around even after separating from the main body.


    [Elemental Sword arts: Fire type: Consecutive shifts!]


    Rio used his me-covered sword to split the tentacles hundreds of times until they were reduced to fly ash from the continuous barrage of attacks.


    After solving the tentacles, Rio slowly walked towards the head of Aidel.


    The two snake heads which were transformed from his arms tried to bite Rio but with a single flick of his Sword Rio split them apart. The snake heads fell on the ground and twitched from time to time, but Rio paid them no mind.


    Rio stretched his hand and ced the sword near the neck of the fallen Aidel.


    "Okay, now you can st yourself, quick I am waiting¡­" (Rio)


    As if proving Rio right, the turtle shell started to glow brightly.


    "Forgive me Nics and-" (Aidel)


    Aidel seemed to have gained back his sanity during hisst moments, he wanted to ask for forgiveness from Nics and his lover whom he had neglected. But before he could finish his sentence, his body blew up and a huge explosion urred.


    All the residual demonic energy was used up in this explosion. The explosion was so bright that even an A-ranker might end up getting injured from this explosion.


    With that explosion, Aidel''s body blew up in smithereens and a huge crater was created at the ce. The ceiling copsed and the clear blue sky became visible.


    Rio looked at all this while standing around with his usual expressionless face. He had covered himself with sword intent. He didn''t even get a single scratch from that fancy explosion.


    He had only one thing to say about the explosion.


    "Okay" (Rio)


    ¡­


    Originally, Aidel would have been a very difficult opponent for Fade to defeat. At the time of the battle, Fade was still just at the early stage of B rank and this monstrosity could be considered a semi-A rank, which would have been quite a difficult opponent for Fade.


    Eventually, Fade wins just like it usually turns out for all protagonists. But Aidel makes ast-ditch effort and blows himself up and causes a huge explosion, Fade gets seriously injured but somehow luckily survives a self-explosion of a semi-A ranker.


    Thus, Rio knew from the start that this guy would blow up and his guard was up from the start. Thus this explosion didn''t even make him flinch.


    This same thing would have happened during the final battle in the group survival test if Rio''s sword intent had been activated on time. If his sword intent had activated on time, Rio could have easily avoided damage from Liam''s attack too.


    (This insane versatility is the reason why ''Sword Intent'' is considered a legendary ability. Everyone wants to get this ability. Sword intent can defend, attack, support and in some asions even heal, this is the horror of this insanely overpowered ability.)


    ¡­


    Rio walked towards the center of the explosion and picked up the ''Red Gem'' that was left on the ground after the death of Aidel.


    ''Finally, I have thest key¡­'' (Rio)


    For Rio to obtain this Red gem, it is necessary that Aidel blows himself up and all his residual will and life essence get condensed into the form of this gem.


    Rio could have killed Aidel at the very first sight and wouldn''t have even let him transform if not for the fact he had to obtain this gem from him.


    ''Sometimes patience is the key to victory¡­'' (Rio)


    With the Gem in his hand, Rio jumped out of the huge crater and walked towards the throne on which Aidel was sitting originally.


    After reaching the throne Rio, brought out all the key items he had collected.


    Rio put the medal, ne, and Red gem on the throne in a triangle formation.


    The throne started to glow brightly all of a sudden. Rio jumped back just in case this thing also ended up blowing up, but it didn''t happen.


    The three items that Rio had ced floated in the air and returned to Rio. Rio took them and put them back in his space ring.


    As if some mechanism had been triggered, the throne started to rise and a treasure chest appeared under the throne.


    ''Finally, I got this..'' (Rio)


    Rio stretched his hand and opened the treasure chest, although his face stayed expressionless he was excited in his mind. (Anyone would be excited when receiving rewards for their efforts, except those who have lost all hope and have already gone numb to the ways of the world¡­)


    The treasure chest opened and a pitch-ck ring appeared out of the chest.


    Rio took the ring and ced it on his index finger.


    When Rio put mana in the ring, a shadow appeared out of the ring and covered Rio''s whole body and turned into a ck and elegant Robe.


    ''Nice'' (Rio)


    Rio immediately tried the robe''s abilities.


    He walked toward a nearby pir and sure enough, Rio directly passed through the pir when we willed it. He again tried to do that by putting his hand, and sure enough, his hand went inside the pir without any resistance.


    ''It indeed is the genuine artifact¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Lamont''s Robe]


    [Item Rank: S++]


    [Item Title: Dark Walker, Shadow hound''s assistant, Silent Assassins Robe]


    [Item Description: A Robe imbued with the blessings of an S-rank dark mage. It was worn by the famous Dark Elf assassin Lamont Orion. This Robe was the reason why Lamont was famous for his feat of appearing and disappearing like a ghost in broad daylight.


    This is the greatest artifact an assassin could ever hope for. It apanied Lamont till the day when the Maya continent and Lamont''s homnd were destroyed by the demon army. Lamont survived the disaster with the help of this artifact butter died at the hands of Demon General Azazel.


    Later this Robe was somehow obtained by Aidel. It stayed sealed with Aidel''s rotting body for many years.]


    [Item effects:


    1.Shadow Walker: The user can pass through things of the same or lower rank as the robe.


    2.Auraless Ghost: The user can change or suppress their presence to match someone else''s.


    3.Faceless: The user can change their face ording to their will by covering their face with the shadows of this robe.


    4.Locked due to Low rank of the user.]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    What would you do if you got an artifact like this robe?


    1.Go further on the path of cultured men¡­


    2.Cheat in exams


    3.Prank your friends


    4.others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 119 SS-ranker’s are weird people...

    <h4>Chapter 119 SS-ranker''s are weird people... </h4>


    Alliance Headquarters: Human Empire branch, Main gate.


    A luxury car surrounded by many muscle cars filled with bodyguards entered the headquarters via the main gate.


    The convoy stopped in front of the main building and the gate of the luxury car was opened by the bodyguard respectfully. The bodyguard dared not make any mistakes, he knew that a single mistake would cost his life here.


    A man in casual clothes got out of the car. The man had an irritated and annoyed look on his face, he seemed to be angry about something.


    The man stomped his leg on the ground in annoyance and the impact from that stomp caused the floor to crack for hundreds of meters and even the building trembled a little bit. The strength of that stomp was enough to cause a small-scale earthquake in this area.


    "F*ck! Why do I have toe here!? Why can''t you let me stay with my wife in peace!? F*ckng b*lls*it, she was just going to agree and these people have the nerve to intervene again and again and again, f*ck!" (Jin Walt)


    Recently Anna has woken up from hera and has started to recover with the treatment of the healers. It would take a whole year for Anna to recover to her full strength but the healer said that she could be discharged in three months at the earliest.


    Jin wanted all of his time for the next three months with Anna and support her with his emotional support and help her not feel lonely. He didn''t want to separate from Anna for fear that something bad might happen to her. (His original purpose is still asking her to marry him.)


    But the alliance kept sending people to ask him to attend various meetings and clear out dungeons. Even when he said that he was busy right now and was taking a vacation right now, they kept pestering him to no end.


    He got hundreds of calls and messages from various guilds and organizations continuously which irritated him to no end. Jin was trying to set the mood here, to propose to Anna, and yet, he kept getting notification after notification.


    Moreover, dozens of secretaries and businessmen kept arriving at the hospital and asking him for personal agreements and deals. His frustration reached its limit when Anna said that he should go and attend this alliance meeting that he didn''t even want toe to.


    ''Sh*t! Am I going to die single in this life!?'' (Jin)


    To vent out his frustration Jin stomped the ground a few more times before finally calming down his anger.


    Then Jin looked around and saw everyone nearby was crouching behind vehicles in fear and horror.


    Jin pointed at the guy who opened the door and said:


    "Come here, my hand''s itching a little bit¡­" (Jin)


    The bodyguard looked at Jin in horror and didn''t move even a little bit from his spot as if he was glued to that one spot, he didn''t want to get beaten for no reason.


    Just when Jin was about to go and use the bodyguard to take care of his hand''s itch,?a butler came out of the building with several maids following behind him.


    He bowed respectfully to Jin and said in a firm tone:


    "Master Jin, pleasee inside the others are already here and waiting for your arrival¡­" (Butler)


    Jin looked at the butler with an irritated look on his face but didn''t say anything and went inside in frustration. With his every step, the floor cracked and the building trembled uncontrobly.


    Seeing that Jin went inside the butler brought out a handkerchief and hurriedly wiped the sweat on his face. He calmed his beating heart and followed behind Jin hurriedly, he still had to lead the way forward.


    ''I should retire early, this job is dangerous for my heart¡­.'' (Butler)


    The bodyguard outside copsed on the floor in fright. He looked at the butler with gratefulness in his eyes as if the butler was his savior. (If the butler hadn''t saved this little guy, Jin would have pped him and buried him half in the floor, as he did to one of the students during the one-week training session.)


    ...


    The meeting room, a few minutes ago.


    There''s a small table and four couches are ced around the table. Three of them were already taken and only one was empty.


    "Is that guying today or not¡­" (Raji)


    Raji pointed at the empty couch, her voice was as t and cold as always.


    Ashtel nced at the empty couch and shrugged his shoulders.


    "Who knows ~ I heard that his little lover has woken up from aa, he might note here and keep taking care of her¡­" (Ashtel)


    Just when Ashtel said that Jin''s car entered the core area, the three immediately sensed his arrival from several kilometers away.


    (The core area, where the main headquarters of the alliance is located and the three great families reside is protected by a spatial barrier, only permitted individuals can enter this ce.)


    (The detection range of SS-rankers is vast, they can detect the presence of even a small ant from hundreds of kilometers if they focus and try to sense it. Generally, they keep the radius of sensing to a short range to not put too much load on themselves.)


    (Currently, the short-range detection of the three of them is covering the whole core area, thus only when Jin entered the core area, did they detect his presence. The spatial barrier can interfere with their detection to some extent, but if they tried hard enough they can detect the presence of every single being in the whole capital city and several hundreds of kilometers beyond the outskirts of the city.)


    "Hmm, it seems our lover boy has finally decided to show his face¡­ tch! Newbies these days are so carefree¡­" (Neo)


    Hearing Neo, Ashtel just shrugged his shoulder.


    "Tsk! Old fart has gone senile¡­" (Raji)


    "Oi oi, I am not that old you see, You can''t call a guy in his twenties old¡­" (Neo)


    Raji nced at Neo with a disgusted look on her face.


    "Twenties you say!? Your son is already in his thirties and you dare to say that!?, you old fox! You are already more than sixty years old!" (Raji)


    Neo shook his head in defeat and said.


    "Well it seems you have grown up, now you won''t get swayed by me anymore¡­" (Neo)


    ¡­


    (Past Lore in brief: Neo once pretended to be a third-year college student to watch one of his son''s college life from up close. And to avoid suspicion he sweet-talked an innocent young maiden into his temporary girlfriend. That innocent girl was coincidentally the future SS-ranker Raji Croft.)


    (After Neo was bored in just a week. After watching his son do regr things all day long, he told the truth to Raji and broke up with her. At that time Raji was shocked beyond belief, who she thought to be her boyfriend turned out to be a married man ying a silly prank on her. She was devastated and heartbroken, which resulted in her turning into a cold-hearted person from her previous na?ve self.)


    (She used to be na?ve and innocent like Riya, during her college days. Now Raji has a bittersweet rtionship with Neo, she hates him for doing such an idiotic thing.)


    (Although Raji was already twenty years old and not a minor at that time, Neo didn''t do anything ''intimate'' with Raji during their time together, he didn''t dare cross that boundary, for he feared his wife. But a crime is still a crime, thus Raji beat the sh*t out of him once she ascended to rank SS.)


    (FREIDLY WARNING: DON''T TRY THIS AT HOME!!)


    ¡­


    Eventually, Jin reached the alliance building.


    "He''s finally here-" (Neo)


    *Rumble* *rumble*


    The building shook uncontrobly and the ss windows shattered due to those small earthquakes.


    "oh ho! It seems our lover boy is angry¡­ haha¡­ youngster these days¡­" (Neo)


    While Neo smiled in amusement, while the other two didn''t pay it any mind at all. They wouldn''t care about it even if Jin broke the whole building into pieces, except if he tried to kill innocent people.


    ¡­


    (Back to the present time.)


    The butler led the way forward and guided Jin to the meeting room. Although Jin could already sense the presence of the other three sitting and he could have easily found the room himself he still let the butler do his work. (His anger had calmed down after venting it on the floor, rest in peace floor-


    chan¡­)


    After a minute or two Jin reached the door of the meeting room.


    The butler stood aside and kept his head bowed respectfully.


    Jin stretched out his hand and opened the gate of the room.


    ''I used to look up to the SS-ranks before, and now I am a part of their group, time sure changes fast¡­'' (Jin)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! It''s the 11th day of continuous uploads! Let''s go!.


    Question of the day.


    What do you think of Neo Aldif?


    1.yboy


    2.P*doph*le


    3.Others (tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 120 A Prank!?

    <h4>Chapter 120 A Prank!? </h4>


    Jin opened the door and entered the meeting room after heaving a small sigh. This was the first time he was going to meet three SS-rankers at the same time.


    Even though Jin was an S-ranker before, it was still very rare for him to meet SS-rankers in person. Most of the time he only saw them from afar and rarely ever talked with them. But now he was a part of that aloof and mighty group, which was known to the world as ''Demi-gods''.


    *step*


    When Jin took the first step and tried to enter the room, immense pressure appeared out of nowhere and tried to suppress Jin. Although he was surprised a little bit, he knew that it was just a test, he shrugged his shoulder and released a bit of his aura,pletely getting rid of that pressure.


    Jin looked at the source of the pressure and said in a sarcastic tone.


    "Hmph, it''s not nice to bully newbies¡­" (Jin)


    Neo took his aura back and stopped pressuring Jin, he smiled in satisfaction and said:


    "Ho! It seems you have some capabilities, good good¡­" (Neo)


    Hearing Neo''s fake praise, Jin rolled his eyes.


    "Is that so¡­" (Jin)


    Jin didn''t mind the mocking tone of Neo and directly walked towards his designated seat. He sat on the empty couch and folded his hands, showing his dignity as an SS-ranker.


    Although three SS-rankers were staring at him intently, Jin didn''t even flinch a little bit.


    ''I have nothing to fear now, if it came down to violence, I can hold myself quite well now¡­'' (Jin)


    Seeing that Jin was not going to get scared off and was able to hold his ground against them, Ashtel nodded his head in satisfaction and Raji didn''t bother saying anything.


    This meant that Jin was acknowledged by all three of them now. He was now considered a member of this group.


    For a while no one talked and the four of them stayed silent. The atmosphere in the room became awkward. Jin sat with his eyes closed and hands folded, while Neo continued to stare at him intently. (Bro is conspiring on how to prank this newbie¡­ he''s a menace!)


    After a good ten minutes of awkwardness, Neo got bored and finally decided to start the meeting.


    "Ahem! Okay, jokes aside! Let''s start the meeting now. We still have to decide on many important matters... oh Jin is new so¡­ ah! Raji gives him information about the works of an SS-ranker after the meeting¡­" (Neo)


    Hearing Neo, Raji replied in a cold tone:


    "What? Why do I have to do that!? Can''t you do it yourself!?" (Raji)


    Neo didn''t even bother to look at Raji and continued to talk:


    "Okay now that matter is solved, we need to discuss the other matter¡­" (Neo)


    A hologram appeared on the small table, it showed the map of the human empire.


    "tsk" (Raji)


    Seeing that Neo wasn''t even listening to her, she could only click her tongue and continue to show her dissatisfaction by ring at Neo. (It does not affect Neo, he is a married man, cough! Although a little unfaithful¡­ but he is married nheless cough!)


    Neo stretched his hand and zoomed in on the southern part of the map. Arge port city appeared in the hologram.


    "This is the port city of ''Oaklum'' and these four military camps are located around this area¡­." (Neo)


    Neo nced at Jin for a moment and continued to exin, while the other two looked at him in confusion, they didn''t know what Neo wanted to do by showing them all this.


    "And these are all the districts and details of the southern region¡­" (Neo)


    Then Neo nced at Jin once again.


    This time Jin got irritated and finally asked:


    "What? Why are you looking at me like" (Jin)


    Neo tilted his head and replied with a creepy smile on his face:


    "Well of course because you are going to be responsible for the safety of this area from now on¡­ that''s why I am exining it to you¡­hehe" (Neo)


    Jin looked at the map again and said in a surprised tone:


    "What!? You want me to guard such a huge area! This area is too vast!" (Jin)


    Before Jin could say anything else, Neo nced at the other two and asked:


    "Let''s vote then, who is against Jin guarding the southern area and who is against it raise your hands!" (Neo)


    Hearing Neo, both Ashtel and Raji raised their hands in unison:


    "Yes, I support Jin guarding the southern area¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Me too!" (Raji)


    Hearing the response of the two, Neo smiled and said in a mocking tone:


    "Hehe, three against one, the votes have been given and the majority is with you guarding this area, now don''t dilly dally, take responsibility like a man should!" (Neo)


    Listening to Neo''s mocking remarks, Jin could only grit his teeth and re at him fiercely, he knew that his work was going to increase after bing an SS-ranker but he didn''t expect it to increase to this extent.


    Neo ignored Jin''s re and continued exining.


    "Also I will send you the information about all the military ships and weaponry after you have already taken your position and are ready to guard the area¡­ it''s confidential information so be sure to not give it to anyone else¡­" (Neo)


    "Okay now this matter is also solved, let''s jump to the next one¡­" (Neo)


    "Wait wait, why are you giving me confidential information like that!?" (Jin)


    Before Neo could continue Jin intervened and asked with a bewildered look on his face. He was shocked at how carelessly such confidential information was being treated. It was like giving some random piece of paper.


    Neo nced at Jin and said in a calm tone:


    "Well you have been to many battlefields and wars for humanity and you have proved your loyalty long ago with your amazing achievements, and now that you are part of the SS group, it''s obvious that you would be allowed to have ess to all the secret documents and projects¡­" (Neo)


    Listening to Neo''s answer, Jin couldn''t argue back anymore, although it seemed that Neo was indeed talking the truth but, he always felt that something was weird with giving confidential information in such a casual way.


    "Wait! Don''t tell me you are thinking of giving me fake information to see if I leak them or not!? Is this your n!?" (Jin)


    Hearing Jin''s question, Neo''s shrewd eyes widened in surprise and his creepy smile widened further.


    "Bahahaha, look! Didn''t I say earlier!, this newbie has better insight than you had Raji!, hahahahaha, oh hahaha, it has been so long since Iughed this much¡­" (Neo)


    Listening to Neo''s mockingugh, Raji''s mood turned sore even more. She was hoping that Jin would fall for this old trick of Neo, and would getughed at by Neoter but it turned out she was the one who gotughed at in the end. (Raji and Ashtel both fell for this trick Neo when they first joined the SS-


    rankers group.)


    While Neoughed to his heart''s content, Jin had aplicated expression on his face, he only had one thought in his mind at that moment:


    ''I used to think that SS-rankers who were known as ''demi-


    gods'' by the outside world were elegant andposed people but this¡­.'' (Jin)


    Jin''s previous noble image of SS-rankers in his mind has been now shattered by the weird behavior of Neo. This meeting now seemed more like a children''s prankingpetition, than a group meeting of supposed ''demi-gods''. (Neo and Ashtel once decided on who would go to save people during a certain disaster, by the game of rock-paper-scissor¡­ Neo cheated and purposely lost, to avoid work¡­ He likes to mess around too much¡­)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, Neo calmed down and said in a serious tone.


    "Okay, enough ying around¡­ now let''s talk about who would go to the ''Meeting of Gods'' this year, as always we would send at least two SS-rankers and seven most talented children of the current younger generation¡­ for the matter of the children we are still going with the standard method of testing¡­" (Neo)


    "And for the SS-rankers, if any of you want to go and represent the human nation in front of the whole world, you can put your name forward¡­ as always I am not gonna go, that leaves the three of you¡­" (Neo)


    Hearing Neo talk about the ''Meeting of Gods'' the atmosphere in the meeting hall finally became serious.


    Ashtel nodded his head and said:


    "I would go, most likely my son would be among the seven children, I can''t leave my son''s safety to someone else¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Well if you are going, then we can be sure that nothing bad will happen this time, also be sure to not get in conflict with the Elf King like thest time you did¡­" (Neo)


    Ashtel shrugged his shoulders at Neo''s warning.


    "If he is itching for a beating, I can''t be certain that I won''t beat him¡­" (Ashtel)


    Then Neo nced at Raji and said:


    "What about you? Would you finally try to leave thefort of your home and face the world¡­" (Neo)


    While saying that Neo looked at Raji with a mocking smile on his face.


    "Tch!, I am not going¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s remark, Neo shook his head in disappointment and nced at Jin with a smile on his face:


    "That means, this time you would have to go and represent the dignity of humankind¡­. Jin Walt" (Neo)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! It''s the 12th day of the continuous upload session! Let''s go!!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to be a part of this group of weird people?


    1.Nah (Don''t wanna deal with the likes of Neo¡­)


    2.Yes (Getting confidential information might not be a bad idea¡­)


    3.Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 121 New hurdles...

    <h4>Chapter 121 New hurdles... </h4>


    "Then what is the usual method to select the children eligible to attend the ''Meeting of Gods'', moreover what''s the point of bringing children to a meeting of such strong people?" (Jin)


    Jin looked at Neo in confusion.


    He has known about the existence of the ''Meeting of Gods'' ever since he was an S-ranker, but aside from the SS-rankers, no one knows, how these meetings work and what happens during these meetings. (The children who attend that meeting are asked to stay quiet and not tell about it to others either.)


    At Jin''s question, Neo smiled and replied in a calm voice:


    "You see, many races attend the ''Meeting of Gods'' all of them are part of the alliance and thus it''s against the rules for SS-rankers to fight each other and show off their strength in front of the world." (Neo)


    "Thus, the most talented children of each race take part in a small tournament and demonstrate the dignity of their race, moreover the winners can get great rewards, so it''s beneficial for the children too¡­" (Neo)


    "Moreover, these are the children who end up bing the new SS-rankers in the future, it''s always a good thing to give them extra exposure and get them to know the world better¡­" (Neo)


    Neo nced at Raji who was sitting with a cold look on her face and said:


    "Last time, our little innocent Raji was one of the children selected to go to the ''Meeting of Gods'' and now she is an SS-ranker, time sure moves fast¡­" (Neo)


    "Tch, it was a horrible experience, Mr. Ashtel got into a fight with the Elf king and we were nearly disqualified¡­ such carelessness¡­tch!" (Raji)


    "Cough! Cough!" (Ashtel)


    While Raji threw allegations at Ashtel he simply avoided them by not saying anything and sitting there like a statue. He seemed to be busy feeling the wind breeze¡­ in a closed room.


    Jin tilted his head in confusion and nced at Neo.


    "Are we not on good terms with the current Elf king?" (Jin)


    "Cough! You will know when you go there¡­. Ashtel and that guy go way back¡­ it''s a wide topic so let''s not talk about that right now¡­ cough!" (Neo)


    This was the first time Jin saw Neo hesitating to tell something, it seemed that even a shameless guy like Neo sometimes felt awkward to tell some things.


    "Ahem! So What I was saying is¡­ taking the most talented children of the current younger generation with you and showing them off is a way of getting an upper hand on the other races¡­" (Neo)


    "It''s like we are showing the world that we have many such talented kids, who will support the future of our race and it would be a bad decision to think of invading or forcing us on international matters¡­ it''s a way of keeping the enemy''s prying eyes away¡­" (Neo)


    "People focus more on a race''s potential, it''s important to show that the future of humanity is not in decline. Any race that doesn''t have talented kids to show off is either in decline or they are weak, that''s the way of the world¡­" (Neo)


    Neo nced at the scenery outside and said withplicated emotions.


    "It is said that the alliance was created to wipe out the whole demon race from existence and during the ''golden generation'' this feat was nearly achieved¡­" (Neo)


    "¡­but no one knows what happened all of a sudden and the leader of the Alliance and the most strongest person of that time, King Allen Von Reinhart disappeared due to mysterious reasons and the war ended¡­" (Neo)


    "For the past thousand years there''s been no full-scale war against the demons and the peace has been maintained, but this peace has caused many changes¡­" (Neo)


    "¡­the purpose of the?''Meeting of Gods'' was originally to discuss counter-measures against demons, but now it''s just a ce to show off to each other¡­" (Neo)


    Neo shook his head in regret, he has been guarding the human race for nearly a hundred years now, he has seen many ups and downs, the other three SS-rankers are like children in front of him, even though Ashtel is the strongest among the four of them, Neo is the most knowledgeable among them.


    He has been working behind the scenes for decades now. He has seen the rise and fall of bright and talented people like Nics, with his own eyes.


    Neo got up from his seat and walked towards the window slowly, he looked at the horizon and said in a serious tone.


    "Jin you should take your post of guarding the port city ''Oaklum'' as early as possible, I have a feeling¡­. that something is about to happen there¡­ and my instincts have never been wrong, since the day I became an SS-ranker¡­" (Neo)


    Jin looked at Neo and asked:


    "Then why not go there yourself?" (Jin)


    Neo shook his head and replied:


    "I have a much important thing to take care of right now¡­" (Neo)


    "My main body is not even in the human empire right now¡­. I am using a summoned beast of mine to talk to you right now¡­" (Neo)


    When Neo said that, his body turned into a slime monster and then reverted back to his form.


    Jin''s eyes widened in surprise.


    He is an SS-ranker himself and still, he wasn''t able to sense anything amiss in Neo''s body, he genuinely thought, that this was his main body, but who could have thought, that Neo had such abilities, that could even fool the senses of an SS-ranker.


    Jin looked at the other two and found out, that they weren''t as surprised as him, to them, it seemed like a regr urrence.


    "Tch! He''s as cunning as always! He always runs off somewhere to avoid work¡­" (Raji)


    "I have seen this so many times now, that I would feel weird if his real body was here instead¡­" (Ashtel)


    Raji and Ashtel both were aware of Neo''s tricks from the start, after all, it''s been several years since they started working with him.


    Neo ignored the remarks of the two of them and continued exining:


    "Putting the topic of ''Meeting of Gods'' aside for now, the way of selecting the children is rather simple, first there''s a group activity, like the ''Group Survival Test'' which we already did, then there would be a ''Dungeon conquering'' test and thest would be to assign a ''mission'' to them.." (Neo)


    "This is a simple and effective method¡­ now with this, we have finished this topic too, and the rest is just misceneous topics¡­ shall we discuss them after a little tea break?" (Neo)


    Neo looked at the three and went back to his seat. The butler outside arranged the tea for all of them and the atmosphere became rxed.


    Neo nced at Jin and smiled in satisfaction.


    ''It seems we have gotten a reliable newbie this time¡­ I just hope that I don''t have to see more newbies dying unnecessary deaths¡­'' (Neo)


    ''Sigh~, Nics my friend, you indeed have left a huge burden on my shoulders, you left all your work to me, I wonder how long I would be able to keep doing what you asked off me¡­'' (Neo)


    ¡­


    (A past Lore: Neo and Nics became SS-


    rankers around the same time, they both fought in the ''50-year Orc war'' and used to be good friends. Neo was born one year before the war started and he ascended to SS rank at the age of 45, while Nics was born when the war was already going on for 20 years.)


    (Nics ascended to the SS rank after two years of Neo''s ascendance.)


    (Eventually, Nics chose to sacrifice himself, to finally put an end to this long war and decided to leave all the burden of humankind to Neo.)


    (He trusted Neo and put the heavy burden of guarding the safety of humanity on Neo''s shoulders. Neo is still guarding humanity because of the promise he made to Nics.)


    (Nowadays, Neo''s summoned beasts have spread to each border of the human race and monitor the neighboring nations for potential threats. Neo''s main body mostly only appears, when a new SS-rank dungeon gate has opened in the human empire.)


    (Past lore ends)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Academy, Boy''s dormitory, Rio''s Room.


    Unaware of the oing dangers and events, Rio stood near the window and sipped his tea in peace.


    ''The stealing session was a great sess once again it seems, I should do it every once in a while, to increase my arsenal¡­'' (Rio)


    While thinking about that, Rio nced at the ck-colored ring on his index finger, and he smiled in satisfaction. (He is smiling in his mind, his facial muscles don''t move so often¡­. He thinks he is smiling but he isn''t.)


    ''Well, it was surprisingly much easier to obtain this artifact, than I expected it to be¡­'' (Rio)


    After Rio defeated Aidel a portal opened and Rio entered it to exit the ce. He got teleported back to the same ce, he used that scroll on. After confirming his gains, Rio simply flew back on his sword and boarded a flying bus to ride it home.


    He did all the things in just one day. The ''favor of Nics'' still had some time left before it expired.


    (If you are thinking what its use was? Then let me tell you that, only the one who has the ''Favor of Nics'' can use that scroll, if Rio didn''t have it, then that scroll would not have worked. It''s just that simple.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! It''s the 13th day of the continuous upload session. Let''s go!... Have you noticed that the SS-rankers are slowly entering the stage now?¡­ the plot and world-building are expanding slowly, be sure to keep track of it all, otherwise you might miss some hidden details¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you be able to keep your promise, if your homie ended up leaving like Nics?


    1. Yes (Anything for the brotherhood.)


    2. I have no homies or friends. (That''s some high level of depression...)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 122 Explanatory Ch: The awesome Link. (Skippable)

    <h4>Chapter 122 Exnatory Ch: The awesome Link. (Skippable) </h4>


    ¡­


    (Exining the reasons for the expulsion of hundreds of students from the academy.)


    In the Great Freya Academy, there are barely around 100 second-year students left, and all of them are now in the same ss, because of the smaller number of students, there''s no need for different sses now.


    At the beginning of the first year, a thousand students had been enrolled in the academy, but by the first half of the second year, only around a hundred of them were left.


    Most of the students were kicked out because of their low potential and a few of them diedst year. Only the talent potential of B rank or above is still surviving until now. And by the end of the third year, likely, only ten or twenty students will graduate and the rest will also be kicked out too


    This is the cruel andpetitive environment of the greatest academy of the human empire.


    There are many other second-rate or lower-level battle academies out there in the various cities and districts of the vast human empire, but only the great Freya Academy has the highest criteria for graduation.


    The graduation criteria for most battle academies is to be a C ranked by the end of the third year and finally graduate bypleting an assigned mission.


    Even most elite battle academies only require the students to reach B rank to graduate sessfully.


    But the great Freya academy is different, it asks the student to reach at least rank A in three years to graduate sessfully. This is a cruel method but it''s effective.


    Most of the A-rankers or above rank individuals present today, have once been students of the Great Freya Academy.


    You may wonder, why the academy bothers taking lower potential individuals then, if they have to kick them out in the end either way why not just take the most talented ones and be done with it?


    The answer to this is very simple, the academy needs funds for its management. They have to give sries to S-rankers and many A-rankers. Moreover, they need to maintain the top-notch facilities they provide to the students.


    Although the government is providing most of the funds for the academy, it''s still not enough. Not to mention the academy''s premises are equipped with the most cutting-edge technology in the human empire, they also have one of the SS-rankers ''Raji Croft'' sitting here in person, as the principal of this academy too.


    (Most of the money is spent by the government to satisfy Raji and make her stay in the academy, if she had mood swings one day and she left the academy, the academy would be in great trouble.)


    Although the academy scouting staff is always on the lookout for talented children, it is still extremely rare for them to find children with A-rank potential, and finding a kid with S-rank or above-level talent is like finding a gem in the vast ocean.


    Such gems rarely even appear once or twice every few years and are highly sought after.


    The scouting staff of the great Freya Academy is spread all over the human empire and tries their best to rope in, as many talented children as possible, but very few awaken the potential of A-rank or above each year, thus it''s like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    Barely a hundred people awaken A-rank potential every year in the vast human empire, and most of these children are from poor backgrounds, thus the academy has to give them free schrships.


    (The human empire has a poption of around 10 billion, yet the appearance of A-rankers is so low, by this, you can imagine the rarity of talents like Link who have the potential to go beyond the SS-rank. Someone like him rarely appears in a thousand years.)


    (Aside from the 100 seats reserved for poor people''s children, those who awaken A-rank or above level potential can get insanely high amounts of schrship money if they enter the Freya academy.)


    These schrships are the main reason why the parents of this world say to their children, "If you awakened A-rank potential, your parents would be proud of you." Just awakening A-rank potential can turn your life from rock bottom to the top of the world.


    Theck of talented individuals has always been a great concern for the government. It''s like they have the best facilities avable, but there''s no one to use them.


    Because of thisck of talent nearly 800 seats are left empty every year and the Freya academy staff have to fill these empty seats with the untalented children of the rich people.


    Rich people, who provide enough funds to the academy can get their children a seat in the academy in the hope of their children getting the best study environment, but most of the time these children are arrogant and have less potential.


    And since there are empty seats anyway, the academy has no other choice, but to reluctantly ept the huge amounts of money from these rich people, in exchange for a guaranteed seat for their children.


    Although these Rich people also know that their children don''t have much talent and can''t graduate or survive in the academy for more than one year, still, providing your untalented kid with the best ce to study, every parent would want to do that much for their kid.


    (To get their kid the best things they can, parents go through various difficulties, this has been the norm of the world. Of course, there are exceptions like the parents of Qi Meng. It''s a blessing if you have loving parents¡­)


    ¡­


    (Exining the awesomeness of our boy Link)


    All the above facts point out, how much of a unique talent Link is.


    Unlike normal people who generally be awakeners around the age of 15 and work hard to reach rank E from G-, Link was already born as an E-ranked awakened, ''Ashtel Rex'' had to seal his mana to prevent him from harming himself with his insane inborn strength.


    In the evaluation section of Link''s panel, it''s written, that ''Even heavens are jealous of him'', this sentence is not a mere bluff, and it has actual meaning to it.


    At the birth of Link, the heavens wept tears of jealousy and the sky rained for three months straight, major floods appeared and the earthquakes raged havoc on the ordinary folks, due to the anger of the heavens.


    If not for Ashtel Rex to stabilize the situation and deal with all these things personally, the whole human empire would have been flooded at the birth of Link. (Historical records say this same phenomenon happened at the birth of King Allen von Reinhart two thousand years ago.)


    Ashtel had to work hard and scatter those rain clouds personally. He even had to stabilize the ground by punching it and stopping the raging earthquakes. It may seem ridiculous but these are genuine facts. (Tell me whose reference is this?)


    ¡­


    (Exining the appraisal methods of this world.)


    It is indeed true that every awakener can see their status panel in this world, and thus it''s very easy to find what your maximum potential is, but this is also true that other people can''t see your status panel. (This is aw of this world don''t ask me why, it is like asking ''Why does the apple fall not up? Bro, it''s gravity! Aw of the world! It''s just as simple as that.)


    Since others can''t see the status panel, it''s very easy for people to lie and say that their potential is A-rank or above, etc. This used to cause major problems when finding the real talented people from the fake ones.


    But then came the rise of the ''Appraisal Artifacts''. These artifacts are capable of ''appraisal'' and talent potential detection. Nowadays these artifacts are somon that you can go to any random convenience store and buy the cheapest one of them easily at a very low cost.


    Even the cheapest ''Appraisal'' artifact is capable of appraising items of A-rank or below.


    They can even be used to find the talent ranks of the individuals easily, you just have to ask that awakener to put a little bit of his mana in the appraisal artifact and that''s it. The result will be their maximum potential rank.


    Every scout of the academy carries an appraisal artifact capable of appraising talents up to S-rank. Only For SS-rank talent or item appraisal, would you have to go to specific locations like the Freya Academy''s talent inquiry office or the talent or item appraisal, would you have to go to specific locations like the Freya Academy''s talent inquiry office or the reception hall of various major guilds.


    Currently, there''s no way of ''Appraising'' the maximum talent potential of people like Link, who have ''SSS'' level talents. Also, there''s no known artifact or item in the world with the rank of ''SSS'', most people even consider the existence of Rank ''SSS'' a lie and think that only ''SS'' rank is the highest an individual can reach.


    This is the reason why Link is said to have SS-rank talent by the people there''s no way to urately measure his real talent.


    Except for a few people, no one knows that Link is a talent beyond the ranks of SS. Even though the world only knows him as an SS-rank talent he is still rare and worthy of praise in itself.


    (Ashtel Rex hid the information and didn''t let anyone know about Link''s true potential. It was to protect Link from the prying eyes of the world.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    I have been thinking of writing a chapter to exin the various major details of the world. This chapter is to further enhance the ''World-Building'' aspect of this novel.


    Question of the day.


    Did you guys like this ''exnatory'' chapter?


    1.Yes (It''s good to exin the workings and the structural blocks of the world.)


    2.No (Personally, I am not the type to read things in detail, I only look for the story¡­) (Wait are you even a true reader if you do that?)


    3.Other (I don''t know anything, I am still trying toprehend Link''s awesomeness¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 123 Food is King! Rio x Lia.

    <h4>Chapter 123 Food is King! Rio x Lia. </h4>


    Rio opened the door of his room and went out.


    He closed the door and the auto-locker function of the door locked the door automatically. Now it can only be opened by providing a password to unlock it. (Rio''s room''s password is: ''Liaiscute'')


    The academy''s management staff does have a special key to unlock any room if they need to, however, they always need permission from the principal to unlock the rooms of the students. (Privacy is an important thing¡­)


    Rio walked down the stairs and went out of the building. He had already worn his academy uniform before leaving the room.


    Just when Rio walked out of the main gate of the boy''s dormitory, he suddenly noticed a golden-haired girl standing near the gate, she seemed to be waiting for someone.


    ''What is she doing sneaking around the boy''s dormitory at this time of the day? Shouldn''t she have already gone to the ssroom...'' (Rio)


    Rio used his skill ''Sword intent'' on his finger to cover it in frost aura and used its coldness to cool his hands, he made his hands cold to touch by using his extreme control over his ''sword intent''. (It''s a dangerous and very difficult thing, don''t try it at home. You can use the simpler version, just put an ice cube in your hand, and tadaa! ''magic''¡­ cough!)


    After making his hands cold, Rio immediately sneaked behind the girl. The girl was oblivious to all these schemes and was staring at her smartphone.


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s expressionless face as he put his cold hand on the girl''s cheek:


    "What!?" (Lia)


    Lia jumped away in surprise.


    She was so busy on her smartphone that she didn''t even notice Rio approaching her. The cold touch made her shiver and chills ran down her spine. (Even if Lia was not busy on her phone she could not have sensed Rio¡­ this guy has very good control over his aura and is a master in sneaking, due to his professional thieving activities¡­)


    Lia hurriedly looked at the perpetrator of this whole devious scheme and found that the rude guy was smirking at her and had a teasing smile on his face.


    "You! Perv!" (Lia)


    Rio shrugged his shoulder and pretended like he didn''t even hear it, instead his teasing smile widened further.


    "Hmph! I was going to give you a specially cooked lunchbox today but forget it-" (Lia)


    "Oh! You are talking about this one? It indeed looks quite good!" (Rio)


    While saying that Rio opened the cute-looking lunchbox and stuffed the sweets inside in his mouth, then he looked at Lia and gave her a satisfied look.


    "Yeah! This tastes good!" (Rio)


    Lia looked at all this with her small mouth open in sheer shock. She didn''t even notice him stealing her lunchbox from her hand. Lia hurriedly looked inside the handbag in her left hand and found that the lunchbox was indeed missing.


    Lia red at Rio in shock:


    "Wh-what!? When did you take it!?" (Lia)


    Rio just shrugged his shoulder and pretended to be innocent.


    "Well, it''s just an old habit, you can''t me me for that..." (Rio)


    "You were holding that lunch box with such a proud look on your face, I couldn''t help but look at what was so special about it¡­" (Rio)


    While Rio pretended to be innocent, Lia looked at her bag and the Lunch box in Rio''s hands repeatedly in shock.


    ''I am already at B-rank and I didn''t even notice him!?'' (Lia)


    [Don''t think too much about it girl, that guy seems to have years of experience in this field¡­.]


    [I always felt that something was up with this guy¡­ perhaps this isn''t even the first time for him¡­.]


    Kai appeared on Lia''s shoulder in his cat form and answered her in her mind using telepathy. He nced at Rio with his eyes wide.


    ''This guy¡­. Used the ''legendary'' skill ''sword intent'' to make his hands cold¡­'' (Kai)


    ''Such sphemy¡­.'' (Kai)


    Kai shook his head in defeat. He noticed Rio''s presence right from the start but didn''t tell Lia and wanted to see what Rio was up to this time. But even Kai was shocked when the supposed legendary skill was reduced to a hand-cooling method by Rio.


    ''As they say, talent is the most unfair thing in the world¡­. The guy has the talent to put any aplished ''swordsman'' to shame¡­'' (Kai)


    ¡­


    After a while, Rio had to buy an ice cream for Lia to get her to forgive him for his atrocious behaviors. Although wasughing at the top of his lungs in his mind, he still made amends using the ultimate technique of giving tasty food.


    With the ice cream in hand, both of them walked toward the ssroom. There were still 15 minutes before the start of the ss. They had enough time to reach the ssroom in a leisurely way. (Rio and Lia are both the type to get up very early in the morning and do morning work-out, thus they both get up early and have never beente for ss.)


    Rio nced at Lia''s sword hanging on her waist and asked:


    "Did you get a new sword, it looks quite good¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio mentioning her sword, Lia''s chest puffed up in pride and a happy expression appeared on her cute face.


    "Of course! This is the family treasure of the silver household! It''s called Ambient Silver! My father gave it to me the other day! Hehe¡­" (Lia)


    Rio tilted his head a little.


    ''Isn''t that the same sword Lia used to stab her father to death in the original novel¡­'' (Rio)


    ''it was said that James refused to give that sword to Lia even till hisst breath and in anger Lia forcefully took that sword and stabbed it in James''s heart, killing him off with the same thing he wished to protect¡­'' (Rio)


    ''The reason why James refused to give ''Ambient Silver'' to Lia was because he didn''t consider her worthy of inheriting that sword¡­'' (Rio)


    Although manyplicated emotions surged in his mind by hearing the name of the sword, his face remained as expressionless as always, he replied in his usual emotionless voice.


    "Is that so, good for you¡­ it seems your father has recognized your efforts¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah! He even said that I was the only one worth of this sword! Isn''t that amazing!?" (Lia)


    Looking at the excited look on Lia''s face, Rio replied with a nod.


    "Indeed¡­ getting the direct praise from an S-ranker is an amazing achievement¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah!" (Lia)


    ''It seems that James has finally recognized her and now considers her worthy enough to inherit that sword he cherished with his life¡­ was it because of that spirit beast, Kai?...'' (Rio)


    ''But, it''s all good as long as she is happy with herself¡­ I just hope that she can stay happy all her life¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking about the sad fate of Lia and her family, instead what confused him the most was:


    ''Why did James cherish that sword so much in the first ce, could it be that he saw his cherished wife''s memories in that sword?... It wasn''t exined in the novel, but perhaps this might be the truth¡­'' (Rio)


    (Rio''s deduction is correct, James gifted that sword to his wife and they used to adventure in the various dungeons together. His wife held that sword for years before she finally sumbed to her inevitable death¡­)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, Rio, and Lia both reached the ssroom and entered together.


    The other students had long known about their rtionship, and now that Rio was already famous all over the nation, none The other students had long known about their rtionship, and now that Rio was already famous all over the nation, none were surprised by them wandering around together.


    Nearly everyone in the ss knew about them dating each other by now.


    Rio and Lia both finally separated after entering the ssroom and both went to sit on their respective seats.


    While Lia looked at her smartphone and searched for new cooking recipes, Rio stared at the empty air in a daze.


    Five minutester.


    *Bang*


    The door opened with a loud ''bang'' and a white-haired girl walked in while panting heavily. Her hair seemed disheveled. She seemed to have run all the way from her room, to the ss to reach on time.


    *pant**pant*


    "F-finally reached¡­ on time¡­ huff haaa~" (Riya)


    More footsteps sounded in the corridor and a dark red-haired boy entered the ss with a troubled look on his face. He had a lunchbox in his right hand and a woman''s handbag in his left hand. The boy hurriedly gave the stuff in his hand to Riya and said in a scolding voice:


    "Look! As I already said! You have to start getting up early Riya! Otherwise, how will you make it on time every day when I am not around!? Wait! Don''t sleep in the ss! The ss is about to start! Get up!" (Link)


    While Link tried to wake Riya up, Riya clutched the desk and slept while mumbling.


    "Nooo~ let me sleeep~" (Riya)


    Link looked at Riya and shook his head in defeat. He had to use his ultimate trick now.


    "Okay here look what it is¡­ an Ultra-rare candy-" (Link)


    Before Link could say anything Riya got up and snatched the candies from Link''s hand like a cat, now she was wide awake.


    A smile appeared on Riya''s face every time she nibbled on those candies.


    Link looked at this all in dismay and decided to go back to his seat.


    ''Sometimes I feel like these candies are my Love rivals¡­ tch! Damn you! Candy-makingpanies!!'' (Link)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes:


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! It''s been quite a while since Ist wrote a chapter on Rio teasing Lia, so here it is!


    Question of the day.


    Would Link be able to win against his eternal lover rival ''Candies''!?


    1.No (It doesn''t seem possible for the poor guy Link, those candies are just too overpowered!)


    2.Yes (Perhaps Link could continue using those candies to bait the greedy fish Riya into marrying him? This is ''Candy Rizz!'')


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 124 The Misunderstood Riya

    <h4>Chapter 124 The Misunderstood Riya </h4>


    The teacher wearing thick scientist-like sses pointed his finger to the picture shown on the smart board.


    "And it has been theorized that he is the ce where a wyvern''s heart is located¡­. Contrary to popr belief, a wyvern''s heart is located in its head¡­


    "It may sound like a ridiculous thing, but it has been proved with proper dissections and various experiments, the researchers of that time were shocked to know and this information yed a critical role in helping the awakeners to properly target the weak points of a wyvern during dungeon raids¡­"


    Hearing the teacher''s remarks, Liam nodded his head continuously, he knew about this since the day he summoned a wyvern for himself.


    Since a summoner can easily know the condition of their contracted beasts, Liam easily found out, about the amazing anatomy of the wyverns. (He dared not peep at Ellie''s chest though, she''s as t as a wall¡­ She would get angry if dared do such atrocious things.)


    ''There''s no need to worry, ''t is justice!''¡­'' (Liam)


    [Master Why do I feel like you are talking bad about me¡­]


    "cough! cough!" (Liam)


    Liam suddenly coughed heavily and the whole ss gave him a weird look, even the teacher nced at Liam with a confused expression on his face.


    The teacher repositioned his sses and asked Liam in a confused tone.


    "Is there some problem student Liam?"


    Liam hurriedly shook his head.


    "No. Nothing, I just remembered something¡­ cough.." (Liam)


    The teacher nodded his head and continued the lecture without paying it any mind. (He is an anatomy specialist and an A-rank healer, his eyesight is good but he wears thick sses and a white coat to show his identity as a devoted researcher.)


    *Ding Dong*


    The bell rang after a while and the teacher left the ssroom after giving the students homework. Although most students didn''t like this subject, they had no choice but to do the homework on time, get good grades, and keep their ranks higher.


    Just, when the students started to leave the ssroom one by one, a sudden announcement was made.


    [Liam Aldif, Riya Croft, Link Rex, Rio sh and Lia Silver¡­ All these students are requested to arrive at the principal''s office as early as possible!]


    [¡­ I Repeat¡­]


    The announcement resounded throughout the ssroom three times in a row before the speakers finally fell silent.


    ¡­


    ''Hmm, what happened now?...'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at the other four and all of them were also confused by the sudden announcement.


    All of a sudden, an idea shed by their minds and they all looked a certain glutton with a questioning look.


    "Wh-what? Why are you all looking at me like that?" (Riya)


    An awkward silence spread in the empty ssroom.


    "Ahem! Uh Riya did you perhaps steal the principal''s snacks again, I mean¡­ I am not angry but¡­. You should return them¡­." (Link)


    Link cautiously asked Riya to confess her sins, he didn''t me her for stealing snacks from her sister, but to get the whole five of them involved in this is a little over the top.


    "What!? But I made sure that no one found out!... How could sister have found out!? But wait! Why would she me you for me taking her snacks!?" (Riya)


    Riya had a bewildered look on her cute face, she knew she was in the wrong for stealing the precious snacks of an SS-ranker, but there was no need to punish the five of them for that.


    "Ahem! Let''s not get to the conclusion and go to the principal''s office first! We need to rify this misunderstanding!" (Liam)


    Liam shivered a little bit at the thought of ''Raji Croft'', he remembered the time when, Raji stormed through their house, dragged his father out forcibly, and pped him on the face with a cold and angry look on her face.


    Liam was very young at that time and used to revere his father a lot, thus he was shocked when Raji dared to p Neo in the face. (The image of Raji in his mind is: - ''An arrogant and cold witch, who beats people here and there for no reason and has severe anger issues¡­'', this is also the reason why he stays at least ten meters away from Riya¡­)


    While Liam gulped his saliva in nervousness, they all decided to leave the ssroom and walk towards the principal''s office together. (There''s strength in unity they say. Moreover, there''s an old saying: ''If your friends get punished together with you then the punishment hurts a little lesspared to when you get punished alone''¡­)


    ¡­


    Principal''s Office, The main building.


    The principal''s office is a small room in the main building of the academy.


    The group walked in with nervousness, the main door of the building opened automatically and they entered with slow steps.


    The receptiondy looked at Riya with a gentle smile on her face:


    "You are back so early today, Ms. Riya¡­"


    Riya nodded at thedy with a smile on her face and continued to lead the way for the four of them. (Riya usually drops by the ce to steal snacks from Raji''s office, almost everyone who''s working in this building knows her, moreover, they all have helped Riya in her ''quest to grab snacks'' at least once¡­ due to which all of them have their sries decreased at least once in the past¡­)


    After a few seconds of walking the five of them stood outside the office room.


    "Uh, Riya you go first¡­" (Link)


    Link suddenly urged Riya to take the lead, he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her into the fire pit while thinking in his mind.


    ''Your sacrifice will be remembered,rade!'' (Link)


    Riya resisted and didn''t want to be the first one to enter the field and thus a stalemate urred on the battlefield.


    While the five were having difficulty deciding who to send first, a cold and calm voice resounded from the inside of the room.


    "You may enter¡­" (Raji)


    The voice alone stirred the mana in the surroundings and made the temperature cold.


    Hearing the voice, Link opened the gate and pushed Riya in first and then slowly entered himself.


    Then Liam, who had summoned Ellie earlier for his protection, pushed Ellie in first and then followed after.


    Rio looked at their actions with his expressionless face and thought:


    ''Hmm, is thisdy''s first type of thing?'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and decided to go with the flow and directly pushed Lia into the room before entering himself.


    ¡­


    Inside the Principal''s office.


    Riya walked in with slow steps, determination shed in her eyes and she decided to take the gamble.


    When she saw Raji sitting on the chair, she directly jumped to hug her, but her face collided with a flying book and she was stopped in her tracks.


    Raji looked at her and said in a cold tone:


    "Tch! Can''t you behave yourself, how long are you going to act like a kid, when will you grow up?" (Raji)


    Riya nced at her sister''s cold face and tears welled up in her round and big eyes:


    "b-but, I-i¡­ I only took half of those snacks, why are you so angry at me?" (Riya)


    Raji looked at Riya with a confused look on her face.


    "Snacks? What snacks?" (Raji)


    Raji shook her head and didn''t pay attention to Riya anymore, she thought that Riya was just messing around like usual.


    Raji nced at the other four with a cold look on her face.


    Liam hid behind Ellie''s back and Link avoided direct eye contact. And Rio stayed as expressionless as ever. The atmosphere became awkward all of a sudden.


    Raji didn''t care about the atmosphere at all and she directly went to the main point without bothering with the pleasantries.


    "Today I summoned you all here to tell you that, you five have been chosen as the candidates for attending the ''Meeting of Gods'', you have enough capabilities and are a cut above all others of the same generation¡­." (Raji)


    Raji nced at the five and found that they had a confused look on their faces, she assumed that they didn''t know about what the ''Meeting of Gods'' was.


    "Let me introduce the basics to you guys first¡­" (Raji)


    (Raji went ahead and talked about the various things and exined the ''Meeting of Gods'' to all five of them. I am not writing it all again, re-read the previous chapters again if you have missed it.)


    After a few minutes of simple exnation, Raji continued:


    "Today, I have asked you all toe here to give the information on the dungeon you guys would have to conquer on your own to pass the second test¡­ do you understand?" (Raji)


    "Understood!" (All five of them said in unison)


    Then Riya who was standing near Raji sighed in rxation.


    "Ah~ so it was just this~ I was worried over nothing¡­" (Riya)


    While Riya sighed openly without any restraints, the other four only sighed in their minds and dared not make any unnecessary voices for fear of angering Raji.


    Raji looked at Riya with aplicated look on her face.


    ''When will this girl mature and be capable like these otherpetent kids, sigh~'' (Raji) (Her inner monologue sounds simr to the sadints of a disappointed mother¡­)


    Raji shook her head in resignation and continued to exin.


    ''Sigh~ children these days~'' (Raji)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved author is here! A new thrilling event is starting, are you guys excited to see Riya cause further misunderstandings? By the way, guys check out my new novel: Fake Professor, Misunderstood as Strong.


    Question of the day.


    Would Raji be able to stop worrying about this na?ve little sister of hers?


    1.Yes (Our boy Link is the way to go!)


    2.No (I don''t see any hope here. No matter how big a number you multiply with 0 it would still stay 0¡­)


    3.Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 125 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 125 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-1. </h4>


    "For the SS-rankers, ''Meeting of Gods'' might be a way to show off, but for the talented children, it''s a rare opportunity..." (Raji)


    Raji nced at the five of them and said it with a serious look on her face.


    "There will be a sparring tournament held before the official ''Meeting''; every race will send their most talented children to participate in this tournament; these children will represent the faces of their respective races." (Raji)


    "The same is true for us too; we have to make sure that you kids are ready to face the wider world. Only when it''s confirmed will we be sure to take you with us." (Raji)


    Raji nced at Link with narrowed eyes and said,


    "Although I don''t think there''s any need to prove the obvious capabilities of talented children like you, we still have to make you go through the proper procedures of selection to not set a bad example." (Raji)


    "It wouldn''t be good if people used us of favoritism among the students." (Raji)


    Link dodged making straight eye contact with Raji and replied in a low tone, while his left hand scratched the back of his head:


    "I don''t particrly mind it... It''s no big deal to go through the proper?procedures."(Link)


    Hearing Link''s reply, Raji nodded her head in satisfaction, and a small smile appeared on her cold face.


    ''As expected, this little kiddo is indeed the best for Riya, sigh~'' (Raji)


    (Raji favors Link heavily; if not for the fact that she has to follow the proper procedures, she would have vited her power and already given Link direct approval without even making him go through the tests.)


    Raji nced at her ipetent younger sister, who was nibbling on some snacks in the corner without even paying attention to the things Raji exined, and then she nced at Link, who was always attentive and ready to go to any danger in the hope of bing stronger and better.


    The more Rajipared Link and Riya, the more she was satisfied with her choice to engage Riya with Link at a young age.


    ''Engaging Riya to Link might have been the best decision I ever made.'' (Raji)


    While Raji stared at Link for a few minutes, Link was trying his hardest to barely keep himself from fainting from her burdensome gaze; he felt like she was seeing right through him.


    Being gazed at by an SS-ranker is no small matter; it feels like they can see right through you and you are standing buck naked in front of them. It feels like all your secrets have been seen through by them, and you are just a mere ant crawling on the ground.


    There have been records of people experiencing mana deviation or directly just fainting on the spot, by just one look from an SS-ranker. (This generally happens when your mana foundations are weak or your will is quite weak.)


    (Ordinary people have weaker wills and resistances; thus, SS-rankers have to wear special sses when talking to ordinary people to prevent harming the people by their overbearing.)


    Raji didn''t mean any harm when she looked at Link without taking any protective measures; she just knew that Link was strong enough to not even flinch at such small inconveniences. (Raji cares about Link''s well-being and is as concerned about him as his father.)


    Even in the novel, Raji helps Link many times, but eventually, the protagonist, Halo, works, and Link ends up dead in the hands of Fade. Raji couldn''t help but shake her head in regret at this turn of events.


    In the novel, She hated Fade to the core, for killing Link; she even helped Ashtel beat Fade on several asions, and thus she eventually died at the hands of the ''Final Boss''.


    She was more of a stepping stone type character'' for Fade in the novel,pared to a proper viiness like Lia. (Don''t get the wrong idea; Raji is not a ''p*doph*le''; she favors Link and thinks of him as her family, nothing else... Don''t get any funny ideas.)


    ¡­


    After staring at Link for quite a while, Raji reluctantly looked away and continued exining further.


    "Seven kids will be chosen from humanity''s side and will participate in this tournament. If you all can secure your seats, you can go and experience the fighting styles of various geniuses from the whole world." (Raji)


    "It''s one of the best opportunities to confront and get acquainted with talented people of several races." (Raji)


    Raji hesitated before saying the next line but eventually said:


    "Moreover, it is said that the elf princess, who is rumored to be the most beautiful girl among today''s younger generation, will also participate in this tournament. She is going to be the next ruler of the Elf Kingdom, so it''s good to get to know her for diplomatic?reasons. (Raji)


    Raji nced at Link with a cold look on her face and said in an unquestionable tone:


    "You better stay away from that girl though; don''t forget you are already engaged and have people waiting back home." (Raji)


    Link had a confused look on his face, but he still replied in a nervous voice:


    "O-okay¡­." (Link)


    Raji shook her head and then said,


    "Leaving that matter aside, if even one of you wins the tournament, all of you will be able to get the chance to touch the ''World Tree'' and obtain its favor." (Raji)


    "I don''t need to exin how big of a thing the ''Favor of World Tree'' is; the Elf Kingdom is going all out in rewards this year... Perhaps because their princess is also going to participate this year too...." (Raji)


    Raji suddenly clicked her tongue in annoyance.


    "The Elves are inherently arrogant; they didn''t even give a single gold coin to the winners of thest ''Meeting of Gods tournament'', but anyway, your best reward is still the experience you get while fighting the other geniuses." (Raji)


    Raji then said it in a serious tone.


    "The procedure you have to follow to get your seats confirmed is simple; you have already passed that ''Group Survival Test'', next you have to conquer an ''A-rank'' Dungeon sessfully, and thest would be toplete a mission." (Raji)


    Raji tapped on her desk, and a hologram appeared; it showed a dungeon gate and its location.


    "This is the dungeon you guys have to conquer as a group; you have a week for preparation... Next week, I will personally bring you all to the dungeongate."(Raji)


    "Be sure to prepare everything you want for the exploration." (Raji)


    Raji suddenly nced at Rio, who had been standing with an expressionless face from the start, and said:


    "Although you have already conquered various dungeons before, this is the first time conquering an A-rank dungeon, so be sure to prepare." (Raji)


    Rio nodded his head at Raji''s remarks.


    Raji had long known the fact that Rio had been to many dungeons before, but since it was not against the rules, she didn''t mind him doing whatever he wanted to do. (She doesn''t know he has been to those dungeons to steal things, not to conquer them.)


    Generally, the students of the academy can use the simtion room for practical training; thus, they don''t need to go to the dungeons to practice, but everyone has their way of training, so Raji didn''t mind Rio wandering around outside the academy for days.


    Don''t ask me how she knows; she can keep track of every student''s presence as long as they are still in her vicinity of 500 kilometers; her tracking range is insanely wide. She has the duty of keeping track of all students'' whereabouts.


    (Obviously, there are limitations to this tracking range too; if you enter a dungeon or different space, then she won''t be able to track you unless she also enters that space herself and then uses her tracking on you.)


    (If you guys have the question, why didn''t she detect the deaths of the students during the ''New Year festival'' then? I have fixed this plot hole and re-edited those chapters. Raji was busy focusing on developing a new spell during that time. Re-


    read those chapters for further details.)


    (What about Rio''s ''True Immunity''? No, she was just tracking his presence through his aura, and ''True Immunity'' doesn''t block Rio''s aura.)


    After exining all the other important things, Raji dismissed them, and all five of them hurriedly left the office, as if they had been waiting for this moment.


    While Raji looked at their backs in confusion, all five of them hurriedly left the office, and Link also dragged the sleeping Riya out with him.


    ¡­


    Outside the principal''s office.


    Link sat on the nearby bench and gasped for breath; he''d been holding it since the moment they entered the principal''s room. He didn''t even dare breathe too loudly in Raji''s presence.


    Liam was shivering while sitting in the corner, and Ellie was trying her best tofort him.


    Riya was sleeping without any care in the world.


    Rio and Lia just looked at this and shrugged their shoulders.


    If some passerby looked at the five of them now, they would have misunderstood the situation, thinking that these five have barely survived a very tough battle and are now trying to recover from severe ''PTSD''.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here!


    Question of the day:.


    Would you want an SS-ranker to look at you?


    Nah, I will pass. (The feeling of being seen through is very weird and traumatizing.)


    Yes. (Well, hopefully, they will find my hidden talents at least.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment with your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 126 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 126 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-2. </h4>


    The Great Freya Academy, Main gate.


    "Are you sure, this is the right time? I can''t see her anywhere though, don''t tell me, she''s gonna directly teleport here in front of us?..." (Lia)


    Lia nced at Riya who was staring at her smartphone while nibbling on candies.


    Riya had a confused look on her face, she nced at her smartphone and the surroundings, back and forth.


    "My sister said that we have to arrive at 9:00 AM, but it''s already been half an hour, I wonder where she is¡­" (Riya)


    Riya then nced at Link who was standing there silently nearby like a ''concrete pir'' and asked in a confused tone.


    "Should I go look for her in the principal''s office¡­. She wasn''t there when I went there earlier to grab some snacks, perhaps she might havee back¡­." (Riya)


    Link slowly opened his eyes, exhaled heavily, and then replied in a rare calm tone:


    "No need¡­ let''s just wait a bit¡­ she''s an SS-ranker, she can easily open a portal to get here¡­. She must be busy with something, that''s why she isn''t here yet¡­" (Link)


    Listening to Link''s rare calm and determined tone, Lia tilted her head in confusion and asked Riya in a bewildered tone:


    "What happened to him¡­ why is he acting so weird all of a sudden?..." (Lia)


    Lia nced at Link and then asked again:


    "He''s kind of acting like Rio¡­" (Lia)


    Riya shook her head and replied:


    "He said he made a bet with Rio, ''That if he lost in a race to the main gate, he would have to act like Rio¡­'', I think he lost¡­" (Riya)


    Although Riya had whispered in a low voice, to prevent Link from hearing her, Link still heard her loud and clear, veins bulged on his forehead due to anger and he barely suppressed himself from banging his head on the nearby wall. (He felt ashamed that Riya knew about his loss.)


    "I-I didn''t lose! That guy cheated on purpose!" (Link)


    Link pointed his index finger and red at Rio who was standing nearby with an expressionless face, but Rio didn''t even pay it any mind and didn''t even bother to look at Link for a single second.


    Seeing that Rio was ignoring him, Link was even more frustrated. (Actually, Link wanted to ask Rio if he could learn some cooking skills from Lia, he wanted to cook some delicious meals for Riya to show her that his handmade food was better than those measly candies.)


    (But due to his pride he ended up saying:- ''Let''s make a bet! If I reach the main gate before you, then I will get to ask Lia about how to cook a sweet cake and if I lose then I will imitate your stone face the whole day!'')


    Rio wasn''t even going to let him his way around, moreover, speed is Rio''s specialty, Link lost at the very first few seconds of the race''s starting. (If Link had directly asked Lia for advice, he could have avoided his doom easily and Rio wouldn''t have objected at all if Lia agreed to his request, but Link had to uphold his pride! he thought where would his face go if he asked for someone''s help!)


    (Link had never asked anyone for help at all. He''s the type of guy who would rather die than abandon his pride and ask others for help. )


    While Link continued to re at Rio fiercely, Rio just ignored him and thus several minutes went by, yet there was no sign of Raji''s arrival.


    Riya had already finished her third candy box and even she was starting to get annoyed.


    ¡­


    (After 15 minutes.)


    While everyone had a bored look on their face, Rio finally opened his closed eyes and said in an emotionless tone.


    "A convoy ising here¡­ there are 20 B-rankers, 5-A rankers¡­" (Rio)


    Link nced at Rio and nodded his head.


    "It must be her bodyguards, I also didn''t expect her to bring a whole convoy just to escort us¡­ this is kind of weird¡­" (Link)


    Riya nced at Rio in confusion and asked Link with a shocked expression on her face:


    "How does he know all of this! Can he read the future!?" (Riya) (She is too na?ve to know about skills like detection... forgive her foolishness and move on...)


    Link shook his head and replied.


    "No no, his detection skills are quite good I think¡­ he must have detected theming here¡­" (Link)


    Link nced at Rio and asked in a curious tone:


    "By the way, how far can you detect, you were able to detect that royal demon too during the final exams..." (Link)


    Rio replied in an emotionless tone:


    "The limit is 1.5 kilometers for now¡­ I can''t detect people above A-rank though¡­ that''s why, I can''t confirm if she''s in the convoy or not¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Link had a shocked expression on his face, even Lia looked at Rio in bewilderment.


    "So far!? You are insanely proficient at this! Ugh¡­ I lost again!" (Link)


    Link shook his head in regret. He has also learned a detection technique but, he''s not even one-tenth of Rio''s level.


    ''Damn it! I need to work even harder from now on! This guy''s progresses extremely fast!'' (Link)


    [Hehe, I can help Lia detect in a 3 km radius though¡­]


    Suddenly Kai appeared on Lia''s shoulder and mocked Link using telepathy.


    Several veins on Link''s head bulged in anger after hearing Kai''s mocking tone.


    ''Damn it! Even some random animals are looking down on me now! Damn it all!'' (Link)


    Even though Link was frustrated at the many defeats he faced today, he couldn''t do anything but stomp his feet on the ground in anger. He didn''t even dare shout his anger out for fear of startling Riya.


    While the four of them waited for the convoy to arrive, time passed slowly and a few more minutes flew by.


    ¡­


    (Random Exnations Starts)


    The SS-rankers are famous people so, they have to keep a few bodyguards around in case some fans try to block their way. The bodyguards are there to keep people out of their way not to protect them. An SS-ranker is capable of shattering continents, they don''t need any bodyguards to protect them.


    Those bodyguards are there for just convenience.


    (There is a famous meme on the inte about this weird situation, that is: "If you ever feel useless, just remember there exist people who work as bodyguards for SS-rankers¡­", this is a very famous depression-relieving meme on the inte of this world.)


    If you are wondering why not use the portal ability, to avoid such bothersome ways of transport, then the answer is simple. It''s all about personal preference, Most of the time, SS-rankers use portals to get to their desired locations, but it doesn''t hurt to experience the ''way of a normal human'' every once in a while too.


    Experiencing a normal human''s life is a time-killing method for them, it helps in calming the distracted mind after months of killing and fighting in the dungeons.


    (Random Exnation Ends.)


    ¡­


    The convoy of Raji Croft finally arrived in front of the main gate of the academy.


    The luxury car of Raji Croft stopped right in front of the four of them and several a bodyguard got down from one of the muscle cars behind the luxury car.


    The bodyguard walked towards the luxury car and respectfully opened the door with his Right hand, and his other hand signaled the four of them to get inside.


    "Please, get in." (Bodyguard)


    The bodyguard had impable mannerisms, he seemed to be professionally trained for this kind of stuff.


    The four of them didn''t pay much attention to it though and hurriedly went in.


    ¡­


    Inside the car.


    The insides of this long car were spacious and luxurious to look at. (It''s a lim*usine.)


    Raji sat inside with the usual cold expression on her face and Riya directly sat beside her with arge smile on her face, she didn''t care about anything else.


    But the rest of the three cared, when they entered they found Liam sitting in the corner, he was shivering uncontrobly and looked like he had witnessed terror beyond imagination.


    Only after Link and Rio sat beside him did he finally calm down a little bit. Lia sat beside Riya and Raji.


    After the four sat down on their respective seats they were expecting the car to move but it didn''t happen, and when the car didn''t move for a few more minutes Riya couldn''t help but question Raji.


    "What happened, is it broken?" (Riya)


    Raji nced at Riya and said in a cold tone.


    "It seems you are too heavy for it to carry and it''s not able to move¡­ you should stop eating so much, otherwise you will continue to be fatter andzier!" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji, Riya had a shocked look on her innocent face.


    "What!? I am not fat!" (Riya)


    "Pffft" (Link)


    Link ended upughing when he heard the two sisters arguing, which caused Riya to re at him with an angry look on her cute face.


    Raji shook her head and said:


    "I am just kidding¡­ it''s because there''s still two more students who haven''t arrived yet¡­" (Raji)


    "Hmm, there will be more?" (Lia)


    Just when Lia was about to ask about who the other two were, the awaited guests arrived and entered the car.


    "Sorry Ms. Raji, we werete." (Kira)


    Two most unexpected guests had entered the group.


    At thest moment, an unexpected turn of events has happened it seems, Fade and Kira are also going to be part of the raiding team now.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here. It''s the 18th day of the continuous upload session. Let''s fu*king go! Were you expecting our boy Fade to make such a miraculouseback? NOT, right!? But here he is!!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think, how did Fade get to be a candidate so easily?


    1.Plot armor (The plot armor goes brrrrrrrrr!!!!)


    2.Heaven''s blessing (''High Luck stat'' enters the chat bois!!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 127 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 127 The Dungeon of Maya! Part-3. </h4>


    The several bodyguards outside kept the people at bay and cleared the path ahead for the luxury car, they had no choice but to push Raji''s fans back, to open the path ahead.


    While the outside scene seemed to be filled with excitement, the inside atmosphere of the luxury car wasn''t that good inparison.


    ¡­


    The very moment Link and Liam saw Fade, their expressions had a clear change and they looked at Fade with disgust and anger in their eyes. (Liam has a genuine reason to be angry, but Link hates Fade without any reason, he just doesn''t like his face or presence at all¡­)


    Link pointed to Fade and said in a mocking tone:


    "Is that trash also going to be part of our raiding party? Are you sure you haven''t mistaken him for someone else?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s harsh remarks, Raji frowned a little and replied in a cold tone:


    "He got the rmendation of Neo Aldif, so yeah¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced between Link and Fade back and forth for a moment, before saying:


    "It seems you two have some past grievances, but right now you are in the same team, so it''s better to put your differences behind you and work as a team¡­" (Raji)


    "You are the leader of this team, you need to be open-minded and calm in any possible situation¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s remarks, Link red at Fade a few more times before finally stopping.


    He knew that Raji was trying to teach him, and what she said was for his growth and benefit, yet he still couldn''t help but say¡­


    "Tch, okay¡­ don''t me me if he ends up deadter¡­" (Link)


    Fade was not going to sit still and keep getting insulted for no reason. He puffed up his chest in pride and said in a mocking tone:


    "Haha, the rich brats don''t know the way of the world, go back and snuggle in your mama''s arms, haha" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade curse his dead mother, Link''s anger soared through the roof and veins bulged on his face making him look hideous.


    Link''s aura rose and the mana in the surroundings started to tremble crazily.


    "F*ck! You are dead meat now!" (Link)


    The car trembled due to Link''s aura and cracks appeared on the metal floor of the car under Link''s feet.


    "Oh yeah! Thene you snotty rich mama''s boy!" (Fade)


    Fade brought out his staff from his space ring and was also ready to cast spells on Link at any moment.


    He was not the same Fade now, who used to get intimidated by the likes of Link and hisckeys before, he has grown beyond his limits and has the confidence to go against even the gods themselves. (He can''t withstand a single punch from Link right now¡­ he is just stretching the plot armor to protect him.)


    Just when the situation was getting more and more tense, Raji released a bit of her aura on both of them and made them calm down.


    Even though Raji only used a tiny fraction of her aura, it still made Link kneel to the ground and put a stop to his rage. Fade directly fell on the floor and kissed the dirt due to the pressure from the aura. (Bro has some serious beef with the floor.)


    "Shut up, you two!¡­ sit down on your seats and calm down your brains!¡­. Tch! Children these days are so rude and foul-mouthed¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at Fade who fell on the floor and said in a cold tone:


    "Keep your mouth restrained, Neo may have rmended you as a candidate, but I still have the power and authority to eliminate you, right here, right now¡­ be sure to keep that foul mouth in check from now on¡­" (Raji)


    After warning Fade once, Raji shook her head in annoyance and closed her eyes to meditate, she was questioning her decision toe here in the first ce.


    At Raji''s scolding, Fade and Link got up and went back to their seats while ring at each other.


    Both of them had the look as if they were looking at a dead person.


    ''I stopped beating this trash for a few days and now he have the audacity to talk bad about me!¡­. Trulyughable, just you wait!¡­'' (Link)


    ''F*king rich bastard! doesn''t know manners at all! it would be better to teach him some manners in ce of his parents! I will pay this humiliation back a million-fold!'' (Fade)


    While the two of them red at each other and cursed at each other in their minds, the others also frowned at thismotion.


    Liam had also been staring at Fade with cold eyes from the start, but he didn''t say anything because of Raji''s daunting presence.


    Riya also red at Fade for cursing at Link''s mother, and Kira looked at Fade with a concerned look on her face.


    Lia had a frown on her face but she also didn''t say anything.


    Only Rio was as expressionless as always.


    He didn''t even care about all these random taunting events happening around him, he has already seen such events many times in the novel, so he was already used to it.


    Moreover, Rio wasn''t even surprised at the fact that Fade would also end up bing a candidate.


    The meeting of gods is a major event and it is destined that Fade would go there too. No matter how much the plot has been bent and stretched by Rio, some cannon events are bound to happen no matter which way.


    (Heavenly Luck is not a bluff, it does exist in this world and whomever the heavenly luck favors, it can bend even the rules of the universe to some extent for them.)


    ¡­


    (Exining, What happened behind the scenes:-


    Including Rio and the other four, there are a total of five students who shined the most in the ''Group Survival Test'', but as you may already know, there are seven supposed candidate seats.


    So, there were two empty seats, and Kira who has always been ''First'' in theory exams, got the sixth seat due to her efforts.


    For thest seat, Kira sent a letter to Liam''s older brother likest time (Ch 56), and asked him to get it secured for Fade. Since Fade was already quite high in ranks inst year''s final exams, he easily got the rmendation and the candidate position for the seventh seat.


    Although Kira''s grace has been shining on him for a long time now, Fade doesn''t care about it one bit, he takes all of this for granted and since he hates rich children like Link and Liam, he couldn''t help but mock them. If not for the fact that Link and Liam both are considerably stronger than him, he would have already beaten them to a pulp.)


    (Exnation ends.)


    ¡­


    The car continued to move and the atmosphere inside the car remained tense and chilly for the rest of the journey.


    Every once in a while, Fade red at Link and Liam and smiled in a teasing way, while Link and Liam continued to ignore him, thinking of him as a clown.


    After a long journey of an hour or so, finally, the car stopped in front of a luxurious hotel''s gate.


    The bodyguard opened the door of the car again and everyone got down from the car one by one.The staff members of the hotel personally came out to greet the group and show them to their rooms.


    The owner of the hotel smiled sheepishly and wanted to make a good impression on Raji with fake praises and ttery, but Raji paid it no mind and went to her room with the usual cold expression on her face.


    Looking at this, Rio and the others also went to their respective rooms, the raid was scheduled for tomorrow, so they could stay in this luxury hotel for today and rest as much as they wanted.


    ¡­


    Hotel Devalya, Rio''s room.


    Rio entered the room and a huge king-sized bed came into his view. He nced at the other furniture and everything seemed luxurious and amazing. (The Great Freya Academy''s dorm rooms also have luxurious facilities and king-sized beds in each of the rooms, the academy''s dormitory is better than these famous hotel rooms.)


    Rio ignored these things and directly walked towards the window first, he had to confirm something first.


    He opened the window and nced outside.


    ''Sure enough, there it is¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio stared at a nearby car parking, withplicated thoughts in his mind.


    ''Isn''t this the same dungeon¡­ It''s the ''hidden dungeon of Maya'' which Fade never got to conquer and had to retreat from, due to injuries¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio stared at the parking area for a while and several thoughts flew by in his mind.


    ''Things are getting interesting all of a sudden¡­'' (Rio)


    Originally, Rio didn''t know the exact location of the dungeon because it wasn''t mentioned in the novel.


    What he only knew was that it was located on an abandoned floor of the basement in the car parking area, near a very famous hotel.


    Now, their current situation is very simr to all the above-


    mentioned requirements.


    ''Although I am not sure, but since Fade has followed us here, then this must be the same dungeon¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio knew that the protagonist''s halo doesn''t lie, if the area is simr to the one described in the novel and even the protagonist is nearby, then it''s obvious that your random guess is true.


    Thinking this far Rio shook his head.


    ''Fade my guy, you really are my lucky star, you brought me to one of your chances on your own¡­ what a great protagonist you are, I will make sure to steal your chances and leave nothing behind for you again to pay back for your help¡­'' (Rio)


    Thinking about all this a devilish smile appeared on Rio''s face, if someone outside had looked at the window of Rio''s room right now, they would have fainted from fear due to his viinous smile.


    ''Magnificent¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Oh boy, the professional thief is on his job again. A new target has appeared it seems. All hail the professional thief Rio!


    Question of the Day.


    Do you think Fade could have won against Link if not for Raji''s intervention?


    1.No (He was just bluffing and if not even Rio can cut Link, then how would the measly Fade go about doing it¡­)


    2.Yes (Perhaps plot armor will stretch the way for him.)


    3.Others. (I don''t know anything, I just hate this guy Fade to the core!!! Kill him!!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 128 The Shouting Link...

    <h4>Chapter 128 The Shouting Link... </h4>


    Rio took a rxing bath andter, sat on the couch while looking at the TV.


    He had already thought of everything he was going to do tomorrow, and now it''s time to rx and kill some time.


    While lying on the couch in afortable position, Rio felt rxed all over his body and he kept listening to the news on the TV.


    ¡­


    (Listen to the News.)


    "Hello everyone, I am John, a veteran anchor. Now I will tell you some short news in under 5 minutes¡­" (John)


    The anchor touched a hologram which showed a screen full of various bar graphs and data charts on it.


    "As you can see from this data, the expenditure of the military has increased further in the past few months and this has caused an increase in the number of people, who speak against the government''s policies¡­" (John)


    The anchor then switched to a video of a dam explosion.


    "A wanted criminal was caught by the awakeners two days ago, unfortunately, the criminal destroyed the dam in his attempt to escape, and the awakeners had to neutralize him on the spot to save the lives of several civilians¡­" (John)


    "An S-ranker had toe forward to keep the dam water at bay and stop it from flooding the civilian area¡­" (John)


    The anchor continued to switch the hologram screen again and again while exining various incidents in short.


    "Today arge crowd gathered on the road to get a small glimpse of their idol Raji Croft, but due to the ck tints of the car windows no one was able to achieve sess¡­" (John)


    "It is said that the guards pushed the fans harshly, resulting in minor injuries and great dissatisfaction over the inte¡­" (John)


    "Severalizensined saying ''The SS-rankers should at least give them a nce for all this effort'' but there were no responses from the management teams working under Ms. Raji¡­" (John)


    "It is said that Ms. Raji has gone to the Hotel ''Devalya'' with several of her students today, manyizens spected that it must be a training trip¡­" (John)


    "Currently arge number of fans are surrounding the Hotel in hope of catching a glimpse of Ms. Raji''s graceful presence¡­" (John)


    (And the news went on and on¡­)


    ¡­


    Rio looked at the anchor with confusion in his mind.


    ''Hmm, didn''t he say he would only shortly exin the news, why did he start rambling about Raji so much...'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and decided to pay it no mind.


    ''As for that criminal, it must be Elio''s doing¡­ that guy was dered dead on the TV but they must have kept him in the same hidden prison¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and didn''t think about it too much, he didn''t care about the characters who were not important to the plot of the story, moreover, that''s a very chaotic type of guy.


    Elio has a maniacal and evil personality, he is supposed to be a random third-rate viin, his only importance to the plot is, for Fade to eliminate him someday and get famous for defeating a criminal, it''s just that and nothing more.


    Thus Rio didn''t even care about it.


    ''Hmm, let''s leave this matter forter, I shouldn''t think about other events, when I still have to make good use of this ''Hidden Dungeon''¡­'' (Rio)


    *Knock*


    Just when Rio was busy thinking about random things in his head, he heard a knock on his door.


    ''What does this guy need now? Does he have no better things to do, aside from pestering me for no reason? Tch!'' (Rio)


    Rio kept his mana detection skill active all the time, thus he already knew who was standing at his door. (Yeah, he keeps it activated even in sleep, in fact, he''s so proficient at this point, that he can do it with muscle memory easily...)


    Rio got up from the couchzily and walked towards the door. He stretched his hand and opened the door slowly with the same expressionless face as usual.


    "What do you need?" (Rio)


    A dark red-haired boy appeared in Rio''s vision.


    "Well, can Ie insi-" (Link)


    "I don''t let boys in my room¡­ go away!" (Rio)


    *m*


    Rio immediately shut him up and mmed the door close.


    Rio was frowning in his mind and wanted to watch the TV in peace, he didn''t want to waste his time on the ramblings of some random ''happy-go-lucky'' guy.


    *Knock! Knock! Knock!*


    Just when Rio was about to go back, Link started to knock on the door aggressively and he shouted at the top of his lungs outside.


    "Let me in!!!!" (Link)


    ''F*ck you!'' (Rio)


    Rio was frustrated at Link howling outside of his room at the top of his lungs.


    In the end, Rio had no choice but to let Link in, otherwise, if Link kept howling like that, Raji would beat the Sh*t out of them both.


    Rio opened the door and Let Link in. Only then did Link stop howling like a mad beast. Link''s shouts startled all the guests and staff members in the hotel and Rio felt weird just thinking about their reaction.


    ''How did I end up getting caught up in this bullsh*t¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio could do nothing but shake his head in frustration at Link''s weird behaviors.


    Link is the only guy who can make Rio this much annoyed and frustrated with just his few actions.


    ¡­


    Lia''s room.


    Riya and Lia were ying cards at the moment.


    Just then Link''s howling voice was heard by them.


    *LEEEEETTTTT MEEEEEE INNNNNNN AAAAARRRHRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!*


    Riya was startled by Link''s shout so much that she jumped on the bed like a frightened rabbit.


    "W-what!? What just happened!?" (Riya)


    Due to the sudden shock Riya''s candies fell from her hand and got scattered all over the bed, Lia frowned at the fact that her bed was now ruined by this girl jumping around on it.


    Lia shrugged her shoulder in annoyance and said:


    "He must have gone mad, Ms. Raji will beat him for shouting like that¡­." (Lia)


    Hearing Lia''s remarks, a concerned look appeared on Riya''s cute face.


    "T-that¡­" (Riya)


    Lia shook her head and said:


    "Don''t worry, I don''t think it would be anything serious, I think the punishment would be over with one p or a kick I think¡­ but who knows~" (Lia)


    Riya pictured her sister Kicking Link in her mind and it felt kind of weird, so she stopped thinking and went back to collecting her candies.


    "My lovely candies¡­." (Riya)


    Riya shed small tears for the loss of those rare candies. (She forgot about Link''s dilemma at the very mention of those candies¡­ Link my guy, it seems you are not gonna win against those candies ever¡­)


    ¡­


    (A few minutes ago.)


    Meeting room.


    Raji sat on the head seat and sipped the wine from the ss that she held in her right hand. Her left hand rested on the chair''s arm. She looked like a female CEO, passing the time in her office.


    The owner of the hotel stood nearby and poured wine for her with his own hands, several other staff members and shareholders stood nearby with their heads bowing towards Raji.


    They dared not look at her directly and since they didn''t get permission from her to sit, they didn''t dare to sit on their respective chairs either.


    Raji''s aura intimidated all of them.


    The owner had a smile stered on his face, he poured wine for Raji and said:


    "Uh, Ms. Raji, it''s our pleasure that a noble person like you came down to personally solve this crisis for us¡­.." (Owner)


    The ownerughed sheepishly and his fat belly bounced whenever he giggled.


    Although he was also nervous and fearful like the others, as the owner of this ce he had to be courageous enough, he had no choice but to greet and please Raji as much as possible.


    He knew that Raji could shatter his whole hotel with a single sneeze of hers and no one would even take his side if she dered him guilty.


    (The power in the hands of SS-rankers is no joke, the SS-


    rankers are revered as ''demigods'' by humans of this world. It won''t be surprising for the current government to be changed if the SS-rankers demanded it tomorrow.)


    (Fortunately, most SS-rankers are great people with considerate personalities, otherwise, if they abused their powers, human society would not have been able to function properly for so long¡­)


    Raji nced at the owner and said in her usual cold tone:


    "No need to exaggerate it, I am just trying to train the future pirs of humanity, while also taking care of this dungeon¡­ it''s just killing two birds with one stone¡­" (Raji)


    Raji didn''t care about the hidden dungeon at all. The dungeon opened in the basement of the car parking building of this hotel.


    The hid the information about the opening of this new dungeon from the public eye and wanted to get the various riches for themselves. (The mana stone or artifacts etc. which are found in the dungeon¡­)


    The owner had some contacts with the alliance and wanted to hire people to clear the dungeon for him. And since the academy was also looking for a ce to train the students Raji immediately epted this task for the students.


    (Originally Raji would have been busy chasing Fade with Ashtel because he would have fatally wounded Link around this time. Now the timeline has changed a lot.)


    "You can keep all the mana stones as the contract was established, aside from whatever the students find for themselves and want to keep, you can get the rest¡­" (Raji)


    Although the Owner was worried that the students would end up taking everything away, he didn''t darein.


    Even though he was not an awakener, he had dealt with many awakeners before, he knew that if he dared toin, Raji would sense it immediately.


    (This guy made a good choice, Raji could have heard him cursing at her from 100''s of kilometers away¡­)


    (This is also the reason why people in the capital city dare not say anything bad about the SS-rankers, there''s a popr saying don''t talk bad about the demigods, because they will hear it¡­ privacy? What''s that? Never heard of it at all!!)


    ...


    Just when the two were talking, Link''s howls resounded throughout the hotel.


    *LEEEEETTTTT MEEEEEE INNNNNNN AAAAARRRHRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!*


    The whole meeting room went silent all of a sudden after that shout.


    An awkward atmosphere spread, but no one dared say anything at all.


    Raji''s cold face turned even colder and she gritted her teeth.


    *shatter*


    The wine ss in her hand shatters into pieces.


    Everyone gulped their saliva in fear and didn''t dare to even move an inch, for fear of getting beaten.


    "Tch!...." (Raji)


    Raji shook her head in annoyance, she picked up another ss of wine and continued to sip like nothing had happened.


    The owner signaled the servants to clean the floor and continued to pour the wine with a solemn expression on his face.


    ''Ah I nearly had a heart attack, I think I lost 10 kg weight just by standing here today¡­.'' (Owner)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Authors'' Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved Author is here! It''s the 20th day of continuous uploads. Let''s Go!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also have annoying friends like Link or not?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 129 Rio, A Best-Friend...

    <h4>Chapter 129 Rio, A Best-Friend... </h4>


    With great reluctance, Rio finally allowed Link to enter his room.


    "Hahaha, I knew you would agree you are my best friend! Dahahaha" (Link)


    Linkughed at the top of his lungs, his voice was so loud that Rio felt like pping him on the face, but since he knew that his p would likely not do any damage to Link''s thick-skinned face, Rio decided to put it behind his mind for the moment.


    (Rio is not wrong about Link''s solid physique though, Link indeed has a better defense than a huge city wall. At the current level of his abilities, he can take a few casual hits from an S-ranker too.)


    ¡­


    (Link''s current status)


    <Status>


    [Name: Link Rex]


    [ss: Martial Artist]


    [Rank: B++] [Max Rank Potential: SSS+]


    [HP: 15000/15000] [MP: 4000/4000]


    [STR: 103/120] [SPE: 81/100] [AGI: 87/ 100] [DEF: 1110/120] [INT: 78/100]


    [Talent: Martial Aptitude (SSS), Enhanced Vitality (SS), Dragon''s Physique (SS)]


    [Techniques: Intermediate Martial Arts (B++), Dragon Arts (B++)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Extremeprehension (B++)


    [Skills: Body Enhancement (B++), Draconian Movement Arts (B++), Dragon''s Aura (B++)]


    [Passive Skills: Fast Recovery (SS)]


    [Evaluation: You have enough talent to make even heavens envious of you, due to which you will be targeted several times and you will always be facing bad luck, but you seem to have found the path to defy the heavens itself.]


    (Here, as you can see, Link has awakened a new talent, ''Dragon''s Physique'' which has granted him a physique much stronger than a human can possibly have, this is the reason his max stats in strength and defense have increased beyond the scope of an A-ranker.)


    (For a normal person, awakening a new talent is as difficult as trying to achieve ''Enlightenment'' but for people with monstrous talents, like Link, awakening a new talent is just a matter of some opportunities.)


    (Link awakened this talent when he witnessed Jin gain enlightenment (Ch 82). Link had been having a hard time keeping up with the insane speed of Rio at that time, thus to get an upper hand on Rio, Link awakened this talent, which increased his defenses to a ridiculous amount.)


    (Sometimes Defense is the best offense, as long as your defense stat is high enough, you can just stand there menacingly and let the opponents attack and let them see their insignificance.)


    (Nowadays, Link''s defense and strength stat is already equal to a newly ascended S-ranker.)


    (Simply speaking Link is too ''OP'' for us normies¡­. It''s as simple as that¡­.)


    ¡­


    (Okay, back to the chapter, that''s enough praise for Link, at least for today¡­)


    Link entered the room without any hesitation and directly sat on the couch like it was his own, he seemed to be enjoying the experience of annoying Rio.


    Rio went ahead and made a cup of tea for both of them.


    With the cup of tea in his hand, he sat as far away from Link as possible and then asked with his usual emotionless tone.


    "So, what did you want to talk about, don''t tell me that you came here toin about those candypanies again..." (Rio)


    Link opened his mouth in shock at Rio''s remark, he wanted to ask ''How did you know!?'' but Rio beat him to it.


    "I know because youined about it more than a hundred times already! I have been hearing the sameints for days now! If you dare talk about those candies again¡­" (Rio)


    "I will go and tell that candy girl, that you hate candies!" (Rio)


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s face:


    "Oh boy~ what would Riya''s reaction be then, it would be amazing to watch¡­ (Rio)


    While saying that Rio shook his head, and red at Link as if saying ''I dare you to say that again now!''.


    And Rio was right, Link really didn''t dare to utter the name ''Candy'' once after Rio''s warning.


    He didn''t want to let Riya know that he was against those candies.


    (Fun fact- If Riya found out that Link didn''t like those candies, she would never touch those candies in her life, ever again¡­ unless Link himself said that he didn''t hate them¡­)


    (But of course, she will re at Link with angry eyes and will stop talking to him. And Link might not be able to withstand such strong emotional attacks from her.)


    ...


    "Ahem! Let''s forget about that, I want to talk about a very bizarre thing that I have noticed recently¡­" (Link)


    Link sipped the tea and talked with aplicated and emotional tone.


    Rio raised his eyebrows and a slight frown appeared on his emotionless face.


    "What? Is it about the fact that you are getting fatter every day?" (Rio)


    Link nced at Rio with a weird look on his face and said:


    "Come on Bro, I am serious right now, moreover I am not even fat, I am just a bit muscr that''s all¡­" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s remarks, Rio shrugged his shoulder and replied:


    "Oh, it seems you haven''t noticed yourself getting fat yet, but oh well¡­ forget it¡­." (Rio)


    At Rio''s remarks, Link red at Rio fiercely while Rio ignored his ring eyes. The atmosphere became awkward for a moment.


    "Ahem! Okay let''s get back to the topic, ahem!" (Link)


    "Yeah¡­" (Rio)


    ¡­


    (After a few minutes of awkwardness...)


    In the end, Link shook his head and continued with the topic, forgetting about Rio''s teasing remarks.


    "Recently I have noticed, that whenever I look at that guy Fade¡­. I feel irritated and angry for no reason at all¡­. It''s all very bizarre¡­." (Link)


    "How do I exin¡­ it''s like, Fade is a natural enemy of mine¡­. It''s difficult to exin and very weird to think about¡­." (Link)


    "I have never met Fade before the academy, but ever since the starting days of the academy I feel hatred and anger for him¡­ I have no reason to hate him, then why¡­" (Link)


    "It''s like a mysterious force is¡­. Is making me push against that guy Fade¡­. I know it''s bizarre to hear about but you have to believe me¡­. I don''t think anyone else will believe what I am trying to exin¡­" (Link)


    "Ugh¡­ my head hurts thinking about this thing¡­." (Link)


    While saying all this Link continued to stare at the cup of tea and a frown appeared on his handsome face.


    What he didn''t notice was the fact, that hearing all this from Link, Rio felt Goosebumps all over his body for the first time since he came to this world. Rio''s eyes widened in sheer shock and he even forgot to sip his favorite tea.


    The thing that Rio had heard from Link''s mouth was indeed that shocking for him.


    ''F*ck, just how much of a monstrous talent do you have Link!?'' (Rio)


    Rio was so shocked because Link had felt the presence of the heavenly luck and the threads of destiny, by sheer talent!!!


    This is as insane as saying ''The sun rose from the west today and the rain poured upwards instead of downwards!''


    ''Sigh~ I nearly forgot that this is a real-world, and not a novel anymore, this guy sitting in front of me is the most talented individual of this ''Millennia'', he has the talent to overshadow the world in his palm¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Given enough time, Link could even be equal to the heavens itself¡­'' (Rio)


    Indeed, just noticing the presence of that mysterious force driving hatred between Fade and himself, Link had already proved his insane existence.


    Rio would not be shocked if the reason why Link was eliminated as the very first viin in the novel was because he had the capability to control his fate in his own hands.


    But Rio couldn''t tell the truth to Link, if Link wanted to find the truth he would have to look for it himself, otherwise, this would stunt his growth and make him question the existence of this world itself.


    ''I shouldn''t destroy the future of a friend, it''s better if he finds it himself, otherwise, it would be too hard for him to ept the truths of this world¡­'' (Rio)


    (What Rio didn''t notice was that, without him knowing it himself, Rio had already considered Link as a friend of his own. Link is now considered the second friend Rio has ever had in his two lives. The first one was the one who gave him this novel.)


    Rio shook his head and replied to Link with a vague answer.


    "I think you should focus on finding out that mysterious force, who knows if you might actually get an opportunity to go further¡­ to me it all sounds like a mysterious hidden opportunity¡­" (Rio)


    Link nced at Rio with doubt in his eyes and asked:


    "It feels like this ''Mysterious force'' is too beyond and vast for me to fathom, it''s kind of like trying to contain the vast ocean in your palm¡­" (Link)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and replied:


    "You have the talent, in my opinion not to mention the ocean, you have the talent to have the whole world in your palms, don''t doubt yourself, you are strong¡­." (Rio)


    "Just work hard enough, that''s all I can say¡­ if you consider me a friend, then take my advice¡­ and don''t fall off to the wrong path¡­" (Rio)


    After saying those vague words, Rio shook his head and continued to sip his tea.


    Link stared at Rio for a while before finally nodding his head.


    A look of determination appeared on his face and his doubtful eyes finally became firm. He seems to have found his way out from the dense forest of fog.


    His dark red eyes shined with brilliance again and a smile appeared on his face.


    At that moment, Link had found his ''Path''.


    Now all that''s left is to walk on it and reach the peak of this world.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also have good and knowledgeable friends like Rio, who help you in times of trouble?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 130 Roommates and Friendships!

    <h4>Chapter 130 Roommates and Friendships! </h4>


    After Rio and Link drank tea and watched TV for a while, the room fell silent, and no one talked anymore. Rio nced at Link, hinting for him to leave, but Link was not nning on leaving; he was ready to pester Rio further.


    "Ahem! Can''t I just stay here today? I will sleep on the couch¡­" (Link)


    Rio looked at Link weirdly and said, "Just go away, I don''t want to sleep with a guy¡­" (Rio)


    *Noooooo-*


    Link again shouted at the top of his lungs, but this time his shout was cut short when a certain frost mage sealed his mouth with ice. Raji had entered the room without them even noticing.


    *p*


    Link''s eyes widened in surprise, and before he could say anything, a pnded on his face. The impact from the p made Link fly away, and his head got embedded in the wall.


    "Tch! So noisy!" (Raji)


    Raji nced at Rio for a second but shook her head and didn''t say anything to him. She red at Link once again and left the room without caring about anything else.


    While out of the room, Raji had aplex look on her face; she nced at her hand in doubt.


    ''Hmm, when did that kid get so strong¡­ he used to faint from those ps¡­ now he has grown so much¡­ time flies by so fast¡­'' (Raji)


    (This is not the first time she beat up Link; she has done the same many times before. Link was a mischievous kid in his childhood days, and with her short temper, Raji used to get irritated every once in a while by Link''s behavior, and what used to follow after that was a p of benevolence.)


    Raji shook her hand and walked away. Although she was surprised that Link had grown to such amazing heights, she was happier than before.


    ¡­


    Rio nced between the open door and Link, withplicated thoughts in his head.


    ''Well, you brought it on yourself; you should have taken into consideration that she could alsoe here¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio just shook his head at Link''s misery.


    "Ugh.." (Link)


    Link pulled his head out of the wall, and debris flew around everywhere. Link touched his face and felt it burning hot from that p. A p mark was imprinted on Link''s face.


    Link touched his face and frowned.


    ''Ugh, I cked out for a moment just from that p¡­'' (Link)


    Link used to faint for hours from these ps before, but now he barely cks out for a few seconds from it.


    ''I have progressed quite a lot¡­'' (Link)


    Link nodded his head in satisfaction at that thought. (He used those ps to sometimes measure his progress¡­ Link really has an optimistic mindset.)


    "Okay, now get out of my room. I don''t want it to be destroyed further¡­" (Rio)


    Just as Link was busy nodding his head in satisfaction, Rio gave his ultimatum.


    "Ugh, okay okay, I will leave¡­" (Link)


    After saying that, Link shook his head and left with firm steps. (He kept rubbing his face while leaving¡­)


    ¡­


    Lia''s Room.


    "As I said, this one is the ultra-rare candy, this one is the rare candy, and this one is the super rare one¡­ do you understand now?" (Riya)


    "Y-yeah, I think so¡­" (Lia)


    While Riya stared at the candies in her hand and exined with a serious look on her face, Lia had a doubtful expression on her face.


    ''Aren''t they all just the same!? What do you mean ultra or super!?'' (Lia)


    Although Lia agreed and said she understood, she couldn''t differentiate between those simr-looking candies at all; she couldn''t even grasp what was the point of all this.


    Everything Riya tried to exin to her seemed so bizarre and difficult to understand.


    But Riya didn''t care at all; she puffed out her chest with pride and said in a confident tone:


    "It took me a lot of effort to sneak around and get these candies from my sister''s hidden snacks; hehe¡­ she doesn''t even know about it¡­." (Riya)


    While saying that, Riya smiled from ear to ear, as if she was proud of being able to sneak under the nose of an SS-ranker.


    "I-is that so?" (Lia)


    ''There''s no way an SS-ranker couldn''t detect you sneaking around¡­ she must have long known about your sneaky activities¡­'' (Lia)


    (Of course, Raji knows; she just doesn''t care, and she only frowns at her weird activities. In fact, Raji thinks that Riya is a gluttonous girl, thus Raji never stops her from eating as much as she wants. Raji is the one who spoiled her so much in the first ce.)


    Suddenly, Riya''s gaze fell on Lia, and her eyes narrowed. She nced down andpared, but the result was still devastating, so her confidence flew away again like air escaping from a balloon.


    She stared at Lia for a long time before saying:


    "Uh, how do you make them¡­ like¡­. Big¡­" (Riya)


    "W-what? What are you talking about¡­" (Lia)


    "N-nothing¡­" (Riya)


    Riya shook her head and rolled her eyes. She avoided Lia''s gaze and nced at those mountains and curves every once in a while.


    Lia tilted her head in confusion at Riya''s sudden weird behavior, but she didn''t ask further.


    ¡­


    Liam''s Room.


    "No! I want the handmade food! I want the handmade one!" (Ellie)


    Liam nced at Ellie, who was rolling on the floor and throwing tantrums at him with a troubled look on his face.


    "Can''t you just eat the one the staff members gave¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s remarks, Ellie red at him with hatred in her eyes.


    "Noo! I asked them for food and they gave me dog food! Do they think I am a pet dog! Just because I am a summoned beast! The audacity of these humans!!" (Ellie)


    "Such sphemy to the name of a great dragon like me!! They had the nerve to expect me to eat Dog food!?, And you want me to eat that too!?" (Ellie)


    "I want your handmade food!!! Give me the food!!!" (Ellie)


    While throwing tantrums, Ellie continued to roll on the ground all over the room, and she didn''t let Liam get an ounce of sleep at all. Her stomach rumbled from hunger like a beast''s howl.


    Liam could only look at all this with a troubled face and doubt himself.


    ''Aren''t dragons supposed to eat just pure mana and live without any need for mortal foods and sustenance? Is it perhaps my dragon has some manufacturing fault in it or something!?¡­ ugh! Where do I ask for a refund!?'' (Liam)


    Liam had no choice; he got up from his bed and went to the kitchen to cook a simple meal for Ellie, and he couldn''t sleep if she kept throwing tantrums at him like that.


    Seeing that Liam finally agreed to her request, a


    huge smile appeared on Ellie''s face, and her eyes shined brightly in anticipation. She immediately stopped rolling on the floor and went to the kitchen to stare at the food Liam was going to make.


    Liam nced at Ellie standing beside him and sighed withplicated emotions.


    ''My dragon seems to have a manufacturing defect¡­.it throws tantrums like a kid¡­. Sigh~'' (Liam)


    (The thing is, Liam was the one who made Ellie addicted to his hand-cooked food. If not for Liam to feed her such delicious food, she would have never even thought about eating the food humans eat.)


    ¡­


    Fade''s room.


    While Fade was sleeping peacefully on hisfy bed, Link''s high-pitched wails entered his ears.


    *LEEEEETTTTT MEEEEEE INNNNNNN AAAAARRRHRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!*


    Fade got up from his bed in shock. Link''s voice made him tense all of a sudden and jumped up from his bed like a frightened rabbit.


    "W-what!?" (Fade)


    For a few seconds, Fade was bewildered by that sudden scream, and then it dawned on him that it was nothing but Link screaming for no reason.


    His face twisted in anger, and he shouted.


    "F*CKING Rick bast*rd! Can''t even let me sleep in peace! Why are you wailing like that!? Once I be strong enough, I will beat the sh*t out of you! And then we will see how you cry then!!" (Fade)


    After cursing at Link a few more times, Fade finally calmed down, and the fear subsided. Ever since Rio made his system crash, Fade has be prone to fear and gets frightened quite easily nowadays.


    Fade shook his head and went back to sleep after Link''s voice died down.


    In a few seconds, he fell asleep again. He is a restless sleeper and rolls all over the bed in sleep.


    (After a few minutes.)


    *rumble* (Raji pped Link and embedded him in the wall, which made the building rumble for a second.)


    The building rumbled all of a sudden, and Fade, who was sleeping at the edge of the bed, fell down in fright; he directly kissed the floor again. (He should marry the floor at this point¡­)


    Fade got up in fright; his face twisted in sheer anger, and he growled in hatred at the ceiling.


    "F*ck you! I will kill you!!!" (Fade)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s the 22nd day of continuous uploads. Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Which room you would want to be in?


    1. Rio''s room (You will get served the best tea you would have ever drunk in your life.)


    2. Lia''s room (Get the candy speech from the candy expert Riya.)


    3. Liam''s room (Witness a faulty dragon throwing tantrums and rolling on the ground like a kid.)


    4. Fade (Beat this guy!!)


    Hidden option:


    5. Author''s room (Witness the author write these heavenly chapters beforehand! Just kidding you would have to serve him tea if you choose this room.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 131 Just One Candy...

    <h4>Chapter 131 Just One Candy... </h4>


    The day of the raid, 8:45 AM.


    Rio left his room 15 minutes before the scheduled time. He closed the door of his room and nced at the nearby room''s door.


    The door of the room opened, and Lia walked out of the room, dragging the sleepy Riya with her.


    "Uuuuunnnngg~ let me sleep five more minutes~" (Riya)


    "No, we will bete if you don''t get up now¡­ ah, you are also here, Rio, let''s go together then!" (Lia)


    As Lia scolded Riya with a concerned look on her cute face, she noticed Rio standing nearby and asked him to join them too.


    *Bang*


    The door of Link''s Room burst open with a loud sound. (He identally put so much strength into opening the door that it broke off the frame and fell on the floor¡­)


    "Ugh, why are these doors so fragile!? Even the academy dorms have better doors than this!" (Link)


    ''Herees the headache¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head at Link shouting in such a loud voice. Obviously, Link didn''t learn a thing from yesterday''s p either.


    Suddenly, Link nced at the trio, and a wide smile appeared on his handsome face.


    "Oh, good morning, all of you!" (Link)


    Link walked towards the trio, and just when he was close enough, he directly punched Rio in the face.


    Rio had already anticipated this to happen, so he immediately dodged the attack by simply tilting his head slightly. The power from that punch caused the air pressure to increase, and a small shockwave spread around the corridor.


    The ss windows at the end of the corridor had their sses broken from that shockwave.


    Riya and Lia both were startled by this sudden turn of events. Lia covered Riya behind her to protect her from the shockwave.


    "W-what!? What are you doing Link!?" (Riya)


    Hearing Riya''s startled voice, Link retracted his hand back and smiled with a satisfied smile on his face.


    "Oh, nothing, it''s just our way of greeting each other! Haha¡­ but man! I thought I wouldnd the punch this time! I guess not! Hahaha" (Link)


    Rio just shook his head at Link''s remarks. This is not the first time Link has done such bizarre things, but Link couldn''tnd a single attack on Rio, so he didn''t care.


    ''It''s not like he would stop his bizarre ways of greeting others, even if I ask him to stop anyway, sigh~'' (Rio)


    ''How did I end up in this mess¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at Lia, who was looking at Link with anger on her cute face, and said:


    "Ignore him, he''s just doing it for attention¡­ Hey candy girl, don''t talk to Link today for his rudeness¡­. Here, I will give a candy in return¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Riya nced at Link and then at the candy. In the end, she epted the candy with a reluctant look on her face. A determined expression appeared on her face, and she nodded her head at Rio.


    "Okay! Deal!" (Riya)


    Link looked at this with a bewildered look on his face.


    "W-what!? How can you do that to me!!!?" (Link)


    Riya pouted her cheeks and looked away from Link. She had taken themission, so she couldn''t go against it now. Riya unwrapped the candy and tossed it in her mouth while avoiding the bewildered look on Link''s face.


    Seeing that Riya was really ignoring him, Link red at Rio with bloodshot eyes.


    "Y-you!" (Link)


    Rio''s ultimate technique to make Link jealous and angry worked extremely well. With just a single candy, he made Link feel guilty for his actions.


    (Rio is Link''s friend; that''s why Riya epted that candy from him without any caution. If it was someone else offering her candy, she would not agree.)


    (Her sister has taught her not to take candies from strangers. So you guys should also follow her example and not take candies from strangers, even if it''s a beautiful girl who is giving it to you, okay!?)


    While Link red at Rio, Rio just shrugged his shoulders like nothing happened at all. Ignoring Link''s intense gaze, Rio brought out another candy and gave it to Lia.


    "Hmph, why not give it to Riya too!" (Lia)


    Lia also red at Rio with fierce eyes. She pouted her cheeks and refused to take the candy from Rio''s hand.


    "Well, okay then¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders. Seeing that Rio really was going to give the other candy to Riya too, Lia hurriedly snatched the candy from his hand. She unwrapped it and stuffed it in her mouth.


    "It''s mine!" (Lia)


    Lia red at Rio after stuffing the candy in her mouth. A slight smile appeared on Rio''s expressionless face; he stretched out his hand and patted Lia on the head in satisfaction.


    "Yeah, yeah, it''s yours~¡­." (Rio)


    Lia''s face turned bright red from Rio''s teasing voice, but she didn''t stop him from petting her.


    "T-this!!" (Link)


    Meanwhile, Link looked at all this with bloodshot eyes; he felt like he was being treated like a third wheel. Link''s face twisted in anger, and several veins appeared on his forehead.


    Rio nced at Link, whose anger was crossing the limit, and a smug look appeared on his face.


    Looking at that smug look, Link''s face twisted in anger further.


    ''Ugh, I want to punch a hole through this guy''s face! Ugh, but then again, he would just dodge it too!!!'' (Link)


    Just when Link was in a great dilemma, a cold voice resounded throughout the corridor.


    "Don''t waste time on ideal chit-chat¡­ hurry up!" (Raji)


    Hearing that voice, all four of them became serious and stopped ying around. Although Raji was not present here and only her voice was heard, they didn''t dare waste any more time and walked towards the dungeon gate in a hurry.


    ...


    Hotel Devalya, Car Parking area, abandoned basement.


    The group of four passed through a long and dark corridor and arrived at the basement area. Arge hall appeared in their view.


    "Ah, you are here, everyone, wee!" (Hotel owner)


    The hotel owner and several staff members were already standing nearby in therge hall. The staff members greeted Rio''s group with a smile on their faces and weed them warmly.


    Rio and others nced at the huge dungeon gate in the middle of the hall, and sure enough, Raji was standing near the gate with a cold look on her face.


    The four nodded at the staff and approached Raji. Raji nodded her head as a simple greeting to them, then she nced at the staff members and said with a frown on her face.


    "You guys leave this ce; the mana density around an A-rank gate is very high. If you stay here more than ten minutes, you all will end up fainting or, worse, you will fall into aa¡­" (Raji)


    The staff members felt relieved after hearing Raji.


    It wasmon knowledge that ordinary people couldn''t withstand high mana density areas, but they had to get permission to leave from Raji; they didn''t dare leave without her permission.


    The hotel owner nodded his head at Raji and left with the other staff members hurriedly. If not for the fact that he had to show enough courtesy and show Raji to the basement in person, he wouldn''t have even dared toe here in the first ce.


    Although he knew that Raji could find the gate easily, he still had to make sure not to neglect his duty. He dared not offend an SS-ranker who had a short-tempered personality.


    After the staff members left, Raji nced at the four of them and said:


    "Hmm, it seems the others are going to take some time to arrive¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at the gate and said in a reassuring tone:


    "Although this might be the first time you guys are going to raid an A-rank gate, don''t put too much pressure on yourselves¡­" (Raji)


    "With your talent, you just have to be a little bit careful, and you can definitely pass this test easily¡­" (Raji)


    "Keep in mind that you have to defeat the boss monster of the dungeon in 7 days of time¡­ don''t get entangled in meaningless fights and try to maintain a steady pace¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at Riya, who was nibbling on candies, and shook:


    "Also, don''t worry about any external threats; I will be keeping an eye out for you guys. Andstly, make sure to keep the healer safe; a healer is the most important asset for a party¡­" (Raji)


    "Understood!" (The four replied in unison.)


    Seeing their enthusiasm, Raji just shook her head and stopped worrying about it.


    ''They have grown up now; they have the strength to hold their ce in this cruel world now¡­'' (Raji)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I have opened my Discord server, guys, for any possible suggestion you have for the author; you can tell me there. The link is in the novel description.


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys also have a shrewd friend like Rio?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 132 Useless Fade...

    <h4>Chapter 132 Useless Fade... </h4>


    (Exining a few results of various types of research done by humanity''s greatest scientists on the phenomenon called ''Dungeon gate opening''. It is rmended to not skip this exnation to better understand the basic workings of this world.)


    The Space-time distortion theory:


    Several researchers have found that the inside space of a ''Dungeon gate'' is most of the time an imitation of a particr area in the universe.


    It is spected that the area inside a dungeon gate is an imitation of what lies outside the actual world. To prove this theory true, the scientistspared many real-world and dungeon-world environments, and it was found that this theory has some weight in it.


    Most of the ces on today''s ''Earth'' have suffered from war or destruction of some kind, and it is spected that the insides of a dungeon are generally an imitation of these catastrophic ces.


    Most scientists nowadays believe the gates to be a phenomenon caused by space-time distortion. Although it may sound ridiculous to an ordinary person, this theory has been proved many times with the help of awakeners all over the human empire.


    This theory states ''mana'' as an energy produced from the result of space-time distortion, which means if these space-time distortions cease to exist then ''mana'' will disappear from this world too.


    This also proves why the first SS-rankers only appeared after the opening of an SS-rank gate.


    One above all theory:


    Researchers who don''t agree with the ''Space-time distortion theory'' believe that the opening of dungeons has some kind of great being''s will behind them.


    They believe a great being is pulling the strings of fate for the various creatures and ying with them by unleashing monsters in their homes, just for his entertainment.


    That Supreme Being is considered as the ''God'' and creator of this world.


    This theory may sound like a religious script written by some cultists, but no, this theory has never been proved wrong by anyone either.


    Several awakeners in the long history of the human race have experienced a phenomenon called ''Enlightenment''. Whenever someone achieves ''Enlightenment'' they receive the ''Favor of heaven''s will'' buff.


    This buff in itself is a solid reason why many people specte that there''s a supreme being watching over this world. And if there is a supreme being in this world then the existence of these dungeon gates will make sense too.


    Moreover, this theory can also exin the bizarre existence of mana in this world. If this theory is correct then ''mana'' is nothing but a power given by that Supreme Being to entertain him, as he watches the awakeners struggle for survival.


    The parallel world or multiverse theory:


    A third group of scientists has proposed the theory, which states that the phenomenon of dungeon gates is nothing but a collision between this world and a parallel or different world.


    This random collision between worlds may be the reason, why the monsters of different worlds could enter this one, and the dungeon gates might be a ''Bridge'' connecting these two colliding worlds.


    This theory has only been proposed in recent years, but most of the human poption believes in this theory the most. This theory sounds more convincing to ordinary people and the awakeners.


    But this theory doesn''t urately exin the existence of ''mana'', so most scientists consider it as nonsense.


    ¡­


    Hotel Devalya, Car parking area, Abandoned Basement.


    After a few minutes of waiting, Liam also arrived at the ce.


    Liam looked at the Link and Rio and nodded his head as a greeting. Rio and Link also nodded their heads and returned the greeting.


    All three of them had already recognized each other as a rival and they considered each other worthy of respect.


    Liam greeted Raji and went off to stand with Link and Rio. Although Link, Rio, and Liam all were nearly equal in terms of strength, Link was unanimously considered the leader of the group.


    Rio didn''t care who led the group and Liam didn''t want to bother talking and interact with others at all. So, Link was made the team leader without any disputes.


    Eventually, Fade and Kira also arrived and the party was now ready to go.


    Raji nced at Link and gave him a small box.


    "This box has hundreds of nano-cameras in it, when you enter the dungeon just scatter them in the air and I will be able to see whatever is happening inside the dungeon¡­" (Raji)


    "This way I will be able to keep an eye out for any external interferences¡­ so you guys can rest assured and focus your mind on this test¡­" (Raji)


    After saying that, Raji nced at Link and Fade with narrowed eyes and she said in a cold voice:


    "After going inside you all are members of the same team, and I will be keeping an eye on you all, it''s better to not cause any unnecessary trouble by creating useless disputes between the team members¡­" (Raji)


    "Keep your personal disputes away from the professional work life, this the way of sess, make sure you keep this in mind¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s remarks, everyone nodded their head and replied in a united and loud voice:


    "Understood!"


    Raji nodded her head after hearing their response.


    "Okay, enter the dungeon now, don''t waste any more time standing here!" (Raji)


    At Raji''s orders, everyone entered the dungeon one by one.


    ¡­


    Inside the Dungeon of Maya.


    Just when Rio entered the dungeon he felt that the mana in the surroundings was extremely chaotic and extreme, this extreme environment can kill anyone below C-rank from severe mana deviations.


    Rio immediately looked at Lia and said:


    "Cover yourself and Riya with ''Spirit barrier'', the mana here is too chaotic." (Rio)


    [Ding! You have entered ''The Dungeon of Maya''!]


    [Ding! You have entered an extremely chaotic and violent mana-contaminated zone!]


    [Ding! Due to the chaotic mana, the chance of mana deviation increases tremendously¡­. Error¡­. ''True Immunity has been triggered!]


    [Ding! Due to the skill ''True Immunity'' you are unaffected by the chaotic mana!]


    ''As expected¡­ ''True Immunity'' still works beautifully as usual¡­'' (Rio)


    While Rio marveled at the awesomeness of his skills.


    Others were a bitte in reacting to this chaotic mana and felt ufortable all over their body.


    Liam immediately covered himself with Ellie''s shadow field to nullify the effects of this chaotic mana on himself. Ellie is a dragon and mana is like food for dragons, so Liam was unfazed.


    Link didn''t even feel any changes at all, he has the ''Dragon''s physique'' talent, and so chaotic mana or any other mana doesn''t cause him to even flinch at all.


    Rio had already warned Lia, thus she immediately summoned Kai and protected herself and Riya with the ''Spirit magic''. Although Kai was annoyed by the sudden summoning, he still sat on Lia''s shoulder and faithfully protected her from harm.


    "Blergh!" (Fade)


    Fade immediately spit a mouthful of blood the very moment he came into contact with the chaotic mana and he nearly fainted, he already had a minor mana deviation the very first moment he entered the dungeon.


    Kira immediately brought out a protection artifact and shielded both of them from harm. If Fade fell unconscious, they would have to take him out of the dungeon for proper treatment, but that would mana their dungeon raid would fail.


    (If anyone is confused about why this happened, then let me tell you why. Rio stole ''True Immunity'' that was meant for Fade and now Fade doesn''t have proper ways to shield himself from various strange phenomena.)


    (Moreover, in his desire for fast progress, Fade continued to put extreme stress on his body by repeatedly increasing his rank without giving proper time to his body to adapt.)


    Originally, Fade barely had the maximum potential of E-rank, but with the continuous upgrades of his maximum potential, he stressed his body and caused many loopholes and weaknesses.


    In the original novel, Fade did the very same thing, even though he had ''True Immunity'' at that time, his body could still feel extreme stress and thest straw was when he tried to upgrade in this dungeon, which caused him to get injure and the raid failed.


    He got carried out by his harem and then had to find a treatment. Eventually, that treatment-finding arc went on and on for a thousand chapters. He found the treatment and then finally ascended to A-rank.


    So, even if Fade had ''True Immunity'' right now, the same thing would still happenter from his own mistakes, this is the miserable life of a protagonist¡­.


    During the time, when Fade was looking for a way to heal his hidden injuries, he was mocked by others and wasn''t able to advance further¡­. Yeah, the ssic troupe of being bullied and then rising from the bottom to the top like a rocket and beating everyone in one fell swoop.


    ¡­


    While Kira tried to stabilize Fade''s condition with a healing potion, everyone else nced at Fade with a look of annoyance and disgust.


    Even Raji, who was looking at all this from the cameras that Link scattered earlier, was utterly disappointed. She shook her head in annoyance after looking at Fade wasting the time of everyone.


    ''Sigh~ the protagonist is always such an attention seeker¡­ to get attention the protagonist can even go as far as injuring themselves too¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! It''s the 24th day of continuous upload schedule! Let''s Go!!


    Question of the day.


    Have you seen anyone more annoying and useless than Fade?


    1.Yes (AQUA mentioned! rrraaagggh wtf even is Brain!? raaaaagggghhh!)


    2.No (Fade is more irritating than anyone I have ever seen!!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 133 Damian and the three mystic orbs, part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 133 Damian and the three mystic orbs, part-1. </h4>


    ...


    Inside the dungeon of Maya, Outer Area.


    While Riya and Kira both tried to help Fade stabilize his situation, the others looked at this withplicated expressions on their faces.


    Although Link didn''t want Riya to heal this useless guy, as Fade was right now a member of their team and Raji was also keeping an eye on all of their actions, Link didn''t stop Riya from healing Fade.


    A healer must heal the injured party members they must try to save the injured person''s life, till hisst breath, that''s the duty of a healer.


    If Riya neglected her duty and refused to heal Fade, then she would not be considered a proper healer anymore. (It''s simr to how the Doctors take a pledge to try their best and never harm a patient¡­)


    [Ding! The mana in the surroundings is bing more chaotic!]


    [Warning! The chaotic mana can cause dangerous magical phenomena to manifest!]


    With a sudden warning, the environment of the dungeon changed.


    Originally they were standing in a clearing, and towering trees surrounded them.


    But now the surroundings changed all of a sudden.


    ¡­


    Rio looked around and found himself standing in the middle of a vast desert.


    ''This is a battlefield, a war must have taken ce here¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio could see thousands of dead bodies scattered around the desert.


    Anywhere Rio looked there were corpses scattered around, the whole ce was full of broken weapons and mutted corpses, he could even see the dead body of a huge giant wyvern near the horizon.


    ''These corpses are in such bad conditions¡­ as if a shockwave has sted their bodies into pieces¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio could also see many different monsters and Demon corpses, lying with simr damage to them. Every corpse looked like the owner''s body sted out like a balloon.


    The innards of the bodies were scattered all around the bodies. If a faint-hearted person saw this scene they would faint at the very first sight of this horrible situation.


    ''Most of them seem to have died due to the same reason¡­ I think I know what has happened here¡­. And if my guess is correct, then I even know what this ce is¡­.'' (Rio)


    ''But the worst situation is¡­ '' (Rio)


    Rio nced behind him and sure enough, no one stood there. All party members were not present behind him, he stood there alone.


    ''¡­ I have been teleported to a different area of the dungeon¡­ The chaotic mana must have caused a random spatial shift¡­.'' (Rio)


    If you are confused ''Why did true immunity not trigger?'' it''s very simple, True Immunity doesn''t resist teleportation otherwise how would Rio travel from the academy to various ces of the world.


    If true immunity resisted teleportation, then Rio could have never been able to use a teleportation circle to travel, which would have been extremely inconvenient.


    True immunity is mainly triggered when these irregr phenomena cause harm to Rio, otherwise, it stays silent most of the time. ''True Immunity'' basically works against various irregr and malicious phenomena, it is useless against physical and magical attacks.


    But even then, Magical attacks like ''Hypnotize'' or other mental or spiritual attacks can still trigger ''True Immunity'' due to which these magical attacks are useless against Rio.


    (I would describe this skill in just two words for my awesome readers who skipped the whole exnation above as ''It''s Overpowered''.) (^-^)


    ¡­


    Since the mana in this area is extremely chaotic and difficult to detect, Rio could not use his mana detection skill in this ce properly, due to which he had to look around and use his senses to confirm that none of the party members were around.


    Rio nced at the clouds dark red clouds in the sky. The whole sky was covered with these dark red clouds, these red clouds are nothing but a manifestation caused by the chaotic mana.


    The whole desert''s sand under Rio''s feet was red and muddy from the blood of these corpses.


    Rio nced at his feet and he found that his shoes had also been covered with this ''bloody mud''.


    This ce is like something out of a literal nightmare.


    ''¡­ if my guess is correct, then this ce is an imitation of the scene right after the ''Perfect Mana Bomb'' was dropped on the Maya Continent by the demon Army¡­.'' (Rio)


    The Perfect Mana Bomb causes the mana to be extremely chaotic and anyone below C-rank is bound to die just from this.


    Moreover, the shockwave that spreads for thousands of kilometers contains highly dense mana, which will forcefully enter your body and explode you from the insides like a balloon explodes when too much air is pumped inside it.


    Dying in such a way is like suffering extreme torture and feeling the unbearable pain of your body being mutted and your bones and tendons being crushed slowly as your body intes with dense mana.


    *Poof* *Stter*


    Just when Rio was examining the situation around him, one more corpse exploded and the guts and organs sttered around everywhere.


    The corpse was lying on the ground just a few meters away from Rio, the blood nearly got on Rio too, but to prevent himself from getting dirty, Rio jumped back.


    ''It smells horrible, the stench is abysmal¡­ these corpses have been rotting for days now it seems¡­ rotting flesh sttering around everywhere¡­. This is like I have entered hell¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I should leave this ce and search for a way out, there''s no point in standing here and watching these corpses decay¡­'' (Rio)


    After deciding his next course of action, Rio moved with fast and light steps and decided to find a way out of this ce.


    Just when Rio walked for a few hundred meters, he suddenly heard a small painful cry from ahead. (He has amazing senses¡­)


    Rio slowly and cautiously walked towards the body of a woman, she seemed to be in herte 20s, and the woman seemed to be in extreme pain, she twitched from time to time and didn''t even notice Rio approaching her.


    When Rio stood right next to the woman, she tilted her head towards Rio and looked at him with blurred eyes. Her face was covered in blood and one of her eyeballs was hanging out of her face.


    "H-he¡­lp-"


    The woman tried to ask Rio for help, she wanted to get free from this endless torture, but before Rio could do anything, the woman''s head exploded on its own.


    Her brain matter flew out and the blood sttered everywhere. Her one intact eyeball which flew out andnded nearby, seemed to stare at Rio with sadness and infinite pain in it before it also exploded.


    Rio had already jumped back on time.


    He nced at the woman''s corpse and shook his head.


    ''She must have been one of the strongest people on this battlefield, otherwise she would not have been able to hold herself intact for this long¡­'' (Rio)


    Most of the strong people here on this battlefield have died from the mana shockwave, but this woman must have been at least a peak A-ranker to keep her mana in control for so long and protect herself from dying.


    ''She must have had a mana deviation too, but she tried her every effort to stop the chaotic mana from rushing into her body, till herst breath¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio nced at the woman for a few more time and finally decided to leave.


    ''There''s no mercy on the battlefield, I don''t have the luxury to help anyone here, even if I tried to pay respect and bury these corpses, these are all just imitations of the events that have happened in the past, this is just a dungeon, not the real world¡­'' (Rio)


    Although this scene is indeed tragic but, there are thousands of corpses on this battlefield and Rio doesn''t have the luxury to give proper respects to them at all.


    ''They must have all been past heroes who fought in the war with great might and courage¡­. I have my respects for these past warriors in my heart that''s all it matters¡­'' (Rio)


    Although Rio could not waste his time burying these thousands of corpses, he paid his respect in his heart and then decided to leave. (Don''t me him, he barely has emotions and he can''t feel any sadness at all¡­)


    ''Life is strange¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    (If you guys don''t remember what is the Maya continent and the perfect bomb, then go back and read the book all over again!) (T^T)


    ¡­


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved Author is here! This is the first time I am trying to write a gore and devastating scene, cut me some ck if it was not enough for your dark heart¡­ cough! Just kidding you have a pure heart cough!


    Question of the day.


    What do you guys think of this chapter?


    1.It''s scary (The author doesn''t know decency¡­)


    2.It''s mild (You must have seen many more horrible novels than this then¡­)


    3.It''s okay (Just okay enough, don''t need it to be more horrible¡­.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 134 Damian and the three mystic orbs. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 134 Damian and the three mystic orbs. Part-2. </h4>


    [Ding! The mana in the surroundings is bing more chaotic!]


    [Warning! The chaotic mana can cause dangerous magical phenomena to manifest!]


    What Rio didn''t know was that not only he but everyone had been teleported away randomly from their original ce.


    The micro-drones spread out and kept watch on everyone, though.


    Raji was not at all surprised by this sudden turn of events. In her younger days, she had seen such a strange phenomenon many times already. Thus, she didn''t bother meddling with it.


    She thought this might serve as a great experience for the studentster.


    ¡­


    Outer area, Foggy hills.


    Lia looked around her in shock. A few seconds ago, she was standing beside Riya and helping her protect against the chaotic mana, and now she stood here in the midst of nowhere.


    Everywhere she looked, her vision was blocked by dense fog.


    [Pick up that girl, Riya. She fainted due to the protection being undone for a few seconds!]


    Hearing Kai''s voice, Lia hurriedly bent down and picked up Riya, who was lying t on the ground.


    Kai put his protection on her again and helped her stabilize.


    [Thankfully! She is still okay. If we were ten secondste, it would have been difficult to save her!]


    [But well, her sister could save her anytime for sure, though¡­]


    Riya was healing Fade before being teleported. When the teleportation happened, Kai''s protection got undone, and Riya faced the brunt of the chaotic mana head-on, causing her to faint immediately.


    ¡­


    (Random Info dumps.)


    All healers below S-rank are fickle and weak beings. But when they reach the standard 100 stat points by breaking through the racial limits during the S-rank ascension, it means that even the weakest S-rank healer has all stats at least at 100.


    Reaching S-rank and breaking through your racial limits is not child''s y; the current humanity has billions of people, yet there are still only around 40 S-rankers in the whole human race.


    The S-rankers may seem weak in front of the SS-rankers who dominate the whole world, but S-rankers are also not to be underestimated.


    While SS-rankers are capable of destroying the and traveling in space without any fear of radiation or anything, S-rankers are capable of carrying out destruction at the level of a natural disaster or even higher.


    Shattering mountains and dividing the sea in one attack is the capability of an S-ranker.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of stabilizing the mana in her body, Riya opened her eyes slowly.


    Lia put her down on the ground.


    Riya stood and looked at the surroundings in confusion.


    "W-where is Link?" (Riya)


    Lia rolled her eyes at Riya''s thought process.


    ''Girl, you just dodged death barely, and the first thing you ask is about where is your boyfriend!?'' (Lia)


    Lia shook her head and replied.


    "We seem to have been teleported away due to a random magical phenomenon¡­ perhaps it''s one of the trapping methods of this dungeon¡­" (Lia)


    "A magical phenomenon urs when the mana in the area is chaotic and extremely violent¡­ just like this fog¡­" (Lia)


    "This fog looks simr to a normal fog formed off moisture, but no, this one is made of condensed mana¡­." (Lia)


    Lia had a solemn look on her face as she said:


    "Mana is considered a nourishing and gentle energy, and it is beneficial for the growth of awakeners, but as they say, too much of something is not always good¡­" (Lia)


    "This dense mana is like literal poison for a living creature..." (Lia)


    Lia nced at the dense fog around them and thought:


    ''If not for the protection of Kai''s spirit barrier, we both would have fainted and most likely would have gotten eliminated from this test¡­'' (Lia)


    ''Moreover, if some ordinary A-ranker or below individual had raided this dungeon, they would most likely die too¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia shook her head and said:


    "This dungeon is much more dangerous than a normal A-rank dungeon¡­. It''s at least at the level of a pseudo-S rank dungeon¡­. Now we know why they didn''t send regr A-rank raid parties here¡­." (Lia)


    "It would be better to regroup with the other party members; that way we will have a better chance at conquering this dungeon¡­" (Lia)


    ''As long as Rio and Link are there, I don''t think it''s not possible to conquer this dungeon¡­'' (Lia)


    (Unknown to Lia herself, she had already started to see Rio and Link as capable and strong individuals who could break out of any dangerous situation.)


    Hearing Lia''s remarks, Riya rolled her eyes in confusion.


    "I-is that so¡­" (Riya)


    Everything Lia exined about the teleportation and magical phenomenon went directly out of Riya''s mind, and she didn''t understand a single thing from it.


    The only thing she understood was:


    ''Link is not here, sigh~'' (Riya)


    ¡­


    ''Can you use mana detection, Kai? Which way should we go?'' (Lia)


    The cat sitting on Lia''s shoulder shook her head at Lia''s question.


    [No way! the mana here is too chaotic unless it''s an S-ranker or above, none can use mana detection in this ce!¡­]


    ''Is that so¡­'' (Lia)


    ''Sigh~ it seems we would have to go on a random path then-'' (Lia)


    Just when Lia was thinking about going towards a random path, Kai''s voice sounded in her head.


    [Hmm, I detect an A-ranker aura approaching us at a fast speed¡­ this is strange¡­ get ready to defend, kiddo!]


    [It''s someone malicious; you would have to fight a difficult fight¡­. Now that it''s even closer, I can sense that it''s a peak A-ranker!]


    [Look at your left and put up the spirit barrier!]


    At Kai''s advice, Lia immediately unsheathed her sword ''Ambient Silver'' and put the spirit barrier to protect herself from any iing attacks.


    Lia pushed Riya behind her to protect her from harm.


    Riya had a confused face at Lia''s sudden actions, but she didn''t question her decisions.


    Although not as much as Link, Riya still trusted Lia a lot. (Lia had saved Riya''s life before during the final exam event. Ch-74)


    [Here ites!]


    At Kai''s warning, a sudden disturbance urred in the fog ahead of Lia, and a person in tattered clothes walked out with a wide grin on his face.


    The man had blue hair with a brownish tint in it. He looked to be in histe 30''s and he had a strange-looking grimoire in his hand.


    "Ohohoho! I thought it was a weak monster wandering around in the fog, but hoho, but I didn''t expect to see two young beautiful fairies wandering around in this fog!" (???)


    The man had a wide and cheeky grin on his face. He looked at Lia and Riya with wide eyes, and his grin widened even further.


    Lia frowned and pointed her sword towards the man.


    "Who are you? And what are you doing here? How did you get inside this dungeon without permission?" (Lia)


    Lia was more bewildered at the fact that a mere A-ranker was able to enter this dungeon under the watch of an SS-ranker like Raji standing guard outside.


    "My name is Damian, Damian Frostke; people call me the ''Ice Rain Damian''¡­ (Damian)


    Damian gave Lia a strange look and said in a confused tone:


    "What do you mean¡­why I am here?... I am a fellow awakener who is raiding this dungeon¡­ In fact, how did you get inside, while my party is still raiding this dungeon!?" (Damian)


    (ording to the Alliancews, only one party can enter a dungeon at a time; this is to avoid conflict between the people and reduce the chances of infighting urring between the awakeners. You would be charged with 3 years in jail if you did such a thing without proper permission from the alliance.)


    Hearing the man questioning her, Lia''s frown widened even further, she condensed the spirit magic on her sword, and she was ready to attack at the moment''s notice.


    "Stop lying, an SS-ranker is guarding the gate outside, and we were the ones who were sent to conquer this dungeon at the permission of an SS-ranker; you are clearly trespassing!" (Lia)


    "Confess your sins immediately and tell the truth, or you are dead meat!" (Lia)


    Lia''s aura covered her whole body, and her hair and pupils turned silver. Two silver wings appeared behind her, and the chaotic mana in the surroundings was scattered away by her mere presence.


    "W-what!? How can a B-ranker have such a strong aura!? What the! Who are you, girl!?" (Damian)


    Damian hurriedly brought out an official document from his space ring.


    "See this! This is the proof that I have permission to raid this dungeon! So stop making a fuss, little girl! I don''t want to fight a kid!" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s remarks, Lia calmed down a little; she stretched her hand out and snatched the paper from Damian''s hands.


    A frown appeared on Lia''s face after looking at the document.


    ''This is indeed a genuine dungeon raid ticket¡­ w-what''s going on here?'' (Lia)


    Seeing the document, only one thought came to her mind:


    ''Did perhaps Ms. Raji send someone over after us, or was this person here beforehand? But how could an SS-ranker like Ms. Raji make such a clumsy mistake of forgetting about the fact that this dungeon was already under raid¡­ strange¡­'' (Lia)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I have recently started a new novel. (Fake Professor, misunderstood as strong.) If you are a fan of action and dark novels, check it out and give it a quick look too.


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you guys think that the SS-rankers are kind ofzy and careless?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    Hidden Option:


    4. The author iszier than them!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 135 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 135 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-3. </h4>


    [Ding! The mana in the surroundings is bing more chaotic!]


    [Warning! The chaotic mana can cause dangerous magical phenomena to manifest!]


    ...


    Outer Area, Above the Lava Valley.


    Link and Liam found themselves falling from the sky.


    "What the!?" (Link)


    A few seconds ago they were still standing in a forested area, and now they were falling from the sky all of a sudden.


    Of all the students from the party, Link and Liam were the ones who got teleported in such a dangerous way.


    Without wasting a single second, two big shadow wings appeared behind Ellie, and she immediately caught Liam in her arms. (It is reverse princess style, Ellie is carrying Liam in her arms like a princess¡­)


    Since Liam didn''t give Ellie the order to save Link, she didn''t even bother looking at him, which directly caused Link to fall into the valley below. The valley was filled with hot magma.


    Liam and Elliended on the ground nearby. Liam hurriedly got down from Ellie''s arms with an awkward look on his face.


    "Ahem! UH¡­. Is that guy dead!?" (Liam)


    Liam nced down the valley with a bewildered look on his face.


    Just when he was thinking that Link was burnt to a crisp, a loud sound of something hitting the ground sounded and the magma in the valley shook.


    Link jumped right out of the magma andnded on the ground near Liam. (Friendly warning- Don''t try this at home.)


    Link''s clothes had been burnt away by the magma, but he looked fine. He didn''t even have a single scratch on his body. Instead, he had a broad smile on his face.


    "Ah, that was a nice bath¡­.Oh! My clothes!" (Link)


    Link hurriedly brought out a new set of clothes from his space ring and wore them. He nced sideways and confirmed that the other two were not looking at his majestic younger brother, so he immediately got dressed.


    Actually, Link could have changed his trajectory mid-air with his dragon arts, but he didn''t care and wanted to test his defensive abilities by jumping into this magma-filled valley. (His thought process is crazy¡­)


    Link walked over towards the other two with a proud smile on his face and said in a loud voice:


    "Haha, not even Rio could do something like this! Right? If that guy were here, it must have been a great show off! His face would be funny to watch! Hahaha" (Link)


    Hearing Link bragging about his feat of diving in the hot magma and making it out alive without any damage, Ellie looked at Liam and said via telepathy:


    [Master, Uh¡­ is this guy perhaps have a screw loose or something¡­.]


    Pfff!


    Liam nodded his head at Ellie''s question and tried his hardest not tough but couldn''t stop it and ended upughing a little.


    Link took Liam''sugh as if Liam had agreed to him being better than Rio. The grin on Link''s face widened even further. He stretched out his hand and patted Liam on his shoulder with a smile.


    "You are not bad either; I am quite sure you can hold your own against Rio too¡­ hahaha unless you bring Lia into the matter of course! Bahahaha" (Link)


    With each pat on Link''s hand, the ground under Liam''s feet cracked.


    ''Ugh! My shoulder! This barbarian!'' (Liam)


    Seeing that Link was nning on breaking his shoulder with those pats, Liam hurriedly slid away.


    All of a sudden, the smile on Link''s face solidified, and he looked at the engagement ring on his ring finger.


    ''What!? For a moment, I sensed Riya''s life in danger! But now it''s stable? Strange¡­.'' (Link)


    Link nced at Liam and asked in a serious tone:


    "Hey, I can track the location of Riya; how about we look for her first and then go find the others? With your dragon, we can search for others easily¡­ what do you say?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s remarks, Liam nced at Ellie, and seeing that Ellie agreed to carry Link, Liam nodded his head.


    (Liam doesn''t dare to force Ellie to do anything for him, even if Ellie is Liam''s summoned beast, Liam respects her as an equal individual and always asks for her permission whenever he needs her favor. Ellie and Liam both respect each other a lot.)


    "Okay then, let''s go!" (Liam)


    At Liam''smand, Ellie turned into her original shadow dragon form.


    Liam and Link both sat on Ellie''s back and let her carry them. Link informed Liam about the direction where Riya was, and they took off into the sky.


    Ellie pped her massive wings and flew into the sky at a very fast speed.


    While flying in the sky, Liam nced back at Link and asked,


    "By the way, I have been meaning to ask, what is that ''Red Ball'' floating around you?" (Liam)


    Link tilted his head in confusion at Liam''s question:


    "What ball?" (Link)


    Seeing that Link was clueless, Liam frowned a bit and pointed his finger to the ''Red Ball'' floating behind Link''s head.


    Link hurriedly looked back and sure enough, there was indeed a ball floating behind him.


    Link stretched his hand out and took the orb in his hand. The orb had a simr color to the magma filled in that valley.


    Link held that orb in his hand without any effort, but even he could feel that the temperature of this orb was extremely high.


    Even Liam and Ellie could feel the scorching hot temperature of that orb from just looking at it.


    Link frowned a bit and asked in confusion:


    "When did this thing start to follow me? Was it when I entered that magma?" (Link)


    After staring at the orb a few more times, Link shook his head and decided to put it into his space ring.


    ''I will ask Rio if he knows something about it¡­'' (Link)


    (Link believes that Rio has vast amounts of knowledge stored in his head, and he might actually know about this too¡­)


    Liam nced at Ellie and asked her:


    "Hey, do you know anything about this orb, Ellie?" (Liam)


    Ellie is a dragon, and dragons have vast amounts of knowledge inherently from birth.


    But to Liam''s surprise, Ellie shook her head and replied:


    [This is the first time I have seen such an object¡­]


    [This orb contains a dense me aura condensed to extreme levels; perhaps this is formed by the effects of this chaotic mana in this dungeon¡­]


    "Is that so¡­" (Liam)


    ''Well if not even Ellie knows about this, then it might be a byproduct of this chaotic mana, strange things happen whenever the mana in an area is extremely chaotic and disordered¡­.'' (Liam)


    Hearing Ellie''s remarks, Liam decided to put this matter behind for now. There''s no point in dwelling on things that are clearly unsolvable at the moment.


    Perhaps they will find out the answers as they conquer the whole dungeon.


    ¡­


    Outer Area, An Underground Tunnel.


    "The F*ck! How did we suddenly arrive at this dark and damp ce!?" (Fade)


    Fade''s expression twisted with anger. He was in a very bad mood right now.


    Not to mention he got injured the very first moment he entered this dungeon, he even ended up teleporting in this horrible-


    looking ce.


    ''If only Kira had used that artifact to protect me a bit earlier! I wouldn''t have beenughed at by those rich bast*rds! F*ck!'' (Fade)


    [Basic me magic: Guiding fire!]


    Ignoring Fade''s shouts, Kira cast a fire spell to light up the area and help them see the surroundings.


    A small blue fireball floated around Kira''s shoulder and lit up the surroundings.


    Fade looked at his feet and found himself standing on the carcasses of dead monsters.


    Everywhere they looked several monster corpses were scattered and the rotten stench in this enclosed tunnel was horrible. (All the dead bodies looked in simr condition to what Rio had seen...)


    Ugh! Vomit!


    Since Fade was already injured earlier due to mana deviation and right now his defense was low, he immediately ended up vomiting from this horrible stench entering his nostrils.


    There are hundreds of corpses rotting in this tunnel; the smell here is more horriblepared to the smell in a city''s sewers.


    (A friendly warning: Don''t try adventuring in the tunnels without gas masks, who knows where a sewer would open, the smell in a sewer is horrible, so don''t try jumping into it.)


    "Fade! Are you okay!?" (Kira)


    Kira hurriedly brought out a healing potion from her space ring and tried to stabilize Fade''s condition. A concerned look appeared on her face.


    "Ugh! I feel like dying! Ugh!" (Fade)


    [Basic Wind Magic: Repulsion Wind!]


    Kira hurriedly cast a spell to sweep the stench away. She helped Fade to stand up and shouldered him to walk out of the ce.


    "Let''s go, we can''t stay here¡­" (Kira)


    "Yeah, ugh¡­" (Fade)


    Fade was supposed to retreat from this dungeon at the very moment he had a mana deviation, but now that things have changed a lot he has to suffer even more before he can finally make out of this horrible ce.


    This ce would stay as one of the most horrible experiences in Fade''s memories.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved author is here! It''s the 27th day of continuous updates! Let''s go!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to have the majestic body of Link?


    1. Yes (Who wouldn''t want a majestic younger brother¡­ cough!)


    2. No (It might decrease the ''int'' stat though¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 136 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-4

    <h4>Chapter 136 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-4 </h4>


    "By the way, it''s not good to stay here for long, one of the dungeon''s mini-boss walks by here regrly..." (Damian)


    A frown appeared on Lia''s face:


    "How do you know that? How long have you been here for?" (Damian)


    The man replied with a proud look on his face:


    "Well, I have been here for like ten days or so I think¡­ what why are you looking at me like that¡­" (Damian)


    "Isn''t the time limit to clear this dungeon seven days? How could you have stayed here for ten days?" (Lia)


    Damian shook his head in confusion and replied:


    "What are you talking about kiddo? The time limit for this dungeon is 30 days¡­" (Damian)


    "Okay, forget it¡­ there might have been some administration mistake, you guys follow me, it''s not safe to stay here for too long, my party members are missing and I can''t help you fight a monster right now.." (Damian)


    Damian pointed to the grimoire in his hand and said in a proud tone:


    "You see this grimoire, it is an S-rank artifact, and it helps me protect myself from this chaotic mana and also is capable of tracking the surroundings in this area too¡­ if you guys follow me, I will take you to my temporary base¡­" (Damian)


    "What do you say?" (Damian)


    Hearing Damain''s suspicious offer, Lia hesitated to agree. If she was alone she would not worry that much, but right now she still had to protect Riya too. It''s difficult for her to fight an A-ranker while trying to protect someone else too.


    [No need to worry girl, as long as you summon me, we can take care of him for sure, it''s better to get out of this fog first¡­]


    Lia hesitated a little bit but still decided to follow Damian after the guarantee from Kai.


    ¡­


    (Random Exnation)


    The time limit of a dungeon:


    Whenever a party raids a dungeon they have a certain time limit, in which they have to conquer the dungeon, otherwise the raid will fail and the party members will be ejected from the dungeon back to the ce they entered from.


    Every dungeon has a different time limit ording to the difficulty of that dungeon.


    It is extremely easy to find the time limit and other information about a dungeon by simply using a good enough appraisal artifact.


    Sometimes the difficulty or the time limit of a dungeon decreases or increases when the monster''s quality or quantity inside that dungeon changes in that dungeon.


    It''s rare for such a thing to happen but there have been many such cases so it''s nothing new nowadays.


    ¡­


    A Few minutester.


    Lia''s group slowly walked out of the foggy hills area and arrived in front of arge hill.


    Damian used ice magic and made stairs to directly climb the hill.


    Lia and Riya followed behind the man and arrived at the top of the hill.


    A small tent came into their view.


    Several Books were scattered across the tent and a small bonfire was lit.


    Lia nced around the hill and found the whole area was covered in fog. Wherever she nced, it was a sea of dense fog.


    Lia said with a confused look on her face:


    "Compared to others, this dungeon is much bigger¡­"


    Damian smiled a little and nced at the horizon.


    "Well yeah, this is an S-rank dungeon after all, what else do you expect from it¡­" (Damian)


    "I am more surprised by the fact that the alliance sent B-rankers to an S-rank dungeon, it seems the corruption has been running too deep these days¡­" (Damian)


    Damian shook his head in annoyance.


    "Looking at you two kiddos makes me remember my two daughters who are waiting for me back at home, hahaha I have a lovely wife you know gahahaha" (Damian)


    While Riya was still busy nibbling on candies, Lia tilted her head in confusion.


    "S-rank dungeon? This is an A-rank dungeon though¡­" (Lia)


    Damian shook his head in annoyance and replied:


    "No way, not even A-rankers could handle this chaotic mana environment, they must have fooled you guys¡­" (Damian)


    "When my party entered this dungeon, we had 10 people in it, 9 A-rankers and 1 S-ranker¡­" (Damian)


    A look of pride appeared on Damian''s face:


    "This is one of the strongest line-ups you can assemble for an S-rank gate¡­" (Damian)


    "But the environment in this dungeon is extreme¡­ around 5 of myrades who used to adventure with me died the very moment we entered this horrible ce¡­" (Damian)


    "As for the rest, I don''t know what happened to them¡­. I had been teleported to this foggy ce when I opened my eyes¡­ now it''s been 10 days and I have yet to find the way out of this ce¡­" (Damian)


    Lia tilted her head in confusion and asked:


    "But didn''t you say that this grimoire can be used to track?" (Lia)


    Damian shook his head at Lia''s question:


    "It could do that before, but I ended up fighting the mini-boss of this area on my own, and the artifact got damaged heavily¡­" (Damian)


    "My magic has been greatly suppressed in this ce due to the chaotic mana, due to which it''s be extremely difficult to fight for me¡­" (Damian)


    Damian shook his head in regret:


    "Turbulent mana is the bane of every magician, only some insanely talented people can keep their full strength even in this turbulent mana field..." (Damian)


    Damian nced at Lia and Riya with a look of doubt:


    "You guys might be extremely talented to be able to keep yourself safe from all this chaos¡­ I wonder how my elder daughter is doing nowadays¡­" (Damian)


    "My Elder daughter had just recently awakened when I left for this dungeon¡­ I wonder how her entrance exam went¡­" (Damian)


    Damian seemed to be contemting life at this moment as he continued to stare at the horizon with an empty look on his face.


    ¡­


    Outside the dungeon.


    A frown appeared on Raji''s cold face and she said in an annoyed tone:


    A frown appeared on Raji''s cold face and she said in an annoyed tone:


    "As I thought, all the mini-cameras have stopped working due to the chaotic mana inside the dungeon¡­" (Raji)


    Since the moment everyone was teleported away, the mini cameras had started to stop working and thest camera also stopped working when Lia and Riya were just about to meet Damian.


    Right now Raji only knows the general location of everyone in the dungeon, but her contact with them has broken.


    ''The only way to keep track of their well-being is by the wristwatch now¡­'' (Raji)


    Although the wristwatch only tells about the general health condition of a student, it''s still urate and precise. (The wristwatch can track HP and it can also track if the student is conscious or not¡­)


    ''Ugh, why do all these weird things happen all at once¡­'' (Raji)


    The appraisal artifact generally only tells about the difficulty and time limit of a dungeon, there''s no way to know about the inside environment of a domain, thus Raji was also unaware of the inside situation beforehand.


    If you are confused as to why they did not send the drone cameras for surveince, then the answer to that is extremely simple, the dungeon gates work with several rules and restrictions.


    Cameras or other things are considered artifacts or items in the dungeon space, and an artifact can only go in or out of a dungeon when someone takes it out or in the dungeon.


    This means someone will have to enter the dungeon beforehand to scatter these cameras if they want to scout the dungeon ahead of the actual raid. Which would mean that the moment someone enters the dungeon a raid has already begun.


    If they left the dungeon just after scattering the cameras, that would mean the raid failed and a dungeon wave would ur. (Simply speaking it''s not worth the risk¡­)


    ''Should I just storm in forcibly?'' (Raji)


    An SS-ranker can forcibly stabilize the inside space of a dungeon and enter it without causing the dungeon to fall apart, due to which an SS-ranker can enter any domain of SS-rank or below easily.


    ''Well, right now the health bar of the students seems okay, as depicted by the wristwatch''s tracker¡­ perhaps I should wait a bit¡­.'' (Raji)


    Raji wanted all of them to experience hardships and grow up as an individual, if she intervened too early, it would be counterproductive.


    Thus she shook her head and continued to keep an eye on the health bar as shown by the wristwatch.


    (Contrary to Lia''s doubts, Raji hadn''t sent anyone in after their group, which means, Damian''s existence in the dungeon was already a strange phenomenon in itself.)


    ¡­


    Link''s group.


    "Hmm, Riya has moved from her original spot, change direction to that way¡­" (Link)


    Link pointed his finger toward the direction Riya had moved.


    At Link''s voice, Ellie pped her wings and changed the direction towards the one Link was pointing.


    ''Please be safe, Riya¡­'' (Link)


    While Riya nibbled on her candies without any care in the world, Link was worried sick about her safety.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! The mystery intensifies, a new twist has urred, who Damian might be¡­ the authorughs as the suspense has increased.


    Question of the day.


    Would you guys also want to ride on a Dragon''s back?


    1.Yes (Dragon-knight for the win! Let''s go!)


    2.Not (No, we choose the hog-rid*r!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 137 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-5

    <h4>Chapter 137 Damian and the three mystic orbs, Part-5 </h4>


    "By the way, did you guys alsoe to look for the hidden treasure in this dungeon?" Damian asked, looking at the two girls sitting in front of the bonfire. His tone seemed doubtful.


    "I don''t think our party had informed anyone else about the existence of a hidden treasure in this dungeon," Damian continued.


    At Damian''s question, Lia tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Hidden treasure? I have no idea what you are talking about." She shook her head at Damian''s doubtful look.


    Hearing Lia''s remarks, Damian hesitated for a moment, but then a look of determination appeared on his face.


    "Most of my party members are dead anyway, and I wouldn''t be able to reach the treasure on my own either." (Damian)


    "How about you guys team up with me? Together, we can at least try to find those key items before we escape this dungeon, what do you say?" Damian proposed.


    Lia shook her head immediately after hearing Damian''s request.


    "No, I still have to find my other team members, and I can''t leave before clearing this dungeon." (Lia)


    Damian''s eyes widened at Lia''s deration.


    He replied in a shocked tone, "You want to clear this S-rank dungeon on your own!?"


    "Little girl, I don''t want to belittle you, but you are still too weak to clear an S-rank dungeon! Even if you find your teammates..." (Damian)


    "Wait! is there an S-ranker among your teammates!?" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s question, Lia shook her head and replied:


    "No, but we have enough strength. You don''t need to worry about that. Instead, you should worry about how you would get out of this area."


    At Lia''s remarks, Damian replied in a quiet and depressed tone:


    "Uh, I was hoping you guys would take me with you."


    Although Damian was talking in a small voice, Lia still heard him loud and clear. She immediately shrugged her shoulders at his request.


    "I would have to consult my team members if they approve, then you cane with us." (Lia)


    ''I would have to ask Rio about what''s going on with this strange man¡­'' Lia thought to herself.


    "By the way, the ''Three Keys'' you mentioned, what are those three keys?" (Lia)


    Hearing Lia''s question, Damian''s eyes lit up. He replied in a proud tone:


    "I have been wandering around in this foggy ce for quite some time now. Just a few days ago, I found these books in an abandoned cave." (Damian)


    Damian pointed to the several books scattered around the bonfire, his face conflicted.


    "At that time, I still had one other party member with me. He was in aa due to mana deviation. He passed away two days ago¡­ ugh." (Damian)


    Talking about hisrade, Damian went silent for a while.


    He looked at the horizon with empty eyes and sighed heavily.


    "I wasn''t able to help him in any way possible...." (Damian)


    Damian held his grimoire in his hand tightly and said with a sad tone.


    "This artifact can only protect one person.... I didn''t dare to part with this artifact to save his life.... I had to survive; my two daughters have been waiting at home for me. I can''t die here." (Damian)


    Damian hurriedly shook his head and stopped thinking about the past:


    "Cough¡­ I got distracted from the topic! Haha! Don''t mind me; it''s just an old habit of mine."


    Damian scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his face.


    "Your daughters must be very important to you, old man," (Riya)


    "Haha, yes, they are my whole world to me¡­ haha," Damian replied.


    This was the first time Riya talked to Damian face to face; the rest of the time she was just nibbling on her candies and didn''t even look at Damian for a single second.


    Damian nced at the happy-go-lucky girl, and a slightly nostalgic look appeared on his face.


    "Haha, little girl, you are like the spitting image of my elder daughter. Haha, she is always smiling like you! Although the older one doesn''t seem to like sweet stuff, but my younger daughter likes sweet stuff a lot! Haha!" (Damian)


    "One time, I tried to give my younger daughter a piece of chocte, and she nearly bit my fingers off, haha¡­ She likes sweets a lot..." (Damian)


    Seeing that Damian was about to continue bragging about his daughters, Lia decided to stop the talk from further escting.


    "Ahem! What were you saying about the treasure?" (Lia)


    Hearing Lia, Damian stopped his nonsense talk and coughed embarrassingly.


    After a few seconds of awkwardness, he continued:


    "So, from these books, I found out about the fact that there is a rare treasure hidden in this dungeon.... That treasure.... can increase the maximum potential of an individual!!!" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian, Lia was shocked beyond words. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she said in a bewildered tone:


    "No way! That''s ridiculous! A person''s talent can''t be increased with any artifact or treasure!" (Lia) (Rio and Fade are glitches in the matrix; they aren''t being counted here¡­)


    What Lia said were actual facts; unless it''s ''Enlightenment'', none of the other methods are known to have ever increased someone''s maximum talent potential.


    This is basic knowledge of this world, which even 5-year-old children know about.


    Hearing Lia''s bewildered tone, Damian shook his head in denial.


    "I know it sounds total bullsh*t, but this is what''s written in these books.... I don''t have any proof that these things written in the books are true or false, but even if there''s a slight possibility, it would be worth it...." (Damian)


    After hesitating for a while, Damian brought out a silver orb from the space ring he was wearing.


    The orb had a silver and whitish color to it, and it was the size of a cricket ball.


    "In the book, it is mentioned that there are three Mystic orbs scattered around in this dungeon¡­ One is this silver orb, the other is a magma-colored orb, and the third is ck colored." (Damian)


    "Each of them asks for a sacrifice; the sacrifice varies in nature and depends on the color of the orb. It is mentioned that ''Only through a sacrifice, can one achieve greatness!''" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian, Lia asked in confusion:


    "What sacrifice exactly?" (Lia)


    Damian shook his head at Lia''s question and sighed heavily.


    "I don''t know¡­ there was no detail about what the sacrifice is.... There was only written that ''You have to sacrifice,'' but what exactly, there was no such mention...." (Damian)


    Lia tilted her head in confusion and asked:


    "Then how did you get your hands on this orb without even sacrificing anything?" (Lia)


    At Lia''s question, Damian shrugged his shoulders and pointed his index finger towards a distant hill.


    "You see thatrge hill over there, near the horizon? That is the nest of the mini-boss of this area." (Damian)


    "Right now, that giant bear must be sleeping since it is noon, but it generally wanders around in this foggy area during the night..." (Damian)


    "I sneaked into its nest... and found this orb resting on an old-


    looking altar...." (Damian)


    "Although I ended up getting entangled in a fight with himter.... but in the end, I was sessful in running away from that big guy..." (Damian)


    Lia asked in a doubtful tone:


    "Why didn''t it chase you then?" (Lia)


    Damian shrugged his shoulders and replied in a confident tone:


    "Well, half of its body has already rotted away. It used to be an S-rank monster at its peak condition, I assume, but right now, it''s barely at the level of a peak A-ranker." (Damian)


    "...But still, it can''t run as fast as me with that rotten body of its...." (Damian)


    Hearing about the monster, Lia contemted for a while in her mind.


    ''Hmm, that monster can''t run fast and is barely at peak A-rank¡­ yeah, it''s weak¡­ Rio can kill it in one attack¡­'' (Lia)


    (Lia has seen Rio''s fighting prowess; she knows what that emotionless guy is capable of....)


    ''I think I know what is going on around here¡­ this guy is too weak and mistook a peak A-rank monster as an S-ranked one, which ultimately proves that his judgment of this dungeon being S-rank one is also wed¡­'' (Lia)


    ''Sigh, I was worrying over such pointless reasons¡­.'' Lia sighed internally.


    After thinking all this, Lia rxed a bit; now she knew that she was not on the wrong track and that they couldplete this mission without failure.


    ''I would have to talk to Rio about those orbs though.... I wonder if he knows anything about them¡­'' (Lia).


    ''I don''t have an appraisal artifact on me right now; perhaps Rio might have one on him....'' (Lia)


    Just when Lia was contemting in her mind, an extremely loud and beastly roar resounded throughout the foggy hills area.


    *Roooooooaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr*


    The three of them looked in the direction of the sound with shocked expressions.


    "What the!? That''s the voice of that giant bear!" (Damian)


    He hurriedly got up and stared at the distantrge hill with narrowed eyes.


    And sure enough, a giant monster''s silhouette was visible on the horizon.


    Seeing that giant figure rushing towards them directly, Damian shouted in a panicked voice:


    "Wh-what''s goin'' on!? I have been wandering in this area for days, and that bear didn''t notice me, but what happened all of a sudden now!?" (Damian)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes:


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Hoho, the mystery intensifies with each moment, and the suspense builds up with each new chapter! Amazing!


    Question of the Day:


    What animal do you think you can fight barehanded?


    1. A Lion (We are talking about a wild lion, not those pet Lions you have at your home¡­)


    2. A Wild Bull (A red g might do the trick, but what about the red gs in your life?)


    3. A Bear (Please go to therapy if you think you can fight a brown bear, except if you are a fellow ''Comrade''¡­)


    Hidden Option:


    4. Or you are too busy fighting that depression and can''t take on anything else at the moment¡­


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 138 Damian’s Sacrifice, Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 138 Damian''s Sacrifice, Part-1. </h4>


    *Roooooooaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr*


    The monstrous roar of a giant bear resounded throughout the fog. A distant silhouette could be seen standing in the sea of fog. (The fog is densely umted on the ground, but the rest of the sky is not that foggy. Due to this, the silhouette of the bear can still be vaguely seen.)


    The bear''s red eyes shined like a predator''s eyes.


    After roaring, the bear rushed towards the trio''s direction with astonishing speed. With each of its steps, the ground rumbled and the winds howled.


    A tense look appeared on Damian''s face.


    "C-could it be¡­ that bear can sense the location of this orb!?" (Damian)


    At Damian''s panicked question, Lia replied:


    "It''s possible¡­ perhaps, it didn''t pursue you earlier because you put that orb in your space ring right after stealing it¡­ but now that you brought the orb out, it must have sensed the location of the orb¡­" (Lia)


    While specting about the reason for the bear''s anger, Lia unsheathed her sword and pushed Riya behind her.


    [Hmm, it''s indeed an S-rank monster, kiddo¡­ but with its current condition¡­ you can say its strength might be at pseudo-S-rank¡­.]


    Kai could use his mana detection even in this chaotic mana, thus he knew beforehand what that bear looked like.


    [Half of its body is already rotten, it''s in its near-death state right now....]


    [Moreover, due to excessive damage to its body, its defense is also very low¡­]


    As the bear got closer, Lia could finally see its true appearance properly.


    One of its front paws was hanging with just a little bit of skin, and there were several big wounds on its body. (The bear is in the same condition as the corpses Rio saw, its body is being destroyed from the inside out by chaotic mana¡­)


    ''I should do some long-range attacks first and check out its defensive capability first¡­'' (Lia)


    [Divine Spirit''s blessing: Shards of purification!]


    Several silver-colored swords appeared beside Lia. Lia pointed her swords towards the bear andunched her attack.


    The silver swords rushed towards the bear at an insane speed and directly collided with the bear head-on. (For reference, the speed of these silver swords was faster than the speed of modern-day jets on Earth¡­)


    Several of the silver swords collided with the bear, but the bear didn''t even flinch a little bit; the silver swords copsed into nothingness after hitting the bear, but it didn''t do any damage at all.


    Seeing this, a frown appeared on Lia''s face.


    "Like I already said, little girl, that thing is an S-ranked beast! Even if it''s in a near-death state, we can''t fight it on equal grounds¡­" (Damian)


    "Earlier, I was lucky enough to run away uninjured, but it still cost me an S-rank artifact to survive¡­" (Damian)


    Damian nced at the rushing bear with a panicked look on his face, and he gulped his saliva in fear. He already wanted to run away, but since he couldn''t just leave the two girls behind, he wanted to convince them to run with him.


    (Damian saw the image of his daughters in Riya and thus he didn''t want to abandon them and run away¡­)


    Damian looked at the two girls and said with a worried expression on his face:


    "Believe me, kiddo, we can still run away and maintain our distance! There''s no point in fighting that insanely strong monster!" (Damian)


    Damian tried his best to convince Lia and Riya to run, but Lia didn''t even move a single inch from her spot, and since Riya trusted Lia a lot, she didn''t run either.


    This made Damian''s face twist in worry; he stared at the giant bear rushing towards them with a worried look.


    As the bear came closer and closer, Damian''s legs started to shake in fear, and his mind screamed at him to run, but his body didn''t want to move. For mysterious reasons, his body refused to abandon these girls and run on his own.


    If it were the usual Damian, he would have run away long ago in this situation, but the presence of these two little girls made him stop in his tracks. He couldn''t muster the courage to leave.


    While Damian was facing a great dilemma, Lia continued to stare at the bear with narrow eyes.


    ''Hmm, if not even spirit magic is working on it, does it mean its defense is too high¡­ Hey, Kai, you said its defense was weak, is this what you call weak?'' (Lia)


    [Cough! I seem to have made a mistake, Ipared it to the defense of that little guy Link¡­pared to Link, its defense is indeed weak¡­ cough!]


    Hearing Kai''s answer, a strange look appeared on Lia''s face.


    ''Why are you even taking that ridiculous guy as yourparison factor!? Even Rio couldn''t slice that guy; it''s idiotic topare others with Link¡­'' (Lia)


    [Cough! My mistake¡­ cough!]


    Due to seeing Link tank the insanely strong hits of Rio''s sword intent, Kai''sparison methods have be imbnced recently. Compared to the defensive capabilities of Link, everyone else feels weak and fragile to him.


    Lia stared at the bear and fell into contemtion:


    ''Should I just summon Kai''s true form, or should I save it for now¡­'' (Lia)


    Summoning Kai''s true form causes Lia to use nearly all of her mana, which is very fatal in a prolonged battle, due to which Lia keeps this move as her trump card and rarely ever use it.


    When summoned in its true form, Kai''sbat capabilities are simr to an S-ranker, which is why Lia doesn''t want to summon him right now.


    ''It''s like using a cannon to kill a mosquito¡­ I would rather save this for the final boss fight of this dungeon¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia shook her head and denied her thinking.


    ''No, I need to protect others right now, I can''t fight reservedly¡­ I need to settle it in one go¡­'' (Lia)


    ''Kai, get ready to transform-'' (Lia)


    [Wait¡­ I sense a familiar aura approaching us¡­]


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of tense wait, the bear finally reached the trio. It looked at Damian with bloodthirsty eyes.


    Just when the bear was about to attack the trio with its giant paws, a silhouette of a dragon appeared in the sky, and a boy with dark red hair jumped down from the back of the dragon.


    Link adjusted his direction in mid-air, and a grin appeared on his handsome face. His dark red hair waved like a lion''s mane, and his aura felt extremely strong and calm.


    [Dragon Arts: Heavens Befall!]


    Before the bear could even turn its head, Link''s punchnded on the bear''s back with a loud bang.


    Link directly pierced through the bear''s stomach andnded on the ground safely. A huge crater formed under his feet due to the impact.


    Link got up from the hero pose with a wide grin on his face. (The one heroes do whilending from the sky in the movies¡­)


    As Link got up from the ground, the bear''s body slowly fell behind him, creating a loud thud sound.


    With one attack, Link had sted through the bear''s whole movies¡­)


    As Link got up from the ground, the bear''s body slowly fell body. The bear died instantly as all its internal organs were sted into smithereens by Link''s attack.


    Link opened his arms wide and smiled at Riya.


    "Dear, I am back!" (Link)


    Seeing the flirtatious look on Link''s face, Riya blushed a little and dodged Link''s eyes, but still went ahead with a sweet smile and threw herself into his arms.


    "W-wee back!" (Riya)


    Seeing the two flirting like a newlywed couple, Lia had a weird look on her face. She nced at the dead bear and Link''s unharmed hands repeatedly, and this made her face twitch from time to time.


    ''Rio was right, this guy is a muscle head...'' (Lia)


    ¡­


    While Damian was still shocked beyond belief at Link''s heroic entry, Kai had a confused look instead.


    Kai raised his head and stared at the sky; he became a bit confused.


    ''How were they able to track us? They directly rushed towards us without even any worry of misdirection¡­ wait!-'' (Kai)


    Kai suddenly had an epiphany; he hurriedly nced behind and noticed the ring on the finger of Riya shining slightly.


    ''They are using S-rank items as engagement rings!? Th-


    this!'' (Kai)


    Kai was so surprised that he nearly fell off Lia''s shoulder.


    This was the first time he saw someone use S-rank artifacts so brazenly. Using S-rank detection artifacts as mere engagement rings, only rich people like Link and Riya could do such overbearing things.


    ''Does that mean they will give SS-rank artifacts to each other as wedding gifts!?'' (Kai)


    (What Kai didn''t know was that S-ranked artifacts are like random toys for these rich kids; they have many such artifacts at their home¡­ No matter the world, money is still a very important thing¡­)


    While Kai was bewildered at this situation, Lia frowned at Kai''s strange behavior of jumping around like an idiot.


    ''C-could it be my spirit beast is defective!?'' (Lia)


    At this moment, everyone had forgotten about the existence of the giant bear and the baffled Damian. The bear who was roaring at the top of its lungs just a few minutes ago nowy dead under Link''s one attack. How ironic¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved Author is here! Some sweet time for our Candy girl, let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Have you hugged your crush before?


    1. Yes (Hmph! sphemy!)


    2. No (Hug? What is that? Is that a new video game?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 139 Damian’s Sacrifice. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 139 Damian''s Sacrifice. Part-2. </h4>


    A few seconds after Link''s jump.


    Liam and Elliended on the ground slowly.


    Liam jumped down from Ellie''s back and asked her to revert back to her human form.


    While Ellie reverted to her dragon form, Liam had aplicated expression on his face.


    The more Liam thought back to Link''s epic stunt of jumping down from thousands of meters in the sky, the more bewildered he became.


    Although he had seen Link jump into the magma earlier, still jumping directly on the ground and still suffering no damage is another shocking sight to see.


    If it was anyone else they would have be a meat paste from the impact alone. (Link is built different¡­)


    ''What the f*ck is this guy made from!? He didn''t receive any damage after falling from such height!?'' (Liam)


    Now the image of Link has be that of a ''Muscle head'' in everyone''s mind. After all, no one in their sane mind would want to jump from such height without any safety measures.


    (Generally, an S-ranker or above can fly and walk in the air freely¡­ being able to fly before even reaching S-rank is already a great feat¡­ but jumping down from insane heights and suffering no damage is even more unheard of¡­)


    (Only some rare talented people can soar into the sky before breaking through the racial limits and reaching the S-rank.)


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of hugging each other, the two love birds finally separated reluctantly. Link patted Riya on her head as she continued to nibble on the candies to hide her embarrassment.


    The others finally heaved a sigh of rxation and the awkward atmosphere disappeared.


    ''I am quite sure that they would have already kissed each other if not for the people watching them¡­'' (Liam)


    Liam nced at Ellie with the corner of his eyes, Ellie noticed his secret stares but wasn''t able toprehend what he wanted, so she just tilted her head in confusion.


    Seeing the clueless Ellie, Liam shook his head in regret and went ahead to talk to Lia.


    ''Instead of wasting time on meaningless actions, I should find out about the current situation first¡­'' (Liam)


    Liam gathered his courage and asked Lia in a calm voice:


    "Ahem! Hey can you exin what''s going on here?" (Liam)


    Lia gave Liam a cold stare and replied in a cold tone:


    "Nothing, just two wild love birds making out in broad daylight, tch!" (Lia)


    With her cold reply, Lia made Liam swallow his words back.


    Hearing Lia''s cold words Liam rephrased his words.


    "Ahem! Cough! W-what I want to ask is¡­ who this old man is?" (Liam)


    Lia nced at Damian who was still staring at the dead body of the giant bear with a baffled look on his face.


    "That old man is Damian¡­ I think he might be a wandering beggar who somehow ended up here¡­" (Lia)


    "A Beggar stumbled into an A-rank dungeon.. wh-what!?" (Liam)


    At Lia''s casual reply, Liam was even more bewildered.


    When Lia''s voice fell into Damian''s ears, his eyes became focused and he immediately retorted in a loud voice:


    "No way! I am not a beggar! I have a decent family waiting for me outside!" (Damian)


    At Lia''s criticism, Damian finally came back to his senses and epted reality.


    Liam looked at the man and asked with a doubtful look on his face.


    "Can you introduce yourself please, there shouldn''t be anyone else in this dungeon except our party members¡­please exin your presence here¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s doubtful tone, Damian frowned a little and brought out the same dungeon ticket he had shown to Lia earlier.


    "I am Damian Frostke, a fellow awakener¡­ I am a senior member of the Blind-Lion Party¡­" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian, everyone was more confused than before.


    Liam looked at Ellie for the answer but even Ellie shook her head.


    [I don''t know what he is talking about Master¡­ I have never heard the Last name Frostke or Blind-Lion party since the day I was summoned by you or even before¡­]


    Suddenly Riya said with a doubtful look on her face.


    "I seem to have heard the name ''Blind-Lion'' from my sister a long time ago¡­ but I am not quite sure¡­." (Riya)


    Looking at the doubtful expressions on everyone''s faces, Damian frowned even more deeply.


    "How can that be!? Our party is quite famous outside! Moreover, you guys haven''t heard of the name ''Blind-Lion'' !?" (Damian)


    A bewildered look appeared on Damian''s face.


    "Have you guys been living under a rock or something!?" (Damian)


    At Damian''s rude remarks, everyone frowned a little bit.


    Liam pointed to his school uniform and asked with a doubtful tone:


    "Do you not recognize this uniform of the ''Great Freya Academy'', we are second-year students from the academy¡­ right now we are on a mission to conquer this A-rank dungeon¡­" (Liam)


    Damian stared at Liam''s uniform, then he looked at everyone else''s uniform and said in a loud voice:


    "This isn''t the uniform of the ''Great Freya Academy''! Of course, I know what that uniform looks like, my elder daughter has taken the entrance exam of the academy before!" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s loud retorts, veins appeared on Link''s forehead, he nced at Riya and asked in a gentle tone:


    "Do I make this loud man shut up?¡­ I feel some itch in my hand¡­ just tell me if he''s making your ears ufortable¡­" (Link)


    Link stretched his hands out and crackled his knuckles in an imposing manner. His dangerous aura and that creepy smile on his handsome face could make anyone under S-rank feel threatened. (Except Rio¡­)


    Riya was startled by Link''s sudden question, she hurriedly shook her head and wrapped her arms around Link''s hand tightly in an effort to make him stop.


    "No, he isn''t a bad guy! Don''t do that! I will get angry¡­" (Riya)


    Seeing Riya''s pouting face, Link''s anger melted away and he clicked his tongue in disappointment.


    Damian sighed in relief when Link calmed down, and his dangerous aura disappeared.


    He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a calm tone:


    "Th-thanks little girl¡­" (Damian)


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    Although Riya saved Damian from Link''s anger, the atmosphere became a bit awkward afterward.


    "Th-thanks little girl¡­" (Damian)


    Although Riya saved Damian from Link''s anger, the atmosphere (If Riya had said yes, Link would have no doubt smashed Damian into the ground with a single punch, breaking nearly every bone in his body and destroying his protection artifact altogether in one attack¡­)


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of awkward silence, Liam said in a calm tone:


    "Okay, this dungeon ticket is indeed genuine and there are no signs of malicious modification on it¡­" (Liam)


    "But this makes this situation even moreplicated¡­ there''s no way an SS-ranker would have made such a clumsy mistake of overlooking the entry of another Raid party while the dungeon was already under raid¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam, a confused look appeared on Damian''s face:


    "By the way, I have been meaning to ask for a while now, who is this SS-ranker you guys are talking about¡­" (Damian)


    "Isn''t there only two SS-rankers in the human race, one is currently raiding an SS-rank dungeon and the other is at the borders right now¡­" (Damian)


    "How would they appear here all of a sudden?" (Damian)


    At Damian''s question, Liam tilted his head and said:


    "What are you talking about old man? There are four SS-rankers in the human race today¡­ wait! Could it be!?" (Liam)


    Suddenly Liam''s eyes widened as if an epiphany came to his mind, he suddenly questioned Damian with a shocked look on his face:


    "Old man can you tell us¡­. what year is it today?..." (Liam)


    At Liam''s weird question, Damian frowned a bit and replied in an unsure tone:


    "Isn''t it year 4336? You are asking weird questions all of a sudden¡­ What? Why are you all looking at me with shocked looks¡­" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian, everyone went silent and only the faint sound of cold air breeze could be heard around them.


    Everyone looked at Damian with a look of shock in their eyes.


    Liam mustered his courage and said in a trembling tone:


    "O-old man¡­. It''s year 4346 right now¡­. You have been stuck in this dungeon¡­ for ten years now¡­." (Liam)


    With Liam''s deration, everything seems to havee to a sudden stop in Damian''s eyes.


    The fact that he had been stuck in this ce for not ten days but ten years was too shocking and difficult to digest for him. It was too sudden for him, he felt like all his hopes were copsing and everything felt surreal.


    "H-how can that be!? Y-you must be joking right? Right!?" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s question Liam shook his head solemnly and replied:


    "It''s year 4346 right now¡­ that''s the actual truth old man¡­ ten years have passed away in the outer world¡­ people have even forgotten about your party''s name too¡­" (Liam)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Oh boy! What a great twist it is, all of a sudden everything seems to havee to a standstill! This is what we can twist! Suspense and epic! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Did you guys guess this twist already?


    1.Yes (Hmm, it seems you guys have learned the Dao of critical thinking¡­)


    2.No (If you didn''t guess it until now, then it means I was sessful in delivering this sudden plot twist¡­)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 140 Damian’s Sacrifice. Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 140 Damian''s Sacrifice. Part-3. </h4>


    "It''s year 4346 right now¡­ that''s the actual truth old man¡­ ten years have passed away in the outer world¡­ people have even forgotten about your party''s name too¡­" (Liam)


    At Liam''s shocking words, Damian felt his eyes blur in shock.


    "Th-this!?" (Damian)


    Damian''s legs gave out and he slumped down on the ground with a face full of despair, his whole world seemed to have copsed.


    Liam showed Damian his wristwatch with a solemn look on his face:


    "See, this is the current date¡­" (Liam)


    With dead-fish-like eyes, Damian nced at the date and he finally epted that he had been stuck in this dungeon for more than ten years now.


    "Th-then¡­. My daughter, my wife¡­ what about them¡­ they must have been extremely sad at my disappearance¡­" (Damian)


    Tears appeared in Damian''s eyes. He had promised his family that he would return safely and on time, but it seems he ended up breaking that promise long ago.


    Just when Damian was in despair a cold voice entered his ears.


    "Hmph, if you had been more careful, you could have avoided such an idiotic thing from happening altogether¡­" (Raji)


    At Raji''s sudden appearance, everyone was startled for a second but then epted it with a look of awe on their faces. (She forced her way inside the dungeon and forcefully stabilized it from copsing...)


    Hearing Raji''s voice, Damian raised his face and looked at Raji with his tear-filled eyes.


    The moment his eyesnded on Raji''s face, his eyes widened in disbelief.


    He hurriedly got up from the ground and tried to stabilize himself. With a slight trembling voice, he asked:


    "Is that you, my elder daughter?¡­ Raji?¡­ y-you have grown up¡­" (Damian)


    At Damian''s question, Raji nodded her head with the usual cold look on her face.


    "It''s me Raji Croft, an SS-ranker and the strongest Frost Mage of the current era¡­" (Raji)


    Raji introduced herself as the pride and admiration icon of the whole human race.


    Since the day she became an SS-ranker, she had be the guardian of the human race, and her dutyes first, her family is only secondary to her now.


    Thus, she can''t introduce herself as the daughter of just one human anymore. (These are her ideals, not a constraint to the SS-ranker''s title, in fact, there are barely any constraints on an SS-ranker in the first ce¡­)


    At Raji''s confirmation of her being his daughter, everything seems to have fallen into ce.


    Lia and everyone else standing around the bonfire had a shocked look on their faces, they seemed to have witnessed a very shocking truth today.


    Everything that happened before and whatever Damian said seems to be making some sense now.


    It''s not that Damian had infiltrated this dungeon and there was no mistake on Raji''s end too. The truth was that Damian was already stuck in this dungeon from the start.


    Damian was not able to recognize Liam''s academy uniform because it had been changed in the past ten years and he thought that there were only two SS-rankers in the current human race, because the other two only ascended after Damian got trapped in this dungeon.


    ¡­


    Seeing Raji look at him with a cold face, Damian''s head bowed in shame.


    Damian wanted to go forward and hug his daughter like he used to do whenever he returned home, but now his body didn''t move, he felt unworthy of calling himself a proper father.


    "So you got epted in the academy and even grew up beyond my wildest expectations¡­. You have made me extremely proud¡­ Raji¡­" (Damian)


    Raji shook her head and replied in her usual cold tone:


    "Not only you but the whole human race be proud whenever a new SS-ranker ascends¡­ I have nothing to talk to you...." (Raji)


    Raji nced at Riya and said in a calm tone:


    "Riya this is the father you have been asking me about all along¡­" (Raji)


    "¡­now you can see his pathetic self yourself, watch how this pathetic man spent his sweet time in this dungeon¡­ while his wife worked herself to aa just for the sake of her daughter''s future¡­" (Raji)


    Raji''s harsh words made Damian feel even more worthless. He felt like dying at the moment.


    From his perspective, it has only been less than a month and his both daughters had grown up into capable individuals who were capable of distinguishing wrong and right in this cruel world.


    When Damian left home for this raid, he had never thought that his 6-year old daughter Riya would being to watch him make a fool out of himself in this dungeon.


    The reason why Damian was seeing his daughter in Riya has now be clear. Now he knows why his body refused to abandon Riya and run away when that giant bear was rushing towards him.


    It was all because Riya was his own daughter, Riya was his younger daughter that used to like sweets a lot.


    All of this was beyond hisprehension.


    In search of treasure, it seems that treasure caused him to make a great ''sacrifice''.


    ¡­


    Damian mustered his courage and said in a trembling voice:


    "F-forgive me, Riya, Raji¡­" (Damian)


    Riya who had been standing still with a shocked expression finally came back to reality and realized what was happening.


    Although she could feel the anger in her sister''s voice, Riya couldn''t hate Damian as much as Raji did.


    Riya slowly walked towards Damian and said in an awkward tone:


    "Uh¡­ I don''t hate you or anything¡­ father¡­ it''s just this is the first time seeing you, which made me surprised¡­. Uh" (Riya)


    Looking at Riya forgiving Damian so easily, Raji said in a cold tone:


    "Don''t talk to that pathetic man Riya, he doesn''t deserve your forgiveness¡­ get back and let me handle the situation!" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s angry voice Riya was startled, this was the first time Raji had shouted and scolded her.


    Raji never scolded Riya before for anything, but today she was angry at Riya for showing kindness to Damian.


    Surprisingly, Riya didn''t fear Raji''s anger at all, she faced Raji and spread her hands, as if to protect Damian from Raji''s wrath.


    "Riya you!" (Raji)


    At Raji''s anger-filled aura, the whole dungeon started to shake and the chaotic mana came to a standstill. The space itself seems to be trembling from Raji''s anger.


    Link immediately jumped in between and blocked the strong aura from harming Riya.


    Although the situation seems to have suddenly taken an unexpected turn with Raji''s sudden appearance in the dungeon, and Link had no right to meddle in the family business of the Croft family, he still couldn''t let Riya suffer any harm.


    Link stood in front of Riya with his arms crossed and blocked the aura. (Although it was just a little bit of Raji''s true aura, it''s still a remarkable feat to block it so effortlessly¡­ like I said before, Link is built different¡­)


    "You can''t big sis! He''s our father! If Mom knew about this she would be angry at you!" (Riya)


    At Riya''s retorts, Raji''s anger increased even further, the pressure on Link increased several times and the ground under his feet cracked due to the pressure.


    ''F*ck! Is she nning on killing Riya!? If this pressure hadnded on Riya, she would have broken her legs by now!'' (Link)


    Link put his hands in a fighting stance. He was ready to fight Raji if she showed even a little bit of killing intent towards Riya. (He can''t even take one attack from Raji, but that''s a different matter¡­)


    "Mom would be disgusted if she knew that this pathetic man was still alive and well!" (Raji)


    "No! She won''t! You are wrong big sis! Mom always used to stare at the moon during the night! I know she missed father a lot!" (Riya)


    Raji shook her head and stared at Damian with hatred in her eyes:


    "You know nothing Riya! You are still too young! Stay out of my way!" (Raji)


    A huge icence appeared in the sky, the clouds scattered and everything seemed insignificant in front of thisnce. The icence was so big that it seemed to be covered the whole sky and it was pointed right at Damian.


    The deadly aura of thatnce alone caused Damian to fall to the ground and stare at it with a horrified look on his face.


    The whole A-rank dungeon trembled uncontrobly due to Raji summoning that onence.


    ''F*ck! This old hag has gone mad! She is really gonna kill us all today!!'' (Link)


    Lia and everyone walked backward slowly in the hope of avoiding Raji''s wrath.


    Although Link was also scared, he didn''t even flinch and continued to block the aura for Riya.


    If it was some other ordinary person who was trying to block Raji''s aura, he would have fainted hundreds of times by now, but Link stood still as an indomitable mountain.


    *Boom*


    Just when Link was at his wit''s end, a sudden loud sound woke up them all.


    Everyone looked to the east and found a huge tornado of pure mana forming in the distance.


    "This mana whirlpool¡­ is someone breaking through to rank A! in this domain!?" (Liam)


    The situation seems to have be more and more chaotic with every passing second.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s quite surprising to see an SS-ranker getting angry for the first time¡­


    Do you guys think Raji would be able to forgive Damian?


    1.Yes (With Riya''s subtle help, perhaps Damian would be able to win his daughter''s heart back¡­)


    2.No (A rtion once broken can''t be fully healed and love once forgotten can''t be remembered in its true form¡­)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 141 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 141 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-1. </h4>


    This vast battlefield spans a major part of the dungeon.


    Nearly 45 percent of the outer area is the bloody battlefield into which Rio got teleported, and nearly 37 percent of the inner area is also a part of this major battlefield.


    The whole area is littered with thousands upon thousands of corpses. Everywhere one may look, only death and rotten corpses could be seen.


    ''This ce is horrible¡­ If I had emotions, I would have fainted in this ce¡­ rotting innards¡­ organs¡­ This ce is filled with gore¡­'' (Rio)


    ''It''s a good thing only I got teleported here¡­ wouldn''t want Lia to see this horrifying view¡­'' (Rio)


    With his sword in his hand, Rio stood atop a huge pile of corpses; horror and fear were still visible in the eyes of the dead bodies.


    ''This ce is quite big¡­ it''s been half an hour since it started wandering around¡­ (Rio)


    ''Moreover, this ce is called a dungeon¡­ but there are no monsters in sight¡­ All there are the dead bodies of various demons¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio tilted his head and nced at the giant corpse of a demon lying on the ground.


    "That must have been an S-rank demon¡­" (Rio)


    The corpse was so huge that its eyeball looked bigger than Rio''s whole body.


    ''Fear¡­ Even a demon felt fear¡­ well, death is indeed the scariest thing for any sentient creature¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and stopped paying attention to that giant corpse.


    ''If this ce is an imitation of the ancient Maya continent¡­ then it means that the perfect bomb was dropped by the demons when the ''Thousand-year demon extinction war'' was still ongoing¡­''


    Every other race believes that demons do not care about their fellow kin; they only kill for pleasure and pure destruction.


    Demons don''t have a proper civilization; they are like wild beasts who hunt for food and spend most of their time seeking pleasure through various means.


    ''They dropped the perfect bomb and directly killed thousands of their kin along with the enemy¡­ demons really are a heartless race¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and stopped thinking about it.


    "Hmm¡­" (Rio)


    Rio tilted his head a bit to the left, and an arrow covered in thick purple mes passed by his head. If he hadn''t dodged it beforehand, his head would have exploded like a watermelon.


    "Is there someone still alive even after that mana bomb¡­ it must be a lucky fellow then¡­" (Rio)


    Although perfect mana bombs are very effective killers, which can wipe out everything on a whole continent and not even leave small insects alive for thousands of kilometers, there are always some exceptions.


    There are always some lucky survivors who somehow make it out alive. (That Bear Link killed was also a lucky survivor¡­ it was originally a peak S-ranker¡­ now reduced to a dead body¡­)


    Due to being here for more than half an hour, Rio had already adapted to the chaotic mana, which caused him to be able to barely use his mana detection skills again.


    With his amazing instincts and this weakened mana detection, now Rio could dodge blows from a peak-A ranker from point-nk.


    ''Unless the other party gets serious, I feel like I can at least dodge a few casual attacks from an S-ranker at my peak state¡­'' (Rio)


    With his terrifying talent, Rio used this rare opportunity of being in chaotic mana to train his mana detection even further, and thus his sense reached a new height.


    While Rio continued to contemte in his mind, several more arrows came at him flying with speed much faster than the speed of sound.


    Rio just slightly tilted his body every time and dodged the arrows by an extremely small margin.


    After the third arrow, Rio had already determined the exact location of the attacker. (Yes, he was trying to locate the archer, that''s why he didn''t rush directly and continued to y the role of a stationary target¡­)


    Rio jumped down the corpse hill in a single go, and he started to walk towards the attacker in an unhurried and slow manner. He kept dodging the arrows and slowly moved forward.


    ''It seems these arrows are just mere warning shots; the other party is not really trying their best¡­ (Rio)


    ''Moreover, I can''t detect the individual at all¡­'' (Rio)


    Although Rio was able to easily detect the arrow and the bow, he couldn''t detect the archer who was using the bow.


    ''It''s as if the bow is firing automatically and there''s no real individual behind it¡­ this is quite strange¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio suddenly put some pressure on the ground andunched towards the opponent like a cannonball. He was so fast that it felt like he directly teleported in front of the bow.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Cleaver!]


    With a horizontal strike of his sword at insane speed, Rio split the bow in two directly. The air pressure from that sword slice split several corpse hills behind the bow.


    "Hmm, is it an evil spirit?" (Rio)


    Although Rio''s attacknded on the bow, it seemed to have done no damage at all. The two split pieces of the bow reunited and changed the shape of its body. The spirit being took a humanoid form, and a spear rested in its palm.


    ''Now we know why it survived the chaotic mana until now¡­ it''s not a living creature in the first ce but a spirit being¡­.'' (Rio)


    Spirit beings have excellent control over mana. In the first ce, the whole body of a spirit being is made up of mana; they don''t have a proper physical body.


    Spirit beings have to consciously try to keep their body together all the time, which trains their mana control every single second, and that''s why their mana control is insanely good, which in turn makes them capable of surviving in chaotic mana too.


    But this only applies to strong spirit beings; weaker ones can''t survive here.


    Seeing that the spirit was about to attack him again, Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and took his stance.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Swords Art: Descending Moon!]


    Rio''s sword intent burst forth and covered his whole sword; with a downward strike, Rio split the spirit in two again.


    The spirit beast didn''t even get the chance tond a single attack on Rio before it started to disintegrate into nothingness. Yet a smile could be seen on the spirit''s humanoid face.


    (As exined earlier, sword intent is an extremely deadly attack against spirit beings; even Kai, who is an SS-rank spirit, fears ''Sword Intent''¡­. This proves the fact that low-ranked spirit beings couldn''t withstand a single attack from the sword intent.)


    Seeing the disintegrating spirit smiling at him, Rio shook his head.


    ''It must have been someone''s residual hatred that must have created this spirit being¡­ May your soul rest in peace now¡­'' (Rio)


    While Rio stood there watching the spirit disintegrate, the Spirit stretched its hand out all of a sudden, and a ck orb appeared in its hand.


    It seemed the spirit wanted Rio to take that orb; Rio hesitated a bit but then decided to take it in his hand.


    After handing the orb to Rio, the spirit eventually disintegrated into nothingness, but Rio was paying attention to something else at the moment.


    [Ding! True Immunity has been triggered¡­. Negating the effects of the ''Soul Orb''¡­]


    [Ding! True immunity has nullified the ''sacrifice'' of the ''Soul Orb''¡­. You are unaffected by it now!]


    "Hmm, what just happened?" (Rio)


    ''Since ''true immunity'' got triggered¡­ doesn''t that mean this orb was supposed to be a malicious thing¡­.'' (Rio)


    The only reason Rio epted that orb was that he knew he had ''True Immunity''; otherwise, he wouldn''t even want to touch something given by an evil spirit. Evil spirits are created by intense hatred or killing intent of a dead individual.


    It is extremely rare for a spirit being to be born; the circumstances of the birth of a new evil spirit are extremely rare and difficult to meet. This is the reason why there are not many spirit beings in the world.


    If some ordinary hatred could create an evil spirit, then this world would have been filled with spirit beings. They would have been somon that they might have already been considered a separate species altogether.


    ''But what is this ''Sacrifice'' thingy¡­ It sure sounds quite weird and suspicious¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and put the ck orb in his space ring. Just when Rio put the orb in his space ring, his instincts screamed at him like crazy; he felt death iing.


    Rio saw a giant axe striking him from the corner of his vision; he immediately tightened his stomach and shifted his body back as much as possible.


    ''Sh*t!, can''t dodge it!'' (Rio)


    Even with his amazing reaction speed, Rio couldn''t properly dodge that attack; the attacknded on Rio''s left hand and directly cut his hand off.


    Rio immediately jumped away from that spot and dodged the follow-up attack. Blood flowed out of his sliced arm like a fountain, but there was no emotion of pain on his expressionless face.


    ''Should have been better to keep the shadow armor on¡­ tch! How did I make such a newbie-like mistake, sigh~'' (Rio)


    Rio had worn that shadow ring on his left hand, and now that it was cut off, he couldn''t use that robe anymore either. The rxed situation seemed to have be dangerous all of a sudden.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Now this is what we call the situation going from 0 to 100 extremely fast! Now let''s see how Rio will survive this sudden unexpected crisis.


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to visit this bloody battlefield if given the chance?


    1. Yes (You should reconsider; this is not a game¡­)


    2. No (Yes, this is the logical and best answer¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements..)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 142 A broken skill and a forgotten wish. Part-2

    <h4>Chapter 142 A broken skill and a forgotten wish. Part-2 </h4>


    Rio jumped back and hurriedly used his handkerchief to tie his hand and forcefully stop the bleeding.


    Rio stared at the attacker with focused eyes, even when he tied his hand he didn''t look away and kept track of the opponent.


    ''This thing can avoid my detection range at such close proximity¡­. Moreover, it''s so fast¡­.'' (Rio)


    A knight stood in front of Rio in dark ck armor, his robe tattered and his armor was broken and dented in several ces. Even the helmet was half broken and the knight''s half of the head was missing.


    ''This thing has died long ago due to its head exploding by mana deviation¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Which means¡­. This is an undead¡­'' (Rio)


    [Monster Specie: Undead]


    [Monster Description: Undead are mysterious creatures who are born from dense demonic energy umting in a corpse filled with hatred, greed, and residual will.


    A swarm of Undead can cause an area to be contaminated and corrupted. Undead is said to be a byproduct created after the death of various demons in the same ce.]


    Rio stared at the undead and several thoughts raced in his mind:


    ''This corpse must have been of a peak S-ranker originally and now that it''s an undead its rank has decreased a lot¡­. I would consider it a pseudo-S-rank at this level¡­'' (Rio)


    The undead tilted its head at Rio as if it was in a state of confusion, it opened its mouth and its tongue fell out, it seemed to want to say something but what came out of its mouth were unintelligible beastly noises.


    *groooarrrrr* *vrroorar ssshsssssrrrrorrrrr* (This is what the undead is saying: ''This is my homnd demon scum! Leave this ce at once! Or you will get in by my hands!''¡­)


    The undead''s body shook and it iled its hands as if it wanted to tell something. Rio''s eyes narrowed at this gesture.


    ''It seems the residual will of this undead is too strong¡­. This person might have been an extremely strong individual originally¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio could still see those long pointed ears hanging to the head of the undead, proving that the person was originally a member of the now-extinct dark elf race.


    (As I mentioned before, during the thousand-year demon extinction war, the demons dropped a perfect mana bomb on the Maya continent and the whole of the dark elf race which was fighting against the demon army at that time waspletely wiped off the world map.)


    (The Dark Elf race is already extinct in the real world and there are no records of their sightings after the Maya continent was reduced to an uninhabitable ce.)


    The Undead took his stance and put his giant axe above his shoulder.


    *grorrrrrr* (''I already warned you! I will fulfill my duty! I will not let you demons tarnish the honor of the dark elves! Die Scum!)


    A greyish aura covered its axe and mana strengthened its body.


    Seeing that the undead was using a proper stance and had better mana control than an ordinary A-ranker, Rio''s eyes widened in shock.


    ''This is dangerous¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio might be one of the most talented people in this world right now, but he still hasn''t grown up to be able to fight on equal levels with a former peak S-ranker.


    *Boom!*


    The Undead stomped the ground andunched towards Rio at an insane speed, its giant axe raised above its shoulder and descended as it approached Rio.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire type: Rising Sun!]


    Rio swung his sword upwards and dense ck mes covered his sword.


    The sword and the giant axe collided with each other instantly and a massive shockwave was created. All the nearby corpses were swept far away and the ground cracked due to air pressure.


    Several nearby corpse hills were blown away instantly and the battlefield was cleared for the two to dance at their heart''s content.


    ''Too strong and too fast¡­ as expected of an S-ranker¡­'' (Rio)


    Since Rio was fighting with just one hand, his hand trembled due to the insane strength of the undead''s attack.


    [Handling!]


    With no other choice left, Rio used his deflection skill and deflected the force of the axe towards the ground and jumped away from his spot.


    ''It''s been a while since I was forced to use handling like this¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio only uses handling for attacks that are too strong to block and impossible to dodge, this skill is one of his core fighting abilities. He hasn''t used it much during other battles because he rarely feels the need for it.


    ''But I can''t hold back right now¡­ this undead is perhaps only at its 5 percent of the original level, but it''s still too strong for me as a B-ranker¡­'' (Rio)


    ''If even a single attacknded¡­. It''s instant death for me¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio doesn''t have the crazy defensive ability of Link and neither does he have the unbreakable protection of a divine spirit like Lia.


    Yet, he can keep a former peak S-ranker at bay for a few minutes, this is already a remarkable feat that is extremely rare for anyone to achieve.


    ¡­


    After seeing that it had failed in its attack, the undead pulled its axe out of the ground and took its stance once again. This time it put the axe near its waist.


    ''A horizontal attack ising-'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio thought that the undead was about to do a horizontal attack, it suddenly threw its axe at Rio with insane force, but since Rio was ready to dodge, that one, he easily jumped up and avoided the attack.


    ''Now''s the chance!'' (Rio)


    Rio''s eyes narrowed as he put his sword above his shoulder and activated his sword intent.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword art: Thunder type: condensed arc!]


    ck thunder sparks crawled on Rio''s sword like wriggling snakes and with his downward swing and the enhancement of ''Sword Intent'' the ck thunder formed a massive thunder arc andunched towards the undead.


    *Groooar* (''I will protect my wife from you demons!!!!'')


    The undead howled at the top of its lungs, it bent its legs and directly jumped towards the thunder arc.


    Its armored hand condensed a greyish aura on it and directly punched the thunder arc.


    The attacks collided and a massive shockwave spread everywhere, the air pressure made the clouds scatter and the ground cracked in several ces.


    Just when Rionded on the ground he saw the undead rush towards him from above, thus he jumped back and followed up with another attack.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Condensed arc!]


    Riounched the condensed thunder arc towards the undead again, but the undead directly stomped the ground and changed his standing position by tilting the stones under his feet.


    He easily dodged Rio''s attack and rushed towards Rio.


    ''The previous attacks did minimal damage to him¡­'' (Rio)


    The first thunder arc was directly shattered by the undead with a single punch, although it did some damage and destroyed the undead''s right handpletely, the undead didn''t feel any pain and continued to pursue Rio relentlessly.


    *Groarrrrr* (''DIIIIEEEEE!!'')


    The undead opened its palm and the axe that flew towards it on its own andnded on its palm. With the giant axe in its hand, the undead took its stance again and directlyunched towards Rio.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Fire Type: horizontal shift!]


    Rio swung his sword with ck mes covering it and directly blocked the attack of the undead.


    [Handling!]


    With a sudden twist of his hand, Rio deflected the giant axe''s trajectory making its attack lose any lethality to him.


    Just when Rio deflected the attack, the undead directly punched towards Rio with its right hand.


    ''Sh*t, it can use demonic healing!...'' (Rio)


    The undead beings can heal their body using the demonic energy in their body, but it''s very difficult to do and only an undead with extremely strong residual will can actually do this thing.


    Due to this sudden unexpected healing of the right hand, the undead''s punch Rio was caught off guard and he barely had the time to dodge his head from exploding like a balloon.


    The punch grazed, Rio''s cheek and directly ripped off his left ear. That slight impact made Rio lose focus for a millisecond and the cunning undead didn''t let this chance go to waste.


    It directly abandoned the giant axe in its left hand and punched Rio in the stomach with its left hand.


    "Ugh!" (Rio)


    The punchnded on Rio''s stomach and directly destroyed his internal organs, Rio coughed up blood from his mouth and the impact from the punch made him fly away like an arrow.


    Rio''s body collided with arge boulder several hundred meters behind him and the boulder shattered into pieces from the impact.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Well, fighting a former peak S ranker is not that easy, but who knows if this near-death experience may actually prove to be beneficial¡­


    Question of the day.


    What would you guys like to be?


    1.A Knight (Wearing the amazing iron te armor is a dream for many people...)


    2.A Wizard (ying with mana andunching massive magic spells from a safe distance sounds nice too¡­)


    3.A Sword Master (Be one with the sword, and dominate the world as a sword god!)


    4.A W*lmart Bag(What the!?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 143 A Broken Skill and A Forgotten Wish... Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 143 A Broken Skill and A Forgotten Wish... Part-3. </h4>


    *GRRORRRRR!* (''This is what you deserve demon scum!'')


    The undead shouted at the sky at the top of its lungs to show his victory, it seemed to have taken Rio as an easy target from the start.


    ¡­


    ''Ugh¡­ feels kind of weird¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio pushed the rubble aside and slowly got up from the ground, he clenched his stomach and he felt weird.


    His internal organs were damaged but he couldn''t feel any pain at all, all he felt was weird unevenness in his body. (He surely has been injured but he can''t feel pain due to his emotional misbnces¡­)


    Rio wiped the blood from his mouth with the sleeves of his right hand and stared at the undead roaring at the sky.


    ''I might actually die¡­'' (Rio)


    Sensing Rio getting up, the undead lowered its head and stopped roaring at the sky.


    It tilted its head in confusion for a few seconds. It wasn''t expecting Rio to be able to get up after such a heavy hit.


    After a few seconds of stillness, the undead directlyunched towards Rio like a cannonball.


    Its heavy punch was directly aimed at Rio''s head, but Rio tilted his head and dodged it by a slight distance.


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''I have already adapted to your movements now¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio turned his sword into a pointed sword, like Lia''s, and directly stabbed the undead in the waist.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire type: Fiery touch!]


    Rio thrust his sword with intense ck mes and directly made a huge hole in the waist of the undead. The whole armor was blown away in that area.


    The impact pushed the undead back a little bit and Rio took this chance, his sword changed its ''form'' again and turned into a katana.


    [Sword Intent!]


    With condensed sword intent covering his sword Rio swiftly swung his sword upwards.


    The undead was caught off-guard and its whole left chest was sliced apart by Rio. Its left arm fell on the ground and its internal organs started to spill out of the body.


    But the undead didn''t care about its condition, it directly stomped the ground with all its strength and made Rio''s footing unstable and with its right hand, it punched towards Rio with explosive force.


    [Handling!]


    Rio deflected the punch easily and hopped out of the attack trajectory.


    [Sword Intent: Wind Type!]


    Rio jumped on his sword and directly flew into the air, he wanted to make some distance and carry out some long-distance attacks to buy time.


    But the undead was persistent, it directly jumped towards Rio with explosive force and kicked with insane force.


    Rio had no choice but to defend himself and cancel his sword intent.


    [Handling!]


    After deflecting the attack, Rio started to fall due to gravity and once again rode his sword to stop himself from falling down.


    ''I will have to retrieve the rings first¡­ otherwise, I can''t win this battle¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio''s space ring and shadow robe ring, both were on his sliced left wrist, due to which he wasn''t able to use his space ring and thus he had no healing potions on him right now.


    Rio hurriedly rushed towards his sliced hand which was lying on the ground.


    But since the undead was an S-ranker before obviously, it could easily walk on air too, with a sudden sonic boom, the undead rushed towards Rio and aimed its punch at Rio''s already injured stomach.


    Rio was surprised to see that it was still able to use the unique authority of an S-ranker even though it had fallen in rank.


    ''This thing is too broken¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio made his sword''s flight altitude low all of a sudden and the undead''s punch passed over him without doing any damage, yet the air pressure alone split the clouds in the sky in two.


    ''This thing is stronger than Link in pure strength, it has strong defenses and can still use the unique authority of walking in the air which only S-rankers can use¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio knew that he had gotten himself into a troublesome situation right now.


    ''It seems this dungeon was never meant to be cleared by Fade in the first ce¡­. In fact, now I know why Fade was made to retreat from this dungeon in the original novel¡­'' (Rio)


    ''It must have been the heavenly luck trying to protect Fade from entering and getting killed by the strong monsters of this insane dungeon¡­.'' (Rio)


    Although Rio had found out the truth behind it all, he didn''t me himself foring here at all. He knew from the very first day he started stealing Fade''s chances, he was bound to attract some of the trouble his way.


    ''But an extra have no other choice anyway¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head cleared his mind and directly rushed towards the ground.


    Just when Rio was only a few centimeters away from picking the rings, the undead''s again caused a sonic boom in the air and rushed towards Rio extremely fast.


    Rio had no choice but to retreat his hand back and give up on picking the rings otherwise, the undead would have broken his right arm too.


    When Rio ducked back, the undead''s punchnded on the ground and a huge crater was formed instantly, the rubble flew away far and wide, and this caused Rio''s sliced hand to be buried under rubble too.


    ''Tch¡­ this thing is too intelligent¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio could feel it, this undead may have only half of its head left intact, but it still could sense that it shouldn''t let Rio have those rings back.


    ''The residual will inside this undead must have belonged to a very strong individual I think¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio was right, the undead was the great army general of the Dark Elves when he was alive, and he was the strongest S-


    ranker of the Dark Elf race and used to serve the king of the Dark Elves with total loyalty. (Dark Elfs had no SS-


    rankers¡­)


    Rionded on the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood on the ground, he wiped the blood from his face and stared at the next move of the undead.


    (His internal organs are heavily damaged and he is suffering from severe internal bleeding, the only reason he is still alive is that he has exceptional body strengthening capabilities and his mana control is regting his blood flow¡­)


    All of a sudden Rio felt his eyes blur for a second and the undead seem to have directly teleported right in front of him.


    ''Sh*t! Now it can even use movement arts!...'' (Rio)


    Caught off guard, Rio was hit by the punch directly in the chest, he felt his heart stop beating and his ribs fractured instantly. Rio flew away like an arrow, his grip on his sword loosened instantly and his body fell into the huge pile of corpses nearby.


    Rio''s sword fell from his hand and fell to the ground.


    Rio''s eyes blurred as he looked at the sky, he could barely hear the loud footsteps of the undead heading towards him, and the undead seemed to be dragging its big axe on the ground.


    ''It seems to have used the demonic heal technique again¡­.'' (Rio)


    Rio couldn''t feel any pain in his body, but he instinctively knew that his body was now in a very bad condition.


    ''One ear missing, all ribs broken, heart stopped, internal organs damaged and the left hand sliced¡­ there''s no healing potion, my consciousness is blurring slowly and I am almost out of hp¡­'' (Rio)


    [Ding! HP is below 5 percent, you are in critical condition!]


    [Ding! It is rmended to heal as early as possible, otherwise death is imminent!]


    ''It seems my death countdown has already begun¡­.'' (Rio)


    Several of Rio''s memories seem to have shed back in his mind. He could remember all the thrilling adventures he went on and all the time he spent with Lia in this world.


    ''I have lived much more in this life than the previous one¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio had lived hisst life barely surviving as an orphan and always trying to study and get a stable job, but in this life, he lived every single day to the fullest, he enjoyed the rush of adrenaline when fighting various strong opponents and he liked the time he trained like a maniac.


    ''It was fun while itsted¡­'' (Rio)


    While Rio stayed still on the pile of corpses and his breath continued to slow down little by little, the undead healed its body to full health and dragged its giant axe towards Rio.


    After Reaching Rio, the undead raised its giant axe above its shoulders and aimed at Rio''s neck, it wanted to kill Rio in one swift attack.


    Rio could barely see the silhouette of the giant axe through his blurred vision at this point.


    All of a sudden everything seems to have slowed down greatly. The axe seems to have slowed down in momentum.


    ''Is this what it feels like when someone dies?¡­ everything seems to have slowed down, all of a sudden¡­ it''s so calm¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! I seem to have gone overboard with this one, but well it is important to suffer some difficulties once in a while, right?


    Question of the day.


    Which memories would you like to remember in yourst moments?


    (Tell me in thements, there are no options today¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 144 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 144 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-4. </h4>


    ¡­


    One Morning, on the top floor of the academy


    "Why do you always stare at the sky with such focus?" (Lia)


    Lia tilted her head in confusion and asked Rio about his habit of staring at the rising sun every day.


    Rio nced at Lia and replied in his emotionless tone:


    "It makes me remember the past and reminds me of how far I havee from that original weak and helpless state¡­" (Rio)


    Rio''s answer was vague and weird to hear, Lia was more confused by his answer than she was before.


    She looked at Rio who continued to stare at the rising sun and didn''t disturb him again. She shook her head withplicated emotions.


    "Uh¡­ you don''t need to feel lonely¡­ I would be beside you¡­ so¡­ well¡­" (Lia)


    With a slight blush on her face, Lia put her small hand on Rio''s hand. Rio looked at her with confusion, he could feel the warmth in her small hand, but couldn''t understand what she wanted to say.


    "Well, just stop being that depressed, you can talk to me whenever you want¡­" (Lia)


    ''Oh, so she thinks I am lonely because I have no friends and have no one to talk to¡­ how cute¡­'' (Rio)


    "Haha, you don''t need to worry about such small things, my dear~" (Rio)


    Rio smiled at Lia''s small gestures which made Lia blush from ear to ear. She wanted to retract her hand, but Rio caught it and didn''t let go of it.


    "That''s not what I was saying! Hmph! Idiot!" (Lia)


    Lia pouted her cheeks and Rio continued to grin while looking at her cute face.


    The slight breeze of the wind caused by their mutual love seems to have blown away all the sadness at this moment.


    ¡­


    Academy, the public training ground.


    "Bahahaha! As expected of you Rio! I still couldn''tnd a single attack on you! You are so fast!" (Link)


    "I always think why are you so d*mn slippery!!" (Link)


    Rio heard Link''sint and shook his head.


    "Same goes for you¡­. I always think why you are so d*mn tough skinned¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''spliment, Link smiled from ear to ear.


    He continued tough at the top of his lungs and several students were scared off by his loud and annoyingugh.


    Link pointed to the small cuts and scratches on his body and said in a satisfied tone:


    "But seriously, anyone else is not even able to make a single scratch on me, yet here you are, slicing me everywhere¡­ you are too fast for me bro! I seem to be falling behind you a lot!" (Link)


    Listening to Link''s solemn tone, Rio shrugged his shoulder and replied with his usual emotionless tone:


    "It''s not you who is falling behind¡­ instead I am falling behind¡­ with my enhanced speed I still can''t cut you into several pieces¡­ which is a great shame¡­" (Rio)


    "BAHAHA! You sound like a criminal!" (Link)


    Linkughed at Rio''s weird remarks. Although he wasparing himself to Rio, but he was also confident enough that he would not lose so easily either.


    "Okay, then let''s have one more spar while we are still free today! It''s gonna be thest one!" (Link)


    "You said that about five times already, you know¡­" (Rio)


    Rio rolled his eyes at Link''s persistence.


    ''Is everyone in this academy a battle maniac¡­'' (Rio)


    An evil grin appeared on Link''s face and he said in a mocking tone:


    "Or what, are you afraid of losing to me? Didn''t know you were such a coward! Bahahaha!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s mocking tone, Rio knew that it was said by Link on purpose. Link wanted to provoke him so that he could get Rio to agree to the spar.


    "I am not doing it¡­. Go away or I will tell Riya that you said she was ''Fat''¡­ hehe she would be so angry at you¡­" (Rio)


    Link was shocked at Rio''s remarks, he pointed his finger at Rio and said in a bewildered tone.


    "What the actual f*ck!? When did I even say that!? Don''t make up things on your own you shrewd b*stard!" (Link)


    Ignoring Link''s bewildered voice, Rio jumped away and disappeared from Link''s sight, he left only one remark behind.


    "Okay, I am gonna tell Riya, hehe catch me if you can¡­" (Rio)


    Link hurriedly chased behind Rio with a desperate look on his face.


    "Stop you traitor! I will beat the sh*t out of you if you said anything to Riya!!" (Link)


    Despite Link''s shouts, Rio continued to ignore him and told Riya about it all. Link didn''t get to talk to Riya for a whole three days after that,ter he had to buy several rare candies to make up with Riya again.


    ¡­


    Academy, Healer''s office.


    "Uh, so what do you rmend I should do! Please tell me!" (Riya)


    "It''s Link''s birthday tomorrow and I don''t know what a boy likes at all, please tell me what should I give as a gift to Link!?" (Riya)


    Hearing Riya''s plea for help, Rio rolled his eyes and nced at Lia who was sitting beside him.


    Lia didn''t say anything and just shrugged her shoulder as if to say that she didn''t want to get involved in this mess.


    She had already tried teaching cookies to Riya, but it failed horribly and they ended up making a mess of the public kitchen area of the academy. Both Lia and Riya received a lengthy scolding from the teachers after that incident.


    Thus Lia didn''t want to get involved in this mess again.


    "Hmmm, How about you give him a kiss, I am sure he will be so happy that he will evenugh in his sleep¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s remarks, Riya blushed a little bit and put her hand on her lip while thinking to herself.


    ''Will it work though¡­'' (Riya)


    Later Riya went ahead with Rio''s idea and lightly pecked on Link''s cheek as a birthday gift. Link was so happy that he was dancing all over his home that day, even his father rolled his eyes in shame after looking at Link''s weird dance.


    ¡­


    Earth, Rio''s previous life, a roadside bench.


    "Oi oi, why are you looking so sad today? Did you get rejected by a girl haha! Oh, I forgot you are always like that! hehe" (???)


    Rio tilted his head towards the friend who sat beside him with a wide grin on his face.


    "I am doing fine, it''s just the exams and stuff are causing me stress, these days¡­" (Rio)


    Rio gave his friend a doubtful look and said in a calm tone.


    "Did you ask me toe here, just so you could mock me¡­e on man seriously¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head with a regretful look all over his ordinary face.


    "Eh, no no, that''s not it, look what I have for you today! A new novel! Here take it and tell me if you like it or notter!" (???)


    Rio stretched out his hand and took the novel without any hesitation.


    "A new one?" (Rio)


    "Yeah, it''s a brand new one!" (???)


    Just when Rio was about to open the first page, the friend stopped him and asked with a smile:


    "What''s the hurry, try it at home¡­ instead answer a question of mine first¡­" (???)


    Rio frowned a little bit, but he agreed and nodded his head.


    "Okay, tell me what is it that you wish for the most?" (???)


    "What a weird question that is, are trying to make a fool of me again!?" (Rio)


    Rio gave his friend a doubtful look, he knew that his friend was a mischievous guy who liked to mess around with him.


    "Come on just tell me¡­ what the big deal?" (???)


    "Okay okay fine, my greatest wish is to live a peaceful and happy life¡­" (Rio)


    "Hehe, as I thought, you are really a simple guy, even your wish is so reserved, well, okay then, I hope your wish gets fulfilled then¡­" (???)


    Rio frowned at his friend''s mysterious look but didn''t say anything, he had been acquainted with his friend''s weird behavior for many years now, so he didn''t think too much of it.


    Rio got up from the bench and got ready to leave as he put the novel in his bag.


    "Leaving so early today? What''s the hurry? Why not chat with me a little bit more?" (???)


    Rio shook his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "I am busy today, perhaps some other day, bye~" (Rio)


    Without looking back Rio left for home.


    ...


    Back to the present time, inside Rio''s mind


    ''Yes, I seem to have forgotten it, but my wish was to live a peaceful and happy life¡­'' (Rio)


    During that near-death moment, Rio had remembered a very important ''Forgotten Wish'' which he had forgotten when he came to this world.


    ''I remember it now¡­'' (Rio)


    [Ding! You have found your own ''Path''!]


    [Ding! You have fulfilled all conditions for advancement!]


    [Ding! Commencing advancement to rank A!]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Things are getting a bit mysterious now aren''t they, but you will understand everything eventually¡­ ????, Rio.


    Question of the day.


    Has your friend caused you trouble before, like Rio caused for Link?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    3.I have no friends (Sad life¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 145 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 145 A Broken Skill and a forgotten wish... Part-5. </h4>


    [Ding! You have fulfilled all conditions for advancement!]


    [Ding! Commencing advancement to rank A!]


    At that moment, Rio remembered the ''path'' he had forgotten about after his transmigration.


    With all conditions fulfilled and a proper opportunity, at that critical moment of life and death, Rio gained what he had forgotten. He had achieved a ''Breakthrough''.


    The chaotic mana suddenly started to condense and rush towards Rio.


    With a sudden increase in mana, the giant axe of the undead was pushed back, and the dense mana covered Rio''s body all over in its embrace as if to protect him from the outside cruel world.


    *Groooorrrr*


    The undead tried to remain steady and push forward, but due to the increasing mana pressure around Rio, he couldn''t even move an inch towards Rio. Instead, the undead was getting pushed back even further.


    The dense mana started to swirl like a tornado, and the clouds in the sky were pushed away.


    An insanelyrge tornado of dense mana was formed around Rio, mana pushed Rio''s body up from the ground, and his body floated mid-air in the warm embrace of mana.


    Due to Rio''s ascension and ''True Immunity'', the chaotic mana that would have been like poison to others became calm and warm when it entered Rio''s body.


    [Ding! All your wounds have been healed, and your body has been restored to its usual form due to ascension!]


    The dense mana reinvigorated the cells of Rio''s body and healed him at an insanely fast speed. Rio''s split hand grew back, and all his internal and external injuries healed in just a few seconds.


    Whenever someone ascends from one major rank to the next one, all their previous wounds get healed, and their lifespan increases to match that of the next rank.


    (For example, ascending from rank C to B or any other heals the individual, but ascending from C- to C+ doesn''t cause the healing to trigger; only a major rank ascension can trigger the healing.)


    This phenomenon is considered a blessing granted to the awakener by the mana itself.


    Due to the presence of high-grade healing potions in today''s era, this healing effect may be consideredckluster.


    But if someone seeds in ascending to a higher rank in the middle of a battle, then they can recover all injuries and get the upper hand over the opponent.


    Still, trying to ascend during an ongoing battle is a very risky move. Obviously, the opponent is not going to stay still and wait for you toplete your ascension.


    They would immediately seize the opportunity and try to attack you when you are immobilized due to the ascension.


    Everyone''s ascension is not like Rio''s; generally, ordinary A-rank ascension does create mana tornadoes, but not at a scale simr to what Rio is causing.


    ¡­


    Outer Area, Foggy Hills.


    "This mana whirlpool¡­ is someone breaking through to rank A! In this domain!?" (Liam)


    A look of extreme shock appeared on Liam''s face. He stared at the huge mana tornado and said in a shocked tone:


    "The mana in this domain is extremely chaotic and violent! Wouldn''t it cause the ascension to fail if someone tried such a reckless move!?" (Liam)


    At Liam''s remarks, everyone was also confused and stared at the tornado with confused looks on their faces.


    The huge ice spear that Raji had summoned in the sky to deal with Damian disappeared into nothingness, and Raji looked in the direction of the tornado with a slight frown on her face.


    ''What is going on¡­ the mana entering the body of that boy is chaotic¡­ but it''s not even harming him in the slightest¡­ this is strange¡­'' (Raji)


    With her mana detection abilities being unhindered by anything, Raji had already sensed everything that was going on with Rio.


    She didn''t go and try to save Rio till thest moments because she already was expecting a talented individual like Rio to achieve a greater height by being in that near-death state.


    If Rio was not able to defend himself, Raji would have directly teleported near him and used a high-grade potion to heal him back to full health. With a single swish of her finger, she could directly make the undead knight vanish into nothingness.


    ''This little guy¡­ he is full of mysteries¡­'' (Raji)


    All of a sudden a huge portal appeared on the ground and directly swallowed everyone standing nearby Raji. Raji shook her head and also entered the portal.


    The other end of the portal opened in the sky near the tornado''s center.


    Raji cast a spherical barrier so that everyone could stand on it and watch the things happening below with ease.


    Lia immediately noticed Rio''s presence and she could see that he was in an injured state at the moment.


    Seeing Rio''s injured state, a concerned look appeared on Lia''s face. She red at the undead and wanted it to stop froming near Rio.


    Raji gave Lia a slight nce and said in a cold tone:


    "Don''t try to interfere¡­ He must do it on his own¡­" (Raji)


    "B-but-" (Lia)


    Lia wanted to say something, but Raji didn''t even let her speak.


    "No need¡­ just stand there and watch¡­ instead you guys should focus and get some insights from him¡­ it may prove to be beneficial when it''s your turn to ascend¡­" (Raji)


    Raji shook her head and didn''t let anyone interfere with Rio.


    Link stared at Rio with bloodshot eyes.


    ''Sh*t! you beat me to it again! I wanted to be the one to ascend before you! Ugh¡­'' (Link)


    Due to Link''spetitive nature, he couldn''t help but clench his fists and watch Rio leave him behind in the dust withplicated emotions on his mind.


    While everyone had different emotions on their faces, Damian was sitting nearby with unknown emotions on his face. Everyone seemed to have forgotten his existence all of a sudden.


    ¡­


    Unaware of everything happening outside, Rio was solely focused on his own ascension.


    Due to his body being healed by the mana, his mind cleared up, and his heart started beating again.


    He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the marvelous phenomenon happening around him.


    ''It seems that ''True Immunity'' can still help me keep the mana from causing mana deviation in my body¡­'' (Rio)


    (For Fade, the true immunity would not have helped him because his body was wed due to forced ascensions, but Rio had ascended naturally with a clear ''Path'' and no ws.)


    (True immunity could block the chaotic mana for Rio and Fade both, but it couldn''t block the physical ws Fade had caused in his own mana circuit.)


    At that moment of ascension, Rio could feel dense mana entering his whole body and strengthening every cell of his body. He could feel his body bing stronger.


    His senses became clearer and sublime as time went on; he could even sense the undead trying to break through the huge tornado and rush toward him with full force.


    ''I feel so calm right now¡­ it''s as if something deep inside me has changed¡­'' (Rio)


    [Ding! You have achieved a breakthrough!]


    [Ding! Your rank has been increased to Rank ''A-'']


    [Ding! All resistances and stats have improved greatly!]


    [Ding! All skills and traits have improved greatly!]


    Just when Rio was going through his ascension, his sword that had fallen from his hand earlier suddenly trembled and flew towards him at great speed. It crossed the tornado of mana easily arrived in front of Rio and continued to float mid-air.


    Rio instinctively understood what he had to do; he stretched his hand out and held the sword in his hand.


    The sword seemed to tremble from joy when Rio''s hand touched it.


    [Ding! Due to increased rank and fulfillment of the conditions, the second integrated skill of ''Vinash'' has been unlocked¡­]


    [Ding! Now you can use the second skill of your sword ''Vinash''¡­]


    [Ding! The second Skill ''Soul Splitting'' has been unlocked!]


    [Ding! You have gained the unique title ''Soul Splitter'' by getting permission to use the skill ''Soul Splitting''¡­]


    [Ding! Due to your immense sword aptitude, your understanding of ''Sword Intent'' has been increased immensely!]


    A huge amount of knowledge entered Rio''s mind, and he got a preliminary understanding of the technique called ''Soul Splitting''.


    [Soul Splitting: Whenever this skill is activated, the user can carry out ''One'' attack that can damage or destroy the soul of the enemy directly while ignoring any physical resistance.]


    (The maximum number of times Rio can use this skill on any opponent is ''One'' for now, but it can be increased as his rank improves¡­)


    At this sudden turn of events, Rio could only think that.


    ''This skill is too broken¡­'' (Rio)


    Although Rio could only use this skill on an opponent for just one time, it is still too broken and overpowered to be able to damage the soul of the opponent directly, while ignoring most of the resistances. (Except ''True Immunity'', that can resist this skill too¡­)


    Still, this skill is just too broken.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! I have been foreshadowing this ''Soul Splitting'' skill since the chapter I introduced Kevin sh. Now you guys know where the title ''Soul Splitter''es from!


    Finally, the plot has started to clear up a lot.


    Question of the day.


    Did you expect a deadbeat guy like Kevin to leave such an amazing gift for Rio?


    1. No


    2. Yes


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Join my Discord server for early updates, guys. The link is in the novel''s description.

 Chapter 146 A Swift Victory...

    <h4>Chapter 146 A Swift Victory... </h4>


    [Ding! Congrattions on bing an A-ranker!]


    ''Even the lifeless voice of the status panel''s notification has turned lively now¡­ strong individuals are indeed treated much better¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head at this thought. He didn''t dare be too arrogant just because he had be an A-ranker; there were more than a million A-rankers in this world, and there was no point in thinking too highly of yourself.


    While Rio contemted in his mind, the dense mana surrounding him started to scatter, and the tornado disappeared into thin air after some time.


    *Grooooarrr*


    Now that the protection of mana was gone, the undead immediately rushed towards Rio, and its giant axe descended toward Rio''s head.


    ''Hmm, my detection skill has improved a lot it seems...'' (Rio)


    Rio tilted his body to the left slightly and dodged the attack easily. The giant axended on the ground where Rio was originally standing; the impact of that attack caused the ground to crack, and a small valley was carved out in the ground.


    ''Is this undead recovering its former S-rank strength as time passes?'' (Rio)


    Since the start of the battle with the undead, Rio had noticed that the undead was slowly getting stronger as time passed; they started to use more and more techniques and fighting styles as the battle continued.


    ''I will need to finish this in one strong attack then¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio jumped back and created a small distance between them. He raised his sword over his shoulder, bent his knees, and took the stance for a powerful sh.


    The undead seemed to have sensed something; it immediately put its axe in a defensive stance and covered itself with mana to defend against Rio''s iing attack.


    ''Its ''perception'' has recovered too; this thing is getting more dangerous with each passing second¡­ I need to deal with it fast¡­'' (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    A massive amount of mana condensed on Rio''s sword, and the air trembled around Rio just from the presence of that incredibly condensed ''Sword Intent''.


    Rio''s sword''s length increased to several meters due to the condensation of mana and ''sword intent'' on it.


    ''Rest in peace; you were a noble warrior, you defended your homnd in your death and after¡­'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Descending lunar eclipse!]


    [Soul Splitting!]


    Rio''s sword descended on the undead with an intimidating momentum. The air pressure from that attack was so strong that it split the clouds in the sky, and a new valley was created.


    That one attack altered the geography of this ancient battlefield in an instant. Dust and rubble flew away like meteors. The cut on the ground was so deep and neat that magma could be seen with the naked eye.


    Despite all of this, the undead stood still. The sword attack seems to have passed right through it, without doing any damage at all, but that was definitely not true.


    In thosest moments, the undead seemed to have gained some sanity back; it used telepathy and whispered in Rio''s mind.


    ''Thy strength Extraordinary¡­''


    With that said, the undead''s body split into two halves vertically, and both of its halves fell down on the ground with a ''thud'' sound.


    While the attack had split the remnant ''soul'' and ''will'' residing in the undead and destroyed it instantly, on the other hand, ''sword intent'' split its physical body into two pieces.


    The armor and the axe which the undead used to defend itself were also sliced through neatly and fell on the ground.


    Winds howled, and Rio''s hair ruffled in the air as he stared at the fallen undead with his emotionless face.


    ''If not for this awakening¡­ I would have been the one to fall and be forgotten from existence, just like this knight¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    In the sky, Inside Raji''s barrier.


    ''As I had expected, this little guy is indeed full of mysteries¡­. But well, everyone has their own secrets; I don''t think it would be a good decision to press him and make him spit his secrets out¡­'' (Raji)


    Raji had easily seen through everything that Rio did in that attack. As an SS-ranker, she was all too familiar with the concept of soul, and she had gone to many dungeons where spirit beings resided.


    ''So that must be the ''Soul Splitting Technique'' that made Kevin sh as sessful as an assassin¡­'' (Raji)


    When Kevin was in service, Raji was still just an academy student and didn''t get to witness his unique technique in person. She only knew about it because she had heard Ashtel and Neo talk about it before.


    Today she got to witness this technique with her own eyes.


    (Yes, the sword and the technique that Ashtel and everyone else was talking about during the early chapters ''ch-34 and onwards'' of the novel, was this sword ''Vinash'' and the skill ''Soul Splitting''¡­)


    Anyone who holds this sword and is A-rank or above can use the ''Soul Splitting'' technique.


    (Others can use this sword, but the efficiency and damage would not be so highpared to what Rio is doing; that is because Rio had been recognized by this sword, unlike others¡­)


    This ''Soul splitting'' technique is only as effective as now when used by someone recognized by the sword itself.


    Kevin sh tried his whole life, but he was never able to get the sword to recognize him and had no choice but to put it in the inheritance card that he prepared for Rio.


    This sword causes mental and emotional corruption to those who are not worthy to use it; thus, Kevin rarely ever used this sword and had to part with it early, otherwise, he couldn''t have kept his sanity intact.


    Kevin was barely able to keep ''Vinash'' with him for only two years, and it already cost him to lose the love and care he had for his family and friends. It preyed on his emotions and altered his personality a lot.


    If not for the fact that Kevin understood the seriousness of this matter on time and decided to put this sword away, he would have be a mindless creature attacking and destroying everything that came into his sight.


    He was expecting his son to have better talent than him; thus, he put that sword for Rio to find. If he had known that the original Rio was barely even a C-ranker, he would have not put Rio in harm''s way.


    (Rio was ten years old when Kevin died, and thus Kevin never saw Rio be an awakener; all the inheritance preparation he did was based on the thought that his son would very likely awaken the max potential of S-rank at least.)


    (This is the reason why that inheritance card was such a dangerous ce; it was designed as a test for a supposed future S-ranker.)


    In the first ce, the original Rio would have never received that inheritance card as he would have no way to get acquainted with an S-ranker like James.


    The original Rio was supposed to get expelled from the academy by the end of the first year. He would have then be a veteran dungeon raider. He would have raided many C-rank or below-ranked dungeons by the time he would have retired from this fighting life.


    He would have then married a fellow awakener from his raiding party, and they would have lived happily ever after.


    But that one ''Anomaly'', the transmigration has changed the ''Fate'' itself. As they say, all the threads of fate are connected like a spider''s web, and changing one of them changes the whole world itself.


    ¡­


    After a while, Rio stopped staring at the undead.


    A portal appeared nearby, and all of the party members walked out of the portal one by one.


    Lia immediately jumped on him with slight tears in her eyes.


    "Thankfully, you are okay!" (Lia)


    Rio patted Lia''s head andforted her with a slight smile on his face.


    "Yeah, I am fine, what about you? Where have you guys been?" (Rio)


    Rio didn''t know that they were watching him from afar, and thus he was confused as to why Lia suddenly hugged him; he thought she was the one who had suffered and wanted to getforted.


    Link pointed his index finger towards him and said in an excited tone:


    "Don''t think you have won! I will reach A-rank in no time too!" (Link)


    "Yeah, yeah¡­" (Rio)


    "Tch!" (Link)


    Link became annoyed by looking at Rio''s mocking face and stopped talking. (Rio didn''t mock him, but in his eyes, Rio looks like he is mocking him¡­. Link''s way of thinking is quiteplicated¡­)


    "Congrattions on your advancement, Student Rio¡­ you have already fulfilled the graduation criteria now.... it''s indeed a great achievement" (Raji)


    Even Raji, who always had a cold look on her face,plimented Rio for his amazing feat and gave him a slight pat on the shoulder to show her appreciation.


    She nodded her head at Rio and then red at Link with fierce eyes.


    "Link, you should also start working harder from now on¡­ it is very likely that Rio will leave you behind in the dust from now on¡­" (Raji)


    Link was embarrassed at Raji''s statement; he puffed up his chest and said in a confident tone.


    "Humph, I will also reach rank A in no time, just you wait, Rio!" (Link)


    Everyoneughed, and the atmosphere eased a lot. The previous tension and awkwardness seem to have disappeared by now.


    (All of them seem to have forgotten about the existence of Fade, Kira, and Damian altogether¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we know why Kevin was such a deadbeat father; it was not that he wanted to kill Rio, it''s just that the original Rio was too weak for his considerations¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to defend your homnd like the undead knight who fought Rio even after his death?


    1. Yes (The urge to do ast stand against a whole army and go crazy¡­.)


    2. Not (I am a little cutie patootie so I will pass¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 147 A Queen’s Sorrow... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 147 A Queen''s Sorrow... Part-1. </h4>


    "How big even is this ce!?" (Fade)


    Fade red at the never-ending tunnels with frustration written all over his face.


    They have been wandering in thisrge tunnelwork for more than three hours now, yet there''s no end in sight.


    This ce is shrouded in darkness and thousands upon thousands of corpses of Dark Elven warriors and demons are scattered in this gigantic cave system.


    Ignoring Fade''s frustratedints, Kira nced at the fire illumination spell and increased its intensity. This enhanced the vision and the darkness receded further.


    "I think we have entered the inner area of the dungeon¡­. I clearly cast the spell to guide us outside of these tunnels but, it has taken us even deeper¡­ strange¡­" (Kira)


    "What!? Could it be you cast a wrong spell!?" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s doubting voice, Kira frowned a bit and retorted with an angry voice.


    "You are doubting my magical capabilities!?" (Kira)


    Kira pouted her cheeks, her cute face made her look even more beautiful when she was angry.


    Fade hurriedly apologized for his rude remarks:


    "Uh, no way, i-I am not doubting you or anything! It''s just that I am a little frustrated, that''s all!" (Fade)


    "Humph, you better not doubt me from now on!" (Kira)


    "Yes, yes, you are my cute princess! How can I doubt you!" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s apology, Kira seems to have forgiven Fade for his rude behavior of doubting her capabilities.


    (Kira is no doubt an excellent mage, with a wide variety of spells in her arsenal. Meanwhile, Fade can use every type of magic due to his system''s help, but he is more focused on attack spells and doesn''t bother putting his EXP on the auxiliary spells¡­)


    Both Kira and Fade have a proper role in their party of two people. They have been to many dungeons together before. Kira is focused on auxiliary spells and support magic, while Fade''s main job is to deal massive damage to the enemies.


    They have been fighting together for more than a year now, thus their mutual understanding is quite good.


    Kira has helped Fade on many asions. She has a vast knowledge of history and she is the top scorer of the written exams conducted by the academy. In the academic world, Kira is considered a genius who only appears once in a century.


    (She has saved Fade''s life so many times by now, that it''s useless to even count it. Fade is literally alive due to her care for him¡­)


    ¡­


    Kira stared at the nearby corpses with a solemn look on her face.


    "But this ce is strange, no matter what¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing her serious tone, Fade asked with a doubtful look on his face:


    "How so? Isn''t this just a graveyard filled with corpses to the brim?" (Fade)


    Fade shrugged his shoulders and rolled while thinking about this weird ce. He still remembered that horrible smell which made him vomit to death.


    If not for Kira''s spells, he would have already fainted ten times from this horrible stench. This ce is literal hell on earth. Innards and blood are sttered everywhere in this ce and rotting corpses are scattered all over the ce.


    Even the cave walls are painted red. (This ce is like a scene straight out of some horror game¡­ it''s that bad.)


    Hearing Fade''s doubts, Kira shook her head and replied in a solemn tone:


    "No, the strange thing is there are too many dark elven corpses here¡­ ording to the history records.... Dark elves didn''t like to live in caves, they preferred to live around volcanoes and barrennds, where no vegetation grew¡­" (Kira)


    "They are like the literal opposite of the usual elves we see in the real world¡­ unlike those elegant and nature-loving elves in the outside world, the dark elves used to eat meat, they had tribes and minimum levels of technological achievement¡­" (Kira)


    "But they were stronger and more powerful than regr Elves¡­ they had such strong physique that they could do arm wrestling with an ogre and still win¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing all this information bombardment, Fade rolled his eyes and didn''t bother listening at all.


    He knew that this was Kira''s habit. She always liked to exin various historical things and she became too excited while finding out more about the historical facts.


    Since this dungeon is an imitation of the final days of the Dark Elf race, this ce is filled with historical records to uncover. And for a history enthusiast like Kira, this ce is a treasure trove filled with vast amounts of knowledge.


    "Uh, so what does that have to do with the presence of these dark elven corpses here¡­" (Fade)


    Due to Fade''s interruption, Kira finally came back to her senses and stopped talking about various historical records.


    "So, what I am trying to say is¡­. Dark elves only used underground tunnels when at war, they used them to transport troops, supplies or do a strategic deployment¡­" (Kira)


    "Moreover they also dug such tunnels for creating a retreat route for their armies..." (Kira)


    Kira then nced at the cave all around them and said in a solemn tone:


    "It is very likely, that this ce is a retreat route of the dark elven army and these soldiers died while retreating from the battlefield¡­" (Kira)


    "Only someone strong can order the retreat of such arge army as this¡­ the presence of so many corpses means this was a retreating main battalion of the dark elven army¡­" (Kira)


    "Which means there must be someone extremely important they were escorting back with them¡­" (Kira)


    The more Kira continued to specte the more her frown deepened, she seemed to have sensed a great danger just by her spections.


    "Quick! We need to hurry and get out of this ce fast!" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s perplexed tone, Fade was startled.


    "Wh-what!? What happened all of a sudden?" (Fade)


    "There''s no time to exin!... if that person they were escorting has suffered mana deviation, then they would very likely lose their sanity! And if the other party is an S-ranker, then they will very likely be still alive right now!" (Kira)


    "From these corpses, I am assuming not more than a month has passed since the ''Perfect Mana Bomb'' was dropped in this ce, and an S-ranker can definitely survive for a while even under these deadly circumstances¡­" (Kira)


    (What Kira had predicted from her spections, was actually extremely close to the truth, she is not called an academy genius for no reason, she has an extremely sharp mind, and her cleverness has saved them both many times on their various adventures¡­)


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    Kira held Fade''s hand and cast a wind magic spell to boost their speed.


    their various adventures¡­)


    Kira held Fade''s hand and cast a wind magic spell to boost their [Intermediate Wind Magic: Flowing wind breeze!]


    The wind magic helped the two push faster and increased their running speed by many times.


    "Perhaps the only way to get out of this ce is to go further deep, there must be a teleportation altar there, which would have been used to teleport the troops out of the battlefield¡­" (Kira)


    "But if that is true, then we are in even more trouble than before¡­" (Kira)


    Kira had spected in her mind that, the entrance of the tunnel must have copsed due to some reason and the only way out of this ce right now was the teleportation altar.


    But if her earlier theory was true....


    "It is very likely, that supposed strong individual is near that teleportation altar too¡­ and if he has gone crazy, they will destroy the altar¡­ our way out will be blocked if that happens¡­" (Kira)


    "What!? No we can''t let that happen! We must hurry and get to that altar first!" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s startled voice, Kira nodded her head and replied in a determined tone.


    "Yes, that''s my n, we need to somehow bypass that strong individual and teleport out of this ce, and we must avoid engaging in a pointless battle and must secure our way out of this ce first¡­" (Kira)


    "Yes!" (Fade)


    Although Fade didn''t understand the n one bit and didn''t care if has to fight someone strong or not, he continued to nod his head and agree to Kira''s n.


    Kira''s n was no doubt a good one. With just a few small clues and hints, she had connected the dots and figured out the grand scheme of things going on around here.


    Her vast historical knowledge gives her an advantage in many dungeon raids.


    But ns work against those who can be taken care of with your strength, if the strength difference is too big, then any n or trick loses its charm.


    There''s a saying in this world: All tricks and ns, pale against unrivaled strength. Even legends bend their head when true strength demands it.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since I wrote a chapter from Fade''s perspective, so here it is! But seriously, Kira''s title ''Genius Light'' is indeed not for show, she guessed everything so correctly that it''s impressive!


    Join my discord server for early updates. The link is in the novel description.


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to have such a genius brain like Kira?


    1.Yes (Scoring full marks in the exams will be child''s y!)


    2.No (No we don''t want to be obsessed over people like Fade by getting her thought process¡­)


    3.Other (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 148 A Queen’s Sorrow... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 148 A Queen''s Sorrow... Part-2. </h4>


    Through one of the many tunnels opening in the central chamber, Fade and Kira arrived in front of the teleportation altar.


    When the both of them saw the scene in the central chamber, their eyes widened in shock.


    The whole altar was piled up with dark elven corpses. A huge pile of corpses with guts and innards sttered around.


    .But there was one difference, most of these corpses seem to have been split by a sword or simr physical attack before they exploded due to mana deviation.


    On top of the pile of corpses stood a dark-elven woman. Her eyes closed and her left hand missing. A giant great sword pierced her heart and her corpse stood still like a proud warrior.


    From a giant hole in the ceiling above, rays of moonlight fell on the standing dark-elven warrior as if praising her courage.


    She stood there with great elegance. She looked like the very image of a noble warrior who fought till herst breath.


    Among all the corpses in the chamber, only her corpse was still intact and hadn''t exploded due to this chaotic mana in the surroundings. Her armor was broken in several ces and she had several injuries on her body.


    Yet, even after her death, her body stood proud and confident. She gave off the aura of sacrifice and glory.


    ¡­


    "This ce is¡­" (Fade)


    Kira shook her head at Fade''s question:


    "This must be the altar of teleportation, but from the looks of it, it''s already broken¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s deration Fade was startled, he asked in a loud voice:


    "T-then how will we get out of here!?" (Fade)


    Kira nced at the giant hole in the ceiling and replied in a calm tone:


    "That''s our way out of here, I suppose¡­" (Kira)


    "O-oh! Right! Why didn''t I think of that!!" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s shocked voice, Kira shook her head¡­ she already knew that this guy was an idiot to begin with, obviously, he wasn''t going to think too far ahead.


    "But this is indeed kind of strange, all the corpses here seem to have been sliced by swords, they didn''t die due to mana deviation, and they were all killed in battle.


    Then Kira nced at the nearby demon corpses and shook her head.


    "It must have been the work of these demon soldiers who followed the retreating troops here¡­. A long battle must have happened here¡­" (Kira)


    "Well since the strong person we were worried about is already dead, we don''t need to worry anymore, let''s leave this ce now¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s agreement to leave, Fade smiled happily.


    ''Sigh~ finally I can leave this smelly and weird ce¡­ I never want toe back here again¡­'' (Fade)


    Kira stretched out her hand and just when she was about to cast her spell. The mana fluctuations caused by her spell casting seem to have triggered something that was not meant to be awakened.


    *Rumble**Rumble*


    The whole chamber started to rumble crazily after sensing Kira''s mana fluctuation. The pile of corpses trembled along with the ground and several corpses fell down.


    The woman''s corpse, which was standing due to the sword''s support lost its bnce and fell immediately due to that strong rumbling.


    "What''s happening all of a sudden!?" (Fade)


    Fade''s panicked voice resounded throughout the central chamber.


    Kira nced at the ceiling and noticed that the giant hole was starting to copse due to this rumbling.


    "Quick! We need to get out of this ce fast!" (Kira)


    "Y-yes!" (Fade)


    [Intermediate Wind Magic: Flight!]


    With Kira''s chantpleted, a magic circle appeared below their feet and both of them were uplifted by the wind, towards the giant hole in the ceiling.


    In an attempt to escape faster, Kira increased her mana output several times and thus increased the speed of the flight magic.


    At an extremely fast speed, both of them immediately left the chamber and entered the giant hole.


    With her excellent control over her wind magic, Kira easily avoided all of the falling debris and continued to fly higher and higher with Fade in tow.


    As they were about to leave the rumbling of the walls and ground increased even further, more debris fell and the whole central chamber started to copse on itself.


    After a few more seconds of focused dodging, Kira and Fade finally made it out of the hole.


    They bothnded on the ground nearby safely.


    *Huff* *Pant* *Huff*


    Kira panted heavily due to mana exhaustion and extreme mana usage, in the span of just a few seconds.


    "A-are you okay, Kira?" (Fade)


    Kira shook her head and replied with a tired voice.


    "I am okay, just a bit exhausted from using too much many in one go¡­." (Kira)


    The giant hole they passed through was more than a kilometer deep, moreover flight magic consumes double the amount of manapared to other magic.


    The rumbling of the ground seems to have stopped after they exited the central chamber.


    Kira nced at the giant hole that had now fully copsed and closed with a rxed look on her face. She wiped the sweat on her forehead and said in a rxed tone:


    "Thankfully, we made it out alive, if we didn''t hurry, we would have been buried here today¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s solemn tone, Fade gulped his saliva and looked at the now-closed hole with slight fear in his eyes.


    But he was also surer now that, he had be stronger and he could survive any difficulty that came his way. (He literally survived due to Kira again¡­ and he thinks he has be strong¡­)


    "Let''s go, we can''t stay here, this ce is also prone to sudden copse, we should leave this ce to avoid anyplications-" (Kira)


    *Baaaaammm*


    All of a sudden, the sound of ground being ruptured apart resounded throughout the area.


    Fade and Kira hurriedly nced back at the ce where the giant hole was located.


    What they saw made their eyes widen in extreme shock.


    A giant stone hand stretched out of the ground from where the giant hole originally was located.


    The stone hand fell with great momentum and cracked the ground around it, it created a way for the rest of its body toe out.


    *Baaaammmm*


    Another hand sprouted out of the ground with tremendous force and a huge amount of debris flew everywhere with great speed.


    [Intermediate Wind Magic: Wind Barrier!]


    Kira immediately cast a barrier spell and a spherical barrier enveloped the both of them, thus protecting them from the flying debris.


    The ground trembled like crazy.


    A huge stone head pushed out of the ground and the two hands gripped the ground in an effort to push the giant body out of the ground.


    Massive shockwaves swept the area with each movement of the giant.


    "W-what the f*ck is that thing!?" (Fade)


    Kira stared at the giant try to get out of the ground and replied with slight hesitation in her voice:


    "T-this, this is a peak S-rank stone golem¡­ b-but its aura is too strong... this thing shouldn''t be here in this A-rank dungeon at all! W-what is going on!?" (Kira)


    Just when the two were shocked beyond belief a status message cleared their doubts in an instant.


    [Ding! A new boss has been born in the A-rank Dungeon, Dungeon of Maya!]


    [Ding! Due to the rare circumstances, the rank of the dungeon of Maya is increased from A to S-rank!]


    [Ding! Please be cautious! The chaotic mana has be ten times stronger!]


    With the sudden enhancement of the chaotic mana, the artifact that had been keeping Kira and Fade safe from the chaotic mana till now, started to crack slowly and their situation worsened even further.


    "W-we need to run immediately!" (Kira)


    [Intermediate wind magic: Flight!]


    With Kira''s magic, both of them levitated in the air and were just about to run.


    But obviously, the golem was not going to sit still and watch them run away like that.


    It pulled its whole stone body out of the ground and a massive crater appeared in the ground.


    The golem was so big that even its fingers were bigger than the whole body of Fade and Kirabined in height.


    In the horrified eyes of both Kira and Fade, the golem stretched out its giant hand and punched with tremendous force.


    [Intermediate Wind Magic: Enhanced Wind Barrier!]


    Kira poured her whole mana into that one barrier but still, it was not enough to even withstand the air pressure created by that punch.


    It shattered like paper and immediately fell apart.


    The punchnded directly without any resistance.


    A massive shockwave spread and the air howled like crazy due to every movement of the giant golem.


    The golem itself is several kilometers tall, small mountains may look like just regr bumps in the ground for this giant golem.


    Its presence itself is strong enough to intimidate any onlooker below SS-rank.


    The giant golem stared at the sky for a while before finally focusing on the two insects thaty on the ground.


    ...


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s a new twist in the story again! This dungeon of Maya seems to have many secrets hidden in its grasp. As they say, most secrets end up forgotten when the keepers die without telling their tales.


    Question of the day.


    Would you guys like to pilot a giant golem-like this yourself?


    1.Yes (Mech enthusiasts assemble!!! Let''s go and explore the space!)


    2.No (It''s gonna be a huge hassle so I will pass¡­)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 149 A Queen’s Sorrow... Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 149 A Queen''s Sorrow... Part-3. </h4>


    Historians considered the millennium-long ''Thousand-year demon extinction war'' to be the dark times that were cruel and life was not worth much during those dark times.


    There were thousands of intelligent races that joined the alliance and fought against the vast demon armies. The war was so devastating and extreme, that its after-effects can still be seen in various ces in today''s world.


    Several hundreds of races went extinct in this struggle of survival, those who survived got to write down this history of wars and the peace that it brought.


    Among the many races that went extinct, one of the most influential and strong races was the dark elf race.


    Blessed with a strong physique and pure mana, every soldier had the courage and might to fight the approaching advances of the demon army. Since the start of the war, they had hindered the demon army from taking over the Maya continent.


    Dark Elf warriors swore to defend their homnd till death from the evil clutches of the demon army. Millions of great and noble warriors perished in this thousand-year-long war, but the demons seemed endless, their number never seemed to decrease at all.


    More and more demons appeared as time went by.


    Until King Allen Von Reinhart didn''t put an end to this long war, demons were nigh impossible to extinguish thoroughly from this world. They were like cancer to this world.


    Demons were extremely resistant, their reproductive abilities were unimaginably strong and even if a whole area was properly purified and every demon was killed in that area, somehow they still sprouted out.


    They still continued to appear regardless.


    Moreover, as time went by, demons developed extremely strong war techniques, around the end of the war they had developed the ''Perfect Mana Bomb'' that they used to erase at least ten civilizations from the world map.


    Dark Elves were one of the ten victims of the ''Perfect Mana Bomb''.


    ¡­


    (A lore from the times when the mana Bomb was just about to be dropped on the Maya Continent¡­)


    The ''Queen of Dark Elves'' was a title given to the strongest female dark Elf warrior by their fellow dark elves.


    Dark Elves had a tribal societal structure, they revered their queen and generals with utmost loyalty.


    As the queen demanded them to defend their homnd during the war, the whole army of dark elves entered the battlefield and fought against the continuous waves of demon invasions with utmost loyalty to their homnd.


    The Queen watched as her thousands of brethren were killed daily during that cruel war.


    But even she was unaware of the fact that demons were going to use their new killing method ''Perfect Mana Bomb'' on her own race.


    The queen was a peak S-ranker herself, she was especially strong even among the strongest S-rankers. She personally defeated many S-rank demons that were wreaking havoc on the battlefields.


    Her spear arts that were passed down from generation to generation was one of the strongest techniques of its time. With her mighty spear in her hand, she yed thousands of demons for fifteen years.


    The previous queen died in battle and she had inherited her position fifteen years ago, now shemanded the thousands of troops of the dark elven army and fought on the battlefield as the queen of the dark elves. (She would beter known as the ''Last queen of the Dark Elves'' by historians¡­)


    ¡­


    That one afternoon.


    As the queen stood on the peak of a hill, she watched the army rest after fending off yet another wave of demons.


    Her generals and trustedrades approached her with worried expressions on their faces.


    "My queen, please listen to our request¡­ it''s not important for you to go to the western battlefield yourself¡­ that ce is too dangerous, several S-rank demons are present in that battlefield¡­"


    "I advise that you should send some other S-rank warrior to that ce! Your life is more precious for the unity of the dark elves¡­ if something happened to you, our armies will lose morale greatly!"


    Hearing the worried tone of herrades, the queen shook her head and replied in a determined tone.


    "No, I need to go there personally, we can''t afford to lose the western front if that ce got breached¡­ the demon army will directly be able to enter the capital city and all other adjacent cities¡­" (Queen)


    "And you know what those vile demons do to the captured cities¡­ they burn everything down, they kill children and men alike and women are¡­. Sigh" (Queen)


    Great hatred shed in the queen''s eyes. She knew of the cruel and vile nature of the demons all too well.


    "Others won''t be able to keep those S-rank demons in check, I will go there myself, prepare a small battalion to escort me back to the teleportation altar¡­ and keep this battlefield in check when I am gone¡­" (Queen)


    Hearing the determined tone of their queen, the generals had no choice but toply with her orders. They also knew that only their queen was strong enough to keep several enemy S-rankers in check.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of dy, the small escort battalion was prepared and the queen left for the teleportation altar.


    They had been covert and careful in their movements, yet demons spotted them retreating.


    Thousands upon thousands of demons swarmed the unfortunate retreating battalion. The demons even followed them into the caves and continued to pursue them for hours without getting tired.


    "My queen, it seems they have carefully prepared this ambush, there are at least three S-rankers just to keep you at bay¡­"


    "Yeah I know-" (Queen)


    Before she could finish her sentence, thatrade who was just speaking to her got pierced through the heart by the spear of the enemy S-rankers and died in an instant.


    The battle became more and fiercer as time went by. The number of demons continued and the number of herrades continued to decrease as time went by.


    From the entrance of the caves to the central chamber, the dark elves pushed through with their whole might and continued to retreat in the hope of at least teleporting their queen out of this ce.


    But it was all hopeless. The number of the enemy S-rankers increased to five and the queen was not able to save even a single of herrades. All died under the weapons of the demon army.


    Even then, without caring for her own well-being, the queen continued to fight relentlessly, she fought for hours and eventually killed three of the enemy S-rankers with her own hands.


    But just when she was still fighting the rest of the two enemies, an extremely strong shockwave spread. The mana became chaotic and violent, the fallen corpses started to explode like balloons due to the violent mana.


    The queen witnessed the other two demons explode and die in front of her. She tried to use her mana detection but it didn''t work due to the chaotic mana.


    She was still safe from the chaotic mana due to the ancient spears she held in her hand protected her.


    "N-No way!!" (Queen)


    With her years of experience and knowledge, the queen had already understood what had happened all of a sudden.


    She had heard about the ''Perfect Mana Bomb'' during the alliance meetings, but she was assured by the other members of the alliance that no such bomb woulde her way as the SS-rankers of the demon race would be kept on watch by them.


    Only an SS-ranker is capable of using and activating that insanely strong bomb and if an SS-ranker of the demon race moves from towards the Maya continent, the other races will notice them immediately.


    The Dark Elves had no SS-rankers, thus they had to rely on the other races for help in keeping watch for them too.


    But that day everything turned out to be for naught.


    A giant sword suddenly descended from the sky and pierced through the ground. It made a gigantic hole in the ground and directly pierced through the queen''s heart in an instant.


    The queen was not able to react for a while, she raised her head and looked at the figure of a demon standing in the sky through that giant hole. Bright moonlight shined from behind the demon and fell on her face.


    Thest thoughts of the queen were.


    ''They broke the promise, they didn''t keep a watch on the movements of the demon generals¡­ we dark elves were betrayed by the alliance¡­'' (Queen)


    The queen red at the figure in the sky with great hatred in her eyes.


    ''An SS-rank demon had made its way into the Maya continent¡­ otherwise, we would have never lost¡­'' (Queen)


    ''Forgive me, father¡­ I didn''t fulfill the promise to make our homnd free of demons¡­'' (Queen)


    ''Forgive me,rades¡­ I wasted your sacrifices¡­'' (Queen)


    As the eyes of the Queen closed in silence, the figure of the demon in the sky disappeared instantly, as if it was never there to begin with.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The lore of a noble warrior is indeed nice to hear before bedtime¡­


    Question of the day.


    Isn''t it Teddy Day today, so did you give one?


    1.Yes (Answer of the traitors!!)


    2.No (Yes, wee to the depression guild,rade!!)


    3.Other (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 150 The Crying Fade and the resentful Queen...

    <h4>Chapter 150 The Crying Fade and the resentful Queen... </h4>


    There are various types of golems found in this world. A golem can be made out of any element found in this world.


    (I am talking about the physical elements that are defined in the periodic table of elements¡­ and other magical elements like mithril, orichalcum, etc. that are unique to this world¡­ If you don''t remember the periodic table¡­ go back to school!!)


    Golems can be made out of nearly any alloy or pure element. It doesn''t even need to be a proper solid shape, you can make a golem straight out of thin air too.


    Like literally, just use Hydrogen or any other gas present in the air and make a golem out of it.


    (Although it''s extremely difficult but some wind magicians have seeded in doing this ridiculous thing before¡­)


    A Magician with proper skills can carve a magic circle on the elements directly and then turn that element into a golem to fight for them.


    (Only SS-rankers or above are capable of creating magic circles on the atoms floating in the surroundings directly¡­)


    (...this process needs insane mana control and an extreme level of proficiency in magic¡­ Only SS-rankers or above meet this criteria¡­)


    The golems that are created out of thin air, and are created with mana circles directly being carved on the atoms by an SS-ranker or above, are automatically considered SS-ranked golems.


    But the reason why no one uses SS-rank golems is because, an SS-ranker is already strong enough to shatter continents with one attack, why would they need a golem to do just barely minimum damage at that point.


    Rarely ever does an SS-ranker create a golem to do their work.


    SS-rankers are already strong enough to travel the whole sr system in just a day, why would they even need a golem to do their work in the first ce.


    (Travelling betweens and bathing in the sun is like child''s y for SS-rankers, they are not called ''Demi-gods'' for nothing¡­)


    The rankings of golems are listed below:


    B-rank or below-ranked golems: These are the golems that aremonly used by many for mainlybat training purposes.


    They are sometimes even used for certain mechanisms and sometimes even appear in the dungeons as enemies.


    A-rank Golems: These are the self-adapting golems with capabilities to carry out various attacks.


    These golems can adapt to the opponent''s moves and are more intelligent than the below-ranked golems


    (Like the one that appeared in the inheritance card prepared by Kevin for Rio¡­)


    S-rank Golems: These are the golems that are used on the battleground to mow down the front line and are mainly used as cannon fodder.


    Each of these types of golems has a strong and intrinsic mana circle drawn on them.


    They can adapt and attack with various attackbinations.


    SS-rank golems: As described above they are extremely strong but are nearly non-existent.


    ¡­


    During the near-death moments, the soul is said to be in the most conscious state.


    Obviously, the ''soul'' of such a strong individual like the queen would not have dissipated with all that remnant hatred still alive.


    Moreover, the chaotic mana caused weird and unknown phenomena to happen.


    When Kira and Fade used mana in the central chamber, they caused magical fluctuations that stirred up the mana and caused extremely rare and unknown phenomena to happen.


    (It happened mostly due to the plot armor and heavenly luck triggered by Fade¡­)


    The queen''s remnant ''will'' and ''soul'' that was still residing in her dead body due to her intense hatred for the demon kind, immediately awakened from those mana fluctuations.


    The remnant ''souls'' and ''wills'' of all the dead warriors in the central chamber started to fall towards the queen and they all merged at an extremely fast speed.


    The amalgamation of so many remnant ''wills'' and ''souls'' became extremely unstable and chaotic.


    It attracted more souls towards it, and eventually all the dead warrior''s souls that died in these underground tunnels while escorting the queen, merged too.


    In search of a suitable physical form, the chaotic amalgamation of souls floated down into the ground.


    And as if the heavenly luck had favored this chaotic soul.


    An ancient stone golem, which had been buried by the earth magic of an earth mage during the starting years of the ''thousand-year war'' resided directly below the central chamber.


    The chaotic amalgamation of the souls swam through the physical matter with no hindrance and directlynded on the heart of the inactivated golem.


    The strongest ''will'' among the amalgamation of ''wills'' in that chaotic soul, took control and the golem stood up to face the heavens.


    Chaotic mana entered from the surroundings, and through the unconscious control of the strong ''Will'' the queen''s ''will'' it powered the golem with insane amounts of energy.


    (The queen was the strongest individual among all those who had died in the underground tunnels while escorting her back¡­ thus her strong ''will'' took control of the suppressed others from taking control¡­ )


    (¡­but it still is an unstable and chaotic remnant will after all, it still can''t think properly, the giant golem is running on remnant thoughts of the dead souls¡­)


    ...


    When the golem stood up and faced the heavens all it saw was the devastated and destroyed homnd


    ... which was bathed in the blood ofrades who fought with their whole might to defend the homnd, in the hope of safeguarding their children back home.


    But now it was all gone.


    ''KILL THE DEMONS!!!'' (Queen''s remnant will)


    ''DESTROY THEM ALL!!'' (Other remnant wills)


    ''KILL, DESTROY!!'' (Chaotic thoughts)


    The unstable thoughts that were enraged by the death of their brethren urged for revenge.


    They sought destruction and death.


    The chaotic mana corrupted them further the soul wept in agony and burned with immense hatred.


    The Ancient S-rank golem raised its head and stared at the spot in the sky where the supposed SS-ranked demon was supposed to be ording to the queen''sst memories.


    ... but now it wasn''t there anymore.


    Thus the focus of the golem shifted towards Fade and Kira who were squirming around on the ground.


    Right now everyone who came into the sight of the golem was automatically considered a demon in its eyes, thus the golem already mistook Fade and Kira as demons.


    Magical phenomena urred again due to the hatred of the chaotic remnant wills and the eyes of the golem bleed tears of blood as it stared at Fade and Kira with intense hatred.


    Only one thought resided in the mind of the giant S-rank golem now.


    ''Kill and Destroy!''


    ¡­


    (Meanwhile)


    A Ne that was resting on Kira''s neck broke apart while both Kira and Fade were lying on the ground.


    The two of them evaded instant death from the golem''s previous attack due to this ne that Kira was wearing on her neck. (It was originally gifted to her by Liam¡­)


    The damage was negated but Kira directly fainted from mana exhaustion and stayed unconscious on the ground.


    Fade wanted to get up but the golem didn''t know mercy, it directly stomped with an insane momentum.


    [Intermediate Water Magic: Shifting River!]


    Fade cast a water spell that made him and Kira both be swept away by water and Fade increased his mana output to max, but even with all his might he was still not able to dodge the attack on time.


    The gigantic feet of the golem directlynded on Fade''s left leg and since he was lying down on the ground his upper body escaped the stomp but his left leg was crushed under the feet of the golem.


    "AHHHHHHHH!!!" (Fade)


    Extreme pain rose from the crushed leg and Fade felt like he was losing his sanity due to that extreme pain.


    (Remember, He isn''t emotionless Like Rio who doesn''t feel pain at his hand being cut off, neither is his physique as strong as Link''s nor does he have the protection of a dragon to escape danger on time¡­)


    Even the reason Fade was still able to avoid death so many times right now was because of the heavenly luck protecting him from death. (Plot armor goes brrrr!)


    Fade nced back and saw the blood flowing from the eyes of the golem, which made the golem look even more hideous and terrifying.


    Its strong aura pressed on Fade and made him fearful to the extreme.


    "No¡­ i-I can''t die here¡­ I am the chosen one! I-I can''t die here!... someone h-help me¡­" (Fade)


    Fearful of death, Fade screamed for help.


    He desperately tried to escape, he used his hands to crawl forward with a desperate look on his face.


    Due to extreme fear and losing his calm state of mind due to pain, the thought that he should have used some spell to stop the bleeding on his leg didn''te to his mind at all.


    This was already a grave mistake.


    "Ahhh! S-someone save me!" (Fade)


    Tears ran down his eyes as he cried for help. Now, He regretted his decision toe to this dungeon in the first ce.


    He saw the silhouette of Kira being buried under the rubble that flew up from the ground when the giant golem stomped the ground earlier and crushed his leg.


    With tearful eyes Fade stared at Kira who was unconscious. The whole lower body of Kira was buried under the debris.


    He tried to crawl towards Kira and cried for help.


    "K-kira he-help me¡­ I am in extreme pain¡­. He-heal me¡­ ahh¡­ ahhh!!" (Fade)


    But since Kira herself was unconscious, his pain-filled voice was heard by none.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author'' Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author Here! I was not really nning on writing anything about Fade in this dungeon event, but on the special request of a reader in my discord channel I ended up writing him getting beaten¡­


    Join my discord channel if you guys also have any queries.


    Question of the day.


    Would like to establish your own golem empire?


    1.Yes (Mecha is life, let''s go!!!)


    2.No (I would rather choose to have a mecha waifu!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 151 The story of a Queen, Ends...

    <h4>Chapter 151 The story of a Queen, Ends... </h4>


    Magical phenomena manifested around the golem again and again. Its hands, mouth, and ears also started to bleed in the form of dark red blood.


    (The hatred of thebined souls was so strong that it caused the ''hatred'' itself to take a physical form and manifest in the form of dark red blood¡­)


    Such physical manifestations of hatred and other emotions only happen in extremely rare circumstances.


    The biggest reason for this to happen was the chaotic mana, which had be ten times more chaotic and violent as the dungeon''s rank got raised to S-rank.


    The giant mouth of the golem opened, and it screamed at Fade and Kira who were lying on the ground. Its voice carried great hatred in it.


    "KILL YOU DEMONS!! I CURSE YOU!! CURSE YOU!!"


    The loud voice of the golem was so overbearing that it directly caused Fade''s eardrums to burst and he lost his hearing sense in an instant.


    Now he couldn''t hear anything at all.


    Blood flowed out of his ears as he crawled towards Kira in a desperate effort to save his life.


    Fear and pain had overwhelmed his mind, he even stopped caring about his crushed leg, and he just wanted to get a healing potion from Kira''s space ring.


    (He doesn''t carry any potion or healing items in his own space ring, because most of his needs are provided for by Kira. He doesn''t have the money to buy it for himself, but Kira provides him with anything whenever he needs¡­)


    This carelessness of not having a single healing potion in his own space ring has cost him a lot today.


    Today''s events will stay in his mind as one of the most traumatic experiences in his whole life.


    ...


    The golem didn''t wait for Fade, it didn''t show any mercy, it only had one thing as its objective.


    Which was: ''to kill any demon in sight''


    And from its clouded ''will''s'' perspective, everyone looked like a demon right now.


    Thus, it raised its feet once again.


    This time the attack was directly aimed to crush both Fade and Kira, in one go.


    Fade nced up with great difficulty, he couldn''t hear the howling wind because his ears were not working anymore, but he knew from the momentum of that attack that his doom was near.


    "I-I am gonna die! S-some help! Help! I-I don''t want to die!" (Fade)


    Tears rolled down Fade''s face as he looked at the hideous face of the golem staring at him with hatred and anger.


    He could feel in his bones that if this attacknded he would be dead for sure.


    But the golem didn''t care about Fade''s emotions at all, it stomped with all its might and strength, the wind pressure from its stomp alone was so strong that it caused the ground to crack around Fade and Kira.


    At thest moments, when the attack was about tond, Fade closed his eyes in despair, he had already lost all hope at this moment.


    He even forgot about escaping at this moment, and all he felt was immense despair.


    As he closed his eyes in despair, he waited for the attack tond and crush him into a meat paste, he waited for a few seconds but the attack did notnd and the expected damage didn''t happen at all.


    ...


    "Tch! Pathetic, I was expecting much better from someone rmended by Neo, but it turned out¡­ he doesn''t even have a strong mind¡­" (Raji)


    "Such a disappointment¡­" (Raji)


    A cold voice resounded throughout the area, but since Fade''s ears had stopped working, he couldn''t hear it at all.


    Fade opened his eyes after a few seconds when didn''t feel the attacknd on him, what greeted him was the cold and disappointed look on Raji''s face.


    Raji''s eyes stared at his pathetic face which was covered in tears and snot with disgust and disappointment.


    A small portal was located nearby from where Raji hade, other party members also slowly came out of the portal one by one.


    Everyone was shocked when they saw the giant and hideous-looking stone golem standing nearby.


    The golem''s whole leg was frozen in ice and it was not even able to move one inch.


    The golem tried to free itself from the ice, but the ice didn''t even budge.


    Seeing the golem struggle, Raji shook her head and exined to the students as if to educate them a little.


    "It''s useless to try to break the ice created by me, it''s not a spell in the first ce, it''s my ''authority''.." (Raji)


    "¡­in other words, I directly froze the ''space-time'' in that area where you see ice¡­ it''s pointless to try to get rid of it¡­" (Raji)


    The students opened their eyes in shock at her exnation. Freezing ''Space-time'' itself was already so incredible to hear, but seeing it with your eye was even more shocking.


    Yet Raji pulled off this insane feat with seemingly no effort at all.


    Raji gave Fade one more nce as she exined this to the other students.


    Then, Raji stopped looking at Fade. She already deemed him useless and a great disappointment.


    She deemed him unworthy to be taught something by her.


    ''I have serious doubts if this guy should even be qualified to be a candidate for this test¡­'' (Raji)


    Link and Rio''s extraordinary feats of disposing of peak A-rank monsters with their own efforts raised Raji''s evaluation bar too high.


    She felt disappointed in Fade at that very moment when she sensed that he was depending on Kira too much, and now her disappointment has reached its limit, she doesn''t even care about educating Fade anymore.


    She had already been using her mana sense on Fade and Kira since the moment they were running toward the central chamber in the underground tunnels.


    (Raji entered the dungeon around that time and immediately used her mana detection to detect the situation inside the dungeon.)


    This chaotic mana doesn''t affect Raji at all, it''s totally ineffective on her, and she can easily use her mana detection and sense every single detail that this dungeon has.


    Her mana detection skill''s range is thousands of kilometers wide, she can easily sense the entire dungeon and can even sense where its limits are.


    Thus, she knew everything that was going on here with Fade and Kira.


    She waited and gave Fade several chances to redeem his image of coward but Fade continuously disappointed her over and over.


    Not only Fade depend on Kira too much, but he immediately loses his cool when he feels pain and loses Kira''s support.


    This proves that he is still not good enough to be facing brutal battlefield situations. His mistakes in the critical moments of the war can cause the loss of many soldiers.


    ''I would give him a failing mark for this test¡­'' (Raji)


    Raji shook her head and stopped caring about him.


    ...


    But obviously, Riya could not neglect her duty as a healer, she immediately got to work and started healing Fade.


    Others helped in dragging Kira out of the rubble.


    Liam cast a water spell to ssh water on Kira''s face and wake her up from her unconscious state.


    Seeing them all follow the proper safety procedures while putting their personal differences aside at this moment of emergency, made Raji nod her head in satisfaction.


    ''Aside from this useless kid, the rest of them are all capable and talented individuals¡­'' (Raji)


    Raji had already given the students her silent approval, she was already expecting the students to have a great future, as they were all talented and promising individuals.


    Seeing that the students were all doing fine, Raji stopped staring at them and then nced at the golem that was still trying its best to get rid of the ice.


    The golem opened its mouth again and shouted with a loud voice.


    "CURSE YOU DEMONS! CURSE YOU! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!!"


    The sound was extremely loud, it could have harmed the students, so Raji cast a simple barrier and blocked it from reaching the students easily.


    ''This thing looks quite ancient¡­'' (Raji)


    Raji shook her head and stopped thinking about these things.


    "This dungeon is supposed to be A-rank, this isn''t a ce for an S-rank opponent like you to appear¡­" (Raji)


    "So, disappear from my sight.." (Raji)


    At Raji''smand, the ice spread all over the golem''s body at an extremely fast speed it was so fast that it seemed to have happened in an instant. (SS-rankers can bend the ''space-


    time'' itself, so don''t bother measuring their attack speed¡­)


    The golem stared at Raji''s figure with great hatred in its eyes but it was helpless, it had no other choice.


    It didn''t have the strength to go against an SS-ranker at all.


    In thosest moments, the queen''s soul seems to have gained some rity back again, she took one final nce at Raji with great regret and sadness.


    Eventually under Raji''s ''Authority'', her soul dissipated into nothingness, along with the souls of the other warriors.


    When the ice fully covered the giant golem it broke apart into tiny pieces of shining ice and scattered in the wind.


    The giant golem seems to have evaporated into thin air as if never existed, to begin with, and thus the long-festering hatred finally ceased to exist.


    All the warrior''s ''souls'' and remnant ''wills'' rest in peace, atst.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s kind of sad that the queen didn''t get to take her revenge on the demon race.


    But as they say: Not every story has a happy ending, some end in sorrow and regret¡­ This was the case with the story of the Queen and her mighty warriors.


    Question of the day.


    Would you guys be able to put your differences aside if you have to heal your enemy?


    1.Yes (A healer''s dutyes first and foremost¡­)


    2.No (I don''t care! Let the world Burn!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 152 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 152 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-1. </h4>


    She just said ''Disappear from my sight'' and the golem evaporated in thin air.


    ...


    Hearing about the strength of an SS-ranker is a usual thing for them, but seeing it with their own eyes is apletely different experience.


    Every hurdle and trouble seems so insignificant against the overpowering strength of an SS-ranker that it''s quite marvelous to look at.


    Moreover, the amazing fact is, Raji is still just at the beginning levels of the SS rank, currently, she is at the ''SS-'' rank to be precise. (Ashtel is at ''SS+'' and Neo is at ''SS''¡­ both of them are talented but not as much as Raji¡­)


    She just entered the SS rank only four years ago, to begin with.


    Raji is 27 years old now, she became an SS-ranker at the age of 23¡­ don''t underestimate her talent just because of Link and Rio, she worked hard to reach her current strength because she wanted to beat the sh*t out of Neo for deceiving her.


    Raji awakened at the age of 15 got admitted to the academy at the age of 16 and became an SS ranker by 23, which means she only took 8 years to reach SS rank.


    This speed may seem quite fast, but no it isn''t.


    King Allen is recorded to have reached the SS rank in just 5 years and by the end of the ''thousand-year demon extinction war, he was already a peak SS ranker.


    If you have the talent you may reach your max potential rank quite fast, but the real difficulty starts from the moment you reach your max potential rank.


    Your growth rate after reaching the max potential rank bes so slow that you sometimes doubt yourself ''Am I even making any progress?''.


    It took King Allen to reach the rank ''SS'' only five years, but to reach the peak of that rank it took him more than a hundred years of training. (This is how this world works, you grow up fast and then continue to struggle in the hope of improving¡­)


    ¡­


    Seeing the amazed looks on the faces of the students when they saw her strength, Raji didn''t feel much.


    She shook her head and replied in her usual cold tone:


    "It''s nothing special, you kids have talent, you can eventually grow to the same levels as me, there''s no need to be envious of me¡­ just work on improving yourself everyday¡­" (Raji)


    Raji could see a bright future in these kids, she knew that once these kids grew up there would be more SS-rankers in the human empire, this way they would be able to protect the existence of humanity even better.


    ''Once Link and others grew up, there would be more than five SS-rankers in the human race¡­ how wonderful that would be¡­'' (Raji)


    ''In the first ce, the birth of so many talented individuals in the same era is already a huge boon for mankind¡­'' (Raji)


    While Raji thought about this she felt happy in her mind.


    She knew that it was an extremely rare urrence for so many talented children to be born in the same generation, she was already thinking of giving Link and others the title of ''The second golden generation!''.


    In the history of mankind, there have been only one or two SS-rankers present at the same time mostly, only once in history have there been more than five SS-rankers in the human race at the same time.


    That was the time of the golden generation led by King Allen.


    That was when there were still a few years before the thousand-year war started.


    But now it seems that the same thing might happen soon.


    With Link and other''s talent, it would not be wrong to call them the second golden generation.


    ...


    While thinking all this Raji nodded her head again and again.


    ''I just hope all these children grow up fast¡­'' (Raji)


    For an SS-ranker a few years was nothing much, they could live a thousand years, thus she was expecting to witness the growth of Link and others with her own eyes.


    She was willing to wait for them to grow up and stand beside her shoulder to shoulder, and protect the human race together.


    Just when Raji was contemting about future in her mind, Link came forward and brought out a bright red orb from his space ring.


    He stretched out his hand towards Raji and showed her the orb.


    "Uh¡­ I found this thing in a magma filled valley¡­ do you know what this is¡­?" (Link)


    Link awkwardly asked Raji what the orb was.


    He was being cautious because he didn''t want to get pped by Raji in front of Riya''s father.


    He didn''t want to ruin his image as a ''good guy'', in front of his future father-inw.


    (He was about to beat the sh*t out of Damian when he screamed at Riya just a few minutes ago and now he is being so well-mannered¡­ Link really has a thick skin that even defends against embarrassment¡­)


    Raji squinted her eyes at Link''s question and stared at the orb for a few seconds.


    She used her mana detection on it and then replied:


    "This seems to be some kind of Key to unlock something¡­ from its mana fluctuations I can sense that there should be two more of such orbs toplete this key¡­" (Raji)


    Raji then nced at Rio and said:


    "Bring over that ''ck colored orb'' which you got earlier¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s words, Rio nodded his head and brought out the ck orb from his space ring too. (Raji had already sensed the existence of that orb when Rio got it earlier¡­)


    "There should be one more I guess.." (Raji)


    While Raji said that, Damian brought out the orb in his space ring with an awkward look on his face.


    He was hesitating to go near Raji for fear she would start hating him again. But Raji only looked at him with cold eyes for a while and then stopped staring at him.


    She seems to have calmed down now and has decided to not Kill Damian.


    Damian also heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Raji wasn''t angry at him anymore.


    He hurriedly stretched out his hand with the orb in his palm.


    When all the three orbs faced each other, they all started to shine brightly. The orbs flew from their hands and started to revolve in the air at a constant speed.


    Slowly the three orbs came closer and merged into each other creating a colorless and transparent orb that looked like it was made of ss at first nce.


    Link tilted his head in confusion and asked Raji with a confused tone:


    "What is this thing even made of, it''s so mysterious to look at..." (Link)


    ''It looks so good, I can make an essory out of it and gift it to Riya!'' (Link)


    Raji frowned at Link''s question and replied in a cold tone.


    "I can sense extremely condensed life force in this orb¡­ these orbs have likely formed from the life force and the remnant ''wills'' of those who died on the battlefields¡­" (Raji)


    "This thing might even cause mental corruption if someone holds it for too long¡­" (Raji)


    "What the!? This thing is quite dangerous then!" (Link)


    Hearing Raji''s words, Link was quite bewildered, he thought this thing was made of some shiny metal or something, but who knew that this was created from the corpses of thousands of individuals.


    ''I-I guess I shouldn''t give this to Riya after all, she might mistake it for a candy and swallow it by ident¡­ no no! I shouldn''t give it to her¡­'' (Link)


    (He is just making excuses, Riya is not that stupid.... perhaps....)


    Link decided to not let this thing get near Riya at any cost.


    ¡­


    Unaware of Link''s thoughts Raji closed her eyes and sensed the whole dungeon again.


    After a while, she opened her eyes and said in her usual cold tone.


    "This orb seems to be leading you towards something¡­" (Raji)


    Raji handed the orb to Link and exined.


    "Imbue it with your mana and it will lead the way¡­" (Raji)


    While saying that Raji flew in the air and said:


    "I will stop interfering in this test now that the unnecessary troubles are already solved¡­ you guys go ahead and continue your test¡­" (Raji)


    "Just remember that you still have a lot of time left, just remain careful and you will be okay¡­" (Raji)


    After saying all this, Raji''s figure disappeared into thing air.


    She seems to have teleported somewhere else.


    Link and the others didn''t get the chance to question her further, thus they shrugged their shoulder and stopped thinking about it.


    While Link and Damian went towards the rest of the group, Rio nced at the sky for a few seconds before following behind them too.


    ¡­


    In the sky far above the group.


    "Heh, this little guy can still see me even when I hid my presence¡­ how mysterious¡­" (Raji)


    Rio easily saw through Raji''s stealth due to his ''true immunity'', moreover his eyesight has improved a lot since he became an A-ranker.


    Raji was quite satisfied with his progress though.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, the mystery of the orbs has started to unfold itself slowly. Let''s see what these mysterious things these orbs hold in them¡­


    Question of the day.


    Isn''t it Kiss Day today of the Valentine''s week, so how is it going?


    1.I got it (Humph sphemy!!)


    2.I didn''t get it. (Fellowrade we know thy pain¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 153 Uncovering an Evil Scheme... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 153 Uncovering an Evil Scheme... Part-2. </h4>


    Barren Front is the area above the copsed central chamber of the underground tunnels.


    A huge tunnel system is located directly below this whole area.


    This area doesn''t seem to have any corpses lying around, which means no battle took ce here.


    ¡­


    The party lit up a bonfire to rest around it.


    Everyone had been through a lot today, thus the party decided to rest for the night and move towards their destination tomorrow morning.


    The Moonlight shined on the barrennd and made the atmosphere calm and rxed.


    Damian, Riya, Lia, and Kira sat around the bonfire. The rest were supposed to be on the lookout for dangers.


    "But howe my name has ''Frost'' in it and not your surname ''Frostke''¡­ isn''t this kind of weird¡­" (Riya)


    While sitting around the bonfire, Riya nibbled on her candies and questioned Damian with great enthusiasm. She seems to have a ton of questions to ask from her father.


    Hearing Riya''s question, Damian smiled and said in a happy tone.


    "The thing is, your mother''s surname is ''Frost'' my real surname is ''ke'', webined our surname when we got married and we both became ''Frostke'' from that day onwards, that''s how we got married¡­" (Damian)


    "That''s why I use ''Frostke'' as my surname¡­ but it seems your mother must have been angry at me¡­ she erased the name ''ke'' from your surname..." (Damian)


    While saying that, Damian stared at the bonfire and a depressed look appeared on his face.


    "or perhaps¡­. Raji changed the surname because she hated it¡­ sigh~" (Damian)


    The chances of thetter being true were much higher ording to Damian''s spection.


    He knew that Raji hated the fact that he left them for years and didn''te back home to take care of their mother who fell into aa.


    Thinking all this, Damian shook his head and said in a regretful tone:


    "If only I hadn''t touched that orb, I would have not sacrificed my ten years like that¡­. It was my fault that I got so greedy and tried to take that orb with me¡­" (Damian)


    "I thought it was some kind of rare pearl, and I was going to sell it for a lot of money, that way I could have recovered the losses that were caused by my party''s death¡­" (Damian)


    "I thought they were just some random pearls that were supposed to be a key to a great treasure¡­ But who would have known¡­ that these orbs were so sinister, to begin with¡­" (Damian)


    "I was an idiot to believe in that bulsh*t¡­" (Damian)


    Seeing that Damian was depressed, Riya hurriedly got up and walked over towards him. She stretched out her hand and smiled cutely.


    "Here, take this candy, its good¡­ It will make you forget about all the sad things¡­" (Riya)


    Riya puffed out her chest in pride and said with a smug look on her face:


    "I have used this to cure many patients thate in our healer''s office¡­ candies are the best!" (Riya)


    Seeing the smug and happy look on Riya''s face, Damian felt his sadness melt away. He stretched out his hand and took the candy from Riya''s palm.


    When he put the candy in his mouth, the sweet vor turned his sour mood into a rxed one.


    "See! Isn''t it good, hehe¡­" (Riya)


    Hearing the cute voice of Riya supporting him, Damian felt his tension fading away into nothingness.


    His eyes became slightly blurry from tears as he looked at his daughter smiling and cheering him up.


    "Yeah¡­ it''s good¡­" (Damian)


    Damian hurriedly wiped the tears that were about to fall out of his eyes. The original hopeless look on his face disappeared and a small smile appeared on his face.


    ''Yes, I need to stop whining, I need to think about how to show remorse for my mistakes¡­ I will need to make up for all the things I didn''t do for my children¡­'' (Damian)


    A newfound determination appeared in Damian''s eyes, he seemed to have found his reason for existence once again.


    Now that he has epted reality, he knows what to do in the future to get his family to forgive him.


    ''I need to thank Riya for that candy¡­'' (Damian)


    He hesitantly stretched out his hand and patted his daughter on the head.


    Riya smiled cutely when her father patted her head, this was the first time she felt fatherly love.


    "Hehe¡­" (Riya)


    When Damian left ten years ago, Riya was too young to remember about Damian, but now that she had grown up, she could finally learn what it means to have a caring father.


    ¡­


    When Damian and Riya were talking, Lia and Kira who were sitting nearby didn''t interrupt at all, they let the father and daughter have a proper reunion.


    It would have been rude to talk while the two were busy resolving their family matters, thus they kept silent and continued to stare at the bonfire in silence.


    ¡­


    On arge boulder nearby.


    "It''s her father, you don''t need to be that jealous¡­" (Rio)


    Rio''s emotionless voice fell into Link''s ears, who was staring at Damian and Riya with bloodshot eyes.


    "i-I know..." (Link)


    Although Link said that he wasn''t feeling jealous, he was still clenching his fists so tightly that it was causing the mana to tremble violently. His aura became even more intimidating when he saw Riya handing over her candy to Damian.


    "Don''t end up punching her father, just because of that... Riya will get angry if you did that¡­" (Rio)


    "I¡­ I know¡­" (Link)


    Rio shook his head in defeat, he knew that Link was not going to stop staring anyway.


    ''He is too obsessed¡­ sigh~ love is such a powerful emotion¡­ it even made this muscle-head jealous¡­.'' (Rio)


    All of a sudden the boulder they both were sitting on cracked from Link''s dense aura''s pressure.


    "T-this!?" (Link)


    Link''s eyes widened in shock when he saw Damian pat Riya on her head. His aura directly caused the boulder to crack. He lost control of his aura for a millisecond because of the shock and that caused the boulder to crack open into two.


    "Regte your killing intent¡­ don''t lose control like that¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head when he saw Link behaving like that.


    ''Forget it, he''s not gonna listen¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    Under a withered tree nearby.


    Liam patted the head of Ellie, who was lying down with her head on hisp.


    "Yes, praise me more~" (Ellie)


    "Yes yes, Ellie is a strong dragon, she has helped me a lot¡­" (Liam)


    With a helpless expression on his face, Liam patted Ellie''s head gently.


    ''Ugh, my dragon is too needy¡­'' (Liam)


    Liam shook his head, since the day Liam stopped caring about Kira, Ellie has be more and more clingy.


    She asks for his handmade food, she makes him pat her on the head to sleep and whenever he refuses, she throws tantrums like a child and rolls on the ground.


    Lately, Liam has been thinking that his summoned dragon might have some manufacturing defect in it.


    (Dragons are not manufactured, he is just using a metaphor to describe the situation: a supposed mighty dragon behaving like a child and throwing tantrums is simr to how a machine works weirdly when it has a manufacturing defect¡­)


    All of a sudden Ellie pouted her cheeks and said in an angry voice.


    "Why did you go ahead to help that bad woman¡­ didn''t you say you will move on from her?..." (Ellie)


    Hearing Ellie''s question, Liam replied in a helpless tone.


    "Eh, no way¡­ I only helped because they are our team members right now¡­ I don''t have any emotions left for her anymore¡­" (Liam)


    Thinking about Kira, Liam''s face turned cold.


    "Those who like to hang out with trash in their arms, have nothing to do with me¡­ I don''t like two-faced people like them¡­" (Liam)


    Liam''s eyes narrowed further.


    "Moreover, I think things are not as simple as they appear on the surface¡­ I have known her for a long time¡­ I can sense deep malice in Kira''s eyes¡­ hidden from the world¡­ she is a ticking time bomb..." (Liam)


    Liam shook his head and stopped thinking about these pointless things.


    "Forget it, I don''t care about it anymore¡­ let them both die in a ditch, also stop mentioning her in front of me¡­ I don''t want to hear about her¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s cold tone, Ellie''s pout disappeared and her mood seems to have improved a lot today. A happy smile appeared on her face.


    She got up and put her head on Liam''s chest, she pushed her whole body against him.


    "Let me rest like this then¡­" (Ellie)


    "O-okay¡­" (Liam)


    Liam shook his head with a helpless look on his face and continued to pat Ellie on the head.


    ¡­


    In a sleeping bag near the bonfire.


    Fade opened his eyes and sat up hurriedly.


    "F*ck! I thought I was dead for sure¡­ phew~" (Fade)


    Fade wiped the sweat on his forehead and checked his body thoroughly.


    He found that he was fully healed, even his crushed leg was healed to its original state.


    Seeing that he was in a good state, Fade sighed in relief.


    Fade red at the sky and shouted in his head:


    ''Just wait! Once I be strong enough! I will destroy all golems from this world! I will return this humiliation a hundredfold!!'' (Fade)


    Fade hurriedly got up and looked around.


    He noticed Kira who was sitting near the bonfire and thus he decided to move towards her.


    But just when he was about to take the first step, a hand pressed down on his shoulder lightly.


    Fade nced behind with a shocked look on his face, and found two pitch-ck eyes staring at him.


    "Come over with me, I need to ask something¡­" (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Yo! It''s your Beloved Author here! It seems Fade has gotten himself on Rio''s radar this time¡­ let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day.


    Which couple do you like the most?


    1.Rio and Lia (Tsundere is supreme!!)


    2.Link and Riya (Cuteness overload is what I need in my life!!)


    3.Liam and Ellie (A clingy one might not be that bad either¡­)


    4.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 154 How to bully Fade and Link together? (Bonus )

    <h4>Chapter 154 How to bully Fade and Link together? (Bonus Chapter)</h4>


    "Come over with me, I want to ask you something¡­" (Rio)


    "O-okay!" (Fade)


    Fade replied to Rio''s request in a startled tone. Fade was shocked at the fact that Rio appeared behind him seemingly out of nowhere.


    Rio didn''t care about Fade''s shocked look, hearing Fade''s approval, Rio nodded his head and his figure disappeared into the darkness. He seems to have teleported all of a sudden.


    Next, he appeared beside Link.


    ''F*ck! Is that a high-rank movement art!?'' (Fade)


    Everyone knew that Rio was fast and his swordsmanship was extremely destructive.


    Moreover, his sword intent was so refined it could help him fight individuals that are one rank above his own.


    Rio was a literal walking and breathing bullet train, his vocabry didn''t seem to have the word ''slow'' in it. (Rio is faster than a bullet train after reaching rank A¡­)


    He easily sneaked behind Fade without his presence being noticed. When he talked to Fade, only then did Fade notice him standing there.


    ...


    With great hesitation, Fade went towards where Rio and Link were. His legs felt like they were refusing to walk forward.


    [Ding! It is warned to not use ''system'' rted skills like ''appraisal'' on the individual named ''Rio sh''!]


    ''I know, I know, you don''t have to tell me¡­'' (Fade)


    ''The main problem is, I didn''t notice until now that this guy was also with us from the start¡­'' (Fade)


    Indeed, from the time when Fade and Kira entered Raji''s car to now, Fade had never noticed Rio''s presence. Rio''s presence is so small and unnoticeable that people end up not looking at him at all.


    This happens due to Rio suppressing his aura to nearly non-existent levels all the time. Which causes him to blend into the environment extremely easily.


    (If Link and others didn''t know that Rio was also with them beforehand, they would have not noticed Rio''s presence until now either¡­ Ever since Rio got the shadow robe, his presence has be even more difficult to detect¡­)


    The system message also only works when Fade himself notices someone, that''s why it only appears now because he noticed Rio''s presence only just now. Until now he thought that Rio wasn''t here in this dungeon at all.


    ¡­


    Behind the Giant Boulder that Link cracked earlier.


    "Uh, so what did you want to talk about?..." (Fade)


    Link was extremely confused when he saw that Fade was being so docile right now.


    He still remembered how rudely Fade was speaking when they were in the car yesterday, but right now, he was behaving like a scared cat, as if his life was being threatened.


    A frown appeared on Link''s face.


    ''Is it because he got beaten by that golem¡­'' (Link)


    Link shook his head and stopped thinking about it too much, He asked in a cold tone.


    "What we both want to ask of you is.... how strong was that golem?" (Link)


    "What!?" (Fade)


    Hearing Link''s question Fade was stunned, he nced at Rio for confirmation and Rio who was standing still like a stone pir also nodded his head and said.


    "You have faced it beforehand right¡­ tell me, how many attacks of my ''sword intent'' can it withstand?..." (Rio)


    Link smiled at Rio''s question and said with a smirk on his face.


    "Also tell me, is that golem defense better than mine or not¡­" (Link)


    Link crackled his fingers and tilted his head in arrogance.


    "I would also like to know where to find more of those golems¡­ tell me fast!" (Link)


    He seemed to be eager to fight a simr golem right now.


    While Link and Rio were questioning Fade about the golem, Fade was so bewildered that he was speechless.


    Link mistook his silence for hesitation and He put his hand on Fade''s shoulder with a cold look on his face.


    "You know, Rio and I had an argument just now, we want to know who can fight that golem the longest¡­. So will you hurry up and say that I am the stronger one!" (Link)


    Link pressed on Fade''s shoulder with great force, and a painful look appeared on his face, Fade was about to bring his staff out but he felt a cold de touch his neck the very next moment.


    Rio''s sword rested on his neck. Rio had sneaked behind Fade without his notice.


    A devilish whisper entered Fade''s ear.


    "Say that ''Link is useless against that golem''¡­" (Rio)


    "W-what¡­" (Fade)


    ''W-what the f*ck is going on here!!?'' (Fade)


    Without Fade''s consent, he was dragged into Rio and Link''s argument over who was stronger.


    Fade had no idea that Rio and Link were having arguments just a while ago, about who was stronger and they decided to ask Fade about how strong the golem was, and this inevitably dragged Fade into this mess too.


    Link heard Rio whisper ''Link is useless'' and he got angry:


    "F*ck! You are thinking of insulting me now huh!" (Link)


    *Creak*


    Link put too much force on Fade''s shoulder and identally broke his left shoulder''s bones. His shoulder creaked with a loud voice and pain rushed into Fade''s head.


    "AAAAAHHHHHH!!" (Fade)


    Fade shouted like a wailing beast at the top of his lungs. The pain caused him to shout horribly and his wails attracted the attention of everyone else.


    Hearing Fade''s shout everyone was stunned and they rushed over to see.


    Link hurriedly looked at Rio but found that Rio had already disappeared into the darkness.


    Link was stunned, and he immediately punched Fade in the stomach and ran away.


    "urgh!" (Fade)


    After using the punch to stop his shouts, Link jumped away.


    "Tch! Idiot!" (Link)


    ¡­


    After a while.


    Link sat on the ground and Riya red at him angrily.


    "Why did you beat him, Link!? I had to heal him again!" (Riya)


    "Uh¡­ I-I was just¡­" (Link)


    Although Link tried to run away, obviously he wasn''t as fast and sneaky as Rio, he was immediately seen by the others and everyone misunderstood that Link beat Fade for no reason.


    "Don''t do it again, okay? Otherwise, I will tell sister about this!" (Riya)


    "Uh¡­ o-okay I won''t do it again¡­" (Link)


    Link nodded his head and got up from the ground. He red at Rio who was standing nearby with an expressionless face as if he had nothing to do with it.


    ''Tch! Sneaky bast*rd!'' (Link)


    In the end, Fade suffered the most out of this interrogation session.


    Fade was now again resting in his sleeping bag. (He fell unconscious after Link punched him in the stomach once¡­)


    Today seems to be a really bad day for him, first he got beaten by that golem and now by Link.


    ...


    Rio ignored Link''s re and looked at his own status panel.


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Titles: Soul Splitter, Dark Star Rio]


    [Rank: A-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]


    [HP: 10,000/10,000] [MP: 6500/6500]


    [STR: 100/100] [SPE: 100/100] [AGI: 100/ 100] [DEF: 100/100] [INT: 100/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Advanced Swordsmanship (A-), Elemental Sword Art (A-), Darkwing Movement Art (C-)]


    [Ultimate Skill: Concentration (?)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening (A-), Lightning Sword (A-), Handling (A-)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly; unaffected by fate and destiny. Your growth rate is terrifying, your presence has altered many fates¡­]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???), Formless weapon (bound to the soul), Lamont''s Robe]


    ''As I thought my stats have reached the 100 limit after the A-


    rank ascension¡­ that quite nice¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Moreover, now I can use this ''Darkwing movement art''¡­'' (Rio)


    [Darkwing Movement art]


    [Rank: S++]


    [Description: An extremely rare movement art that is extremely difficult to learn but is very effective. Only an A-ranker or above-ranked individual can use this movement art.]


    [Effect: Increases stealth and movement speed of the user tremendously!]


    ''This thing is a gem..'' (Rio)


    Rio got this movement art from Link when he saved Riya during the New Year festivalst year. But he needed to be an A-


    ranker to learn this art.


    This is the reason he hasn''t been able to use this art until now.


    (Rio had been practicing this art since thest year, but he wasn''t able to use it. Due to him practicing it beforehand, the art already reached rank ''C-'' the moment Rio awakened it¡­)


    This movement art is the reason why Rio could escape easily earlier.


    ''Hehe, Link you brought your own demise by giving this thing to me yourself¡­'' (Rio)


    While Rio was busy in his mind and was contemting about his greatness, Link was ring at him for the betrayal.


    ¡­


    In the sky.


    "These two¡­ they are really a chaotic duo¡­ sigh~" (Raji)


    Raji saw everything from the start to the end. She obviously noticed Rio and Link beating Fade but she didn''t stop them at all.


    ''Well sometimes friendlypetition is also good I suppose¡­'' (Raji)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I suddenly had a random idea that I should describe Rio''s new skillset before going to the next adventure, thus this bonus chapter came into being, so enjoy!


    Question of the day.


    What would you do if you had Rio''s movement art?


    1.Race with a bullet train.


    2.Go further on the road of cultured men.


    3.Beat the homies.


    4.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 155 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-3. (Rio x Lia)

    <h4>Chapter 155 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-3. (Rio x Lia)</h4>


    "Okay! Let''s go!" (Link)


    Link shouted in an energetic tone.


    He seems to be quite excited to find the secrets that this orb holds so deeply inside it.


    As nned, Ellie turned into her dragon form and everyone else got to ride on her back.


    "hehe, so this is how it feels to ride on a dragon''s back!" (Riya)


    Hearing Riya''s praise, Liam smiled happily and replied in a proud voice:


    "Yup, Ellie is an amazing dragon!" (Liam)


    Meanwhile, Link brought out the transparent orb from his space ring and embedded his mana into it.


    When triggered by mana, the orb trembled and started to float in the air. All of a sudden it flew in the North direction and led the way forward for them.


    Seeing the orb flying ahead, Link nced at Liam and nodded his head as a sign of departure.


    Liam nodded back to Link and then used telepathy to talk to Ellie.


    [Okay, now we just have to follow that orb, Ellie] (Liam)


    [Understood!] (Ellie)


    Ellie spread her massive wings out and pped them with great momentum.


    The winds howled and Ellie flew into the sky at a very fast speed.


    She followed right behind the floating orb.?The orb took many turns in the air and changed directions many times, but Ellie easily followed behind it without any problems.


    "Woah! The wind breeze feels so nice! Dragons are amazing!" (Riya)


    Feeling the wind breeze everyone felt refreshed and happy.


    Link looked at Ellie with aplicated look on his face.


    ''Should I catch a dragon of my own... that way I can ride on it with Riya whenever she wanted...'' (Link)


    (Link is just daydreaming. Dragons are prideful creatures they don''t allow random people to ride on their backs at all.)


    Moreover, it''s nearly impossible to capture a dragon in the first ce.


    Even the younger dragons are taken care of by their mothers for several years, and every adult dragon is at least an S-rank being, trying to steal a dragon''s egg is like bringing cmity to your own family.


    ...


    Rio tilted his head and nced at Lia who was enjoying the wind breeze, she had a smile on her face.


    All of a sudden a sudden idea appeared in Rio''s mind, he brought out his sword and used his ''sword intent'' to warm up his hands. (He is using Fire aura to warm his hands, his control over his skills is insane...)


    Then he stretched out his hand towards Lia and asked in his usual emotionless tone:


    "If you are feeling cold, you can hold my hand..." (Rio)


    Lia rolled her eyes at Rio''s question.


    "Uh...okay..." (Lia)


    She saw the whole process. She knew that Rio was using ''sword intent'' as a hand-warming technique and was quite bewildered at its absurdity, but didn''t say anything.


    (Even Lia knew that it was absurd to use the legendary technique ''Sword Intent'' as a hand warmer...)


    Lia shook her head, stretched out her hand with a slight blush on her face, and held Rio''s hand tightly.


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s face.


    Obviously, he didn''t let this rare chance go to waste, he immediately pulled Lia closer to him.


    He put his right hand on her cheek and kissed her on the lips immediately.


    Lia''s eyes widened in shock due to those sudden actions and her face turned as red as a tomato.


    She hurriedly pushed Rio away from her.


    "Idiot! Perv! Hmph!" (Lia)


    Lia pouted her cheeks in anger and dodged Rio''s eyes, but Rio wasn''t going to let go so easily.


    He whispered in her ears.


    "Delicious isn''t it....'' (Rio)


    "Perv!!" (Lia)


    Everyone else averted their eyes when they noticed the duo''s flirtatious actions.


    Even Riya covered her eyes with her small hands and a blush appeared on her cute face.


    Her eyes widened in shock as she peeked from between her fingers.


    "Cough cough! These two are showing off! Damn it!!" (Link)


    The mood became awkward for the whole journey after that and no one talked due to what they witnessed just now.


    ...


    While everyone was enjoying a ride on the back of a dragon only one person was having a really bad time.


    "F*ck! Is it really necessary to hang me here! I am gonna die!!" (Fade)


    Fade who was hanging in Ellie''s ws, screamed at the top of his lungs, but due to air pressure, his voice never reached the people sitting above.


    He could only shake his head in helplessness.


    Liam didn''t want to let Fade ride on his dragon, thus he asked Ellie to just capture Fade in her ws and hang him down for the whole journey.


    ''Just you wait! Once I be strong! I will beat you all rich bast*rds to a pulp!'' (Fade)


    ...


    After an hour.


    Core Area, Arge crater.


    An extremely huge crater appeared in everyone''s view. It seems to have been formed from a meteorite impact.


    The floating orb descended into the wide and deep crater at an extremely fast speed.


    The whole crater was filled with searing hot magma and it looked extremely dangerous at the very first nce.


    Ellie stopped in the sky and continued to fly over the magma-


    filled crater.


    Liam nced at Link and said in an awkward tone:


    "Uh¡­ it seems the orb has entered the magma¡­ Ellie said that she can detect the presence of some kind of mechanism below this magma¡­" (Liam)


    Before Liam could say anything else toplete his sentence, Link replied in a loud voice.


    "Okay, then I will lead the way!" (Link)


    Link immediately jumped down from the back of the dragon and directly dived into the magma with a wide grin on his face.


    "What!?" (Riya)


    Riya was shocked to see Link jump into the magma. Only when Liam exined that it was ''okay'' did she rx a bit.


    (She nearly fainted from shock when Link jumped down. She thought that Link fell down from Ellie''s back by mistake¡­ she nearly thought that Link was burnt alive at that moment¡­)


    After a few minutes of wait, the ground started to tremble and the magma in the crater started to disappear into thin air. (This magma is made up of pure mana, it''s not the real magma which is made up of molten rocks¡­)


    When the magma disappeared, a huge altar appeared in sight.


    Liam asked Ellie to descend onto the altar.


    When everyone got down, Link was standing near arge lever. (He already changed into new clothes, he didn''t want to embarrass Riya¡­)


    Riya immediately ran towards him and checked him all over for any injuries, but Link just smiled loudly.


    "No way I will get injured by that, it wasn''t even that hot, hehe" (Link)


    While Saying that Link red at Rio with a wide smirk on his face as if saying:


    ''Even you can''t do it right!'' (Link)


    But Rio totally ignored Link''s provocation.


    ...


    Seeing that the group was getting off-topic again, Liam pped his hand and brought everyone''s attention towards himself.


    "Everyone, this isn''t the time for chit-chat, this altar that we are standing on, is nearly a kilometer in diameter¡­. This thing is extremely suspicious..." (Liam)


    "There''s no way such arge altar would appear for no reason at all..." (Liam)


    "Let''s investigate it thoroughly!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s voice, everyone nodded their head in agreement and spread all over the ce to look for clues.


    Rio nced at Link who was standing beside a giant lever that was connected to the altar and had several mana circles carved into it.


    "Did you use that lever to make the magma disappear?" (Rio)


    Link nodded his head in agreement.


    "Yep, when I pulled this lever down, all the magma in the area seems to have disappeared¡­" (Link)


    Rio contemted in his mind for a while and said:


    ''Perhaps, that magma is actually just a defensive mechanism to protect this altar from enemies¡­ it might reappear if we pull this lever down again¡­'' (Rio)


    "Link, you stay here and make sure no one pulls the lever down again¡­ it would put everyone in danger if someone pulled it by mistake¡­" (Rio)


    "Okay!" (Link)


    Link nodded his head at Rio''s advice and stood beside the lever as if he were guarding it with his life.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Liam took the transparent orb in his hand and ced it in the center of the altar to see if something happens.


    And sure enough, When Liam put the orb in the central area, it immediately shined brightly and started to rotate at an extremely high speed.


    The orb descended slowly and entered the altar''s core without any resistance.


    Seeing this, Liam immediately signaled everyone toe over.


    The whole altar started to shine brightly and a huge magic circle appeared on it after the orb entered the core of the altar.


    Suddenly, the lever that Link was guarding disappeared into thin air, thus he also walked over toward the center.


    Everyone was clueless as to what was happening. They all looked at each other''s faces in confusion.


    Liam tilted his head in doubt and mumbled in a low voice.


    "This doesn''t look like a teleportation altar, what is this ce even for¡­" (Liam)


    Just then, Kira who was standing with a stiff look on her face until now, said in a solemn tone.


    "Uh¡­ I think I know what this altar is for¡­ I have seen a simr looking magic circle in one of the books in the academy''s library¡­" (Kira)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! An unexpected moment of romance appeared which even I wasn''t expecting, but well unexpected things happen right¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Link will be able to get a dragon of his own?


    14:48


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 156 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 156 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-4.</h4>


    "Uh¡­ I think I know what this altar is for¡­ I have seen a simr looking magic circle in one of the books in the academy''s library¡­" (Kira)


    A look of hesitation appeared on Kira''s face, she said in a hesitant tone:


    "T-this magic circle was used by the demons in the thousand-year war¡­ to extract life force and artificially strengthen their soldiers¡­" (Kira)


    Kira walked forward and pointed towards the various strange words written around the central area of the altar.


    "I know thisnguage¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s deration, everyone looked at her with strange looks.


    They all knew that Kira was indeed a theoretical genius, but nearly everyone in the whole group had a bad rtionship with Fade and Kira both, thus no one spoke or even nodded their head at her words.


    Kira shook her head and exined.


    "The demon army of that time seemed to have unlimited troops, but most of them were low-ranked cannon-fodder which were not capable of fighting the high-ranked individuals of other races¡­" (Kira)


    "Thus they used artificial methods to create stronger demons¡­ by forcefully feeding them the life force of thousands of warriors that died on the battlefield¡­ including the life force of their own kind too¡­" (Kira)


    All of a sudden Rio moved forward and asked in an emotionless tone:


    "Just like what they tried to do in the ''Drift City massacre'' seven years ago?" (Rio)


    Kira was surprised for a bit at Rio''s sudden question, she didn''t know how Rio knew about that incident, but she nodded her head.


    "Indeed, just like the Drift City incident. They established an altar and wanted to sacrifice the life force of all the people that were killed in the Drift City, but the awakeners arrived on time and destroyed the altar¡­" (Kira)


    "The ritual was stopped midway, if they had seeded they could have definitely created a new SS rank demon, although it would not have had the same strength as a genuine SS-ranker, but even if it was artificial it would still have been a genuine threat¡­" (Kira)


    Rio nodded his head.


    ''Now things are clearing up a lot¡­'' (Rio)


    "So, what I am trying to say is, this altar is quite simr to the one that the demon race uses to create artificial demons¡­" (Kira)


    "And these orbs are quite likely the ''fuel'', or you could say the condensed life force of the dead beings, that work as the ''fuel'' of this altar and helps in producing stronger demons¡­" (Kira)


    Kira pointed towards the weird writing and said in a solemn tone:


    "See, here it''s written.. " (Kira)


    *Any, who seeketh the strength of the demon kings, may provide a just sacrifice*


    "And the conditions of the sacrifices are also mentioned here¡­" (Kira)


    *Sacrifice to ''the Corrupted orb of soul and remnant wills'', your ''soul''*


    *Sacrifice to ''the molten orb of magma'', your ''fear''*


    *Sacrifice to ''the mesmerizing orb of time'', your ''future''*


    "As described here, these are the conditions and sacrifices you need to fulfill to obtain all the three orbs¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing the three sacrifices, Liam murmured.


    "It seems that Link got that ''molten orb'' because he sacrificed his ''fear'' and jumped into the magma without any fear¡­." (Liam)


    "To begin with, Link doesn''t fear anything anyway, so he didn''t actually need to make a proper sacrifice¡­" (Liam)


    "Haha, I am amazing of course!" (Link)


    "As for the ''time orb'', Mr. Damian sacrificed his own ''future'', he didn''t get to watch his daughters grow up and lost all the bonds he could have made in the future¡­" (Liam)


    "Mr. Damian sacrificed his 10 year''s worth of ''future'' to that orb¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s deduction, Damian who heard everything, felt quiteplicated in his head.


    "Sigh~ if only I hadn''t touched that orb¡­" (Damian)


    Then Liam narrowed his eyes and stared at Rio with a solemn expression on his face:


    "The only thing is, how did you get that orb Rio? If these conditions are true, then wouldn''t you have to sacrifice your ''soul'' to take that orb¡­" (Liam)


    When Liam questioned Rio, Rio just shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "No, I didn''t sacrifice anything¡­ well, I have a skill that protected me from making a sacrifice¡­ instead I think the soul orb might have sacrificed the soul of the undead that I was fighting earlier¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s answer everyone was relieved, they were worried that Rio might have to suffer like Damian, but it seemed he was doing okay.


    Liam nodded his head and deducted:


    "It must be that the orb changed the target of sacrifice when it didn''t work on you, and thus that undead knight''s soul got sacrificed instead, after all, it was the closest and strongest soul in your vicinity¡­" (Liam)


    "Yeah, that''s entirely possible¡­" (Rio)


    Even after Rio''s answer, Lia was still a bit concerned, she questioned Rio once again just for confirmation.


    "You didn''t sacrifice right? Don''t lie to me¡­ w-we might be able to find a way to save-" (Lia)


    Rio put his hand on Lia''s head and said in a calm voice.


    "Don''t worry, I am fine¡­ these demonic schemes are too weak to work on me¡­" (Rio)


    With Rio''s assurance, Lia finally put down her worries and acknowledged that Rio was okay. (It''s all thanks to ''True Immunity'', it really is a miraculous skill isn''t it¡­)


    ¡­


    "Aside from the sacrifices there seems to be other things written here¡­" (Kira)


    *The orb of soul made of the power of dead souls*


    *The molten orb is made from the power of fear*


    *The time orb is made from the power of stolen future*


    Liam frowned and deducted further.


    "It seems that all these orbs are made up of quite a few ''specific'' parts of a living being¡­" (Liam)


    "The orb of the soul might be a condensed amalgamation of ''souls'' and ''remnant wills'' that died in the area of the battlefield¡­" (Liam)


    "The molten orb might be the condensed form of the final emotions that the soldiers felt on the battlefield, which is obviously ''fear of death''¡­" (Liam)


    "Other two are still fine, but this orb of time is more sinister than the others, it seems¡­ it is condensed from the stolen future of the dead¡­" (Liam)


    "Thousands of innocent people die in a war and their future ceases to exist¡­ this orb might be preying on the ceased ''future'' of these untimely deaths¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing all these deductions, everyone had a solemn look on their faces.


    They all finally knew what the ''Evil scheme'' that the demons had nned in this ce.


    All of a sudden everything dawned on Liam and he finally connected all the dots.


    "I get it now¡­ if my deductions are correct then¡­ the demons dropped the ''Perfect Mana bomb'' in this ce not because they wanted to kill the dark elves¡­" (Liam)


    "They did it because they wanted those millions of lives to create an extremely strong demon¡­." (Liam)


    "And this ce is just a small imitation of the actual world..." (Liam)


    "Which means, there must have been thousands of simr Altars created by the demons, which they must have used to harvest thousands of orbs created on the whole Maya continent¡­" (Liam)


    Liam''s deductions were spot on. He had already guessed the whole n of the demon army.


    "But did no one stop them from doing this atrocity?¡­ howe the alliance of that time didn''t notice about this ''Evil Scheme''?¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s confused tone, Kira replied in a solemn voice:


    "There are no records present in the current time about what happened on the Maya continent, right after the bombing¡­ if there were¡­ I would have already read them¡­" (Kira)


    "It is very likely that the records might have been erased on purpose by someone¡­" (Kira)


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have uncovered the secrets of the ''Hidden Dungeon of Maya'' sessfully!]


    [Ding! You have sessfully conquered the dungeon!]


    [Ding! You have found out about all there is to know in this dungeon!]


    [Ding! The path to the Boss area is opened!]


    With the sudden notifications, a huge portal appeared nearby.


    [Ding! You can now challenge the boss!]


    With the sudden appearance of the portal, everyone was confused and they all nced at each other with a look of doubt on their faces.


    "It seems that we are on the right track guys¡­ we have already fulfilled the conditions to enter the boss area¡­" (Liam)


    "Moreover, we might find more about this ''Evil Scheme'' inside the boss area too¡­ things are getting quite interesting now¡­" (Liam)


    "Indeed" (Rio)


    Everything that Kira and Liam exined went straight out of the minds of Riya, Fade, and Damian.


    They didn''t understand a thing, but they knew that they were about to reach the end of this dungeon.


    So they also cheered up with the others.


    Rio just remained expressionless as ever, but he understood everything, now he knew what was going on in this dungeon.


    Now, only a few more questions remained to be uncovered.


    Link and Ellie didn''t put any mind into understanding it either, they were just standing there and nodding their heads, but they didn''t care about most of the part either.


    They only wanted to fight, anything else didn''t interest them much.


    Liam smiled and an excited look appeared on his face.


    He pointed to the portal and said in an excited tone.


    "Ellie let''s go, now I want to find out everything about this dungeon! It has sessfully raised my curiosity a lot!" (Liam)


    Ellie nodded her head and led the way forward for Liam. (She transformed back into her human form earlier when they allnded on the altar¡­)


    Rio tilted his head towards Lia and said:


    "Now that we are already here, we should go and see it to the end¡­" (Rio)


    Lia nodded her head and followed Rio into the portal.


    "Well if Rio is going then I will too, let''s go!!" (Link)


    And thus, everyone entered the portal one by one due to various reasons.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your Beloved author here! I know this chapter is much longer than the other ones, but this is an important chapter guys, don''t me me if the word count is higher.


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Liam and Kira both have quite a good brain?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 157 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 157 Uncovering an evil scheme... Part-5.</h4>


    Boss area, the tomb of perfection.


    The moment everyone entered the boss area, an extremely foul and nauseating smell entered everyone''s nose.


    "This ce¡­" (Rio)


    Around a small altar, thousands of dead bodies were piled up like garbage. The ce looked like a scene straight out of hell.


    The horrible smell of rotting bodies and squished innards, made everyone feel extremely ufortable.


    The sight of these many corpses made everyone shocked for a moment.


    Liam nced at Ellie and said:


    "Ellie put a shadow barrier and hide all these corpses, do it before someone faints from this sight¡­" (Liam)


    Ellie nodded her head at Liam''s request and cast her shadow magic.


    [Shadow magic: Shadow barrier]


    A dark ck barrier rose and blocked everyone''s sight. Only the much cleaner path to the altar was left out of the barrier.


    Coincidentally, Link and Riya were thest ones to enter the portal and thus Riya didn''t have to look at all those corpses, because of the barrier created by Ellie.


    "Hey! Whose barrier is this? Why did you guys cast a barrier here?" (Link)


    As Link entered the boss area quitete, he didn''t know about the corpses, so Rio just shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Nothing, just blocking some distracting scenery.." (Rio)


    "uh¡­ is that so.." (Link)


    Link was no idiot, he immediately understood the hidden meaning behind Rio''s words and stopped talking about the barrier.


    ''If even Rio is saying that it''s a ''distracting scenery'', then it must be too much for Riya to handle, better not to delve too much into it¡­'' (Link)


    Putting this matter behind, everyone walked towards the smaller altar that was located right in the center of the huge chamber.


    ¡­


    After a while of investigation, Kira got up from the altar and said in a solemn tone.


    "Yes, our doubt was indeed true it seems, this altar is the core part¡­ this small altar seems to be connected to those big altars out there¡­" (Kira)


    "In fact, I think this small altar is the actual central point¡­ it has many mana nodes that lead to distant ces¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s deration, everyone had a solemn look on their face.


    They had already guessed that his small altar might be connected to all therger altars that were located out there.


    (Therge altar they all saw a few minutes ago was one of the few altars that were connected to this small altar in the boss area.)


    Liam red at the altar with narrowed eyes and said in a solemn tone:


    "This means one thing¡­ all thoserger altars that are located out there must have been used to transport the life force to this one small altar¡­" (Liam)


    "They stocked a vast amount of life force and must have transported it here¡­." (Liam)


    "Were they perhaps¡­ trying to create an extremely strong demon¡­" (Liam)


    Just when Liam was murmuring a solemn voice, the whole boss chamber trembled.


    The ground ahead of the altar split in two and a staircase appeared out of the ground.


    *p**p*


    "Marvelous, magnificent!" (???)


    A hoarse voice entered everyone''s ears.


    *Step**Step*


    A man in tattered armor walked up from the stairs and a wide grin spread on his handsome-looking face.


    There was a huge hole in the man''s chest.


    From the look of that injury, the man should have died long ago, but he was still alive. This was a great contradiction.


    Link stepped forward and blocked Riya behind him.


    "Who are you?" (Link)


    At the same time, Ellie narrowed her eyes and stepped forward to block Liam behind her too.


    [Master, this person is extremely dangerous, I can feel immense killing intent from him¡­] (Ellie)


    [I know¡­ attack him if him at any suspicious movement¡­](Liam)


    Seeing the confused look on everyone''s face, the handsome-looking man tilted his head and asked in an amused tone:


    "Oh, could it be you aren''t able to tell me apart¡­.wait perhaps I should do this first¡­" (???)


    With a smirk on his face, the man touched his head and tworge horns appeared on his forehead. The horns looked like goat horns and were shining with killing intent.


    The man''s eyes turned pitch ck and his pupils turned fiery red.


    "Now you know my identity, right?¡­" (???)


    Seeing those goat horns and those red eyes, even a child could tell what this man was.


    "A demon¡­ a demon general to be specific¡­" (Rio)


    *p!*


    "Correct! Absolutely correct!" (???)


    "I have no real name, you can call me, Rahab¡­" (Rahab)


    Rahab nced at everyone with a wide grin on his face.


    "Well, I would have definitely liked to torture all of you slowly with my own hands and drink your blood from your skulls, but as you can see I am actually on my death''s door right now¡­" (Rahab)


    Rahab''s voice carried immense regret in it. He regretted the fact that he was injured and didn''t have the luxury to enjoy torturing these humans in front of him.


    "But worry not, I will kill you all with a swift attack¡­ after all, I don''t have a long time left either¡­ that ''golden'' bast*ard smashed my core and I can''t even use mana now¡­" (Rahab)


    "In this ce filled with chaotic mana, it would not be long before I end up dead too¡­" (Rahab)


    "Oh but I should at least tell you all the answers that you came looking for¡­" (Rahab)


    While everyone was on guard and staring at Rahab''s movement, Rahab didn''t care one bit, he said in an unhurried tone:


    "As that little purple-haired kiddo spected, this altar was used to create an artificial strong demon¡­ to be more precise¡­ it was used to create an SS-rank demon¡­" (Rahab)


    Hearing Rahab''s revtions, Rio replied in an emotionless tone:


    "And that demon must have been you¡­" (Rio)


    A smirk appeared on Rahab''s face when he heard Rio''s voice.


    "Yes! Correct answer! I used to be a mere ''low-ranked'' demon, but became an SS-ranker after absorbing the life force of thousands of warriors, that were dying during those continuous wars¡­" (Rahab)


    "I sat here and waited as more and more life force gathered in my body, eventually, after a long wait of more than ten years, I finally reached SS-rank, although it was not a genuine SS-


    rank, I had no ''Authority'' or skills but I was still strong¡­" (Rahab)


    "The demon king gave me one task¡­ to drop the ''Perfect mana bomb'' when he was keeping the alliance busy¡­ and I did as he told me!" (Rahab)


    A wide and creepy grin appeared on Rahab''s face as he exined how he killed millions.


    "I dropped the bomb directly onto the capital city, it was a beautiful sight to watch, the bomb killed every low-ranked individual instantly and only those peak S-rankers were still barely alive¡­" (Rahab)


    "And thus I went ahead and used my own mana detection to kill any who was still left alive¡­ it was a marvelous sight to see the dying face of the dark elf queen with my own eyes¡­


    hahaha" (Rahab)


    (Yes, the SS-rank demon who killed the queen as mentioned in previous chapters, was Rahab himself, the alliance didn''t betray the dark elves.)


    The alliance members themselves didn''t know about the appearance of a new SS-rank demon Rahab.


    They were not able to notice Rahab, because he didn''t cause the same stir as Jin did when ascended to SS rank.


    Rahab was an imperfect SS-ranker thus he didn''t properly ascend and was not noticed by the others.


    (If he had properly ascended, he would have created an insanely big stir in the world''s mana and every SS-ranker across the globe would have sensed it immediately¡­)


    ¡­


    "But my days of glory short-lived¡­ that ''golden'' bast*rd noticed me immediately, I tried my best to escape, but that guy was too strong for me¡­" (Rahab)


    Rahab pointed to the huge hole in his chest. (The whole was half a meter in diameter¡­)


    "He smashed this huge hole in my body with just one punch... ugh! That bast*rd is too strong¡­" (Rahab)


    "Although I sessfully escaped to this ce, I don''t think it will be long before he breaks the seal outside andes here¡­" (Rahab)


    "Well I can at least enjoy myst few hours by killing you pathetic humans first¡­ hehe, you guys really sent me a pillow when I was sleepy¡­" (Rahab)


    Just then Rio brought out his sword and pointed it towards Rahab with his usual expressionless face.


    "You think you can win?" (Rio)


    Rahab''s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Rio''s sword, he pointed his finger towards Rio''s sword and asked in a shocked tone.


    "Hmmm¡­. How do you have the sword of that ''golden'' bast*rd, kiddo? Are you perhaps rted to him in some way?" (Rahab)


    "Heh, it seems I am luckier than I originally thought, I get to kill someone rted to that ''golden'' bast*rd before I die¡­ this is already the greatest reward I could wish for¡­" (Rahab)


    "AHAHAHAHA" (Rahab)


    Hearing Rahab''s words, Rio asked in an emotionless tone:


    "That ''golden'' person you are referring to¡­ is that person''s name ''King Allen von Reinhart''?" (Rio)


    The creepy grin on the demon''s face widened even further after hearing that name from Rio''s mouth.


    "Yes, yes! You know that guy after all huh! Now I can enjoy torturing you with delight!" (Rahab)


    The demon looked at Rio and the others with the eyes of a predator, he grinned creepily as he stared at his opponents.


    "Let''s start the banquet, hehe!" (Rahab)


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 158 The Battle for Perfection... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 158 The Battle for Perfection... Part-1.</h4>


    ?Boss Area, the tomb of perfection.


    With his right hand, Rio signaled Link to block the front. (Rio is using signnguage tomunicate with Link, he doesn''t want Rahab to know their ns...)


    Link and Rio have been sparring with each other for nearly a year now, they have an amazing mutual understanding between them, and thus they both knew what to do instantly.


    Seeing Rio''s hand signs as a signal, Link immediately knew what he needed to do.


    Link jumped ahead of the whole group and raised his hands in a defensive position.


    [Dragon arts: unmovable dragon''s pride!]


    Mana condensed around Link''s body and he stood still like an unmovable mountain. The ground beneath his feet cracked from his condensed aura.


    A wide and creepy grin appeared on Rahab''s face as he red at Link with his narrowed eyes.


    "Hoho! You think you kids can block my attacks, bahahaha howughable! A mere B ranker wants to block the attacks of a ''demi-god'', bahaha!" (Rahab)


    "But oh well... Imend your courage, At least you didn''t faint from my mere presence like those lowly humans..." (Rahab)


    Rahab red at Link as if he were looking at his prey.


    "But you know what... courage is worthless without the strength to back it up, there''s no point in trying to go against an irresistible force without enough strength... isn''t it?" (Rahab)


    Rahab''s eyes glowed red and his demonic aura made everyone feel nauseated.


    He was a demon after all, he felt joy at killing millions of innocent dark elves, and even in his own near-death state, he still wanted to enjoy torturing others.


    ''As described in the novel... demons of this world are notpatible to live with other races...'' (Rio)


    ''Only by exterminating each one of them from this world, can other races exist peacefully... As mentioned in the novel, their existence itself is like cancer for this world....'' (Rio)


    Demons of this world are cunning and sadistic beings that take joy in other''s misery and pain. They sometimes even kill each other for entertainment.


    They like to hunt and torture the tribes of lower demons just for fun. Various records say that there''s no proper civilization on the demon continent either.


    Various demon generals rulerge areas under the supreme ruler the ''Demon King'' and his children are considered the royal demons.


    Even ''Demon King'' is also just a ''title''.


    Any other demon can go and challenge the current Demon King for his title and engage in a duel for the throne.


    Demons follow orders of the demon king only because of ''fear'', they have no such concept called ''Loyalty'' and ''Camaraderie'' among them.


    Only ''fear of death'' can make them follow someone''s order, once they are not fearful of someone, they don''t hesitate to kill them off either.


    (Subus and beautiful demon girls exist in this world too, but they are evil and sadistic beings that prey on the life force and emotions of their victims, don''t even think about having a demon waifu, she will suck your life force dry in one go...)


    ...


    Rahab stretched his hand back and closed his fist.


    "Hehe, die!" (Rahab)


    With a creepy smile on his handsome-looking face, Rahab punched toward Link.


    Rahab can''t use any skills or any techniques that involve mana consumption because his mana core is shattered and there''s a hole in his chest which is half a meter in diameter.


    Thus he is attacking with just pure physical strength.


    The punch was so fast that it was impossible to see it from the eyes of an ordinary person. It was instantaneous.


    [Concentration!]


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Wind type: Wind dragon''s roar!]


    Before the punch couldnd on Link''s chest, Rio''s sword descended at Rahab''s hand with an extremely fast speed.


    The ''Sword intent'' condensed and amplified the attack to the extreme.


    A wind dragon seems to have appeared behind Rio''s sword attack.


    The attacknded on Rahab''s hand and blocked the punch fromnding. The air pressure created by that sword attack was so strong that it split the altar and the ceiling in two.


    Moonlight shined from the cracks that were created in the ceiling by Rio''s attack.


    Rio''s attack was indeed strong, even a peak A-ranker could not have withstood that attack. But Rahab''s hand didn''t even have a scratch on it from that attack.


    "Useless! Your attacks are useless against me! Even if I can''t use mana, don''t forget I am still an SS-ranker, my physical capabilities have already broken through the ''limiter'' two times, hahahaha!" (Rahab)


    Without any dy, Rahab''s other hand punched towards Rio, with insane speed.


    "Hmph! I won''t let you attack either then!" (Link)


    Link crossed his both arms around his chest and blocked the punch directly with his own body.


    The demon smiled yfully at this and increased his strength a bit. (Keep in mind, Rahab is not serious right now, he is not even using his full strength in these attacks...)


    Even Rio was not able to react to that speed on time and the punchnded right on Link''s crossed hand.


    *Creak*


    "Gah!" (Link)


    Even with Link''s superior defense, withstanding the direct punch from a ''Demi-god'' was still too much for him.


    His hands that were crossed around his chest had their bones shattered instantly and even several of his rib bones shattered from the impact alone.


    Link was sent flying by the impact of that punch and directly collided with the wall. He immediately fell unconscious from that one attack as he got embedded in the wall.


    His unconscious body fell to the ground with a ''thud'' sound.


    Seeing this scene everyone felt that their situation was indeed grim for the first time.


    (This is the first time they have seen Link being defeated with just one attack. Link being defeated was already an extremely grim situation¡­)


    "Link!" (Riya)


    A concerned look appeared on Riya''s face when she saw that Link was injured. She hurried toward Link to heal him.


    But obviously, Rahab wasn''t going to let her go so easily either.


    "kekeke! Die!" (Rahab)


    With the same strength he had punched Link, Rahab kicked at Riya. If his attack hadnded he would have killed Riya in one attack.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Thousand Lunar Descensions!]


    Rio''s sword condensed with sword intent, swung a thousand times in just a matter of half a second.


    Each attack was so ''deadly'' and ''precise'' that it didn''t even disturb the air in the surroundings.


    (Usual attacks cause great wind pressure to be generated due to the fast movements of the sword, but when your sword intent is extremely condensed to the point that it can slice through the wind and mana itself)


    (At that extreme point, your mana doesn''t disturb the surroundings and seems like a mere casual sh that contains insane power and speed. With his condensed ''Sword Intent'' Rio reached that realm after he became an A-ranker¡­)


    "Useless! Your attacks are too slow!" (Rahab)


    Rahab''s figure shed and he dodged all a thousand sword strikes easily. He made it look so easy as if he was taking a stroll in a park.


    ''Too fast! as expected of an SS-ranker¡­'' (Rio)


    ''but I stopped his attack fromnding on that candy girl nheless¡­'' (Rio)


    While Rio was a bit relieved, Rahab changed his target immediately to Rio and he punched in Rio''s direction instead, his punch went straight for Rio''s head.


    Rio immediately channeled his mana in his shadow ring and wore his shadow robe. The robe immediately covered Rio''s whole body. (Including his face too..)


    The punch directly went through Rio''s head but due to the shadow robe he had no injury, he escaped that attack without any damage.


    "Kekeke! You really have a lot of strange tricks up your sleeve little guy! Not only do you have that ''Golden'' bast*rd''s sword! You also have that sneaky rat ''Lamont''s'' robe too!" (Rahab)


    "You are indeed a very interesting rat! I will savor every bit of you! I will tear each of your limbs one by one and torture you for years! Bahahaha!" (Rahab)


    Hearing Rahab''s crazyughter, a smirk appeared on Rio''s face that was hidden under the robe.


    ''Heh, as I thought, it''s quite easy to get these demons into a crazed frenzy, they have an extremely unstable personality after all¡­'' (Rio)


    From the start, Rio already knew that all demons have an extremely unstable and chaotic personality. They get into a crazed frenzy at the smallest amount of excitement given to them.


    The more crazed and chaotic an individual the more wed their attacks would be. Thus giving more chances to attack for a speed-type warrior like Rio.


    ''Demon or not¡­ those who can''t keep their head cool amidst the battlefield can''t live for long...'' (Rio)


    Escaping that punch easily, Rio put his sword in a horizontal stance and swung it at an extremely fast speed.


    [Sword Intent!]


    It seems from the moment Rahab entered the ce, Rio was already aiming for this. He had already spected that the only way for him to defeat Rahab was when his guard was down.


    [Ultimate skill: Soul Splitting!]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s really quite surprising to see Link getting defeated so easily. But well, the opponent is an SS-


    ranker so it was inevitable¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Rio and the others can defeat Rahab on their own?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    3.Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 159 The Battle for Perfection... part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 159 The Battle for Perfection... part-2.</h4>


    [Ultimate skill: Soul Splitting!]


    Rio swung his sword horizontally at an insane speed.


    Rahab was not a genuine SS-ranker originally, in fact, he didn''t even have the ''authority'' to walk in the air like an S-ranker could. In his mana-less state, he was currently weaker than a genuine S-ranker.


    Nheless, his physical stats were still at the level of an SS-ranker though.


    His perception was on par with a genuine SS-ranker and thus he immediately sensed it.


    Death.


    He sensed his death from Rio''s attack, that sensation immediately caused him to be sober and the fear of death made his chaotic mind, calm down instantly.


    He stomped on the ground with all his might, broke through the ceiling, and jumped out of this underground hall at an insanely fast speed.


    Rio''s attack missed.


    ''It seems those with higher perception capabilities can sense it when I use this skill... moreover, now he is alert and it would be difficult to attack him... what a headache...'' (Rio)


    Rio immediately followed Rahab outside. He chased Rahab through the hole that Rahab had created in the ceiling.


    "Ellie! after them!" (Liam)


    At Liam''s order, shadow wings appeared behind Ellie''s back, she held Liam in her hand and flew out at an insanely fast speed.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of light!]


    Silver wings appeared behind Lia and she also rushed out with a worried look on her face.


    [Little Girl, that demon is out of your league...]


    "I know, but!" (Lia)


    [If you want to assist that guy, then stay at a distance and do some long-range attacks instead...]


    "Okay... I will do so..." (Lia)


    With a determined look on her face, Lia also chased behind Rio''s shadow. She didn''t want to see him injured like before. She wanted to help him at any cost.


    Seeing everyone rush out and chase that demon, Kira nced at Fade and asked in a doubtful voice.


    "Should we go too?" (Kira)


    But when she turned back to nce at Fade, she found that he had already fainted on the ground.


    "W-what now!?" (Kira)


    With a bewildered look, Kira tried to get Fade conscious again.


    (He fainted due to Rahab''s demonic aura, unlike everyone else he was suffering from mana deviation in this dungeon and thus he fainted at the moment when Rahab''s demonic aura pressured his weakened mind....)


    While Kira was trying to get Fade conscious again, Riya was trying to do the same.


    "Link wake up please! Please wake up!" (Rya)


    A worried look appeared on Riya''s face as her healing seemed to be not working. She already healed Link''s shattered bones and organs but he was still unconscious for some reason.


    Slight tears appeared in Riya''s eyes as she looked at Link''s closed eyes.


    Meanwhile, Damian stood guard for his daughter and didn''t chase after the demon either.


    He looked at Riya trying to heal Link, but was also helpless.


    ''I am really a worthless father.... I can''t even protect those whom my daughter cares about...'' (Damian)


    ...


    Boss area, above the tomb of perfection.


    The snowy peak of an extremely tall mountain.


    ''So this main altar was located inside a mountain''s peak... and this snow must have served as cover for the entrance....'' (Rio)


    Rio red at the demon standing in front of him. Unlike before, Rahab''s handsome face now had a solemn look on it.


    "You are extremely mysterious kiddo, you made me feel ''death'' just now... this is strange... only that golden bast*rd was able to make me this fearful until now..."?(Rahab)


    Rahab''s eyes narrowed as he stared at Rio whose whole body was covered in the shadow robe.


    "Who are you?" (Rahab)


    Hearing Rahab''s question. Rio replied in an emotionless tone.


    "Me? I am Rio sh, a Swordsman..." (Rio)


    Rio''s figure disappeared instantly and his aura became undetectable.


    An emotionless voice whispered in Rahab''s ears like a devil.


    "and I am your death..." (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    ''Sh*T! He is using that robe to hide his aura!'' (Rahab)


    With all his might Rahab hurriedly bent his waist and barely dodged Rio''s attack once again.


    He immediately jumped away and created some distance.


    But then the whisper resounded in his ear once again.


    "You are quite slippery..." (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword arts: Fire type: Hundred sunsets!]


    Rio''s sword is covered in condensed fire-type sword intent, struck a hundred times in a matter of a millisecond.


    Each and every attack was so strong that the residual heat from the condensed mes caused the snow to vaporize in an instant.


    Obviously, Rahab was on high alert now due to the previous near-death encounter, he properly dodged each and every attack that Rio threw at him.


    He immediately punched Rio five times in a row, but it did nothing and those punches went through Rio''s body without doing any damage.


    Rio jumped back and made some distance before disappearing again.


    "Tch! Sneaky rat!" (Rahab)


    Just then Ellie jumped down from the sky and put her hand on the ground.


    [Shadow Dragon''s Magic: Shadow field!]


    Ellie''s shadow field spread all over the mountaintop and instantly covered the whole area in shadow.


    In the sky, Liam and Lia both carried out long-range attacks.


    [Intermediate Fire magic: Dragon''s ming breath!]


    Rahab looked at the me beam and immediately crossed his arms around his face. He resisted the attack with his body.


    Although he could have dodged Liam''s attack, ever since Ellie cast the shadow field, his movements became slow and the instantaneous attack like the fire breath was difficult to dodge with restricted movement capability thus it immediately hit him head-on.


    When the me breath attack finally ended, a giant silver-


    colored nail appeared in sight and hit Rahab instantly.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Divine Nail of purification!]


    16:18


    ''Tch! It''s divine spirit''s magic!...'' (Rahab)


    A divine spirit''s magic is like poison for demons like Rahab, it is extremely deadly for him and even though Lia is still weak her attack hit his head on and he had to defend it with his body that have no mana at all.


    Thus Lia''s attack did the most damage to him and the hole in his chest started to burn from the spirit magic.


    Demons can resist this divine magic with their demonic energy and mana, but Rahab has none left, moreover, his inner organs were exposed due to the huge hole in his chest.


    The divine magic targeted his injury and burned like a me in his chest hole. Damaging him from the inside out.


    Rahab flinched and lost focus for a second due to the searing pain caused by that divine spirit''s magic.


    And Rio immediately seized this golden opportunity instantly.


    He aimed for Rahab''s neck and swung his sword with all his might.


    Rahab was caught off guard, he couldn''t sense Rio''s presence either, but he immediately sensed his death again.


    His perception was too high and unless he waspletely immobilized there was no way he would let Rio hit him with that attack.


    Rahab barely tilted his neck on time and thus caused Rio to miss that attack again.


    (Rio can use ''soul splitting'' on one target for ''once'' but since it hasn''t struck yet, it can''t be considered to be ''used'', he missed both times after all¡­)


    Seeing that his attack had missed, Rio disappeared into thin air once again.


    He was now ying hide and seek with Rahab, whenever Rahab had his guard down he would appear and attack him with all his might and if the attack didn''tnd, Rio would disappear once again.


    This back and forth made Rahab more and more frustrated as time went by.


    He felt so angry that he punched the ground with all his strength and forcefully broke Ellie''s shadow field.


    Several divine nails and fireballs rained from above that injured Rahab further and made him even more frustrated.


    "You damned rats!" (Rahab)


    In his anger and frustration, Rahab stomped the ground and created a huge crater in an instant. Debris flew far and wide, But Rio and Ellie both were unaffected by this.


    Ellie rushed ahead and jumped on Rahab to immobilize him. But Rahab was no idiot either, he immediately punched Ellie in the face.


    Unfortunately for him, though Ellie was a shadow dragon, his punch went right through her body and this gave Ellie a perfect opportunity to bind Rahab.


    A grin appeared on her face and both of her hands turned into shadow whips that curled around Rahab and tied him in their grasp.


    Rio appeared right behind Rahab at that precise moment. He put his sword above his shoulder and sliced down, he aimed for Rahab''s head this time.


    [Ultimate Skill: Soul Splitting!]


    This time Rio''s attacknded right on Rahab''s head.


    Rio''s attack directly split Rahab''s head in two and continued downwards till it sliced off half of his upper body in a ''\'' manner.


    One-half of Rahab''s upper body split apart and fell down. His brain matters exposed and his eyes stared at Rio with hatred filled in them.


    But surprisingly Rahab didn''t stop at all, his red pupils stared at Rio and he broke through Ellie''s grasp.


    With his right hand that was still intact, he punched at Rio, but Rio disappeared into thin air again.


    Only one thought appeared in Rio''s mind.


    ''The skill worked but only half¡­ I was only able to destroy half of his soul he is still able to function¡­ what a headache¡­ I can''t even use that attack again¡­'' (Rio)


    (Rio has just recently awakened this skill, don''t me him for being less proficient in it¡­.)


    All of a sudden the situation had turned grim after Rio''s attack failed.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved Author here! It seems the final battle has reached a new stage now¡­ not long before we conclude this event¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Link will make aeback?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Power stones rush give 700 ps!

 Chapter 160 The Battle for Perfection... Part-3

    <h4>Chapter 160 The Battle for Perfection... Part-3</h4>


    (In the distant memories of an ambitious young boy.)


    *WAAAAHHHH*


    The cries of a newborn baby resounded throughout the Rex Mansion for the first time.


    But with those cries of a new beginning, the cries of ''ending'' were also present.


    ''hmm, what is this ce¡­ why are my eyes so blurry¡­ is this my memory?'' (Link)


    From the tear-filled and hazy eyes Link could vaguely see a woman caressing his forehead.


    The woman had a gentle smile on her face as she caressed her child''s face with love.


    "I¡­ don''t seem to have much time¡­ I feel weak¡­ so just hear myst words¡­"


    "Link¡­. No matter what you be, your mother will always be proud of you¡­."


    "You see¡­. Several disasters are happening outside¡­ your father is not here¡­"


    "But I know¡­ he will raise you properly¡­"


    "Just keep in mind¡­ your mother will always be proud of you, so don''t use your talent to do bad things okay¡­"


    "Make sure you protect your loved ones and¡­. And live a happy life¡­ this is farewell I guess¡­ hehe¡­"


    In her final moments, Link''s mother smiled at him and peacefully passed away with Link sleeping in her arms.


    ¡­


    (In his sea of consciousness¡­)


    ''Yes, I remember now¡­ I have always questioned why I wanted to be strong¡­'' (Link)


    ''I always wanted to know why I never had a mother¡­'' (Link)


    ''I didn''t like the heavens because they stole my mother from me¡­'' (Link)


    A strange silence appeared in Link''s consciousness before he finally understood everything.


    ''Now I understand everything¡­ it was the ploy of the heavens itself that were jealous of my existence from the start¡­'' (Link)


    ''My mother''s soul shattered from bearing the burden of giving birth to an extremely strong soul like me¡­'' (Link)


    ''Ultimately, I was the reason she died¡­'' (Link)


    ''But she was proud of my existence, and thus I shouldn''t let her trust go to waste¡­'' (Link)


    ''Now I know why I always wanted to be strong and reach the very heights of this world¡­'' (Link)


    A ray of light appeared in the vast sea of consciousness.


    ''If the heavens are denying my existence, then I will trample those heavens beneath my feet!'' (Link)


    ''If the only way to protect my ''love'' is to trample upon the very fate of this world, then I will do that with a smile on my face¡­'' (Link)


    Several more rays of light shined in the vast sea of consciousness.


    ''I will make you proud mother!'' (Link)


    [Ding! You have achieved a sudden realization!]


    [Ding! You have learned the legendary skill ''Dao Rhythm''!]


    [Ding! You have altered the course of Fate!]


    [Ding! With the push from your skill ''Dao Rhythm'', you have fulfilled all conditions!]


    [Ding! With ''Dao Rhythm'' as the base, your physique has reached ''Perfection''!]


    [Ding! Advancing to rank A¡­]


    ¡­


    Boss Area, the tomb of perfection.


    "Link¡­" (Riya)


    Riya stared at the face of the unconscious Link with tears in her eyes. She hadn''t moved a single inch from her ce since half an hour ago. (It has already been half an hour since Rio and others chased Rahab outside¡­)


    Just when Riya was at her wit''s end, suddenly a golden light started to cover Link''s whole body.


    Seeing this scene Riya was surprised, but Damian was still sober so he immediately understood what was going on.


    "Riya! Get back!" (Damian)


    In a mere millisecond, Damian cast a barrier and immediately carried Riya away from Link.


    Just when the barrier waspleted, A huge amount of mana suddenly rushed towards Link at an extremely fast speed.


    "What!?" (Riya)


    "There''s no time to exin! Let''s leave!" (Damian)


    With a worried look on his face, Damian immediately jumped out of this ce through the hole in the ceiling he immediately reinforced his barrier.


    Seeing Damian rush out, Kira also carried Fade on her shoulder and cast the ''flight'' spell to leave this ce immediately.


    ¡­


    Boss area, the snowy mountaintop.


    *Clink**nk*


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind type: Serpentine wind!]


    Rio''s sword slithered like a snake and attacked Rahab from various angles, and as if a serpent was coiling around him, Rahab had nowhere to dodge these consecutive attacks.


    "Useless! Useless! The likes of you can''t kill me, bahahaha!" (Rahab)


    Rio''s figure disappeared and reappeared again and again, each time his attacks were properly dodged by Rahab easily.


    ''This guy is too fast, even if a fake one he still used to be an SS-ranker after, his body is extremely tough¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I can''t use my soul-splitting skill on him anymore, but they''re still one way¡­'' (Rio)


    While the other three were keeping Rahab busy with continuous attacks, Rio contemted in his mind as he lurked around in his aura-less state.


    (With his robe''s help, Rio can enter this ''aura-less state'', the only reason why Rahab can dodge Rio''s attacks despite not being able to sense him, is because his stats are too high and he can easily sense Rio''s attacks with pure instinct¡­)


    ''If somehow I immobilize him, then I can put my sword on his opened head and forcefully destroy his insides by overloading it with my ''sword intent''¡­'' (Rio)


    *Boom!*


    While Rio was still contemting in his mind, a loud noise resounded throughout the mountaintop.


    Rio tilted his head and nced back, he saw a huge tornado made up of pure mana raging nearby. It''s center seems to lie in the room where the first saw Rahab.


    Under the shadow robe, a smirk appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''Heh, what took you so long! Idiot!'' (Rio)


    Rio had already guessed that only one person could have created this insanely huge mana tornado in this ce.


    ''he is breaking through to Rank A¡­'' (Rio)


    Since this mana tornado wasparable to the one Rio had created earlier, Only Link could have created this huge mana tornado, no one else here was talented enough topete with Rio like that.


    ''Heh, you are still trying topete with me, even when ascending¡­. This guy¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head. He knew that Link was toopetitive and proud of his achievements.


    He must have wanted to make a bigger mana tornado than Rio, now he is trying to do exactly that.


    Rio then nced at Rahab and found that he was also staring at Link with great hatred in his eye. (He has only one eye left, Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    in fact, he only has half of his head left, and you could even see his brain twitching from time to time¡­)


    ''I should keep this guy upied, otherwise he will try to interfere with Link''s ascension¡­'' (Rio)


    Ellie, Liam, and Lia, all have the same thought in their mind too, they know that they must not let Rahab interfere with Link''s ascension right now. And thus the intensity of the continuous attacks increased even more.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Horizontal shift!]


    Rio''s swung sword horizontally with condensed thunderbolts slithering all over his sword''s body.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Pr Knockback!]


    Rio knew that his first attack wouldn''t work and thus he used the other one after his first was about to be dodged.


    Just when Rahab was about to dodge Rio''s attack, the condensed thunder red up and shot at Rahab''s body like a maic field that pushes the simr poles of two mas away from each other.


    The maic field created by Rio''s thunder-covered sword pushed Rahab several meters back and proved its effectiveness.


    ''This works¡­'' (Rio)


    But obviously, this didn''t affect Rahab''s tough body in any way at all.


    He stomped the ground andunched at Rio like a cannonball. His punch directly went through Rio''s head in an instant.


    ''He has started to be more chaotic since he lost half of his soul¡­ this is the chance¡­'' (Rio)


    With his mana detection, Rio already detected that the tornado behind had alreadye to an end and this was the moment to strike.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Heaven''s Befall!]


    Link who was covered in golden light fell from the sky like a meteor and smashed the ground with great momentum. His attack was aimed at Rahab but it missed.


    Rahab was too fast for Link, but even after the attack failed a smile appeared on Link''s face. He jumped up like a spring and opened his arms wide.


    "This is the end, demon!" (Link)


    Link''s previous attack caused the whole mountaintop to copse and debris flew everywhere, this made Rahab''s footing unstable and that was what Link was aiming for from the start.


    He immediately wrapped his hand around Rahab and immobilized Rahab in his grasp.


    Rahab tried to get Rid of Link''s grasp but now that Link''s whole body was covered in the golden aura of ''Dao Rhytm'' Link''s defense was unbreakable, he didn''t even budge from his spot.


    And Rio didn''t let this precious chance go to waste either.


    Due to their mutual understanding, Link knew from the start that even with him bing Rank A, he wouldn''t be able tond a decisive blow on Rahab, thus he chose the best option.


    And that option was to immobilize Rahab with his own body and let Rio deal the final blow.


    (Even though Link was not sure, but he trusted the fact that Rio must have some way to deal with this demon... the mutual understanding between Rio and Link had already reached an amazing realm just from this level of trust...)


    Rio''s devilish whisper resounded in Rahab''s ear in those crucial moments.


    "Checkmate¡­" (Rio)


    [Sword Intent: Overload!]


    Rio''s sword stabbed directly into Rahab''s exposed brain and at Rio''smand, his sword intent forcefully attacked Rahab at full capacity.


    Without mana or defensive skills, it is near impossible to survive the crazy rush of ''sword intent'' into your most vulnerable organs, and thus Rahab who was at his wit''s end was also helpless in those moments


    *NOOOOOOO*


    Rio''s sword intent invaded Rahab''s brain and it directly exploded into a meat paste, ending Rahab''s life after a few seconds of struggle.


    ¡­


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Phew~ writing this epic fight in just one chapter was indeed a hassle¡­


    ¡­but you see, from Link''s ascension to Rahab''s death only five minutes have passed and the battle happened extremely fast thus it was important to write it in short¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys still remember what skill ''Dao rhythm'' is?


    1.Yes (It seems you have been paying attention to hidden details, good!)


    2.No (Go back to chapter 107 and read it all over again!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 161 Liam, that one annoying friend...

    <h4>Chapter 161 Liam, that one annoying friend...</h4>


    The dungeons are often, imitations of the events and ces from the real world. They can even be used to understand the historical facts better with proper investigations.


    One such case is the ''Hidden Dungeon of Maya''.


    This dungeon tells the tale of what happened in the time just when the ''Mana Bomb'' was dropped on the Maya continent.


    There are no monsters in this dungeon except for the mini-bosses and the main boss.


    Generally, each dungeon has many weaker monsters wandering in it aside from the mini-bosses and the main boss monster.


    But since the environment in the dungeon of Maya was different. Its chaotic mana-filled environment killed off every weaker being that resided in it.


    As this dungeon had many battlefields located in it, millions of corpsesy rotting inside. This violent mana didn''t even have mercy on the S-rankers and everyone at S-rank and below was wiped out regardless.


    (Expect some lucky survivors like that bear... but even that bear was already on itsst breath, it didn''t have much time left either...)


    The ''Hidden'' part in the name of the ''dungeon'' refers to the fact that this dungeon can literally disappear from the real world and then reappear once again after several years.


    Just like what happened in Damian''s case, the dungeon''s entrance disappeared after the initial seven days passed in the real world.


    After those initial seven days, the dungeon gate was still there, but it became dormant and its entrance became hidden. Thus the name ''Hidden Dungeon of Maya''.


    Damian sacrificed his ''future'', for him only ten days had passed inside this dungeon, but in the outside world, ten years had passed.


    Things changed greatly in those ten years.


    Originally this ce was an abandoned factory, but then the owner of the Hotel bought thend and built the hotel in this area.


    The dungeon''s entrance had long disappeared and thus no one knew about it at that time.


    But after ten years, the dungeon entrance appeared once again.


    If not for the changes in fate caused by Rio, Link and others would have never entered this dungeon.


    Lia would have be a demon by now, Link would have been dead, and Riya would have been dead too. Liam would have gone mad and would have been face-pped by Fade many times by now.


    Moreover, When Fade entered this dungeon, he got injured due to mana deviation and then retreated along with Kira and thus, this Damian would have never been discovered.


    Damian would have died in this dungeon due to his carelessness in bringing out the time orb while the bear was still alive.


    But everything has deviated from its original route now. The strings of fate seem to be in dismay due to just one ''Anomaly''.


    ...


    Hidden dungeons are extremely rare urrences.


    There have been very few such cases that have been recorded in history. Not much is known about the reason behind their disappearance and reappearance from time to time.


    Even the dungeon of Maya is filled with many imitations of the events that happened in the real world.


    The queen''s transformation into a golem was triggered by Kira and Fade and thus it didn''t happen in the real world it only happened in this dungeon.


    But the existence of Rahab was truth itself.


    Rahab was the demon that King Allen nearly killed in a punch before he escaped to that hidden mountaintop located in the deeper areas of the Maya continent.


    But obviously, as Rahab had stated, King Allen found Rahab''s hiding spot easily after a few hours and eventually killed him off.


    Since the dungeon of Maya was an imitation of the real world''s events, it was obvious that no matter whether Link and others win or not, Rahab would die eventually and King Allen would appear here too.


    If Link and Rio had held down Rahab for long enough, they could have met King Allen in person, but since they killed off Rahab in just under an hour, the meeting never happened and the dungeon was conquered ahead of time.


    Thus marking the end of this dungeon.


    ...


    (Present time, After destroying Rahab''s brain...)


    Rahab''s body twitched for a moment and started to bloat like a balloon.


    As Link still had his grasp on the body, he immediately understood what was going on.


    Link nced at Rio and shouted:


    "Get Back! it''s going to explode-" (Link)


    *Booooommmm!*


    But before Link could finish his sentence, Rahab''s body sted into smithereens instantly. The force created by that st was so strong that it broke all the stones that were falling after the mountaintop got shattered.


    (Link shattered the mountaintop with his ''Heaven''s befall'' attack and all three of them have been falling down the mountain since then... the rest of the fight happened amidst the falling rocks and debris in the sky...)


    Before the st could reach Link, he felt someone grabbing his shoulder and dragging him away at an extremely fast speed.


    A smirk appeared on Link''s face.


    "Heh! You didn''t need to do that I wouldn''t have gotten injured either way..." (Link)


    Hearing Link''s voice, Rio shook his head and replied.


    "You have just learned ''Dao rhythm'' your control is not that good... I won''t be able to look Riya in the eyes if you got yourself killed due to some idiocy..." (Rio)


    (''Dao Rhythm'' is the equivalent skill to ''Sword Intent'' for Martial artists... for better understanding read Ch. 107 again...)


    While saying that, Rio''s sword powered by his sword intent helped them fly in the sky and dragged them both away from harm.


    Later, both of themnded on the foot of the mountain safely.


    As Link''s legs finally touched the ground they directly gave away and he copsed on the floor. The ''golden glow'' over his body had long disappeared, but he still had a huge smile on his face.


    Seeing Link''s state, Rio shook his head and said in his usual emotionless tone.


    "See, like I said, you are still new to this... legendary skills like this cost a huge amount of mana... more so when you are not proficient in it..." (Rio)


    Rio had dealt with ''Sword Intent'' for a long time now, he was so proficient in it that he could use it as a hand warmer, thus he knew the workings of these types of skills.


    Hearing Rio''s words, Link just grinned and said.


    "Hehe, I already knew that even if I fainted there, a stone-faced guy would drag me away on time, so I didn''t really care... hahaha..." (Link)


    Hearing Link''s words, Rio shook his head in defeat.


    ''This guy.... He trusts me too much...'' (Rio)


    If Rio had left Link to resist Rahab''s self-explosion, Link''s control over his ''Dao Rhythm'' would have been lost and he would have likely gotten badly injured from that huge explosion.


    (The explosion caused by an SS-ranked demon''s body was not small obviously...)


    Rio dragged them both with his flying sword otherwise they both would have been fatally injured from that explosion.


    ¡­


    After a few seconds.


    Lia and Liam both flew down the mountain andnded nearby.


    Liam looked at Link who was lying down like a dead body and a frown appeared on his face.


    He walked over to Link and said in a quiet voice.


    "May your soul rest in peace¡­." (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s teasing voice, several veins appeared on Link''s forehead and he shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "F*ck you! I am still alive! Go away!" (Link)


    Hearing Link cursing at him, Liam smiled shrewdly and said.


    "Uh¡­ I thought you were dead, oh so you were still alive¡­ how fortunate!..." (Liam)


    "Tch! Cheesy Bast*rd!" (Link)


    Hearing their bickering Rio shook his head and sighed heavily.


    Lia walked over towards Rio and asked in a concerned voice.


    "Are you hurt somewhere¡­" (Lia)


    Rio immediately deactivated his shadow robe and shook his head.


    "No, I am fine¡­ or would you like to see for yourself¡­" (Rio)


    Saying that Rio pretended to unbutton his shirt and a blush appeared on Lia''s face.


    "Idiot! Perv!" (Lia)


    Hearing Lia''s cuteints, a slight smile appeared on Rio''s face.


    *Cough*


    Liam coughed loudly to stop the two love birds from doing awkward things in broad daylight.


    "The temperature is rising all of a sudden, hey Ellie blow some cold wind over here..." (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s order, Ellie pped her shadow wings and the wind produced by her wings made Liam''s hair il in the air.


    Seeing the prying eyes of Liam and Link on them both, made Lia even more embarrassed.


    Meanwhile, Rio was totally indifferent. He tilted his head and said.


    "Let''s continue itter¡­" (Rio)


    "What do you meanter!?" (Lia)


    While Lia was bewildered at Rio''s bold remarks, Liam whistled to cheer them up.


    "Don''t mind us! Continue! Continue!" (Liam)


    Liam''s teasing voice made the atmosphere even more awkward.


    Rio nced at Liam and asked Lia.


    "Should I throw this guy away first? He is kind of irritating, isn''t he?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s voice, Liam stopped ring at the two lovebirds and said in a defeated tone.


    "My bad, my bad, don''t mind me, I was just passing by!" (Liam)


    Just when the atmosphere was bing even more awkward, Damian and the others also came down the mountain, thus saving Liam from getting beaten due to his irritating voice.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! Hoho, it seems the curtain over this long dungeon conquest is finally closing. We can finally leave this pit of horror behind now¡­ Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also have a friend like Liam who meddles in your business and has an irritating voice?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    3.I have no friends. (*Sad music intensifies in the background*)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.


    Power stones rush give 700 ps!

 Chapter 162 Exiting the dungeon...

    <h4>Chapter 162 Exiting the dungeon...</h4>


    (Let me tell you more about this world...)


    ''Degrading state'' refers to the state of a dungeon, after it has already been fully conquered by a raiding party.


    In the degrading state, a dungeon starts to slowly degrade into nothingness and disappear. It generally takes a month before the whole Dungeon disappears and the dungeon entrance closes forever.


    During this ''Degrading State'' the residual mana and life forces in the dungeon condense and generate various treasures, like mana stones, potions, weapons, artifacts, etc.


    The alliance sends a professional ''Clean-up team'' whose duty is to collect and transport as many rewards from the dungeon as possible before it disappears.


    The raiding party can choose what to do with the treasure on their own.


    Generally, most raiding parties sell these treasures directly to the alliance and receive payment in their bank ounts.


    (Of course, they have to pay high amounts of taxes to the government... but even after the tax, the earnings of the awakeners are never low...)


    (...this is the reason why most people in this world want to be awakeners because it''s a sessful career option...)


    Even the lowest-ranked awakeners can earn decent money if their party sessfully conquers a dungeon.


    On the other hand, A-rank dungeons produce even more treasures when they start to disappear.


    You can earn so much money from on sessful A-rank dungeon raid that you can live several years in luxury without ever needing to work again for several years.


    Keep in mind, that housing prices are extremely cheap in this world because you can extend your house by using the spatial maniption artifacts that are sold at cheap prices on the inte.


    If you get sick you can use the ''Healing potions'', if you get injured you can use the ''healing potions'', in fact, even a headache can be cured with a ''healing potion''.


    (If it''s a fatal disease/injury you will have to go to the healer, otherwise, just use the potions and you will be fine...)


    This is the reason there are no ''Doctors'' in this world, just healing potions are enough to cure most problems and if you need some specific care, just go to the healer, pay the fees and your treatment will be over in a matter of seconds.


    Low-ranked potions are mass-produced in factories and sold at cheap prices. You can even drink them as refreshment drinks, without facing any side effects too. They evene in various vors.


    (Just don''t take too much of them otherwise it will cause an overdose, then only a healer can save you if you end up overdosing on healing potions...)


    Even a failed organ can be pulled back to life, fatal injuries no longer make the human race fearful.


    gue, famine, homelessness, security, etc. all of them are properly taken care of by this world''s human race. Making the lives of ordinary people easy, if this is not the pinnacle of magic, then what is?


    Ordinary humans live under the protection of thousands of awakeners who are ready to give their lives for the sake of humanity, children can y outside without worrying about anything.


    Crimes are nearly non-existent under the watchful eyes of the awakeners and everyone can live a peaceful life. (If this isn''t ''Paradise'' then what else is?...)


    This peace and technological advancement were achieved after the sacrifices of many heroes who protected the human race from falling into the evil clutches of destruction and greed.


    Nowadays, it is safe to say that, humans are the most technologically advanced among all the races that exist on this.


    ...


    (Back to the present...)


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have sessfully conquered the hidden Dungeon of Maya!]


    [Ding! The exit portal has been opened!]


    [Ding! The Dungeon will enter the ''Degrading State'' now!]


    While everyone focused on the notification, Riya hurriedly left Damian''s side and walked over towards Link who was lying on the ground.


    "Link! Are you ok!? Are you hurt somewhere!?" (Riya)


    Hearing the concerned voice of Riya, Link tilted his head and Riya''s face came into his view. He wanted tofort Riya but he was too tired to even move a finger now.


    "I am okay... I am... just tired..." (Link)


    After saying that Link''s eyes closed due to exhaustion and he fell asleep immediately.


    He is suffering from mana exhaustion right now, and using ''Dao Rhythm'' to resist Rahab''s power took a great toll on him.


    If Rio hadn''t dragged him down himself, Link could not havended on the ground from such height without getting injured.


    After Link fell asleep Riya immediately put his head on herp. She stretched out her hand and put it on Link''s forehead.


    [Intermediate State detection!]


    Using her exclusive ''Healer'' ss skill, ''State Detection'', Riya easily examined Link''s whole body for injuries.


    Ordinary healers can also use this skill but they are not proficient enough and their capabilities are a bitcking. But Riya is one of the most talented healers of her generation.


    She may have a na?¡¥ve and clumsy personality, but her healing capabilities are no joke. With her talents, she can already bepared to a peak A-rank healer even though she is still in the B-rank.


    After examining Link''s body for ten times straight, Riya finally sighed in relief.


    ''He isn''t injured anywhere it seems, he has exhausted all of his mana and thus fell asleep due to fatigue...'' (Riya)


    *Whistle~* (Liam)


    While Riya was patting Link''s sleeping face, Liam whistled at this scene like he was watching a great romance show.


    "Hohoho! It seems today''s weather is indeed kind of hot, Ellie, blow some air over here too!" (Liam)


    Seeing Link sleeping on Riya''sp, Liam whistled like a hooligan and teased Riya too.


    Hearing those remarks, Riya''s face had a look of confusion on it, she was too na?¡¥ve to understand Liam''s teasing and she didn''t think much of thatp pillow either.


    Ellie saw Riya''s actions too. She tilted her head towards Liam and said in a blunt tone:


    "Master, I can give you the ''Lap Pillow'' too, if you want..." (Ellie)


    "COUGH!!!...." (Liam)


    Liam was taken aback by Ellie''s sudden statement and ended up choking on air.


    Ellie hurriedly patted his back gently.


    "There, there..." (Ellie)


    "Y-yeah, I-I think I am okay now¡­" (Liam)


    Liam may seem like a shrewd and calctive type of guy, but he was still conscious of the touch from Ellie''s hands.


    A slight blush appeared on his handsome face as Ellie patted his back gently with her small hands.


    Ellie, oblivious of this all, asked Liam bluntly.


    "Master, your face is red, do you have a fever?" (Ellie)


    She immediately put her hand on Liam''s head and Liam''s whole face became red from being touched by her soft hands. (She''s actually doing it all on purpose¡­)


    ''AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!'' (Liam) (Suffering from ''mental damage +999'')


    ¡­


    After resting for a few minutes everyone decided to exit the dungeon.


    "Phew! Finally, we can get out of this ce!" (Liam)


    Liam tilted his head down and said to Ellie in a hesitant voice.


    "Uh¡­ Ellie aren''t you a bit too close¡­" (Liam)


    While Liam was excited to go out of the dungeon, Ellie grabbed his left hand and clung to it like a baby. Although his hand was touching a t surface, it still made him conscious of it.


    "No~" (Ellie) (''Dame~'' noises intensifies¡­)


    Seeing that Ellie wasn''t going to let go of his hand, he shook his head in defeat and followed everyone out of the portal.


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    Rio and Lia exited the portal while holding hands, while Riya and Damian exited the portal with Link''s sleeping body floating in the air beside them.


    Liam cast a wind-type spell on him, to make him float. After all, no one wanted to carry that muscle head on their back and Riya couldn''t have carried him either, because she was too weak to carry Link''s heavy body.


    Kira did the same, she cast the wind spell and Fade''s unconscious body floated beside her.


    And thus they all finally exited the dungeon with great sess.


    The adventure into the ''Dungeon of Maya'' and the hidden tales of this dungeon seems to have finallye to an end.


    ¡­


    Outside the dungeon, The Abandoned Basement.


    "You all are finally out¡­" (Raji)


    When the party left the dungeon and arrived at the basement, Raji''s cold voice greeted them all.


    Raji nced at them all for a few seconds and then nodded her head in satisfaction.


    "Aside from Student Fade, all Six of you have passed this test sessfully¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s deration, everyone had a smile on their faces.


    "Moreover, this dungeon will be excluded of any tax¡­ which means, you all will receive a grand sum of money as your reward for conquering this dungeon¡­ make sure to use this money wisely¡­" (Raji)


    "Don''t get blinded by wealth¡­ keep your hearts firm and continue to strive for a better future¡­ I am sure you can achieve your ambition as long as you don''t stray to a wrong path¡­" (Raji)


    Everyone nodded their head at Raji''s teachings.


    "Understood!"


    Raji nodded her head.


    "Good, now go back to the ''Hotel'' and get some rest¡­" (Raji)


    Raji then nced at Damian and said in her usual cold tone.


    "The ''Frost'' family has nothing to do with you, go anywhere you like, just don''t test my patience by trying to infiltrate ''Frost'' family''s property¡­ I am letting you off the hook just because of Riya, otherwise you would have been dead¡­" (Raji)


    Damian wanted to say something after hearing Raji''s words, but before he could say anything, Raji disappeared from her spot.


    And thus, he could only shake his head in regret.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, this trip to the dungeon has ended, by the way, if you are confused about why Rio didn''t get to steal the protagonist''s chance, then let me clear up things in the next chapter¡­


    Question of the Day.


    Would you also like to have a dragon that gives you a ''Lap Pillow''? (The payment is homemade food by the way¡­)


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 163 Rio’s cooking... (Rio x Lia)

    <h4>Chapter 163 Rio''s cooking... (Rio x Lia)</h4>


    Hotel Devalya, Night, Rio''s Room.


    *Sizzle**Sizzle*


    The sizzling sound of oil kept resounding from the kitchen of the room.


    While wearing a funny-looking apron, with bunny and cat patterns on it, Rio was cooking dinner today.


    His face was as expressionless as ever, but his eyes were extremely focused on this dish. (He is barely decent in cooking skills¡­)


    A cute giggle entered Rio''s ears. It seems to havee from the dining table ced in front of the kitchen.


    "Are you sure, you can cook?..." (Lia)


    Lia had a smile on her face, she was suppressing herughter. Seeing Rio in that cutesy-looking apron was really a funny experience after all.


    Rio raised his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Yeah, I can cook some decent things¡­. At least it will be edible I think¡­" (Rio)


    Rio''s cooking skills have never been that good because never really focused on learning much about cooking. Even in his past life, he used to cook some random and easy-to-make food.


    ''In the first ce, my tongue was kind of faulty in the previous life¡­'' (Rio)


    Due to his rough childhood days and various reasons, Rio''s taste buds were damaged in his previous life.


    He couldn''t really distinguish the taste of the food he ate. And since he couldn''t taste it, he didn''t really care about whatever he had to eat.


    As long as it was edible and nutritious, he ate it to survive.


    This was also the reason why Rio''s body was suffering from malnutrition in his previous life. Malnutrition caused his height to be short and his body to be weak and thin.


    The Rio of the previous life was quiet, introverted, weak, and short. The only redeeming factor or you could say the only talent he had, was his intelligent brain.


    Rio was so good at studies that he was envied by many fellow students. But as Rio was smart, he never fell for the tricks of bullies and always managed to avoid getting in trouble.


    Even while being a Loner, he knew how to keep himself safe from the bullies and thus he lived his life in a boring and uneventful way. He was just surviving day after day like a living corpse with no particr reason to live.


    ''But now I have found that reason¡­'' (Rio)


    Thinking about that ''reason'' Rio''s eyes wandered off to the cute face of Lia who was staring at him while he was cooking.


    "Hmm, need my help?" (Lia)


    Rio shook his head in denial.


    "No..I want you to review my cooking today¡­ Master Chef Lia." (Rio)


    Being called ''Master Chef'' from Rio''s mouth, Lia felt happy and her smile widened even further.


    *Giggle*


    Her cute giggles filled ''colors'' in Rio''s empty Life.


    Denying the help, Rio again focused his eyes on cooking.


    ''I fear that if I keep relying on her, I might lose my ability to live alone¡­ it''s kind of weird¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Her giggles are too addicting to hear¡­ I feel like I might not be able to recover from this addiction called Love¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    While cooking Rio''s mind kept wandering on various things.


    ''Now that I think about it¡­ I never found any cheat items in that dungeon¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Oh wait¡­ I might actually have found it¡­'' (Rio)


    For a protagonist, the heavenly luck produces cheats in various forms and shapes. They are mostly random and difficult to predict, but there are always some things present after all.


    There''s no way that the heavenly luck would not prepare anything. With Fade''s luck, it would be impossible that he wouldn''t gain anything from going on such a dangerous dungeon trip.


    ''If I remember correctly then, going to this dungeon caused Fade to find his weak spots¡­'' (Rio)


    Indeed, even that can be considered the influence of Luck. For Fade to shine in the uing ''Meeting of Gods'', it was important that he needed either be strong or pretend to be strong.


    Fade got injured in the dungeon and then got underestimated, and then the regr face-pping session followed behind it.


    Face-pping others while still being in an injured state, if this isn''t the most protagonist type of thing then what else is?


    ''This simply means that the cheat in this dungeon was, that it could make others realize their weaknesses¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Unknowingly, I had already taken that cheat¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    While in that dungeon, Rio realized his weakness which was hisck of a ''path'' and a decisive skill like ''Soul splitting''.


    When Rio realized his weakness, he immediately broke through and achieved immense improvement in his strength.


    ''Cheat opportunitiese in many forms, I see¡­'' (Rio)


    Aside from Rio, Link realized that his physique was still too weak and thus improved further by achieving ''Dao Rhythm''.


    Liam whose weakness was his hatred for Fade, found relief in Ellie''s friendship, and thus his mind returned to the original stability just like it was before getting involved with Fade.


    (For those who don''t remember, I mentioned earlier in the final exams event, that Liam only lost to Fade because he lost his mind to hatred and his personality became unstable, which was a fatal weakness for a mage like him¡­)


    Moreover, Riya found her father, and Lia understood more about her powers to support Rio from a distance in the final fight instead of charging head-on in the fight.


    Damian found his weakness, which was Raji''s hatred.


    Even Kira found her weakness, which was her overprotective nature for Fade. And Fade also found his weakness, which was the wed magic circuits that caused him to faint so easily.


    In conclusion, from that dungeon trip, everyone got to learn something in the end. This kind of ''cheat'' might not be a physical artifact, but it still was a great help to the whole party.


    Rio and Link sessfully broke through Rank A, which was already a great improvement in thebat capabilities of the whole party.


    (The cheat was already there, from the start, you just didn''t see it until I described it¡­ my foreshadowing skills seem to have reached a new realm¡­)


    ¡­


    (Back to present¡­)


    Aftering back from the dungeon. Everyone was tired, and thus they all went to their individual room to sleep and recover.


    All of them slept for a whole day before finally recovering a bit.


    When they woke up it was already night and the moon was brightly shining in the sky.


    Lia came to Rio''s room because she had nothing else to do right now.


    Rio took this as a perfect opportunity to charm Lia with his cooking and thus he got to work immediately.


    (His cooking isn''t really that good to charm someone with it¡­ but well, Lia was already happy from the fact that he was putting effort into it..)


    Before entering Rio''s Room, Lia thought that Rio must be sipping his tea like usual around this time.


    But today was different.


    Rio actually wanted to cook for her today, and thus Lia was quite happy to have someone caring for her.


    While Rio was cooking Lia continued to stare at him. As if her eyes were being attracted by some mysterious force, she couldn''t take them off him.


    ''Ugh¡­ I feel like those love-struck maidens from children''s bedtime stories¡­'' (Lia)


    Thinking about this, Lia herself felt quite embarrassed.


    Just then Rio''s finallypleted his cooking session and brought the food over to the dining table.


    "So here I present, Rio''s special pancakes¡­" (Rio)


    Rio put the pancake in front of Lia and wrote ''For my Love'' on it.


    Then he said that ''Moe moe kyun'' line in his emotionless tone. It felt like a curse instead of a blessing but well, this was already the best he could do.


    "Hahahaha!!" (Lia)


    Seeing Rio trying to perform that ''moe moe kyun'' while wearing that funny apron, made Lia burst intoughter.


    She wasn''t able to suppress herugh anymore and sheughed so much that her stomach started to hurt a little. Slight tears appeared around the corners of her eyes fromughing too much.


    Seeing that happy look on Lia''s face. A small smile appeared on Rio''s expressionless face.


    ''Well as long as you are happy¡­'' (Rio)


    "Okay, stopughing so much and try it¡­ tell me how it tastes¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s voice Lia finally calmed down. She wiped the tears and then with an excited look started to eat.


    After eating the first bite she nced at Rio and said in a happy voice:


    "It''s Delicious!" (Lia)


    "Is that so¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah!" (Lia)


    Rio nodded his head in satisfaction at Lia''s approval. He dragged a nearby chair and sat beside Lia.


    "Okay, give some to too then¡­" (Rio)


    "uh¡­ here" (Lia)


    Lia had to spoon-feed him that bite. She felt quite embarrassed from doing something like that but she did it anyway.


    "hmm it''s good, I guess.." (Rio)


    Rio nodded his head in approval. (He can taste food in this life at least¡­)


    "My turn¡­" (Rio)


    Thus the back-and-forth feeding session continued tillte at night.


    Finally, Lia went back to her room and thus another lovely day came to an end.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I seem to have gotten high amounts of diabetes from writing this chapter¡­


    Question of the day.


    How much diabetes did you get from this chapter?


    1.+999


    2.Infinite


    3.Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 164 A Late Confession! (Link X Riya).

    <h4>Chapter 164 A Late Confession! (Link X Riya).</h4>


    (Link''s Sea of consciousness, Memories of a forgotten past.)


    Rex Mansion, Main Hall.


    "So, what do you say, Ashtel, this isn''t a bad deal or is it?..." (Raji)


    "Hmm, well I don''t really have any problems with it but... will that na?¡¥ve girl even understand it at all?" (Ashtel)


    "It doesn''t matter, I am doing it for her sake anyway..." (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s remarks, Ashtel nodded his head, but he seemed unsure about it.


    "Well, I guess it''s okay to get them engaged first, they can decide what to doter on their own, when they both grow up..." (Ashtel)


    "Of course, that''s what I want too..." (Raji)


    (Here, Ashtel is an SS ranker and Raji is still a peak S ranker, she has yet to ascend to rank SS, which means this event took ce seven years ago from the current time, at that time both Link and Riya were ten years old...)


    While Ashtel and Raji were talking, Link was sitting beside Ashtel on the sofa and confusion was written all over his face.


    He didn''t understand one bit about what these two were talking about at that time.


    Until he met Riya for the first time.


    ...


    A few dayster, in the garden of the Rex mansion.


    Near arge tree.


    Link was ying near the tree like usual on that fateful day.


    Out of nowhere, a girl''s voice entered his ears.


    "What are you doing?" (Riya)


    With a huge packet of candies in her small hands, and her mouth stuffed with candy, Riya stared at Link with curiosity.


    Her cute and delicate face seems to have immediately triggered some unknown reaction in Link''s brain.


    Link''s eyes widened as he looked at that unknown girl in shock. (Bro was already charmed by her...)


    Even though those candies made her look clumsy and na?¡¥ve, Riya was without a doubt, quite beautiful in the eyes of the young Link.


    The wind blew and made her white hair il in the air. With her small hands, Riya stopped her hair from getting messy.


    But the entire time, Link was staring at her like he was captivated. (Bro was love-struck at the very first sight...)


    "I am Link Rex, you are?" (Link)


    "I am Riya Frost... nice to meet you, hehe..." (Riya)


    Her cute giggle made Link feel emotions that he had never known about before.


    (And thus began the journey for this couple...)


    ...


    A random day, Rex Mansion.


    "And so, I got these imported flowers just for your birthday, do you like them..." (Link)


    Link was happy to give a gift to Riya for the first time, he especially begged his father to get these rare flowers imported from the northern cities, which were located around the border areas of the human empire.


    *Nom**Nom*


    ''These white flowers match her hair color, she will definitely be charmed by this gift, hehe my nning is perfect!'' (Link)


    *Nom**Nom*


    ''And once she epts my gift, that would mean she would ept being my girlfriend, hehe, I am a genius...'' (Link)


    *Nom**Nom*


    ''Hmm, what are these chewing noises...'' (Link)


    A doubtful look appeared on Link''s face, he hurriedly looked behind him to find out what was going on. (He was standing while facing the window earlier when talking to Riya, and thus, didn''t notice it before...)


    When he looked back, he found Riya was stuffing those flowers in her small mouth and chewing on them like she was eating candies.


    Link''s bewildered eyes met with Riya for a second.


    She smiled innocently and said:


    "Yeah, they are tasty!" (Riya)


    "What!? Hey! Stop! Stop! What are you doing!? Humans don''t eat flowers!!" (Link)


    With a panicked look on his face, Link desperately tried to stop Riya from eating those flowers.


    But Riya just didn''t let go of those flowers.


    "Noooo~" (Riya)


    Link hurriedly brought the healers over, in case something happened to her.


    He was so frightened by her self-harm tactics that day, that he had nightmares about a monster with Riya''s face chasing him all over the ce, trying to eat him like candy.


    (On that day, Link learned the harsh truth: ''Riya was too na?¡¥ve for this world!!'')


    (From that day onwards, whenever Link gifted something to her, he always told her several times not to eat it...)


    (..but eventually, he had to admit defeat and he started gifting edible things instead... because he knew that she wouldn''t stop eating them...)


    ...


    Hotel Devalya, Night, Link''s Room.


    Link''s eyes opened in shock, and he hurriedly sat up.


    "Noo!! Don''t eat me Riya!!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s sudden scream, Riya who was sitting nearby tilted her head in confusion as she nibbled on her candies.


    "What? Why would I eat you?" (Riya)


    Link suddenly came back to his senses and finally understood that he was dreaming and that monster with Riya''s face was not real.


    Link hurriedly stretched his hand out and pinched Riya''s cheeks.


    "Oww! Don''t pinch my cheeks~" (Riya)


    "Oh, so it indeed is reality, sigh~ I thought I was about to get eaten... phew~" (Link)


    Link wiped the sweat from his forehead and rxed a bit.


    "Oh, wait, isn''t this the hotel room, you carried me back Riya?" (Link)


    "No, that purple head guy, cast magic and you started floating and came to this room on your own¡­ I just followed behind you, but really you sleep so much, like a little baby~" (Riya)


    Link felt a bit embarrassed as he was beingpared to a baby.


    ''Well, at least she is safe¡­" (Link)


    But suddenly a thought came in Link''s mind.


    "Eh? Wait! Wait! You followed me when we left the dungeon right? How long did I sleep?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s question, Riya put her index finger on her forehead as if she was thinking hard.


    "Hmm, we came back in the morning and now it''s night outside¡­ so you slept for a whole day¡­" (Riya)


    Hearing Riya''s answer Link was even more bewildered.


    "Do-does that mean¡­ you have been sitting here and waiting for a whole day!?" (Link)


    "Yes! I had to heal you after all, hehe I was staring at your sleeping face all along!" (Riya)


    "i-Is that so¡­" (Link)


    Hearing Riya''s answer, Link felt immense guilt.


    He knew Riya''s way of thinking all too well.


    At usual times she behaves immaturely, but when ites to healing, she is extremely focused on her duty.


    She might be na?ve, but as a healer, she takes her duty extremely seriously. She reached rank B+ in just a year, this fact alone shows how hard she has trained to reach this level of healing capabilities.


    (During the time when Link got injured at the ''New Year festival'', Riya healed him continuously for a whole day, she bes too selfless when ites to healing¡­)


    (Her behavior might be immature, but you won''t be able to find a better healer under Rank S whenpared to her¡­)


    Link looked at the smiling face of Riya, he clenched his fists in guilt and said in a solemn tone.


    "Y-you, should have taken some rest, why are you sitting here¡­" (Link)


    Riya shook her head in refusal and said in an unhesitant tone.


    "No way, I had to keep a watch on you, I couldn''t leave you alone unless you gain consciousness I won''t leave... you get injured a lot after all¡­" (Riya)


    Indeed, from Riya''s perspective, Link gets injured a lot.


    He had been training with Raji and Ashtel since childhood and they both didn''t know mercy, they used to beat him up like a punching bag.


    Riya was the one who used to heal him all day long.


    From Link''s perspective, Riya is a na?ve and weak girl, but from Riya''s perspective, Link is a careless guy who gets hurt easily.


    She has seen Link suffer fatal injuries so many times now, that she is always worried for his health. (She was the one who healed Link''s sliced arm during the ''New Year festival''¡­)


    Riya and Link both are worried for each other''s health in their own way. They both think of the other party as ''something they must protect at all costs''.


    Link stretched his hand out and held Riya''s small hand in his palm. Compared to his hand, Riya''s hand was quite small and delicate.


    "Hey, Riya¡­" (Link)


    Riya tilted her head in confusion at Link''s sudden solemn tone.


    "I love you" (Link)


    Link immediately pulled Riya over and kissed her on the lips.


    Riya''s eyes widened in shock from this sudden attack, her whole face turned red.


    After a few seconds, Link finally stopped.


    Riya dodged his eyes and her face became even redder.


    "Idiot¡­ I love you too, of course¡­" (Riya) (Get married already!!)


    Hearing Riya''s approval, Link smiled in relief.


    "I love you more though¡­" (Link)


    "What are you saying¡­ I-I love you much much more!!" (Riya)


    ¡­


    Raji''s room.


    "Heh, it seems these two idiots finally ended up confessing to each other¡­ it seems my grand n was a great sess¡­" (Raji)


    Yes, this is the first time Link and Riya confessed to each other. Before this, they were both only bound by the engagement, but now they were both bound by the power of ''mutual love''.


    "But seriously, this little guy really has learned some tricks to be acting so bold, heh¡­" (Raji) (He learned it from Rio...)


    Raji shook her head in satisfaction. She nced out from the window and stared at the horizon while thinking to herself.


    ''I just hope, that Riya doesn''t have to suffer like me¡­'' (Raji)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved Author here! It''s been so long since I did a Link x Riya chapter, and so here it is! Enjoy this delightful chapter!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think that Link and Riya are both overprotective from both of their perspectives?


    1.Yes.


    2.No.


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 165 Liam’s backstory... (Liam X Ellie)

    <h4>Chapter 165 Liam''s backstory... (Liam X Ellie)</h4>


    Hotel Devalya, Liam''s Room, Night.


    ''The moon looks quite beautiful, but it shines lonely in the sky... is it destiny being thoughtful, or is it all just a big fat lie...'' (Liam)


    While staring at the moon through the window of his room, Liam was thinking aboutplicated thoughts in his mind.


    ''Sigh~ it all started with one summoning ritual, and now I havee such a long way...'' (Liam)


    ...


    (Liam''s memories...)


    On that, one fateful day.


    "Father! Father! What kind of familiar will I summon?" (Liam, younger version)


    Liam was the youngest child of his family, thus he was liked and loved by everyone a lot, until that one day at least.


    Neo smiled at Liam''s question, he bent down and ced a finger at Liam''s heart.


    He said in a gentle tone:


    "It depends on your heart my child, what you summon is mainly dependent on your talent and your will... even I would not know about it until you have summoned it..." (Neo)


    Liam hadn''t ''awakened'' yet since he wasn''t even sixteen years old yet, he was only going to carry out this summoning ritual using the inherent mana that resides in atent form in his body.


    (Latent mana, is the form of mana that resides in every object of the world. The mana in the atmosphere, in the rivers, stones, soil, or in organic creatures, is what we calltent mana.)


    (Only an awakened person can bring out its true potential. Even ordinary people have thistent mana, it''s extremely difficult to use it though...)


    Neo had set up a mana circle for all his children, its purpose was to summon a contracted beast to protect them in their journey to peak.


    (This magic circle uses a person''stent mana automatically and helps them summon a familiar for them.)


    (It''s an expensive magic circle created with costly materials, not everyone can afford this thing... and even if they could afford it, only Neo have the knowledge on how to actually create this magic circle...)


    ...


    Neo patted Liam''s back and said in a gentle tone:


    "Go ahead and summon what your heart desires..." (Neo)


    "Yes!" (Liam)


    Liam was smiling from ear to ear, his excitement was written all over his face.


    All of his older siblings smiled at him and wished him good luck.


    With an excited face, Liam hurriedly walked down the basement and stood in front of the magic circle.


    Only one thought was spinning over and over in his mind:


    ''Everyone is expecting so much from me, I must not let them down... but what should I summon?...'' (Liam)


    After thinking for a while, a sudden thought came to his mind.


    ''Yes! I want to be as strong as my father when I grow up! So I must summon something that can help me reach my father''s level of strength in the future!'' (Liam)


    After making up his mind Liam stretched out his small hand, and a determined look appeared on the young Liam''s face. He brought out a small pocket knife and made a small cut on his thumb.


    His blood dripped and fell on the magic circle instantly.


    "Come forth!" (Liam)


    The magic circle started to shine brightly at Liam''smand.


    Everything was going as nned, but there was just one major miscalction in all this nning.


    Neo and all of Liam''s family members didn''t take into consideration the fact, that thetent mana in Liam''s body could be much much more than a normal person''s body could possess.


    Well, they couldn''t be med either.


    Liam had yet to awaken and Neo was the only person capable of seeing that immensetent mana reserve in Liam''s body and Neo''s real body wasn''t here at the time. (The real body of Neo was wandering around the human empire''s borders...)


    The Neo that Liam always saw at home was just a mere summoned beast of the real Neo. This summoned beast didn''t have the capability to predict and see through Liam''s hidden talent.


    And thus, the unforeseen thing happened without any warnings.


    ...


    The magic circle shined brightly and its brightness kept increasing more and more due to the insane mana output provided by Liam''s body.


    The magic circle went into an overloaded mode and the whole dark basement became so bright that Liam had to close his eyes to avoid getting stunned.


    *Rumble*


    When Liam''s huge mana reserve was finally pushed into that magic circle, the whole Aldif mention started to rumble like crazy.


    Everyone was bewildered and shocked at this scene.


    At that moment, a huge adult dragon manifested through that summoning circle.


    Its huge body broke through the basement and itsrge wings smashed the whole Aldif mansion into bits of rubble.


    *rooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!*


    The shadow dragon roared at the sky as if it was announcing its mighty presence to the whole world.


    Its aura made everyone feel chills all over their body.


    Neo''s summoned beast that was copying his form and pretending to be the real Neo, lost its form and died instantly in the presence of this mighty dragon''s presence. (Lowly beasts can''t withstand a dragon''s aura after all¡­)


    At that moment, the real body of Neo Aldif walked out of a portal and cast a barrier to save the lives of the Aldif family members. Otherwise, they all would have been crushed by the mighty aura of this shadow dragon.


    Even Neo was shocked when he saw that Liam had summoned this shadow dragon at such a young age.


    ...


    Oblivious to all this chaos happening around him, Liam who was standing right in front of the dragon didn''t feel that anything was wrong at all.


    Instead, a huge smile was stered on his face.


    "I did it! I did it! I summoned a dragon! Now I can be as strong as my father!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s loud cheers, the dragon lowered its eyes and stared at the tiny body of Liam, as if it was looking at a lowly creature.


    [Tell me human¡­ Are you my master?]


    Hearing Ellie''s voice directly into his head through telepathy, Liam was quite surprised but he ignored it and said in a happy voice.


    "Yes! I summoned you! What''s your name? I am Liam Aldif!" (Liam)


    "Will you be my friend?" (Liam)


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    Seeing that happy expression on Liam''s face, the dragon seemed to be quite surprised.


    It was as if the dragon was taken aback at Liam''s generosity.


    [Heh, so there are people who can ept a shadow dragon too¡­]


    [Good then, as you have epted me, I will also ept you as my master, we will have an equal pact, and from now on you are my friend, Liam Aldif¡­]


    [My Name is Elisia Mistilteinn, I have been given the title ''Shadow dominator'', I promise to lend my help to you¡­]


    "Okay, I promise to be your friend too, I will call you Ellie from now on! You can call me Liam!" (Liam)


    As Liam and Ellie both epted the contract on the basis that, they were both equal and Ellie wasn''t obligated to follow any of Liam''s orders, this contract had already be just a mere decoration in the eyes of them both.


    Ellie was not Liam''s familiar in the truest sense and Liam didn''t consider himself her master either. They both ended but bing friends due to some rare coincidences.


    In the history of mankind, this was the first time, a human had seeded in establishing a contract with a dragon on an equal basis.


    (Generally, if you want to make the dragon ept the contract, you will have to use overpowering force to make it fearful of you, this is how Neo contracted his dragon too¡­)


    Dragons are extremely prideful beings, they think that getting into a contract with a lowly being like a human is shameful for them, thus they don''t ept the contract.


    This means even if you are sessful in summoning a dragon, it doesn''t guarantee the fact that the dragon will actually ept the contract. It could very likely reject your contract too.


    Most summoners use overwhelming force or other methods to forcefully make the dragon their familiar. But this type of contract isn''t that strong and ends up bing a real headache for the master eventually.


    Moreover, you need insane amounts of mana to summon a dragon in the first ce, most people can only do it after reaching rank S or higher.


    But things werepletely different in Liam''s case.


    Not to mention histent mana reserve was so big that he summoned a dragon at such a young age without even bing a proper awakener at all, he even ended up befriending that dragon in just a few words.


    This was truly a shocking event.


    ¡­


    In the shocked eyes of everyone present at the scene, the dragon lowered its head and Liam put his small hand over the dragon''s head to pet it.


    This scene was so unbelievable that the eyes of the Aldif family members nearly popped out of their sockets.


    The giant dragon turned into a shadow and transformed into a humanoid form. It took the form of a young human girl with dark ck hair and it had ck-coloured serpentine-like eyes.


    Ellie shook hands with Liam and she smiled like a normal human girl.


    "Nice to meet you, master!" (Ellie)


    The young Liam blushed in panic when a girl suddenly held his hand out of nowhere, but he didn''t back down either.


    "Nice to meet you too, Ellie!" (Liam)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! I suddenly remembered that I hadn''t written much about Liam''s backstory and this was the best opportunity to do it, so here it is, the origin story of this unique human and dragon pair!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you be able to stand without fear if a dragon stared at you?


    1.Yes (I have taken training from Rio, I am indifferent now¡­ fear? What is that? Never heard of it¡­)


    2.No (Uh, I would rather pass¡­ standing in such a pressuring aura field might crush my bones instantly¡­)


    3.Other''s (Tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 166 Fade’s plot armor and Liam’s memories...

    <h4>Chapter 166 Fade''s plot armor and Liam''s memories...</h4>


    (Info dumps ahead...)


    (Memories of the past...)


    Aldif Mansion.


    Ellie shook hands with Liam and epted his friendship that day.


    But not all were happy at this sudden turn of events.


    Neo had dered earlier, that whoever of his children will have the highest talent, will be considered the legitimate heir of the Aldif family.


    Now that Liam had summoned a dragon at such a young age, anyone could guess who would be the next head of the family. And thus, all of Liam''s siblings started to hate him to the core.


    They were all jealous of his insane talent.


    They used to love Liam a lot before he showed his talent, but when he proved himself to be a threat to them, all his siblings stopped talking to him.


    Especially the oldest son, who was expecting to be the next family head, was now feeling immense hatred for Liam. He hated Liam to the point that he wanted to kill him off immediately.


    If not for the fact that Liam was protected by Ellie on several asions, Liam would have long been dead by now.


    Furthermore, Neo Aldif is a cunning man, he likes those whom he can control easily. He doesn''t like those who can threaten his existence.


    (This is also one of the reasons why his main body is always around the borders of the human empire, he doesn''t like staying with other SS-rankers, and instead, he sends his summoned beasts to do his bidding...)


    Thus, when Liam proved that he had the talent to one day rival him, Neo was also quite frustrated at this.


    Just by summoning Ellie, Liam had turned all of his loved ones into his worst enemies.


    This is the exact reason why people don''t like shadow dragons.


    Shadow dragons are considered bad omens. Whenever they appear they bring misfortune and disasters along with them.


    Liam summoned a shadow dragon and brought great misfortune over himself that day.


    He lost all his loved ones in a matter of seconds after the shadow dragon was summoned.?Although indirect, but this can still be considered as a bad omen.


    This is also the reason why Ellie was surprised at Liam being happy at her summoning, most individuals will see a shadow dragon as a bad omen and would try to avoid it, but Liam was so happy to see Ellie, that she was impressed by him.


    Ellie decided to ept Liam''s friendship because she could sense that Liam was genuinely happy and wasn''t faking his feelings.


    She became curious to see what this human wanted from her and why he wasn''t afraid of her.


    Thus, she decided to stay with Liam for a while, but eventually, she got addicted to Liam''s homemade food and was unable to leave.


    ...


    Over the course of the next few days, Liam became a total outcast from the Aldif family. No one talked to him, no one loved him and he wasn''t even allowed to sit at the dining table with everyone else anymore.


    His life had fallen from the peak to the ground in just a few days.


    But even after all this happened to him, Liam didn''t care about it at all.


    He had found a friend after all.


    In those days of difficulties, Liam and Ellie''s bond became stronger than ever. Ellie taught Liam aboutbat and various fighting techniques.


    Liam didn''t learn the human''s version of magic at all, he learned magic from Ellie, and all of his magic was blessed by the strength of a dragon, thus it was a hundred times stronger than ordinary magic.


    Days went by and Liam finally ''awakened'' at the age of fifteen. He got invited to the academy and entered it without any difficulty.


    ...


    His whole first year in the academy was quite ordinary actually. (He was in a different ss than Rio and the others thus he didn''t get involved in events like Roult Ind etc...)


    Since Liam was in a different ssroom than the protagonist, he didn''t have any conflicts with Fade for a long time toe.


    Even in the original Novel timeline, Liam only appeared in the second year of the academy. (The final exam event wasn''t mentioned in the original novel if you remember it, it was directly skipped...)


    The only reason why Liam had a conflict with Fade in the original timeline, was because of Kira.


    Liam liked Kira since his childhood days.


    Kira''s father and Neo, both were good friends. Due to this, Kira used to visit the Aldif household several times when Liam was a kid. Liam and Kira became good friends at that time, they used to y together all day long.


    Liam had feelings for Kira since he was young. And seeing Kira cling to a person like Fade, was absolutely unbelievable for him.


    He didn''t like Fade''s personality at all, if it was someone with a good personality, Liam would have epted his defeat and wouldn''t have interfered with Kira''s life at all, he would have ''moved on'' without caring about it.


    But since he had feelings for Kira, he couldn''t ignore her being taken by a sketchy guy like Fade who had a trashy personality. Moreover, Fade was quite weak in his eyes.


    In his eyes, Fade was a total trash, even Fade''s magic circuits were unstable. (Liam could see through Fade''s unstable magic circuits easily... Don''t forget that Liam is a magical genius and has a dragon to enhance his magical capabilities...)


    Although Liam''s ss is a ''summoner'', he can also use magic due to Ellie''s help.


    He admired Kira''s amazing mental capabilities, but he couldn''tprehend the reason why Kira liked Fade so much. (Simply speaking, he didn''t want to see Kira get hurt...)


    Yet, Fate had different ns for him. In the original timeline, He was betrayed by Kira again and again until he died under Fade''s hands eventually.


    The Liam of the original timeline was indeed an unfortunate guy who was treated as a ''disposable viin'' by Fade''s protagonist Halo.


    But the presence of one ''Anomaly'' had changed the threads of Fate now.


    Now Liam has ''Moved on'' from his past feelings and he doesn''t care about Kira and Fade anymore.


    He has epted Ellie as his only truepanion and he has seen through many things that were invisible to him before.


    You could say that he has walked on the path of redemption now, just like Link and many others.


    ...


    (Back to present¡­)


    Hotel Devalya, Liam''s Room, Night.


    "What are you thinking, Liam?" (Ellie)


    Hearing Ellie''s voice, Liam snapped out of his dream world. He nced back and found Ellie sitting on the couch, staring at him with wide eyes.


    Her ck serpentine-like pupils shined brightly even in the dark night.


    "Nothing, just remembering about some happy memories from past¡­ like the day I met you the first time¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s remarks, Ellie giggled a bit before saying:


    "Hehe, you like me that much, huh¡­" (Ellie)


    A smile appeared on Liam''s face when he heard Ellie''s happy tone:


    "Indeed I like you a lot, my little dragon¡­" (Liam)


    A sudden silence descended in the room at Liam''s sudden confession.


    Ellie''s cheeks became slightly blushed as she heard those words.


    She replied in a low voice:


    "Then you better remember these words forever, I won''t forgive you if you forget about them¡­" (Ellie)


    At Ellie''s words, Liam tilted his head a bit and smiled at her:


    "Indeed, I will remember them, forever¡­" (Liam)


    16:00


    ¡­


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    Raji''s Room.


    "Indeed, I will remember them, forever¡­" (Liam)


    ¡­


    *Crack*


    The wine ss in Raji''s hand cracked and the atmosphere in the room became heavy due to Raji''s anger.


    "Do you know what you are saying, Neo?" (Raji)


    "I know, but it doesn''t matter, I want to give my son as many hardships as possible, so do me this favor¡­" (Neo)


    In anger, Raji threw her wine ss on the floor and replied to the hologram in a cold tone:


    "Why do you think will I do you a favor!... Stop talking to me like I am your old friend or something!" (Raji)


    "I already said that Fade was a useless student, he has already failed both tests! He didn''t even make it to the final round in the group survival test and now he didn''t even contribute a little bit in this dungeon either!" (Raji)


    "I have already dered him unfit to be a candidate for the ''meeting of gods''! Do you really think I will allow such a trash to represent the face of the human race, in front of the whole world!?" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s harsh remarks, Neo''s hologram went silent for a while.


    "Nheless, Fade is still a candidate, you can''t stop him from taking the third exam even though he had failed the previous two, if he passes the third test he will be eligible to go to the ''Meeting of gods''¡­" (Neo)


    Neo''s voice caused Raji''s anger to increase even more. Several veins appeared on her forehead and her mood became even worse.


    "Eligible my foot! That trash doesn''t even have strong willpower! He was crying and lost control when he was in a difficult situation!" (Raji)


    "You want that kind of trash to go to the stage where genius people from all over the world wille!?" (Raji)


    Neo ignored all of Raji''s words and said in a calm tone:


    "It doesn''t matter, the rules are that you can''t stop a candidate from taking any of the tests and if the candidate passes even one of the tests, they would be eligible to go-" (Neo)


    *Bang*


    Before Neo could finish his words, Raji smashed the hologram-generating device into pieces with her frost magic.


    She nced at the hotel owner standing nearby with several servants and said in a cold tone:


    "Pour me another ss of wine!" (Raji)


    The hotel owner shivered at Raji''s cold gaze and did as he was ordered.


    "Understood!" (Owner)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Fade''s plot armor is working again! Let''s see how far this plot armor takes him though¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Fade has quite a strong plot armor?


    1.Yes


    2.Absolutely Yes


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 167 An empty smartphone! (Rio x Lia) (Caution- Extra sweet)

    <h4>Chapter 167 An empty smartphone! (Rio x Lia) (Caution- Extra sweet)</h4>


    Hotel Devalya, Morning, Rio''s Room.


    *Ring ring!*


    A sudden mobile notification''s sound resounded throughout the room and Lia who was sleeping on the couch, opened her eyes slowly.


    "Hnnngggh~" (Lia)


    With a cute sound, Lia sat up from the couch and pushed the nket aside.


    ''Hmm, this is?.... Oh yes, we ended up falling asleep while watching TV. Rio must have woken up early... and thus put a nket on me...'' (Lia)


    After eating the dinner made by Rio yesterday night, Both Lia and Rio sat on the couch and enjoyed their free time by snuggling in each other''s arms and watching TV shows.


    Rio woke up fifteen minutes earlier and went to take a shower first.


    Lia nced at the bathroom''s closed door and said in a loud voice:


    "Rio! You got a notification on your phone!" (Lia)


    As Rio was in the shower, Lia had to say it loudly for him to hear it.


    After Lia told about it to Rio, the reply came in an emotionless tone.


    "Check it for me..." (Rio)


    "What is the password?" (Lia)


    "Lia is cute" (Rio)


    Hearing it, a slight blush appeared on Lia''s face and she said angrily.


    "Idiot! I am asking for the password, not for praises! Hmph!" (Lia)


    "That is the password..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s reply, Lia was speechless.


    "Oh, o-okay..." (Lia)


    Lia stretched out her hand and grabbed Rio''s smartphone from the nearby table.


    ''Hmmm, what was the password again..'' (Lia)


    [Liaiscute]


    After Lia entered the password, the phone was unlocked and a slight blush appeared on her face.


    ''Idiot! Do you really have to find ways to make me embarrassed all the time...'' (Lia)


    Being praised like this made Lia quite embarrassed.


    Without dy, she clicked on the notification and saw that it was a notification from the academy''s official app.


    [All seven students gather in the hotel''s meeting room, I have to discuss some important things with you all.


    Principal Raji.]


    ''Oh, it''s from principal Raji... wait! If Rio got the notification, I must have gotten it too!'' (Lia)


    Lia hurriedly grabbed her phone and checked the notifications. Sure enough, she had received it too, her phone was on ''silent mode'' due to which it didn''t ring.


    Just then Rio walked out of the bathroom and asked in his usual emotionless tone:


    "What is it about?" (Rio)


    "Oh, it''s from principal Raji, she wants us all to gather in the meeting room and-" (Lia)


    "Hmm, and?" (Rio)


    Lia''s whole face turned red when she nced behind her and found that Rio was standing there shirtless, his well-defined muscles and abs looked breathtakingly good.


    Although Rio had an ordinary-looking face, his well-defined body and the wet hairs from the shower, made him look like a handsome ''model'' at the moment.


    The sunshine fell on his face and made his dark ck eyes shine like gems. (Even ordinary-looking people can look handsome at certain times...)


    "Idiot! Perv! Why are you not wearing anything!? T-this this! Perv!" (Lia) (He is wearing his shorts so it''s safe...)


    Lia covered her face with her small hands but kept peeking from between her fingers.


    In a panic, she immediately jumped away from the couch to make some distance from Rio.


    At Lia''s reaction, Rio just tilted his head in confusion.


    Since it was an everyday thing for Rio to take a shower and get out shirtless, he didn''t understand what the big deal was. He said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "It''s nothing that surprising though, you have seen me shirtless already, haven''t you?" (Rio)


    (He is talking about the time when Liam blew that huge magic explosion in the group survival test and Rio was sent to the healer''s office. Lia had seen him shirtless during that time as she was sitting beside him while he was there...)


    "No! th-this is different! ...How long are you going to stand there!? Go and wear something!" (Lia)


    Lia grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at Rio''s face as if she was protesting like a child.


    The pillow hit Rio on the face directly and fell back on the couch. (He didn''t dodge it, because it was interesting to see Lia protest like a kid...)


    "Okay okay I am going... no need to get so excited just because you saw your boyfriend naked..." (Rio)


    While saying that Rio walked towards the bedroom to wear his clothes.


    "I am not excited! Perv! Hmph!" (Lia)


    Just when Rio was about to close the door he tilted his head back and asked in a teasing tone.


    "Wannae in and have a look?" (Rio)


    "No! Pervert! Go away!" (Lia)


    Before Lia could throw another pillow at him Rio closed the door and escaped her death stares.


    *nk*


    Seeing that Rio finally closed the door, Lia heaved a sigh of relief. Her face still had a blush on it though.


    She slumped back on the couch and started to do a thorough check-up on Rio''s phone.


    ''This is the first time I am looking through a boy''s phone like this¡­ w-what if he had some questionable pictures saved in it!?'' (Lia)


    Although Lia was hesitant at the start, she decided that this was the perfect time and that such a rare opportunity may note again. (She thinks too much, Rio will give his phone to her anytime if she asks for it¡­)


    ...


    After a few seconds of searching Lia had determined one thing from Rio''s mobile.


    "How can someone''s phone be so empty!? How can someone be this boring!?" (Lia)


    Rio''s phone had only two contact numbers, one was hers and the other was Link''s. There weren''t any more contact numbers on the phone no matter how she looked at it.


    Aside from the academy''s official app and a music app, there were literally no downloaded apps on the phone except these two.


    In a desperate effort, Lia opened the photos and found them empty too. Rio didn''t even have a single ''selfie'' on his phone. This also exined why his wallpaper was the default one too.


    ''This¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia was speechless. She had no idea if she should feel happy or sad about this matter.


    "Idiot, you could have at least taken a picture of me¡­" (Lia)


    With a blush on her face, Lia opened the camera clicked a selfie of herself, and set it up as the wallpaper.


    ''What am I even doing¡­'' (Lia)


    Whenpared to Rio''s empty phone, Lia''s phone was filled with Rio''s photos that she secretly took while sneaking around him all over the academy.


    Just when Lia was feeling embarrassed, a teasing voice whispered in her ears.


    "Oh, thanks for the souvenir, I will make sure to enjoy it in my free time¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s teasing voice, Lia hurriedly jumped aside and said in a shocked tone:


    "What do you mean you will enjoy it in your free time!? And how long have been standing there!?" (Lia)


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders at Lia''s question.


    "I just came back and since were clicking pictures I thought it might not be a good idea to disturb you¡­" (Rio)


    "I-is that so¡­a-and what you gonna do with the picture¡­" (Lia)


    "I will stare at it in my free time of course¡­ what else do you think I will do?" (Rio)


    "N-nothing¡­" (Lia)


    While Rio looked at Lia in confusion, she dodged his eyes in embarrassment.


    "By the way, you can take the shower here, I won''t peep I promise¡­" (Rio)


    "N-no, I will go back to my room¡­" (Lia)


    "sigh~ I guess I will have to peep some other time then¡­" (Rio)


    "You were going to peep after all!!" (Lia)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and replied:


    "Why not? It''s the ''fundamental right'' of a caring boyfriend to check on his girlfriend from time to time to ensure if she is okay¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s remarks, Lia felt like she was being deceived.


    "The logic is true but, I feel like you are justifying your crimes¡­" (Lia)


    "No way, admiring your girlfriend''s beauty can''t be a crime, its called love, my dear¡­" (Rio)


    Seeing Rio justifying his ''right'' to peep at her while she was taking a bath made Lia speechless.


    "I-in any case, I am going back to my room now, need to get ready, the principal is waiting for us you know¡­" (Lia)


    "Sigh~ the path of love is difficult to walk on¡­" (Rio)


    Ignoring Rio''s remarks, Lia hurriedly escaped from the room. She felt that if she didn''t escape on time, she would have been coerced by Rio''s deceiving words.


    ...


    What Lia didn''t know was that if Rio really wanted, he could have overpowered the mana detection blocking devices of this hotel and used his strong mana detection skill to easily peep at her in 3d vision.


    ''Cough! I am aw-abiding and honest citizen, I shouldn''t do something like that¡­ but one look might not hurt¡­ cough! No no what am I thinking¡­'' (Rio)


    When ites to Lia, Rio''s brain seems to start functioning in a totally different way.


    ''It seems I have been corrupted by the same brain-damaging love virus, like Link¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! OKAY! Herees a new chapter filled with diabetes and love.


    Make sure you have salt nearby while reading these chaps, drink that salt with water, and make sure you don''t faint due to these diabetes attacks.


    (Speaking from experience, the author fainted three times while writing this¡­)


    Question of the day.


    Would you be able to give your phone to others with such confidence as Rio?


    1.Yes (Well if it''s empty like Rio''s what is there to hide then?)


    2.No (What if they ran away with my phone! I can''t live without my phone!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 168 The Third test.

    <h4>Chapter 168 The Third test.</h4>


    Hotel Devalya, Meeting Room.


    Usually, this meeting room is used by the shareholders and the owner of the hotel, but today the whole meeting room was upied by the students of the academy and Raji was sitting at the hotel owner''s seat too.


    Meanwhile, all the staff members were guarding the door outside as if they were thrown out by Raji from the room in the middle of a meeting.


    Although this scene was quite strange, but no one had the courage to question the decisions of an SS-ranker. Thus, they just went with the flow and didn''t even raise any objections.


    ...


    Inside the meeting room.


    Link nced at Riya sitting beside him and secretly handed her some candies as she was looking quite bored.


    But obviously, Raji could easily see through these little movements.


    "Ahem, Link don''t feed her all the time, you have spoiled her too much... If you keep spoiling her like that, she will get as fat as a pig..." (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s words, Link smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck as he was embarrassed at being caught red-handed.


    Riya puffed up her cheeks as she was angry at beingpared to a fat pig.


    "I am not smelly like a pig!" (Riya)


    At Riya''s tantrum, Raji squinted her eyebrows and replied:


    "That''s your main concern?...sigh~..." (Raji)


    Looking at Riya''s pouting face caused Link''s heart to jump up and down like a deer.


    *nk*


    The metallic door opened automatically, and Rio and Lia both walked in together while holding hands like a lovey-dovey couple.


    Their ''handholding'' made everyone in the room feel awkward.


    Riya was sitting on Link''s left side, and Rio sat on the right with Lia on his right too.


    Rio and Lia were thest group to arrive, everyone else had already arrived a few seconds ago.


    Once everyone had finally gathered, Raji nced at them all and nodded her head.


    "Good, Now that everyone is here, let me start then..." (Raji)


    Raji brought out a ''small hologram-generating device'' from her space ring and put it on the table. She clicked the buttons on it and the hologram appeared in the air.


    It showcased a 3d map of the human empire.


    Without dy, Raji zoomed at the southern area, and the port city ''Oaklum'' came into everyone''s view.


    After adjusting the map, Raji pointed at the city and started exining.


    "As you guys must have learned in the ''geography'' sses, this is the port city ''Oaklum'', nearly 80 percent of the trade routes that lead to major ports all over the world, go through this ce..." (Raji)


    "Rich in marine life, the ocean nearby is filled with natural resources like oil, gases, and various rare materials...." (Raji)


    "This ce is like a trading hub, thousands of industries are located here and nearly all the trade that our human empire does with other races goes through this city too..." (Raji)


    Exining further, Raji nced at the students and said:


    "As I had exined before, there are supposed to be three tests that will be conducted to choose the students who will represent humanity on the grand stage called ''the meeting of gods''..." (Raji)


    "There are three tests in the selection process, and two have already been conducted sessfully..." (Raji)


    In the first test, only four students passed they were Link, Lia, Liam, and Rio. (Riya had exited the test at the end of round 2 of the group test...)


    In the second test, six students passed. (Except Fade all of them passed in this dungeon test...)


    "Now the third test will be conducted in the city of ''Oaklum''... it is a ''mission'' assigned by the alliance, it will start in three days from now..." (Raji)


    Just when Raji was about to continue, Liam raised his hand as a sign that he wanted to ask a question.


    Raji nodded her head and allowed Liam to ask. Seeing the Raji permitted him, Liam said in a calm tone:


    "Thest two tests had a gap of a week or more days in between, I would like to know why we are in such a rush toplete the third test?..." (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s question Raji nodded her head and replied in a calm tone:


    "As expected of your sharp mind student Liam, you have already noticed this strange thing..." (Raji)


    Raji was actually impressed by the fact that Liam, who was afraid of her on usual days was able to ovee his fear ande forward to ask a question from her directly.


    This was a great improvement in terms of mental strength, in her opinion.


    "The thing is, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the ''Meeting of Gods'' will be held earlier this time, its scheduled time was two months away but now it has been re-scheduled..." (Raji)


    "Now there''s only one month left before the meeting happens, and due to this we have to hurry andplete these tests as early as possible... we don''t have the time to dilly-dally all day long..." (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s answer, Liam asked again:


    "Uh, what are these ''Unforeseen circumstances'' by the way?" (Liam)


    Raji shook her head and said:


    "I don''t know about that yet either, we will only find out about it at the meeting itself¡­" (Raji)


    Liam nodded his head and stopped asking questions.


    Seeing that Liam was not questioning anymore, Raji continued her exnations.


    "As I was saying, your third test will be toplete this mission within a week''s worth of time¡­." (Raji)


    "By then, we will only have about one more week left, in thest week we will depart for the Elf Kingdom where the meeting will take ce¡­" (Raji)


    "During this valuable time that you have left, give yourself a final push and try to train as much as possible, it''s a rare opportunity so don''t miss it¡­" (Raji)


    ¡­


    Raji then exined the mission details.


    The mission was a simple task, there had been sightings of a new underwater cave recently. The task given to the students was to investigate the cave and find out as many details as they could about that cave.


    This mission will be a test of the student''s intellectual and endurance capabilities.


    "It''s a simple and straightforward task, you just have to investigate the cave, just remain careful and I believe you guys can do it¡­" (Raji)


    Seeing that Raji was confident about their sess, all of the students felt quite proud at the moment. (Beingplimented by an SS-ranker is no small feat¡­)


    "Aside from that, I have one more thing to say¡­ two third-


    year students will also take part in this mission¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s sudden deration, everyone was quite surprised. They all thought that there would be no more candidates appearing now that two tests were already done and dusted.


    Raji nced at Fade for a second before continuing.


    "Due to the very underwhelming performance of student Fade, I have decided that we need more candidates to enter this test¡­" (Raji)


    "There will be a total of nine candidates now, after adding the two third-year students¡­ also don''t worry about their strength, they are one year older than you guys and are one of the few most talented students too¡­" (Raji)


    "Both are rank A individuals¡­ Except for student Fade, all the other six of you have already passed at least one test by now, so your position is safe¡­" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s harsh words, Fade felt like he was being humiliated in public. He lowered his head and didn''t dare to look Raji in the eyes.


    Seeing Fade''s deted confidence, Raji stared at him with narrowed eyes and said in a cold tone:


    "Student Fade, if any one of those two students performs better than you in this final test, you will be disqualified and your position will be given to the other party¡­" (Raji)


    "So make sure you don''t end up having regretster, I have already warned you¡­ it''s up to you now if you want to improve or not¡­" (Raji)


    Although Raji really wanted to eliminate Fade from this test on the spot, but she was an SS-ranker and she had to follow the rules otherwise she would set up a bad example for others.


    The rules said that only those who failed in all three tests would be disqualified, and no one is allowed to stop a candidate from taking the test. Due to this reason, Fade still had one more chance left now.


    If Fade performs better than the two third-year students, he can maintain his position and go to the meeting as previously nned but if can''t even pass one test out of the three, then there is really no need to send him to the meeting of gods.


    ''In my opinion, even if he passes the test, it is quite unfit for a person like Fade to go, the reason being he has a weak mentality and he can''t think straight in life-threatening situation¡­'' (Raji)


    Although no individual is so perfect that they can stay calm at their own death, with great strength you can always keep your emotions in check.


    Fade was at rank B and he still couldn''t keep his head calm, even with all this strength coursing through his body, which was already a very bad situation.


    (Obviously, Raji is being quite strict with the standards, everyone is not emotionless like Rio, and it is obvious that a normal person will panic in a despair-filled situation¡­)


    (But this strictness was important too, she didn''t want to see the human race being looked down upon by others¡­ thus she wasn''t lenient at all¡­)


    With a cold look in her eyes, Raji red at Fade.


    "This is yourst chance to prove yourself worthy, student Fade¡­" (Raji)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Hoho, Fade is being scolded by Raji now, she seems to have taken him under her radar, let''s see how it goes now¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys think Fade will be disqualified?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 169 Damian’s determination...

    <h4>Chapter 169 Damian''s determination...</h4>


    169 Damian''s determination...


    Hotel Devalya, Meeting Room.


    "And since there''s not much time before the mission starts, we will use the academy''s teleportation altar and send you guys to the port city of Oaklum tomorrow¡­" (Raji)


    "The two third years have already gone to Oaklum, thus you will meet them tomorrow when you go there¡­ make sure you all can cooperate¡­" (Raji)


    After saying that, Raji got up from her seat and said in a cold tone as she nced at the horizon outside the window.


    "A sudden dungeon outbreak has happened at the western border, although it''s in a barren area we can''t leave this be, along with that outbreak new ''ruins'' have appeared¡­" (Raji)


    "I will be in charge of investigating those ruins¡­ but I will wait for good news from you guys, make sure you perform as good as possible¡­" (Raji)


    "It''s a simple investigation mission,plete it early and return back early to get some extra training done before leaving for the meeting¡­" (Raji)


    Seeing that everyone nodded their heads at her, Raji was satisfied and said:


    "Good, that''s all for now, gather in the ground during the afternoon, I will use my portal to get us all back to the academy¡­" (Raji)


    "It attracts too much attention to go with the car after all¡­" (Raji)


    After Raji ended the meeting everyone left the meeting room one by one and went back to their rooms to gather any of their belongings that were still in the rooms.


    When the students left the hotel staff and the hotel owner entered the meeting room.


    The hotel owner who used to be fat just a few days ago, had now lost so much weight that he looked underweight now.


    (Raji''s presence made him stressed and restless for several days, bro ran back and forth so much that he lost more than 50 kg of weight in just a few days¡­)


    "Uh, would you like to have breakfast.." (Hotel owner)


    Ignoring the hotel owner''s nervous tone, Raji shook her head and replied in a cold tone:


    "No, I am not in the mood to eat now¡­ besides we are leaving in the afternoon today, I will teleport the students away with me, so inform my driver and the bodyguards to return on their own¡­" (Raji)


    "Understood!" (Hotel Owner)


    Raji nodded her head and teleported from the meeting room to her own room directly.


    (Her room was just a few seconds away from the meeting room yet she used teleportation instead of walking there¡­)


    After confirming that Raji and the others were finally going to leave, the hotel owner finally felt a huge burden being lifted off his shoulders. (He slept for three days straight, after that¡­)


    In the afternoon, Raji opened a portal and teleported the students back to the academy.


    After reaching the academy, Raji bid them farewell and flew away towards her office without much hesitation.


    "Yawn~ I feel so sleepy, I am going back to my home first¡­" (Riya)


    "Oh, let''s go together then¡­" (Link)


    "Okay" (Riya)


    Riya and Link left the academy grounds with Link''s personal car and left the group too.


    Rio nodded his head at Lia and went back to the boy''s dorms and Lia went back to her own dorm room.


    Everyone in the group dispersed eventually.


    ¡­


    Link''s personal car.


    "What happened to your father, by the way?" (Link)


    Link was quite surprised when he didn''t see Damian again after going back to the hotel.


    Two days had already passed since they all left the dungeon and until now there was no news from him at all.


    "He said he will go and buy a new mobile and stuff, he asked to meet up at a restaurant¡­" (Riya)


    Saying that Riya brought out a location on her smartphone.


    "This is the one, he marked it for me¡­" (Riya)


    "When will hee?" (Link)


    All of a sudden Riya''s eyes widened in panic when Link asked about time.


    "Oh no! he was going toe today at 10 am, and it''s already afternoon! What do I do now!?" (Riya)


    Riya covered her forehead in panic and said:


    "Due to that meeting with sister, I forgot about going to meet him!¡­" (Riya)


    Link shook his head in defeat.


    ''This girl, sigh~ she even forgot about her father¡­.'' (Link)


    Link nced at the driver and ordered in a calm tone:


    "Change the destination, let''s go to this restaurant first¡­" (Link)


    "Understood!" (Driver)


    Link tilted his head and looked at Riya''s panicked face. He smiled a bit and said in a calm tone.


    "Don''t worry he might still be there, it''s only been a few hours, he can definitely wait that long for his daughter I think¡­" (Link)


    "I-I Hope so¡­" (Riya)


    After a few minutes of ride, the car arrived at the destination and both of them got down from the car.


    They entered the restaurant and as Link had expected Damian was still there. (Damian would have sat there till the closing time of the restaurant if Riya hadn''te now¡­)


    When Link and Riya walked over and around the same table as him, a gentle smile appeared on his face.


    Damian didn''t care one bit about the fact that Riya waste, he was happy that she actually came.


    "Dad I am here~" (Riya)


    "Oh, you finally came, you really take after your mother a lot, she used to arrive several hourste when we were dating, sigh~ those were days when I used to sit and stare at the door for hours like an idiot¡­ sigh~" (Damian)


    Damian patted Riya on the head and nodded at Link as a greeting.


    Then Link ordered some good food for the three of them and paid the bill on his own.


    Seeing Link''s sincerity, Damian felt more than happy.


    After a few casual talks, Damian started to exin his situation in detail.


    A gloomy look appeared on his face and he said in a solemn tone:


    "In the past two days I went back to the hometown of my party members and visited each of their homes¡­" (Damian)


    His tone became even sadder as he thought about this matter.


    "None are alive¡­ the S-ranker that apanied me had two children¡­ both are recorded to have died of starvation¡­ Which means the S-ranker never made it back¡­" (Damian)


    "Then, there was a guy who was just newly married a few days before entering the dungeon¡­ his wife seems to have re-


    married now, she has three children with another person now¡­" (Damian)


    "That guy was such a love-struck person he used to talk about his beautiful wife all the time during those days, but it seems love was not written in his destiny¡­." (Damian)


    Damian closed his eyes to prevent his tears from falling out, he didn''t want to show weakness in front of his daughter.


    "Aside from that, the other party members were mostly just unmarried people and thus didn''t have any family members, only one guy had old parents waiting at home for him¡­" (Damian)


    "I asked his neighbors and it seems that those both elders died three years ago, they developed severe dementia and were asking any passerby if their son had returned¡­" (Damian)


    After saying all this Damian went silent for a while. Finally, he opened his eyes and stared at the food with a depressed look on his face.


    "Sigh~ life is so fickle¡­. Each of my party members seems to have reached a very unfortunate end¡­" (Damian)


    "Aside from me, none of them is alive now¡­" (Damian)


    It''s been ten years, after all, many things have changed in this long time. Two new SS-rankers appeared in this decade and various things have changed dramatically.


    "It might take me a few more days to finally fit back into the society again¡­" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s depressed tone, even Link and Riya felt sad for him.


    Damian had lost too much by now. He lost his wife, his daughters, hisrades, and his time, he had missed the opportunity to witness the growth of his daughters.


    With great hesitation, Link asked Damian.


    "Uh, if you want, you can live in the Rex mansion for a while¡­" (Link)


    Before Link could finish his words, Damian shook his head and denied it.


    "No, I don''t want to burden you children¡­ for now I will go back to the old home where I used to live with Riya and the other two¡­" (Damian)


    Damian sighed, again and again, he seemed to be quite 15:15


    stressed and in need of an urgent break.


    "I need a few days to clear my mind¡­" (Damian)


    Damian stretched out his hand and showed his new smartphone to Riya.


    "Let me add your contact information Riya¡­ once I have calmed the chaos in my mind, I will contact you and try to plead for forgiveness to Raji again¡­" (Damian)


    Hearing that Damian wanted to repair his rtionship with Raji, Riya smiled and hurriedly added his contact information on her own mobile.


    "Good, I will persuade my sister as much as possible! I bet mom will be happy to see you too!" (Riya)


    "Ah, yes, now that you have mentioned her, tell me how is her health¡­ has there been any sign of improvement in hera?" (Damian)


    Hearing Damian''s question, Riya replied in a happy tone:


    "She isn''t suffering from any major problems, as a healer myself, I think the reason why she is still in aa despite being fine, is because she doesn''t want to wake up at all¡­" (Riya)


    "A healer can heal and save lives, but if the patient doesn''t want to be saved himself, then it would be very problematic to save them¡­" (Riya)


    "I think the only way to wake her up is, that you have to convince her to wake up, dad¡­" (Riya)


    Damian nodded his head and replied in a solemn tone.


    "Then I will do my best¡­ thank you my dear daughter¡­" (Damian)


    "Wee! Hehe¡­" (Riya)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! If you were confused about where Damian went then here he is! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think that Damian has suffered unreasonable punishments all along?


    1.Yes.


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 170 Visiting a past that was forgotten...

    <h4>Chapter 170 Visiting a past that was forgotten...</h4>


    Academy, Main Gate.


    A flying bus descended near the bus stop where a young boy with dark ck hair and dark ck pupils was standing like a stone statue.


    The boy had no expressions on his face, his eyes looked dead and had barely any light in them.


    From other people''s perspective, he might look like someone who has given up on his own life and suffering from depression.


    Without hesitation, the boy boarded the bus and bought himself a ticket.


    "Uh, h-here''s your ticket¡­" (Even the conductor was surprised by the dead fish look in his eyes¡­)


    Rio nodded his head took the ticket and sat on thest seat near the window.


    ''It''s bing more severe as time passes¡­'' (Rio)


    Originally, when Rio came to this world he still had faint amounts of emotions, he was still able tough and smirk at Lia from time to time.


    ''But now, as days are passing slowly¡­ my situation is getting worse¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio still had light in his eyes when he took the final year exam, but now even that has started to dim. His loss of emotions has started to be more and more severe as time passes by.


    ''Originally I could feel the sensation of pain too, but now¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    When Rio was still new to this body, he could still feel various emotions faintly, but now, even they have started to fade away in obscurity.


    Thinking about all this Rio put his head on the window as he contemted in his mind. He felt like he had started to lose a crucial part of a human being.


    Emotions and rtions define a human mostly, and Rio has started to lose these aspects from the day he arrived in this world.


    ''Is there no cure for me¡­ even in the novel I never read about circumstances like mine¡­ there was no mention of some kind of ''chance'' that can cure someone''s emotions..'' (Rio)


    Rio had read that novel for more than a thousand chapters and he knew that there was no such thing mentioned in those thousand chapters that could describe or cure his situation.


    ''Originally, I could still hide it, but now my situation has gotten so worse that even ordinary people can see that I look dead from the inside¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I seem to have started missing a crucial part of a living being...'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio thinking about his condition and how to cure it, the voice of a kid entered his ears.


    "Hey, big brother! Y-you can take this candy¡­"


    Rio opened his eyes and nced at the seat beside him.


    That voice came from a young boy. The boy looked like he was just ten or so years old. He had a cautious look on his face. His small hand was stretched out towards Rio and a small candy rested on his palm.


    "Uh, you don''t need to be sad, big brother, here take this candy, it''s sweet! Be happy!"


    Hearing the remarks of the young boy, Rio nodded his head and took the candy.


    ''Well I can''t sense any killing intent, so this thing might be harmless¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio stretched out his hand and took the candy. He peeled the wrapper and put the candy in his mouth.


    Seeing Rio eat the candy the young boy became quite happy and a huge smile appeared on his face.


    "Yes! Mother said that we should smile all the time, no matter how difficult the situation may be!"


    Rio stretched out his hand and patted the young kid on his head.


    "Yeah, your mom is right, make sure you grow up to be a strong and happy guy¡­" (Rio)


    Being patted by Rio, the little guy smiled and ran away back to his mother. Leaving the seat beside Rio empty again.


    ''hmm, so he came over to give me a candy because I looked depressed to him¡­ what a funny kid¡­ well, since you did me a favor, I hope you live a happy life, little guy¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and closed his eyes again, he decided to sleep for the rest of the journey.


    ¡­


    After an hour or so, the flying bus finally stopped at thest stop. This was the ce where the route of this bus ended.


    The bus driver got up from his seat after parking the bus and dered.


    "Everyone, this is thest stop, the bus will stay here for two hours now, make sure youe back on time if you want to board this bus back to the capital city!"


    There were only ten or so people left on the bus right now, they all nodded their heads and got off the bus.


    Rio also did the same. He got off the bus and nced at the sky. The sun was shining brightly and the blue sky was clear today, there wasn''t even a single cloud in the sky today.


    ''It''s a sunny day...'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and moved forward.


    He nced at the signboard nearby and confirmed whether he was in the right ce or not.


    [National Grand Park and Memorial.]


    ''Hmm, yes this is the ce¡­ this is the first time I am visiting this ce aftering to this world¡­'' (Rio)


    Without hesitation, Rio entered the park through the huge main gate.


    While walking slowly several thoughts ran through his mind.


    ''This ce is indeed a bit far from the capital city though¡­'' (Rio)


    Indeed, Rio wasn''t in the capital city right now. He had boarded a super-fast bus to travel to this park which was located two hundred kilometers to the south-west of the capital city.


    ''I should have visited this ce earlier, but I have always been busy since thest year¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    After walking for a while Rio finally arrived in front of a small tree.


    There were thousands of trees located nearby but Rio arrived in front of this tree specifically.


    ''Mom, I am home¡­'' (Rio)


    Saying that in his head Rio sat down near the tree and started to contemte in his mind.


    ''Your son hase home, mom¡­ sorry I waste¡­'' (Rio)


    Yes, the ce Rio was sitting at right now was the home of the original Rio. This whole national park is built upon the ruins of the ''Drift City'' that was destroyed seven years ago.


    All these small trees nearby are nted in the memory of a family that used to live in that ce. Everywhere there is a tree located now, there used to be a house in the past and a family used to live there.


    Simrly, the tree under which Rio was sitting was the ce where his home used to be.


    The alliance has nted these trees and built this huge park for the people who want to visit this city.


    In the first ce, there weren''t many survivors from that incident, most people whoe here are just some random tourists who want to know more about what happened to the Drift City afterward.


    There are very few people who visit this ce, not more than a hundred peoplee here every day and this vast park is just empty most of the time.


    Rio came here to visit his home today.


    His mother and father''s bodies were never salvaged, there were tens of thousands of bodies at the time of the massacre thus the alliance chose to burn those bodies in masses.


    In the end, only this small tree could be considered thest memory of his parents.


    were tens of thousands of bodies at the time of the massacre thus the alliance chose to burn those bodies in masses.


    Looking at this tree, Rio could feel various thoughtse to his mind.


    ''How would his life have been if his parents were never killed?''


    ''Would he have still transmigrated into this body if the original Rio didn''t suffer through this trauma?''


    ''Or would the original Rio have been much happier if he didn''t get himself involved in all these difficulties?''


    Contemting these questions didn''t really cause him any good actually.


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking further.


    ''Clouding my own mind with thoughts about the past will only drag my progress down¡­ it''s better to ept what has happened and move on for now¡­ maybe I will find all my answers one day in the future¡­'' (Rio)


    After shaking off these thoughts from his head, Rio got up and nced at the tree again.


    ''I am heading out, Mom¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    While walking back, Rio saw the young boy he met earlier sitting near a tree simr to the one that was ced where his own home used to be.


    ''They are also visiting this ce¡­'' (Rio)


    The young boy immediately noticed Rio and ran over towards him, leaving his mother worried behind him.


    ''This kid¡­ sigh~'' (Rio)


    "Big brother, you are also here!"


    "Mom said that we came to visit this ce because my father used to work here when we were staying in the capital city¡­ but I don''t see him anywhere¡­"


    "Once I find him, I will definitely scold him a lot you know!"


    The young boy pouted his cheeks as he was angry at his father for not being there. He wanted to meet him after all.


    ''Ah, his father must have died in this ce, these two perhaps survived because they were in the capital city at the time of the incident¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio put his hand on the kid''s head and ruffled his hair.


    "Yeah, you should grow up strong if you want to scold your dad¡­ go back now, your mother is worried¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah! Bye-bye, big brother!"


    The kid ran away back to his mother after bidding farewell to him. Rio just shook his head and walked away with a slight smile on his face.


    ''Kids these day¡­'' (Rio)


    Without Rio noticing himself, the kid made him smile on this sad day.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I have been thinking that I didn''t write much about what happened to the Drift City afterward, so here it is guys!


    Question of the day.


    Will you be able to recover if you went out of the city and returned back only to find that your home was gone?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 171 To Oaklum! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 171 To Oaklum! Part-1.</h4>


    Academy, teleportation Altar, Morning.


    ''The weather doesn''t seem that good today...'' (Rio)


    Looking at the sky, Rio could feel that it was definitely going to rain today.


    ''But would it still be rainy at the port city though...'' (Rio)


    Today, Rio and others are going to teleport to the port city of Oaklum. Although the weather above the capital city looked like it might rain anytime now, but that''s not the case with Oaklum.


    Oaklum is located more than a thousand kilometers away from the capital city and there are thousands of cities in between them.


    As the teleportation altar at the Academy is one of the most advanced ones, it can directly teleport people to a teleportation altar located thousands of kilometers away, in Oaklum. (A thousand kilometer-long teleportation... indeed magical...)


    The academy has established connections all over the human empire and its scouts wander all over the empire in search of talented children, so obviously they have this convenient method of traveling too.


    While Rio was contemting in his mind, the teleportation altar maintenance staff was modifying the magic circle of the altar to put the coordinates of Oaklum into it.


    (A teleportation altar, teleports people to pre-set coordinates. If you need to teleport people to some other ce you will need to modify the altar''s magic circle and change the coordinates manually...)


    ...


    After a while, other party members also started to show up at the teleportation circle one by one.


    "Oh! you are here early today, Rio..." (Lia)


    Lia smiled at Rio as she greeted him. Her sweet smile made Rio feel rxed too.


    "Yeah, I got up early today..." (Rio) (He has been suffering from insomnia for days now, he barely even sleeps...)


    "Is that so! I am also excited! It''s been so long since I went to the beach! Last time was when I was very young!" (Lia)


    Hearing her excited tone, Rio tilted his head and said:


    "Is that so, then you should enjoy this trip to your heart''s content then..." (Rio)


    "Yes!" (Lia)


    "I myself have never gone to the beach... so it will be a new experience-" (Rio)


    Suddenly someone patted Rio''s shoulder.


    "Bahahahah! You are such a boring guy, Rio, see I have a whole private ind for myself! I go there every year for vacation! Bahahaha!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s voice, Rio shrugged his shoulder and replied:


    "You are too rich, don''tpare yourself to others..." (Rio)


    Link ignored Rio''s answer and all of a sudden he said in a serious tone.


    "By the way, do you know how strong those third years are?" (Link)


    The atmosphere immediately turned serious when Link mentioned the third-year students.


    Simrly, Rio replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Not as strong as my ''sword intent'' I think..." (Rio)


    A smirk appeared on Link''s face hearing Rio''s reply and he stared into Rio''s eyes with a meaningful expression over his face.


    "Should we beat some sense into them then, just so that they don''t look down on us just because they are one year ahead of us... hehe! It will be interesting to break a few bones at least..." (Link)


    A devilish smile appeared on both Link and Rio''s faces when talking about this.


    "Why not... let''s cut a few limbs too when we are at it..." (Rio)


    Just when the two of them were nning on beating their seniors with devilish smiles on their faces, a cold voice suddenly entered their ears and made theme back to reality.


    "Ahem! No ying around for now! You guys have a mission toplete, make sure you don''t create conflict with your partners!" (Raji)


    Hearing Raji''s remarks, Link and Rio both stopped conspiring against their seniors. (If not for Raji''s warning they would have definitely attacked...)


    At Raji''s warning, Link and Rio stopped messing around and stepped aside to wait for the rest of the party members to arrive.


    A few minutes passed by in a sh and eventually everyone gathered near the altar.


    After all the students finally gathered, Raji nodded her head and said:


    "Okay, enough messing around now, the altar is ready! Keep your safety as your first and foremost priority... now, enter the altar all of you..." (Raji)


    ...


    On the other side.


    The Port City Oaklum, Morning.


    A hidden basement.


    The magic circle on the altar shined and the whole dark basement glowed up from the brightness of that magic circle.


    After a few seconds, seven people appeared on the teleportation altar. When they opened their eyes and found themselves standing in this dark basement, only one thought came into their mind.


    ''What the f*ck!?''


    "Oi oi!, did they mistake the ce? I was expecting to see beautiful scenery with the vast sea stretching over in the distance and dolphins jumping around... but the heck is this ce!?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s irritated voice, Rio replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "It''s a basement, moreover, its entrance is sealed... we are ten feet under the ground..." (Rio)


    Using his mana detection, Rio immediately discovered the situation.


    He nced at Link and said:


    "I can''t sense any killing intent nearby, perhaps this might indeed be a mistake on the maintenance staff''s end..." (Rio)


    Liam walked down the altar and nced at the sealed door with narrowed eyes.


    "It''s a peak A rank seal... hmm let me see... Ellie enhance the output of my mana interruption ability..." (Liam)


    [Understood!] (Ellie)


    With Ellie''s support, Liam started to break the seal on the door.


    *Boom!*


    Liam hurriedly looked back at the sound of that massive explosion, and he was immediately shocked.


    "Tch! How impatient can someone be!" (Liam)


    He saw that Link''s head was stuck in the ceiling at the moment and there wererge cracks in the ceiling.


    "F*Ck! This is the first time I have seen someone bash their head, directly into the walls of a room that is enhanced with rank A magic!" (Liam)


    Seeing this Liam just shook his head and continued unlocking the door.


    Link ignored Liam''s words and jumped down, he crackled his neck and then took his stance.


    "I thought that my face was thick enough to break through this rubble, but it seems I might need to use some attack after all!" (Link)


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon arts: Head bash!]


    With his physique enhanced by ''Dao Rhythm'', Link directly broke through that magically enhanced concrete ceiling and jumped outside immediately.


    All the rubble flew out with him and scattered around everywhere.


    Just when Link was about to go back to pick up Riya, he felt danger and thus jumped away from the spot.


    [Sword Intent!]


    With his sword intent, Rio split the whole ceiling and created a two-meter wide opening.


    Then Rio nced at the others and said in his usual expressionless tone.


    "Let''s go¡­" (Rio)


    With that said, he took Lia''s hand and jumped out of the basement with her.


    Fade and Kira also followed suit as they cast wind magic over themselves to fly out of the basement.


    Meanwhile, Liam finally destroyed the seal and opened the door. He and Riya used the stairs to walk up and arrived on the ground in the mostfy and straightforward way.


    "That was quite a good seal, I was able to warm up my brain with it-" (Liam)


    Liam''s eyes widened when he saw the scenery and he also stopped talking like everyone else.


    The ce they all were standing was the back garden of a small mansion. This ce was located on a small hill on the outskirts of Oaklum.


    to its geographical advantage, you could see the whole Oaklum easily from here.


    "So beautiful¡­" (Riya)


    The clear blue sky with white clouds hanging in it like foam and the vast ocean with small waves rising here and there, looking at this godly scenery, everyone felt quite surprised.


    Except one.


    "Tch! You rich bast*rds have no sense! This ce is nothingpared to the scenery back in my hometown!" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s mockery, everyone nced at him with a disgusted look on their faces. Fade had totally destroyed the good vibes in that moment with his sh*tty mouth.


    Link immediately kicked him away.


    "F*ck you! Go away you piece of sh*t!" (Link)


    The one Kick made Fade fly away and collide with the wall of the mansion. The wall directly copsed and Fade''s body flew inside.


    Fortunately, the whole mansion was abandoned and thus no one got injured from the flying debris.


    Just then, Rio turned his head towards a distant flying object in the sky.


    "Two people are approaching us¡­. Or are they falling?" (Rio)


    Liam nodded his head in agreement and said:


    "It must be those two third years¡­. Hmm, what did you say? Falling?" (Liam)


    *Baaammm*


    Two people fell from the sky out of nowhere and arge amount of debris flew everywhere. A thick dust cloud rose in the air and decreased the visibility.


    "Ugh! My leg! As I already told you before! it isn''t a good idea to ride a flying sword!" (???)


    After theining voice of a guy, a feminine voice appeared as if it was replying to the boy.


    "Sorry, but that was the fastest way, we couldn''t have dyed¡­" (???)


    After a few seconds, the dust finally settled down, and Rio and the others finally saw the appearance of the two-third years that fell from the sky.


    Even Link was surprised at this shy entry.


    A knight in full-ted armor and a short boy with arge bow hanging around his shoulder appeared in everyone''s view.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, two new characters have entered the chat guys! Let''s goo!!


    Question of the day.


    Which method would you have chosen to get out of the basement?


    1.Liam''s method (Be smart and work intelligently, unlock the door with brain power!!)


    2.Link''s method (Brute force your way out, what the f*ck even is brain!!)


    3.Rio''s method (Use an op skill to create a way for yourself!)


    4.Lia''s method (Wait for your boyfriend to solve the problem on his own and then follow him out¡­)


    Hidden option:


    5.Author''s method (Never go outta the room and never touch grass¡­ what even is real life!?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 172 To Oaklum! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 172 To Oaklum! Part-2.</h4>


    Oaklum, A mansion on the outskirts.


    A knight in full-ted armor and a short boy, with a bigger bow than his own body appeared in everyone''s sight.


    The short boy had light brown and curly hair, and his brownish eyes shined with excitement.


    "Oh! Greetings everyone! I am Zachary Hunt! You can call me Zach! I am a 3rd year student at the academy and thus your senior! Nice to meet you all!" (Zach)


    Zach is short in height, he is shorter than Riya, and he might barely be considered 5 feet.?That bow hanging on his shoulder depicts he is an ''Archer''. (He looked like a small cute puppypared to everyone...)


    ''An A rank archer¡­ aside from me and Link, everyone else might face some difficulty if they have to fight him¡­'' (Rio)


    With his extremely keen mana detection, Rio found out the other party''s rank but even he seems to have forgotten that an archer has excellent detection abilities.


    Zach immediately noticed Rio''s mana detection and tilted his head towards him.


    "You don''t need to be so doubtful of me, I am indeed an A ranker...." (Zach)


    ''Oh, he noticed my mana detection, he has some talent, I see¡­'' (Rio)


    Hearing Zach, Rio nodded his head and then nced at the Knight who had been silent all this while.


    The knight brought out the sword hanging on her waist and put it in front of her. The sword''s tip touched the ground and the knight took her stance.


    "I am Riko Embeth, A rank Knight, Nice to meet you all." (Riko)


    Riko''s voice was loud and precise. She seems to be a ''stern'' type.


    Just when Riko was introducing herself, Zach whispered to her in a low voice.


    "Hey, your helmet! You are still wearing the helmet!" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach, Riko seemed to have panicked a bit and she hurriedly unlocked the magic lock on her helmet.


    Her Face came into view as she put her helmet in her space ring.


    Riko had light red hair with a whitish tint in it. Her light green pupils shined like gems.


    ''She has short hair like a boy, if not for her voice, people might actually mistake her to be a guy due to that armor¡­'' (Rio)


    After Riko introduced herself too, Zach smiled at everyone with a happy look and said:


    "Let''s continue talking at the hotel, the academy has reserved it for us, it is the most expensive and luxurious ce in the whole Oaklum, and the food there is top-ss!" (Zach)


    "Food!? Link, let''s go!" (Riya)


    Link who was nning to invite the two seniors to have a friendly spar with him, was blocked by Riya, in the end, he could only shake his head in regret and forget about fighting the two.


    ''Tch missed the opportunity to show off in front of Riya¡­'' (Link)


    Just when Zach was telling them about the hotel, Riko said in a stern tone.


    "The hotel is located in the central area of the city and we are in the outskirts, it''s a long way there¡­" (Riko)


    Riko pointed at the flying sword that was lying on the ground nearby, where the two of them had fallen earlier, and said:


    "We used this flying sword artifact to fly over here as fast as possible, do you guys also have some way to fly back?" (Riko)


    Zach nodded his head and replied:


    "No floating busses pass through this area of the city, you will have to go back on your feet if you don''t have an artifact like us¡­" (Zach)


    The floating sword Zach and Riko used is a custom-built and extremely expensive artifact that runs on an advanced magic circle and consumes immense mana.


    It can carry two people on it and is used by many A-rankers as a means of travel. (Not everyone has ''sword intent'' like Rio after all¡­)


    Hearing the two seniors, everyone looked at Liam, but Liam shook his head and said.


    "No, if Ellie enters the city in her true form, she will attract a ton of attention and we will attract unwanted attention from the whole city¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s remarks, everyone felt that it would indeed be a shocking sight for normal folks to see a massive dragon appear in the sky of the city out of nowhere.


    It will really cause unnecessary chaos in the city.


    Suddenly Link smirked and said at the two seniors.


    "You two lead the way, we will follow behind, don''t worry, we have our ways¡­" (Link)


    ''This is my chance to show off!!'' (Link)


    Hearing Link''s deration, the two seniors nced at each other in doubt and shrugged their shoulders.


    They boarded the flying sword with great difficulty and slowly rose in the air.


    Although Zach and Riko both were confused about how these juniors would be able to catch up to the speed of their flying sword, they also wanted to see just how talented these juniors actually were.


    Thus, they elerated their flying sword and dashed towards the city at a fast speed.


    Link nced at Riya and said:


    "Let me carry you Riya, we will jump through the sky!" (Link)


    "O-Okay!" (Riya)


    Riya was quite nervous about going through the sky, but she trusted Link and knew that he wouldn''t put her in harm''s way, thus she didn''t deny him either.


    Link immediately nodded his head and carried Riya in the iconic princess style.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Skyward ascension!]


    ''Without the help of Dao rhythm, using this technique would have needed me to reach S-rank first, but now there''s no need! I can do it easily with a small push from Dao rhythm!'' (Link)


    Link immediately flew into the sky as if gravity wasn''t working on him. His ''dao rhythm'' and unique technique ''dragon arts'' made this feat possible.


    ''Moreover, I can even protect Riya from the high-intensity wind with my dao rhythm¡­ this skill is indeed legendary!!'' (Link)


    He soared into the sky and flew towards the two fading figures of the seniors.


    Seeing Link fly away, Rio nced at Lia and stretched out his hand.


    "How about I take you there?" (Rio)


    Lia didn''t hesitate much either, she held Rio''s hand.


    [Sword Intent: Wind type!]


    Riomanded his ''formless sword'' to take the form of a giant great sword, his sword became so wide and long that it could beparable to a car at this point.


    (Rio could have easily carried everyone by simply increasing the size of his sword to be as wide and long as Ellie''s dragon form¡­ but he didn''t want to carry Fade so he didn''t reveal this trick until now¡­)


    Rio and Lia stepped on it and flew into the sky at an extremely fast speed.


    Seeing them fly away, Liam asked Ellie to give him two shadow wings on his back and he also followed behind the others while flying into the sky like a bird.


    Kira cast the ''wind type flight magic'' on both her and Fade and they also followed behind everyone, although a bit slowly but it worked for them too.


    Zach and Riko looked at their juniors with a shocked look on their face.


    They both were shocked to see that Link was able to fly like an S-ranker could, Link had literally caused their worldview to copse.


    Not only Link, but others were also as monstrous as him too... Rio''s ''sword intent'', Liam''s ''shadow wings'', and Kira''s insane control over her magic, all these things were shocking to see.


    They both had only one thought in their mind.


    ''No wonder they were all chosen to be candidates¡­ they all are exceptionally talented¡­''


    For ordinary people, if they want to fly in the air freely, they would either need to reach rank S or they will need to buy expensive artifacts like the flying sword.


    ''Sigh~ as they say, talent rules the world, talentless people can only look up to those who are exceptional¡­'' (Zach)


    (Matter of fact, even with hard work and perseverance, if you don''t have at least some talent, it''s nearly impossible to catch up to the likes of Link and Liam. Both of them are unreasonably strong and impossible topete with¡­)


    (Only anomalies like ''Rio'' could hope topete with these talented monsters¡­)


    ¡­


    Hotel Arya, terrace.


    Everyonended on the terrace one by one and found that a few people in professional attire were already standing there. They seemed to be waiting for someone.


    The old man standing in front nced at Zach and said:


    "Ah, Zach you are back!"


    Then the Old man nced at everyone and nodded his head.


    "Greetings everyone."


    Zach got down from the flying sword and introduced the situation to everyone.


    "Everyone, this is hotel Arya we are standing on! It is the most famous hotel in the whole Oaklum!" (Zach)


    "And this old man is the owner of this hotel, he is my grandfather actually!" (Zach)


    With a huge smile on his face, Zach introduced everyone to his grandfather.


    It turned out that Zach went to the capital city to study in the academy, but his actual hometown was Oaklum from the start.


    He is from a rich household and his grandfather is the owner of the famous five-star hotel ''Arya''.


    It was surprising to find the rich background of others, but since Rio and others already knew about Link''s supreme wealth, they all were not really that surprised.


    Compared to the Rex family, any amount of wealth will look too small.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Finally, the two new characters have entered the stage! Let''s see how this amazing meeting goes!


    Question of the day.


    If your grandfather had a five-star hotel under his name, what would you have tried out first?


    1.The food (The food in a five-star hotel will be avable to you every day!)


    2.The luxury bed (Sleeping on the luxury andfortable bed of an expensive hotel is also quite amazing!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 173 To Oaklum! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 173 To Oaklum! Part-3.</h4>


    ?Hotel Arya, Dining Hall.


    "So, what you are trying to say is, that the academy staff contacted you both to pick us all up because they mistakenly teleported us to the wrong portal?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s voice, Zach nodded his head.


    "Yep, they mistakenly connected the teleporting altar to that abandoned one... the basement you guys teleported to, was being used as a secret teleportation ce by the academy a few decades ago..." (Zach)


    "But it had already been sealed and closed off after the fifty-year orc war ended..." (Zach)


    Listening to Zach''s words, Link was more confused, he asked in a doubtful tone:


    "How do you know so much about this..." (Link)


    Zach just stretched out his hand and smiled:


    "My grandpa is a retired officer from the army, he fought in the fifty-year orc war and retired at the end of the war..." (Zach)


    Zach''s grandpa who was sitting on the nearby chair across therge dining table smiled and said:


    "Actually that old mansion used to be a guard post for the soldiers who used to guard the teleportation altar... it waster gifted to me by the government when I retired, but I declined their offer..." (Grandpa)


    "Instead of keeping it for myself, after the war ended, I handed off that property to the academy, so that they can use it to send more scouts for children..." (Grandpa)


    "This way more talented kids from ''Oaklum'' were able to enter the academy over the years..." (Grandpa)


    While the grandpa was telling his stories, Rio and others were all sitting on chairs and enjoying luxurious food.


    This dining hall is a reserved one, no other guest was present in the whole ce aside from them.


    Zach''s grandpa is a peak A-ranker, he has lived most of his years in war and has survived many terrifying moments during that long war.


    Hearing about those stories made all of the party members feel like they were listening to an epic tale of a hero.


    Eating food while listening to the past stories of a war veteran, is one of the best experiences you can hope for right?


    ...


    "Indeed the academy staff also said, that those management staff members have received three-month suspension as their punishment... sigh~" (Zach)


    "It''s good that you guys are all strong otherwise, it would have been quite difficult to get you all out of that A-rank seal..." (Zach)


    Hearing Zach, Liam shook his head and said:


    "It''s no big deal, I can unlock thousands of such seals easily..." (Liam)


    After saying that Liam nced at Link, pointed his finger at Link''s face, and said:


    "In fact the major issue now is, this guy has smashed through that seal with brute force! Now it will need to be repaired from scratch!" (Liam)


    Indeed, if Link had stayed still, and hadn''t destroyed the area by force, Liam could have easily opened the seal without harming it, and they could have resealed the ce after getting out of the basement.


    But now that it was already broken, it would need to be created from scratch again.


    Hearing Liam''sints, Link just shrugged his shoulders and said in a helpless tone:


    "Well, I thought that we were being held captive at the time, and when I see such situations I just feel like breaking through them head-on..." (Link)


    A smirk appeared on Link''s face as he remembered how he smashed that seal in one attack.


    "You may say that it was useless, but smashing that seal was indeed quite satisfying... hehe" (Link)


    Hearing Linkugh at his own wrongdoings, Liam just shook his head in defeat, this was the first time he had seen such a muscle-brained person.


    "hahaha... you young people are all so interesting! If You were in the army, you would have been easily able to break through the opponent''s defenses, you have a strong physique..." (Grandpa)


    The more Grandpa looked at Link''s well-built muscles the more satisfied he became. Then he nced at his own grandson who was short and didn''t seem to have much muscle.


    "Tch! Learn something from your junior, when will you start behaving more manly! You always go and wander around the streets like a kid! Sigh~" (Grandpa)


    "Grandpa! Don''t scold me in front of my juniors!" (Zach)


    Zach was embarrassed when he got scolded right in front of everyone. From the side of his eyes, he stole nces at Riko, she seemed to be eating her food with her usual stern look.


    ''Sigh~ at least don''t insult me in front of the girl I like...'' (Zach)


    Zach hurriedly got up and dragged his grandpa away.


    "Okay guys! My grandpa is old now! He needs to rest! He has back pain and can''t stay here too long!" (Zach)


    Grandpa had a bewildered expression as he was being dragged away by Zach.


    "Eh! No wait! Who said I have back pain!? You know I used to carry giant boulders on my back in my younger days!" (Grandpa)


    "Yeah yeah I know, let''s get you your medicines first Grandpa..." (Zach)


    Hearing about medicines, Grandpa''s face turned sour.


    "F*cking throw away those sh*tty medicines! They can''t even cure my knee pain! I am telling you, those healers are all scammers! They don''t know sh*t about medicine!" (Grandpa)


    "Back in my days! I used to make better medicines than them! They are all quacks who only know how to scam money off us innocent people!" (Grandpa)


    While Grandpas was scolding those medicines, Zach didn''t even bother listening to thoseints, it seemed this was a regr urrence for him and he was already used to it.


    ¡­


    After a while Zach returned back and the mood became a bit awkward.


    "Uh, don''t worry about my grandpa guys, he is old and as you know, war veterans have a stubborn personality most of the time¡­ sigh~" (Zach)


    Just when Zach was trying to reduce the awkwardness, Link the muscle-head ended up increasing the awkwardness again.


    "Your grandpa looks quite tall and well built, he must have had a strong physique in his younger days¡­ but howe you are so short and weak looking¡­" (Link)


    "In fact, you look even weaker than Riya! Even she might throw you away in one punch!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s question, several veins appeared on Zach''s face and he looked like he was going to p Link on the face.


    "I have gotten this short height gene from my grandmother, she used to be short and frail, simrily my mother had a frail physique too, thus you could say I am more inclined towards my mother and grandmother''s genes¡­" (Zach)


    Then Zach narrowed his eyes and said:


    "As for being able to swat me away in a punch, don''t forget I am an A-rank archer, I can dig three hundred holes in the opponent''s body before they can approach me¡­" (Zach)


    Although Zach indeed looked a bit weak and frail, his strength was by no means weak.


    What hecked in physique, he made up for it with skill.


    Hearing Zach, Riko nodded her head and said:


    "Indeed, Zach is the top scorer of our batch, he has been at Rank 1 since his first year¡­ I have sparred with him many times, but I have yet to score a single victory¡­" (Riko)


    Hearing that unexpected praise from Riko, Zach felt like he was the happiest man in the world at that moment, he grinned from ear to ear and felt like all that insulting earlier was worth it now.


    ''Good! Sheplimented me! I have the chance!'' (Zach)


    "You praise me too much Riko, you are also strong I don''t think any other third-year student can hold their ground in front of you either!" (Zach)


    At Zach''spliment, Riko nodded her head and then continued to eat.


    Seeing that she wasn''t paying any more attention to him, Zach continued to talk with the others.


    "By the way guys, as I am a local here, how about you alle with me tomorrow and visit the whole city when we still have time?" (Zach)


    "The mission will start in two days anyway, in the meantime we all can wander around the city and enjoy our free time¡­" (Zach)


    "After all, it is quite rare for us to get free time, once the mission starts we might not get enough timeter¡­" (Zach)


    While Zach looked quite generous and harmless on his face, he was already creating many conspiracies in his mind right now.


    ''Guys take the bait! I wanna go and have a date with Riko, I wanna impress her! This is my only chance! It''s difficult to find girls with my short height!'' (Zach)


    Oblivious of his conspiracies, everyone nodded their head at Zach''s offer.


    "Well it''s a rare asion to visit the beach, we should enjoy it while we still can!" (Link)


    ''I wanna see Riya in the swimsuit!'' (Link)


    "Indeed, we should go to the beach¡­" (Rio)


    ''I wonder how Lia will look in a swimsuit¡­ cough cough!'' (Rio)


    "Yeah it''s been a while since I slept on the warm sand of the beach, let''s go there¡­" (Liam)


    ''Should I ask Ellie to wear a swimsuit?'' (Liam)


    Unknowingly, all the boys were nning the same thing in their minds.


    They all wanted to stare at the girls!


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Hohoho guys! It seems that the beach episode is not that far now, are you looking forward to it?


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Zach will be able to impress Riko with his masculine body?


    1.Yes (There''s demand for short kings too!)


    2.No (burn this god-d*mn author at the stake! Why is he giving me false hope!!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 174 Was it all Meaningless?

    <h4>Chapter 174 Was it all Meaningless?</h4>


    Hotel Arya, Boy''s Public Bath, Night.


    "Hmm, this ce is quite huge..." (Liam)


    Liam nced at the huge bath and was amazed at its size. Even the Aldif mansion didn''t have such a huge bath.


    "Moreover those high-quality mana stones embedded in the walls and the faint herbal scent from the bath''s water.... This ce is specifically made for awakeners!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s surprised voice, Zach puffed up his chest in pride and said with a smirk:


    "Of course! This bath is the reason why our hotel is so famous in the whole Oaklum! Don''t forget that we are in a five-star hotel!" (Zach)


    "My grandfather specifically invited high-rank alchemists and mages to build this ce! If someone wants to stay here, they have to pay an extremely high amount!" (Zach)


    "But as you are all my dear juniors, I have personally asked Grandpa to open this ce for you all!" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s remarks, Liam nodded his head and praised:


    "You are indeed amazing Senpai!" (Liam)


    "hehe of course!" (Zach)


    Zach was quite happy to be respected and praised by his juniors. He will remember this day as one of his most fond memories.


    Just when Zach was smirking in happiness, Link and Liam both looked into each other''s eyes and signaled something.


    An evil smile appeared on their faces.


    They seem to have alreadye to a decision about ''something mischievous'' without evenmunicating with each other.


    "Uh, Senpai..." (Liam)


    Liam and Link both put a hand on Zach''s shoulder and both of them gave him a thumbs-up.


    A confused look appeared on Zach''s face, but before he could say anything, Liam shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "Zach Senpai is peeking at the girl''s bath!" (Liam)


    Zach was caught off guard by that sudden shout and before he could say anything else, a soap came flying from the other side of the bath andnded right on Zach''s face.


    "What!?" (Zach)


    Before Zach could understand the situation, Link and Liam pushed him into the bath and he fell into that hot water instantly.


    "its hooottttt!!!" (Zach)


    "HAHAHAHHHAAHAHA" (Link)


    "Hahahahaha" (Liam)


    Seeing this scene, Link and Liam bothughed at Zach, at the top of their lungs.


    The whole bath became lively from theirughter.


    Meanwhile, Rio who was showering in the corner, nced at the two of them whoughing like idiots, and shook his head helplessly.


    ''These two really have a screw loose...'' (Rio)


    Then Rio''s eyesnded on Fade who was about to shower beside him, his eyes shined and he immediately kicked Fade into the bath.


    "Go away!" (Rio)


    Being caught off-guard Fade fell into the hot bath water and before he could say anything another soap came flying andnded on his face directly.


    "F*ck!" (Fade)


    "BAHAHAHAHAHAHA" (Link and Liam)


    Seeing this, Link and Liam bothughed so much that their eyes started to be moist.


    "Ah my hahaha my stomach hahaha hurts fromughing too much.. hahahahaha stop ahahaha-" (Link)


    To avoid listening to their maniacalughter, Rio sneaked behind them and kicked them both from behind and they also fell into the water.


    *gruggle*


    Since they both wereughing, water entered their mouth and air bubbles rose in the water for a while.


    After being kicked, finally, they both calmed down.


    Just as they were about to sit down, they had to run for their life.


    Zach looked at his two juniors with anger on his face and chased them both for revenge.


    "Oh he got angry run! hahaha" (Link)


    "You can''t catch us with your tiny legs senpai! bahahaha!" (Liam)


    For a while the three of them ran all over the bath and caused so much chaos that the hotel staff members had to personallye and ask them to stop.


    Only then did the three of them stop and decide to calm down.


    ...


    After getting scolded by the hotel staff, they finally sat down beside Rio and soaked themselves in the bath too. (They all kicked away Fade and thus he was sitting in a different corner, alone...)


    *Shroom*


    Just then, a bright magic barrier rose and isted the boys'' and girl''s baths.


    Zach nced at the barrier and exined.


    "Ah, that''s an A rank barrier, it can stop anyone from peeking, moreover it can also stop detection-type skills and it''s soundproof... now even if we scream here, they won''t be able to hear us on the other side..." (Zach)


    "Riko must have asked the staff to deploy the barrier... they all must have been annoyed by the chaos we caused earlier, sigh~" (Zach)


    A depressed look appeared on Zach''s face and he sighed again and again:


    "I thought I had created a perfect n, but now you guys shouted that I was ''peeking''..." (Zach)


    "Riko must be thinking that I am a perv now! Sigh~ my love story ended before it even started sigh~" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s depressed tone, Rio patted him on the back:


    "Don''t worry, some girls also like ''Perv'' type of guys... you have scope, don''t lose hope, learn more about ''Perv'' techniques from that guy over there, his name is Fade..." (Rio)


    ck lines appeared all over Zach''s face after hearing Rio''s advice.


    He replied in an angry tone:


    "No way! I am not a perv! I am a gentleman! I don''t want to be seen as a perv by Riko!" (Zach)


    Link also nodded his head and said:


    "Senpai, you should work on your muscles first I think, no girl will like you if you stay so thin, people will mistake you for a girl if you wear girly clothes!" (Link)


    Liam also nodded his head in agreement:


    "But there''s demand for feminine boys too¡­ cough! You can try it I guess cough!!" (Liam)


    Several veins appeared on Zach''s face as he gave death res to Link and Liam.


    "F*ck you both! I don''t wanna hear your advice!" (Zach)


    Zach raised his head and roared at the ceiling:


    "All couples should die in hell! f*ck this sh*tty world! I want a girlfriend!!" (Zach)


    While Zachmented his sorrows, the others rolled their eyes at Zach''s statement. They all had a girlfriend and thus technically Zach was telling them to burn in hell too.


    But since they had already angered Zach too much, they all remained silent and didn''t say anything else.


    (Jokes are supposed to be said in a limit¡­ if they continue to joke and insult Zach any more than this, their friendship with Zach will be affected¡­ as they say ''Everything must have a limit''¡­)


    ...


    After a while, Zach finally calmed down and started to exin.


    "Uh, well you see, Riko and I are childhood friends, we used to study in the same schools in the capital city, and she has visited Oaklum with me many times now¡­" (Zach)


    "But the problem is, she is too stern, she always remains poker-faced, I have been trying to impress her for years, but she doesn''t budge at all¡­" (Zach)


    A depressed look appeared on Zach''s face again.


    "Perhaps you guys are right after all, I am too short and don''t look manly at all¡­ perhaps that''s why she doesn''t like me¡­. Sigh~" (Zach)


    This time no oneughed, they all knew that Zach was serious and this was noughing matter either.


    "Uh, I have experience in this,¡­ if she doesn''t like you, you should move on senpai¡­ it won''t do you any good to be hanging around someone who clearly doesn''t have feelings for you¡­" (Liam)


    Liam narrowed his eyes as he exined:


    "I also used to like a girl you see, I loved her for years, but she didn''t ept my feelings till the end¡­." (Liam)


    "In the end, I moved on, and I think that the best decision I made in my life¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s story, Zach nodded his head but he was still unconvinced, he didn''t want to let go of his years of affection so easily. That would mean that his love was too fickle and worthless.


    "Sigh~ in the end, were all my efforts worthless after all¡­" (Zach)


    ''Yes they were¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Because the girl you are trying to impress is a harem member of the protagonist, and you are but a mere extra in this story!'' (Rio)


    Rio wanted to say all this right at Zach''s face, but he held back and didn''t say this. He didn''t want to break Zach''s heart so mercilessly.


    Indeed as Rio said, Riko is one of the ''heroines'' whoter became Fade''s harem member.


    Riko is that ''cold from the outside and warm from the inside'' type of heroine who falls for the protagonist when he helps her in dangerous situations.


    She merely thinks of Zach as her friend, nothing more.


    ''The only difference is, she has appeared ahead of time right now¡­'' (Rio)


    In the original novel, Riko appeared after the ''meeting of gods'' and she was apanied by a nameless extra who was in love with her but got killed by Fade for plotting against him.


    ''That unfortunate nameless extra must be Zach himself¡­'' (Rio)


    Aside from Rio, there were obviously many ''extra'' characters in the original story, most of them had no name at all and they all died a meaningless death.


    Only Rio is an ''anomaly'' among these extra characters that have changed his fate.


    Rio shook his head silently.


    He knew that Zach''s feelings were meaningless at this point.


    ''Riko only thinks of him as a friend, and she doesn''t give a sh*t about his feelings, if things remain the same, he will end up regretting his whole life when he finds out the truth¡­'' (Rio)


    After deciding in his mind, Rio nodded his head and said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Liam is right, you should move on before it bes toote, one-sided love often ends up in self-harm¡­" (Rio)


    Link was surprised to hear that, even Rio was agreeing with Liam.


    "Well, if even Rio is saying that, then I will also advise you to move on, don''t self-doubt yourself Senpai¡­" (Link)


    Hearing the advice from his juniors, Zach couldn''t say anything back and could only sigh in regret endlessly.


    He has been pursuing Riko since childhood, and suddenly telling him to ''move on'' is like asking him to not breathe all of a sudden. It''s too difficult a task for him.


    ''Was it all meaningless after all?'' (Zach)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Zach''s love story ising to an uneventful end before it even starts¡­ perhaps this is what they call the strangeness of life is¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Zach will be able to move on?


    1.Yes (If Liam can do it, then why not him!)


    2.No (Once affected by the spell of love, you can''t escape its clutches no matter what¡­)


    3.Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 175 The Beach episode! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 175 The Beach episode! Part-1.</h4>


    ?Hotel Arya, Main Gate, Morning.


    The floating bus stop.


    "Well, it''s good that we are taking a bus but, why didn''t you reserve a car for us Senpai?" (Link)


    Seeing that Riya had to travel in that lousy bus, Link felt quite bad for her. (Bro doesn''t even think about himself nowadays!)


    At Link''s question, Liam also nodded his head and said:


    "Yeah if you had asked your grandpa he would have reserved a car for us, would he have?" (Liam)


    Hearing them bothin, Zach shook his head and replied:


    "No guys, we are going to wander in the city today and then go to the beach in the evening!" (Zach)


    "If I asked my grandpa, he would send so many bodyguards with us, that we would not be able to enjoy our day at all, seriously, he is too overprotective you know..." (Zach)


    Listening to Zach''s reasoning, everyone else also nodded their head, they also felt that it would be too restraining to have so many bodyguards hanging around them all the time.


    "Hmm, you are right I guess... when I am at home, my father always makes sure that several bodyguards apany me anywhere I go... sigh~ I can understand your feelings..." (Link)


    Link patted Zach on the shoulder as if he knew his pain.


    But the real reason was actually totally different.


    ''Actually, yesterday I didn''t sleep all night and kept thinking about what you guys told me in the bath.... And I didn''t even notice when the f*ck morning came! at that point, it was already toote to borrow a car... sigh~'' (Zach)


    On the surface, Zach looked in his usual cheerful and happy mood, but in his mind, he had been tired and depressed sincest night.


    He felt like his worldview was copsing in front of him.


    ''No! No! As a senior, I must not let my juniors notice my weaknesses! I shouldn''t change my ns now at thest moment...'' (Zach)


    Although Zach was having serious doubts about himself in his mind, he kept up his fa?¡ìade and continued to pretend to be happy as usual.


    ...


    After waiting for a while, the floating bus arrived and everyone boarded the bus.


    Zach bought the tickets for everyone himself and then sat down beside Rio.


    "You have been talking a lot less since yesterday, is there some problem my dear junior?" (Zach)


    Rio shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone:


    "No, I am like this most of the time, I talk less, there''s nothing wrong with your hospitality... matter of fact, I am feeling quite happy right now..." (Rio)


    Looking at those dead fish eyes that had no light in them and that emotionless tone. Noticing that expressionless face and that faint presence, Zach was quite confused.


    ''You look like you are dead inside... and you are saying, you are feeling happy... uh.... What!?'' (Zach)


    "I-is that so?" (Zach)


    Just then, Link who was sitting on the seat right in front of them, got up and leaned back.


    "Don''t worry Senpai, Rio is always like this, his facial muscles are like stone, they rarely ever move... I have rarely ever seen this guyugh or show any other emotions..." (Link)


    "Isn''t he quite simr to Riko then? She also has a stern expression all the time..." (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s question, Link shook his head helplessly and replied in a serious tone:


    "No no, Rio is on a totally different level.... Hm, how do I exin...." (Link)


    "It''s not that he is deliberately staying expressionless.... It''s as if he doesn''t have emotions at all... I know that it is quite weird to hear, but.... That''s the exact feeling he gives me..." (Link)


    Rio''s eyes narrowed after hearing Link''s on-the-spot and precise spections.


    "You have quite good observation skills for a muscle brain, heh..." (Rio)


    Link smirked at Rio and said in a proud tone:


    "How long do you think we have been fighting together, huh?... if I can''t even notice these small things, then I won''t be worthy to be the heir of the Rex family...." (Link)


    Link shook his head and continued:


    "But you should really learn how to express yourself better, if you continue being so emotionless, Lia ain''t gonna stay with you for long-" (Link)


    Before Link couldplete his sentence, he felt the cold de of Rio''s sword touching his neck.


    "Still wanna continue?" (Rio)


    "Uh, guys don''t fight! Don''t fight!" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s panicked voice, Rio withdrew his sword back into its sheath and suppressed his aura again.


    ''Seriously, Link really knows how to make me angry, with just a few sentences I get so angry at this guy, sigh~'' (Rio)


    Link raised his hands in defeat and withdrew before things escted.


    "My bad, shouldn''t have said that..." (Link)


    ''F*ck! This guy was really going to use sword intent!'' (Link)


    Link felt a cold chill run down his spine as he sat back down in his seat.


    "Why were you provoking him in the first ce..." (Liam)


    Liam rolled his eyes in helplessness.


    ''Tch! Seriously guys... this is public transport, If we fought here, we will get a big scolding from principal Raji, moreover, we might fail the mission... how careless..'' (Liam)


    After that one friendly conflict, everyone settled down and stopped messing around. Thus the journey continued in peace for a while.


    ...


    The Grand Port Market.


    After half an hour of waiting, the group finally reached the destination.


    They all hurriedly got down from the bus and a huge market area came into everyone''s view.


    "Wee everyone, this ce is the biggest market of the whole ''Oaklum''! You can buy nearly every household or other item here¡­ except illegal things of course¡­" (Zach)


    The girls became excited to see such a big market, their eyes shined brightly.


    "There are so many food stalls here!" (Riya)


    Riya seemed to have stars shining in her eyes while looking at those food stalls. If not for the fact that she was being held by Lia firmly, she would have already rushed to those stalls immediately.


    Then Zach pointed at two big buildings nearby.


    "That blue building is for men''s clothing and that other one is the woman''s one, so now we should divide into two groups¡­" (Zach)


    ''Ellie, you go with the girls too, just apany them like yesterday¡­'' (Liam)


    [Understood¡­] (Ellie) (Obviously Liam didn''t make her apany him to the boy''s bathst night, she was with the girls yesterday.)


    After instructing Ellie, Liam heaved a sigh of relief.


    (He didn''t want to get his ''faulty dragon'' tainted, by looking at the likes of Fade¡­)


    "OOOH! NICE! I wanna buy something nice too!!" (Link)


    Then Link brought out a ck card from his space ring and handed it over to Riya.


    "Here, buy anything you want for yourself¡­ consider it a gift from me!" (Link)


    Before Riya could refuse his money, Link hurriedly dragged Rio and the others away with him. (Bro can sell his house for her...)


    He didn''t give her the chance to refuse at all.


    ¡­


    Near the main gate of the blue building.


    "Phew~ good thing she didn''t chase me¡­" (Link)


    "Uh, can you put me down now, by the way¡­" (Zach)


    Zach who was hanging in Link''s hand, iled his limbs in the air like a child. (Link caught him by the cor and carried him all the way like he was carrying a sandbag¡­)


    "Oh, uh, here you go!" (Link)


    Link immediately let go of his grip and Zach fell down and directly kissed the floor.


    "OW!!" (Zach)


    Others shook their head when they saw this and even passersby were surprised.


    In case someone doesn''t mistake them for being ''bullies, who beat children'', Liam and Rio hurriedly helped Zach to get up from the ground.


    Zach pouted his cheeks andined loudly.


    "Tch! My juniors are so mannerless, they don''t respect their elders at all!" (Zach)


    Everyone rolled their eyes at Zach''s tantrum, with his short body and the pattern of ''floor tile'' printed on his face, he didn''t look convincing at all.


    Afterining for a while, Zach calmed down a bit.


    "Okay guys, enough ying around for now, let''s go in¡­" (Zach)


    ''I feel like, the more I stay with these guys the more bad it will be for my health¡­sigh~'' (Zach)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, back at the hotel''s main gate.


    "Those d*mn rich bast*rds! How dare they all leave me behind! Once I be strong enough I will crush these floating buses under my feet like worms!!" (Fade)


    "Uh, Fade, keep your voice low, others areughing at us¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing the passerbyughing at them, Fade became even angrier now.


    "Just wait until I be strong! I will kill you all!! Ah! I will return this humiliation back a million fold!!" (Fade) (Bruh, you have been spamming the same emote for a while now, use something new¡­)


    Zach had left the task of gathering everyone at the bus stop to Link, and Link obviously didn''t invite Fade and Kira.


    Thus they both were left behind at the hotel, while the group went to have fun outside.


    Thinking about how those Rich guys must be smirking at him right now, Fade felt so angry that he wanted to p them all in their faces right away.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Hoho we are finally starting the long-awaited beach episode guys! Let''s goo!!!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think would be a good new dialogue for Fade to spam?


    1.You Dare!! (A ssic type)


    2.I am better than you all! (superiorplex type)


    3.You good for nothing rich bast*rds! (Underestimating others type)


    4.I can defeat three of you with one hand! (Bragging type)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 176 The Beach episode! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 176 The Beach episode! Part-2.</h4>


    ?While Link rushed away with the other guys, Riya had a bewildered look on her face due to this sudden turn of events.


    "Um¡­" (Riya)


    Lia rolled her eyes as she nced at that ck card. The ck card had five stars printed on it and there were several intricate designs made in golden colour.


    (The ck material of the card is made from a ''scale of a ck dragon'' and that gold substance that flows and shines better than gold, is actually the golden liquid extracted from the eyes of a dragon¡­)


    ¡­


    (Info dumps ahead¡­)


    Legend has it, that at the end of the fifty-year orc war, a sleeping ck dragon was identally disturbed by orc armies.


    In its fury, the dragon rampaged for several days and caused many casualties.


    Eventually, its head was brutally smashed into meat paste by the strongest human, Ashtel Rex. (Ashtel is currently the strongest human¡­)


    Later the body of the dragon was seized by the Rex family and used to make various artifacts and other things.


    This ck card is one of the things that were made using the scales of that ck dragon.


    [Item Name: Legend''s Mischief]


    [Item Description:


    This card is a symbol of absolute and limitless wealth. Those who possess this card are said to be blessed with unlimited and unrestricted wealth.


    Those who hold this card can use it to buy anything and everything that the human empire can provide. May it be legal or illegal, this card will bless you with the connections and wealth to buy whatever you desire.]


    In simple words, this Card has an ''infinite'' amount of money stored in it. You can pay trillions and trillions with this one card. The human race may go bankrupt before the money in this card could run out.


    (Only Five such cards exist in the human world. Aside from Ashtel, Neo, Raji, and Jin, Link has the fifth one in his possession)


    Usually, only SS-rankers are supposed to have this card on them as this thing is a literal national treasure, but Link being the only son of Ashtel and the heir to the Rex family, this one was gifted to him on his most recent birthday.


    (Ashtel rewarded him for getting a good rank in the final exams¡­ Ashtel may look like a strict and stern person, but he is actually very kind to his son¡­.)


    (Bro literally stopped natural disasters and cmities, just to stop the wrath of the heavens on Link''s birth¡­)


    ¡­


    (Back to the chapter¡­)


    Riya tilted her head in confusion and nced at Lia as she asked:


    "Um¡­. What is this thing for?" (Riya)


    "What the!! Cough! Ahem¡­. Well you can say, it''s an ''ATM'' card technically¡­." (Lia)


    Lia nearly spits a mouthful of blood at the shocking ignorance of this happy-go-lucky girl.


    ''Sigh~ she doesn''t even know about these things¡­ are you sure, she won''t be robbed of her money by others¡­. Sigh~'' (Lia)


    Lia shook her head in helplessness.


    No matter how Link tried to impress Riya with wealth, it would be useless if she didn''t even know about the meaning of that wealth in the first ce.


    ''But¡­ perhaps this carelessness might be the reason why that muscle head likes her¡­. Sigh~'' (Lia)


    "Forget about it, let''s just head in, we still have to buy swim-suits remember?¡­" (Lia)


    "But I want to buy those tasty-looking donuts first~" (Riya)


    "Indeed, they look good, they must taste good too~" (Ellie)


    Lia shook her head and dragged the two foodies away with her before they could run away on their own.


    ¡­


    On the other side.


    "Phew~ we ended up buying so many things, didn''t we!" (Link)


    Everyone else nodded their heads at Link''s remark.


    (All of them just bought one ''swim shorts'' each, and even those were just some random ones that looked okay enough¡­)


    Due to the four not being interested in fashion and shopping, their shopping spree was over in just ten minutes. (Nine minutes extra because the receptionist was an olddy who took time to calcte the money¡­)


    "You all are such fine young kids, girls will be flocking over you little troublemakers¡­" (Olddy)


    "My husband used to be a strong guy too, but s he left the world a few years ago¡­" (Olddy)


    Hearing the ttery from the olddy, Zach smiled slightly and replied in an embarrassed tone:


    "Hehe¡­ you tter us.." (Zach)


    "Uh¡­ oh you were also there my child, which kindergarten are you from?¡­ This olddy''s eyesight is so weak, I didn''t even see you there¡­" (Olddy)


    Hearing the olddy say that he was from kindergarten, Zach felt like he was insulted beyond recovery and the smile on his face turned from a gentle one to a creepy one.


    "HEHE¡­. Let''s send this olddy to her husban-" (Zach)


    *mgfh*


    Before Zach could speak any more nonsense, Liam blocked his mouth and stopped him from speaking.


    "Hahah, he is still young you see, so he is a bit mannerless¡­ haha we should leave now, bye-bye!" (Link)


    All three of them dodged the strange looks from the olddy and hurriedly left the ce while dragging Zach away with them.


    After leaving the ce, they all look lost for some reason.


    "Uh, what do we do now?" (Link)


    "Why are you looking at me, I don''t know man, I never go wandering around in the markets¡­" (Liam)


    "Um, I also haven''t gone on any date or something, I seriously have no idea what to do now either¡­" (Zach)


    Even Rio shook his head and said:


    "Well, mostly Lia drags me around all over the ces when we are on a date, thus I don''t have any idea about it either¡­" (Rio)


    (All four of them are the type to never hang out with friends, in fact, all four of them have close to no friends at all¡­)


    Aside from Rio who is a natural loner, Link doesn''t go shopping because he has no need for it, his servants do the errands for him mostly. He rarely ever goes out from the Rex mansion usually.


    Until recently Liam was the type of guy who always remained cold to others and was focused on beating Fade, thus he never had any friends either.


    Even Zach was so focused on impressing Riko that he neglected his social life, to the point he also didn''t have any friends.


    (If not for today''s encounter, Zach would have never made any true friends at all¡­)


    "Uh, should we go to a nearby caf¨¦ then, we agreed to meet with the girls at the beach after, and there are still quite a few hours before the agreed time¡­." (Zach)


    "Yeah, they must be still shopping right now, afterall they have more fashion sense than us¡­. We just bought some random things that fit the eyes¡­" (Liam)


    All four of them nodded their head.


    (Surprisingly they all knew that they were hopeless and couldn''t be considered good boyfriends, if it were some other girls they might have already been angered by their ignorant attitudes¡­)


    "Heh, at least I don''t have to worry about my girlfriend being angry at me! Hehe!" (Zach)


    All three of them looked at Zach and said in a united tone:


    "Because you have none!"


    (In the end, they all went to the caf¨¦ and ordered some random things to pass the time¡­ they had no idea what to do for fun besides sitting in that caf¨¦ and sipping some juice¡­.)


    (If not for the girls, they might all have never even gone out of their way to stop their training and wander outside for fun¡­)


    ¡­


    *achoo*


    "I-I feel like Link is talking about me, behind my back!" (Riya)


    Riya pouted her cheeks as she thought about it.


    Then her eyes fell on those two giant weapons that Lia was carrying.


    She nced down and seeing that she was nowhere near those that Lia had, her pout became even bigger.


    ''This is unfair! I need them too!!'' (Riya)


    ''If I had them this big, I would look better than those big sisters that appear on TV shows!'' (Riya) (She watches those female new anchors topare sizes¡­ cough!!)


    Then Riya nced at Ellie who was tter than her, and sighed in relief.


    ''Sigh~ at least I am not as t as her¡­. Safe~'' (Riya)


    Just then, Ellie altered her human form and increased her ''weapon'' size.


    (As a dragon she can easily morph her form to whatever she wants it to be, she can even be as tall as a building while still remaining in her humanoid form¡­)


    Seeing that instant change in size, Riya was so shocked that she had nothing else to say. She felt like her worldview had copsed all of a sudden.


    "Hey, tell me how you did that!?" (Riya)


    "Uh, what? Ehem well you know I am a dragon and can change-" (Ellie)


    "Ellie sensei! Teach me that technique!!" (Riya)


    "UH¡­. Well¡­" (Ellie)


    A helpless look appeared on Ellie''s face as she was having a hard difficulty avoiding those shining eyes of Riya.


    Riya seemed to think that Ellie knew some legendary technique that could increase your size in an instant.


    (If such a convenient technique existed, the whole world would have been peaceful¡­ as everyone would have been busy appreciating beauty¡­ cough! Vote here if you think that the author loves to write random bullsh*T)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    (A formal apology: Let me exin guys, I was being influenced by the demon king Rio when I wrote this chapter, don''t me me for the random bullsh*t I spouted, it''s all because of the perv god Rio''s influence. Cough!)


    Question of the day.


    Do you not have a girlfriend because you are boring or are you boring because you don''t have a girlfriend?


    (This wise question was asked by a wise sorcerer who dared to go against ''pure love'' and got beaten by plot armor¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 177 The Beach episode! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 177 The Beach episode! Part-3.</h4>


    Grand Market, Main area.


    A group of four girls could be seen walking towards the beach, they all were wearing the uniform of the great Freya academy and people gave way to them as they passed by them.


    "By the way, how did the two of you meet actually? I think you two have been together from the start..." (Riya)


    While nibbling on those tasty-looking donuts that Riya bought after leaving the clothing store, she asked Lia a question that had been bugging her for a long time:


    Hearing Riya''s question, Lia smiled and replied.


    "Hmm, if it''s the first meeting then I would say, I first met him during that first practicalbat test the academy had conducted..." (Lia)


    A slight blush appeared on Lia''s face as she exined:


    "I was about to get injured by the boss monster of that dungeon... he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and split the monster into several pieces..." (Lia)


    Thinking about that, a pout appeared on her face:


    "That idiot! Hmph! He didn''t even bother taking me to the infirmary and left after killing that monster... and when I asked him about itter, you know what he said?" (Lia)


    Riya stuffed her mouth with donuts and listened to Lia''s story with great interest. Even Ellie and Riko were listening to this conversation silently from behind.


    "What did he say?" (Riya)


    "hmph! That idiot! He said if you want to repay my kindness, then pay me money for saving your life!" (Lia)


    "What!? How rude! Is that how you should be talking to your future girlfriend!?" (Riya)


    Hearing the two of them ignore the fact that ''Rio didn''t even know her at the time'', Ellie who was the most knowledgeable in the group shook her head in helplessness.


    ''When ites to these types of things, I feel like Riya and Lia both forget about logic....'' (Ellie)


    "Indeed! I was so angry after that! I went ahead and ran a full background check on him, then I personally investigated him for several days, you know!" (Lia)


    ''That''s not investigation! You were stalking him!'' (Ellie)


    "I investigated the situation for at least a month I think and then we went to Roult inds, I was fighting with a monster and he meddled with my fight you know!" (Lia)


    "How rude!" (Riya)


    ''They both already threw their logic down the drain!'' (Ellie)


    "But well, he at least carried me back to the ship on his back so I would notin about it..." (Lia) (She omitted the part where Rio teased her for her boldness after getting drunk...)


    While Lia continued to exin, Riya nodded her head continuously like she was Lia''sckey and was totally in agreement with Lia''s exaggerated bluffs.


    "Well, after that I continued to investigate him for a while..." (Lia)


    ''How long were you stalking him, girl!?" (Ellie) (Ellie doesn''t know that Lia still does that stalking every once in a while...)


    "Eventually, I never noticed when I ended up having feelings for him while doing all those investigations...." (Lia)


    ...


    (Let me cook, guys...)


    If any of you think that at the start of the story, Lia and Rio became a couple extremely fast then you are gravely mistaken.


    Rio confessed to Lia at the New Year event, which means Lia had been stalking Rio for about six months by that time, she already had a ton of secret photos in her cab that she collected.


    Even her personal maid is oblivious to how big Lia''s ''collection'' has be by now.


    Simply speaking, Lia had already be a lot interested in Rio by that time.


    Rio who had never felt the emotion of ''Like'' in his past life became interested in Lia when she took care of him after he had fainted due to that mental battle with the named monster. (That octopus who was stalking Rio...)


    All in all, both of them were unsure of their feeling around that time, but Rio was the type to never let go of a perfect opportunity, he saw the opportunity during the New Year festival and decided to seize that rare chance.


    At the time Rio thought that instead of keeping these feelings hidden why not just tell her about it? (Rio was actually prepared to get rejected by her that day...)


    Originally, Rio just confessed on the spot and was prepared to be pped on the face due to his sudden confession, but fortunately, that never happened.


    Lia was already interested in him and that sudden confession became the reason why she wasn''t able to reject him either.


    She also went with the flow and they both ended up bing a couple without them noticing when they both fell for each other.


    Days went by and they both ended up understanding each other more and more, eventually, their rtionship had be so solid that there was no w in it.


    Rio and Lia both are training maniacs who train and fight like brutes, they end up bing so well ustomed to each other that directly ignore each other''s ws.


    Rio got used to handling Lia''s ''tsundere'' personality and Lia got ustomed to Rio''s ''emotionlessness''.


    Moreover, they got the support and approval from Lia''s father on the very first meeting. Lia''s father acknowledged Rio the very moment he saw that photo where Lia wasughing while she apanied Rio.


    For him, his daughter''s happiness was what mattered most. And since Rio was capable of making her smile, he allowed Rio to take his daughter''s hand.


    (If Rio went to propose marriage today, her father would personally arrange everything for the two of them to get married... in fact, her father might like Rio more than his own daughter...)


    ...


    "And then we went on several dates.... You know, I had to n every date, he didn''t even know how to y ''cards'', that guy literally had no idea on how to have fun!" (Lia)


    "What? Even I know how to y cards..." (Riya)


    Lia nodded her head in agreement.


    "I was surprised too, I had to teach him about it myself... you see, aside from training to be stronger, he doesn''t really do anything in his free time at all!" (Lia)


    Talking about that a slight blush appeared on her face as she thought to herself.


    ''That perv! In his free time, he likes to tease me all the time! Hmph!'' (Lia)


    Lia was the first-hand victim of Rio''s devilish teasing techniques, she sometimes doubted that he had taken a proper course on how to tease her more efficiently.


    "Well, Link is like that too, he trains all the time, even though he is so strong, I sometimes feel like he puts too much pressure on himself¡­" (Riya)


    Then suddenly Riya nced at the girl who had been walking silently all this time and she asked Riko with a curious look.


    "What about you Senpai? How did the two of you be a couple?" (Riya)


    Riko who had been walking with a stern look all this time was surprised by Riya''s sudden question.


    A troubled look appeared on her face.


    "Uh¡­ we are not a couple you see, Zach is just a friend of mine¡­" (Riko)


    "Huh? But then why would you stare at him all the time-" (Riya)


    Before Riya could spout any more nonsense, Lia hurriedly stuffed another donut in her mouth to make her stop talking.


    Riko shook her head.


    "No no, you might have some misunderstanding, I don''t think of Zach in that way, in the first ce I don''t have feelings for him either¡­" (Riko)


    She further said:


    "I don''t have the leisure to be ying house, I have other important things to do, I can''t indulge myself in these things¡­" (Riko)


    A determined look appeared on Riko''s face when she said that. She seems to have a more important goal to achieve, than wasting her time dating someone.


    "I-I see, I guess everyone has their opinions¡­" (Lia)


    ''I feel like she might have a very stubborn personality¡­'' (Lia)


    "But, a friendly advice from me Senpai, ''it''s never good to focus on revenge too much'', I know those eyes as I have experienced it myself¡­ make sure you don''t end up burning yourself out in those mes of revenge¡­" (Lia)


    Lia seemed to have seen right through Riko''s heart in just a matter of seconds.


    ''I know those eyes all too well, she''s heading the same way that I was going¡­'' (Lia)


    Riko shook her head at Lia''s advice.


    "It doesn''t matter, as long as the result is good, I don''t care about the process¡­" (Riko)


    ''Sigh~ I know she won''t listen, just like I never did¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia shook her head in helplessness and stopped thinking about this matter.


    After a few seconds of awkward silence, the four of them continued to head towards the beach slowly.


    ¡­


    At the same time.


    A faraway caf¨¦.


    *drip**drip*


    Tears dripped from the eyes of a young boy who had been smiling for a while now.


    "Huh, wha-what happened Senpai!? Are you okay!?" (Link)


    "Are you feeling unwell Senpai!?" (Liam)


    All three of them panicked when they saw Zach crying all of a sudden.


    Just a few seconds ago, all four of them were having a leisurely chat, when Zach suddenly went silent and after a few seconds tears fell from his eyes.


    Ignoring the other three''s look of concern, Zach hurriedly wiped his tears and put up his usual smile again on his face.


    "Eh, no, it''s nothing, something went in my eyes, that''s all¡­ haha let''s order something else to eat, it''s my treat guys!" (Zach)


    All three of them looked at Zach with confused eyes. They all seemed to be bewildered by his sudden mood swings, and all of them had the same question in their mind.


    ''What just happened!?''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that things are going to getplicated soon! Let''s see what happens¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think a banana is named a banana because it''s a banana or is it named banana because it''s a banana?


    1.Yes (The f*ck is the author spouting about!?)


    2.No (Please touch grass author, your brain seems to have malfunctioned!)


    3.Others.


    I am writing this question because I want people to force me to go out of my room, it''s been two years since I went out after all¡­ cough!!


    By the way, congrattions on the second anniversary of this story everyone, with all of your support I have been somehow able to continue this story through all the difficulties that I have faced, my well wishes are with all of you, thanks!!


    Surprisingly, it''s been two years and my cough has yet to go away, is it because I have been spouting more nonsensetely?


    Don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 178 The Beach episode! Part-4.

    <h4>Chapter 178 The Beach episode! Part-4.</h4>


    ?An A-rank archer has exceptional detection capabilities. To perfectly hit the target from kilometers away, an A-rank archer trains his all senses to the extreme.


    Due to this, their eyesight, hearing capabilities, etc. are extremely refined and strengthened.


    But sometimes, this exceptional hearing capability also works like a curse for them.


    They sometimes end up hearing things, that they were not meant to hear and the same was true for Zach.


    As Zach had spent years together with Riko, he could identify her voice easily from kilometers away.


    Due to this ability, he heard everything that Riko said about him at that moment.


    ''He''s but a friend, I have no feelings for him¡­''


    These were the words that made Zach question his motives.


    ''Sigh~ how could I have shown tears in front of my juniors, I am such an failure of a Senpai¡­.'' (Zach)


    Zach may be older than Rio and others, but he definitely wasn''t as emotionally mature as them. This was the first time he had suffered a heartbreak.


    Yet, Regardless of that, he smiled.


    ¡­


    Near the beach, a public facility, Changing Rooms


    "See this, guys, this is the ce where you can change into your swimsuits without any worry! I have been to this beach many times in my childhood! So I know this area like the back of my hand!" (Zach)


    The building Zach pointed to had two sections, one for men and the other for women.


    This facility was made by the locals to improve the experience of the tourists.


    Zach nced at the other three and nodded his head:


    "You see when I was a bit younger, I used toe here with my older brother literally every day to stare at the gir- ahem! To stare at the sea!" (Zach)


    ''He nearly said he used toe here to stare at the girls¡­'' (Link)


    ''Despite his small body, it seems he is also a fellow man of culture¡­heh¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Oh~ so Senpai is also a member of the ''perv''mittee¡­'' (Liam)


    All three of them patted Zach on his shoulder and nodded their heads as if they understood what Zach meant.


    "Nice!" (All three of them said in a united tone.)


    Zach hurriedly dodged their eyes and changed the topic.


    "Okay okay! Let''s go and change now! Let''s not waste time standing here¡­" (Zach)


    The four of them went inside and changed into those swim shorts that they bought earlier.


    Link nced at the mirror and flexed his muscles in various postures.


    "You really have quite a well-built physique, Link..." (Zach)


    Link nodded his head and replied.


    "Well of course! I am a martial artist after all! my physique is my weapon! even Rio doesn''tpare to me in this aspect! ahahaha..." (Link)


    Rio and Liam both looked much less muscr in front of Link. But they both were by no means weak either.


    Putting the ''superfast Rio'' aside, Liam himself was blessed by a dragon all day long, obviously, his physique would improve ordingly.


    (Technically, Liam could be considered a dragon master after all, there''s no way his physique would be weak¡­)


    As for Rio, he doesn''t really need that strong of a physique in the first ce, one ''sword intent'' to the enemy''s neck and that''s it.


    (Sword intent is a type of skill that has a hundred percent chance of cutting something if itnds the hit properly. Even Rahab whose stats were way higher than Rio was not immune to it either.)


    (Even though it barely hurt Rahab, the sword intent still made some scratches on his body, and a direct hit from sword intent to the brain killed Rahab instantly¡­)


    ¡­


    Naazra Beach


    "Hoho~ so this is the famous Naazra beach! Indeed the scenery here is very beautiful!" (Link)


    The sun shined brightly in the sky and the calm sea waves made the atmosphere cool and rxed.


    "Wooohhooooo~" (Liam)


    Without waiting for anyone, Liam directlyy down on the warm sand and rolled all over the ground.


    "The sand is so warm and nice! I can sleep here all day long!!" (Liam)


    The passersby looked at Liam as if they were looking at some weirdo and purposely distanced themselves.


    "Oi~ we need to set up things first! Come back!" (Zach)


    Saying that Zach brought out the umbre and chairs out of his space ring and handed them over to the three to set up.


    When they finally finished setting up the ce, they decided to wait for the girls before going to the sea for swimming.


    After a few minutes of wait the girls also arrived at the ce.


    All of them seemed to be talking andughing about something when they arrived.


    When they arrived at the beach they already caught the attention of many onlookers.


    Moreover, Link seemed to have stars shining in his eyes when he saw Riya in that cute white colour swimsuit. (She was still nibbling on donuts by the way¡­)


    All four of them wore quite reserved type of swimsuits that didn''t show off too much. But still, they all looked good on each of them.


    "Oh! Link take this! I bought some for you too! Hehe~" (Riya)


    Riya handed over a huge box which was filled with donuts to Link.


    "OHhh~ thanks for the treat!" (Link)


    Riya smirked with a proud look on her face when Link praised her.


    ''Although I had to part with my tasty food, but I guess it''s okay as long as he praises me~'' (Riya)


    While Link and Riya were chatting with each other, others also didn''t stay silent.


    Rio purposely whispered in Lia''s ears:


    "You look so hot today, dear, are you trying to make me fall for you all over again~" (Rio)


    A slight blush appeared on Lia''s face hearing his whisper, yet she smiled and replied.


    "so you finally understood my magnificence, hmph! You should cherish the moment then!" (Lia) (Tsundere voice intensifies~)


    Lia wore a golden swimsuit that matched perfectly with her smooth golden hair. She looked like a princess straight out of some fairy tale.


    Meanwhile, Liam was the only one who was the most surprised. His jaw seemed to have fallen on the ground when he saw Ellie in that dark ck swimsuit.


    "Wh-what!? Who are you!? My Ellie didn''t have such big weapons in her arsenal!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s surprised voice, Ellie gracefully closed his open mouth and gave a more appealing pose on purpose.


    "Hehe~ I am Ellie but the upgraded version~" (Ellie)


    Hearing that yful voice, Liam felt like his heart was about to jump out of his mouth.


    Without giving Liam any chance to defend himself, Ellie directly held Liam''s arm and clung to it like she usually did, but today was different, her weapons attacked Liam from all sides and he nearly fell for it.


    Liam''s whole face turned red like a tomato due to Ellie''s mischievous actions.


    "What do you say, master~ how do I look~" (Ellie) (She was doing it on purpose!!)


    "O-OH OH y-you look go-good hehe, hehe~" (Liam) (Suffering from mental damage +99)


    Liam seems to have suffered multiple critical hits from those soft weapons. His brain seemed to have been fried and he could not think straight anymore.


    (On that Day, Ellie discovered Liam''s weakness,ter on, she will use this same tactic to force Liam to make food for her on many asions¡­)


    Ignoring the three lovey-dovey couples having fun on their own, Zach nced at Riko.


    Zach nced at Riko who was wearing a light blue coloured swimsuit and smiled.


    "You look good as always, Riko!" (Zach)


    Riko nodded her head at Zach''s praise but didn''t put too much thought on it, she directly sat on one of the beach chairs that they had set up earlier and closed her eyes to enjoy the warm sunlight.


    Although he was ignored Zach didn''t think too much as he already had known that this was going to happen. He shook his head and asked Link.


    "Hey, let''s have a swimmingpetition, I will defeat you all easily by the way!" (Zach)


    Zach puffed up his chest in pride and dered:


    "I had learned swimming from professional swimmers, let''s see if you guys have what it takes to go against me!" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s mocking voice the three guys nodded their heads and followed him to the sea.


    ''Hehe, Although they might be taller than me, I am more skilled at swimming, there''s no way I would lose at this~'' (Zach)


    ¡­


    A few minutester.


    "This is cheating! This is against the rules!" (Zach)


    Zach red at Link and the others with a helpless look on his face.


    When the swimming race started, Link used his ''Dao Rhythm'' to increase his swimming speed tremendously.


    Rio being a super-fast guy, literally ran on water like it was t ground. All the tourists on the beach were shocked by his speed.


    Moreover, Liam didn''t even bother swimming, he asked Ellie to attach two shadow hands to his back that did all the swimming for him.


    Due to these various cheating methods, Zach lost all three rounds to his juniors.


    "Ugh, these guys¡­" (Zach)


    While Zach stood on the beach with a defeated and helpless expression the other three continued to do their own thing.


    "Here take this, Rio!" (Link)


    Link punched the water created gigantic water waves andunched them at Rio.


    Rio on the other hand turned his sword into a ''giant great sword'' and used it like a surfing board to surf over the waves created by Link.


    Liam used those shadow hands to jump over those waves like he was ying a game of ''Let''s Avoid being touched by that wave!''.


    Blood veins appeared on Zach''s face after being ignored like this.


    "Don''t me me for being rude then!" (Zach)


    Zach brought out his bow from his space ring and aimed at the sea.


    [Hunt style: Water type: Blessed Arrow!]


    An arrow made of condensed water element appeared out of nowhere and Zach fired the arrow at the sea.


    A gigantic water wave was created by his arrow, the wave swept away all three of the ''cheaters'' with it.


    "Heh! This is what you get for pissing me off!" (Zach)


    ...


    ¡­


    Authors'' Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It looks like sending these people to the beach might have been a bad idea¡­. They made the ce so chaotic after all.


    Question of the day.


    Which method would you prefer to cheat against Zach?


    1.Rio''s method (Running on water would be so cool!)


    2.Link''s method (Punch the water and ride the waves created by it¡­)


    3.Liam''s method (Why do the work yourself when you have a dragon to solve all your problems¡­)


    4.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 179 The Beach Episode! Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 179 The Beach Episode! Part-5.</h4>


    Naazra Beach.


    Zach is the type of guy who is always prepared for most situations, now that the swimmingpetition failed due to tant cheating done by the participants, Zach had no choice but to switch to another topic.


    A sudden idea came up in his mind and he said in a loud voice:


    "Guys, let''s y volleyball instead! But no cheating this time okay!" (Zach)


    Zach literally brought out two iron poles from his space ring and he set them up on the beach, then he brought out the and tied it to the poles. (Friendly warning- don''t try this at home...)


    He prepared the whole yground in just a few seconds. (He seems to have done this same thing many times before when he visited the beach in his younger days...)


    "Yosh~ now we can y! Good thing I had the materials just in case..." (Zach)


    While Zach wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled at the volleyball court he created, everyone else was too shocked to say anything.


    ''Who the f*ck even carries iron poles in their space ring!?'' (Liam)


    Zach then brought out the ball and passed it to Link and said with a smile.


    "Okay, I and Rio will be on the same team, you two go to the other side..." (Zach)


    ''Hehe, Rio seems to be the only mature and calm guy among them, I will have him on my team...'' (Zach)


    While Zach was conspiring in his mind on how to beat these juniors, Link and Liam nodded at each other and walked over to the other side of the.


    They both seem to have a mutual understanding between them, and with just a nce they already knew what to do.


    After a few seconds, everyone took their positions.


    "Here I go Senpai, the first one is for you!" (Link)


    Link threw the ball into the sky and lightly jumped in the sky.


    All of a sudden, his face turned serious, all the rxed muscles of his body tensed up and Link punched the ball.


    [Dragon arts: Spiral rush!]


    Link twisted his punch in mid-attack and caused the ball to spin at insane speed.


    The ball was shot like a cannonball and before Zach could even react, it directly hit him in the face.


    *Bam!*


    Zach directly fainted and fell to the ground due to the impact of that attack.


    "GOAL!!" (Link)


    "YAAAAHHHH!!!" (Liam)


    Rio nced at the two and shook his head in helplessness.


    ''These guys...'' (Rio)


    Rio had no choice but to carry Zach back.


    He ced the unconscious Zach near the chairs. Riya had to heal himter.


    (The girls are sunbathing while lying on the beach chairs that Zach brought with him...)


    ...


    "Hehe, you are next Rio! Get ready! I will make you faint with the next shot!" (Link)


    Rio shook his head and grabbed the ball in his hand.


    "If you can catch it first, of course...." (Rio)


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    Rio took a throwing stance and raised the ball over his shoulder. (Bruh, none of them are following proper rules... is this even volleyball anymore?)


    ''Here we go!'' (Rio)


    Rio threw the ball at such a fast speed that even Link and Liam were not able to see iting.


    The ball made a curve in the air, first, it hit Link and then it hit Liam. After that, it bounced back to Rio like a boomerang.


    Without wasting any time Rio threw it again.


    ''Continuous barrage...'' (Rio)


    "Hey! Stop stop! That cheating- mbfh!" (Link)


    "Ow! Stop! It hurts!" (Liam)


    In just three seconds Rio threw that ball at them both about a hundred times before that ball finally burst apart and couldn''t sustain so much pressure.


    Link and Liam both fell to the ground. Both of them had more than a few swellings all over their body. (Rio didn''t give them the chance to even breathe and hit them continuously...)


    "I win..." (Rio)


    *Smack*


    Lia smacked Rio on the head slightly.


    "What are you doing, you are increasing Riya''s workload, It''s supposed to be a holiday today..." (Lia)


    Rio tilted his head and then he whispered in Lia''s ears.


    "If you give me a Kiss, I might stop, hehe~" (Rio)


    Lia was surprised by that sudden voice, she wanted to smack him again but Rio ran away.


    "Hmph! Perv!" (Lia)


    (Later Riya had to heal all three of them... Link always increases her workload...)


    ...


    After a while, all the boys were forced to sit on the chair and behave properly, while the girls went to y volleyball. (Zach''s space ring had a spare volleyball in it...)


    Lia and others properly followed the rules, none of them used mana to cheat and all of them yed fair and square.


    Ellie jumped a bit and hit the ball with a graceful posture. She nced at Liam and gave a flying kiss to tease him on purpose.


    A wide grin appeared on Liam''s face as he smirked at the other guys, as if he wanted to say ''See my girl even gave me a flying kiss, what about you?''


    ck lines appeared on the other guy''s face after seeing that smirk.


    Blood veins appeared on Zach''s face when he got up and saw Liam having lovey-dovey moments.


    Zach brought out shovels from his space ring and handed them over to Link and Rio.


    All three of them nodded at each other.


    "Bury him!" (Zach)


    Liam panicked at this sudden change of events, but before he could run away. He was tied up by rope and the three of them buried him in the beach''s sand.


    Only his head was hanging out, the rest of his body got buried in the sand.


    "Hey! What the heck are you doing!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''sint, Link replied:


    "You look better this way, now stay there! Hehe" (Link)


    "tch!" (Liam)


    Some passerby kids got so scared that they ran away while crying when they saw those three guys burying Liam in the sand.


    Whenever Liam tried to get out the three of them buried him again and again, eventually he gave up and stayed there for the rest of the time. (Ellie dug him outter¡­)


    Time flew by just like that.


    After messing around for a few more hours, all of them got tired and decided to have some snacks.


    *Rock, Paper, scissors*


    "Okay, it''s decided then! Lia will be the one to go and buy snacks for everyone!" (Riya)


    The match was yed between the four girls and whoever lost would have to go and buy snacks for everyone, and it turned out Lia was quite weak when it came to this game.


    Surprisingly, Riya was the one who won the game. (She has trained in this game because she had to defeat her sister in this game to win extra candies for herself¡­)


    Ignoring the ''booing'' sounds of everyone, Rio stretched out his hand and said:


    "How about I go with you?" (Rio)


    "O-okay¡­" (Lia)


    With a slight blush on her face, Lia held Rio''s hand without hesitation.


    She used to panic over even the smallest things, but now she has matured so much that she could proudly hold Rio''s hand even in front of others. (She is still a Tsundere, but a mature one now¡­)


    Ignoring the grinning faces of everyone looking at them, the two of them walked towards the nearby stalls, while holding each other''s hand tightly.


    ¡­


    "It''s quite rare for you to not panic in front of others, you have matured so much, my honey¡­" (Rio) (He is purposely saying this to tease her..)


    "Hmph, that not it, I-I just¡­ uh¡­" (Lia)


    "You just?" (Rio)


    "Hmph, forget it! I am not telling you! It''s a secret!" (Lia)


    "Heh, so you have learned how to keep secrets from me now¡­" (Rio)


    With his free hand, Rio pushed her hair aside and gave her a slight kiss on the forehead, then he whispered.


    "I will wait for the day when you will tell me all those secrets yourselves then~" (Rio)


    Lia''s whole face turned as red as a tomato from this sudden mental attack.


    She pouted her cheeks and said:


    "I am not telling you!" (Lia)


    Although she looked determined, she was feeling even more embarrassed in her mind.


    ''I can''t tell him that I want to show off in front of everyone that, you are mine and mine alone¡­ what am I even thinking... sigh~'' (Lia)


    While Lia was feeling troubled in her head, Rio just smiled at her slightly.


    ''I feel like I will remember this day for a long time toe, I should cherish this moment¡­'' (Rio)


    They both nced at each other and smiled.


    Both of them surprisingly had the same thoughts in their mind at that moment.


    ''After all¡­'' (Rio)


    ''After all¡­'' (Lia)


    ''I will love you forever and ever'' (Both of them thought the same at the same time¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Ugh! I got so much diabetes while writing thest line of this chapter¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance which team will you join?


    1.Link and Liam''s team (They both will roast you for being weak¡­)


    2.Rio and Zach''s team (Zach will prepare the chairs and Rio will prepare the tea for you¡­)


    3.Lia and Ellie''s team. (You will be ignored by them both¡­ but at least you will get to see the jiggle physics up close¡­)


    4.Riya and Riko''s team. (You will be offered ultra-rare candies to eat¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 180 The Path of Revenge... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 180 The Path of Revenge... Part-1.</h4>


    *Punch*


    "You d*mned b*tch! How dare you run away! Do you know how much trouble you f*cking r*scals cause for me!?"


    "Stay here now! If you dare to run away again! I will break your legs!"


    The man wearing an expensive-looking suit red at the young girl with anger on his face.


    In a fit of rage, the man rushed out of the room and kicked the door to close it with force.


    *Bam!*


    The already corroded and old door closed with a loud bang and it barely remained intact after that strong push.


    Seeing that the man had left, the young girl got up from the ground with great difficulty, her whole body shook uncontrobly every once in a while.


    She seemed to be suffering from severe malnutrition and her body was weak and frail.


    Although the girl''s face was covered by her disheveled hair, there was still a happy smile on her face.


    With her shivering body, she got up and slowly walked to the nearby bed.


    "h-Hey, uh, your sis has brought you the bread, you always liked to eat... uh, happy birthday... Hehe, take it"


    The young girl smiled at the boy lying on the bed.


    Ignoring the pain caused by the punch that hit her directly in the face, she smiled at her younger brother and hid her pain from him.


    The young boy slowly tilted his head towards her.


    "Big sister, you are there? Hehe, thanks..."


    The boy was blind, so he could not see his sister''s disheveled face, and even his hearing wasn''t working properly. He looked weaker and malnourished than his sister.


    "Hehe, don''t worry about it, it''s your birthday after all, we can''t let the day go just like that..."


    "Thanks, big sis..."


    The young girl helped her brother to sit up with the support of the wall.


    Although the walls and the furniture in the room looked extremely worn down, the two siblings didn''t mind it at all, or you could say, they didn''t have the luxury to mind it in the first ce.


    The Young girl smiled and slowly fed the bread to her brother with her dirty hands.


    Tears appeared in the blind eyes of the young boy as he ate the bread.


    "Haha, look at you, did you like it that much?"


    The young boy nodded his head in agreement.


    "Yeah, it''s tasty, thanks..."


    Although their situation was bad and their future seemed bleak, they both were happy, that''s all that mattered at the moment.


    "Hehe, your big sis will get you as many as you like! As long as you are happy I am happy!"


    At the moment the young girl thought that stealing that bread and getting beaten to protect it, was all worth the risk as long as her younger brother was happy.


    Those were difficult days, survival was harsh and barely possible, but as long as they both were happy, it didn''t matter what their circumstances were.


    ...


    The next day.


    While the two siblings were sleeping peacefully on that worn-down bed, the same man that had beaten the young girl yesterday, kicked the door open.


    The worn-out door couldn''t withstand anymore, it broke apart and fell to the ground with a loud noise.


    "Yeah, take these pieces of sh*ts away from my eyes!"


    Two burly men in strange ck uniforms entered the room.


    The two siblings woke up in fright due to the loud noise created by the door when it fell on the ground.


    They shivered as the man shouted orders at the two bodyguards.


    "Wait! Don''t take my brother! I-I will go with you!"


    The bodyguards didn''t listen to the pleas of the young girl and her cries for help were ignored.


    The bodyguards hit them both on the back of their heads and both of the siblings fainted from the impact.


    The young girl barely heard one sentence before fainting:


    "Good, a new underground ck market has opened recently, hehe... they will fetch a good price..."


    ...


    Underground bidding hall. Location: unknown.


    The next time the girl opened her eyes, she found herself in a cage.


    Several masked people sat on the seats in front of the stage and continued their bidding, it seemed like an illegal auction was being held in this ce.


    She nced around and found her younger brother to be stuck in a nearby cage. Her pupils dted in fear and she screamed for help.


    But none listened to her pleas.


    "5000!"


    "5001!"


    The bidding continued and eventually, someone won this round of bidding.


    The young girl was desperate to know about her younger brother''s situation, but since the cages were ced quite far away, she couldn''t reach her brother at all.


    Her small hands were far too weak to do anything in that situation. A look of great concern appeared on her face when she noticed that her brother seemed to be unconscious.


    "Congrattions these fine goods, now belong to participant no.53!" (Host)


    Just when things looked grim and desperate a ray of hope shined in that dark hallway.


    *Bang*


    The ceiling of the underground hallway burst apart and a muscr man in luxurious clothesnded on the ground.


    The man''s bright red hair waved in the air and his bright red pupils shined like gems in that dark hall.


    Bright rays of sunlight entered the hall from the hole in the ceiling, which was created by the man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    The man had a wide grin on his face, his aura made every person feel immense fear.


    "Heh, so this is where you all were hiding, d*man vermins!"


    The man''s voice carried immense strength in it. Even space-


    time itself seems to tremble from his very presence.


    The masked people looked at the man in horror and shouted in panic.


    "W-what''s an SS-ranker doing here!"


    "R-run!"


    "No! No! How did he find out about this ce!?"


    A frown appeared on the man''s face as he replied to those shouts in a cold tone.


    "Heh, you vermins really underestimate the abilities of an SS-


    ranker¡­"


    "You see, I am Ashtel Rex, tracking you worms is child''s y for me!" (Ashtel)


    After saying that, Ashtel raised his hand a little and flicked his finger towards those masked people.


    *Bammmmmmm!*


    In a single flick of his finger, an immense air pressure was created. The tremendous air pressure struck them all with an insane force and blew their bodies away into fine dust in an instant.


    The attack didn''t stop there and it continued onwards, it directly blew apart half of the underground hall, and rays of sunshine entered the hall through that broken half of the hall.


    "Hmph, worthless worms¡­" (Ashtel)


    Several other awakeners arrived at the scene and ady in the uniform of a secretarynded in front of Ashtel. (Everyone who entered the ce was an S-ranker, they all could fly¡­)


    "Uh, it seems this is thest ce of thiswork, we have finished the work for today boss¡­" (Secretory)


    Hearing the report from his secretory, Ashtel nodded his head and then nced at the ce, his gaze fell on the girl inside the cage for a few seconds and he said in a sour tone.


    "These b*stards really thought we couldn''t find them just because they were using S-rank stealth artifacts¡­ tch! Pathetic worms, they even dared toy their hands on innocent children¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Arrange a proper ce for that young girl¡­ as for that boy¡­. It seems we were a bitte today¡­ sigh¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel shook his head in regret, he knew that there were bound to be some mistakes in such a big operation. Even he could not revive a dead person after all.


    ¡­


    Later the reports were submitted to the media and the whole human society criticized this underground organization for its cruelty.


    Although it was toote for the young boy who died in this mess, more children were saved as that illegal organization came to an end after Ashtel raided all of their hideouts personally.


    The incident was concluded that day, but for the young girl who lost her only loved one, the world seemed to have copsed.


    After rescuing her from the underground auction hall, the Ashtel''s subordinates arranged the paperwork, and the young girl was sent to one of the most famous and luxurious orphanages.


    She was provided with all the facilities that she could have never dreamt of before.


    But in her eyes all these things were meaningless.


    The moment she found out that her younger brother had already died, all her happiness had vanished into nothingness.


    (His neck was extremely weak, and when the bodyguard hit him to make him faint, his neck immediately broke and he died on the spot¡­ there was no way he could have lived after that¡­)


    May it be Ashtel''s mistake that he arrivedte, or may it be the mistake of the intelligence squad that they discovered the situationte, but the young girl thought that it was her own mistake that she didn''t protect her brother from the cruel world.


    The young girl''s eyes burnt with hatred from that day onwards, she had decided that she would take revenge on the man who inflicted all this pain on her.


    She knew that she was far too weak and it was near impossible for the current her to find that man in this vast human empire.


    Thus she had decided, that she would be strong enough to one day give this same pain to the man who robbed her brother away from her.


    That was the day when ''Riko Embeth'' chose to walk on the thorny path of ''Revenge''.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! So here is the backstory of the miserable character Riko. I guess now you know why Lia said that Riko was walking the path of ''Revenge''.


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Riko will be able to reach her goal of revenge?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 181 The Path of revenge... Part-2.

    Chapter 181 The Path of revenge... Part-2.


    ??''In the first ce, we both never saw the faces of our parents... it''s not like I me them for it though...'' (Riko)


    After Ashtel''s subordinates rescued Riko, they ran a full background check on her, and they found out that Riko''s parents were both awakeners who had died in a failed dungeon raid.


    They told Riko about this whole truth and she even received some old images of her parents from them.


    ''The existence of parents didn''t matter to me at all, all I wanted was to keep my brother safe and happy...'' (Riko)


    Riko''s brother was her younger twin, but unlike her strong physique, her younger brother was frail and weak. He was born blind and his hearing started to fade away slowly as he grew up.


    The young boy needed the immediate help of an S-rank healer.


    Hiring an S-rank healer is very costly, but it is worth the trouble. Even top-ss healing potions can''t specifically focus on a particr ce of the body, but an S-rank healer is a different case.


    They can literally make your organs or any other limbs regenerate from nothingness.


    If Riko''s younger brother had the opportunity to be healed by an S-rank healer, he would have regained his eyesight and the healer would have even healed his frail body.


    There are only two known SS-rank healers in this world at the current time, one is the Elf queen, and the other is said to be a water dragon, but her whereabouts are currently unknown.


    (SS-rank healers are ''rumored'' to be able to use the legendary technique ''Resurrection''... but there are no actual records of such a technique being implemented ever before...)


    But all of this doesn''t even matter now. Her brother was already dead, that is a fact that can''t be changed anymore.


    Thus the only goal in Riko''s life now is to take revenge on that man who sold them both to the ck market. If not for him, she could have continued to live peacefully with her brother.


    (No she is wrong, her brother was already counting hisst day by then, he wouldn''t have lived long due to his weak heart slowly failing him, even if he wasn''t killed, he would have still died soon after...)


    (The only way to save him was that you would have to get the help of an S-rank healer at that point... aside from that, Riya could have also saved him, as she is the most talented healer of the current era...)


    ...


    Riko had no regrets about her way of living, it didn''t matter to her how badly her own life gets destroyed as long as she can have her revenge.


    The only motive she has to live right now is to have revenge.


    ''The problem is, I don''t even remember the face of that man now...'' (Riko)


    That worn-down ce the two siblings used to live was also an orphanage actually and the man who sold them off on the ck market was also the owner of that orphanage.


    ''He was a drunkard, who used to beat me whenever he felt angry, there weren''t any other children left in the orphanage beside us both...'' (Riko)


    ''...So, we were the ones who suffered through it for a long time... but my memories of that time have blurred a lot now... I don''t even remember his face but...'' (Riko)


    Although she couldn''t remember his face, Riko was sure that she could still distinguish his presence from anyone else in the world.


    ''But, I will never forget that disgusting presence... never...'' (Riko)


    While Riko was lost in her own thoughts, her junior who was walking ahead of her suddenly said some words that struck her like lightning.


    "A friendly advice from me Senpai, ''It''s never good to focus on revenge too much'', I know those eyes as I have experienced it myself... make sure you don''t end up burning yourself out in those mes of revenge..." (Lia)


    Hearing those words, Riko felt like her whole existence was being questioned.


    The only reason Riko lived to this day was because she wanted revenge, otherwise, she would have alreadymitted Su*cide to join her brother in the afterlife.


    Riko hurriedly shook her head in denial.


    "It doesn''t matter, as long as the result is good, I don''t care about the process..." (Riko)


    ''I havee a long way now, I can''t leave this path now, I chose to walk on this path of eternal revenge...'' (Riko)


    ''There''s no way I will reconsider my choice now, I must see through this path to its end...'' (Riko)


    A ''Path'' is like a ''binding oath'', you can''t break it so easily otherwise you will lose your ambitions. Without the me of ''Ambition'', humans are nothing but ''ordinary'' in this world.


    ''Ambition'' and ''Need'' give birth to ''strength'' in the form of ''Awakening'', and a ''Path'' keeps those mes of ''Ambition'' continue to burn brightly, once you lose your ''Path'' your mes of ''Ambition'' run out and you will stop progressing from that point onwards.


    ...


    (Back to current time...)


    While everyone was enjoying their vacation, Riko remained silent and stern. She had no reason to be happy in the first ce.


    The only reason she even came here, was because Zach had invited her toe here. Otherwise, she would have been training to be stronger instead of ying on this beach.


    Looking at Zach''s small figure trying topete with the other guys, made her remember those days when she used to y some easy games with her brother. (He was blind and frail, so he could barely y any games...)


    As Zach had spent a long time hanging around Riko, she had seen him grow up from a newly awakened person to today''s A-ranked Archer.


    Whenever she looked at Zach Riko often thought to herself:


    ''Would my younger brother have been like him if he had lived?'' (Riko)


    In Riko''s eyes, Zach resembled her younger brother so much that she had inevitably started to think of him as a brother.


    The reason why all of Zach''s attempts to impress her failed was that she had started to think of him as a brother.


    Riko has no romantic feelings for Zach, all she thinks is that Zach resembles her brother.


    ''That''s also one of the reasons why I must not stay near you, Zach¡­'' (Riko)


    Riko who had lost her whole family, had always considered herself as a bearer of great misfortune.


    She thinks that whoever she tries to get close to, that person will end up getting hurt due to her own bad luck.


    "Okay, guys it''s gettingte now, let''s start heading back now! I have called my grandpa, and he will send a car to pick us up!" (Zach)


    After shouting that to everyone, Zach slowly walked over to Riko''s side. He hadn''t talked to her the whole day today, thus he had a nervous look on his face.


    He stretched out his hand and asked with a smile on his face.


    "Would you like to go and buy some ice cream? It will take a few minutes for the car to arrive¡­ what do you say?" (Zach)


    ''I can''t hold that hand¡­.'' (Riko)


    Riko shook her head at Zach''s invitation.


    "No, I don''t like ice cream¡­ You can buy them if you like¡­" (Riko)


    The smile on Zach''s face disappeared in an instant when Riko said those words. His eyes seem to have lost some brightness and a depressed aura appeared on him.


    Zach took his hand back in embarrassment and replied:


    "hehe.. okay¡­ w-well, i-I will go and buy one for me only¡­" (Zach)


    After saying that, Zach left the ce in a hurry, he seemed to have found his answer at that one moment.


    (Zach''s one-sided love died that day¡­ Riko didn''t hold his hand and he considered that as a sign of rejection...)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of waiting, the car arrived and all of the students boarded the car.


    The return trip was uneventful and boring.


    No one really talked much as everyone was tired from ying around all day long. (They might be awakeners with strong physiques but mentally they are all still children¡­)


    After reaching the hotel, everyone went back to their own respective rooms to rest for the night.


    Riko opened the door of her room and walked in.


    As the lights were off, the darkness in the room reminded her of the days she spent in loneliness after her brother died.


    She slowly walked in and slumped down, she put her back on the wall and buried her head in her arms.


    Coincidentally, the same scene happened in the room that was right beside hers.


    Zach also slumped down and put his back on the wall.


    As the walls of the hotel rooms were enhanced with A-rank magic, both of them couldn''t feel each other''s presence, but both of them were actually sitting right beside each other at that moment.


    Tears appeared in their eyes and fell on the dry ground.


    "Sorry, Zach, I can''t hold that hand, I don''t want you to suffer from my misfortune¡­ I am not worthy to stand beside you¡­" (Riko)


    "Sorry, Riko, my heart is fickle, you have thoroughly broken it, and now I have nothing left for you¡­." (Zach)


    And thus, the love story that never even started came to a premature end.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Well, the situation of these two was already veryplicated to begin with, not all stories have a good ending guys, so don''t me me for this love story''s premature ending¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you these two will be able to make up in the future?


    1.Yes (Well anyplicated rtionship can be solved with bettermunication¡­)


    2.No (Don''t forget Riko I a ''heroine'' she isn''t meant to be with ''Zach'' in the first ce¡­.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 182 The Tree of Blood! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 182 The Tree of Blood! Part-1.</h4>


    Oaklum, City outskirts, seashore.


    Next Day, Morning.


    "So, how are we going to go underwater?" (Riya)


    "Hmm, I and Rio likely don''t need to breathe oxygen, so we can swim without worrying about drowning..." (Link)


    A-rankers are partial superhumans, they can use mana in ce of oxygen to supply energy to their cells, and thus they don''t really need to breathe at all, making them immune to drowning due tock of oxygen.


    (S-rankers and above-level individuals don''t need to breathe, eat, or sleep at all. As they have already broken through their racial limits they could easily live on mana alone...)


    This means that Zach, Riko, Rio, and Link all four of them could directly swim to that underwater cave without worrying about theck of oxygen andplete the mission all by themselves.


    Moreover, they can use mana to protect themselves from the underwater pressure


    (A-rankers may look weak in front of the S-rankers, but even they are not to be underestimated either. S-rankers are rare, thus A-rankers are the actual backbone of the awakener society who keep the whole society functional.)


    Zach nced at the map of the area andpared it with the Intel that was provided by the academy.


    "Hmm, it seems the underwater cave is about 2 miles deep, the water pressure at that deep level of the sea would be extremely high..." (Zach)


    Just when everyone was contemting about it, Rio nced at Lia and said in a confident tone.


    "How about I split this sea for you? It will be a spectacr sight to watch..." (Rio)


    Lia rolled her eyes at Rio''s words, she knew that if Rio really tried it seriously, he might actually do this kind of thing.


    "No, we still don''t know what we may encounter in the cave, don''t waste your mana here..." (Liam)


    Rio tilted his head towards Liam and replied.


    "Tch, I was trying to flex in front of my girlfriend, can''t you stay quiet for a while?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio say that everyone rolled their eyes in awkwardness. Rio really dared to say it out loud.


    "Ahem, Riya don''t worry I can also make the water disappear by punching it once!" (Link)


    ''Damn you Rio! How dare you flex in front of me!'' (Link)


    Riya just tilted her head in confusion as she didn''t even know why they were bothpeting about destroying the sea.


    *p*


    "Ahem, okay guys, enough ying around! I asked Ellie just now, and she agreed to take us underwater, as for protecting you guys, leave that to me!" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s deration, everyone nodded their head.


    Then Liam nced at Fade and said in a mocking tone.


    "By the way, you can cling to her ws like usual, hehe trash...." (Liam)


    "D*mn you rich bast*rd! I am not going with you all! I can go by myself!" (Fade)


    If ordinary people had received this mission they would have to use ''underwater travel'' artifacts that are usually very slow and fragile.


    But in this group of students, none was an ordinary person at all, each of them had the capability to back up their exceptional talents.


    (Riya is the only passenger princess of this group and everyone is ready to protect her... she seems to have some serious ''healer privileges'' with her...)


    Healers have the privilege to be protected by the whole party as they are a very important part of the party. Without a healer, a party is vulnerable to fatal injuries.


    To keep everyone alive, keeping the healer alive and healthy is the first and foremost priority of the whole party.


    This is basic knowledge and everyone knows it.


    If the need arose, even Fade would have to protect Riya, just like Riya healed Fade in the dungeon of Maya despite the grievances between them. (But as long as Link is there, no one else needs to really worry about Riya''s safety...)


    ...


    As nned, Ellie turned into her dragon form and everyone sat on her back. (Except for Fade and Kira, they both decided to use the artifact to travel underwater...)


    Liam ced his hand on Ellie''s back and rubbed her scales gently.


    ''Okay, I leave it to you, bless my magic for a while partner...'' (Liam)


    [Haha, that tickles... okay, here we go, Master] (Ellie)


    Ellie opened her wings and flew into the air without any hesitation.


    The nice breeze of wind hit everyone in the face and made them feel refreshed.


    "Wohhooo! I never even thought in my dreams! That I would be able to one day ride on the back of a real dragon! This feels so nice!" (Zach)


    Arge smile appeared on everyone''s face as they nced at the sea below them.


    If not for Liam convincing Ellie, none of them would have been able to ride on the back of a dragon, like this. This is like a dreame true for most of them.


    As they were on the outskirts of the city, there weren''t any humans in the vicinity here, and thus they didn''t need to worry about someone seeing Ellie''s dragon form soaring into the sky.


    Liam nced back and said to Zach.


    "Senpai, stop grinning so much, you still have to look at the map..." (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s voice, Zach finally came to his senses and nced at the map shown by the hologram-generating device.


    "Hmm, let''s see, okay... we need to fly for about five minutes at our current speed, then we can dive directly into the sea..." (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s voice, Link said in a doubtful tone.


    "This cave is so far away in the ocean¡­ who the heck even found it in the first ce!? Did they have nothing better to do than finding some random caves?" (Link)


    "Well some people have too much free time I guess¡­" (Zach)


    Before Link could say anything else, Rio suddenly whispered in his ears in a low voice.


    "Just like how you neglect training to research which new candy should you buy for Riya next¡­." (Rio)


    "Ahem, cough! I-I understand, people have their motives I guess¡­ cough!" (Link)


    ''I guess that person who found this ce must be as diligent as me then¡­.wait!'' (Link)


    Link was taken aback by Rio''s voice.


    ''What The f*ck! I didn''t even notice this guy sneaking around me! When did he appear behind me!?'' (Link) (No one can detect the professional thief¡­)


    Link hurriedly distanced himself from Rio and protected Riya behind him, Riya just tilted her head in confusion as she nibbled on her candies. She didn''t understand why Link was behaving so weirdly today.


    Ignoring the highly alerted Link, Rio just went back and sat beside Lia while holding her hand.


    Only after a few seconds did Link finally rx.


    ''Seriously, this guy is so fast, now that he has reached A-rank, will I even be able to keep up with his speed?'' (Link)


    For Link, seeing others be stronger than him is the biggest face-p on him. He is extremelypetitive and seeing Rio be stronger makes him want to train harder.


    He thinks that if others be stronger than him, he won''t be able to protect Riya from them. (Bro is too overprotective over her¡­.)


    ¡­


    After waiting for a while, they all finally arrived at the site.


    "Okay, this is the ce¡­" (Zach)


    Zach pointed at the sea and showed Liam where they needed to go next.


    Liam nodded his head andmunicated with Ellie through telepathy.


    ''Ellie, this is the ce, dive down now¡­'' (Liam)


    [Understood!] (Ellie)


    At Liam''s order, Ellie started to dive down without hesitation.


    "Okay everyone, now I will cast the ''air bubble'' spell, it will protect us from the water pressure and provide oxygen, Ellie will bless my magic so we don''t need to worry about it breaking¡­" (Liam)


    "Just keep sure that all of you stick to Ellie''s back, don''t stretch your hands out of the air bubble''s radius!" (Liam)


    Everyone nodded their heads at Liam''s words and agreed with him.


    [Intermediate Wind-!


    Just when Liam was about to cast his magic, Ellie suddenly stopped mid-air and hurriedly flew back to the sky. Liam''s chant got disrupted and he stopped casting his magic.


    Everyone had a confused look on their faces as they all nced at Liam in confusion.


    Before Liam could ask Ellie about the situation, Ellie''s urgent voice sounded in his mind.


    [Master! I sense danger ahead¡­.] (Ellie)


    ''What happened?'' (Liam)


    A confused look appeared on Liam''s face, this was the first time he heard Ellie say that it was ''Dangerous'' to go somewhere.


    Coincidentally, a simr thing happened in Lia''s head.


    [Kiddo, when we were close to the sea earlier, I sensed a familiar presence¡­] (Kai)


    [It''s better to leave this ce early, I don''t want to see that old thing again¡­] (Kai)


    [If it was the prime me, this would have been nothing but I am not so sure now¡­] (Kai)


    ''What is actually going on, Kai?'' (Lia)


    [You see, I sense a¡­] (Kai)


    [I sensed the presence of a¡­] (Ellie)


    [Dragon!] (Kai and Ellie said it at the same time¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Hoho, things seem to have taken quite a surprising turn all of a sudden, who would have thought a dragon was residing so close to the city¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Link will be able to keep up with Rio''s speed?


    1.Yes (We believe in the power of love!!)


    2.No (No one can catch up to the speed of the legendary thief!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 183 The Tree of Blood! Part-2.

    Chapter 183 The Tree of Blood! Part-2.


    ??Above the sea.


    ''D-dragon you say!?'' (Liam)


    [Yes, I definitely sensed the presence of a dragon... moreover, it hasn''t attacked us, which means it''s inviting us...] (Ellie)


    [But this is strange, usually, dragons end up fighting with each other whenever theye across their kin in the wild... but it hasn''t attacked us...] (Ellie)


    [It''s as if it knows about us beforehand...] (Ellie)


    [Ah, well it''s that berserk guy who went missing, Elisia...] (Kai)


    Just when Ellie was talking to Liam using her own telepathy, Kai interfered with her telepathy and took control of it in his own hands.


    He immediately spread the connection to everyone, now everyone couldmunicate using telepathy.


    Ellie was more than surprised when she suddenly detected Kai''s presence. (Until now he had been hiding his presence whenever Ellie was nearby.... Thus even she didn''t know about him being there...)


    [What are you doing here!? Divine Spirit''s general!] (Ellie)


    In a matter of mere seconds, Ellie changed her form to a humanoid one, she cast a shadow magic and covered Liam in shadows. She hurriedly took a defensive stance and guarded Liam behind herself.


    [Oi, everyone will fall if you transform like that... sigh~] (Kai)


    [Divine spirit''s magic: Floating Wind!]


    Kai used his own magic to keep everyone else from falling and immediately stabilized everyone in the air.


    His small cat-like body appeared on Lia''s shoulder and his eyes stared at Ellie with great wisdom hidden in them.


    While everyone was still confused by this sudden turn of events, the water underneath them all started to divide on its own.


    The sea itself was telling them to follow this path, it seemed.


    In just a few seconds the situation had be extremely chaotic.


    ...


    Lia red at Kai with a confused look on her face.


    ''Kai, what''s going on?'' (Lia)


    [Uh, it''s a long story, for now, you just need to know that we are actually old friend-] (Kai)


    Before Kai could finish his words, Ellie shouted angrily.


    [How dare you say that we are friends!? You f*cking killed all of my siblings! And you still have the nerve to say that!?] (Ellie)


    [Uh, look that was several centuries ago, and at that time my master asked me to do that, you can''t me me for following orders-] (Kai)


    [Although we dragons don''t care much about interpersonal rtions like humans, but that doesn''t mean I will keep my guard down against someone who literally killed my kin without batting an eye!] (Ellie)


    Ellie nced at Liam and said in a worried tone.


    [Master, we need to get out of this ce right now... The current me can''t protect you from that spirit general... he''s a bloodthirsty murderer who has killed more than a hundred dragons! We should retreat right this moment!] (Ellie)


    [Sigh~ I knew this would happen, that''s why I was hiding my presence... tch! That d*mn Tomar sullied my reputation!] (Kai)


    "Uh, you two calm down for a moment, let''s talk first-" (Liam)


    Before Liam could finish his words another voice appeared in everyone''s minds via telepathy.


    [Divine General Kawaki, uh, I don''t think I have offended you in any way, why have youe here then?] (???)


    That voice seems to belong to the dragon that was resting below the ocean. The voice sounded old and carried a hint of worry in it.


    That voice addressed Kai with respect. Two dragons already acknowledged Kai just now and that alone proved how infamous Kai''s name was among the dragons.


    [Ugh... believe me guys! I didn''te here to cause trouble at all!] (Kai)


    While Kai wasmenting his bad reputation causing problems for him, Rio and everyone else looked at each other with a confused look.


    "Uh, Ellie how about we go to that cave and solve this issue peacefully... by you know talking it out!" (Liam)


    Liam didn''t want to get Ellie injured, he didn''t want a fight to break out among these colossal beasts right now.


    If all three of them started fighting right here, it will not only affect all the students but also it will cause trouble for the people in the city.


    [Yeah, that kiddo is right... Hey I aming over to your ce!] (Kai)


    [Well... okay I guess.... I have no other choice right now...] (???)


    Ellie also nodded her head and decided to calm down for now.


    ''I can''t sense that immense killing intent he used to have in those times, but I still must stay vignt, he seems to have lost most of his power... but I can''t underestimate someone who used to eat dragons for breakfast...'' (Ellie)


    Turns out, Kai''s reputation among the dragons was so bad that there are rumors going around that Kai used to eat dragon''s meat for breakfast.


    ...


    Kai used his divine magic and guided all the students along with him to the underwater cave.


    Ellie and Liam followed behind them while maintaining a safe distance.


    The underwater cave had a very small entrance, it was only suitable for human-sized creatures to enter, there was no way a massive dragon could enter it through this small entrance.


    Once they all entered the cave, the seawater flowed again and returned to normal.


    Riya nced at the cave''s entrance with a look of curiosity in her eyes.


    "Whoa, the water stopped around the entrance and didn''t enter the cave at all, even the insides of this cave look so dry, I almost mistook it for a normal cave above ground from how it looked from the inside!" (Riya)


    Link nodded his head and replied.


    "Hmm, this shows that the dragon who lives here has a very good control over water elements..." (Link)


    [Well that little guy is a ''Water Dragon'', obviously his control over the water Element will be high...] (Kai)


    "Hmm, little guy you say? You are older than him?" (Lia)


    [Yeah, you can say so¡­] (Kai)


    Hearing Kai''s words, Ellie who had turned into her humanoid form clicked her tongue and replied in a disgusted tone.


    "Tch! How long are you going to deceive Lia, divine spirits have no such ''concept'' of birth or death, you old fellow clearly is as old as the human race itself¡­" (Ellie)


    [I-I am not that old... Hey, Kiddo don''t listen to her ramblings she is trying to sully my divine name¡­] (Kai)


    "Tch! Shameless old thing¡­" (Ellie)


    Ellie shook her head and Led the way forward for Liam. She stopped talking to Kai as she didn''t want to talk to him any further.


    Link nced at Kai and asked in a low voice.


    "You used to hunt dragons for fun, right? Can you tell me what are the best ces to look for if you want to hunt a dragon¡­" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s question, Kai rolled his eyes in disbelief. He had already seen how much of a muscle head Link was, but to think he woulde to him to ask about where to find dragons for hunting was quite shocking for even Kai.


    [Uh, you just need to look for ces that have an extremely high concentration of mana, then you need to shout this: ''Dragons are just big fat lizards!!''...] (Kai)


    [If there really was a dragon at that ce, it woulde rushing at you head-on after hearing those few words¡­] (Kai)


    "Oho! That''s quite a good technique, I see!" (Link)


    [Well, dragons also think of humans as ''Pathetic worms'', so there''s no need to hold back against them either¡­ in fact, I know a thousand different methods to ''taunt'' a dragon¡­] (Kai)


    [Even the most calm-natured dragon will be infuriated if you say ''Dragons eat sh*t!'' at their face¡­ hehe, it''s an old and effective technique-] (Kai)


    "Will you shut the f*ck up! Tch!" (Ellie)


    [Cough! Ahem, don''t mind me, it''s an old habit ¡­ cough!] (Kai)


    (All organisms in the world inhale and exhale mana when they breathe, and since the dragons eat mana as food, technically they are eating the mana exhaled by others¡­..)


    ¡­


    After walking for a few minutes everyone arrived at the innermost area of the underwater cave.


    The corridor to the core area was narrow but this innermost area was extremely vast.


    It seems that someone has expanded this area using space maniption devices.


    Thousands of bookshelves stood near the walls and hundreds of magic scrolls were scattered around all over the ground.


    "Uh, the ce is a bit messy, I hope you all don''t mind it much¡­" (???)


    A middle-aged man sat on one of the fiverge couches in the middle of the huge hall.


    He had light blue curly hair and blue serpentine eyes.


    The man stretched his hand and invited everyone to sit.


    Without hesitation, all of them walked towards the couches and sat down with a curious look on their faces.


    The man nced at Ellie and said in a surprised tone.


    "Oh, so you have been summoned again, Elisia¡­ but this is the first time I have seen you actually following someone¡­ you always used to decline the contract¡­" (???)


    "Ah, pardon me, let me introduce myself first, I am Aaron Shinaya un Mirage, I am a water dragon, you can call me Aaron¡­" (Aaron)


    Ellie also nodded her head.


    "It''s been a while, Aaron¡­" (Ellie)


    Kai also nodded his head and said in a nostalgic tone.


    [Indeed it''s been a while,st time I saw you, you were still just a young fledgling¡­] (Kai)


    Hearing Kai''s voice, a frown appeared on Aaron''s face:


    "And you attacked me the very moment you saw me¡­. You directly ripped my legs apart¡­." (Aaron)


    [Ahem! That cough! Cough!] (Kai)


    Kai dodged Aaron''s eyes and ignored his sarcasm as he cursed at his past self in his mind.


    ''Just how many of them did I eat!?'' (Kai)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Hoho! Who would have thought that our little fluff ball Kai, would actually be such a fearsome individual¡­ By the way that rumor about Kai eating dragons for breakfast is true¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given the chance, would you use Kai''s taunting methods to anger a dragon?


    1.Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 184 The Tree of Blood! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 184 The Tree of Blood! Part-3.</h4>


    Underwater cave, Aaron''s dwelling.


    "Cough! Okay, I will be honest with you guys, you see, at that time I was being ordered by my master to go hunt down the dragons that were living on the ''Human continent''..." (Kai)


    "The humans had won the thousand-year war by that time and they wanted to take this whole continent under their ownmand..." (Kai)


    In front of the doubtful eyes of everyone, Kai patiently started to exin everything.


    ...


    (Info dumps ahead, More lore of this world...)


    Before the thousand-year war, the continent was gued with millions of demons wandering around in the wilderness, which used to cause major problems for human travelers.


    Traveling from one city to another was a daunting task and trade was difficult. (It was a time when the first SS-ranker hadn''t appeared yet... S-rankers were the peak powerhouses of that time...)


    The mana density of those times was much thinner than the current times. And as everyone knows, the thinner mana density is, the rarer it is for higher-ranked individuals to ascend.


    (A Theory suggests that if mana disappears from this world, everyone... including the SS-rankers will regress in strength and be nothing but ordinary individuals once again...)


    Then King Allen was born, and the golden generation came into being. The First SS-ranker of the human race, King Allen took the matter into his own hands, he dered war on the whole demon race.


    He was the first person to establish a proper ''awakener''s army''.


    Under hismand, the army human army fought the millions of demons that were scattered around in the wilderness and got rid of all the demons that were in the human continent.


    But the Demon King of that time was not pleased with this action, he obviously counterattacked and led his army to counterattack.


    In response to the demon king''s frontal assault, it is recorded that King Allen ripped the Demon king apart in their first fight, and then he mercilessly killed and ughtered all of the royal demons of that era.


    Due to this, a new demon king didn''t appear for about three hundred years after that.


    King Allen established the alliance with other races using various means. (He beat the sh*t outta the elf king of that time and established the alliance by force... although this isn''t recorded in history books, it''s an actual fact...)


    After the defeat of the demon king, the demon race lost its original unity and thus they became even more of an easy target.


    The alliance then waged wars all over the world, and the mass killing of demons became a norm.


    People started organizing demon-hunting events topete against each other in an attempt to further reduce the demon influence from this world.


    Three hundred yearster, a new Demon King appeared, and then the war continued in its fullest form once again.


    Just like that, Centuries went by and at the end of the thousand-year war, the alliance finally seeded in pushing the demons back to the demon continent.


    Due to thebined effort of the alliance, Demons were forced to retreat. Except for the Demon continent, no demons remained on other continents. This was a great victory in the truest sense.


    The war ended, and the alliance remained strong even after the mysterious disappearance of King Allen from this world.


    The alliance always kept the demon race at bay and never let them take an extra inch ofnd outside the demon continent.


    (Why didn''t the all-powerful King Allenpletely annihte the demons from the very existence, you ask? The answer to this question is a top secret ''Information'' which only the SS-rankers know about...)


    After the disappearance of King Allen, a new era started humans started to im the whole human continent as their own.


    They wanted to usurp as muchnd and resources as possible for themselves. And to do this they had to kill or push every other race that resided on the human continent.


    The humans of that time had determined one thing, and that was the inevitable increase in poption would be a major problem for them.


    They knew that the human race''s poption would increase in the future at a tremendous rate and they would need unimaginable resources at that time.


    Thus to grab more resources for their future descendants, it was extremely important to push all other races out of the human continent.


    Most SS-rankers of that time were not in favor of that decision thus they never took part in this pointless killing, very few top-ranking people led the armies to reim morend.


    One such person was Tomar Kinya von Silver.


    Tomar was influenced by the ideology that it was their duty to ensure that their future descendants had a proper foothold in this world.


    To ensure that his descendants could live in and filled with rich resources and immense wealth, Tomar led his subordinates and took the task of hunting all the dragons that were residing on the human continent, in his own hands.


    Along with his summoned beast, the ''divine Spirit''s General Kawaki'', he fought one dragon every month.


    Most dragons who resided on the human continent were outliers who were kicked out by the dragon race and had nowhere else to go, they were all not that strong and were only around S-rank at most.


    Kai being an SS-rank spirit, easily ripped them all apart and his name became infamous among all the dragons of that time.


    In his time, Kai killed around 137 dragons, including the young ones. (Once he raided a dragon nest along with Tomar, they would first kill the dragon and then deal with their children too.


    Those two didn''t even spare the eggs and broke them apart or ate them for breakfast.


    In the eyes of the rouge dragons of that time, Tomar and Kai were absolute menace, their name was extremely infamous.


    Kai was a summoned beast and he couldn''t go against Tomar''s orders, even if he wanted to, he couldn''t spare any of the dragons they were hunting.


    (Lia''s sword, Ambient Silver, is blessed with the blood of the hearts of hundreds of dragons that Tomar once killed¡­)


    ¡­


    (Back to the present time¡­)


    After exining all this, Kai nodded his head in satisfaction and said:


    "Now you understand? Many circumstances led to that decision at that time¡­ ideology is a powerful thing you see¡­." (Kai)


    Although others didn''tpletely agree with Kai''s unconcerned killings of the dragons, they also knew that there was no point in thinking too much about the past anymore.


    Aaron shook his head and said in a defeated tone:


    "Sigh~ it''s not like we can change the past now, things happened as they were supposed to¡­ forget it, It''s not like I can fight you either way¡­" (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s words, Kai tilted his head in confusion and asked.


    "Hmm, in my current state I might not be your opponent though¡­" (Kai)


    Aaron immediately shook his head and replied with a smile:


    "Hehe, I won''t fall for your taunting, moreover, I don''t like to overestimate my abilities, I know about your powers General Kai, so I don''t underestimate you¡­" (Aaron)


    "Ugh, you are still thinking of me as a bad guy¡­ it will take a long time to clear my bad reputation it seems¡­" (Kai)


    Just when Kai wasmenting his past self, Ellie looked at him with a confused look and asked:


    "I have been meaning to ask for a while now, if you were already that strong, how did your dragon hunte to an end?" (Ellie)


    Hearing Ellie''s question a sour look appeared on Kai''s face.


    "Ugh, I don''t like talking about that¡­" (Kai)


    "hoho, my curiosity has been piqued, tell us about it General Kai¡­" (Aaron)


    Being urged by the two of them, Kai had no other choice but to tell them the whole truth.


    "Ah, well you see, we killed so many dragons, obviously the news eventually reached the ears of the ''Dragon King''¡­." (Kai)


    *Hiss!**Gasp!*


    Hearing the word ''Dragon King'' from Kai''s mouth, everyone sucked their breaths and a chill ran down their spine.


    "Don''t tell me, you!?" (Aaron)


    Aaron and Ellie both had a shocked look on their faces when they heard about this matter.


    They are both S-rank dragons, and they both know how much weight the word ''Dragon King'' carries in the current era.


    Ignoring the shocked look on everyone''s faces, Kai nodded his head.


    "You see, I and Tomar attacked you Aaron, and your mother got angered over that, she was friends with the dragon king, and she went ahead andined to him about us¡­" (Kai)


    Kai''s eyes narrowed and his voice became solemn as he continued:


    "The dragon king took her words to heart, he personally descended in front of us¡­" (Kai)


    "Rest was but a one-sided ughter, he killed us both on the spot like he was swatting some annoying flies, he smashed my innards out, in one punch, ugh¡­" (Kai)


    "I still remember that sight, that being was strong, too strong I would say¡­ he might be on par with King Allen¡­" (Kai)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Well, Kai and Tomar were creating too much noise, obviously they got caught eventually¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, which race would you like to rule as a king?


    1.Human King (Where are the Jade beauties!?)


    2.Elf King (Elegant Elf are not bad either¡­)


    3.Demon King (DESTROY THAT COUNTRY!! WE GO TO WAR EVERYDAY!!)


    4.Dragon King (Weakness? What''s that? Never heard of it¡­)


    5.Others (Tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 185 The Tree of blood! Part-4.

    Chapter 185 The Tree of blood! Part-4.


    ?? "Aria Shinaya Un Mirage, one of the two SS-ranked healers of the current times, is a water dragon, and Aaron''s real mother¡­ she is good friends with the dragon king¡­" (Kai)


    "The dragon king took action against me and Tomar on her request¡­" (Kai)


    "Her healing capabilities are no joke, she was the one who healed the ''World Tree'' after it was infected by¡­ cough¡­" (Kai)


    Kai suddenly stopped talking and didn''t finish his sentence.


    "Ahem, forget it, you just need to know that she is crazy good at her work¡­" (Kai)


    Although everyone else was curious about why Kai didn''t finish his sentence they didn''t ask about it either. They also knew that since Kai didn''t continue it must be some kind of sensitive topic.


    "By the way, I have been wanting to ask, what''s Aria up to nowadays, Aaron¡­" (Kai)


    Hearing Kai''s question, Aaron shook his head and replied in a helpless tone.


    "Well, I have been in this cave for about a hundred years now, I have no idea what''s going on in the Dragon Valley right now¡­" (Aaron)


    "Last time I saw her a hundred years ago, she was saying that she would go to some unexplored corner of the sr system for some research¡­ I don''t know about the specifications either¡­" (Aaron)


    Aaron shook his head and replied in a helpless tone:


    "She has always liked to research various things, she might still be wandering around somewhere in the Oort cloud, the space is vast, who knows where she has gone¡­" (Aaron)


    (If you don''t know what ''Oort cloud'' is, then go back to school and study everything all over again!!)


    "Ah, talking about research, I recently have noticed some rather strange phenomenon with my telescope¡­" (Aaron)


    "Several Stars that used to shine brightly have now dimmed a lot, and even some of them havepletely disappeared as if they never existed¡­ this is a very strange phenomenon¡­" (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s words everyone felt confused, they all didn''t know much about these scientific things, except for Liam of course.


    Liam nodded his head and replied.


    "Yeah, an article was published by the ''research panel'' recently which addressed this same issue, they are currently investigating it¡­" (Liam)


    "Depending on the situation, they might have to send SS-rankers to those sr systems for scouting the area¡­" (Liam)


    Aaron nodded his head and smiled with a pleased look on his face.


    "As expected of the human race, you guys are always so fast on doing stuff like research and technological advancement¡­" (Aaron)


    "Sigh~ if only the dragon race was also that much interested in research and technology¡­" (Aaron)


    (No other race on this is more technologically advanced than the human race, not even the Elf canpete with humans when ites to technology¡­)


    Dragons believe in individual strength more than anything. They think of technology and research as mere tricks that lowly beings need to do to survive.


    Well from their point of view, they are not entirely wrong either. Each dragon has the potential to reach at least S-rank, moreover, they all have crazily long lifespans.


    Unlike the other races where most individuals are weak and ordinary, while only a few are strong and unique, dragons are all born with insane talent.


    Every dragon is bound to be an S-ranker if it just sleeps for a century or two and waits to be an adult.


    Although the poption of dragons is low each of them is insanely strong.


    The reason why demons dare not linger around in the territory of the dragons is because even they know that every adult dragon living in the world is at least an S-ranker.


    No race on this wants to go to war against the dragon race for this exact reason. (Imagine going to war against a species whose every member isparable to a natural disaster¡­)


    The dragons aren''t even members of the alliance, yet they don''t fear the alliance at all.


    They are literally capable of going against the whole alliance on their own, not even the demon race dares to offend them easily.


    ¡­


    "All things aside, what are you even doing here, so close to the human city? Did the human SS-rankers not find your existence?" (Kai)


    Aaron shook his head and replied in a calm tone:


    "Well, hmm if I remember correctly, an SS-ranker ''Nics'' came over to visit me, he allowed me to stay here as long as I don''t cause trouble¡­" (Aaron)


    "I was also quite surprised when you guys suddenly came over here¡­ did ''Nics'' send you?" (Aaron)


    "Uh, the SS-ranker Nics Arsene died more than fifty years ago in the ''Orc war''¡­" (Rio)


    "What!?... sigh~ he sounded like a good person actually¡­ to think he already died¡­ You humans really do have a short life span¡­" (Aaron)


    Aaron shook his head and said withplicated emotions.


    "We dragons just sleep all year long and enjoy our life to the fullest, on the other hand, you humans have to work so hard to ascend¡­ yet you don''t live your life to the fullest¡­ it''s such a shame¡­" (Aaron)


    "Well, ideals and beliefs are more important for humans than their own life¡­" (Kai)


    "Yeah, they can kill thousands of their kin just to protect a few loved ones¡­ they hate each other and yet can cooperate with each other when the need arises¡­ a strange race indeed¡­" (Ellie)


    Rio and the others dodged the weird looks that the three of them were giving them.


    "Ahem, it''s not like we don''t cherish our life, it''s just that ambitions are important you see¡­" (Liam)


    "My ambition is to reach the peak of my summoning capabilities¡­ I want to wander around all over the world with Ellie¡­" (Liam)


    [Ding! You have found your ''Path''!]


    [Ding! All Conditions have been fulfilled!]


    [Ding! Ascending to Rank-A....]


    Before anyone could understand what was going on, an immense amount of mana started to gather around Liam''s body.


    Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events.


    "What the!? He broke through in the middle of talking!?" (Link)


    The underwater cave was filled with dense mana, thus there was no need for Liam to worry aboutck of mana at all, and unlike Rio and Link, he didn''t create a tornado of mana around him either.


    (Due to the already high density of mana being present in this ce, he didn''t need to attract mana and condense it in the form of a tornado to absorb it¡­)


    (The mana was already dense enough in this cave and he could directly absorb it¡­)


    ¡­


    Ellie hurriedly cast a barrier and isted everyone away from Liam.


    "Although it''s quite surprising that he suddenly broke through, I will guard him here¡­ I won''t let anyone reach him¡­" (Ellie)


    Everyone was surprised by Liam''s sudden ascension, but they all nodded their heads in understanding and didn''t disturb him at all.


    Even Aaron nodded his head in amazement.


    "This kid seems to be exceptionally talented, he seems to have 14:24


    had a sudden ''epiphany'' and thus he directly broke through "This kid seems to be exceptionally talented, he seems to have had a sudden ''epiphany'' and thus he directly broke through while still talking to us¡­" (Aaron)


    "Seriously, the human race never seizes to amuse me more and more¡­ the more I know about them the more surprised I be¡­" (Aaron)


    Kai rolled his eyes at Aaron''s words and replied.


    "It''s not like all of them are like these few kids, these kids are the most talented ones among the current generation¡­" (Kai)


    (Kai purposely didn''t say that these few kids are being referred to as the ''Second Golden generation'' by others nowadays¡­)


    "Well since we have nothing else to do, how about you guyse visit the thing I have been researching here for more than half a century?" (Aaron)


    "Hoho, I am interested in that too, let''s see what a dragon is so focused on¡­" (Kai)


    Seeing that it would take some time for Liam toplete his ascension, everyone had a tacit understanding and they all decided to leave the ce to put Ellie at ease.


    Aaron stretched out his hand and the red-colored ring on his finger shined brightly.


    *Clink*


    A mechanism seems to have been activated.


    The bookshelves near the wall slid aside and a huge stone door enhanced with magic slowly opened.


    A staircase appeared in everyone''s view when the door fully opened.


    Without hesitation, Aaron stepped in and led the way ahead.


    "Well, you see I had to work quite hard to create this ce, I have enhanced every single wall and door here with S-rank magic..." (Aaron)


    "It''s like a proper secret base here, Except for SS-rankers, I don''t think others can even enter this ce without my permission¡­ it''s a nice and cozy ce¡­" (Aaron)


    "I never feel bored here¡­" (Aaron)


    While walking down the stairs, Aaron kept talking and continued to exin the ce to everyone, perhaps not being able to talk for a century made him more talkative today.


    Nheless, everyone followed behind him with a solemn expression on their face.


    ¡­


    Hidden Chamber


    At the end of the staircase, a massive chamber appeared, a gigantic tree with dark red leaves was located at the center of the ce.


    Aaron pointed at the ceiling and said in a gentle tone.


    "That may look like the night sky, but it''s just a stone ceiling, I have used illusion magic on it¡­ and that tree you are seeing is the thing I have been researching ¡­" (Aaron)


    "I call this thing¡­ the tree of blood¡­" (Aaron)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Things are starting to get moreplicated as time passes¡­


    Question of the day.


    What would be your reaction if the person you are talking to suddenly starts ascending like Liam?


    1.Shocked


    2.Envy


    3.Other


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 186 The Tree of Blood! Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 186 The Tree of Blood! Part-5.</h4>


    "I call this thing... the tree of blood..." (Aaron)


    Hearing that name everyone felt confused and were lost for words, except for Kai.


    "W-wait! I just remembered this tree looks awfully simr to the ''that'' one... D-don''t tell me you!?" (Kai)


    Aaron nodded his head at Kai''s question.


    "Indeed it is ''that'' tree... or to be specific this is my replica of the now extinct ''tree of affinity''..." (Aaron)


    ...


    (Info dumps ahead...)


    There are three major trees that have been revered by the Elven race since ancient times. Each of the three trees is unique to a different species of the Elven race.


    During the thousand-year Extinction war, the Dark Elves were wiped out by the demon race, and along with them the tree that they revered ''The Tree of Wisdom'' dried up and went extinct.


    The Tree of Wisdom was said to be able to give blessings to its chosen ones, its blessing was supposed to be able to enhance an individual''s wisdom exponentially. (Simply speaking it could give extra ''int'' points with its blessing...)


    Dark Elves had a rule that the queen of the Dark Elf must get the blessing of the Tree of Wisdom before ascending to the throne.


    But as fate may have it, the tree of wisdom was affected by some mysterious phenomena and died out before thest queen even took the throne.


    These facts are recorded in the history books urately.


    Simrly, the elves that live in the elf kingdom, revere the ''World Tree'', which is said to be the tree of life and birth.


    Those elegant and beautiful-looking elves protect the ''World Tree'' with the utmost care, even today.


    Lastly, in some myths and legends, there is a mention of the third type of tree, it is said that there existed a ''Tree of Affinities'', which was revered by the third type of Elves, the ''Elemental Elves''.


    These elves were said to have excellent elemental affinity since birth and they were master at elemental magic. (Rio doesn''t know it, but his Elemental sword art is actually a relic that was left behind by those Elemental Elves...)


    This Elven species is said to have existed for a short period of time right after the first time appearance of ''Mana'' in this world.


    There are no records of how they went extinct and what happened to the Tree of Affinities.


    One Legend states that if a person is blessed by all of these three trees he would have a better chance to ascend beyond the limits.


    ...


    (Back to the current time...)


    "Well I have been trying to recreate an actual tree of affinity, but until now, I am far away from sess, for now I am researching with blood..." (Aaron)


    "The original ''tree of affinity'' could grant any type of elemental affinity to its chosen ones, but this tree that I have replicated, can''t even grant a blessing yet... sigh~" (Aaron)


    "It took me so many years to barely even replicate a mere part of the actual thing... I feel like I would need another two thousand years before I can finally end my research..." (Aaron)


    Although Aaron knew that it was a daunting task that seemed to have no real end in sight, he wanted to see it till the end. He wanted to one day create a tree of affinities with his own hands.


    "This is my goal in life... or from a human perspective, you could say it is my ambition to aplish this feat..." (Aaron)


    Seeing the focused look on Aaron''s face, Kai smiled and replied in a nostalgic tone.


    "haha, you have grown a lot, Aaron,st time I saw you, you were a brat with a loud mouth, but now you have grown up to be a fine man... I am sure your mother would be proud of you!" (Kai)


    "Hehe, you praise me too much, general... I also want to surprise Mother with my progress, I wonder when she will return..." (Aaron)


    The young Aaron used to be a mischievous kid, he always used to go berserk and cause chaos everywhere he went, but now he has grown up to be such a calm and collected individual.


    ...


    While Kai and Aaron continued to talk with each other about the old days, the others looked at each other withplicated looks.


    Zach nced at Rio and whispered in a low voice.


    "What are we even doing here? Our existence seems to have been forgotten altogether..." (Zach)


    Rio shook his head and replied.


    "Don''t worry, I am used to it... I get forgotten most of the time..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s reply, Zach rolled his eyes.


    ''Bro you look like ast-stage depression patient! Why would people even want to talk to you!?'' (Zach)


    "Ahem, well sometimes it''s good to stay silent and take as much information as you can..." (Link)


    ''Father would p me if I talked back while he was still exining something... ugh... those dark memories...'' (Link)


    Link nced at the tree and noticed that there were several small fruits hanging on the tree.


    "Link, can I eat those fruits!" (Riya)


    Link shook his head with a solemn expression on his face. It''s not that he was blocking Riya or something. It''s just that he didn''t feel that it was safe.


    "This tree is giving me really strange vibes, its leaves are red and its fruits are dark red too... it''s as if this whole tree is drenched in blood... I have never seen such an eerie tree before... better not try anything funny with it..." (Link)


    "Indeed... I have a feeling that even if I cut it with ''Sword Intent'' this tree won''t be affected much..." (Rio)


    "You too? Yeah, I feel like my ''Dao Rhythm'' is telling me to stay away from this thing at all costs... uh, this is a very weird feeling..." (Link)


    Link shrugged his shoulders and dragged Riya away from the tree in case she tried to sneak up and do something to the tree.


    Rio stared at the tree with his usual expressionless face as he thought to himself:


    ''There was no such mention of the character Named ''Aaron'' in the novel and this is the first time I am hearing about this ''Tree of blood''...'' (Rio)


    ''It seems I have been encountering more and more weird things recently...'' (Rio)


    ''I better work harder, or I might not be able to keep up with this changing plot¡­'' (Rio)


    Seeing that Rio was staring at the tree, Lia grabbed Rio''s hand and dragged him away.


    "Look there are some ancient murals on the walls here, wanna see them together..." (Lia)


    "Oh¡­ okay.." (Rio)


    ''You shouldn''t make such a concerned face, let me help you relieve your stress¡­'' (Lia)


    As Lia had spent a long time observing Rio, she had already learned how to see through his expressionless face.


    She immediately noticed Rio''s concerned look, and immediately dragged him away so as to distract him from thinking too much about unwanted things.


    (Let''s go bois! Lia has reached the level where she can understand Rio without even seeing his emotions¡­ wohoo!!)


    ¡­


    While everyone was distracted by their own thing, only Zach and Riko stood beside the tree.


    "I can sense tremendous life force, coursing through this tree¡­ it has unbelievable vitality¡­" (Zach)


    As Zach is an archer, his perception is extremely strong.


    "It''s as if this tree has been nourished with endless vitality¡­" (Zach)


    [Haha, you are right kiddo¡­ I am actually astonished you even noticed¡­] (???)


    "What!? Who are you!?" (Zach)


    Hearing that sudden unfamiliar voice in his head, Zach panicked a bit.


    He hurriedly looked around himself and found that he was standing in arge white room.


    Everything around him was white and there seemed to be no end to this room in any direction.


    [This is my ne of consciousness¡­ no need to think too much of it¡­ I just dragged you here for a little chat¡­ that''s all¡­] (???)


    "Who are you? Show yourself!" (Zach)


    [What are you talking about kiddo, you have been looking at me for a while now¡­ you already forgot about me?] (???)


    [Well, let me formally introduce myself then, I am the consciousness of the ''Tree of Blood'' that you were staring at¡­]


    "What!?" (Zach)


    [Well, I don''t have much time to exin, so let''s get to the main point directly¡­]


    [I noticed that you have an excellent talent¡­]


    [Would you like to have a blessing from me?]


    "What are you talking about!?" (Zach)


    [Forget it, I will just give it to you, I don''t have the time to exin about it¡­]


    All of a sudden, Zach was pushed out of the ne of consciousness and he returned back to his senses.


    Before he could say anything, the tree of blood started to glow brightly and one of its fruits started to ripe at an extremely fast speed.


    The tree moved on its own and extended its branch towards Zach. It ced that ripe red-colored fruit right in front of Zach.


    The fruit suddenly turned into bright photons of light and entered Zach''s body in an instant.


    Not even Kai and Aaron were able to react to that sudden turn of events.


    Before anyone could understand what was going on, Zach immediately fainted.


    Fortunately, Riko caught him from falling to the ground.


    [Ding! You have been blessed by the ''tree of Blood''¡­]


    [Ding! You have received an ''Unknown Fragment''¡­]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The ''fragment'' has made its appearance again after such a long time! The mystery intensifies!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Aaron knew about all this beforehand?


    1.No (He didn''t know¡­)


    2. Nope (He has yet to properlyplete his research so he is unaware of it¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 187 A Hasty End... Part-1.

    Chapter 187 A Hasty End... Part-1.


    ??As if the tree had finallypleted itsst mission, it immediately started to wither away into thin air.


    "W-what''s happening!?" (Link)


    Everyone was taken aback by the sudden turn of events.


    Just a few seconds ago, Zach was standing there unharmed, and after a few seconds he suddenly fainted and the tree of Blood started to copse and wither at an extremely fast speed.


    "Let''s take him to the upper floor first, I guess I know what has happened..." (Aaron)


    Everyone nodded their head.


    Link took Zach from Riko''s hands and carried him on his shoulder. Everyone followed Aaron to the upper floor.


    Only Riko remained still. Her eyes widened as she stared at her hands.


    She was suddenly reminded of how her own younger brother fell into illness in her own hands.


    Seeing the unconscious Zach fall right into her hands made Riko stunned. (As before mentioned, Zach reminds her of her already deceased younger brother...)


    After a while she finally came back to her senses, she looked around and found that nobody was around her and the tree had lost its original red color, it''s whole body had withered away.


    Only the dead stump of the tree was left. A sticky ck liquid slowly flowed out of the tree stump, wherever the liquid fell it corroded that ce horribly.


    The situation was indeed unique, but Riko didn''t pay any attention to it all. She hurriedly got up and dashed towards the stairs.


    She wanted to find out about Zach''s health.


    ...


    On the upper floor.


    Link ced Zach on the sofa and Aaron hurriedly checked Zach''s condition while Riya observed the situation from the side. (Aaron is an S-rank healer himself...)


    Aaron ced his hand on Zach''s forehead and used his ''state detection'' skill to evaluate Zach''s condition.


    While Aaron was running the detection on Zach, Riko also came up and stood beside the sofa with a look of concern.


    After a few seconds, Aaron nodded his head and said:


    "As I guessed earlier, he has received the ''blessing''..." (Aaron)


    "You mean from that tree?" (Kai)


    At Kai''s question, Aaron nodded his head and replied:


    "He is in normal condition, nothing is wrong with him... no need to worry." (Aaron)


    "Um.. t-then why is he not waking up?" (Riko)


    Aaron shrugged his shoulder and replied in a helpless tone:


    "Ugh, that''s basically because that d*mned tree of mine poured all of its vitality in one single blessing!" (Aaron)


    A confused look appeared on everyone''s face after hearing Aaron''s words.


    "Uh, how do I exin..." (Aaron)


    "You see, there are three ways to cast a blessing.." (Aaron)


    ...


    (Details bombs ahead...)


    The First method to cast a blessing is the most straightforward and simple one. The user will cast the blessing using their mana reserves and bless the intended person of their free will.


    This type of blessing generally has no side effects. No matter how much mana you use to cast the blessing it generally doesn''t harm the other person.


    The second method to cast a blessing is an indirect one. In this method, the user burns their own life force to bless the other person regardless of their will.


    This type of blessing has one side effect that is if you use too much life force to bless the other person, it will cause the person to temporarily enter aa or it can cause the other person to disy abnormal behaviors.


    And Lastly, the third method to cast a blessing is the most devious one. In this method, the user casts the blessing using forbidden spells and sacrifices innocent souls as a price of that blessing.


    This method has major side effects. It can harm both the user and the blessed person''s mental state to a major extent. Most demons use this method to torture others.


    After casting this blessing many times on others, demons go berserk and lose themselves to insanity. (In fact, I have no idea why this method is even called a blessing when it clearly sounds like a curse...)


    To cast this type of blessing you have to do a veryplicated forbidden ritual which is mostly only known by the demons.


    Aside from demons, most individuals don''t even know about the existence of this type of blessing.


    ...


    (Back to the chapter...)


    "Simply speaking, the reason why Zach is currently in aa is because the tree of blood used Its immense life force to cast an extremely strong blessing on him..." (Aaron)


    "Zach is still only an A-ranker, thus he couldn''t bear the immense load and fainted on the spot... if he was an S-ranker or above, he would have been totally unfazed by this mere blessing..." (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s exnation, everyone felt relieved, they were all worried about Zach''s condition and didn''t want something to happen to him.


    "H-how long will it take him to wake up?" (Riko)


    "Hmm, well he is a talented kid, his body might adapt to this blessing faster than ordinary people... I guess a few hours should be enough... but..." (Aaron)


    "But?" (Riko)


    Aaron shook his head and said in a helpless tone.


    "But, to return back to normal it might take a bit longer... after all even if he wakes up, this immense life force will affect his thought process for a while-" (Aaron)


    "Big brother I want ice cream!!" (Zach)


    Aaron hurriedly looked down and found Zach sitting on the sofa. He seems to have already woken up.


    "Hmm, what did you say?" (Aaron)


    "Big brother, I want ice cream!!" (Zach)


    A confused look appeared on Aaron''s face, he nced at the students and asked in a solemn tone:


    "Wh-What''s an ice cream? Is it some kind of weapon?" (Aaron)


    ck lines appeared over everyone''s face when they heard Aaron question them about what an ''Ice cream'' is.


    "Uh, it''s an edible thing¡­ uh¡­ it have a stick below and it''s round from above¡­" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s description of an ice cream, Aaron''s face turned red for some unknown reason.


    "How unscrupulous!! Are all human kids so unscrupulous nowadays!?" (Aaron) (Bro thought about something else from that description Link gave, oh what could it be, hehe¡­)


    ck lines appeared on Link''s face as he tried to exin.


    "Uh, it''s not what you are thinking, it''s actually an edible thing¡­ many people like it¡­" (Link)


    The more Aaron heard Link the more redder his face became, he hurriedly backed away in fear.


    "Y-you guys even eat it¡­ h-humans are more terrifying than I thought!!" (Aaron)


    Aaron backed away several steps as if he was trying to guard himself from these terrifying human eyes.


    ¡­


    After a while, Link finally cleared the misunderstanding.


    Aaron wiped the sweat on his forehead and smiled bitterly.


    "It seems my knowledge about human society iscking a lot, perhaps I should visit the human cities in my free time¡­ But I guess I will have to take permission from the SS-rankers guarding your territories for that¡­" (Aaron)


    While Aaron was contemting about ''visiting the human cities'', Link pointed to Zach who was trying to bite Aaron''s head.


    "Uh, what''s going on with him?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s question Aaron came back to his senses and replied in a tone filled withplicated emotions.


    "Uh, as I said before, it will take him a while to be normal, that blessing must have affected his thought process, that''s why he is behaving like a young kid right now¡­" (Aaron)


    "Perhaps, he thinks of my head as arge ice cream and wants to chew on it¡­ actually this is also my first time seeing the effects of this type of blessing with my own eyes¡­" (Aaron)


    "This might help in my future research¡­" (Aaron)


    While Aaron was talking to Link, Zach opened his mouth and bit Aaron''s hand. He used his sharp teeth like a chainsaw and tried to bite Aaron''s hand off.


    Riko tried to pull Zach away, but Zach didn''t let go at all.


    "If I was an ordinary person, he would have bit my hand off by now¡­sigh~" (Aaron)


    For the first time in a while, Aaron felt happy to have been born as a dragon. His body was naturally extremely strong, no matter how much force Zach was using not even a single scratch appeared on his hand.


    Liam who had already finished his ascension the moment everyone came up, whispered in Link''s ear.


    "Doesn''t he look like a father who is already used to his children causing chaos all around him¡­" (Liam)


    Rio also nodded his head and added.


    "Zach Senpai certainly fits the role of the ''naughty younger son''¡­ and Aaron looks like a father who is already used to the everyday mischief of his younger son¡­" (Rio)


    Everyone looked at this harmonious moment and sighed.


    Finally, the earlier stress-filled atmosphere returned to the rxed one.


    (Meanwhile, everyone seems to have forgotten about, Fade and Kira''s existence altogether¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Actually, I was going to write paragraphs on Fade and Kira too, but I totally forgot about their existence for a while just like you all, so I guess we will dy it for now¡­


    Question of the day.


    Should I write a proper chapter on Fade and Kira''s situation or just a few lines would suffice?


    1.A few lines (Who even wants to read about them¡­)


    2.Who? (Fade and Kira? Who are they?Never heard of them?)


    3.Beat them more! (Write something about them being beaten again?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 188 A Hasty End... Part-2.

    Chapter 188 A Hasty End... Part-2.


    ??"I guess it will take a day or two for this kid to return back to normal..." (Aaron)


    Everyone ignored the fact that Zach was sitting on Aaron''s shoulders and hitting his head as hard as he could with his small punches.


    "Now that I think about it, I totally forgot about one thing... I didn''t ask you guys why you havee here in the first ce... did you guys need something from me?" (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s question, everyone had aplicated look on their faces.


    ''You are asking that now!? We have been wandering all over your home for a whole day now!'' (Liam)


    "Ahem, we were actually tasked to investigate the appearance of this cave in the area... but as it turns out, you are the one living here..." (Liam)


    Liam nced at Rio and asked.


    "Now that I think about it... uh, what should we report when we go back?... we can''t just say that... ''we found a dragon''s nest there!!''... that would cause too much chaos..." (Liam)


    At Liam''s question, Rio replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "We should contact principal Raji perhaps... but wait she said she was going to some ruins for exploration... it might be difficult to contact her..." (Rio)


    "Yeah... perhaps we should directly go to the alliance branch of this city and make a proper report..." (Liam)


    "You know how to write that? I heard it''s a very lengthy and boring process..." (Rio)


    Just when Liam and Rio were talking, Lia interjected and said in a confident tone:


    "I will write the report, I have practiced that in my father''s guild, so you can leave that to me!" (Lia)


    "Good, it''s settled then... first we will try to contact principal Raji, if she is unavable, we will just submit the report to the Alliance directly..." (Liam)


    Rio and Lia also nodded their head.


    "Uh, guys how about I write the report?" (Link)


    "No!" (All three of them replied in a unified tone.)


    "Instead of writing about the investigation, you will end up writing about what Riya did all day long..." (Rio)


    "Yes, we don''t need a ''lovebrain musclehead'' to write it!" (Liam)


    Even Lia nodded her head and said.


    "We don''t want an essay on how great Riya is... so this task is not suitable for you..." (Lia)


    Hearing all three of them exposing his inner thoughts so easily, Link felt a bit embarrassed and he epted his defeat. (He really was thinking about writing ''how great Riya is'' in that report!!)


    Depressed from the rejection, Link went back to Riya''s side.


    "Ugh, Riya those three are bullying me..." (Link)


    Although Riya was confused, she gave Link a head pat and even gave him one of her favorite candies to improve his mood.


    Riya gave Link a thumbs up and said in a happy tone.


    "Forget it, you should be like me! Don''t think about stressful things like reports and all! Enjoy the candies!!" (Riya)


    "Yes! Riya sensei~" (Link)


    The other three looked at this and shook their heads in helplessness.


    Meanwhile, Aaron brought out his small diary and took notes in it.


    [Personal human observation results:


    1. Humans are weird creatures,


    2. Some of them are exceptionally intelligent while some are extremely carefree....


    3. They have fearsome talent and regr emotional imbnces...]


    ''Good, now my knowledge of human behavior has progressed further...'' (Aaron)


    ''Oh, wait I forgot one thing...'' (Aaron)


    [4. Humans eat weird foods, some of which are very questionable from a dragon''s perspective...]


    Riko who was standing behind Aaron and was trying to get Zach off his head identally nced at Aaron''s notes and variousplicated emotions appeared in her head.


    ''Ugh, the reputation of the human race has been sullied by us...'' (Riko)


    ...


    After a few minutes of rest, everyone packed up and got ready to leave the ce.


    Liam extended his hand and shook hands with Aaron.


    "Although it was a short meeting, I believe you are a good individual and won''t cause trouble for the human society, thus I will make sure to add good words on your behalf in our report..." (Liam)


    "Haha, no worries, I gained a lot of new knowledge thanks to you all visiting me today... if possible visit me again in the future..." (Aaron)


    "Although I don''t have much to present to the guests but I will prepare some good food when you visit next time..." (Aaron)


    Hearing the word ''food'' Riya grinned and replied in a happy voice:


    "Okay! We will definitelye again!" (Riya)


    ''Next time I visit I will be strong enough to beat you up! How dare you tempt Riya with food!!'' (Link)


    "By the way, sorry for the mess I created back there..." (Liam)


    "No worries, I will get it sortedter without a problem... moreover I still have to research on what happened to that ''tree'' so I guess I will be a lot busy from now on..." (Aaron)


    Aaron didn''t mind the fact that Liam caused trouble for him while breaking through to A-rank, what Aaron was more concerned about was the ''tree of blood''.


    Liam and others nodded their heads and started to walk out of the cave one by one.


    Kai nced at Aaron and nodded his head.


    "Let us meet again someday, I look forward to seeing your research seed... cough! Don''t look at me like that I won''t eat you don''t worry!" (Kai)


    Ellie also nodded at Aaron and then followed behind Liam.


    Aaron used his water authority to part the sea and make the way for everyone again.


    The students again sat on Ellie''s back and flew away.


    Only Aaron was left standing alone in the cave.


    Aaron sighed in rxation and shook his head.


    "I guess it''s time I see the main problem¡­" (Aaron)


    Aaron hurriedly went back to the lower level.


    What he saw down there made his eyes widen in shock.


    The whole ce was filled with some kind of ck liquid, the walls the ground everything seems to have been melted into that dangerous liquid.


    "Wh-what the heck is this thing?" (Aaron)


    All of a sudden Aaron''s senses detected some abnormal signs.


    "Who''s there? Come out! I know you are using a stealth skill to hide yourself!" (Aaron)


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ so you noticed¡­ as expected of a dragon¡­


    kehkehkeh¡­" (???)


    When the individual deactivated its stealth and showed its form, Aaron''s eyes widened in shock.


    "H-how are you still alive!? How can that be!?" (Aaron)


    ¡­


    On the other side, On Ellie''s back.


    "I feel like we are forgetting something¡­." (Liam)


    At Liam''s doubtful words, Link shook his head and replied in an unconcerned voice.


    "Well if you are forgetting it, then it must be something unimportant I guess¡­" (Link)


    (What they were actually forgetting was what happened to Fade. Before the mission started Fade was saying that he would reach the cave on his own, but now he is nowhere to be seen¡­)


    While Liam was thinking hard with a confused look on his face, Riya stretched out her hand.


    "Here! Take this candy, it will improve your memory!" (Riya)


    "Oh! Thanks!" (Liam)


    As Liam tossed that candy in his mouth, he showed it off in front of Link on purpose. He was trying to piss Link off on purpose and he actually seeded.


    ck lines appeared all over Link''s face, and several veins popped up, he looked like he was about to murder Liam on the spot.


    [Master, you will have to make extra food for me today! Or I will kick you!] (Ellie)


    Obviously, Liam''s gesture of taking candies from Riya didn''t go unnoticed by Ellie.


    Liam scratched the back of his neck and tried to console Ellie.


    "Ahem, cough! I-I was just messing around Ellie, no need to get so worked up over it¡­ cough!" (Liam)


    [Master, I feel like throwing you off my back today¡­] (Ellie)


    "Cough! Okay! Okay! You win! I will make extra food for you! Don''t throw me away!" (Liam)


    [Okay, I will forgive you for now then¡­] (Ellie)


    Liam wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief.


    ''Sigh~ my pet dragon is faulty! What do I do!?'' (Liam)


    While Ellie and Liam were having a lover''s quarrel between them, Link pouted his cheeks andined to Riya in an unhappy tone.


    "I am not talking to you anymore Riya, hmph! you gave him your candies-" (Link)


    Before Link couldplete his sentence, Riya suddenly pecked on his cheek like a hen for a second and then continued nibbling on her candies.


    Riya smiled with a teasing look on her face and said:


    "You can have this ''candy'' then¡­" (Riya)


    That unexpected sudden ''Kiss attack'' caused immense mental and emotional damage to Link''s heart.


    Link immediately lost focus and directly fell down from Ellie''s back.


    Ellie had to go back and grab him in mid-air to prevent him from falling down.


    (That sudden attack from Riya caused him to faint on the spot¡­ bro wasn''t ready for that sudden bold move at all¡­)


    Seeing Link and Riya act all lovey-dovey everyone rolled their eyes.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! Who could have thought that even Riya could be so bold sometimes¡­ Her surprise attack was indeed very powerful as it caused a massive critical hit!


    Question of the day.


    How long will it take for you to recover from the ''Attack'' that Riya did, if it was you in Link''s ce?


    1.A Day.


    2.A Month.


    3.A Year.


    4.A Lifetime.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 189 A Hasty End... Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 189 A Hasty End... Part-3.</h4>


    Above the sea, On Ellie''s back.


    Lia felt the refreshing wind breeze and smiled slightly.


    ''This wind breeze... brings back memories...'' (Lia)


    Lia stretched out her hand and messed up Rio''s hair. (She was giving him ap pillow!!)


    "What are you doing...?" (Rio)


    Seeing that Rio was confused by her sudden behavior, Lia simply smiled and didn''t say much.


    "Nothing... I just wanted to mess with you, hehe~" (Lia)


    Rio wanted to say something in retaliation, but Lia put her finger on his lips and made him silent.


    "Just stay still like this... for a moment..." (Lia)


    Lia knew that if she let him speak, Rio would definitely start teasing her again, but not today. She wanted to remember this peaceful memory in her mind.


    Lia smiled and nced at everyone around her.


    Liam was looking at the map with a serious look, Ellie was helping them travel.


    Link and Riya were talking with each other with happy looks on their faces and Riko was busy taking care of the ''Baby'' Zach.


    Seeing so many talented people around her, Lia was always astonished by them.


    ''The past me could have never thought that one day even I will have so many friends...'' (Lia)


    ''It''s as if I have done several good deeds in my past life that I got blessed with the friendship of such amazing people...'' (Lia)


    Lia knew that if it was not for all these people to extend their friendship to her, she might have never been able to make friends in this life.


    Then Lia nced at the guy who made all of this possible for her.


    His dark ck pupils seem to be looking right into her eyes at this moment.


    Not a single word was said by them both, yet they seemed to havemunicated thousands of things just by looking into each other''s eyes.


    After a few seconds, Rio asked in his usual emotionless tone.


    "After submitting the report, how about we go on a date? Just you and me... After all we haven''t even explored the whole Oaklum city yet..." (Rio)


    ''I feel like she is depressed about something... I would need to ask her about it when the opportunityes on the day of the date...'' (Rio)


    Lia smiled and nodded her head in agreement.


    "Yes, it''s nice to enjoy this free time to the fullest... I feel like we will be very busy once the ''Meeting'' starts..." (Lia)


    ''In fact, even if you take me to hell, I will go there happily with you...'' (Lia)


    "Yeah, these free and leisurely days rarelye..." (Rio)


    ...


    Just when the two of them were enjoying talking to each other, Liam''s surprised voice attracted everyone''s attention.


    "Oh! Look! There seem to be people drowning in the sea below!" (Liam)


    Everyone hurriedly looked at the sea and found that there were indeed two people floating on the surface of the water.


    But before anyone could say something, a sudden wave of water came and washed them further away.


    Everyone took a closer look and when they all found out who these two people were, everyone had aplicated look on their face.


    "Uh, aren''t those two, Fade and Kira... why are they floating here in the middle of the sea?" (Riya)


    At Riya''s question, Link dodged his eyes and said:


    "What are you talking about, I don''t see anything... in fact, I am 90 percent blind in my eyes!" (Link)


    "Indeed, something went into my eye too, I feel like I must have mistaken it, I must have seen wrong, Fade and Kira? Who?" (Liam)


    [Master, I don''t see anything either...] (Ellie)


    "Ahem, I was busy enjoying thep pillow, I didn''t see anything..." (Rio)


    Even Rio shook his head and dered he never saw people floating on the sea.


    "I was stroking Rio''s head and didn''t notice anything else either!" (Lia)


    After saying that, everyone looked at Riko. Under everyone''s condensing gaze, Riko had no choice but toply.


    "I-I didn''t see anything either... infact I was wearing my helmet backwards just now so I have no idea what happened!" (Riko)


    Everyone nodded at her with a look of approval.


    Riya was confused by this sudden turn of events. She could clearly see Fade and Kira float on water with her eyes.


    But since everyone was saying they didn''t see it, she doubted herself if she was hallucinating.


    ''Uh, did I eat too many snacks, which caused me to hallucinate?'' (Riya)


    [Master, as there is nothing here, we shall leave...] (Ellie)


    "Yes-" (Liam)


    "Ohh! There are two people ying in the water! I want to go too!" (Zach)


    Before Liam could agree to Ellie''s request to leave, Zach who was in his ''Baby'' mode right now noticed Fade and Kira floating on the surface of the sea and started to loudly dere their presence.


    ''Ugh¡­ Why did I even bother stopping here?'' (Liam)


    Now that Liam knew that the people who drowning were indeed Fade and Kira, Liam regretted his decision to stop here to help them survive.


    Now that Zach has dered their existence, everyone''s previous attempt to ignore them has obviously failed.


    "Ugh, I don''t want to do this but¡­. Ellie grab them in your w, we will have to take them back with us¡­" (Liam)


    [As you wish, Master¡­] (Ellie)


    Although Liam didn''t want to help them both, but as they were all in the same team right now it would not be a wise choice to leave yourrades behind and ignore them in moments of danger.


    ''Ugh, principal Raji will give us failing marks if we ignore our teammates and leave them here to drown¡­'' (Liam)


    "Tch, if not for this stupid mission, I would have preferred to leave them here!" (Liam)


    With great reluctance, they took Fade and Kira back to the shore.


    ¡­


    Once everyone reached the seashore, Elliended on the ground and turned back to her humanoid form.


    Before Liam could thank her for the hard work, she suddenly pretended to stagger and fell into Liam''s arms with great pretense.


    "Ugh, Master I feel extremely tired¡­ you must carry me home on your back!" (Ellie)


    Ellie immediately used her newfound trick ''Large curve weapon attack'' on Liam again. Feeling the softness surrounding his arm, Liam couldn''t think straight anymore.


    "O-oh okay! I will carry you back!" (Liam) (Mental damage +99)


    Seeing the two of them flirt in broad daylight, everyone rolled their eyes at the two of them.


    While those two flirted in public, Riya went ahead and used ''state detection'' on Fade and Kira.


    "Hmm, they are okay it seems, just seems to have fainted due to too much water umted in their lungs¡­" (Riya)


    [Intermediate Heal: Extraction Type!]


    With an ''extraction type'' heal, Riya stimted the water to evaporate using her healing mana.


    Her control over her own healing magic was so insanely strong that if an ordinary B-rank healer had seen her magic, they would have fainted from shock.


    [Intermediate Heal: Reform Type!]


    With a ''Reform Type'' heal, Riya used her healing magic to reform the broken ribs and seal the punctured lungs.


    Her healing was efficient and fast.


    [Intermediate Heal: General heal: Full body type!]


    And at the end of the healing session, Riya used the ''general'' heal to heal the overall damage done to the body by the water pressure.


    Riya''s healing method was terrifyingly precise and effective. Even an A-rank healer would feel chills after seeing her insane mastery of healing magic.


    An Ordinary B-rank healer would find themselves out of mana from casting so many highly precise healing spells continuously, but Riya is unique, her talent as a healer is no joke.


    "Yosh! Work done! Back to eating my favorite candies!" (Riya)


    After performing her duty as a healer, Riya returned back to Link''s side.


    She didn''t want to stay too far away from Link at all.


    Although Riya might not have noticed it, but she only felt safe when she had Link around her, she seemed to have already developed a habit of depending on Link a lot.


    But obviously, Link was not bothered by it at all, instead, he was more than happy to see that Riya trusted him and was depending on him for some things. (After all, he can''t live in peace if he can''t see Riya for a long time¡­)


    ¡­


    After a few seconds, Fade and Kira woke up from the temporarya, and the first thing Fade said after waking up destroyed the happy and rxed mood instantly.


    "F*CK! Who the F*ck dared to use sea pressure against me!! I will repay this humiliation back a million fold, otherwise I won''t be considered a human being!!!" (Fade)


    Even Kira had to shake her head in helplessness at Fade''s weird behaviors sometimes.


    As Fade hadpletely interrupted the previous happy mood, everyone looked at him with disgust, especially Liam.


    ''Why do I have to suffer because of this trash!? I was just enjoying the warmth- cough! I mean I was having a happy conversation and this trash had to intervene¡­ ugh!'' (Liam)


    After some ups and downs, it seems the ''Mission'' this time has met a ''Hasty End''.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Ugh! Why do I have to suffer writing about this guy Fade, I want justice too!! I feel like I lose brain cells every time I write about this guy¡­


    Do you also agree that Fade interrupts the happy atmosphere whenever he appears?


    1.Yes (Burn him at the stake!!)


    2.Yeah (Throw him back into the sea!!)


    3.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 190 Night in Oaklum... (Couples X dates).

    Chapter 190 Night in Oaklum... (Couples X dates).


    ??Oaklum, Night.


    By the time, they arrived at Oaklum, it was alreadyte at night.


    Yet the streets of the port city of Oaklum were bursting with liveliness.


    Some sci-fi-typemps drove the darkness of the night away and hundreds of people were passing by various streets even though it was already night.


    Looking at this magnificent and bustling scene, everyone had a surprised look on their faces.


    "Whoa! It''s like there is a festival going on here, there are so many stalls and so many people!" (Riya)


    "Nights in Oaklum are always like this, people sometimes end up mistaking that some kind of local festival is going on here¡­" (Riko)


    As Zach was currently having his ''Baby'' phase, Riko was the one who exined things to her juniors.


    "The capital city usually feels quiet at night, only some major ces like the markets etc. continue to work, but here in Oaklum you will rarely find a night that goes quiet and ordinary¡­" (Riko)


    While Listening to Riko, everyone slowed down their walking pace.


    Originally they were thinking about rushing to the Alliance''s branch to submit the report, but after seeing this magnificent night scene, they slowed down their pace.


    Riya noticed a nearby pastry shop and she immediately dashed away. Lia was about to stop her but Link shook his head and said:


    "You guys go ahead, I will catch up to you after a while¡­ Riya has expended a lot of her energy today, let her have some free time¡­" (Link)


    After saying that, Link smiled and hurriedly followed Riya.


    Everyone else was too speechless to say anything to them.


    "Well as Link is apanying her, we don''t really need to worry about her safety¡­" (Riko)


    Lia was about to say something in return, but her hand was suddenly held by Rio.


    With his usual Expressionless tone, Rio said:


    "Wanna explore the ce together?" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Lia hesitated a bit but then nodded her head in approval.


    "Yeah¡­. I think we should submit the report tomorrow¡­ after all, there are still more than six days left until the mission''sst day¡­" (Lia)


    Not hesitating anymore, Lia followed Rio and left with him.


    Seeing them leave, Liam nced at Riko and said:


    "Cough! Senpai, I suddenly remember I have to buy something, let''s meet upter, I will catch up you go ahead¡­" (Liam)


    And before Riko could say anything, Liam hurriedly left with Ellie.


    As for Fade and Kira, they both seem to have already sneaked away at some point. Now only Riko and Zach were left standing alone.


    Seeing all of her juniors slip away like that, Riko had a helpless look on her face.


    While Riko was contemting what to do next, a nearby ''ramen'' stall caught Zach''s attention and he immediately ran towards it.


    Riko had no choice but to chase after him.


    (Her armor is a magical item, she unequipped it easily and used mana to put it into her own space ring, now she is wearing her casual clothes¡­. She can equip it instantly if needed using the unique property of the armor¡­)


    As Riko wasn''t wearing her armor right now, her face was visible, she looked much olderpared to Zach and thus when she arrived at the ramen stall, the old man mistook her to be Zach''s older sister.


    "Youngdy, your little brother has quite a good stomach! He can eat such spicy food without a problem, it''s awesome!"


    Hearing the old man mistake Zach to be her younger brother, Riko was taken aback for a moment, but she didn''t bother correcting the misunderstanding.


    "Hehe~ Riko is my older sis~ I love my big sis~" (Zach)


    At this time, Zach didn''t even know what he was saying as his brain was not working properly but nheless, his words caused Riko to smile a little after so many years.


    ''If my brother was still alive, would he have been as lively as him?...'' (Riko)


    Although Zach was not the same as her fragile and weak younger brother, he resembled her brother a lot.


    Zach''s image in Riko''s mind has already started to ovep with her younger brother.


    Now she thinks that it might not be a bad thing to have Zach as her younger brother.


    While Riko contemted in her mind, Zach on the other hand kept eating ramen with a happy look on his face, he was totally unaware of the fact that he had already created more problems for himself.


    ¡­


    On the other side. The pastry shop.


    "Aunt, I want this one! And this and this one too!!" (Riya)


    Looking at all those shiny and good-looking pastries, Riya couldn''t help but gulp her saliva.


    Her eyes seem to be shining at this moment.


    The middle-aged aunt behind the counter smiled gently when she saw the lively behavior of Riya, she said in a happy tone.


    "Yes, I will pack them up for you, youngdy, hehe¡­"


    The Aunt hurriedly packed those pastries for Riya in a small box and gave it to her.


    Just when Riya was about to look into her space ring to pay the money, Link arrived at the shop and swiped his card to pay in her ce.


    (Riya returned his '' luxurious ck card'' back to him yesterday after Lia told her about how rare that card was, although she knew she could buy many things for herself with that card, she didn''t want to cause trouble for Link¡­)


    (Link didn''t want to take the card back but Riya sneaked it into his bedroom so he had no choice left¡­)


    "If you want, you should take a few more¡­ the treat is on me~" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s words of assurance, Riya happily nodded her head and ordered more pastries.


    Seeing the two young people taking care of each other, the aunt smiled and said in a joking manner:


    "Hehe, you two look like a married couple!"


    Hearing the aunt talk about marriage, Riya grinned and dered in a loud voice:


    "We are married after all!! Obviously, we will look like married!" (Riya)


    At Riya''s unexpected answer, the aunt''s eyes widened in surprise, she was just joking earlier but who would have thought that her guess would be so spot on.


    "COUGH!! Uh, we are engaged, we are not officially married yet, don''t cause misunderstandings Riya¡­" (Link)


    Only after Link rified things, did the aunt''s face return back to normal, she nearly thought that Link was a criminal who married an underage girl.


    Seeing that the aunt stopped looking at him with a weird look in her eyes, Link wiped the sweat on his forehead and hurriedly took Riya away.


    ''Phew~ from the looks of it that aunt was about to call police on me¡­ ugh..'' (Link)


    Nheless, this was not the first time Link was mistaken as a criminal, Riya has caused simr troubles for him many.


    Link still remembers that one time he even had to show their engagement certificate to the police to prove his innocence. (A sweets shop owner called the police on him for a simr reason¡­ cough!)


    After Leaving the shop, Riya pouted her cheeks, she was angry that Link denied her statement of them being married.


    Link had to buy more candies to get her to forgive himter.


    ¡­


    On the other side, Near a carnival game stall.


    "Young man, you have three chances, you can use this toy gun to shoot the target and if hits, then the reward is yours to take¡­"


    The stall owner was a tall and burly middle-aged person, Rio immediately sensed that this person was a C-ranker.


    ''With that sturdy build, it''s a martial artist I think¡­ hmm, it''s kind of rare to see a C-ranker setting up a stall¡­ usually, they all go to dungeons for better ie opportunities...'' (Rio)


    The middle-aged man looked at Rio and Lia both and then said with a smirk on his face.


    "I can feel that you two kids are definitely awakeners, but kids this game is fair and square, you are not allowed to use mana to enhance yourself¡­"


    "Otherwise, even if you hit the target it will be considered invalid¡­"


    The burly man pointed to himself and said in a proud tone.


    "Although I may not look like it, I am actually a peak C-rank martial artist, so don''t try to cheat, as I will immediately notice it¡­"


    Hearing the man''s words, Lia asked with a confused look on her face.


    "If you are a C-ranker, then why are you setting up this small stall?... the earning from a sessful C-rank dungeon raid is hundreds of times higher than the annual earnings of this stall¡­" (Lia)


    At Lia''s question, the burly man scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    He nced around for a second seeing that no one was looking here, he replied in a low voice.


    "Uh, you see, my wife is currently pregnant, so I can''t go on raids this year, she will be too lonely after all, and I am not really skilled in other things aside from fighting, so I can only do this for now¡­ hehe"


    After Listening to the man''s answer, Lia and Rio both nodded their heads in understanding.


    "This is quite understandable¡­ girls seem to get lonely a lot¡­" (Rio)


    While saying that Rio, nced at Lia with a smirk on his face.


    "Hmph! Who said I get lonely! You are dreaming, idiot!" (Lia)


    Rio ignored Lia''s ''tsundere'' voice and directly aimed the toy gun at a bear plushie.


    ''Well, if I want I can use mana, this guy is just a C-ranker and can''t really detect my mana at all¡­ but let''s do this honestly, the reward will lose meaning if I cheat..'' (Rio)


    *Bang!*


    The rubber bullet hit the bear plushie directly on its head and the plushie fell down.


    As Rio already won the reward he wanted in one go, he stopped ying further as he had no interest in other things.


    *p*


    "Kiddo, your marksmanship is very good! I admit defeat, you yed fair and square so I will not be stingy either! Here take it!"


    Rio took the plushie and handed it over to Lia.


    "For you, dear¡­" (Rio)


    Lia blushed a bit and took the gift happily.


    "Thanks¡­ I will treasure it forever¡­" (Lia)


    (Lia will keep her word, this plush toy will stay among her most treasured items for a long time toe¡­)


    (Whenever the older Lia will look at this plushie in the future, she will always feel happy after remembering the memories behind this toy¡­)


    "Well well, young boy! you have got a fine girlfriend! My best wishes are with you! Just a friendly piece of advice though, make sure you buy her gifts from time to time, otherwise, the rtionship ends up cold, good luck!"


    Hearing the burly man''s words, Rio nodded his head.


    "Thanks... I wish your children awaken good talent, my best wishes are with you too..." (Rio)


    After saying that, Rio and Lia finally left the stall and continued to enjoy this night market to the fullest.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your beloved Author here! I feel like I will die from diabetes if continue to write more and more romantic chapters¡­. Ugh¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given the choice to be a third-wheel, which couple would you like to hang out with?


    1.Link and Riya (Riya will give you pastries, while Link will re at you fiercely¡­)


    2.Rio and Lia (Rio will win another reward for you and Lia will re at you with cold eyes¡­ter she will force you to give that reward back to her¡­)


    3.Riko and Zach (Riko will buy ramen for you and Zach will snatch it away from you¡­)


    4.Liam and Ellie (They will both slip away and you won''t be able to stay with them¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 191 News and tea...

    Chapter 191 News and tea...


    ??Rio and the others came back to the hotelte at night.


    As it was already veryte, they decided to submit the report in the morning and thus they went back to the hotel Arya for rest.


    Each of them are strong awakener and could have avoided sleep for more than a month easily, but it''s always good to have a proper rest after all. This helps relieve stress.


    ...


    Hotel Arya, Rio''s Room, Morning.


    As usual, Rio sipped his tea while sitting on the couch and watching the news on the TV.


    ''The mission has already as good aspleted... which means next we will be preparing for that long-awaited meeting of gods...'' (Rio)


    In Rio''s honest opinion, it''s not a big deal to go to that ''Meeting''. He basically doesn''t care about any other thing besides ''that''.


    ''The only reason I am going there is because of ''that'' chance... I will have another stealing opportunity once I win the tournament...'' (Rio)


    As Rio knew everything that would happen in the ''Meeting'' he wasn''t really interested in those topics.


    Truthfully speaking Rio knew about this world more than the SS-rankers themselves.


    ''But I have a feeling... the original plot has deviated a lot... after the meeting of gods, things may be a bit more uncertain...'' (Rio)


    Thinking about this, Rio shook his head and a slight smirk appeared on his face.


    ''Well, that''s what I have been training for all this time... once the plot deviates, I will have the strength to roam the world free from the shackles of fate I guess...'' (Rio)


    After all, the stronger an individual is, the harder it would be for things like ''fate'' and ''destiny'' to control them in their hands.


    Rio trained like a madman all this time, just so he could escape the fate of being killed at any moment like a mere ''extra'' character.


    With Rio''s current strength, it''s not an exaggeration to say that he can go toe to toe with early S-rankers.


    ''Fighting S-rankers will be troublesome and the oue might deviate, but I have the confidence that I can run away unscathed from them easily...'' (Rio)


    Rio already has the ''soul splitting'' skill and the ''cheat'' like item ''shadow robe'', with these two, it won''t be wrong to consider Rio as the current strongest A-ranker of this world.


    ''But well I should not stop training, reaching rank SS is my primary goal... as for above it... sigh~'' (Rio)


    Thinking about the realm beyond SS, Rio felt depressed.


    The novel he read was iplete, around thest chapters her read, the ultimate boss had just made his appearance, and even Fade was barely an SS ranker at that time.


    ''I have no idea how Fade would have defeated that insane being... or perhaps this plot might not have an actual ''good ending'' either...'' (Rio)


    In Rio''s opinion, the worst-case scenario was that the novel might have a ''bad ending''.


    He knew that not every story gets a good end and sometimes the hero of the story ends up sacrificing himself in the end.


    Thinking this far, Rio shook his head and stopped stressing about it.


    ''There''s no point in thinking about it now... reaching that realm is still too far away from me... I will leave this problem to the future version of me...'' (Rio)


    ...


    Just when Rio was contemting his future ns in his mind.


    A piece of news on the TV caught his attention.


    "ording to the reports from our sources, there have been sightings of several strange phenomena urring in the sea near the south-east area of Oaklum down port..." (Anchor)


    "Several witnesses have said that they sawrge whirlpools and sea waves raging in the ocean around that area... the matter is being spected to be the handiwork of some strong sea beast..." (Anchor)


    "The alliance branch of the Oaklum city sent A-rankers to investigate the area but ording to the reports of the A-rankers, they didn''t find a single sea monster in the area..." (Anchor)


    "The experts have spected that the sea beast might have escaped to some other area of the ocean and currently a search team is being prepared..." (Anchor)


    Listening to that news, Rio had a rare look of surprise on his face.


    ''Isn''t that the area where Aaron is living... why is he creating so many sea phenomena all of a sudden, this is like he is trying to make his presence known to the whole world...'' (Rio)


    Just then, a sudden thought came into Rio''s mind.


    ''Come to think of it, that ''tree of blood'' Aaron was talking about copsed after causing trouble for Zach Senpai, perhaps Aaron is trying to do something about that tree¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio''s spections were not really baseless either.


    Aaron was not the type of person who liked to show off his strength to the world, thus it is possible that the reason why he created thoserge-scale water phenomena was to do some kind of research.


    Rio shook his head in helplessness.


    ''Ugh, this guy really doesn''t care about anything as long as his research is concerned¡­ I guess it might not be a bad idea to pay him a visit after I reach S-rank myself¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio knew that the path to rank S was still very long and it might take him more than a whole year to finally ascend to rank S, but Rio was not demotivated in the slightest.


    ''After reaching S-rank I will be able to fly in the air without even using my sword intent¡­ moreover, the second skill of this mysterious sword of mine will also awaken after reaching that realm¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio was looking forward to the day he would be able to soar into the sky, free of worries.


    Due to the existence of SS-rankers in this world, S-rankers get underestimated a lot. But their strength is no joke either.


    S-rankers are people who can go toe to toe with an adult dragon. They can travel anywhere in this world without any worry.


    As long as they don''t encounter an SS-ranker, they can survive most of the things. Temperature changes, environmental changes, or deadly toxins, nothing will affect them much.


    They have long life spans and can even travel in space without the need for oxygen at all.


    ''There are even rumors that some S-rankers prefer to meditate on the surface of ''Mars'' after their retirement¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was busy fantasizing about bing an S-


    ranker and traveling in space, another piece of news caught him off-guard.


    This time even the news anchor had a happy look while telling this news.


    "After a long meeting between the four SS-rankers, it has been decided that the newly ascended SS-ranker, Jin Walt ''The Tiger of North'', will be stationed at the southern region of the human empire from now on¡­" (Anchor)


    "This means that the various cities in the southern area will finally have proper demi-god''s protection! The fans of Mr. Jin have even started to make preparations for weing Mr. Jin¡­" (Anchor)


    "It has been confirmed that Mr. Jin will be arriving at the Oaklum Airport in a week''s time,ter he will stay at the nearby military camp for a year¡­" (Anchor)


    "Severalizens have expressed their opinions on the inte and all of them seem to be happy about this news¡­" (Anchor)


    "The existence of four SS-ranker is the biggest pride of the human race, people even say that ''Even if the sky falls on them one day, they now have Four Demi-gods to hold it still''¡­" (Anchor)


    "Experts have spected that the crime rate will decrease to zero once an SS-ranker is stationed in the southern area, it is the great luck of the human race that we can enjoy the support of people like Mr. Jin¡­" (Anchor)


    Listening to the Anchor saying so many words of ttery for Jin, Rio''s eyes twitched from time to time.


    ''Aren''t they praising that straightforward and blunt guy too much... tch, if they knew how Jin behaved around Ms. Anna, they won''t be praising him anymore¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Nheless, it''s a good thing that he is being stationed in this area, many bad events will happen around this area in the future, but now that an SS-ranker is sitting here, there''s no way those events will harm people anymore¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio knew that Jin might have a weird personality, but his strength was real. Now that he has be a genuine SS-


    ranker it would be child''s y for him to take care of this whole area alone.


    ''I wonder if he will bring Ms. Anna along here along with him¡­ I haven''t met those two for such a long time now¡­'' (Rio)


    ''With his personality, he wille knocking at my door on his own if I don''t go to meet him¡­ his appearance will cause shock in the public, it would be better to just go and visit him when I have some free time¡­'' (Rio)


    Thinking about this Rio finally got up from his seat, he wore his academy uniform and left the room.


    After all, it''s time to submit the report.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It looks like several things are brewing in the dark, let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jin will bring Anna with him?


    1.Yes (He must have pestered her toe with him¡­)


    2.Yeah (He must have dragged her here with him!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 192 Link likes Mango Juice?

    Chapter 192 Link likes Mango Juice?


    ??Alliance Oaklum Branch, Outside the Main Building.


    "Isn''t that thing an automatic mana cannon? Why is it ced on the terrace of this building?" (Link)


    "It''s perhaps because they want to scare people with this¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s reply, Link narrowed his eyes.


    "No way, even a mere C-ranker can break that cannon easily, why would they put that thing to defend a ce like this¡­" (Link)


    "Thousands of C-rankers, hundreds of B-rankers, and several A-rankers would pass by this ce every day after¡­" (Link)


    "Any one of them could deal with it if they want¡­. If feel like these people are really neglecting the security here¡­" (Link)


    Listening to Link''s questions, Rio sipped the juice from his juice-can before saying:


    "Well, I don''t think they really need weapons to protect the ce¡­ that cannon might just be for show¡­" (Rio)


    "After all, it is very likely that an S-ranker is stationed here in the building¡­" (Rio)


    "Oaklum is a major port city, it won''t be strange if they stationed one or two S-rankers here¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s reply Link''s face turned solemn and he nodded his head in agreement.


    Link also sipped the canned fruit juice he was holding in his hand and said:


    "Sigh~ I wonder how long it will take me to be an S-ranker¡­ recently I feel like my progress has slowed down a lot¡­ ugh.." (Link)


    At Link''s depressed words, Rio just shook his head.


    "It''s normal for the improvement speed to slow down once we reach higher realms¡­ that''s why focusing more on skills is a better choice in the meantime¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah¡­ once we are done with this mission, I will put my whole focus on ''Dao Rhythm'' my proficiency in that skill is still very low¡­" (Link)


    Rio nodded his head and said:


    "Well, it took me months to reach my current control over ''sword intent'', you would be able to do it soon too¡­" (Rio)


    ''In fact, your progress is already quite fast, if not for the fact that I know beforehand that you are a viin temte character, I would have mistaken you to be the protagonist of this world¡­'' (Rio)


    In Rio''s opinion, Link has all the qualities to be considered a ''Protagonist'', if Link was blessed by the heavens instead of Fade, then his speed of improvement would have been even more astonishing.


    ''If I don''t use my ''soul splitting'' skill, I don''t think I can win from him in a fair and square match¡­ it will always end up in a draw¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio has sparred with Link many times over the past year, he knew better than anyone else just how difficult it is tond a proper damaging blow on Link.


    His defense is too high, which causes a lot of headaches.


    Regardless of his personality, Link has a bright future, and maintaining a friendly rtionship with him is always a good idea.


    "Should we go back now? I feel kind of uneasy leaving Riya all alone in there¡­" (Link)


    Link nced at the alliance building with an anxious look, if not for Rio, he would have already dashed back into the building.


    "Yeah, it''s about time, Lia might have already finished writing the report by now¡­" (Rio)


    Rio, Link, Riya, and Lia, four came to the alliance-building today, to submit the report, the rest of the party members might still be sleeping at the hotel right now.


    While Lia wrote the report, Rio and Link decided to go outside and buy some juice for them all.


    Just now both Rio and Link bought the juice-cans and just when they were about to return, the mana cannon caught their eye, so they got distracted.


    (The researchers of this world have created guns and cannons that are powered by mana,ser guns sma bombs, etc. like things also exist in this world¡­ but most of these things are useless against people above C-rank¡­)


    (Awakeners aside, mana guns have a very good intimidating effect on ordinary people, thus the police and other security forces use those weapons to keep the crimes in check¡­)


    (Aside from the awakeners, the security forces rely on these weapons the most to maintainw¡­)


    ¡­


    After deciding to go back, Rio and Link entered the alliance building again.


    The moment they both entered, all the awakeners and other people consciously gave way to them both.


    Several people gossiped and most of the people looked at them both with awe and surprise.


    "These two are so young, and they are already A-rankers... I feel like my twenty years of awakener''s career is nothingpared to them¡­ ugh¡­"


    "They are both wearing the uniform of the Freya academy¡­ this means it might not be long before we will witness new S-rankers appear¡­"


    "The Freya academy really lives up to its name¡­"


    Ever since Rio and Link became A-rankers, it was inevitable that they would attract the attention of many people.


    A-rankers are rare and strong people, to have already achieved this feat while still being a student, they both were bound to be famous.


    Regardless of what the people gossiped about, Rio and Link both ignored the voices and entered the lift without hesitation.


    Once the gate of the lift closed, a smirk appeared on Link''s face.


    "Heh, you have be famous nowadays, Rio¡­ ahem! Or should I say, Darkstar Rio, hehe~" (Link)


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and replied in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Forget about me, you have always been a celebrity since birth, Berserk warrior Link¡­" (Rio)


    "Moreover, I feel like that ''Berserk warrior'' title indeed suits you¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio mention his title, ck lines appear all over Link''s face. Link clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.


    "When I find the person who gave me this sh*tty name, I will beat the sh*t out of them! Tch!" (Link)


    "What if it was Riya who gave you that name?" (Rio)


    "Cough!! Cough! Ahem! ¡­. Uh, it''s a decent name actually, I won''t criticize it much.. cough!!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s reply, Rio just rolled his eyes, he was astonished at how fast Link could change face without even being ashamed of it.


    While the two of them were busy bickering back and forth, the door of the lift opened on the 68th floor of the building, and two of them walked out of the lift.


    Walking through the corridor, the two of them arrived in front of a room.


    [Waiting Room No-956.]


    (Due to spatial maniption devices, this building is bigger from the inside than it looks from the outside¡­)


    Link opened the door and walked in without hesitation.


    "We are back!" (Link)


    Link was expecting Riya to say ''wee'' but it turned out that she already fell asleep on the nearby couch while nibbling on her favorite candies.


    Lia who was writing the report raised her head and nodded at the two of them.


    Link walked over to Riya and sat beside her.


    "Sigh~ she fell asleep? Even though she was the one who urged us to go and buy some juice¡­ this girl is always so carefree¡­" (Link)


    Seeing that peaceful sleeping face, Link shook his head as he continued to sip the juice from his juice can.


    (Fun Fact, Link likes Mango Juice the most! You can also make friends with him with a can of mango juice if he is in a good mood¡­)


    (Coincidentally, The mango vor candies are Riya''s one of the most favorite ones¡­)


    Rio brought out the juice can from his space ring and handed one of them to Lia.


    "For you¡­" (Rio)


    Lia was about to reject the offer because she was busy writing the report, but Rio whispered in her ears:


    "If you don''t drink it, I will have to give it to you, mouth to mouth¡­. Hehe~" (Rio)


    "Hmph! Idiot!" (Lia)


    Lia had no choice but to take the juice to avoid being embarrassed.


    ''Girl, you can''t put too much stress on yourself, or I would have to resort to underhanded tactics, hehe~'' (Rio)


    Ignoring Rio and Lia flirting with each other, Link brought out the cold juice can and lightly touched it on Riya''s cheeks.


    The cold sensation of the juice can cause a shiver to run down Riya''s spine.


    And she started to sleep talk all of a sudden.


    "Nooo~ these candies are mine~ Link give them back~" (Riya)


    ck lines appeared all over Link''s face after hearing that.


    He stretched out his hand and repeatedly made the cold juice-can touch her cheeks.


    Eventually, Riya woke up from that cold sensation.


    Her big wide eyes stared at Link and the very first thing she said was:


    "Uh, no~ give my candies back Link!" (Riya)


    She sat up in shock all of a sudden as she red at Link.


    Link just shook his head in helplessness.


    ''This is the reason why I always carry extra candy packets on me¡­ they alwayse in handy¡­'' (Link)


    Link brought out a new candy pack from his space ring and handed it over to Riya together with the juice.


    "Okay, okay, they are all yours don''t re at me with such intense eyes, I am not taking them away¡­" (Link)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your beloved author is here! Fun fact guys, in the future, Riya will learn how to make mango juice at home after years of training, just for Link¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which weapon would you prefer to have?


    1.A Sword (Go go sword intent!!)


    2.A Mana Gun (Freedommm!!)


    3.A Bow (Who even uses that?)


    4.Others (My hands are my weapons!! Raaaagghh!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 193 The Farewell Party... Part-1.

    Chapter 193 The Farewell Party... Part-1.


    ??In the end, Liapleted writing the report after a few minutes.


    Her handwriting is just as beautiful as hers. She wrote fast and elegantly, finishing the report in just half an hour. (Fun fact, Rio''s handwriting is quite bad... he doesn''t like it himself either...)


    In the report, she mentioned that they used Liam''s summoned beast to reach the area and also mentioned the existence of Aaron in that ce.


    But as the report will be directly given to Raji herself, Lia didn''t need to conceal too many things.


    She wrote about most of the important things and concluded this investigation mission wlessly.


    Rio and Lia both went to the report submission counter and submitted that report personally.


    And since Raji had already made preparations, this report would directly be sent to her and no one else would look at it, thus there was no need to worry about information leaking.


    Afterpleting their work, all four of them left the Alliance branch''s building and headed back to the hotel.


    ¡­


    Hotel Arya, Main gate.


    When Rio and the other three got off the floating bus, they noticed Zach waiting for them outside the main gate of the hotel.


    With a grin on his face, Link shouted:


    "Zach Senpai! Are you still in the baby mode or have you grown up again!?" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s question, Zach seemed to be a bit embarrassed, so he hurriedly walked over towards them.


    "Idiot! Why are you shouting like that? Look even the passersby areughing at me now¡­ ugh¡­" (Zach)


    Ignoring Zach''sints, Link patted Zach on his back andughed loudly.


    "So you have finally be normal! Although you were amusing in your baby mode, we still prefer the normal version of you! Hahaha~" (Link)


    Zach had no words to refute Link, he just rubbed his forehead and tried his best to ignore the headache caused by Link''s mocking voice.


    "Wee back, Zach Senpai¡­" (Rio)


    "Yeah, thank¡­ sorry for the trouble I caused you all¡­" (Zach)


    Everyone just waved their hands, Zach didn''t cause them much trouble at all and they didn''t care about it much.


    "But you should thank Riko, she was the one who took care of you while you were down¡­" (Link)


    "Yeah, I know¡­" (Zach)


    While talking among each other, all of them started to head in.


    "By the way, you guys get ready, to properly apologize to you all, I have organized a dinner party today!" (Zach)


    "I have already invited everyone else, you four are thest ones, as you have not been here since the morning¡­" (Zach)


    Hearing the words party and dinner, Riya''s sleepy eyes instantly brightened.


    "Whoa! I will eat tons of sweets today then!!" (Riya)


    "Haha, yes¡­ I will ask them to add sweets to the dinner, just for you¡­" (Zach)


    "Thanks, Senpai! You are the best!" (Riya)


    "Of course! Hehe~" (Zach)


    A happy smile appeared on Zach''s face as he was being praised by his juniors.


    "By the way, I have been waiting to ask, what happened at the time when you fainted Senpai? Aaron said that you got some kind of blessing?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s question, the smile over Zach''s face solidified, he said in a troubled tone:


    "Ugh¡­ I have tried to recall about that since I got up today, but to no avail¡­ my memory of that time has be quite messy¡­ I seem to remember meeting someone in a dream-


    like ce¡­" (Zach)


    "But after that¡­ I have no idea what happened¡­. Whenever I try to recall that¡­ my head kind of hurts¡­" (Zach)


    A solemn look appeared on Zach''s face.


    "I feel like I am forgetting something important¡­" (Zach)


    Before Zach could fall into too much thought, Rio patted his shoulder and woke him up to his senses.


    "No worries, perhaps you will remember it all as you slowly adjust¡­ Aaron said that it would take you two to three days to return back to normal, but now look at you, you returned back to normal in just a day¡­" (Rio)


    "You might have a better adaption talent for these unforeseen circumstances¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing words of assurance from Rio made Zach rx a lot. He has been under stress ever since he regained consciousness.


    "Ugh¡­ I guess I will go rest for a while then..." (Zach)


    "Yeah, you should rest more¡­" (Rio)


    While talking, all five of them entered the hotel and now it was time to go to their own respective rooms.


    Before separating from the others, Zach suddenly smiled and said in a happy voice:


    "By the way, make sure you guys are ready by 8 pm, I have prepared a good surprise for all my juniors¡­" (Zach)


    "Oooh! What is it?" (Riya)


    Looking at Riya''s excited face, Zach smiled happily as his baiting strategy had worked.


    "It''s a secret for now¡­ you would have to wait for the dinner¡­ catch up on sleep now, we might be partying for the whole night today!" (Zach)


    "Okay!" (Riya)


    After saying good night to each other, all of them went back to their own respective rooms.


    ¡­


    7:40 pm.


    Time passes slowly and the awaited time for dinner approaches fast.


    A luxury car stood in front of the main gate of the hotel and several muscle cars guarded it from all sides.


    A red carpet wasid down from the door of the main building to the car.


    Flowers and beautiful nts were ced on both sides of the red carpet.


    Looking at this pomp and show of wealth, even Rio was surprised.


    "It seems we are going to some other ce for dinner, I wonder where would it be¡­" (Link)


    "Looking at their preparations, it''s gotta be some good ce¡­" (Liam)


    "Zach Senpai even prepared these luxury clothes for us¡­ he''s really going all out on this¡­" (Rio)


    Just a few minutes ago the hotel staff members sent amazing-


    looking clothes to all of them.


    They were informed that it was a gift from Zach.


    Zach even hired a well-known clothes designer to modify these clothes ording to each of their specific styles.


    Even the ordinary-looking Rio, looked handsome in these luxurious clothes today.


    "Hehe, of course I have to go all out! The mission has ended, now you guys might have to go back to the capital city soon¡­ it might be a long time before you wille back to Oaklum again¡­" (Zach)


    "So, I have to prepare a proper parting gift for you guys right¡­ otherwise you will forget about Oaklum and might never want to visit me again¡­" (Zach)


    Hearing Zach''s voice, all three of them turned back and saw Zach wearing luxurious clothes too.


    He looked more manly and handsome today.


    Even Liam who usually liked to tease Zach, gave him a thumbs up today, showing that Zach indeed was shining bright today.


    "Well, it''s already quite surprising that you prepared so many things in just a day¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s words, Zach shook his head and replied.


    "No, no, I had these things prepared even before we went on the mission, I had made arrangements with my grandpa¡­ I was already prepared to give you guys a proper farewell party, hehe~" (Zach)


    "You are surprisingly hard-working when ites to these kind of things, heh¡­" (Link)


    "Haha, you tter me too much¡­" (Zach)


    While the boys were having a hearty talk with each other, all the girls also arrived.


    Looking at those dazzling and beautiful-looking dresses, everyone''s eyes widened in surprise.


    All of them wore amazingly good-looking dresses, they instantly made the guys stunned from their beauty.


    Ellie smiled teasingly and closed Liam''s mouth with her smooth and white fingers.


    "hehe~ your jaw will fall on the floor master¡­" (Ellie)


    "CouGH! No¡­ You look good Ellie!" (Liam)


    "Thanks for thepliment¡­" (Ellie)


    Simrly, Link and Rio alsoplemented Lia and Riya.


    Lia even made a bold move today, she entangled her arm around Rio''s and walked with him.


    She nced at Rio and smiled.


    "Shall we go, darling?" (Lia)


    "Yes, dear¡­" (Rio)


    Even Rio was surprised by Lia''s sudden boldness. This was the first time Lia referred to him as ''Darling''. It was so surprising that a look of shock appeared on Rio''s expressionless face.


    (Fun fact, she trained for three hours in front of the mirror today, just to say this without stuttering¡­)


    ''Hehe, the training was worth it, I made him feel shocked, nice!'' (Lia)


    Lia nced at Ellie and nodded in acknowledgment.


    ''Thanks, Ellie, your idea was spot on!'' (Lia) (It was Ellie''s idea to say this line to Rio¡­)


    With a happy smile on her face, Lia giggled to herself as she saw that shocked expression on Rio''s face.


    After a few more happy surprises, all of them walked onto the red carpet and entered the car.


    Several musicians yed various instruments, as the group walked on the red carpet.


    It was truly a great day today.


    ...


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Looks like Lia finally got the upper hand on Rio for the first time. She made him so shocked that even his expressionless face was wiped off!


    Her technique worked! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    If your homie arranges such a big surprise for you, what would be your reaction?


    1.Shocked


    2.No way (My homies are poor people there''s no way they can arrange this all for me¡­)


    3.No homie. (I have no friends¡­)


    4.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 194 The Farewell party... Part-2.

    Chapter 194 The Farewell party... Part-2.


    ??Oaklum, Western port area.


    8:00 PM.


    Standing at the dock, the group looked at the scene in front of them with a surprised look on their faces.


    As if satisfied by their expressions, Zach nodded his head and said in a proud tone.


    "Behold! This is the private yacht of my family!... I have arranged a night dinner party for you guys on this yacht!" (Zach)


    "Oh! Nice!" (Riya)


    Even Link and Liam who were both rich, had to nod their head in approval.


    After all, Link and Liam''s families indeed had yachts but they were rarely ever used.


    Moreover, most of the time these kinds of yachts are usually used to hold parties for adults, thus Link and Liam also haven''t attended a party on a yacht either.


    Rio also nodded his head at Zach''s choice of ce.


    "Senpai, you really know how to make people admire you!" (Liam)


    "Hehe, well of course!... this yacht was bought by my two older brothers collectively, and now it''s being used by them to entertain important guests¡­" (Zach)


    "Currently they both are on a business trip, so I got the chance to use it for myself today!" (Zach)


    "Hehe, truthfully speaking I haven''t been to this yacht before either, this is my first time having fun on, usually it''s always busy entertaining guests, but our luck is good today! Hehe~" (Zach)


    While Zach spoke, a few servants lowered a staircase from the yacht and the group of students started to get on board.


    As they all walked to the dining area, Zach talked about his family background in depth.


    It turns out, that Zach''s parents are both owners of majorpanies in Oaklum City, and due to this, Zach is basically a second-generation rich young master.


    Although notparable to the ultra-rich like Link, Zach has lived his childhood in luxury and familial love.


    He has two older brothers and a younger sister. While his older brothers are married and have their own families to take care of, his younger sister is still in school and hasn''t be an awakener yet.


    Zach''s parents are not much talented in terms of awakener and thus they are both B-rankers, and even his older brothers have barely reached rank ''A-''.


    Zach is the first person in their family to have the potential of ''S'' rank. Due to this, he has been adored by his family a lot.


    You could say that Zach is basically living the dream life of most people.


    His family loves and supports him, but he has no responsibility to take care of, as his older brothers are doing it for him and he even has good potential as an awakener.


    (Zach has both parents who love him and spend a lot of time with him, in this aspect even Link is not his opponent¡­)


    Compared to the likes of Riko, Rio, or Lia, Zach has lived a very good life.


    While listening to Zach exining about his background, even Rio felt a bit jealous of him.


    A question arose in Rio''s heart that he had always contemted.


    ''I wonder, what a mother''s love feels like¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    Yacht, dining area.


    After walking for a few seconds everyone arrived at the dining area and sat down on their respective seats.


    Looking outside the windows, it was already night, the bright moonlight shined and the starry sky made the view from this ce look extremely beautiful.


    The captain personally came down from the deck and introduced the ship to them.


    "Our esteemed guest, wee! This Yacht has been named ''Evening Glow'' and I am the captain! I wish you all my most heartfelt wee!" (Captain)


    "Well then, now we will sail for tonight!" (Captain)


    After announcing that, the captain went back, he seemed to have ordered his subordinates to get back to work.


    A few minutester the yacht quietly left the port in the darkness of night.


    Half an hourter, the yacht stopped at an area that was not too far or close to the city.


    Now everyone could see the night view of Oaklum from the windows.


    "The captain knows how to choose a good scenery, heh.. " (Liam)


    Zach nodded his head at Liam''s words and replied in a happy tone.


    "Yes, he has been working as a captain for more than twenty years after all¡­" (Zach)


    The gentle breeze of wind entered through the windows and made them feel refreshed.


    Under the starry sky, the bustling city of Oaklum had thousands of lights shining in the night, which made it look like a blessednd.


    "Whoa! The scenery here is so beautiful!" (Riya)


    Riya hurriedly brought out her smartphone and took some photos of the scenery.


    Although Riya was disturbing the quiet atmosphere, no one said anything to stop her, after all, everyone else was also as surprised as her while looking at this scenery.


    "Now that I have seen this amazing scene myself, I guess I will have to visit this yacht more frequently in the future¡­ hehe~" (Zach)


    As Zach was visiting this ce for the first time, he was also just as surprised as the others were.


    While they were all busy staring at the scenery, the servants weren''t just standing idly, they slowly brought food and various sweets.


    Well-decorated food and drinks, tasty-looking side dishes, and the sweet smell of the sweets, all this when added to this divine scenery made this dinner party even more remarkable.


    *Music starts in the background*


    On the stage nearby, a pianist started to y a calm and gentle melody.


    His great piano skills caused everyone to feel refreshed.


    With all of these things added together in one ce, the excitement of the group reached its peak.


    "Okay, everyone, it''s time to enjoy the food!" (Zach)


    "I have been waiting for it!" (Riya)


    Everyone nodded their heads at Zach and started to enjoy the food while listening to the music ying in the background.


    The melody yed by the pianist seemed to have added yet another charm to the scenery and thus all of them couldn''t help but nce at the scenery every once in a while as they ate.


    The memories of this dinner will remain in the heads of them all, forever.


    ¡­


    10:00 PM.


    Resting area.


    "Ugh, I ate so much¡­ I feel like I am about to burst apart like a balloon¡­" (Riya)


    Riyay on the couchzily as she rubbed her tummy with a look of satisfaction. She seems to have eaten a lot today.


    Link who was sitting on another couch nearby shook his head helplessly.


    ''It''s a good thing that Raji isn''t here, otherwise if she saw her eating so much, she would have definitely scolded us both for being so uncivilized¡­'' (Link)


    Riya has always had this habit of stuffing herself with too much food.


    One time she choked on food so badly that she nearly ended up suffocating to death. After that incident, Raji seemed to have be very anxious about Riya''s overeating habits.


    She always lectures Link for not stopping Riya on time.


    ''She will say something like¡­'' (Link)


    ''I know that Riya is quite immature and it''s pointless to make her behave¡­'' (Link)


    ''but you are mature and intelligent, you should keep an eye on her Link, stop her from eating too much whenever she goes crazy over sweets!'' (Link)


    Although Link knew that it was all for Riya''s sake, he just couldn''t do it.


    ''How am I supposed to stop her when she looks so happy while nibbling on those sweets!? It''s too addicting to watch her enjoy the food!!'' (Link)


    Regardless of Raji''sints, Link was simply helpless. Logic tells him to stop Riya, but his heart always seems to be interfering with his decisions.


    While Link was shaking his head helplessly, Riya who was totally unaware of his concerns immediately fell asleep.


    When Link noticed her sleeping so carefreely, he shook his head and got up from the couch.


    Just when Link was thinking about taking a stroll around the yacht, Riya suddenly started to talk.


    "mmgh¡­. Link, that''s my pillow¡­" (Riya)


    Link squinted his eyes at Riya''s words.


    ''I became a pillow thief in her dreams.... tch! The dream version of me must be quite despicable to have taken her pillow¡­'' (Link)


    Thinking this far, Link walked over to Riya''s head, gently lifted her head sat down on the couch, and then ced Riya''s head on hisp.


    ''I guess ap pillow can also be considered a pillow right?...'' (Link)


    After Link put her head on hisp, Riya seemed to feel morefortable and safe, she immediately started to smile in her sleep.


    ''Hmph! I won''t let you win, the dream version of me! It''s my win!'' (Link) (It turns out he waspeting with his own dream version all along¡­)


    After seeing Riya smile, Link was satisfied he ced his head on the sofa and rxed too.


    Eventually, he also fell asleep under the caress of that gentle wind breeze.


    Even the stars and moon seemed to be blessing this sleeping couple as their shine fell on Link and Riya''s sleeping faces.


    Sleeping peacefully in the arms of your loved ones, if this isn''t paradise then what else is?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Ugh, this thing is too sweet I am feeling empty inside after writing this¡­.


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance to board a yacht, what would you like to do first?


    1.Eat luxury food!


    2.Look at the night scenery and bathe in the moonlight.


    3.Hear the piano as youy on a couchzily.


    4.Others.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 195 The Farewell Party... Part-3.

    Chapter 195 The Farewell Party... Part-3.


    ??Yacht ''Evening Glow'', Midnight.


    Standing on the uppermost floor of the yacht, Zach stared at the starry sky.


    ''It''s strange... I can''t seem to remember what happened to me when I entered that white space...'' (Zach)


    ''My memories of it are jumbled up... and I have this strange thing in my item slot...'' (Zach)


    [Unknown Fragment 1/?]


    (Unlike Rio, Zach didn''t see any extra memories after he got this fragment... that''s why there has been no new fragment chapter added to the auxiliary volume...)


    ''Sigh~ things are soplicated these days...'' (Zach)


    Zach shook his head and stopped thinking about the matter of that fragment.


    ''It''s only been a few days and I have be so attached to these new friends... now that I know they will go away soon, I feel kind of sad now...'' (Zach)


    Zach knew that the only reason why they all came here in the first ce was because they wanted to take part in thest test, otherwise Zach might have never met such excellent people.


    As Zach is a smart person, he knows that it is very likely that he has failed the test already.


    ''I ended up losing my consciousness and became a burden on myrades¡­ I will definitely get a failing grade for this test¡­ sigh~'' (Zach)


    Fade and Kira both didn''t contribute much and thus they will also likely fail this test along with Zach.


    Only Riko and the others could be considered to have passed this test properly.


    ''Riko took care of Zach who became a burden on hisrades and thus she might get extra marks for it¡­'' (Zach)


    This way, the final seven individuals who will go to the meeting of gods are already determined more or less.


    Zach knew that once he was dered to have failed, he wouldn''t be able to apany others to the meeting and it might take a long time before he could see them all gathered like this again.


    ''After the meeting of gods, it is very likely that they all will be at the level where they could easily give the second year final test ahead of schedule¡­'' (Zach)


    ''Then once they all be 3rd-year students¡­ everyone will have different goals and missions¡­ it is very likely that all of them will part ways some way or another¡­'' (Zach)


    ''Today might be myst chance to see them all gathered here like this¡­ I want to keep these memories of the time I spent with them, engraved in my mind forever¡­'' (Zach)


    Just when Zach was contemting the future in his mind, he felt a familiar presence''s arrival. Zach smiled and asked in a gentle tone:


    "What? Are you having trouble sleeping?" (Zach)


    Zach didn''t turn his head or even take a look, he just knew who was standing beside him just by sensing that familiar presence.


    "Yeah¡­ I had a nightmare¡­" (Riko)


    Riko walked over to Zach with unhurried steps and stood beside him. She nced at him for a bit and then looked at the horizon with narrowed eyes.


    "It''s rare for you to look so depressed, Zach¡­ is something bothering you?" (Riko)


    At Riko''s question, Zach simply shook his head.


    "Nothing special¡­. I am just a bit sad that I might not be able to see my dear juniors for a long time after today¡­" (Zach)


    At Zach''s answer, Riko shrugged her shoulders and replied in a rather stern tone.


    "We have met them for only a few days, and you are already so attached to them? You are too soft-hearted, Zach¡­" (Riko)


    "How have you even survived until now with such a soft heart in this cruel world¡­ sigh~" (Riko)


    "Haha, you think too much¡­ I am not really that much of a pushover¡­. It''s just these juniors are different¡­ they somehow won over my heart in just a few days¡­." (Zach)


    "It''s as if each of them has extraordinary charisma that attracts others and makes you look at them with favorable eyes¡­" (Zach)


    At Zach''s reply, Riko simply rolled her eyes, she didn''t understand one bit about what Zach was saying.


    In her opinion all of those juniors were still just random acquaintances whom she had just met a few days ago, there''s no way she would get attached to them in such a short time.


    Riko nced at Zach who was staring at the starry sky and thought to herself.


    ''They might be acquaintances.. But they helped me understand one thing for sure¡­ with their unconscious help I seem to have cleared up my situation¡­'' (Riko)


    ''now I understand why I am always so conscious of you, Zach¡­'' (Riko)


    ''It''s because you resemble my brother a lot¡­ yes, I always feel that I need to protect you because that''s what I felt for my younger brother when I looked at his frail and weak existence¡­'' (Riko)


    Riko stopped staring at Zach and thought to herself.


    ''I guess it will not be a bad idea to look over you until I find out about the whereabouts of the man I need to take revenge on¡­ after that¡­ I willmit su*cide and reunite with my brother¡­'' (Riko)


    Meeting Rio and the group caused Riko''s belief in revenge to be even more severe than it already was.


    Now her only motive in life is to just take revenge and die peacefully to end all her suffering.


    Zach and others were totally unaware of Riko''s su*cidal thoughts, they just thought of her as a socially awkward girl who didn''t want tomunicate much with others.


    Except for Lia, no one sensed that she was already too far gone on the road of revenge and it was already too difficult for her to return back now.


    (Take note that Riko has never told her backstory to anyone, not even Zach, thus they all don''t really know what she is going through right now¡­)


    ...


    After a few minutes of silence, Zach finally stopped staring at the sky and calmed himself down.


    ''There''s no point being sad now¡­ let''s hope that I can see them all in the future soon¡­ I should enjoy the current time to its fullest¡­'' (Zach)


    The usual smile returned to Zach''s face and seeing that Zach was now behaving normally, Riko nodded her head and said:


    "Finally got over your feelings? You really know how to make others worried about you¡­" (Riko)


    "Haha, you must be joking, I never make others worried about me¡­" (Zach)


    "Tch! You don''t even know then! Yesterday when you were in your ''baby'' mode, you ran around all day long like an idiot!" (Riko)


    "If not for me to hold your hand tightly, you would have jumped down from Ellie''s back at least ten times! When we were returning back!" (Riko)


    "You even made me buy food for you!" (Riko)


    Hearing Riko''sints Zach just scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment as he tried to smile it off.


    "Okay, okay, tomorrow''s lunch is on me! I will pay you back with that lunch tomorrow!" (Zach)


    "Yes, it''s a promise then!" (Riko)


    "Yeah, yeah I promise¡­" (Zach)


    ''This girl¡­ she really doesn''t like doing free favors, I was thinking of buying some training equipment with my pocket money, but now I will have to use it for arranging a lunch date in an expensive ce¡­'' (Zach)


    ''Sigh~ goodbye my precious training equipment¡­'' (Zach)


    Thinking about that, Zach wiped the imaginary tears that fell from his eyes as he thought about how he would have to part with his money.


    While the two of them were busy talking with each other.


    Lia''s shout came from below.


    "Senpai! The captain said that he wants to talk to you about something!" (Lia)


    "Oh okay!" (Zach)


    After telling Zach about it, Lia went back.


    Zach nced at Riko and said.


    "Okay I should get going now¡­" (Zach)


    While Zach slowly walked away Riko asked.


    "What does the captain need at such a time¡­" (Riko)


    Zach continued to walk away and replied in a doubtful tone as he waved his hand to bid farewell.


    "I am not sure either¡­ must be asking about the time we should head back¡­" (Zach)


    Just when Zach was walking down the stairs, something descended from the sky at an extremely fast speed.


    The object was so fast that not even Zach, an A-rank archer could perceive its arrival.


    Ellie, Kai, Rio, and everyone else, none of them were able to perceive the sudden arrival of that object.


    *Booooom!!!*


    The object descended from the sky extremely fast and directly collided with the yacht, causing a loud bang.


    The whole yacht broke apart in two from the middle area where the objectnded, and a massive explosion happened.


    Even the people from the city noticed this massive explosion from far away.


    The noise caused by the explosion was so loud that it caused shockwaves in the air.


    Massive waves rose and the broken pieces of the yacht flew away for hundreds of meters before falling into the sea.


    The situation suddenly seems to have turned grim.


    The mana stones that were powering the yacht came into contact with the massive shockwave and cracked.


    This caused a second explosion and this explosion was even bigger than the previous one.


    *Boooom!!*


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that this mission is not really over yet¡­ let''s see what the future holds in its grasp¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think has attacked the yacht?


    (Take a guess guys and tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 196 The Dark Nightmare... Part-1.

    Chapter 196 The Dark Nightmare... Part-1.


    ??A Day ago, Aaron''s dwellings.


    Hidden floor.


    Ignoring the filthy dark mud that was covering the floor of the hall, Aaron stared at the individual standing in front of him with a look of shock on his face.


    "H-how are you still alive¡­ Alverto¡­" (Aaron)


    Alverto, the demon prince, ignored Aaron''s shocked tone, his face was hidden under the helmet of his armor.


    "You look quite surprised, Aaron¡­" (Alverto)


    "Didn''t you die in the demon general Azazel''s execution battle!?" (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s question, Alverto slowly walked towards the withered ''tree of blood'' and said:


    "Of course, I didn''t die in that battle¡­ I have my ways of retreating safely¡­ hehe, not even an SS-ranker can restrict me if I want to leave¡­" (Alverto)


    The more Alverto said the more shocked Aaron became.


    "Y-you escaped unharmed under the nose of that insanely strong human¡­ Ashtel Rex!?" (Aaron)


    "Heh, I have my ways¡­ let''s put that matter aside for now though¡­" (Alverto)


    Alverto stopped looking at the withered tree of blood and focused his eyes on Aaron. A creepy smile appeared on Alverto''s face which was hidden under that helmet.


    Even though Alverto was just looking at him, Aaron could still feel immense pressure from that gaze alone.


    ''Sh*t! This guy is already at the peak of S-rank¡­ no! he''s not too far away from breaking through the realm of demi-gods¡­ i-I am in big trouble¡­'' (Aaron)


    ''Moreover, this is not a clone either! This is his real body! Why the heck did hee to the human kingdom in person!?'' (Aaron)


    ''If possible I didn''t want to meet a crazy guy like him at all!'' (Aaron)


    A look of frustration appeared on Aaron''s face as he was stared down by the intense re of Alverto''s demonic eyes.


    Ignoring Aaron''s dilemma, Alverto stretched out his hand and said in a stern voice.


    "Now, tell me¡­ where is the fragment? I sensed the presence of a fragment here¡­ that why I came here in person¡­ where is that fragment, my dear friend?" (Alverto)


    At Alverto''s question, a confused look appeared on Aaron''s face, he had no idea what Alverto was talking about.


    "W-what fragment.. uh¡­ what are you talking about?" (Aaron)


    Hearing Aaron''s answer, the smile on Alverto''s face faded away and his expression became cold.


    Immense killing intent surged from his body and pressed down on Aaron like a giant mountain.


    "Hehe, Aaron we are old friends, our friendship goes way back¡­ so I suggest you stop pretending and hand over that fragment to me¡­ otherwise, hehehehkehkeh¡­" (Alverto)


    Suddenly Alverto appeared behind Aaron and put his hand on Aaron''s shoulder.


    Alverto whispered in a chillingly calm voice.


    "Don''t make me waste time¡­. Speak!" (Alverto)


    Beads of sweat appeared on Aaron''s face as he tried to move away from Alverto''s grasp.


    "Uh¡­ I-I really have no idea, about w-what you want¡­" (Aaron)


    "No no, that''s not the answer I want¡­ Tell me everything you know Aaron, otherwise, my next target will be your little sister Tia, hehehekehkeh¡­" (Alverto)


    Aaron''s eyes widened at Alverto''s remarks.


    "Y-you can''t go to the dragon valley, she lives under the protection of the dragon king himself, y-you can''t do anything to her!" (Aaron)


    At Aaron''s nervous shouts, Alverto just sneered and replied in a cold voice.


    "You really think I don''t dare to kill someone in the presence of the dragon king? Not even Ashtel Rex was able to keep me from escaping and you think I am afraid of provoking another SS-ranker?..." (Alverto)


    Alverto continued to walk around the hall as if he was observing the area. He totally ignored the dark mud that was spread all over the ground.


    "BAHAHAHA, YOU ARE SO GOOD AT MAKING ME LAUGH!!.... But you see my dear friend, it will cost a little bit¡­. But for my goals, I can go to any length¡­ so don''t make me kill you little sister in vain¡­" (Alverto)


    "TELL ME EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED HERE!! TELL ME NOW!" (Alverto)


    Alverto''s domineering voice made Aaron shiver in fear and helplessness.


    ''Sorry, kids¡­ I had no other choice, I can''t risk the life of my sister¡­'' (Aaron)


    With great reluctance, Aaron told Alverto about everything that had happened on that day.


    He told about how a group of human children came to visit and how Zach fell unconscious when he looked at this tree.


    "This tree withered after the kid Zach stared at it for a while and fell unconscious¡­" (Aaron)


    "That''s all I know¡­ I really have no idea what ''fragment'' you are talking about¡­" (Aaron)


    After telling all this, Aaron went silent again.


    "I see, I have a general idea of what must have happened¡­" (Alverto)


    Alverto nced at the withered tree of blood and thought to himself.


    ''This tree must have been in possession of the ''fragment'' and it gave the fragment to that human kid named ''Zach'' because the tree had no time left¡­ this dark mud is the reason why that tree was on the verge of death¡­'' (Alverto)


    Alverto walked towards Aaron and patted his shoulders and said in a happy voice.


    "Haha, you should have told me everything from the start! You made me threaten my dear friend for no reason! Sigh~" (Alverto)


    Saying that, Alverto pretended to walk out of the ce through the stairs, but he suddenly stopped and nced at Aaron again.


    "By the way, can you give me some photo of that kid named Zach¡­ you know, a ''photo'' that is taken by ''camera''¡­ humans like to take photos¡­ do you have one?" (Alverto)


    Aaron was startled by Alverto''s sudden demands, he thought that Alverto was really leaving but that sudden question made him startled again.


    "Uh, n-no, I don''t have a ''camera''¡­. Those kids only stayed with me for just a few hours¡­ I didn''t take any pictures with them¡­" (Aaron)


    "Is that so¡­" (Alverto)


    Seeing that Alverto fell into thought, Aaron heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''I-is he finally about to leave¡­ just go away! I don''t want to get involved with the demon kind at all!'' (Aaron)


    But before Aaron could rx, Alverto suddenly turned back and smiled at Aaron with a creepy grin on his face.


    The next words he said made Aaron frustrated, and fearful.


    "Then I have no other way but to extract your soul and search your memory! My dear friend! Kehekekeh¡­" (Alverto)


    Aaron''s eyes widened in shock at Alverto''s statement, he really didn''t expect Alverto to go so far for such a small reason.


    ¡­


    (Back to current time¡­)


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio used sword intent and rode his sword to leave the sea water and fly into the sky.


    ''What happened all of a sudden¡­'' (Rio)


    When the whole yacht exploded, Rio was talking with Lia while sipping on tea, who would have to know that all of a sudden their Yacht would st into smithereens.


    Rio fell into the seawater and lost sight of Lia, he immediately used his sword intent to protect himself from the second explosion that happened due to the st of the yacht''s core.


    Rio nced around him and noticed the debris of the destroyed yacht was scattered everywhere on the sea surface.


    *SPLASH!*


    The water sshed and Lia flew up in the sky. She was covered with Kai''s spirit magic and two silver wings helped her fly.


    "You okay, Lia?" (Rio)


    Lia nodded her head at Rio''s question.


    Soon Link also jumped out of the sea, while holding Riya in his hands. He used the ''Dao rhythm'' to stand in the air.


    "What the f*ck is happening all of a sudden!?" (Link)


    ''If not for the fact that I used ''Dao rhythm'' to shield Riya, this explosion would have been dangerous¡­'' (Link)


    Ellie carried Liam out of the sea. She was the one who cast a shadow barrier around him to protect him from the explosion.


    "We are so close to a human city, an S-ranker is stationed here, and yet there is someone who dares to attack our ships!?" (Liam)


    While everyone else was still confused, Riko also flew out of the sea while riding on that ''flying sword'' she used when she first arrived at that abandoned mansion on the outskirts of Oaklum.


    "W-where is Zach, I don''t see him anywhere-" (Riko)


    Before Riko could finish her sentence, a sinister and mocking voice resounded in the ears of everyone present at the scene.


    "Ah, you must be talking about this little kid right?" (Alverto)


    Everyone looked above and found that a person wearing pitch-ck armor stood in the sky, and his right hand was gripping Zach''s neck firmly.


    Zach struggled to break free but it was to no avail, he wasn''t strong enough to get rid of the grasp of a peak S-ranker.


    Alverto''s eyes fell on the students below and he immediately noticed Rio standing among them all.


    "Oh, it''s been a while! Rio sh! How have you been? You seem to have progressed a lotpared to thest time I saw you!¡­" (Alverto)


    Hearing that familiar sinister voice, a look of anger appeared on Rio''s face.


    "Alverto Chronos Perdere¡­." (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It turns out everything was the doing of this demon prince after all¡­


    Question of the day.


    Did you expect him to be the one who destroyed the yacht?


    1.Yes (I knew that the mission ended too fast, it was too abnormal¡­)


    2.No (I am really surprised to see the sudden entry of this guy¡­)


    3.Others. (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 197 The Dark Nightmare... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 197 The Dark Nightmare... Part-2.</h4>


    Seeing Zach struggle in Alverto''s grasp, Riko''s eyes instantly went bloodshot, her mind immediately reminded her about her immense hatred for the person who killed her younger brother.


    Now that Zach, whom she had already considered as her younger brother was in danger she couldn''t remain calm at all.


    "Noo!! Leave Zach alone!!" (Riko)


    [Imperial sword art: Rising Moon cleave!]


    Riko used insane mana output to forcefully kick the water and jump into the sky.


    Her sword swung upward and created a very precise arc.


    (Imperial sword art is a technique that every swordsman could learn if they don''t have any other sword art to learn¡­ this is a public technique and is avable to everyone..)


    (It was created by an SS-ranker and is a very powerful sword art¡­ Riko is extremely talented in this technique and has mastered its every attack form with immense hard work¡­)


    *Ting!*


    To Riko''s surprise, Alverto caught her sword with just two fingers. He didn''t even use a single technique of his own.


    He barely used two fingers and caught her sword easily, Riko''s attack was strong without a doubt, but Alverto was just too strong for her.


    Due to her attack being ineffective, Riko came back to her senses, but it was toote.


    "You are kind of weak¡­ I am not quite interested in that boring sword art¡­ I have seen it thousands of times on the battlefield¡­" (Alverto)


    *Bam!*


    "Guh!" (Riko)


    Without hesitation Alverto kicked Riko in the stomach, his one attack directly destroyed her organs and she threw up a mouthful of blood.


    The impact of that attack caused Riko to be thrown back into the seawater, creating massive water waves.


    The shockwave caused by that attack spread everywhere and everyone who looked at this scene felt a chill run down their spine.


    Seeing this dire situation, a solemn look appeared on everyone''s face.


    Link hurriedly handed Riya over to Lia so that she could protect her with Kai''s blessings.


    Link narrowed his eyes and nced at the familiar figure of Alverto in the armor with vignt eyes.


    "Hey, hey, didn''t you defeat him Rio? Why is this guy still alive?" (Link)


    In the final exam event, Link had left the area mid-fight to rescue Riya when Rio and Alverto''s clone were fighting to the death. Due to this, he didn''t know about what happenedter.


    Rio shook his head at Link''s question and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "The one I killed was a mere clone of his¡­ but this is his real body perhaps¡­" (Rio)


    ''I can feel that enormous presence¡­. His aura is on par with Ms. Anna''s when she was at her peak¡­ or maybe he is even stronger than her-'' (Rio)


    "Are you done talking?" (Alverto)


    Just when Rio was thinking about what to do next, Alverto suddenly disappeared from his vision and appeared right beside him.


    He ced his hand on Rio''s shoulder and asked in an amused tone.


    "You certainly have improved¡­ but not enough!" (Alverto)


    Alverto was too fast, in fact, it felt like he wasn''t even moving at all, he seemed to be able to directly teleport on the spot.


    Even Rio couldn''t sense or predict his presence with his enhanced mana detection abilities.


    [Shadow Robe!]


    But Rio wasn''t going to just stand there and take the beating, before Alverto could exert force on him, Rio activated his ''shadow robe'' and covered himself with it.


    Alverto''s hand went right through Rio''s shoulder and Rio narrowly escaped. If Rio wasn''t quick enough, Alverto would have split his whole arm.


    ''Tch¡­ he barely grazed me and my shoulder bone has already broken¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio''s left hand immediately went limp because Alverto broke his shoulder bones in that previous failed attack.


    An amused look appeared on Alverto''s face as he saw Rio back away from him.


    "Hoho, you have a really fancy armor¡­ but will that really work on me?" (Alverto)


    [Chronos: Type: Bypass!]


    Alverto''s figure disappeared and appeared right in front of Rio.


    Even though Rio was wearing the ''shadow robe'' he could feel his ''danger senses'' scream wildly at him.


    ''Not good! Even ''Handling'' won''t work on him!'' (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Concentration!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Stone Type: Stone barrier!]


    Alverto''s punch which was covered in strange magical circles when it hit Rio''s sword head-on.


    *Boom!*


    (Rio''s sword uses his mana to maintain its form, whenever it gets damaged it recovers its damage by consuming mana, which means it''s nearly indestructible if Rio''s mana doesn''t run out¡­)


    (But there are always exceptions¡­ if the opposing force is too strong, then the sword will not have enough time to repair itself fast enough and thus the sword will break temporarily...)


    (But even that temporary breaking of the sword for a few milliseconds is a huge opportunity for the like of Alverto...)


    *Crack!*


    Rio''s sword broke apart in two, Alverto''s punch didn''t stop at all, it directly bypassed all techniques and the shadow Armor too.


    *Boom!*


    Rio was hit in the stomach head-on and he flew away like a cannonball due to the impact of that attack.


    That attack was so strong and so fast that none of the students were able to help Rio on time.


    Rio was fast enough that he barely reacted and deployed his defensive techniques which minimized the damage a lot, otherwise, that punch alone could have killed an ordinary A-


    ranker easily.


    Rio flew away and fell into the water creating massive water waves.


    "hoho¡­ to think a mere A-ranker could react to my techniques¡­ you really are a fascinating guy Rio sh¡­" (Alverto)


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Total Overload: Crazed Rush!]


    Link was the first to react, he immediately concentrated mana on his right hand and attacked Alverto''s face with all his might.


    (Overload is Link''s strongest technique, after bing an A-ranker he has learned how to control it properly¡­)


    (In the state of overload, Link''s strength and defense both are enhanced by 2.5 times¡­ moreover, Dao Rhythm provides even better mana and damage output¡­)


    Seeing Link''s attacking, Alverto didn''t even bother dodging, he stretched out his hand and stopped Link''s attack with one hand.


    *Baaaam!!*


    The punch collided with Alverto''s palm and a massive shockwave was created, Zach was still being strangled by Alverto''s other hand thus he was too close when that shockwave appeared.


    Blood flowed from Zach''s ears as his eardrums were destroyed by that massive shockwave.


    Even gigantic tsunami waves were created on the ocean''s surface.


    Link''s eyes widened in shock when he saw that Alverto had stopped his attack with one hand.


    "Imposible-" (Link)


    "Go away, barbarian¡­" (Alverto)


    [Choros: Type: Explosion!]


    Alverto didn''t miss a second, he retracted his hand and formed a fist, the fist directly hit Link in the face head-on.


    The attack was so fast that even in that overloaded state, Link could not see iting.


    *Crack!*


    Link''s jaw bones cracked and a hole appeared in his right cheek, his right eye and ear both got destroyed in an instant and the massive force of the attack caused him to lose consciousness instantly.


    The impact of the attack caused Link to fly away and drown in the sea, just like Rio and Riko.


    (Alverto knocked out all three of them in a span of just ten seconds¡­ it didn''t even take him a full minute to deal with them all¡­)


    [Divine spirits Blessing: Divine arrow rain!]


    Massive silver-colored magic circles appeared in the air behind Lia.


    ''Kai, can we win against him?'' (Lia)


    [Unfortunately not¡­ if I was at my peak state I could have easily chewed down this guy¡­. But right now¡­ I can barely protect you and that kiddo Riya¡­] (Kai)


    ''Tch¡­ where did this damned monstere from all of a sudden!'' (Lia)


    [Chronos: Type: Interruption!]


    Before Lia could use the spirit magic, Alverto''s magic interfered and directly broke all the magic circles causing Lia''s attack to fail before it was evenunched.


    A look of contemtion appeared on Alverto''s face as he noticed Lia''s presence.


    "You human girl¡­ you seem kind of familiar¡­ hmm, where have I met you¡­ I definitely remember sensing your presence¡­" (Alverto)


    Hearing Alverto''s voice, Lia gritted her teeth and shouted in an angry tone:


    "I have nothing to do with a demon like you! Don''t try to act familiar with me!" (Lia)


    Alverto tilted his head in doubt.


    "Hmm¡­ forget it, if it''s important I will remember itter¡­" (Alverto)


    After saying that, Alverto immediately teleported and appeared right in front of Lia and Riya who were covered by Kai''s spirit barrier.


    ''Tch!'' (Lia)


    Lia hurriedly raised her sword to defend and Riya closed her eyes in fright.


    [Shadow field!]


    [Advanced Stone Magic: Enhance stone wall!]


    Liam and Ellie both defended Lia and Riya with all their might, all four of them knew that Alverto was monstrously strong.


    He easily defeated Rio and Link who were basically the strongest duo of their group, due to this, all four of them focused on defense.


    "Heh! You think this barrier can stop me?" (Alverto)


    [Chronos: Type: Bypass!]


    Alverto''s hand directly bypassed those barriers, even Ellie was not able to react to that sudden change.


    Alverto directly punched Liam in the chest. Liam''s body collided with the spirit barrier and even that barrier got broken due to the massive impact of that punch.


    In one punch, Alverto beat all of them. They all got affected by Alverto''s skill ''chronos'' and fell down at an insane speed.


    Ellie had to move back and cushion the fall. She hurriedly cast another shadow barrier and tried to use mana to stabilize Liam''s condition.


    ''Tch! That punch broke Liam''s whole rib cage into pieces, fortunately, I put the shadow field otherwise he would have died from that attack...'' (Ellie)


    Inside the newly formed shadow barrier, Liamy unconscious with Lia and Riya who were momentarily stunned on the spot. Blood flowed from Liam''s mouth.


    Lia''s wrist broke from trying to defend against that massive impact with her sword and Riya''s head got grazed by the massive shockwave and a huge wound appeared on her forehead, blood flowed out like a fountain.


    Seeing the dire conditions, Ellie and Kai both had no choice but to use their magic to stabilize them all three.


    Meanwhile, in the air, Alverto lost interest in further pursuing the group that was trying to hide in the shadow barrier.


    Alverto lowered his head and nced at Zach''s face with narrowed eyes.


    "Tch! You humans are really weak! To think you all couldn''t even withstand a single punch from me, pathetic!" (Alverto)


    Seeing Zach struggle, Alverto''s grip started to slowly tighten.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! This is the first time Rio and others got beaten so one-sidedly¡­


    In fact, this can''t even be called a battle, they were all just beaten with a single punch after all¡­ Let''s see if the situation can be somehow changed somehow from here¡­


    Question of the day.


    Can you guess what Alverto''s skill is about?


    1.It''s time maniption!


    2.I don''t know (I am too worried about Rio and others to think about anything else right now!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 198 The Dark Nightmare... Part-3.

    Chapter 198 The Dark Nightmare... Part-3.


    ??''Chronos'' is the inherent ability of the royal blood demons. Every member of the royal demon bloodline can use this ability.


    But this ability is extremely difficult to master and a demon talented enough to use this ability to its fullest appears only once in a millennia.


    The rest of the royal demons usually don''t train this ability too much, they use this ability as a support skill or an auxiliary method, only a genius can bring out the true potential of this skill.


    Not even the demon king have the ability to use this skill to its highest potential. This skill is like ''trash'' when used by regr individuals, but in the hands of that one gifted genius, this skill is ''godly''.


    And in this millennia, Alverto Chronos Perdere is that once in a millennia ''genius''.


    ...


    Oaklum City.


    In the sky, above the Oaklum alliance branch.


    Several A-rankers patrolled the city and all of them seemed to have restless looks on their faces.


    "D*mn it! That demon has put a massive barrier over the city! This barrier is interfering with space-time itself!"


    "Even the S-ranker stationed here is unable to get out of this barrier!"


    The A-rankers looked all over the city in the hope of finding loopholes in the barrier but it was to no avail.


    The barrier cast over the city was so perfect and magnificent that you might doubt if it was really cast by an S-rank demon or an experienced SS-rank barrier mage.


    The S-ranker stationed in Oaklum stood in the sky and stared at the distant figure of Alverto with a solemn look on his face.


    (The barrier is invisible to the normal eye, and with the enhanced eyesight of an S-ranker it is easy to see what''s happening in the sea so he had no choice but to wait and see things happen...)


    "Tch! That demon is ying with those children, ugh... if he wanted he could have already killed them all..."


    Demons are arrogant and sadistic type creatures.


    It ismon knowledge in this world that demons are cunning and they like to y with their prey to the very end.


    Demons mentally and physically torture their prey till the prey either dies or has a mental breakdown.


    It ismon knowledge that demons are just beasts in humanoid forms, they like destruction and killing to the extreme.


    This is also the reason why it''s impossible for other races to coexist with them peacefully.


    When there are other races to attack, demons like to band up together andy chaos in the homes of other races.


    And when they have no one to kill, they fight each other in death battles for entertainment.


    It is recorded in history books that demons have no concept of proper civilization, they live in tribes and hunt down weaker demons for food and entertainment.


    They have no concept of family either, as the demon parents abandon their children very early.


    But one thing is for sure, Demons are cruel and unfriendly creatures, they can never be friends with others.


    ...


    Sea, above the debris of the broken yacht.


    "Guh!" (Zach)


    Zach tried to struggle but it was to no avail, Alverto simply refused to let go. His grip was too strong for Zach.


    Moreover, Alverto purposely restrained Zach and beat his friends right in front of him to make him feel the weight of guilt and despair.


    Zach could clearly feel that Alverto looked amused as he slowly tightened his grasp on Zach''s neck.


    "Yes! Struggle more! I like seeing worms like you who squirm around pathetically! Haahaha..." (Alverto)


    "It''s so amusing to look at the desperate face of you humans, even though no one is going toe and rescue you, you still want to struggle, hahaha..." (Alverto)


    Hearing Alverto''s mockery, Zach replied with a muffled voice.


    "S-ranker.... Cough... nearby... kill you..." (Zach)


    Due to his neck being strangled with immense force, Zach was barely able to talk, but he still conveyed his message nheless.


    "Hahaha, you think the S-ranker stationed in that city wille to save you! Ahahahahahaha.... Ah... How pathetic can humans be sometimes...." (Alverto)


    "DO YOU REALLY THINK I CAME HERE UNPREPARED!!.... I have already ced a barrier over that city which will not let anyone disturb me!!" (Alverto)


    "Moreover I have cast a simr barrier on this area of the sea too!" (Alverto)


    "And you know what the specialty of these barriers is?..." (Alverto)


    "They directly interfere with space-time itself!!.. due to which even an SS-ranker won''t be able to sense the existence of this barrier unless they are right in front of it!!" (Alverto)


    Seemingly not convinced by Alverto''s words, Zach suddenly brought out an arrow from his space ring.


    [Hunt style: Explosive arrow!]


    Zach used his hand and directly thrust that arrow into the eyehole of Alverto''s armor.


    *Boom!*


    A massive explosion appeared, which created massive shockwaves in the air.


    Even Zach was hit by that explosion as he was too close to it too. His right eyeball was already destroyed in that massive explosion.


    "Hahahaha... you really think such a measly attack will do me anything?" (Alverto)


    When the smoke from the explosion disappeared, Alverto''s figure appeared in the sky unharmed and unconcerned.


    His hand still gripping Zach''s neck, he didn''t even budge a little bit from that attack.


    "hehehehe! Is this it?" (Alverto)


    Just when Alverto was gloating while looking at Zach''s worried face.


    A massive spear made of spirit magic struck him from behind.


    [Divine spirit''s blessing: Spear of light!]


    The spear of light was insanely fast and it precisely struck Alverto''s back, it was so precise that Zach didn''t get any damage from that attack, even though he was so close to it.


    [Shadow Field: Type Presence reduction!]


    Without giving any room for a counterattack, Ellie followed up on Lia''s attack instantly.


    The whole area inside the giant time barrier got shrouded in ck smoke, the smoke not only reduced visibility it perfectly hid everyone else''s presence.


    "Ho! You little kiddos still have the guts to go against me?" (Alverto)


    While saying that, Alverto easily dodged all of the fireballs fired by Liam.


    "Heh¡­ you don''t think I will be defeated by these pitiful mes right-" (Alverto)


    Just when Alverto was about toplete his sentence, a massive w covered in immense divine energy attacked Alverto at an insanely fast speed.


    "Hmm.. interesting¡­" (Alverto)


    [Chronos: Type Constraint!]


    Before that massive w could evennd on Alverto, he used his time maniption skill and instantly bound his opponents with time constraints.


    [Chronos: Type eleration!]


    At Alverto''smand, all of the ck smoke created by Ellie''s shadow field suddenly elerated and dissipated into nothingness.


    Alverto''s visibility returned back instantly.


    "HAHAHA! Good! Good! It was a good n everyone!" (Alverto)


    Alverto looked at all the kids who were now stuck on the spot and were unable to move even one inch. His ''constraint'' skill made them all freeze in one spot.


    A creepy smile appeared on his face under the helmet.


    Alverto nced at the students and said in a mocking tone.


    "You guys tried to use that divine spear to distract me from Zach, then that shadow field was for protecting yourselves from my counterattack and buying time for yourselves¡­" (Alverto)


    "Then you used those fireballs to further make me let my guard down, andstly you summoned Divine spirit''s general Kawaki with the help of that artifact''s inherent ability ''Forced summon''¡­" (Alverto)


    "kekekeke! A magnificent n!" (Alverto)


    "If it was any other S-ranker, you could have definitely seeded and could have easily rescued your little friend, then you would have escaped this ce using the skills of that shadow dragon right?" (Alverto)


    A shocked look appeared on everyone''s face as Alverto urately pointed out every single detail of their n.


    "W-what? H-how do you-" (Liam)


    "Who do you think I am? I am the crown prince of the demon race! Do you really think I will not know about your little tricks!!" (Alverto)


    Alverto pointed his finger toward the artifact in Liam''s hands.


    "That artifact, ''Azazel''s dreaming heart'', is made from the heart of the former demon general Azazel, he used to be my closest subordinate!" (Alverto)


    "Do you really think I won''t know about its abilities? Hahahah¡­ howughable¡­" (Alverto)


    Then Alverto pointed his finger at Kai''s massive body and said in a mocking tone.


    "It''s been a while! Spirit General Kawaki!" (Alverto)


    "Last time I saw you, you were so much stronger¡­ and look at you now, you are now reduced to such a weak state that even I am able to restraint you easily¡­ kehahehehe" (Alverto)


    [Tch¡­ I didn''t expect you to have reached such mastery over ''chronos''¡­ I was careless¡­] (Kai)


    Alverto ignored Kai''s depressed tone and pointed his finger at Ellie next.


    "Andstly you, Elisia Mistilteinn¡­ ah I remember your name, I have heard about you¡­" (Alverto)


    A mocking grin appeared on Alverto''s face as he looked down on Ellie with his arrogance-filled eyes.


    "You are the disgrace of the shadow dragon''s family¡­" (Alverto)


    "The greatest shame on the name of dragons¡­ you can''t even use the ''true dragon magic'' and you dare show up your face in this world¡­" (Alverto)


    "Your pathetic existence makes meugh!" (Alverto)


    Hearing those insults from Alverto, Ellie just bowed her head and stayed silent. She knew better than anyone about how weak she was, thus she didn''t dare refute Alverto''s words at all.


    "HAHAHAHA, Looking at you all weaklings squirm around under my feet makes me feel amused! It has been a while since Iughed so much!" (Alverto)


    Alverto''s mockingughter resounded throughout the area and made everyone feel helpless and nervous.


    Everyone only had one thought in their mind now.


    ''We are in deep trouble¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Seriously, guys, Alverto is such an overpowered viin, he literally defeated Kai and Ellie both without even lifting a single finger¡­ this guy is too overpowered¡­.


    Question of the day.


    What are your opinions on Alverto the demon prince?


    1. Overpowered (Bro can literally escape the detection of SS-


    rankers! Too overpowered!)


    2. Chronos (His ability is simply too insane!)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 199 The Dark Nightmare... Part-4.

    Chapter 199 The Dark Nightmare... Part-4.


    ??(Forgotten memories¡­)


    A small park, Evening.


    A young girl sat beside arge tree in a remote corner of the park.


    A stern look hung over the girl''s face as she quietly sat under the tree''s shade and watched other kids y with smiles on their faces.


    Just when she was about to fall asleep under the caressing of the gentle air breeze, a voice brought her back to her senses.


    "You¡­ y with me! I wanna y tag!" (Zach)


    The boy who had pointed his finger at the girl looked short and weak, he had an arrogant look on his face as he seemingly ordered the girl to y with him.


    He was so short that he looked like a kindergarten student.


    The girl nced at the boy with the same stern look on her face and replied in an emotionless tone.


    "I don''t y with kindergarteners¡­" (Riko)


    Zach was instantly angered by those words and blood veins popped up on his forehead, he pouted his cheeks and shouted in anger.


    "I-I am not in kindergarten!" (Zach)


    "But you are so short and thin¡­" (Riko)


    "I-I am not short! I will grow up to be a tall guy like my father!" (Zach)


    "Father?" (Riko)


    "Yeah! My Father is a businessman! his is tall and handsome, he is my hero!" (Zach)


    "Is that so...." (Riko)


    Talking about his own father, a smile appeared on the face of the little guy.


    Hearing Zach mention this, she noticed that a group of bodyguards was standing right outside the park and a luxurious car was parked nearby.


    She rolled her eyes as she understood that this unfamiliar boy must be from a rich family.


    Noticing Riko''s gaze, Zach smiled and said in a happy tone.


    "That''s my brother''s car! He brought me here to y!" (Zach)


    Saying that Zach pouted his cheeks and continued.


    "and then he left to do some work, hmph, he never ys with me! I will not forgive him today for leaving me here alone!" (Zach)


    Riko didn''t care much about that car as she was too young to know its worth at that point.


    She nced at Zach and said.


    "Are you a prince? Do you live in a castle?" (Riko)


    Riko has always lived her life in extreme poverty, but after she was sent to a better orphanage by Ashtel''s subordinates, she lived a fairly decent life there.


    This orphanage was not poor and not rich either, it had much a better living condition and several professional people worked in that orphanage.


    They taught the children about fairytales and told them various children''s stories.


    Due to this, Riko thought that Zach who was wearing expensive clothes and was being escorted by bodyguards, resembled those princes in the stories.


    "Eh¡­ no I live in arge mansion! Uh¡­ I don''t think I am a prince though¡­" (Zach)


    Zach was kind of embarrassed when a girl said he looked like a prince. This was his first time getting apliment from a girl of his age.


    "Uh, you see, my big brother likes to take me to various ces, today too I apanied him here, but now he isn''t here, so I am looking for someone to y with!" (Zach)


    Zach stretched out his small hand and said with a smile on his face.


    "I am Zachary Hunt, you can call me Zach for short!" (Zach)


    Riko didn''t hesitate much, she took Zach''s hand and got up from the ground.


    "I am Riko Embeth¡­" (Riko)


    "Shall we y then?" (Zach)


    Riko nodded her head in agreement.


    (This is how they both met for the first time¡­)


    ¡­


    Riko''s new orphanage organized various activities for the children, and one of them was to go and y various games in a nearby park.


    Riko was never much interested in these games at all.


    Whenever the teacher took her to the park along with the other kids, she would just slip away quietly and rest near that same tree.


    As she had witnessed hard times in her childhood, she had matured much faster than other children, she didn''t have much interest in ying around like other children.


    Instead, she liked to study hard and build up her knowledge.


    She wanted to get enrolled in a good academy and her primary goal was to be an awakener.


    Usually, she was always busy studying and practicing swordsmanship.


    Sitting near that tree was her sole method of rxing herself, during that time of rxation she didn''t like being disturbed.


    But after her first meeting with Zach, her schedule changed.


    Whenever she was sitting near that tree, Zach would appear and invite her to y together with him.


    Zach had nothing to do with the orphanage or its children, but he was friendly by nature, he befriended all of the children of the orphanage and even the teacher allowed him to hang out with the children.


    Zach always made sure to drag Riko with him to y with the other children. He was the one who made Riko realize what ''living'' is all about.


    ¡­


    Under the shade of the tree.


    "Hey, hey, Riko¡­ what do you want to be in the future?" (Zach)


    A confused look appeared on Riko''s face as she heard Zach''s question.


    She leaned her back against the tree and thought hard before answering.


    "I want to be strong and beat the bad guys¡­" (Riko)


    "OOH! So you want to be an awakener! Me too! I want to be as strong as my grandpa!" (Zach)


    A happy smile appeared on Zach''s face as he looked at Riko''s face and dered.


    "Let''s be strong together! And beat all the bad guys in the world!" (Zach)


    "Yes!" (Riko)


    Riko smiled and nodded her head at Zach''s statement.


    Zach stretched out his hand and said with a smile.


    "Let''s go and y!" (Zach)


    ¡­


    (Back to the current time¡­)


    Dark clouds appeared in the night sky and started to rain slowly above the sea.


    With great difficulty, Riko swam up and got hold of a wooden board that was floating on the sea. (It''s a broken part of the yacht¡­)


    She stood on the wooden board, her eyes looked at the sky, and she noticed that all her juniors were now frozen in ce by Alverto''s skill.


    Before she could understand anything, Alverto appeared right in front of her.


    He stood in the air just above the broken wooden board, his overwhelming aura pressured Riko like a predator looking at its prey.


    "Oya! Look who''s back¡­ It''s your little friend!" (Alverto)


    With a sinister smile on his face, Alverto mocked Zach as he looked at Riko''s injured figure standing on that broken wooden board.


    [Chronos: Type Constraint!]


    Before Riko could understand what was happening, Alverto immediately sealed her on the spot with his skill.


    But he purposely left her head out of the ''constraint'' time seal, so that she could witness what was happening in front of her.


    "I am kind of getting bored of you guys now¡­ so let''s finish the show first¡­" (Alverto)


    Alverto purposely made Zach face towards Riko and ced his other hand on Zach''s chest.


    "You know what I am going to do right?" (Alverto)


    Even though Riko couldn''t see Alverto''s face due to that helmet, she knew that this demon was smiling sinisterly.


    Seeing Alverto cing his hand on Zach''s heart, Riko''s eyes instantly went bloodshot. She shouted at the top of her lungs:


    "STOP! NO! STOP! I-I WILL KILL YOU!!" (Riko)


    Tears appeared in her wide and bright eyes as she red at Alverto with a helpless look on her face.


    Zach also sensed the danger he struggled madly, he kicked and punched Alverto with all his might but it was all useless.


    "Farewell, PATHETIC HUMAN!" (Alverto)


    *pierce!*


    The sound of meat being pierced rang out in the whole area.


    Riko''s eyes widened in anger and helplessness. Tears of blood appeared from her eyes as she looked at Zach''s heart being pierced by Alverto''s hand.


    "NOOOOO!!" (Riko)


    "Urk¡­" (Zach)


    Blood flowed like a fountain from Zach''s pierced chest.


    After forcefully digging out Zach''s heart, Alverto finally let go of Zach''s neck.


    Zach fell from the sky directly onto the broken wooden board right in front of Riko.


    Like a doll that has lost its strings, his body refused to move, and his hands and feet twitched from time to time.


    "Bahahahah¡­. Pathetic worms¡­" (Alverto)


    Under Riko''s horrified eyes, Alverto crushed the heart in his hand that he dug out of Zach''s chest.


    A white light sprang up and entered Alverto''s body from that crushed heart. (That white light was the fragment that Alverto was looking for all along¡­)


    Just when Alverto was enjoying things to himself, he suddenly looked in the direction of the Oaklum.


    "Hmm¡­ appeared earlier than I expected¡­ but oh well, I am already done here anyway¡­" (Alverto)


    Alverto took onest look at Riko and the other students, and he shook his head.


    "Lowly humans¡­" (Alverto)


    He brought out a teleportation scroll from his space ring and embedded his mana to instantly leave the ce.


    Once Alverto left, Riko was finally able to move as the constraint disappeared with Alverto.


    "Zach!" (Riko)


    With tears of blood flowing from her bloodshot eyes, Riko hurriedly turned Zach''s body towards herself.


    She brought out a high-rank healing potion from her space ring and directly poured it all on Zach.


    "D-don''t worry you will be okay! Don''t worry!" (Riko)


    "cough! Cough! Urk¡­" (Zach)


    Zach coughed more blood from his mouth and his eyes became blurred.


    But to Riko''s despair, the potion had no effect at all.


    "W-why¡­ t-the potion isn''t working¡­ w-why.. no.. no! Zach!" (Riko)


    Other students also hurriedly rushed over along with Riya in tow.


    Riya hurriedly bent down and used her healing magic at maximum capacity.


    [Intermediate heal: Max output!]


    Beads of sweat appeared on Riya''s face as she poured an insane amount of mana into healing Zach''s pierced chest.


    But it was all to no avail.


    A dark liquid started to spread all over Zach''s chest and stopped Riya''s healing easily.


    "W-what''s going on¡­ something is interfering with my healing!" (Riya)


    Tears appeared in everyone''s eyes, they all knew the situation was extremely dire now.


    Not even a high-ranking potion was working on this wound and even Riya was powerless against it.


    Zach was not a fool, he was a person with excellent perception, and he knew what was going on.


    Zach nced at Riko with his blurred eyes.


    Tears ran down his eyes as he held Riko''s hand with his trembling blood-stained hand.


    A gentle smile appeared on Zach''s face as he looked at Riko.


    "Hehe, forgive¡­ me Riko¡­ I might not be¡­ able to take you to that promised lunch tomorrow¡­" (Zach)


    "No! No! You must hold on! W-we will take you to an S-rank healer soon! Zach!" (Riko)


    Zach ignored Riko''s shouts of helplessness and caressed her face with his hand onest time.


    "I have always wanted to say¡­.I¡­ Love you, Riko Embeth¡­" (Zach)


    A shocked look appeared on Riko''s face, but before she could say anything, Zach''s trembling hand stopped trembling and directly fell down lifelessly.


    "Nooooo!! Noooooo! Zach!! Zach!" (Riko)


    Riko''s pitiful shouts rang out far and wide, her eyes bled tears of blood as she tried her hardest to deny what was happening right in front of her.


    Even the other students covered their mouths and tears flowed from their eyes too.


    Everyone was too shocked to understand what just happened.


    Riya ran out of mana and her body trembled uncontrobly as tears flowed down her eyes.


    "T-this...I-I¡­." (Riya)


    This was the first time Riya was not able to save someone''s life.


    This day will remain as an unforgettable scar in all of their lives, and they will all remember this day as ''The Dark Nightmare''¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Let us mourn the death of our beloved character Zach for onest time¡­ may his soul rest in peace¡­


    He was a character who brought great joy to our faces, the future generations of this world will remember him as the one who triggered the start of the new era.


    This day will be remembered by thousands as the ''day of the Beginning''.

 Chapter 200 Aftermath... Part-1.

    Chapter 200 Aftermath... Part-1.


    ??Once Alverto Left, the time barriers disappeared and the awakeners in Oaklum City rushed up to the students instantly.


    But no matter how fast they were to arrive, it was already toote.


    A life was already lost and nearly all of the students had suffered varying degrees of wounds.


    Later, Jin Walt who was supposed to arrive at the Oaklum area a few dayster, arrived at the scene just a few seconds after the other awakeners rushed to the scene.


    People were surprised to see his sudden arrival, but it seemed like he wasn''t in the mood to talk.


    He had a look of extreme anger as he stared at the wounded students being carried away, he was angry at the demon who dared to do such a thing in the territory of the human empire.


    The whole city felt more relieved under his presence.


    ...


    Oaklum Alliance Branch, Infirmary.


    Rio slowly opened his eyes and a white ceiling came into his view.


    ''I have seen this ceiling so many times now, that I am not even surprised about where I am...'' (Rio)


    Rio slowly sat up from the infirmary bed and leaned his back against the wall.


    Just when Rio sat up, a familiar voice rang out in his ears.


    "You are finally awake..." (Jin)


    Rio tilted his head and found that Jin was sitting cross-legged on a nearby chair.


    "How long have you been sitting here..." (Rio)


    "Just came a few seconds ago..." (Jin)


    "Is that so..." (Rio)


    After that small talk, the room went silent again for a while.


    Rio nced at his right hand.


    ''I lost again.... And so pathetically this time.... I wasn''t even able tond a proper hit on the opponent this time....'' (Rio)


    Alverto, the demon prince was not only physically faster and stronger than Rio, he also had time maniption skills to elerate or slow down time in a small area.


    Alverto used his time maniption to easily dodge any and every attack. Moreover, he used that speed to easily overpower Rio and he didn''t even give Rio the time to use his ''soul splitting'' skill on him.


    ''It was a colossal failure... I am still too far away from fighting an S-ranker...'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking about this further.


    He knew that strength can''t be forced, it takes time and effort to improve, and encountering Alverto was a great misfortune.


    "What about others? Are they all right" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s question, Jin shook his head helplessly and replied in a solemn tone.


    "Everyone is out of danger, no need to worry about them much, their wounds were not that fatal to life..... except..." (Jin)


    "Except?" (Rio)


    "The third-year student, Zachary Hunt, who had the potential to reach S-rank in the future... is dead." (Jin)


    *Silence*


    Rio and Jin both went silent for a moment when Zach was mentioned.


    "Is that so... he killed Zach Senpai..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s emotionless tone, Jin was confused.


    "I am not joking, Zach is really dead... you don''t sound sad at all though...." (Jin)


    At Jin''s remarks, Rio shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "I am sad... in fact, I am feeling extremely sad right now...." (Rio)


    Jin was doubtful of Rio''s calm behavior but he didn''t pry further.


    "Aside from that, that little girl Riya seems to have suffered a heavy blow from the fact that she wasn''t able to save Zach''s life.... She''s being consoled by Link for now..." (Jin)


    "Raji Croft will also be arriving soon to check on her sister''s state...." (Jin)


    "Everyone else has already been discharged..." (Jin)


    "What about Zach Senpai''s body? Did they salvage it or not?" (Rio)


    "His body was still intact... only his chest had a hole, aside from that he didn''t have any other wounds... so we handed over his body to his family members for funeral..." (Jin)


    "The funeral is arranged for evening today... make sure you are present too..." (Jin)


    "News came that, Zach''s death was too big of a blow for his grandpa to handle... due to his old age, he suffered a sudden heart attack... and he fell intoa..." (Jin)


    "How is he now?" (Rio)


    "He woke up a few hours ago, then a sudden second heart attack took his life... losing his grandson at such age was too big of a blow for him... he died while shouting Zach''s name over and over..." (Jin)


    At Jin''s words, the atmosphere in the room became even grimmer than before.


    "Aside from that, I have found the severed head of another individual... I asked the other students about it... it seems that severed head belongs to a dragon named Aaron..." (Jin)


    "Alverto must have killed him before attacking us..." (Rio)


    "I think so too, thus I went to that cave you guys investigated and it turns out the whole cave has been destroyed by massive attacks..." (Jin)


    "He must have tried to resist Alverto''s schemes...sigh..." (Rio)


    ''We will never be able to fulfill our promise of sitting together again, now...'' (Rio)


    Rio clenched his fist tightly and closed his eyes in regret.


    ''If only I was strong enough¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, Jin left Rio''s room.


    Rio slowly got up from his bed, his indifferent eyes seemed to be filled with sadness and regret today.


    ''Forgive me Senpai, I can''t even properly cry for you¡­ I might not be that good of a junior it seems¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head in helplessness. Even though he had heard about the death of three close acquaintances he still wasn''t able to shed a single tear.


    Rio felt quite miserable at the fact that he was incapable of mourning others.


    He walked out of his room and walked through the empty corridor.


    ''Alverto¡­. His attack was extremely well nned¡­ he avoided the detection of SS-rankers, sneaked into the human empire, ced barriers without anyone else''s knowledge¡­'' (Rio)


    ''He did all this without alerting anyone, then he attacked up at the very first moment the opportunity arose¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio and others were out of the city and thus it made things even more easier for Alverto.


    If they had been in the city instead of on that yacht, they could still have had some time to run away while the S-ranker stationed at the city held Alverto back.


    ''We were careless¡­. It seems that the news I saw on TV about Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    various water phenomenon appearing in the sea area¡­ it was because Aaron was already fighting Alverto¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Aaron must have lost miserably under Alverto''s skills¡­'' (Rio)


    After walking for a few seconds Rio arrived at the counter and filled in his details to get discharged from the infirmary.


    When Rio walked out of the infirmary gate, he noticed Lia standing nearby.


    "You are here¡­" (Lia)


    Rio nodded his head at Lia''s words.


    "Are your injuries okay now?" (Rio)


    "Yes¡­." (Lia)


    Lia had a sad look on her face as she talked to Rio.


    ''Jin must have told her about the deaths of those three¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and sighed.


    He ced his hand on Lia''s shoulder and said in an emotionless tone.


    "It''s not your fault¡­ don''t me yourself too much¡­. It''s my fault that I fainted so early in the battle¡­." (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, Lia shook her head and wiped the slight tears from her eyes.


    "No¡­ we were all equally useless against that demon¡­ I don''t me you for anything¡­" (Lia)


    Both Rio and Lia went silent at that moment.


    They both had nothing to talk about for a while. They just silently shook their heads in sadness and boarded a flying bus to go back to the Hotel.


    ¡­


    Hotel Arya.


    The weather seemed just as depressing as the mood of people at the hotel.


    The hotel was closed for the day, but several employees who were close to Zach and his grandpa still came to express their shock and sadness on the matter.


    Just one day ago, they sent Zach and the other students to the yacht dinner party, with great pomp and show.


    They all pped as they watched Zach and others walk on the red carpet and leave the hotel with bright faces.


    And today, they watched Zach and his grandpa''s dead body being escorted back to the hotel''s backyard by several bodyguards.


    The atmosphere in the hotel became grim when they found out what had happened yesterday night.


    The news about this incident even reached the capital and every other city. Reporters were flocking all over the Oaklum city to pry further on this matter but under Jin''s orders, they were still being kept at bay.


    If it was some other day, Rio and Lia would have been weed with happy smiles by the workers of the hotel.


    But today, all of them had a sad and helpless look on their faces.


    No one said anything, everyone knew just how bad the situation was.


    All of Zach''s family members rushed back home from wherever they were in the empire after hearing this shocking news.


    Preparations for a funeral started very early in the morning.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Life is strange, just the other day all of them left the hotel with bright smiles on their faces, but when they returned they had nothing but sadness left on their faces¡­.


    The goal of reaching 200 chs has beenpleted today, but I don''t feel happy at all¡­ Zach''s death has brought me great sadness too¡­


    I hope that, In the next life, Zach will find true love and live a happy life¡­

 Chapter 201 Aftermath... Part-2.

    Chapter 201 Aftermath... Part-2.


    ??Zach and his grandfather''s funeral was held at the same time.


    ording to the belief of the hunt family, their bodies were ced in coffins and then buried in the ground. (This world doesn''t have major religions so they follow local beliefs for these things...)


    All of Zach''s rtives came to pay respects at his funeral and the group of students also brought flowers.


    Ironically, Zach received flowers for the first time at his own funeral, he never got flowers before, not even from his own family.


    Riko''s heart-wrenching cries made everyone feel the sadness to the extreme, she cried for hours while repeating one sentence.


    ''If only I was strong enough to protect you...''


    She even refused to let go of Zach''s coffin, she held to it for a long time before she finally passed out from mental exhaustion.


    She was then carried back to the resting area by the bodyguards of the hunt family.


    Riko''s words not only made herself feel tremendous regret but even Rio and others felt sad at those words.


    They all knew that unless they were S-rankers, it was simply impossible for them to do anything against Alverto.


    Alverto was simply too strong.


    Even among other S-rankers, he was exceptionally stronger.


    Alverto was able to easily defeat Aaron, an S-ranker dragon while suppressing his aura from leaking out.


    This means even Aaron was nowhere near Alverto''s level.


    (Alverto split Aaron''s head from his body with one attack...)


    ...


    After a few hours, the funeral ended and the people slowly left.


    A few minutester, while Rio was sitting on a bench ced under a tree, Zach''s father came over and sat beside Rio.


    A solemn look hung over his face.


    "If I had known such a thing would happen... I would have not given him the permission to use that yacht... if he hadn''t left the city... that demon would not have attacked him..." (Zach''s father)


    At his regretful tone, Rio shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless voice.


    "No... that demon... Alverto Chronos Perdere, he was strong.... Stronger than any S-ranker I have ever seen, even if we hadn''t left the city he would have still attacked..." (Rio)


    "he even ced a barrier over the whole city under the nose of another S-ranker... if we were in the city, Alverto might have caused far more destruction than this..." (Rio)


    "Although unconsciously, Zach has saved the lives of thousands of people by not making us stay in the city... if we hadn''t left the city, thousands of ordinary people would have also been killed..." (Rio)


    Rio raised his head and stared into the eyes of Zach''s father.


    "Zach was a hero who saved the lives of thousands... as his father, you should be proud of him..." (Rio)


    "If you want to me someone... then feel free to me it on me... I ept the fact that I was not strong enough to save the life of your son..." (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, tears appeared in the eyes of Zach''s father, he seemed to have finally epted reality.


    "That kid was always saying that he will be strong and protect others.... Sigh... he stood up to his words in the end..." (Zach''s father)


    "I don''t me any of you kids... nor does any other member of my family me you..." (Zach''s father)


    Zach''s father finally epted Zach''s death when Rio told him that Zach died protecting the lives of thousands of civilians, this was already a great honor in itself.


    In Rio''s words, ''Zach''s life had a meaning and his death was not useless...''


    (Later, this sentence will be engraved on the remembrance statue of Zachary Hunt...)


    ...


    Later, Hotel Arya, Rooftop.


    *Clink*


    Jin ced the bottle of wine in his hand on the ground. A look of helplessness hung over his face.


    "Sigh..." (Jin)


    "So, SS-rankers also have times when they feel helpless and regretful..." (Rio)


    Jin nced at the ck-haired kid standing nearby withplicated emotions in mind.


    "Hmm, you are good at sneaking around kid..." (Jin)


    Rio leaned against the wall of the staircase as he met with Jin''s gaze.


    He shook his head at Jin''s words.


    "If only I could avoid the detection of individuals at S-rank or above so easily..." (Rio)


    At Rio''s remarks, Jin sipped the wine once more, and then replied in a rather assured tone.


    "No, you are progressing fast... meeting an individual as strong as Alverto was bad luck, don''t think of yourself as weak..." (Jin)


    Jin nced at Rio''s sword that hung on Rio''s waist at the moment.


    "You have skills like ''sword intent'' which every swordsman dreams of achieving... with given time you will be able to contend with even that demon named Alverto too..." (Jin)


    "I see..." (Rio)


    The ce went silent for a few seconds after that. Jin sipped wine and Rio stood nearby with his usual expressionless face.


    "So, the reason why Alverto retreated was-" (Rio)


    "Me¡­ he retreated because he somehow figured out that I was rushing over to Oaklum¡­" (Jin)


    Jin clenched his teeth as he continued to speak.


    "His n was meticulous¡­ he used some kind of artifact to mask the presence of a weaker clone of his, then he sneaked that clone into the teleportation circle of Oaklum¡­" (Jin)


    "He made that clone teleport to the city where I was staying¡­ this way he immediately found out about my departure when I destroyed his clone¡­" (Jin)


    "He must have used an SS-rank level artifact¡­ he even fooled my senses¡­ to think a mere S-rank demon would be carrying around SS-rank artifacts¡­ tch!" (Jin)


    Rio nodded his head and then asked another question.


    "Isn''t the detection range of SS-rankers thousands of kilometers wide¡­ howe you didn''t detect the presence of those huge time barriers earlier¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Jin shook his head.


    "Those were not simple barriers¡­ those barriers were interfering with space-time itself¡­. Thus, even I was not able to detect their presence beforehand¡­" (Jin)


    "The only reason I rushed over to Oaklum was because I was notified by the S-ranker stationed at Oaklum about the incident¡­" (Jin)


    "I haven''t been to Oaklum ever before in my life¡­ thus I couldn''t directly open a portal over here¡­. I had to fly over a thousand kilometers¡­ it took me five minutes to do that¡­" (Jin)


    "But that cunning demon¡­ he was quick with his actions¡­ if he was just a few secondste, I would have smashed his head into smithereens¡­" (Jin)


    At Jin''s words, Rio asked doubtfully.


    "Why didn''t you use the teleportation altar directly? It would have been faster¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s words, Jin shook his head and replied in a solemn tone.


    "You would need an SS-rank teleportation altar to sessfully teleport an SS-ranker¡­ an ordinary teleportation altar can''t even withstand the aura of a demi-god¡­" (Jin)


    "It''s simply unrealistic¡­. The souls of SS-rankers are so heavy and strong that even teleportation doesn''t work on us¡­" (Jin)


    "This is the first time I am hearing about this¡­" (Rio)


    "Well of course¡­ only SS-rankers are supposed to know about it¡­ but it seems that demon knew about this information for some reason¡­ thus he made his n by exploiting this loophole¡­" (Jin)


    "He already expected that I will rush over to Oaklum¡­ he even knew that I haven''t been to Oaklum before and I will have to fly¡­" (Jin)


    "It''s as if there''s someone providing him with insider info¡­ there''s a traitor among our people¡­" (Jin)


    At Jin''s words, Rio nodded his head.


    "Yeah, someone must have notified Alverto about all of these minute details¡­ otherwise it wouldn''t have been easy for him toy out such a sophisticated n in just a day¡­" (Rio)


    Jin gulped down all the wine from the bottle at once and then wiped his lips with the back of his left hand.


    "Moreover, that demon was extremely careful too¡­ he had the chance to kill Link, Liam, and Riya too¡­ but he didn''t¡­" (Jin)


    "Isn''t it because he was being arrogant and left them for fun?" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Jin shook his head and said in a solemn tone.


    "No¡­ the cunning demon must have known beforehand that, Link, Liam, and Riya¡­ all three of them were close rtives of SS-rankers¡­ if he had tried to kill them, it would have caused problems for him.." (Jin)


    "Ashtel, Neo, and Raji, all three of them must have ced some kind of binding on those three kids¡­ if any of their lives fell in mortal danger, those three will surely appear to save the day¡­" (Jin)


    "For example, if I put my binding mark on you, I will be able to directly open a portal beside you¡­ this trick will work even if I haven''t been to that ce before¡­" (Jin)


    "That demon purposely didn''t kill them three¡­ he knew the consequences¡­" (Jin)


    "Aside from that, Lia and you survived because of his whims perhaps¡­ he must have seen something in you two¡­ sigh¡­ in the end, those two kids, Riko and Zach were the only people who were defenseless¡­" (Jin)


    "They didn''t have the backing of SS-rankers, nor were they both of any interest in his eyes¡­ this might be the reason why he targeted them both on purpose¡­" (Jin)


    "But something still doesn''t add up¡­ I seem to still becking one more piece of the puzzle¡­ why would that demon attack in the first ce¡­ that''s the main question, right?..." (Jin)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jin behaves like an idiot on normal days, but his intellectual capabilities are no joke, he easily deduced so many things out of so few clues¡­


    Question of the day.


    How deep an impression Zach left on you?


    1.Low (He was a decent guy¡­)


    2.High (He was a good guy, he was just too unlucky to have been involved in the grand schemes...)


    3.Heartbreak (I am deeply saddened by his sudden death¡­ I never expected him to really die like that¡­ It feels unreal¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 202 Aftermath... Part-3.

    Chapter 202 Aftermath... Part-3.


    ??''Butterfly effect¡­ is that the reason why Alverto attacked?... there are too few clues¡­ I will need to think about it further¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and walked back downstairs, leaving Jin alone on the rooftop with his bottle of wine.


    After Rio left, Jin stopped drinking for a moment and nced at Rio''s retreating figure with narrowed eyes.


    ''This kid¡­ how did he know that I will be sitting here drinking wine¡­ he is a strange guy¡­'' (Jin)


    Jin brought out another bottle of wine from his space ring and opened its cap with a flick of his finger.


    He gulped down the wine and thought to himself.


    ''Rio and others¡­. are kids with promising futures, they don''t have a solid reason to betray humanity¡­ the only individual who is the most suspicious is¡­.'' (Jin)


    ''I will have to run an investigation¡­'' (Jin)


    ¡­


    On the other side.


    Rio and others visited Zach''s grave one more time.


    They all prayed for Zach to rest in peace.


    Rio nced at the tombstone, the words written on it were.


    [Zachary Hunt, the hero of Oaklum lies here¡­]


    ''So they engraved it like this¡­ If he was still alive, he would have been jumping around in happiness being called a hero¡­ sigh¡­'' (Rio)


    ''The burden on my shoulder has increased once more¡­. Now, I have to kill that demon prince not only for the parents of this body¡­ but also for your sake, Senpai¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Time sure changes fast, just a few days ago he wasughing with us, and now¡­'' (Rio)


    After a few more minutes the group slowly left Zach''s grave, only Riko stayed standing there in the end.


    She stared at Zach''s grave for a long time. She hadn''t slept since yesterday and the exhaustion from the fight made her eyes bloodshot.


    Zach''sst few words rang out in her mind again and again.


    ''I wasn''t able to protect anything again¡­'' (Riko)


    ''I wasn''t able to protect my own younger brother and now I even lost the person who resembled my brother the most¡­.'' (Riko)


    Tears fell down from Riko''s bloodshot eyes. She was already too mentally exhausted by all that had happened.


    Alverto''s sinister voice as he gouged out Zach''s heart in front of her eyes, rang out in her head again and again as if reminding her of how powerless she was.


    ''He was killed right in front of my face¡­ and I just stood there powerlessly¡­ with how powerless I am¡­. Will I ever be able to achieve my goals¡­. Will I ever be able to do something for my loved ones¡­.'' (Riko)


    The dark clouds in the sky started to pour down water, winds howled, and the loud sound of lightning rang out in the sky.


    The rain washed away Riko''s tears and the thundering sounds made her realize one thing.


    "Must Kill him!¡­. I will kill that demon!¡­. I will rip its heart apart just like that! I will eat your meat and boil your eyes in my own blood!¡­ yes! No matter where you are! I will track you down!" (Riko)


    [Ding! The ''path'' has been strengthened further!]


    Immense hatred shed by on Riko''s face, she didn''t care about anything anymore.


    Her bloodshot eyes only knew one thing now and that was:


    "I will kill You! Demon Prince Alverto!" (Riko)


    [Ding! Strings of fate have been shaken by the immense hatred residing in your will!]


    [Ding! ¡­??m??... got involved... your fate has been changed!]


    [Ding! Hidden destinies are subjected to change due to the immense hatred for the demon kind!]


    ¡­


    The next day, Hotel Arya, Morning.


    Sitting around the dinner table, everyone had a solemn look on their face.


    Raji nced at Riya whose shoulders were dropped down and a look of sadness was stered on her face.


    "The reason why your healing magic and that high-rank healing potion didn''t work is because of ''Corruption''¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at Riya sitting on the opposite seat and said in a solemn tone, and all the students that were sitting near the table listened carefully to her words.


    "Although it is information that you will find out about at the ''Meeting of gods''ter, I guess it''s not a big deal if I tell it to you now¡­" (Raji)


    "Just make sure you don''t leak this information out, or you will get punished¡­" (Raji)


    Everyone nodded their head in agreement. They all knew how serious this topic was, they had seen Zach dying in front of them helplessly.


    All of them wanted to know the reason why healing magic didn''t work.


    Raji nodded her head at Jin and then started to exin:


    "You know what ''miasma'' is right? It''s a repulsive force that is the exact opposite of mana..." (Raji)


    "Mana is found in everything and everyone, even soil, and water, everything has a trace amount of mana residing in it¡­" (Raji)


    "But ''Miasma'' is different¡­ it''s only present in trace amounts and generally only appears in ces where immense hatred collides¡­" (Raji)


    Unlike mana, Miasma is rarely encountered in this world.


    "There are two types of demons in this world¡­ the first type are the ones that use mana¡­ and the other type is the ones who use miasma as their power source¡­" (Raji)


    Raji raised her index finger and a ball of pure and condensed mana appeared above her finger.


    "As you already know, we canpress and condense mana to make it more pure and effective¡­ same is true for ''Miasma''¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at the students and said in a solemn tone:


    "Just like this ball of pure mana, if you condense ''Miasma'' and make it pure enough, then you can create a ckish liquid substance¡­. That''s ''Corruption''¡­" (Raji)


    "Corruption is usually born from the condensation of ''miasma'', but there are many other ways for it to appear too¡­" (Raji)


    "For example¡­ if you torture thousands of people and use some forbidden rituals to collect the power of hatred and pain from them¡­ you can eventually create corruption¡­" (Raji)


    Raji''s eyes narrowed at this sentence.


    "Demons use this method very often¡­ they even use their own kin for this¡­" (Raji)


    Raji then shook her head and said in a helpless tone.


    "Corruption is an extremely strong power, only those at S-


    rank or above can resist it properly, if anyone below S-rank gets infected by corruption¡­ then they will have no way to get rid of it¡­" (Raji)


    "Even S-rank healers can get rid of corruption from someone''s body, but if the person''s soul will get ''corrupted'' then only an SS-rank healer can heal them back to full health¡­" (Raji)


    Raji nced at the empty seat nearby where Riko should have been sitting and sighed.


    "Zach was likely affected by ''corruption'' when that demon prince gouged his heart out¡­ that demon prince must have injected corruption inside him on purpose¡­" (Raji)


    "There were no S-rank healers stationed at Oaklum¡­ if Jin had arrived a bit earlier, then perhaps Zach''s life could have been saved¡­ but in the end that demon was able to calcte the timing extremely well¡­" (Raji)


    "He knew that Riya would heal Zach in no time, that''s why he used corruption¡­ Riya is still a Peak B-ranker¡­ it''s too early for her to deal with corruption¡­" (Jin)


    Raji nodded her head at Jin''s statement. Then she nced at Riya who was feeling depressed.


    "You don''t need to me yourself, Riya¡­ all the me is on us SS-rankers¡­" (Raji)


    "We were the ones who were not able to fulfill our duty of preventing a demon from entering the territory of the human race¡­" (Raji)


    "Indeed, I waste and didn''t arrive on time, that''s why you don''t need to me yourself¡­. As an SS-ranker all injustice that happens under my watch is my sin alone¡­" (Jin)


    Even after Jin and Raji''s continuous assurance, none of the students felt relieved, none of them felt that they had escaped the guilt.


    They all knew just how powerless they were in the face of that demon prince.


    Zach''s sudden death caused many subtle changes in the personality of all of them.


    They all decided to work harder and improve their strength so that they could one day stand up to protect their loved ones with pride.


    Riya who was being consoled by two SS-rankers, didn''t feel happy at all right now.


    This was the first time someone had lost his life under her watch, even when she tried to save that life with all her might it was useless.


    ''If it was Link who was infected by corruption... I would have not been able to save him¡­'' (Riya)


    The thought of not being able to save Link due to her own powerlessness was a wake-up call for Riya.


    ''No! I can''t let that happen at all costs!'' (Riya)


    A rare look of determination shed in her eyes.


    She clenched her fists and promised herself that she would work harder from now on. Those candies didn''t seem fragrant to her anymore.


    The only thing on her mind now was to improve herself.


    (Riya started to mature from that day onwards¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that things have been set in motion, Zach''s death was a trigger that caused all of them to be more alert and determined.


    Question of the day.


    Which power would you like to choose?


    1.Mana


    2.Miasma


    3.Aura


    4.QI


    5.Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 203 Determination of the Weak.

    Chapter 203 Determination of the Weak.


    ??Hotel Arya, Main Gate, Midnight.


    "Where might you be going at this time, Senpai?" (Rio)


    Rio leaned his back against the wall of the main gate and asked the question in his usual emotionless tone.


    He nced at Riko who had been waiting for him near the gate. A sword hung on her waist and she wore her armor as if she was going in some kind of battle.


    Riko ignored Rio''s question and started to talk all by herself.


    "I thought you won''te.... But well, now that you are here, I want to ask you some things..." (Riko)


    "Well, you messaged me toe here, otherwise I would have been sleeping right now..." (Rio)


    Riko nced at her sword for a moment and then asked.


    "You are the strongest swordsman I have ever seen among all the awakeners I have met... you might even have more potential in swordsmanship than S-rankers..." (Riko)


    "You have learned legendary skills like ''Sword intent''.... So I want to ask for an evaluation..." (Riko)


    Riko raised her head and looked straight into Rio''s eyes.


    "In your opinion, do you think I have any chance of awakening ''sword inten-" (Riko)


    "No, you don''t... I don''t like flowering my words so, I will tell the truth... the conditions for learning ''sword intent'' are too harsh... you don''t have that talent..." (Rio)


    Before Riko could even finish her sentence, Rio directly answered her question without any hesitation. He didn''t try to use lies and told the real truth.


    Hearing Rio''s reply, Riko clenched her fists and lowered her head. She went silent for a while.


    "I have told Principal Raji that I am not participating in the ''Meeting of Gods'' anymore... I am leaving this ce right now because I am going to look for clues about that demon prince..." (Riko)


    "You will be no match for him if he found out about you..." (Rio)


    "I know.. I know that better than anyone else... I don''t have such amazing talent to reach his level of strength so fast... but still, I will search... I am not giving up..." (Riko)


    Riko raised her hand and she brought out a caf??''s ''discount coupon'' from her space ring. She stared at that coupon with a look of sadness.


    "Even if I know that I am not strong enough... for his sake, for the sake of Zach... I will hunt down that demon to the end of the world... I must take revenge otherwise my life would have no meaning at all..." (Riko)


    "I asked principal Raji, and she said that as SS-ranker she can''t go to the territory of the demons otherwise it will cause a war against the demon kingdom, and the me will be on humanity..." (Riko)


    "Even though the ones who suffered were humans, we still can''t afford to go and beat that demon right in its hometown...." (Riko)


    Riko put that discount coupon back into her space ring, clenched her fist, and dered.


    "Everyone else might forget about what happened to him, but I won''t... I will pursue that demon-" (Riko)


    "You will die if he caught wind of you... with a mere flick of his finger, he can kill you instantly... that''s how strong that demon is, he left us all alive due to various reasons..." (Rio)


    "But if you tried to push him further..." (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, Riko clenched her teeth and replied in a solemn tone.


    "I don''t care anymore... I will pursue that demon to the end of this world... if I don''t get revenge for Zach, I will never be able to sleep in peace..." (Riko)


    "He still appears in my mind as if everything that has happened is just a dream, i-I can''t just forget his long gone silhouette..." (Riko)


    Rio shook his head and said.


    "All emotions aside..." (Rio)


    "Unless you have something simr to ''Sword intent'' it''s impossible to contend against his time maniption skills... moreover, as you already know, he was at peak S-rank when we met him..." (Rio)


    "No, you could say he is just a few steps away from reaching SS-rank, he is stronger than any S-rankers I have ever seen... with his talent, he will break through SS-rank soon..." (Rio)


    Rio looked at Riko and shook his head.


    "Don''t try to be hot-headed Senpai, you know your limits better than others, even if you broke through to S-rank, it''s nearly impossible to fight him... he killed Aaron, an S-rank dragon without getting injured..." (Rio)


    "And you don''t have the talent to reach SS-rank... which means you are already toote, you can nevernd a decisive strike on him-" (Rio)


    "It doesn''t matter... Zach''s voice rings in my head all day long... I can''t have peace unless I somehow deal with that demon..." (Riko)


    "Is that so..." (Rio)


    The ce went silent as both of them stopped talking.


    "So what are you going to do to search for that demon? Not even an SS-ranker was able to sense him when he entered the territory of the human empire..." (Rio)


    "I-I have a clue..." (Riko)


    "Clue?" (Rio)


    "Yeah, when he crushed Zach''s heart right in front of my eyes, some kind of ''white light'' rushed out from Zach''s heart and entered his mind... I will investigate that phenomenon first..." (Riko)


    "That''s such a vague clue..." (Rio)


    ''hmm, White light?... why does that sound familiar to me¡­'' (Rio)


    "It doesn''t matter if it''s vague or not¡­ I will not let this chance go, If I take too much time he will ascend to SS-rank and then I will not be able to kill that demon in this life at all, my whole life would be meaningless¡­" (Riko)


    After saying that, Riko nced back at the hotel onest time and then she started to walk out of the gate without hesitation.


    "All I wanted to know from you was if I could learn ''sword intent'' or not¡­. But I guess I am too unlucky to learn it¡­ fate sure is unfair¡­" (Riko)


    Rio didn''t stop Riko anymore, he knew that it was useless to try to stop her now. She had already made up her mind and there was no changing it now.


    Just before Riko passed through the main gate, Rio said to her.


    "If you are really able to track down that demon one day¡­ then don''t forget to invite me to the party¡­ I also have some unsettled scores to settle with him¡­" (Rio)


    "You may not be able tond a decisive blow, but that''s not the case for me and Link¡­" (Rio)


    Riko nced at Rio for a few seconds, she thought about something and then nodded her head.


    "Okay, it''s a deal then¡­" (Riko)


    After saying that, Riko walked away.


    Rio saw her figure fade away into the distance as she slowly walked on her path of revenge.


    Seeing her leave without any hesitation, Rio shook his head and decided to go back to his room.


    (She had messaged him personally toe to the main gate as she wanted to ask him some questions, now that she was gone, Rio decided to go back to sleep¡­)


    ¡­


    At the same time


    On the rooftop of the Hotel''s main building.


    Jin shook his head as he saw Riko leave, he gulped down the wine from the wine bottle in his hand and then said in an amused tone.


    "Is it really okay to let her go like this?" (Jin)


    At Jin''s question, Raji appeared beside him out of nowhere.


    "It''s her own choice¡­ this is the path she chose, if that kid Zach was still alive I would have tried to stop her from chasing the path of revenge¡­ but now, even my words won''t be able to sway her¡­" (Raji)


    Jin also nodded his head at Raji''s words.


    "Yeah, she is too far gone¡­ words are not going to sway her heart anymore¡­ besides, children need time to sort out their emotions, I think it''s better to leave her be for some time¡­" (Jin)


    "Indeed, I also don''t see any possibility of her ever tracking down that demon¡­" (Raji)


    "Who knows¡­ strange things happen in the world all the time, maybe she will be able to change her destiny in some way too¡­" (Jin)


    "It sounds quite unrealistic to me, but who knows¡­ the threads of fate are always messy, even we SS-rankers are powerless against them¡­" (Raji)


    "Nheless, it was my mistake that I was not able to keep that demon out of the area, even though the southern area falls under my territory now¡­" (Jin)


    Raji nodded her head at Jin''s statement.


    "You are an SS-ranker now, this incident proves that you have more responsibilities on your shoulders now¡­ so stop being carefree and do your work properly..." (Raji)


    "Even if it''s something that''s not even rted to you... if an injustice urs under the nose of a Demi-god, it''s the fault of that demi-god itself, even if they were not involved in it at all¡­" (Raji)


    "Yeah, I have heard that saying too¡­ I guess I will have to be a bit more serious from now on¡­" (Jin)


    In the end, both of them silently watched Riko walk away from the hotel.


    Even if they were SS-rankers, some things were still difficult to solve even with that immense strength of theirs.


    When ites to the heart of their students, even they are powerless, it''s nearly impossible to change someone''s thinking process once they have decided on it.


    Perhaps this is also the reason why it is said that ''Emotions are what makes us human.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems even with immense strength, you can''t make people forcefully change their dreams and path, let''s see where today''s events take us in the future¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Riko will be able to track down Alverto?


    1.No


    2.Yes.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 204 Reunion... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 204 Reunion... Part-1.</h4>


    A Large Mansion near the Oaklum Alliance Branch.


    Morning, 9:00 A.M.


    "Uh, is this really the ce¡­" (Link)


    A strange look appeared on Link''s face as he looked at the extravagant mansion, although it did look good and big enough in the eyes of ordinary people, in the eyes of the super-rich Link, this mansion looked exceptionally weird.


    "Who even hired this painter¡­ all the paints on the walls are done so badly and there''s no artistic sense¡­" (Link)


    At Link''s words, Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said:


    "I can''t see anything wrong with it, isn''t the mansion looking extravagant enough with all those shiny marbles?" (Rio)


    "Don''t tell me you also don''t have any artistic sense¡­e to think of it, your choice of clothes is also veryzy too¡­ you might not have any fashion sense either¡­" (Link)


    "Who even cares about such trivial things, all I care about is ''can I swing my swordfortably in those clothes or not?''¡­" (Rio)


    Rio is a very ordinary guy, in his previous life he didn''t have a girlfriend either, so he never really learned about colors and fashion sense at all.


    On the other side, Link is totally different.


    He has been taught by the best teachers of the human empire since his childhood days.


    He took lessons on various things like Etiquette, politics, geography, negotiation methods, piano, singing, cooking, etc. (Yes, Link can sing, and he can y the piano too¡­ he learned them from top-level masters¡­)


    It may sound weird but Link has even learned how to do housework. (Yes, literally! This guy can cook, clean, and protect!¡­ he has a crazy amount of everyday life skills! This guy is the perfect husbando material!!)


    Rio is only ahead of Link in maximum talent potential, but in every other field, Link is leagues ahead of Rio.


    As an ordinary guy from an ordinary household, Rio doesn''t have even one percent of the total auxiliary skills that Link possesses.


    If not for the fact that Rio knew beforehand that he was the viin, he would have mistaken Link as the main protagonist of this world.


    ¡­


    Just when Rio and Link were talking about the mansion, the main door of the mansion opened and a butler came out.


    The butler nced at the group of students and guided them all inside. (Yes, all eight of them are present here today, including Fade and Kira.)


    (By the way, Fade and Kira were not invited by Zach to the yacht party, thus they escaped the beating from Alverto¡­)


    Everyone walked in while following behind the butler.


    They nced at the various artifacts that were put on disy as they all walked to the inner area of the mansion.


    The mansion was huge from the insides, the spatial maniption devices were being used to increase the area inside the mansion. Thus it took around five minutes of walking for them to reach the main room.


    The butler stood aside knocked on the door and lightly said.


    "Master Jin, I have brought the students to you¡­" (Butler)


    A familiar voice came from inside, after hearing the knock on the door.


    "Let them in¡­" (Jin)


    The butler opened the door and stood aside, he signaled the students to walk inside.


    Without much hesitation, everyone walked in.


    What came into view was a room that was extremely well decorated. A king-sized bedy in the middle of therge room and various luxurious-looking furniture were put in ce.


    But that was not the most surprising thing.


    The biggest surprise was the presence of the person who was sitting on the bed.


    A woman that they all were familiar with, was sitting on the Bed.


    With her back leaning against the headboard of therge bed, a gentle smile hung over her face.


    "It''s been a while since Ist saw you all, you all seem to have grown up a lot...." (Anna)


    Although they all knew beforehand that they were going to meet her today, seeing her in person still shocked all of them.


    She looked nothing like how they all remembered her.


    When in the academy, she always had a cold and stressed look on her face, but today, she seemed so rxed and happy, her aura was so rxed that it was quite hard to believe that this was the same Anna they knew about.


    "What? Are you all so shocked to see me-" (Anna)


    Before Anna could say anything, Riya directly went ahead and hugged her with slight tears in her eyes.


    "You have recovered! I thought I would never get to see you again!" (Riya)


    At Riya''s sobbing, Anna slowly rubbed Riya''s head tofort her with a helpless smile on her face.


    "Er, well¡­ it was quite a near-death injury so, yeah it must have made you all worried¡­ I was such a failure as a teacher¡­" (Anna)


    Lia shook her head as she sat on the edge of the bed.


    "No, don''t put yourself down like that, if not for your protection, we would have all suffered a lot in that final exam dungeon, we are all grateful to you¡­" (Lia)


    Everyone else also nodded their heads at Lia''s words, they all ced the souvenirs that they all had brought on a nearby table.


    Except for Rio, Ellie, and Riya, all of the others brought various expensive healing items and get-well gifts.


    (Rio is not rich enough to buy expensive recovery items to gift so he ended up giving fruits, Ellie chose to bring Liam''s homemade food and Riya simply chose candies for a gift¡­)


    Jin who was sitting on a nearby chair smiled as he looked at Anna who seemed to be enjoying thepany of her former students.


    "You seem quite happy now? Even though you rarely ever smile at me¡­ this is tant favoritism, you know¡­" (Jin)


    At Jin''s question, all the students just rolled their eyes and pretended to not hear him at all.


    "I have been waiting to see them for so many months you know¡­ they all have grown up so much in just a few months¡­ sigh~" (Anna)


    "Hehe, we went on a lot of adventures, and we fought many battles! In the past month¡­ Even my healing skills have improved¡­" (Riya)


    Talking about healing skills, Riya suddenly went silent and stopped talking further.


    Anna nced at Rio and Link, she smiled slightly and said in a surprised tone.


    "To think that you two will break through A-rank so fast¡­ you two really have quite an amazing talent, your future achievements might be even better than me¡­" (Anna)


    (She didn''t mention Liam, because she was not his teacher, Liam was in a different ss when she was the teacher¡­)


    "Truthfully, speaking, if I was still your teacher, I would have no idea about what to teach you two¡­ you both are so excellent that I have nothing left to teach you¡­" (Anna)


    "Your current ss teacher must be having quite a headache keeping track of you two¡­" (Anna)


    "Yeah, he says the same thing sometimes, he said that it''s quite difficult to teach geniuses¡­" (Link)


    Link scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment as he didn''t expect the usually cold-tempered Anna to suddenly praise him out of nowhere.


    Rio skillfully changed the topic at that point.


    "By the way, how is your health now?" (Rio)


    Anna suddenly nced at Jin and said with a stern tone.


    "I have recovered a lot these days, but due to someone''s annoying pestering voice, I have been having headaches every day¡­" (Anna)


    "if my mana circuit was not damaged, I would have already kicked that annoying ''someone'' out already¡­" (Anna)


    At Anna''s re, Jin started to pretend that he didn''t hear anything at all, he nced at the sky outside the window.


    "Ahem, the weather is good today¡­" (Jin)


    Anna shook her head and replied.


    "It will take a few more months, then I will be able to recover my mana circuit¡­ I will be at my peak again once I recover fully¡­" (Anna)


    "Although I doubt I will be able to continue serving as an S-


    ranker anymore¡­" (Anna)


    At Anna''s words, Jin suddenly said:


    "I will give you the permission as an SS-ranker, who dares to stop you from working with my permission¡­ if someone said anything bad about you, I will beat the sh*t outta them!" (Jin)


    Listening to Jin''s words, Anna''s face reddened a bit, she shook her head.


    "Hmph, idiot¡­ it''s not about permissions¡­" (Anna)


    "It''s just that my reputation as a fraud teacher has already taken ce in the minds of all the citizens, and I have no interest in wasting years upon years just to clear this reputation¡­" (Anna)


    (People think she is ipetent and a fraud, as she was not able to protect the students¡­)


    "Besides, once I recover, I have something else to do¡­" (Anna)


    "Hmm, what else do you need to do?" (Jin)


    Anna''s face became a bit redder as Jin questioned her motives.


    "N-nothing, i-I am not telling you¡­" (Anna)


    "W-what? Why!? Tell me!" (Jin)


    "Oh, wait your face is getting red, are you feeling ufortable somewhere? Hmm, you wanna go to the restroom?" (Jin)


    Before Jin could talk further, Anna threw a pillow at his face.


    "Idiot¡­" (Anna)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we get to see Anna again! It seems she is recovering quite well! Let''s see where this ship sails to next!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think the important thing is, that Anna is going to do after recovering?


    No options today (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 205 Reunion... Part-2.

    Chapter 205 Reunion... Part-2.


    ??Walt Mansion, Garden Area.


    Under the shade of arge tree, several chairs were ced around a small table.


    The maids brought hand-made tea and served it to all of the students who were sitting on the chairs, several sweets and pastries were also ced on the table for the students to enjoy.


    Yet, no one had a smile on their face and no one was in the mood to enjoy the sweets either.


    "I see... so Zach didn''t survive that demon attack..." (Anna)


    A Complicated look appeared on Anna''s face.


    She had arrived at Oaklum via teleportation, yesterday night. Thus, she had no idea about what happened in Oaklum.


    The original n was that Jin was going to take her with him and they both would have arrived at Oaklum via a private airne.


    But then Jin had to hurry towards Oaklum due to the emergency situation caused by Alverto''s attack, thus Anna was escorted by the maids only after the situation in Oaklum had already settled down.


    Just a few minutes ago, Jin went back to do some unfinished work, thus leaving Anna and the students alone.


    Anna asked her maids to set up tables and chairs in the garden as she wanted to sit in the garden to get some fresh air.


    If not for the fact that Liam identally spilled the news about Zach''s unfortunate death, she would have not known about this incident.


    Anna shook her head and sighed in regret:


    "Sigh... I taught that kid for two years, he stood out a lot among his peers... always ranking first and getting good results..." (Anna)


    "He had a cheerful personality... he had a bright future ahead of him... he had the talent to reach the peak of S rank... but to think it would all end, just like this...." (Anna)


    Anna had seen several of herrades die over time, but all of them were grown-up people, it was still a very regretful thing that someone like Zach who could have reached S-rank in the future, ended up dying in total obscurity.


    Talking about Zach, even Riya lost her appetite, even she felt that those sweets didn''t seem as fragrant as they always used to be.


    Ever since the day she was not able to save Zach with her healing magic, Riya has been under constant stress.


    She may look like the same carefree girl from the outside, but she had been thinking hard all this time.


    She knew that if Alverto''s target was not Zach but Link, she would have not been able to save him either.


    Ever since she found out about the existence of ''Corruption'', she has been trying to think of a way to counter it, but nothinges to mind.


    (Don''t forget that she is the most talented healer of this century, even though she is currently at peak B rank, her healing is still as effective as a pseudo-S rank healer....)


    Unless she finds a way to counter that ''corruption'' she won''t be able to get rid of this constant pressure and stress.


    This is not about being dumb or carefree, this is about her pride as a healer, one person already lost his life right under her hand, and this was already a big stain in her career as a healer.


    Simrly, all the other students clenched their fists, they all remembered just how powerless they were in front of Alverto.


    From the beginning till the end of that fight, they didn''t stand a chance against him. No, in fact, it would be wrong to call it a fight in the first ce, it was basically a one-sided ughter.


    Noticing the grim looks on the faces of all the children, Anna decided to change the topic.


    "What about that girl, Riko Embeth... didn''t she always used to stay around Zach, where is she now?" (Anna)


    Anna wanted to make them forget about this matter, but the effect was totally opposite.


    When she mentioned Riko, the atmosphere became even grimmer.


    "She left..." (Lia)


    "Yesterday night, she confronted me and said that she will look for clues and hunt down that demon..." (Rio)


    "W-what!?" (Anna)


    "That''s such a risky thing to do! Didn''t Jin stop her from leaving!?" (Anna)


    "She had already made up her mind, it was impossible to stop her from leaving... if we had used force then it would have escted things even further..." (Lia)


    Hearing all this, Anna shook her head in regret.


    "Sigh... although that girl doesn''t have as much talent as Zach... but she is not a weak kid either... her personality has always been stubborn, once she made up her mind, she won''t stop no matter what..." (Anna)


    "Now that she has already decided to pursue that demon, it''s indeed toote to change her mind now..." (Anna)


    Anna then nced at the clear blue sky and said in a sad tone.


    "But.... It''s nearly impossible that she would be able to get any results... tracking down a demon that can escape under the nose of an SS-ranker... that''s a nearly impossible task..." (Anna)


    "She will return empty-handed I think... but with her personality, if she can''t achieve this goal, she will likely suffer a big mental blow... sigh..." (Anna)


    Anna knew that it was impossible for Riko to actually track down Alverto, and sooner orter, Riko would realize this fact. At that time, it would be very hard for her to recover from such a severe mental blow.


    Then Anna nced at the kids around her, and she thought to herself.


    ''Luckily, there are these kids to help her, once she returns back empty-handed, at least she will have her friends to console her¡­'' (Anna)


    Anyone who would have heard about Riko''s determination to track down Alverto would have arrived at the same conclusion that it was impossible.


    No one in their right mind will think that Riko will be able to achieve this goal. (Or will she achieve it?)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of sadness, everyone finally calmed down and slowly started to eat the food prepared for them. It was not a good thing to waste food after all.


    "I am quite surprised though¡­I never thought that you would be able to reach rank B too, Fade¡­" (Anna)


    Hearing Praise from Anna, Fade puffed up his chest and a grin appeared on his face.


    "hehe, I have worked hard to achieve these results¡­" (Fade)


    "On the first day of the ss, your fire magic was so weak that it looked no different than the me of a lighter, but now, your aura tells me that you progressed a lot¡­" (Anna)


    "You used to get failing grades and your magical abilities didn''t progress at all for three months straight¡­ but now you seem like a totally different person¡­" (Anna)


    "Time sure flies fast¡­" (Anna)


    As a teacher, Anna didn''t discriminate among her students, she was happy that even a sloppy person like Fade was also able to show some talent.


    Hearing praise from Anna''s mouth, Fade felt so proud that he smiled from ear to ear.


    "Not only that, now that Zach and Riko are out of the equation, I will be the one who will go to the meeting of gods!" (Fade)


    "Is that so?" (Anna)


    Anna looked at Kira with a doubtful look on her face, Kira nodded her head and replied.


    "Yes, it''s quite unfortunate that something like that happened to Zach Senpai, moreover, Riko Senpai has dered that she won''t go to the meeting either¡­" (Kira)


    "Thus, Fade is the only candidate left who is qualified to go¡­" (Kira)


    Hearing Kira''s words, Liam clicked his tongue and said:


    "This trash failed all three of the tests, yet we have to bring him along with us to the ''Meeting of gods'', tch!" (Liam)


    "Hah, what did you say? Do you think I will not beat you right now!?" (Fade)


    Liam totally ignored Fade''s provoking and continued to say.


    "If not for this unfortunate incident, we would not have to take this guy with us, tch! Such bad luck!" (Liam)


    "What bad luck! It''s my great luck that has brought me this opportunity, don''t forget that Luck is also part of someone''s ability! You are the one who is ipetent!" (Fade)


    "You lost to that measly demon if it was me, I would have won easily!" (Fade)


    Hearing Fade''s arrogant words, everyone else didn''t even bother to speak to him anymore.


    They all knew that those were all empty words, whenever the situation became dire, Fade would be the first to copse.


    "Okay, okay, everyone stop fighting¡­. Calm down, from now on you all have to work as a team, you are allrades, don''t end up losing the reputation of the human race in front of others when you go to that meeting¡­" (Anna)


    If Anna was still strong and powerful, she would have used her aura to suppress these noisy kids, but now that her mana circuits were all destroyed, she could only use her words to make them all calm down.


    ''Sigh, it''s such a hassle to deal with children without my strength¡­ I just want to recover faster, only then will I be able to rest peacefully¡­'' (Anna)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems even Anna was surprised at how lucky Fade actually was, he got the opportunity to go to the meeting without even passing any of the three exams!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys also think that Fade''s luck is a bit too high?


    1.Yes (Bro has put all his stat points into luck¡­ even the int points are perhaps being put into luck instead¡­)


    2. No (The plot armor is protecting him)


    3.Other (D*mn you author! How dare you give such unbelievable luck to this trashy guy!?)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 206 Aarons Fate...

    Chapter 206 Aaron''s Fate...


    ??Oaklum Alliance Branch, Head Office.


    A man in luxurious clothes stood in front of the work table, his expression towards the man sitting on the head''s chair seemed quite respectable.


    "Sigh... that means the whole area around that underwater cave is already under the influence of immense chaotic mana?" (Jin)


    "Yes, I had sent a few A-rankers to take care of it for the time being, if it still continues I will go there personally..."


    "hmm, good... at least there were no casualties, that''s already quite a good thing... did you bring it back then?" (Jin)


    "Yeah, we have put it in a sealed mana container for now..."


    "Lead me there then..." (Jin)


    Jin got up and ordered the other party to lead the way.


    The other person didn''t dare to be disrespectful and directly agreed. If someone from Oaklum had seen this scene they would have been quite shocked.


    The person that Jin was ordering around right now, was none other than the S-ranker stationed at Oaklum.


    Usually, this person behaved quite arrogantly but today he was extremely respectful towards Jin. Regardless of his status as an S-ranker, he didn''t dare to be arrogant in front of a demi-god.


    It would simply be just a matter of a flick of a finger for Jin and he would be ttened instantly.


    The difference between an S-ranker and an SS-ranker is extremely huge, it''s like they are beings from two different worlds.


    ...


    After walking for a while, Jin arrived at a hidden area in the basement of the building.


    "This ce is a hidden ce and usually we put criminals and dead bodies of awakened people confined in this ce... but now that the situation has turned out like this... we had to put it here..."


    Jin nodded his head at the man''s words.


    "Well, this is the only way to suppress the leaking mana for now..." (Jin)


    The man nodded his head and silently led the way forward.


    After a while, both of them arrived at the innermost area of the basement.


    The man put his palm on the gate and after reading his fingerprint the door of the room opened.


    The insides of the room were brightened by the mana-powered lights and right in the middle of this white-colored roomy a small ss coffin.


    "This ss coffin is made from thetest technology... it can''t suppress the mana of a living person, but if it''s a dead body, then it is quite possible to make it stay in a constant state..."


    Jin walked over to the coffin and inside of the ss coffiny the dead body of Aaron, the water dragon.


    His head was separated from his body. His chest had a huge hole right in the center. Aaron was dead.


    "We are using this coffin to suppress the mana in his body, if his mana leaks outside, his body will slowly dissipate into nothingness and we will have no evidence left..."


    "Well, of course, we need the evidence..." (Jin)


    Preserving Aaron''s dead body in this mana-suppression coffin was a strategic move.


    If they hadn''t preserved his body like this, it would have slowly dissipated into nothingness and if one day the dragon race asked for an exnation, humanity will have no evidence to prove their point.


    "When I sent A-rankers to investigate the area after that Yacht incident, the team found this body floating in the sea..."


    "It is very likely that this person, ahem... I mean this dragon was likely killed by that same demon who attacked the students of the Freya academy..."


    "Alverto Chronos Perdere that was the name of that demon... I have met those children who got involved in this incident and they found that demon''s name... that''s not just a random demon.... He is from the royal demon family..." (Jin)


    "Moreover he had some way to escape from right under my nose... that means he is using some kind of SS-rank artifact to evade detection..." (Jin)


    The main reason why they had to put Aaron''s body into this mana suppression coffin was because once a dragon dies his body will start turning into mana.


    If left alone in the wild, the mana that will escape from the body of an Adult dragon like Aaron will be immense and it will cause the mana of that area to be extremely chaotic.


    If someone below A-rank entered such a ce that''s been contaminated with chaotic mana, they will likely end up like how Fade did when he first entered the dungeon of Maya.


    Simr things happen sometimes with the dead bodies of immensely powerful people like S-rankers of humans and other races.


    Only SS-rankers are the individuals whose control over their mana is so good that even in case they end up dying, their mana will dissipate extremely slowly on its own and it won''t affect the environment even one bit.


    If an SS-ranker really had malicious thoughts, then they could just self-destruct and st this whole into smithereens.


    Then their mana would spread violently and would be dangerous for even S-rankers to withstand.


    ...


    "If one day someone from the dragon racees over looking for what happened to this dragon, we will be able to show this dead body as evidence¡­"


    Jin nodded his head at the man''s words.


    "Indeed, it would be bad if we angered the dragons for something we didn''t even do¡­" (Jin)


    Killing a dragon is a huge deal in this world.


    Dragons are extremely arrogant individuals, they think of all races as mere mortals, if someone tried to challenge their authority by killing dragons for no reason, they would have to suffer the wrath of the dragon king himself.


    A simr thing happened with Tomar when he was going crazy about hunting dragons all over the world.


    In the end, he brought the wrath of the dragon king on himself and ended up dying without even being able to retaliate even a little bit.


    No one in their correct mind would want to make an enemy out of the Dragon king in today''s world, even fellow SS-


    rankers dare not act rashly in front of that person.


    ''Still, if things really came to worse, we still have Ashtel Rex on our side so things should work out somehow¡­'' (Jin)


    Jin himself doesn''t think that he can take on the Dragon King by himself, but if it''s Ashtel Rex, then things will be a bit different.


    Ashtel may seem like a strict and loving father from Link''s perspective, but from the perspective of the enemies of mankind, Ashtel is their worst nightmare.


    In his career as an SS-ranker, Ashtel has killed two fellow SS- rankers and has defeated five of them head-on.


    Once he was besieged by three SS-rankers of the demon race, and the fight ended in the death of two SS-rankers and the escape of the third one.


    After that dark day, no other race dared to ever challenge Ashtel again.


    That was the day Ashtel won the title, ''The Dominator''. Other races avoid him like a gue nowadays.


    ¡­


    After a few more talks with the other party, Jin left the ce and finished up his work for the day.


    "Keep conducting the high-intensity searching operation for now, we don''t want to miss any other clue¡­" (Jin)


    "Understood!"


    Jin got inside his luxurious car and left the alliance branch.


    Seeing the fading figure of the car, the other party also heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Phew~"


    Standing in such close proximity of a demi-god is no small feat, it''s like you are always under constant pressure. One wrong move and the other party will tten you with a flick of their fingers.


    Even if you know that SS-rankers don''t usually kill people unreasonably, it will still make you nervous when standing in front of them.


    It is like your life is right in their palm and their gaze is so intense as if they can see through your mind.


    (Fun Fact, an SS-ranker with the authority rted to mind will likely be able to hear the thoughts of individuals below S-rank easily¡­ so better keep your mind in check if you meet one¡­)


    (Or just learn a skill like ''true immunity'' etc.. it will block the mind reading easily.)


    The S-ranker wiped the sweat on his forehead and went back to work. Unknowingly his whole back was drenched in sweat. Withstanding the pressure of an SS-ranker is no joke.


    Moreover, Jin has just recently reached the SS rank, and his control over his immense aura is still not that refined, which makes people unbearable.


    But oddly enough, Anna never felt pressured by Jin''s aura at all, only when meeting Anna does Jin put his greatest effort to suppress his aura to the extreme.


    If he really pressured Anna with his aura, wouldn''t he lose a lot of favorability points?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we also know what happened to our best boi Aaron when he encountered Alverto.


    Don''t go for externals, Aaron''s body is still in a better conditionpared to his soul. Alverto literally destroyed Aaron''s soul in order to find out more information about the students.


    Aaron''s soul has been smashed into nothingness and only his dead body remains. Even that would disappear if not for the mana suppression coffin.


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Alverto is quite good at nning?


    1.Yes.


    2.Yeah.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 207 Departure. (End of Volume-2.)

    <h4>Chapter 207 Departure. (End of Volume-2.)</h4>


    At the outer edge of the Oort Cloud.


    The corpse of some huge centipede floated in space with no destination whatsoever. The corpse was missing its head, it was likely killed by someone who smashed the head of the centipede into smithereens.


    The corpse of the centipede alone is so huge that it looks like a small meteor from a distance. (Forparison, this centipede is more than 700 kilometers in length alone¡­.)


    The creature of this size is usually only found in SS-rank dungeons, only SS-rankers dare to fight such insanely gigantic monsters.


    Above the dead corpse of the centipede, two individuals sat on chairs around a small table.


    They both had solemn looks as they continued to y chess which wasid on the table''s top.


    "Hmm, your chess skills are indeed good, I have yet to win a single match against you, Aria, the most I got was a draw¡­" (???)


    Hearing the praise, Aria smiled gently and replied in a soft voice.


    "Hehe, it''s my honor that my skills have been recognized by you, My Liege¡­" (Aria)


    Both of them wore simple clothes that had several elven designs all over them. They both looked like they belonged to some royal bloodline.


    Their serpentine-like eyes shined with wisdom beyond theprehension of ordinary beings. Both of their auras were so refined and massive that they seemed to fit extremely well in the word ''Demi-god''.


    "Come to think of it, how long has it been since we started ying this game?" (???)


    "I think it''s been a hundred years or something ording to the time back on Earth¡­" (Aria)


    "To think I will be able to enjoy this simple game for a whole century¡­ humans really are capable of creating interesting things nowadays¡­" (???)


    "Ahem, My liege, it''s been a hundred years since we left Earth, humans have a smaller lifespan¡­ so it''s not ''nowadays'' anymore¡­" (Aria)


    All of a sudden Aria felt something in her mind and her eyes nced in the direction of Earth.


    "Hmm?" (Aria)


    Aria brought out a strange-lookingmp from her space ring and a solemn expression appeared on her face.


    "What happened?" (???)


    "The light in the soulmp has died down¡­ one of my children has been killed by someone¡­" (Aria)


    "Is that so¡­" (???)


    Even though Aria found out that one of her children was killed, she didn''t think too much about it. (Once dragon kids leave their mother''s nest after reaching A-rank, they be fully independent¡­)


    Dragons don''t really have much kinship among each other, they are all solitary beings who rarely interact with each other.


    "Shall we go back then?" (???)


    "Yes, we should go back to the Dragon Valley now, it''s been a hundred years, and a new generation of dragons might have already been born by now¡­" (Aria)


    As a more than thousand-year-old dragon, Aria has more than five hundred children and dragons usually don''t make great ties with their children.


    Thus, Aaron''s death didn''t have much of an impact on Aria at all. For her, he was just one of her many children who were just average in talent.


    For the dragon race, S-rank talent is just average, if you awaken talent below that level, you aren''t even considered a dragon at that point, you would just be a waste that will be thrown out of the dragon valley instantly.


    Dragon race has a great dislike for the weak. They only respect those, who are either equal or above their level of strength.


    This is also the reason why dragons disdain other races, they think of them as weak and frail. Any average dragon is stronger than them after all.


    The reason why Aria defended Aaron from Kai and Tomar, was because at that time Aaron was just a newborn kid and it was Aria''s duty to protect her newborn children.


    But now that Aaron is already a fully-fledged adult, she doesn''t even care if he dies or lives.


    This is the cruel and harshw of the dragon race. If you don''t have the talent to stand out among others, you will surely be forgotten sooner orter.


    Only the children who have SS-rank talent are treated with utmost care by the dragon race.


    They are the ones being considered excellent.


    Still, even among the dragon race, SS rank is rare just like any other race. Even dragons don''t have any advantage in this matter.


    Reaching SS rank is no small feat, after all, it majorly depends on luck and opportunities. (These worldly rules don''t apply to people Like Link who are born with talent so insane, that even the heavens are jealous of him¡­)


    ¡­


    Both of them got up from their seats. Aria put the furniture back into her space ring along with the chess board.


    The man on the other hand slightly flicked his finger at the corpse of the giant centipede below them.


    With one flick of his finger, the space-time fabric was literally ripped apart and along with the corpse the whole ''space'' of that area turned into ''nothingness''.


    "Hmm, I used a bit too much strength¡­" (???)


    Aria simply shook her head at that statement, she was already used to seeing simr things happen quite often. Thus, she didn''t even bother to say anything in reply.


    After a few minutes of dy, the two of them teleported away from the ce and the shattered space fabric slowly healed by itself and returned back to normal as if nothing had happened.


    ¡­


    Back on Earth.


    Near the Oaklum Alliance Branch, Teleportation Circle.


    Rio and others stood beside the empty teleportation altar.


    While the maintenance staff fine-tuned the altar for a bit, the students passed the time by talking with Jin and Anna.


    "So, Principal Raji has approved of that guy now?" (Jin)


    "Well, she said that we have no other choice but to take that guy Fade with us now that there are no other suitable candidates left¡­" (Liam)


    "She looked quite unhappy about it though, her face had a disgusted look all over it¡­" (Link)


    Hearing those words, Jin shook his head.


    "Well, she''s always like this, once she starts to think badly about someone, it''s very difficult to change that image in her mind¡­ it''s always better to not get on her bad side¡­" (Jin)


    Even Anna who was sitting in a wheelchair, nodded her head at Jin''s words.


    "She has a hot temper, once you make her angry, it will be difficult to calm her down¡­ better not get on her bad side¡­" (Anna)


    ''She once pped me so hard that my jaw broke from that and I nearly fainted¡­ my days in the academy were quite difficult after that.. ugh¡­'' (Anna)


    Aside from Riya, all of them felt quiteplicated emotions from hearing about Raji''s hot temper, they had all seen it beforehand in the dungeon of Maya when she nearly ended up killing her own father.


    Currently, aside from Riya, none can calm down her anger easily.


    But a single re from Riya is enough to make her calm in an instant. (Sometimes I think Riya has some psychological power that she uses to make others calm and happier¡­ even an SS-ranker isn''t immune to it¡­)


    Just when they were all talking with Jin and Anna, one of Jin''s subordinates came and whispered something in his ears, to which Jin replied.


    "Let him in¡­" (Jin)


    The subordinate nodded his head went away. After a few seconds, he returned with a person wearing a businessman''s suit.


    The man saluted Jin and Anna both first and then introduced himself.


    "Nice to meet you, I am Zach''s older brother, I havee to see off Zach''s friend on behalf of the hunt family, please excuse my rudeness¡­"


    At the person''s words, Jin shook his head and said in a calm tone.


    "No worries¡­ you can stay¡­" (Jin)


    In fact, Jin felt quite guilty whenever the Hunt family was mentioned. He always thought to himself that if only he was just a few minutes early, things would have been quite different.


    After getting permission from Jin, Zach''s older brother nced at the students and nodded his head in greeting, the group also said hello in return.


    "Actually, Zach had prepared return gifts for you all before, we just recently found out about this¡­ it''s a good thing I made it on time¡­"


    "I want to fulfill Zach''sst wish of handing over the gifts that were meant for you all, please don''t decline them and take them with you¡­. At least this way I will be able to give some peace to his soul in the afterlife¡­"


    The atmosphere became solemn as Zach was mentioned, everyone knew that preparing return gifts for them before even the day of return arrived, this is definitely how Zach used to do things.


    After exining his purpose, he brought out the well packed gifts from his space ring and handed them all over to the students one by one.


    Rio and Lia got matching bracelets, Link got gloves, Riya''s gift box was filled with sweets and candies, and Liam got himself an exquisite-lookingb, that matched the color of Ellie''s hair.


    Ellie got herself a cute-looking cup, which she could use to drink Liam''s handmade tea, Kira received a history book that was stored in the private library of the hunt family.


    Andstly, Fade also got a pair of fancy-looking sunsses.


    Each and every gift had the name of the receiver engraved on it with elegant handwriting.


    Receiving those gifts made them all feel happy and sad at the same time.


    All of them, even Fade and Kira thanked Zach''s older brother who handed over the gifts on behalf of Zach.


    "I think my younger brother wanted to give these gifts to you all so that you can remember the friendship with him, whenever you looked at those gifts¡­ but I guess now these gifts hold a totally different meaning¡­"


    "We will cherish these gifts!" (They all said in a united tone.)


    Hearing the reply the guy smiled a bit, he seemed to be hiding his sadness behind that smile but no words could have consoled that sadness.


    Time went by slowly and the maintenance of the Altar waspleted.


    All of the students stood on the Altar and waved their hands to say goodbye once again.


    With more determination on their faces than ever, the students teleported back to the academy to go through further training before going to the ''meeting''.


    After the students teleported away, Zach''s older brother left via his car, he had a sad look on his face as he left the ce.


    Jin shook his head and left with Anna too.


    They knew that no words of theirs could console the other party''s grief, losing their loved ones so suddenly is difficult to ept the situation.


    But in this cruel world where monsters and demons roam freely, situations like this are verymon. Sooner orter, people will forget about this matter too.


    Yet, the existence of Zach''s friendly figure shall not fade away into obscurity.


    ''Time will pass and his existence might be forgotten by all, but in the hearts of Rio and others, Zach will always be a best friend who was loyal till the end.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    The Second Volume of the novel ends here today. With the blessing of great support and luck, I have been able to write this novel so far. Thus, I thank you all for your support.


    Let us all cheer up on this happy asion.


    You have nowpleted reading two volumes of this novel, so please do me a favor and leave your thoughts about the novel in reviews if you haven''t done it yet.


    And with this in mind, the Adventure arc finishes here for now, but the adventures of Rio and others will not stop here at all. There are still things toe and I will depend on your support in the future too.


    Thanks for Reading, Dear Readers.

 Chapter 208 Hope in Abyss. Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 208 Hope in Abyss. Part-1.</h4>


    ''Exception'' is a word used for those beings who are truly exceptional among their kin.


    Talent, status, power, and skills aren''t the only things that can make someone exceptional.


    It takes millions or even billions of years for a single ''Exception'' to appear, but with its appearance the world changes by a vast amount.


    Sometimes even that exception doesn''t get to grow up to its full potential but its existence must not be questioned.


    ''Exceptions'' are what create new possibilities and hopes for a new and better future.


    One such uncertain ''Exception'' also appeared in the long-lived Demon Race. Its existence impacted others like a torch in the dark.


    And this ''Exception'' might have been the long-awaited hope of the Demon Race itself.


    ...


    The demon continent of Esalith is located in the southern hemisphere of the.


    Esalith is the closest ce to the south pole of the, heavy snowstorms ravage thend of this continent all year long and most of the southern area of this continent is covered in thick snow.


    Very few nts grow on the whole continent of Esalith and there are no edible nt species on this continent.


    Because farming is impossible on this continent, all lower or above-rank demons kill and devour each other for food.


    The demon race has no actual civilization, all lower and above-rank demons live in small and big tribes that hunt down each other for food and entertainment.


    If heavy snowfall happens and the number of lower-rank demons dwindles greatly, then the upper-rank demons wage wars against other races to plunder food.


    But even in such pointless wars, the lower-ranked demons suffer the most, they have to serve the upper-ranked demons and act as cannon fodders in those wars after all.


    Usually, this type of war results in a counter-attack of the alliance, which ends up wiping out the whole invading army of the demon race.


    Millions of casualties ur with each war, yet no one cares about it. Instead of the numbers being reduced, more demons are born after the wars, thus their numbers increase.


    This situation gives headaches to all the members of the racial alliance, but the demon race doesn''t care about these subtle things.


    The only thing that drives the demon race to kill and destroy is theck of food and their gically inherited war-hungry mentality.


    For some odd reason, all demons have the same chaotic and sadistic personality.


    They all like to y with the weak and bully them to their heart''s content, and they avoid the strong like a gue.


    The sadistic personality of finding entertainment in other''s suffering is one of the main reasons why the demon race is not able to coexist peacefully with the other races.


    Wherever the demon armies pass by, they destroy the ecosystem andy waste to that ce.


    Miasma spreads everywhere due to these demon armies and contaminates the area with ''Corruption'', which is very difficult to purify.


    But even among the demon race ''Exceptions'' can be born and that''s exactly what happened on that one fateful day.


    ...


    Demon Continent, Esalith.


    A small Dark Werewolf tribe lived at the southernmost edge of the continent. The tribe had migrated here just a few months ago to escape the pursuit of arge demon hound pack.


    Demon hounds are medium-rank demons and they hunt their prey by pursuing them for days relentlessly.


    They take hunting as a form of enjoyment and they like to slowly reduce the number of their prey one by one till the end of the pursuit.


    Dark werewolves are stronger than demon hounds individually, but their number is very low, meanwhile, the number of demon hounds is very high.


    Moreover, the pack of demon hounds that pursued them was arge one, it had more than a thousand members in it.


    Demon hounds like to use the gueri warfare technique to harass their prey, they overwhelm the other party by their sheer numbers.


    This small tribe of dark werewolves had around a hundred members before the pursuit, but now fewer than thirty remain. They can''t even be considered a proper tribe at this point.


    But even in these dire situations, an ''Exception'' was born.


    A young female dark werewolf looked at her kin trying to hunt down the prey for food and her big eyes shined with curiosity.


    (Dark Werewolves have a body structure simr to humans, but their hands and feet are like the paws of wolves, they have fluffy tails and wolf ears on their heads...)


    Dark Werewolves are a highly aggressive demon species, they can even kill each other for food and worsees to worst they sometimes even eat their own children too.


    As they are demons, no moral ethics bind them from doing sinister things.


    Usually, these demon wolves are not very intelligent and they have the intelligence of a beast, they don''t even have a propernguage system to talk.


    Due to this, they just do what other beasts do, hunt, eat, and sleep.


    The appearance of the emotion ''Curiosity'' was the biggest ''Exception'' that the young female wolf had awakened.


    She looked at everything with immense curiosity, her kin didn''t notice anything strange with her, but she felt that everything was very fascinating.


    To her, all things brought new questions and thoughts to her mind.


    She was ''Exceptionally'' intelligent and her thoughts were more mature than all of her tribe membersbined.


    A thought that no demon ever dared to think in thousands of years appeared in the mind of this young demon wolf.


    ''Why must we hunt others? Why can''t we just live with others peacefully?''


    This thought may seem very simple and weird, but for a demon to think about ''peace'' and ''co-existence'' it was as rare as the creation of a new universe itself.


    This event was so rare that it would not be wrong to call it a genuine ''Exception.


    ¡­


    The young wolf grew up over the years and learned to hunt and scout. Herbat capabilities improved fast and she became the strongest member of her tribe in no time at all.


    But her ''curiosity'' never died out.


    The sparks of wisdom continued to linger in her head as she tried to find reasons for everything. It was as if she was a pioneer, who was searching for the truth of this world.


    She questioned the reason for her existence, she tried tomunicate with her tribe members but due tonguage constraints, it was impossible.


    Finding that she was unable tomunicate by voice, she started to use signs and various other methods to talk with her kin.


    But it turned out that her tribe members were far too irritable and aggressive with each other, there was simply no way to talk to them on friendly terms.


    Temporary cooperation during hunting was already the limit of the demons, they had no camaraderie among each other at all.


    In her attempts to find the ''truth'' the young demon wolf figured out that introducing herself politely was the key to the start of a conversation and to introduce herself, she needed a ''Name''.


    Individual names are a luxury on the demon continent. Only S-


    rank or above-level demons have true names that define their existence.


    All the demons below S-rank are usually nameless and have no sense of ''Self'' at all.


    For a young demon like her to have awakened such aplex thought process and a sense of ''Self'', it was already an extremely rare event.


    The young wolf traveled along with her tribe around the southernmost area all year long.


    She confronted many demon hound packs all year long and aggression was very frequent among them.


    Every battle made her question the reason behind that fight, and gradually a thought appeared in her mind.


    ''What if there is a way to make all demons live peacefully with each other?''


    This one thought made her very different from all of the demons. Her thoughts were not like any other demon that existed in this world.


    She looked at her kin with eyes of wisdom, her existence itself was different from any other demon.


    She experimented and tried to use various methods to make friends with other demons but all of them failed miserably.


    All of her attempts brought her nothing but retaliation and anger from the other party.


    But this didn''t reduce her curiosity at all, instead, she became even more obsessed with one simple thought.


    ''There must be a way out there, which can make all demons live peacefully with each other¡­''


    Her mind was already made up, all she needed now was just one opportunity.


    And sure enough, that opportunity also came on one faithful day when her tribe was attacked by the samerge demon hound pack that had pursued them before they migrated to this area.


    The attack of the hounds brought great misfortune for her tribe, but that turned out to be the perfect opportunity for her.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! A new volume starts from here onwards. I will call it the ''Truth arc'' for some obvious reasons.


    Many hidden meanings and truths are going to be revealed in this arc and with the start of this arc we have finally reached the intermission in this story.


    Question of the day.


    Who do you specte this young wolf demon is?


    1. A new character (Demon girls are here, let''s go!!)


    2. A mystery character (The author is cooking something it seems¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 209 Hope in Abyss. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 209 Hope in Abyss. Part-2.</h4>


    On that day, the demon houndsunched a full-scale attack on the dark werewolf tribe that had previously escaped from their grasp.


    Demons are sadistic and persistent creatures, if their prey escapes from their grasp it makes them extremely angry and crazy, and they will go to any lengths to pursue that prey again and again.


    There is only one way to escape from the pursuit of a demon, either die yourself or kill the pursuing demon some way or other. Only in this way can you get rid of the pursuit of these crazy demons.


    The dark werewolf tribe had escaped the grasp of the demon hounds, thus it made them go crazy.


    The demon hound pack searched for the werewolf tribe for quite a few months before finally finding them in the southernmost region.


    After finding the dark werewolf tribe''s location, the demon hound pack gathered all of its members andunched a head-on attack to hunt down every single werewolf that had escaped previously.


    ...


    The young werewolf was luckily much farther away from the battlefield''s center.


    She was staring at the geography with great curiosity as usual when the attack happened.


    Under the heavy snowfall, the werewolves fought long and hard against the offensive of the demon hounds, but they were eventually outnumbered.


    Demon hounds are much weaker individually, thus dozens of demon hounds were killed in just a few minutes of confrontation, but the werewolves were still not in a good situation.


    Their numbers were too low and they were surrounded from each side, thus there was nowhere to run.


    The young werewolf had a higher intelligence than the others, she didn''t rush head-on into the fight like the others.


    She observed for a while and she immediately figured out that it was pointless to fight head-on.


    They were at a great disadvantage when it came to numbers.


    If all of the werewolves had cooperated and rushed out of the encirclement of the hounds from the start withbined momentum, it would have been possible to live another day.


    But there''s no way that demons could cooperate with each other so easily.


    In the past few months, the young werewolf had already figured out the fact that it was impossible for her to make these stubborn guys cooperate, thus she didn''t even think about asking them for it.


    She immediately retreated from the area once she noticed that the situation was not in their favor.


    But it was easier said than done.


    Demon hounds have an excellent sense of smell, they can smell the prey from kilometers away, and it''s a difficult task to escape from their tracking ability.


    When she tried to retreat, some of the demon hounds immediately noticed her retreating figure and chased after her crazily. While barking fiercely they pursued her at full speed on the snow-covered area.


    Even though the demon hounds pursued her relentlessly, she was not fazed by it at all, with her sharp mind, she used the geographical advantage to make quite a bit of distance between them.


    ''I will be able to escape!''


    Just when this thought came into her excited mind, she was suddenly struck by a massive thunderbolt from the sky.


    The thunderbolt was not strong enough to instantly kill her but it was strong enough to make her consciousness blur by a lot.


    The young werewolf howled in pain for the first time.


    Even when she went on regr food-hunting missions, she had never been so severely injured before. This was the first time she was feeling so much pain all over her body.


    With her blurred eyesight, she noticed a muchrger demon hound with bat wings flying in the sky right above her head.


    Small lightning bolts still lingered around its mouth and wriggled snakes as the demon hound stared at her with fierce eyes. (It''s a stronger variant of the demon hound species...)


    Thatrger demon hound was likely the one who threw the thunderbolt at her from the sky.


    Her feet staggered and she fell back on the ground, by some strange coincidence the ce she fell on was a huge hole in the ground that was covered by the earlier snowfall.


    Due to her weight, the snow covering therge hole crumbled instantly and the young werewolf fell into the hole along with the snow.


    The flying hound was taken aback by this sudden change of events, but it didn''t want to let go of its prey so it dived down.


    Just when the hound flew near the hole''s entrance, it suddenly felt a strong suppression.


    That suppression came straight from the bloodline. Its heart started to beat fast and the hound immediately flew away from the hole.


    It nced at the one more time and then it flew away from the ce instantly.


    Demons are the type of creatures that like to bully the weak, but when they encounter strong individuals, their first response is to run away as far as possible.


    Thus, the flying demon hound immediately left the ce and didn''t even think about returning back.


    ...


    Inside the gigantic hole in the ground.


    When the young werewolf fell, she collided with the walls and barely survived due to the snow cushioning her fall.


    "Urg.."


    Groans of pain came from her mouth unconsciously. Her facial expressions and emotions resembled an intelligent creature a lot at this moment.


    Due to exhaustion and the damage caused by the lightning bolt, she was mentally exhausted and thus she fell unconscious right after a few minutes of falling on the snow.


    The bloody night passed by without any further disturbances. All her tribe members were ughtered by the demon hounds and eaten overnight.


    But she was the only lucky one who barely survived the fate of being eaten by the demon hounds.


    When she woke up, it was already morning again. (The hound attack happened in the evening yesterday¡­)


    She looked up and figured out that it was impossible for her to leave this hole through this ce.


    The hole was too high and it was impossible for her injured self to jump out of this hole easily.


    Then she suddenly noticed that there was a small passage in this ce that seemed the have air flowing through it.


    ''Cold wind is passing through here¡­ there must be an opening on the other side...''


    Without further hesitation, the young werewolf left the ce, and with slow steps, she slowly walked into the narrow passage.


    She used the uneven stone walls of the passage to support herself and walk ahead with confidence.


    Unlike the demon hound that had noticed the strong presence, she didn''t feel anything at all¡­ no she was simply ignoring that presence.


    She is more intelligent than other low-rank demons and thus she has started to ignore her body''s instincts a lot.


    Unlike other demons whopletely rely on instincts, she relies more on her intelligence.


    Due to not using her instincts for a long time, her instincts became a lot duller due to which she didn''t even notice the massive presence that was surrounding this cave.


    While ignoring all concerns, she nced at the structure of the cave with great curiosity.


    Her curiosity won over her instinct of survival and she didn''t even care about her life as long as she was able to satisfy her own curiosity.


    (If she was born in the human race, she would have been considered a ''once-in-a-century genius'' researcher¡­)


    *Step*


    With her own footsteps ringing in her ears again and again, she felt more and more excited as she continued to walk further.


    Finally, she saw the light shining from the opening on the other end.


    But that was not what captured her attention.


    Her eyes stared at an extremely handsome-looking demon sitting right beside the cave exit, with shock and excitement.


    The handsome demon was the same height as her, arge speary beside him and he seemed to recover from his injuries.


    Blood flowed from therge wound on his stomach as he sat with the support of the cave''s wall.


    His eyes closed tightly and his dark ck armor shined in the sunlight.


    That amazing sight made the young werewolf feel excited all over.


    She had no idea who this demon was or what had injured him so badly, but only one thought came into her head at that moment.


    ''I must help him¡­''


    With that though, she moved forward with a determined look on her face.


    She carefullyid him down and removed his chest armor. She tore apart arge part of his cape and used it to bind his wound tightly.


    The young werewolf was extremely intelligent, she discovered this method of stopping the blood on her own, without the help of anyone.


    Then she waited for the other part to wake up, a smile appeared on her face, she seemed to be quite satisfied with herself at the moment.


    Being able to express her own emotions with so many facial expressions... even though this was quite a difficult task for the demon race she did it easily¡­ perhaps this is what made her an ''Exception''.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Okay! Things seem to have taken a mysterious turn, the author is cooking something really good it seems!!


    Question of the day.


    If given the chance, would you like to spend time on the demon continent?


    1. Yes (I don''t care about the cold weather of the South Pole at all!!)


    2. No (Don''t wanna get hunted down by the demon hounds all over the continent¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 210 Uncle Rex!?

    Chapter 210 Uncle Rex!?


    ??Great Freya Academy, fifteen days after returning from Oaklum.


    Rio''s training Room.


    More than half a month went by since Zach''s death under Alverto''s hands, but until now Rio still felt just how big the gap between their strength was.


    Rio stared at his sword and clenched his palm around it tightly, although his face looked as expressionless as always, his eyes seemed to be filled withplicated emotions.


    ''Alverto was not even using one percent of his powers when toying with us¡­ he barely used any technique other than his time maniption skill..'' (Rio)


    ''Even if several S-rankers swarmed together to attack him¡­ I doubt they will be able to defeat him so easily¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I need to get stronger¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio staring at his sword and contemting in his mind, suddenly a hand appeared in his vision, before he could have reacted, the other party flicked their finger and hit Rio''s forehead.


    The flick of that finger wasn''t strong and it didn''t do any damage to Rio, but it caused Rio to step back in surprise.


    "Thinking too much about what has already happened and can''t be changed, will not help you progress¡­. It will stall your progress if you stress over it too much¡­" (Ashtel)


    Out of nowhere, Ashtel Rex, the strongest SS ranker of the human race appeared in Rio''s private training room.


    His bright Red hair waved like a lion''s man and his bright red pupils shined like gems that contained huge amounts of wisdom in them.


    Even the space seemed to be bending around him just because of his presence. Although Ashtel was suppressing his aura, his presence alone was so strong that he gave people an unreal feel.


    He seemed like a genuine divine being who seemed to be unscathed by this mortal world.


    A proud and calm expression remained on his face all the time and he seemed like the type of person who could remain calm and collected in any possible situation.


    "Hmm, you don''t seem that surprised after seeing me here¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel asked in a doubtful tone when he saw that Rio''s face remained expressionless even after his sudden appearance.


    "I am very surprised actually¡­" (Rio)


    Rio''s tone was emotionless and his face was also expressionless, he didn''t look surprised from outside at all, but he was indeed surprised in his mind.


    Seeing Rio''s expressionless face, Ashtel thought to himself.


    ''Hmm, it seems what Link said was indeed true, this kid doesn''t show emotions at all¡­ is it because of his rough childhood experience? It shouldn''t have been this severe though right¡­'' (Ashtel)


    ''Does he have some kind of gic disorder¡­ ahem, no that''s not it either¡­ it''s quite strange¡­ forget it¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel Knew that things like gic disorders could be easily healed by S-rank healers in just a few seconds.


    Rio had been treated by S-rank healers after the SSA test, he could have been already treated properly if it was a gic disorder.


    ''Perhaps, it''s just that his personality is like that?¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel stopped thinking about this matter further and said in a calm tone.


    "Tomorrow is the day we will leave for the meeting, I had asked Principal Raji to send a notification to you all, and everyone else received it¡­" (Ashtel)


    "But you were the only one who had switched off all of your contact devices¡­" (Ashtel)


    Rio just shook his head at Ashtel''s words.


    "I was doing some final training before going to the meeting¡­ I haven''t even gone out of this training room since the day we came back from Oaklum¡­" (Rio)


    While talking to Ashtel, Rio used his sword intent to cover his body and cool down himself with its ''frost effect''.


    Ashtel looked calm from the outside but he was very surprised when he noticed what Rio was doing.


    ''Seriously!? This little kiddo is using the legendary sword technique, ''sword intent'' like an air conditioner!?" (Ashtel)


    ''Such extravagant wastage of power¡­ I have only seen one person doing this before¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel suddenly remembered Link in his mind.


    Link''s ''Dragon Arts'' technique has a skill called ''Overload'', which can be said to be a final attack skill, the user ends up getting crippled after using that skill.


    Thus it is treated as a final skill that no one would want to use if not as ast choice left.


    But Link is the only person, who uses ''Overload'' like a regr skill. He can easily control it nowadays and he doesn''t suffer any injuries from it.


    Due to this Link uses this skill many times, even Ashtel was surprised when he saw that Link was using that trump card attack as a regr attack.


    ''This kiddo is doing something very simr to Link, he is using ''Sword intent'' to take care of his worldly needs¡­. Is this the horror of a genius?'' (Ashtel)


    When Ashtel was admiring Rio''s talent in his mind, Rio was also thinking about Ashtel in his mind.


    ''First of all, shouldn''t he have sent Link or someone else to bring the information to me, why is he here by himself¡­'' (Rio)


    Standing in the presence of an SS-ranker is not really a pleasant experience, it feels like the other party can see right through your very soul.


    (SS-rankers can literally use their insane mana detection to see right through your body¡­ they literally have X-ray vision¡­)


    ''Moreover, I feel kind of nervous while standing near this crazy guy¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I would rather face Raji''s short-tempered nature or Neo''s shrewd scheme than face this guy''s craziness¡­ ugh¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio had read the novel in the previous life, and he knew just how crazy this guy actually was.


    Ashtel seemed like a calm and collected individual with very intelligent thinking, but this was all just a fa?ade, the real Ashtel was like a crazy mad dog.


    Even in the novel, Ashtel is an intelligent and calm person, but that was true until Link was alive. Once Link died under Fade''s hands, Ashtel snapped instantly.


    He became so crazy that he chased Fade everywhere for revenge.


    Ashtel is the ''viin'' who is extremely difficult to deal with, and his immense power is enough to overpower Jin, Neo, and Raji altogether.


    ''It won''t be wrong to say, that even if the sky falls one day, it will be easy for him to hold the sky in ce with just one hand¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio admired his strength but he didn''t want to have anything to do with this crazy guy, if this guy snapped, he would be the biggest threat that would be nearly impossible to deal with.


    ''If not for the plot armor, Fade could have never dealt with this monster either¡­'' (Rio)


    Ashtel''s death means the immediate copse of the human race''s biggest pir of support.


    If Ashtel disappeared, other races would stop taking humanity seriously. (Even Neo doesn''t dare plot anything against Ashtel for fear of being killed¡­)


    In today''s world, the reason why all the neighboring races avoid conflict with humanity is simply because of the existence of Ashtel Rex.


    ¡­


    "So, what brings you here, uh¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Ashtel simply shook his head and said in a calm tone.


    "No need to be so restricted, you can call me Uncle Rex!" (Ashtel)


    At Ashtel''s words, Rio was so bewildered that a look of shock appeared on his expressionless face.


    "W-what!?" (Rio)


    "Heh, so you do have facial expressions after all¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel smiled triumphantly when he saw that he was able to get through Rio''s expressionless face with just a simple joke.


    "Ahem, well you see¡­ how do I say, Kevin sh¡­ Your father used to be my direct subordinate and a close friend of mine¡­ he helped out in a very important mission¡­" (Ashtel)


    "At that time I didn''t know that he had a son, if I had known I would have introduced you to Link much earlier¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel wanted to provide Link with the best childhood in those days.


    If he had known about Rio''s existence, he could have introduced Rio and Link to each other, and this way Link could have grown up with a good friend since childhood.


    (Later, Riya yed the role of a good childhood friend for Link¡­)


    "Well, forget it, what happened in the past doesn''t matter much¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Your father was a close friend of mine so, let''s say he was like a younger brother to me, so technically I am your ''Uncle'', aren''t I?" (Ashtel)


    Rio was so bewildered by Ashtel''s words that he had no words to refute him.


    Just when he was about to say something, Ashtel stretched out his hand and ced his big hand on Rio''s head.


    "Yosh, I see you have grown up well! You must have worked hard! Good! I bet your father would be so proud of you!" (Ashtel)


    Rio usually doesn''t like someone other than Lia touching him, but surprisingly Ashtel''s hand that seemed to represent a certain ''acknowledgment'' made Rio feelfortable.


    Ashtel smiled a little and patted Rio''s head like a ''father'' who was praising his son''s achievements.


    "Also, don''t stress yourself over your failure to save your friend, you must take that feeling of powerlessness that you felt that day as fuel¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Use that fuel to strengthen yourself and continue to be stronger! You have what it takes to reach the heights of this world!" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel took his hand back and smiled at Rio.


    "Just keep in mind, that there are always people who are ready to support you, don''t get lost in the darkness of loneliness, you have a bright path ahead¡­" (Ashtel)


    After saying that, Ashtel disappeared into nothingness, just like how he had appeared out of nowhere.


    Rio slowly raised his hand and touched his head which was patted by Ashtel with ''acknowledgement''.


    Rio closed his eyes to calm his mind down.


    ''h-he messed up my hair...'' (Rio)


    Despite thinking that, Rio was feeling quite happy at the moment.


    In his two lives and after years of efforts, this was the first time Rio was acknowledged by someone like this.


    Rio finally got over Zach''s death after being supported by Ashtel''s acknowledgment.


    That day Rio''s mentality changed a lot.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! To think that Ashtel who seemed like an arrogant person, would turn out to be such a considerate person, that was truly heart-warming¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Ashtel deserves the ''Best Father award''?


    1. Yes (Bro went crazy to hunt down Fade for Link''s sake.)


    2. Yeah (He provided Link with money, love, a childhood sweetheart, and the path to strength, without him, Link would have died by the wrath of the heavens on his birth¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 211 Why are you asking me for that?

    <h4>Chapter 211 Why are you asking me for that?</h4>


    After Ashtel left, Rio shook his head and finally left the training room after half a month of seclusion.


    Rio checked his phone and saw that there were indeed quite a few messages from the principal.


    ''She would have been so angry at me if not for the circumstances...'' (Rio)


    Raji is a short-tempered person.


    If not for the fact that she knew that all of the students were currently recovering from their previous fight, she would havee to his door herself if he had ignored her messages like this on usual days.


    Rio read through all the messages and remembered the information in his mind. Only one thing caught his eye.


    ''Spaceship? Hmm, that''s interesting... they are going to use the military''s tactical weapons for transport?'' (Rio)


    Humanity in this world is extremely advanced, and thus, the existence of spaceships is no big deal.


    While reading the messages, Rio also saw a message from a certain junior of his.


    [Message from: Qi Meng.]


    [Senpai! It''s been a while! I have recently gotten two discount tickets for a famous caf??! Would you like toe with me?]


    Seeing the message a strange look appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''Aren''t you supposed to be taking a girl with you on these types of events, why are you asking me to go there with you?...'' (Rio)


    Then Rio noticed that the date and time of the supposed meeting was today, and there were only two hours left.


    ''Well, I don''t really have anything to do right now... I guess I should go...'' (Rio)


    Rio had just finished an extreme training session whichsted 15 days, so this was the perfect opportunity to rx his nerves a bit.


    After deciding in his mind, he went to take a quick shower.


    While changing his clothes in front of the mirror, Rio stared at his own well-defined body for a few seconds.


    ''The ''me'' in my previous life would have never been able to achieve this physique... my current capabilities would be like a dream for him...'' (Rio)


    ''I havee a long way now...'' (Rio)


    Rio''s dead fish eyes seemed to be shining brightly with a great sense of aplishment at the moment.


    ''If one day I am able to feel my emotions properly again... will I still be able to keep fighting?...'' (Rio)


    The answer to that question was silence, Rio had no answer for it.


    The original him from the previous life was a person who didn''t really like to fight and he was not that good at remaining calm all the time.


    If the current Rio regained those emotions back, he will likely be overwhelmed by emotions in critical situations, which will be quite a bad thing.


    ''But yeah... the original me was indeed such a weak-hearted person...'' (Rio)


    If Rio had his original emotions, he would have likely been a lot more depressed at Zach''s death, but now he didn''t even shed a single tear at the unfortunate death of Zach.


    Moreover, Rio is now surrounded by amazing friends, who don''t judge him for his mistakes, otherwise, Rio would have been criticized a lot for not showing any sympathy at Zach''s funeral.


    ''As they say, emotions are like a double-edged sword... they can be beneficial but also dangerous at the same time...'' (Rio)


    ...


    Academy, principal''s office.


    Raji stared at the person sitting on the opposite side of the table with a cold look on her face.


    "Was it really necessary to interfere with my student?" (Raji)


    At Raji''s question, the other party nodded his head solemnly.


    "Yes, if I hadn''t solved this matter in the bud, he might have gone astray, you know..." (Ashtel)


    "I don''t think Rio is the type of kid who will be affected that much... he has survived a massacre in his childhood, he is certainly more mature than his other team members..." (Raji)


    At Raji''s words, Ashtel shook his head and said in a solemn tone.


    "It''s not about being mature... without the support of elders, I don''t think anyone will be able to grow without stress... too much stress can cause a lot of problems in battle..." (Ashtel)


    "I nearly lost my life once in the war due to the umtion of stress... this is my personal experience you are still too young to understand it..." (Ashtel)


    Raji squinted her eyes at that statement, but she didn''t refuse it either.


    Ashtel is much olderpared to her. He was already an SS-ranker before she was even born. (Ashtel is even older than Raji''s father Damian...)


    "But to think someone brought you to a near-death situation... does such a person even exist in this world?" (Raji)


    Raji herself is an SS-ranker, but she has no confidence in going against Ashtel at all.


    She knows just how ridiculously strong this guy is, he can definitely defeat five of her at the same time.


    At Raji''s words, Ashtel shook his head and replied in his usual calm and collected tone.


    "The world is filled with various mysteries, no one knows what may happen to an individual''s life the very next day..." (Ashtel)


    "Moreover, there are already two individuals who are showing the potential to rival me..." (Ashtel)


    Ashtel''s voice turned serious all of a sudden and his aura condensed as he said with absolute certainty.


    "Link and Rio, they both will surpass me in the future, I can already feel it in my bones... such a time is not too far away..." (Ashtel)


    "I can understand saying this about Link, but Rio too?" (Raji)


    "Yeah... ording to records, when his maximum potential was measured for the first time, it was only at C-rank... but now he has already reached A-rank..." (Ashtel)


    "This shows that his talent has been wrongly judged for some reason, he likely has the same amount of talent that Link has..." (Ashtel)


    Raji went silent for a while after hearing those words from Ashtel''s mouth.


    "Strange natural phenomena happened at the birth of Link, But those strange rebellious phenomena didn''t happen at Rio''s birth if they had happened, you would have certainly noticed them right?" (Raji)


    "Yeah, that''s what I am most confused about actually, so many strange things happened when Link was born, it seemed that the world itself was revolting against his birth..." (Ashtel)


    "But if Rio has the same talent as Link, then why didn''t something simr happen at his birth..." (Ashtel)


    Although both Ashtel and Raji were quite confused about this strange situation, they both had no ill intentions against Rio.


    SS-rankers knew about this ''world'' better than anyone else, they also knew how messed up the ''Outer Space'' is right now, thus they knew the importance of young talents.


    They hoped that Link and Rio would grow up soon and support the human race when the need arose for it.


    The more talent the young ones have, the happier they will be.


    "Forget it, we will understand it as time goes by, or we can ask him directly after he grows up to the same level as us¡­ everyone has their secrets, it''s not good to pry into them too much¡­" (Ashtel)


    Raji also nodded her head at Ashtel''s words.


    ¡­


    Academy, Market Area, Caf¨¦ Star Shine.


    Rio slowly walked towards the caf¨¦ with Meng beside him.


    A happy look hung over Meng''s face, he seemed to be quite happy to be able to walk beside Rio.


    "Shouldn''t you have taken a girl with you today, why are you asking me for this?" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Meng replied in a depressed voice.


    "None of the girls in my ss talk to me... they lose interest after seeing my face... I feel like I have no charm at all... ugh..." (Meng)


    "It takes time I guess, you will find someone eventually... even someone like me was able to get a girlfriend, you are much more handsome than me, you have the chance..." (Rio)


    Rio just gave a simplepliment to keep him from getting depressed from loneliness.


    "it''s different... you are so strong and powerful, any girl will like you senpai, and I am weak and useless, my scores in written exams are average..." (Meng)


    "Aside from ''Sword Intent'' I don''t think I have anything that special in me..." (Meng)


    Rio just shook his head at Meng''s words.


    "Self-doubt is what pushes you forward to achieve perfection, you are able to assess yourself so thoroughly, that''s already a great sign of progress..." (Rio)


    "But don''t doubt yourself too much, you have a bright path ahead... don''t cut it off due to anxiety and fear..." (Rio)


    Meng was really impressed by Rio''s words, he finally let go of his depression and cheered up instantly.


    "By the way Senpai, you usually hang out with Lia Senpai, but she is not with you today?" (Meng)


    Rio shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Well, Lia, Link, and Riya, all three of them have gone back to their homes to spend some time with their family, they are not in the academy right now¡­" (Rio)


    "As for that guy Liam, I think he must be busy cooking for his pet dragon¡­" (Rio)


    Meng suddenly looked a bit distressed at the mention of Liam''s pet dragon.


    "I was buying myself two ice-creams yesterday, then suddenly that dragon girl appeared out of nowhere and ran away with my ice-creams¡­ she didn''t even pay¡­" (Meng)


    "Liam Senpai gave me these discount coupons as an apology for that event¡­" (Meng)


    Rio nodded his head at Meng and said:


    "Ellie has been like that since the start, it useless to argue with her, but she certainly didn''t have any bad thoughts against you I think, don''t take it too seriously¡­" (Rio)


    "But don''t get fooled by her childish behavior, she is a genuine S-ranker, even the professors will have a hard time dealing with her if she went all out¡­" (Rio)


    "Understood.." (Meng)


    Meng secretly made a mental note to not get involved with Ellie in the future for his own safety.


    After a few seconds of walking, they both entered the caf¨¦ and ordered some tasty food for themselves.


    "By the way, how is your progress in ''Sword intent'' now? Last time I saw it was several months ago¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s question, Meng scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.


    "Uh, well, I have tried to train it a lot, but the progress is very slow, it''s as slow as a snail! In the past months, I have not even reached 1/100th of your level senpai¡­" (Meng)


    "I-I am such a useless guy¡­ ugh¡­" (Meng)


    "Hmm, well you need to focus more on your rank right now, improve your rank first, and then try to work on it further¡­" (Rio)


    "Aside from that just remember to not go against its ''flow'' and you can advance¡­" (Rio)


    "Yes¡­" (Meng)


    Rio didn''t mention the fact that he has already advanced to rank A and his sword intent has been strengthened more than ten times by now.


    Moreover, Rio uses ''Sword Intent'' as an air conditioner nowadays.


    If Meng knew about this, he would certainly be hit by a serious blow to his mind and faint from shock on the spot.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Writing these filler chapters is really the best thing in my opinion.


    I get to tell more about ''behind-the-scenes'' things and you get to see what our characters do usually in their free time.


    Question of the day.


    If given the chance, which SS-ranker would you choose as your teacher?


    1. Ashtel Rex (Strict training, but a beneficial guidance¡­)


    2. Raji Croft (She will beat the sh*t out of you in every training session unless you win over Riya''s friendship, only then will she be a bit lenient on you¡­)


    3. Neo Aldif (Training? What''s that? We don''t do that here¡­ we wander around the whole continent all day long!)


    4. Jin Walt (Hell-level training that won''t stop unless you faint¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 212 The burden of the strongest...

    <h4>Chapter 212 The burden of the strongest...</h4>


    Capital city ''Astra'', core area.


    On the rooftop of some random skyscraper.


    A middle-aged man could be seen sitting on the guard rails of the rooftop, a solemn look hung over his face and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.


    ''Just like a younger brother, I said¡­ sigh¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Some old memories resurfaced in his mind as he remembered the past in great detail.


    ¡­


    (Past memories¡­)


    After the end of the Orc War, Ashtel and Neo rose in power as the new SS-rankers of the human race.


    It was a time of great instability in the human empire.


    There was an urgent need for a ''shocking event'' that would have attracted all humans'' attention and helped in the return of peace.


    And after a long discussion between Ashtel and Neo, they decided on one mission.


    The mission was to assassinate demon general Azazel and raise the morale of the distressed popce.


    Demon general Azazel was an extremely well-known demon at that time.


    He was the one who ughtered the whole Reinhart royal family which was made up of the descendants of King Allen von Reinhart.


    For a thousand years, Azazel has been constantly trying to create chaos for the human race, and the orc war was also an indirect doing of him.


    In these past thousand years, there were many SS-rankers born in the human race, but none was strong enough to kill him and put an end to his schemes.


    But the appearance of Ashtel Rex changed everything.


    The orc war certainly imed the lives of thousands of innocents, but an extremely strong being, ''Ashtel Rex'' was born due to those hard times.


    Azazel''s n of messing with humans backfired as he indirectly became the reason for Ashtel''s ascension to power.


    After the death of Nics Arsene, the fifty-year-long Orc war ended and now was the perfect time to deal with this centuries-old enemy.


    But there was still a need for investigation.


    Azazel was an extremely cunning demon, it was extremely difficult to find his hiding ce.


    There was only one way to find out his exact location, and that was to sneak into the royal treasury of the demon king''s castle.


    All records rted to the demon army''s military affairs were ced there, along with various stolen treasures of the human race.


    But it wasmon knowledge that the demon king lived in that castle and there was no way a human could infiltrate it so easily.


    Thus a perfect n was made.


    Many S-rankers Like James (Lia''s father) etc. were recruited for this mission and they all signed a death contract.


    They all knew that this mission was the one where death coulde at any moment.


    But one S-ranker stood out among them all the most.


    His name was Kevin sh, he was a famous assassin and he even had a proper underground assassin organization of his own.


    His resume was simply too perfect. He had a 100 percent sess rate in every mission.


    Even Ashtel and Neo were surprised by his stealth skills.


    Thus he was made the spearhead of the n.


    It took several years to get everything ready for the n, they had even prepared the whole army in case the demon race suddenly retaliated.


    No one knew if the n would seed or not, but they all knew that it was important to kill Azazel otherwise he would be a great problem for the peace of the human race.


    The mission was conducted after a full nine years of nning and preparations.


    (Kevin was the core of this mission thus he was not allowed to appear outside for a long time¡­ that''s why he never visited his wife and son¡­ in fact, none of the group members knew that Kevin was married and had a son¡­)


    During the mission, other S-rankers helped in infiltration and keeping other demons busy in stealthy ways, this way they provided Kevin with the perfect infiltration opportunity.


    Neo was sent to distract the demon king, and he was sessful in luring the demon king away from the itself.


    Neo ran away into space with the demon king chasing behind him for thousands of kilometers. (This event gave Neo one of his infamous titles ''the cowardly demi-god''¡­)


    In the absence of the demon king, the castle was left undefended and it was extremely easy for Kevin to infiltrate and extract the information easily.


    (The demon king is arrogant, he didn''t let any of his S-rank subordinates stay in his castle to guard it, and only a few low-rank subus were wandering in the castle when Kevin infiltrated¡­)


    Kevin extracted the information and stole the sword that was giving the most dangerous aura among all the weapons in the treasury as he didn''t have the time to take too many things. (It was King Allen''s sword ''Vinash'' that ended up in Rio''s handter¡­)


    With the help of the records, Ashtel figured out the exact location where Azazel was hiding.


    The location was an S-rank dungeon, which was located in a hidden ce on ''Mercury''.


    (Yes, dungeons can open in any location in the universe, they can even open directly inside the core of the sun itself¡­ you would need SS-rankers to solve such dungeons¡­)


    The reason why SS-rankers stay put in one ce is not because they don''t want to leave this sr system and explore outer space.


    It''s just that the space in this world is a messed up ce where an uncountable number of space monsters wander with no one to stop them.


    SS-rank dungeons open in every ce of the universe and there are an uncountable number of monsters wandering in the space outside this sr system.


    The reason why this sr system is so well preserved and safe is that the alliance dispatches SS-rankers to quickly close any new dungeon that appears in the space of this sr system.


    Wandering alone outside of this sr system is a dangerous thing, even for an SS-ranker.


    ¡­


    After finding the exact hiding spot of Azazel, Ashtel didn''t hesitate at all, he directly rushed into that dungeon and fought that old enemy of humanity.


    And as the whole world knows, When ites to fighting in closed spaces like dungeons, Ashtel Rex is extremely difficult to deal with.


    The fight ended within a single day.


    Azazel stood no chance against Ashtel, his heart was ripped out of his body and waster refined by Neo into an artifact, that eventually ended up in Liam''s possession.


    Somehow, Alverto escaped unharmed. Alverto was also in that dungeon along with Azazel, but he escaped from Ashtel''s pursuit unnoticed.


    The result of this mission was announced publically and the whole human race celebrated Azazel''s defeat with great joy and pride, but for the safety of Kevin, his name was not mentioned to the public.


    In the public''s eyes, all the credit was given to Ashtel and Neo, the S-rankers who took part in this mission were not mentioned to the public to keep them safe.


    The Demon King was furious but he had no other choice besides retreating, he didn''t want to fight Ashtel.


    Ashtel didn''t target the demon king either, otherwise it would have caused another war out of nowhere.


    Azazel was killed at the end of the ninth year of the mission.


    But the mission ended in ten years because after the end of the mission they all stood on standby for a whole year to observe the demon race and keep an eye in case of any retaliation.


    Ashtel praised Kevin for his great merits and achievements in this mission.


    They had worked together for a whole ten years on this mission and they became good friends in that time.


    ¡­


    (Back to present¡­)


    Remembering those years when he worked along with Kevin to create that perfect n, Ashtel felt quite nostalgic.


    ''You should have told me that you were married¡­ but I guess that''s the type of person you were¡­ never telling anyone your own secrets and always keeping yourself in the dark¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel nced at the evening sky and smiled lightly.


    ''But still, at least you left your legacy behind¡­ I am quite sure you will be proud if you saw your son''s progress¡­ or I guess you will not perhaps¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel knew that Kevin was not the type of guy who was good at understanding family rtions, he might not have been proud of Rio at all¡­


    Looking at the setting sun and remembering those memories, Ashtel felt old for the first time in his life. (He isn''t old, peak SS-rankers like him can live for more than a thousand years¡­)


    ''I am tired now¡­. So manyrades died and left¡­ I just want to retire now and live the rest of my life in peace¡­'' (Ashtel)


    But then Ashtel remembered thest words of his wife.


    ''protect Link¡­'' (Those were thest words of his wife to him¡­)


    "Sigh¡­ I guess I will stay around until Link bes an SS-


    ranker, then I will retire for good¡­" (Ashtel)


    Just when Ashtel was contemting about his future ns a shrewd voice came from his left side.


    "Hehe, so even the ''strongest'' feels down sometimes?" (Neo)


    Ashtel nced at Neo and said in a surprised voice.


    "Hmm, this is¡­ your real body? It''s quite rare to see the real ''you'' appear out of nowhere¡­st time I saw your real body was seven years ago I guess¡­" (Ashtel)


    ''Tch! He saw through me so easily just like always¡­'' (Neo)


    Neo simply shook his head and replied with a grin on his face.


    "You are leaving with the students tomorrow, right? In your absence, I will have to stay here to protect the capital city¡­ if not for this reason, I wouldn''t have returned at all¡­" (Neo)


    Ashtel narrowed his eyes at Neo''s words.


    "You didn''t want to return, because you don''t want to get beaten by that little girl Raji again?" (Ashtel)


    "Cough! Ahem!¡­ something like that¡­ cough!" (Neo)


    Ashtel shook his head at Neo''s words and said in a calm tone.


    "You should apologize to her properly¡­ she isn''t a bad person I think¡­" (Ashtel)


    "You don''t know at all, she might not be a bad person, but she is very short-tempered, she doesn''t even listen to my pleas and starts fighting like a madwoman whenever she sees me¡­ ugh¡­" (Neo)


    At Neo''s words, Ashtel simply shrugged his shoulders.


    "You brought it on yourself¡­ who asked you to y with the innocent heart of a young maiden like that¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Moreover, you are a married man, you are several decades older than her and you still went for her¡­ do you still have some shame left in you?..." (Ashtel)


    No one aside from Asthel dares to say such words to Neo right on his face, without facing any consequences.


    Neo didn''t even dare refute Ashtel''s criticisms. He knew he would get punched if he dared say anything bad.


    "Ugh¡­ sorry¡­" (Neo)


    "Say that to her not to me¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Saying it to me will not really change anything, also¡­ you should talk things out with your son¡­ how long you are going to keep creating problems for him?¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel knew that Neo was purposely creating difficult situations for his own son and Ashtel didn''t like that at all.


    "I see¡­" (Neo)


    After saying that Neo disappeared into thin air just like he had appeared out of nowhere.


    Ashtel shook his head in annoyance.


    "Why do I have to babysit these SS-rankers too, tch!" (Ashtel)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Asthel is the one who is keeping all the other SS-rankers in check.


    His existence is the reason why strong people like the demon king don''t dare to attack the human race today.


    Question of the day.


    What do you think of Ashtel?


    1. He''s caring


    2. Strongest for a reason.


    3. He''s the only mature one among the other three immature SS-rankers.


    4. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 213 James, the schemer!

    <h4>Chapter 213 James, the schemer!</h4>


    Silver Mansion, Master''s office.


    "It''s not about being able to protect or not, you gave your best, that''s what matters the most..." (James)


    James took out a ''cigar'' from his pocket, lit it, and smoked it to his heart''s content, then he nced at Lia''s depressed face with a frown.


    "B-but... I-I just stood there and, I was not even able to help in that battle at all..." (Lia)


    "Being able to identify your own weakness, that''s already a huge step forward, you don''t have to stress yourself that much..." (James)


    James got up and walked towards the window, he released the smoke from his mouth and said in a solemn voice.


    "Being an awakener is a risky profession, every veteran awakener knows the risks that this profession brings..." (James)


    "Your life can end the very next day in this kind of profession, I have seen so many of myrades die an untimely death that I can''t even keep a record of how many of them I have seen dying..." (James)


    "Those who chose to walk the path of an awakener.... They must always be ready to ept the sudden arrival of death too... otherwise all that will be regret and guilt..." (James)


    James looked back at Lia and leaned his back against the wall.


    "You must be thinking that if it was ''Rio'' in ce of ''Zach'', then you would have been powerless to save him, right?" (James)


    James''s words seemed to hit the exact target, Lia immediately raised her head and stared at James as if she was surprised that he knew about her inner thoughts.


    "It''s not that surprising... I had simr thoughts when I used to go on dungeon raids along with your mother..." (James)


    "Whenever arade used to die, I used to stress over the fact, ''What if it was her?'', you have the exact same thoughts now..." (James)


    James closed his eyes as if he were remembering those past memories.


    "These doubts are extremelymon, they appear in the minds of all those who want to protect their loved ones..." (James)


    "And the tragic thing is, there is no way to get rid of these thoughts..." (James)


    James stared into Lia''s eyes and said in a calm tone.


    "As long as you care about their safety, these thoughts will never go away, and thus you will have to learn how to ''co-exist'' with these thoughts without burdening yourself too much..." (James)


    "You mean to say, that I will need to always be ready for ''death of my loved ones''?" (Lia)


    "No no, What I am trying to say is, you must never give up the ''struggle'' to protect and live, but you must also prepare yourself for the ''unexpected'' situations too..." (James)


    "That''s the way of an awakener... those who get swept by emotions won''tst long in this field... " (James)


    "Those who choose to raid dungeons must also be ready for the ''side-effects'' that this career brings..." (James)


    "I-i understand..." (Lia)


    ...


    Looking at the troubled look on Lia''s face, James simply shook his head and said.


    "No need to hurry, you have a long path ahead, you will understand these things eventually... it took me years to get over your mother''s death after all..." (James)


    Lia nodded her head at James''s words.


    James used the hologram device on his work table to show the pictures captured by the satellites.


    "Even with the satellites, there were no images captured due to the space-time barriers cast by that demon... this information has been provided by the alliance to all S-rank or above level individuals..." (James)


    A serious look appeared on James''s face and he said in a solemn tone.


    "The barriers cast by that demon were capable of hiding from the detection of an SS-ranker... I am quite certain that if this demon appeared in front of me... I will not be able to win against him at all..." (James)


    Lia was surprised that her father imed his own defeat so easily.


    James simply smiled at her surprised face and replied in a calm tone:


    "I may be an S-ranker now, but I have been through a fair share of unpleasant situations before bing an S-ranker... I have my own intuition by now..." (James)


    "And my I can feel it in my guts, this guy is big trouble... no he is a bigger trouble than we think..." (James)


    James has been an S-ranker for a long time now, he knew a lot about the S-rank.


    "Being able to ignore the detection of an SS-ranker, easily confining insanely strong spirit beast like Kai and restraining a dragon at the same time.... This demon is not too far away from the ''ascension''..." (James)


    "I assume that in just one more year, this demon will breakthrough and will be a new SS-rank demon..." (James)


    James clenched his teeth and a look of worry appeared on his face.


    "The birth of a new SS-rank demon, this is big trouble... once this demon ascends, I don''t think anyone aside from Ashtel Rex could contend with this demon in today''s human race..." (James)


    At James''s words, Lia asked in surprise.


    "What!?" (Lia)


    "Yes... if it was some other demon who had awakened the ''time maniption'' skills, then I would not have cared that much..." (James)


    "But this is a demon prince we are talking about, royal demon blood runs through his veins and a royal demon who can use ''time maniption'' so precisely is no small fry..." (James)


    Among the demon race, a legend tells of an extremely strong demon god''s existence, that being''s name was ''Chronos'', he had the power to use time maniption to travel to past, future or present.


    Changing time flow and creating variables in the world was as easy as breathing for that being.


    "Once in every thousand years, a demon with the same ability as that great ''being'' appears in the demon race¡­ and this demon prince Alverto is likely that one ''genius''¡­" (James)


    "If he reached SS-rank, then his time maniption abilities will be beyond other SS-rankers with simr ''time'' authority¡­ like Jin Walt¡­" (James)


    James''s spection was precise and urate, with his years of experience he was easily able to deduce the problems that the existence of this demon would cause.


    Certainly, James is not the only one who has arrived at this conclusion, all four of the SS-rankers knew that the existence of Alverto was a great trouble for the human race.


    "This demon will likely try to attack the SS-rankers of our race one by one¡­ and I doubt anyone else aside from Ashtel will be able to withstand his strength¡­" (James)


    "We need to get rid of this demon before he grows up¡­" (James)


    Lia also nodded her head, she also had some unsolved matter with that demon.


    "It is very likely that there will be talks about this demon in the ''Meeting of gods'' too¡­" (James)


    James suddenly walked towards a nearby cab, he used his mana and unlocked the cab with ease.


    After searching for a few seconds, he brought out a small book from the cab and ced that book right in front of Lia.


    "Take this book, it has some information about the royal demons, it mighte in handy in your future adventures¡­" (James)


    "There is information about various underhanded skills that those demons use to torment others¡­ read it on your way to the Elven empire¡­" (James)


    James thought about something and a look of contemtion appeared on his face.


    "Oh, talking about the Elven Empire, I advise you to not get involved with the son of the Elf king, I heard he is a ''scumbag'' type of person¡­" (James)


    Lia was a bit confused at James''s words.


    "With Kai to protect me, I don''t think I need to worry about my safety though¡­" (Lia)


    "Idiot, I am not worrying about your safety, I am worried that your little boyfriend will end up killing that elven prince for messing with you¡­ that will create a great amount of conflict¡­" (James)


    "Uh¡­ that¡­, i-I understand¡­" (Lia)


    Lia knew that James''s words were quite feasible.


    Except for Alverto, it would be difficult for even an S-ranker to stop Rio from killing someone if he really made up his mind.


    "I-I don''t think he is that violent of a guy though¡­" (Lia)


    "Hmm, yeah, Rio is quite a calm-minded kid in my opinion, but I am giving this advice just in case things end up going the wrong way¡­" (James)


    Lia simply shook her head, she knew Rio quite well, and he wouldn''t really go to such lengths in her opinion. (She didn''t count the fact that he can go to any lengths for her¡­)


    "Also, I have heard that the Elf princess is quite a beauty¡­ be careful, otherwise your little boyfriend will be stolen away by someone else, hehe¡­" (James)


    "No way!" (Lia)


    Lia got up from her chair and shouted in disbelief. Her eyes red at James angrily.


    "H-he won''t leave me like that!" (Lia)


    "Cough! I am just being hypothetical, no need to get so worked up over it¡­" (James)


    ''Heh, so this tactic worked in the end¡­'' (James)


    James has been waiting for this moment. He said all those things before because he was setting the stage for this one sentence.


    (This was his n to get Lia out of her depression from Zach''s death¡­ he used Lia''s feelings as a way to boost her spirits¡­)


    Oblivious to James''s schemes, Lia took the book given by James and rushed towards her personal maid''s room for ''love advice'', with a serious and determined look on her face.


    Seeing the disappearing figure of Lia, James smiled as he knew that his n to get her out of depression had seeded.


    "Don''t forget to get plenty of rest!" (James)


    "Okay!" (Lia)


    Lia went away in a hurry and James shook his head with a smile on his face.


    "Children these days¡­ sigh~" (James)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It turns out James is also a good tactician¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do think Rio will ''kill'' if someone messed with Lia?


    1. Yes (Bro is too cold-blooded in this matter¡­)


    2. No (He is calm, he will plot against the other party instead¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 214 People live eternally through memories...

    <h4>Chapter 214 People live eternally through memories...</h4>


    Capital City ''Astra'', Core Area.


    Rex Mansion, outside Ashtel''s office room.


    Link and Riya stood in front of Ashtel''s office room with solemn expressions on their faces.


    Link even looked a bit nervous at the moment.


    Just when he was about to knock on the door, the door opened by itself and the head butler walked out of the room.


    A gentle smile hung over his old face. His smile widened further when he noticed Link and Riya being so nervous.


    "Master Ashtel is not at the mansion right now, young master Link¡­ you might have to wait for tomorrow to meet him¡­" (Butler)


    "uh, where did he go Grandpa Olin?" (Link)


    Link''s real grandpa died during the starting years of the fifty-year orc war. Olin might not be his real grandfather, but Link considers him as such.


    The head butler Olin has seen Link grow up from the day he was born, and thus Link started to call him ''Grandpa Olin''.


    At Link''s question, Olin shook his head and said in a gentle tone.


    "I don''t know the specifics, but he said that he was going to solve some old matters¡­ I have no idea about it though¡­" (Olin)


    Link nodded his head and thought to himself.


    ''Could it be¡­ he doesn''t want to see my face because I was unable to protect myrade¡­ does he think of me as a failure now?'' (Link)


    Link clenched his fists and his shoulders dropped, he was clearly depressed by this.


    Link was feeling depressed but he didn''t say it out loud, but such things didn''t apply to Riya at all.


    "Grandpa¡­ is he angry at us?" (Riya)


    A nervous look appeared on Riya''s face too.


    Both Link and Riya knew that Ashtel was not a person who would get angry at just anything.


    But there were also things that Ashtel could not tolerate, and that included ''Failure''.


    Ashtel trained Link since the day he was five years old, and he was always strict in his teaching.


    He gave the knowledge of all his techniques to Link over the years. The training was strict but effective.


    But the only thing that Ashtel didn''t tolerate was ''Failure''.


    Today, Link came back from his mission while ''failing to protect hisrades'', and thus he was quite nervous about how Ashtel would react to it.


    Olin smiled gently and replied to Riya''s question in a gentle tone.


    "No, he didn''t seem angry when he left, you don''t need to worry youngdy, even if he was angry, only young master Link will be punished¡­" (Olin)


    Although Olin was trying to console Riya, it was totally ineffective.


    "No¡­ i-I was the reason why we failed¡­ I-I was not able to save the life of our friend¡­" (Riya)


    Riya''s eyes became a bit moist as she said that, the blow she received from Zach''s death was just too huge for her.


    Before this, she had never failed in healing any fatal injury and this was the first time that her healing was so ineffective.


    "If I was an A-ranker¡­. I could have saved him¡­" (Riya)


    Riya is a genius who has the potential to reach rank SS one day, if she advances to rank A, she certainly can deal with ''mild'' corruption effects. (Only an S-rank or above level healers can do this usually¡­)


    Seeing the depressed look on both Link and Riya, Olin finally understood just how severe the situation was.


    This is the first time he has seen Riya so sad, usually, she is always energetic and happy.


    "Uh, how about you twoe with me, I will brew some fine coffee for you two, that might help your rx your mind¡­" (Olin)


    Link and Riya nodded their head and epted his offer.


    They both followed him to a small waiting room near Ashtel''s office.


    While they both sat on the couch, Olin brewed coffee for them.


    Just then an olddy also arrived in the room, her back was a bit hunched and she seemed just as old as Olin.


    "Grandma Ste, good evening¡­" (Link and Riya said in unison)


    Ste is the wife of the head butler Olin, she was the one who raised Link with love and care in ce of his real mother. Link respects her even more than his father.


    "Hoh¡­ strange¡­ the voice of you two is not as energetic as always¡­ did something happen?" (Ste)


    Ste slowly walked over and sat on the opposite couch without hesitation.


    A solemn look appeared on her face as she felt the depressed atmosphere around the two young children.


    "Ah, it''s that they-" (Olin)


    "Olin, I want to hear it from them, you know¡­" (Ste)


    Ste red at Olin and he immediately went silent and continued to do his own work of brewing coffee. It seems this was just a normal urrence to him.


    Ignoring the previous exchange between the old couple, Link and Riya started to tell their story to Ste. (Sometimes, sharing your story with others, can reduce your pain and suffering by a lot¡­)


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, Ste nodded her head as she finally understood what was going on.


    "Although I am not really as talented as you kids, even I know that there is no reason to me you two for what happened¡­" (Ste)


    Ste and Olin are both B-rankers, but they are already near the end of their lifespan, they have served the Rex family for more than eight decades now.


    Thus they also had some knowledge about how strong S-


    rankers were.


    They had seen Ashtel when he was still an S-ranker and thus they both were aware that it was too much for kids like Link and Riya to handle such strong beings.


    "Instead I am more surprised by the fact that you were able to make it out unscathed from the grasp of such a strong demon¡­ this is already a great feat in itself¡­" (Ste)


    "As for the loss of arade¡­ I will just say one thing, there are things in this world that you can''t stop from happening, and sometimes life makes you so powerless that you end up at the bottom pits of despair¡­" (Ste)


    "Although that friend might not return now, you can keep his memories safe in your heart¡­" (Ste)


    "As long as someone''s memories are being carried on by others, that person remains alive in their hearts¡­" (Ste)


    At Ste''s gentle words, both Link and Riya''s eyes started to shine again and their depressed looks disappeared.


    Olin brought the coffee and ced it in front of them both, then he sat beside Ste. (He made coffee for all four of them¡­)


    Seeing the coffee, Riya brought out the box of candies and sweets that was gifted to her by Zach. (Mentioned in the reunion chs, read them again if you don''t remember it¡­)


    Riya nced at those sweets and said in aplicated tone.


    "Am I still allowed to have these candies¡­ even though I don''t deserve them¡­" (Riya)


    At Riya''s words, Ste smiled and said in a gentle tone:


    "Yes, your friend prepared them for you as a parting gift, I am sure he will be happy if he knew that you appreciated this gift¡­" (Ste)


    Riya stopped hesitating after hearing those words, she took some and gave a few to Link too.


    While eating those sweets, tears fell from her eyes as she med herself for her own powerlessness.


    Seeing this, Ste got up from her seat and walked over to Riya. She used her handkerchief to wipe her tears and patted her head to calm her down.


    Riya directly hugged Ste and started to sob silently. Eventually, she fell asleep in Ste''s arms.


    "Sigh...It seems the blow was a bit too heavy for her¡­ but at least she cried her heart out now¡­ I guess she will be fine after she wakes upter¡­." (Ste)


    Olin nced at the sleeping face of Link and shook his head.


    "They both seemed to have been under a lot of stress¡­ I guess they fell asleep after they got rid of the stress caused by constant self-me¡­" (Olin)


    Ste nodded her head as she patted the head of both of them. A gentle smile hung over her old face.


    Olin took the used cups and organized the tables neatly.


    "By the way, what about Master Ashtel, he might get angry at them for returning with failure¡­" (Olin)


    Ste simply smiled at Olin''s words and said in a calm voice.


    "Hmph, I will kick that bast*rd''s A*s if he daredy a hand on these little kids!¡­ who does he think he is!? I have raised him since the day he was a snotty brat!" (Ste)


    "Cough!! Ahem¡­" (Olin)


    Olin knew that no one in the whole human empire dared to say this about Ashtel aside from Ste.


    (Fun fact, Ashtel is very respectful towards Ste as she is like a motherly figure to him¡­ he calls her Aunt and calls Olin Uncle¡­)


    And the fact is, that Ste might really kick Ashtel if he dared to be rude to these children in her presence.


    ...


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Sometimes memories are the best medium to keep your loved ones alive in your heart, even if their silhouette is long gone, they will live in your heart as long as you keep their memories safe¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which memories will you like to remember forever?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 215 Remnants of a bygone past. Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 215 Remnants of a bygone past. Part-1.</h4>


    Human Empire, Eastern Area, Outskirts.


    At the east of the human empire, arge desert is located. It''s a massive barren area, where only a few goblin and ogre tribes live.


    Most of the ce is empty and no nts grow there.


    In various historical records of the human race, it is said that this ce used to be a beautiful rainforest before the thousand-year demon extinction war.


    Later, the demon army''s endless march thoroughly destroyed the ecosystem and the contamination caused by ''corruption'' and ''miasma'' left the area unsuitable for living beings.


    And since then, the whole ce has be a desert.


    ...


    A small flying bike arrived at a dpidated small building.


    This ce is just a few kilometers away from the eastern border of the human empire.


    If you want, you can easily cross the border from here and go to the desert in the eastern area without any problems.


    A man wearing casual clothes got down from the bike and walked over to the small building with steady footsteps.


    The man seemed to be in histe forties and half of his hair seemed to have already turned white due to age.


    A calm expression hung over his face.


    *Knock*


    He knocked on the door, but no one replied.


    "The desert looks happy today!" (???)


    *click*


    When he said the secret code, the gate opened automatically. Without hesitating too much, he stepped inside.


    "Wee to the Novo Tavern!" (Mechanical doll)


    A mechanical doll sat behind the counter and greeted him when he stepped inside.


    But it seemed that the man was already used to seeing this and he was totally unfazed.


    He swiped his card and said:


    "Open the main course for me..." (???)


    The mechanical doll nodded its head and it activated some mechanisms using its own mana.


    The floor behind the counter opened up and a staircase appeared.


    Without hesitation, the man walked downstairs. When his figure disappeared, the hidden mechanisms got triggered again and the staircase disappeared once again.


    ...


    Novo, The Underground Tavern.


    After walking downstairs for at least five minutes straight, the man arrived at the real tavern.


    When the man arrived in therge hall, he noticed that there were hundreds of small tablesid down all across the hall.


    At least a hundred people were sitting beside these tables and drinking alcohol to their heart''s content.


    There were hundreds of people but no one cared about the sudden appearance of another person.


    They were all busy in their own fantasies.


    Some were sitting alone and had a look of sadness and depression, while others were sitting with friends and were having happy conversations.


    The man ignored all this chaos and directly walked over to the bartender.


    He sat down on the chair in front of the bar and stared at the old bartender who was sleeping with a smile on his face.


    "One of my usual... Irvin" (???)


    When the old bartender heard his voice, he slowly opened his eyes and got up.


    He looked at the man for a few seconds and then his eyes opened widely in sheer surprise.


    "Tamonte! Is that you!?" (Irvin Terrell)


    Hearing the surprised voice of Irvin, Tamonte nodded his head and smiled slightly at him.


    "It''s been a while..." (Tamonte)


    "Been a while you say!? Idiot! It''s been seventeen years since Ist saw you!?" (Irvin)


    Tamonte scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment as he had no words to express his reasons to this old man.


    "Uh, well, I found a woman and ended up marrying her, now I have three children... I have been busy taking care of them, so I had no time toe to this tavern..." (Tamonte)


    The old man was even more surprised at his words.


    "oho! The guy who was so infamous withdies ended up marrying!?" (Irvin)


    "Cough! That was two decades ago! I am not that awkward anymore..." (Tamonte)


    Irvin nodded his head and stroked his long white beard as he looked at Tamonte with a happy look on his old face.


    "It''s such a surprise to see you appearing today, I thought you would nevere back to meet me..." (Irvin)


    "Have you met anyone else from our old group over the years?" (Irvin)


    Tamonte shook his head and said in a calm tone.


    "No, it''s been seventeen years and I have yet to meet anyone from our old group... they all seem to have changed identities by now..." (Tamonte)


    Irvin also nodded his head.


    "Yeah, about thirty of them stayed with me for a few years but now all of them have left, I had already stopped thinking that any of the members will return to visit me..." (Irvin)


    "But here you are! I am happy that at least you came to visit me, I think I have only one more decade left now¡­ it won''t be long before I die from my old age¡­" (Irvin)


    Tamonte looked a bit confused by Irvin''s words and thus he asked in a doubtful tone.


    "What are you saying¡­ you look fine to me though¡­" (Tamonte)


    Irvin smiled at those words and shook his head.


    "I already had hidden injuries before the organization disbanded, and after these seventeen years, all my past injuries have resurfaced, moreover I have been in constant battles all my life¡­" (Irvin)


    "My body was still fine when I was working, but after sitting still for nearly two decades¡­ all problems came flooding down on me¡­" (Irvin)


    At Irvin''s words, Tamonte frowned deeply and said in a confused tone:


    "But with your connections¡­ it would be easy to find an S- rank healer to heal you to full health, no? Why are you not looking for a healer then?" (Tamonte)


    Irvinughed a little bit after hearing Tamonte''s words and replied in a tired tone:


    "I can indeed ask an S-ranker to heal me¡­ that way I may be able to live for another two or three decades¡­ but¡­ I am tired Tamonte¡­" (Irvin)


    "I have seen a lot and I am simply too exhausted from this world now¡­ I don''t really have a reason left to stay so long in this world¡­ I am tired and I want to reunite with my dear wife in the afterlife¡­" (Irvin)


    The two went silent for a while after Irvin said those words.


    "Sigh¡­ it seems there is no going back¡­ well I have also retired from that kind of work¡­ now I have a small caf¨¦ of my own and I raise my family with it in peace¡­" (Tamonte)


    Irvin also nodded his head at Tamonte''s words and said:


    "Indeed, being able to spend time peacefully for those in our field of work is very rare¡­ most of therades that were staying here with me went over to other organizations for more work¡­" (Irvin)


    "Only a few have retired¡­ but I don''t know about the whereabouts of any of them¡­ they all have cut contacts with each other¡­" (Irvin)


    "I also don''t have any contacts left with other members, I only know that you are staying in this ce¡­" (Tamonte)


    Irvin proudly nodded his head.


    "Of course, I am staying here, this used to be the headquarters of our organization! I will guard this ce till myst breath!" (Irvin)


    "Haha, you haven''t changed one bit, Irvin¡­" (Tamonte)


    "But you have indeed changed a lot, Tamonte¡­ perhaps bing a father has influenced you¡­" (Irvin)


    "Yeah¡­ perhaps¡­" (Tamonte)


    The two continued to chat for a while and after a long talk thatsted for two long hours, the two of them finally went silent.


    ...


    Irvin''s eyes suddenly narrowed and he stared at Tamonte with a look of doubt.


    "Okay, we have already talked enough about the past times, now tell me the real reason why you are here¡­ there''s no way a shrewd guy like you will appear here for no reason¡­" (Irvin)


    The atmosphere around them both suddenly went from happy to serious and grim.


    A wide grin appeared on Tamonte''s face as he heard Irvin''s words.


    "Of course, there is indeed a very important news that I have brought along with myself¡­ hehe¡­" (Tamonte)


    Tamonte used his mana and brought out a document from his space ring. He handed over that file to Irvin as he waited with a wide grin on his face.


    Irvin frowned a bit at this, but he still grabbed the file and opened it to look at all the contents.


    The photo of a young boy with ck hair and ck pupils was on the very first page of that document file.


    His face looked ordinary and expressionless, he wore the uniform of the great Freya academy as he stood near a small tree.


    Under that photo were a few words written.


    [Background check results]


    [Target Name: Rio sh]


    [Age: 17 Years Old.]


    Seeing that name and photo, Irvin''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    "Th-this!? What the!?" (Irvin)


    Irvin stared at Tamonte''s face as if he wanted him to answer his questions.


    Tamonte did not betray the expectations and nodded his head at Irvin''s questioning gaze.


    "I didn''t expect this either, after all, he was such a secretive guy, but it turns out there is some legacy he still left in this world..." (Tamonte)


    Tamonte stared into Irvin''s old eyes and said in a solemn tone.


    "Yes, I have found ''his'' son¡­" (Tamonte)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems there are still people looking for a bygone past, who knows what trouble this will bring in the future¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which ss will you choose if given the choice?


    1. Warrior


    2. Archer


    3. Swordsman


    4. Assassin


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 216 Remnants of a bygone past. Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 216 Remnants of a bygone past. Part-2.</h4>


    Seventeen years ago from now, a famous assassination organization existed in the human empire.


    It was so famous that even other races knew about its existence.


    There were rumors spreading around that the assassins of that organization were all specially trained killers and they had a 100 percent sess rate in every mission.


    The identity of the boss of the organization was unknown, but people knew him from his title of ''The Soul Splitter''.


    Some even said that the organization was being funded by the SS-rankers themselves and the government was using this organization to do their dirty work.


    Regardless of the rumors that were spreading in the world, the organization remained true to its principles.


    They took missions like sneaking into the territory of another race and assassinating key figures or stealing important documents from other races, etc.


    Those races that didn''t have an SS-ranker, ended up having a huge amount of their critical information leaked to the human race because of the sneaky activities of this organization.


    For the human race, the organization was a blessing but for those who were targeted by it, it was a nauseating curse.


    The time when the organization appeared for the first time was 10 years after the end of the Orc War.


    The organization remained functional for at least 13 years and gained a lot of fame and merits over the years.


    At its peak, there were at least 45 A-rankers in that organization.


    (The guild that (Lia''s father) James runs today, doesn''t have more than 35 A-rankers working in it... even though it''s the second strongest guild of the human empire...)


    The organization took many shady missions over the years and it helped in finding many criminals who had fled outside the human empire''s borders or were staying hidden in some underground ces.


    Themissions that the organizations received every year were extremely high in numbers.


    That organization was so sessful that it directly caused the business of other information and assassin agencies to flop.


    But as the saying goes, ''Nothing is eternal''.


    The organization disappeared from the face of the world just as suddenly as it had appeared.


    All the members of the organization disbanded all of a sudden and they went to various other organizations overnight.


    That famous organization that was feared all over the world, disbanded all of a sudden. Years went by and the name of the organization was buried in the annals of history.


    Nowadays, only a few people remember its name.


    The name of that organization was ''Scourge of the Darkest Nights''.


    ...


    Irvin stared at the documents in his hands and the more he looked the more shocked his face appeared.


    "R-ranked 2nd... in the great freya academy... has shown amazing mastery over legendary skill ''sword intent''!?" (Irvin)


    That line was so shocking that Irvin couldn''t help but stare at Tamonte''s smiling face with doubts.


    Tamonte nodded his head and smiled as he said.


    "You know, you really should install a TV or something in this ce, you have cut yourself off with technology.... If you had a TV you could have seen it by yourself..." (Tamonte)


    "you mean!?" (Irvin)


    "Yes, I saw him appear on the TV, only then did I get to know about his name you know... I thought it was odd that he had the same name as ''boss'', so I ran background check..." (Tamonte)


    (He is talking about the time when Rio''s video of fighting against Link and the others was leaked to the national media during the end of the group survival test...)


    Tamonte pointed to the documents and said:


    "And these are the results I got from the background check..." (Tamonte)


    [Mother Name: Alicia]


    [Father''s Name: Kevin sh]


    [Born on 12 August in a small public hospital under the care of an A-rank healer... survived the ''Drift'' city massacre and lived in an orphanage for five years till he got selected into the great Freya academy...]


    "This sounds so ridiculous... he had a son and!...sigh, is this the real reason why he disbanded the organization... d*mn it!" (Irvin)


    A look of anger appeared on Irvin''s old face as he read all the details in that document.


    (The mission to kill Azazel was a national secret, thus Kevin didn''t tell about it to any of his subordinates...)


    "The only reason he told us for the disbanding of the organization was that he wanted to retire from the life of endless killing and ughtering..." (Irvin)


    "Yes, this might be the real reason why he retired... he must have wanted to spend time with his family... not like I me him, I would have done the same..." (Tamonte)


    Irvin stared at Rio''s photo for a while and after a few minutes, his anger calmed down a lot.


    "Sigh... so in the end... he didn''t trust us enough to tell us about his family... tch! And I thought we wererades who fought together while trusting each other with our backs..." (Irvin)


    Tamonte waved his hand at Irvin''s statements.


    "Haha, no way, that guy was always overly cautious... and I think his concern might not be wrong, after all, each of the members of our group was strong..." (Tamonte)


    "It would have been as easy as killing a chicken for any of the members of the group, to simply deal with his family... his wife was just an ordinary human and even the kid was too young to put up a fight..." (Tamonte)


    "heh, you think he would have left any of us alive if something like that had happened?" (Irvin)


    Tamonte scratched the back of his neck at those words.


    "Haha, yes¡­ it was impossible to hide from him¡­" (Tamonte)


    ¡­


    "All things aside, what are your ns now? You brought me all this information¡­ what are you nning to do with it now?" (Irvin)


    Irvin''s eyes narrowed as he red at Tamonte''s face with doubts.


    "Don''t tell me you want to restart the organization under the banner of his son¡­ if this background check is correct, then that kid already has ''Sword Intent''¡­" (Irvin)


    "And if he has taken after Kevin''s personality¡­ that kid will definitely kill you in an instant¡­ I don''t dare to doubt the abilities of someone who can rank 2nd in the great Freya academy¡­" (Irvin)


    "Moreover, being able to go toe to toe with a ridiculous monster like Link Rex¡­ he is way out of your league to deal with¡­" (Irvin)


    Hearing Irvin''s words, Tamonte shook his head and said in a calm tone.


    "No way, you really think I will dare to go and confront him¡­ moreover, I am married now, my children are waiting for me at home¡­ can''t waste my life over such an idiotic reason¡­" (Tamonte)


    Tamonte sipped the alcohol from the bottle directly and then said with a refreshed look on his face.


    "The reason I decided to bring this information to you is because your grandkids are going to that academy, no?" (Tamonte)


    "Tch! So you knew about Ars and Leo¡­ I thought I hid them well enough¡­" (Irvin)


    "haha, Don''t forget I was also a member of the same organization as you¡­ I have been taught this information-


    gathering skill directly by the boss¡­" (Tamonte)


    "Actually, I am more surprised that you didn''t find out about Rio from your grandchildren¡­" (Tamonte)


    Irvin shook his head and said in a depressed tone:


    "Those two don''t know about the organization we worked for, they don''t even know about Kevin''s name, so obviously they wouldn''t have noticed anything odd in the academy¡­" (Irvin)


    "If they knew, they would have already sent the information to me¡­ sigh¡­ it seems that the saying ''It''s always the darkest under the light'', is indeed true¡­" (Irvin)


    Tamonte and Irvin both went silent for a while.


    After a few minutes, Tamonte got up from his seat and waved his hand at Irvin.


    "Okay, my wife is calling me, I gotta go back now¡­ don''t wanna make her angry at me¡­" (Tamonte)


    "I will leave all these documents with you, do what you want, I don''t n on getting involved at all, I want to live the rest of my life as an ordinary person¡­ I have already retired from that life of endless ughter¡­" (Tamonte)


    After saying that, Tamonte started to leave.


    Just when he reached the stairs, he looked back and waved at Irvin with a wide grin on his face.


    "If the opportunity arrives, do visit me someday, I will ask my wife to make delicious food for you, old man!" (Tamonte)


    After shouting that at the top of his lungs, Tamonte left the secret tavern.


    Irvin stared at his fading back and smiled slightly.


    "Arrogant punk¡­ I am not that old yet you know¡­" (Irvin)


    Irvin shook his head and stuffed all the documents given by Tamonte into his own space ring.


    "Rio sh¡­ Shall I go and meet him someday¡­ I might get to know more about what Kevin has been doing all these years from him¡­" (Irvin)


    Irvin doesn''t know yet that Kevin has already been dead for seven years, he still thinks that he must have been living somewhere in hiding.


    "Perhaps I should ask those two brats to invite him to our home someday¡­" (Irvin)


    The organization that they worked for was already gone and there was no point in clinging to it anymore, most of the members had already retired, and there was no meaning in trying to ask them to gather once again.


    Seventeen years is a very long time for A-rankers like them after all, they don''t have the insane lifespan of SS-rankers.


    "Still¡­ I feel like that having a conversation with the son of your ''boss'' is kind of awkward¡­" (Irvin)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Turns out there are still people living in the hidden corners who know about Rio and his feats, let''s see where this turn of events brings Rio¡­


    Question of the day.


    What do you think Rio will feel after meeting therade of his father?


    1. Nothing (Bro will feel nothing¡­ instead he might make Irvin feel fearful¡­)


    2. Amused (He might be a bit amused¡­ a little bit¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 217 To The Elven Empire! Part-1.

    Chapter 217 To The Elven Empire! Part-1.


    ??Great Freya Academy.


    Morning, Next Day.


    Rio slowly walked out of his dorm room wearing casual clothes. He went down the stairs and got out of the dorm building.


    While standing under the blue and clear sky, Rio felt refreshed. Warm sunlight fell on him and made him feel cozy.


    ''Weather is nice today¡­'' (Rio)


    *Yaaannn~*


    A familiar voice entered his ears when Rio was enjoying the refreshing air breeze.


    He tilted his head towards the nearby bench and found a girl with golden hair leaning against the bench.


    She looked sleepy yet extremely beautiful, even the atmosphere around her seemed to brighten up just from her presence. (These special effects appear in Rio''s vision only, she doesn''t radiate light¡­ she is a normal person¡­)


    With his usual expressionless face, Rio walked over to the bench and sat beside her without hesitation.


    "Didn''t get enough sleepst night due to excitement?" (Rio)


    Lia was a little surprised by Rio''s sudden appearance, but she didn''t think too much of it, she was already used to him appearing out of nowhere all the time.


    (He can control his presence extremely well¡­ even now, Lia didn''t notice him standing in front of her, until he started talking to her¡­)


    At Rio''s question, Lia awkwardly nodded her head at Rio.


    "Y-yeah, something like that¡­" (Lia)


    ''I can''t say that I was asking Mel for advice all night long!!'' (Lia) (Mel is the name of her personal maid if you have forgotten about her¡­)


    "hmm, I have a way to get you energetic in just a moment¡­" (Rio)


    "mmhh?" (Lia)


    While Lia was rubbing her sleepy eyes, Rio used his age-old ''hand cooling'' method of using sword intent.


    He immediately put his cold as-ice hand on Lia''s cheek.


    "Eeeek!!" (Lia)


    Lia''s eyes immediately opened wide and she jumped up in surprise like a frightened bunny.


    The sudden cold touch made her wide awake and all of her sleepiness faded away into nothingness.


    Only after a few seconds did she notice the mischievous grin on Rio''s face and seeing that grin, she immediately pouted her cheeks at Rio.


    "Hmph! Idiot! I am not talking to you anymore-" (Lia)


    Before Lia could get angry at him, Rio brought out a ''chocte bar'' from his space ring and waved it in front of her.


    "Eh, I was thinking of giving it to you¡­ but well if you are angry then I can just give it to Riyater¡­" (Rio)


    Lia immediately snatched the chocte bar from his hand like a hungry wolf and her eyes shined brightly.


    "W-well I-I will forgive you for now, cough¡­" (Lia)


    Rio just grinned happily at her sudden change of heart after getting the chocte. (Bro knows thousands of tactics to tease her¡­)


    ¡­


    Academy''s main gate


    A luxurious car stopped at the main gate of the academy and a young boy with dark red hair got down from the car.


    "So! Finally the day hase!" (Link)


    Link smiled at Riya and stretched out his hand to help her exit the car. (He is trying to be a gentleman... it''s kind of unbelievable that this same guy used to be a sadist viin who liked torturing people...)


    Just when Link and Riya were about to enter the academy through the main gate, Link''s personal butler Boris walked up to him.


    "Good luck young master, I will be waiting for your triumphant return from the new mission¡­" (Boris)


    Link grinned at him and said in an excited tone.


    "Yes! I will be the winner! Hehe!" (Link)


    "By the way, you guys can go on a vacation for now, it might take a bit longer for this mission to end¡­" (Link)


    (The butler doesn''t know about the meeting of gods, he just thinks that Link has to go on some academy-rted event, like the group survival test¡­)


    Link directly gave a vacation to his butler and all of his bodyguards.


    At Link''s words, Boris shook his head and said in a calm voice.


    "No, we will be waiting and cheering for you, young master¡­ we can''t ck off while you are working hard¡­" (Boris)


    "Haha, what are you guys saying, you have no reason to stay on guard when I am not even here!" (Link)


    "But-" (Boris)


    "It''s my order~ you will have toply with my orders~" (Link)


    Link waved his hand and rushed away to put a stop to that conversation. He held Riya''s hand and ran away.


    "Sigh, if you give me an order... obviously I will be forced toply¡­" (Boris)


    Boris shook his head and stopped thinking too much about it.


    He nced at Link and Riya''s fading figure one more time and then went back to the Rex mansion with the whole convoy.


    ¡­


    Near Academy''s teleportation altar.


    Rio and Lia were the first ones to arrive at the teleportation altar, they both had the habit of getting up early and thus they both never gotte on any asion.


    Rio brought out his handkerchief and wiped Lia''s face, smeared with chocte.


    "You don''t need to get so excited over the chocte, no?" (Rio)


    Rio was quite surprised at how fast Lia was stuffing that chocte in her mouth.


    "No! If Riya saw it, she will definitely pester me! I must finish it before she gets here!" (Lia)


    ''Sometimes she behaves a lot like a child¡­'' (Rio)


    "You don''t really need to be so cautious, if Riya asked I will just give her another one¡­" (Rio)


    "No! I will eat all of the ones that you have! Gimme all of them!" (Lia)


    "huh¡­ " (Rio)


    Rio brought out a whole box filled with those choctes and gave it to Lia, and she directly hid those choctes in her own space ring.


    Only after taking the choctes did she calm down and stop rushing.


    "You know, I could have given them to you one by one, there was no need to hurry like that¡­ Or do you like them so much?" (Rio)


    Lia just smiled awkwardly at his question.


    "Y-you could say that¡­ i-I like this brand a lot¡­" (Lia)


    ''How do I tell him that... I don''t want him to give choctes to other girls besides me!!'' (Lia)


    While Lia was conflicted about how to grab Rio all for herself, Link and Riya also arrived near the altar.


    They were the second group to arrive.


    "Yo! How did your training go Rio? You were holed up in the training room for half a month! You must have progressed a lot right!?" (Link)


    Rio ignored Link patting his shoulder and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Hmm, you could say that now I am strong enough to blow you away with just a flick of my finger¡­" (Rio)


    "You!" (Link)


    Hearing Rio brag about himself like that, veins popped up on Link''s forehead as he stomped the ground in anger.


    "Forget it, I am not in the mood to fight with you right now¡­" (Link)


    A smirk appeared on Link''s face.


    "By the way, my control over ''Dao Rhythm'' has be much more stable now¡­ I think it won''t be long before I can control it properly¡­" (Link)


    Even Rio nodded his head at Link''s words.


    "Well, legendary techniques are indeed very difficult to control, I find it quite difficult too¡­" (Rio)


    ''Says the guy who uses sword intent as hand-cooler¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia''s eyes twitched at how nonchnt Rio was about his own insane expertise in ''Sword intent''.


    ''But the most strange thing is¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia nced at Riya who was standing silently, she seemed to be lost in thought.


    ''She isn''t stuffing her mouth with candies today? that''s very strange¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia patted Riya''s shoulder and asked with a gentle smile.


    "Are you okay Riya, you aren''t going to eat candies anymore?" (Lia)


    Riya smiled at Lia''s words and replied in a much calmer tone than her usual self.


    "I-I have decided to put a hold on eating candies until I be better at healing¡­" (Riya)


    Lia was quite surprised at Riya''s sudden determination, but then she remembered the previous sad incident and stopped asking any more questions.


    ''It seems the incident affected her a lot more than us all¡­ she might be under more stress and self-mepared to us...'' (Lia)


    Lia nodded her head and said:


    "Okay, you need to work hard and achieve your goals, but don''t put too much stress on yourself, none of us me you for anything¡­" (Lia)


    At Lia''s kind words, Riya nodded her head.


    ...


    Time slowly passed and after a few minutes of wait, Liam and Ellie also arrived at the scene.


    Liamnded on the ground and the shadow wings on his back disappeared into nothingness.


    "Phew~ we made it on time¡­ it took a long time to cook food for Ellie today¡­" (Liam)


    "It was tasty though!" (Ellie)


    "Well of course it was, I put all my efforts into it you know..." (Liam)


    Liam nodded his head at Link and Rio as a sign of greeting.


    Kira and Fade were thest ones to arrive at the scene they both were holding hands with happy expressions over their faces.


    And atst, at exactly 9:00 A.M.


    The members of the maintenance staff gave them an ''okay'' sign and everyone walked up to the teleportation altar.


    The teleportation altar shined brightly and with excited looks on their faces all of them were teleported away instantly.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And here is another sweet chapter with plenty of diabetes filled in it. Enjoy it while feeling empty inside, together with me¡­


    Question of the day.


    How good do you think Rio''s teasing skills are?


    1. Quite Good (He''s good at it¡­)


    2. Very good. (Bro has many points in the ''Rizz'' stat¡­)


    3. Extremely good. (Sometimes I think Rio is a maniption expert, his teasing skills are sometimes kind of scary¡­. He knows exactly what the other party is thinking sometimes¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 218 To the Elven Empire! Part-2.

    Chapter 218 To the Elven Empire! Part-2.


    ?218 To the Elven Empire! Part-2.


    Near the capital city ''Astra''.


    An underground military facility, arge hall.


    The teleportation altar of the underground facility lit up and all of the students got teleported to this ce.


    When Rio opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that Jin was standing near the teleportation altar, he was likely waiting for them to arrive.


    Rio nced around and noticed that the ce looked extremely high-tech and everything looked so futuristic in this ce that even the equipment at the academy seemed to pale inparison.


    "Oh, you are all here,e I will escort you all myself¡­" (Jin)


    Everyone nodded at Jin''s words and followed after him.


    Liam was just as curious as everyone and he became the first one to raise questions.


    "Where even is this ce?¡­ this ce looks more advanced than even the alliance headquarters¡­" (Liam)


    In reply to his question, Jin nodded his head at Liam and started to exin as he walked along with the students.


    "Hmm, I also found out about this ce only after bing an SS-ranker, you guys are lucky to see it so early¡­" (Jin)


    "This ce is, in simple terms a ''factory''¡­ or you could say a factory that makes weapons of war for our army¡­" (Jin)


    Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    Jin''s eyes narrowed as he nced in one particr direction and then shook his head.


    "There are many ridiculous weapons stored in this ce, some are even capable of injuring an SS-ranker too¡­ most of the high-level military weapons are made in this ce¡­" (Jin)


    It turns out every magic sword or bullet, every teleportation altar, and every single space ring, all these things are made in these types of insanelyrge underground ''factories''.


    "There are currently at least a hundred simr facilities that are hidden all over the human empire, the location of these ces is confidential so I can''t tell that to you¡­" (Jin)


    Jin smiled at the students and said in an encouraging voice.


    "Be an SS-ranker, then you will also be eligible to know every single secret that our empire holds¡­" (Jin)


    When Jin and others reached the end of the hall, the door opened automatically and a mechanical robotic voice sounded from the door.


    [Identy verified, granted permission to enter.]


    [Students of the Great Freya Academy, Wee to the Tundracoustics Ltd.]


    "Ah, that''s the voice of the most advanced ai of today''s world¡­ hey! Introduce yourself to the children, sce!" (Jin)


    [Order from ''Absolute'' level permissions holder ''Jin Walt'', confirmed] (Sce)


    [Greetings, Children of Astra, I am the 87th generation Artificial Mind, Sce!] (Sce)


    [I work for the good of the human race, I watch cat videos in the meantime¡­] (Sce)


    [Pleased to make your acquaintance¡­] (Sce)


    "Greetings¡­" (All of the students greeted sce in a united tone.)


    [Aura of the ''Divine General Kawaki'' detected!] (Sce)


    [Wee to our humble abode Divine general, I am pleased to meet you again¡­] (Sce)


    [Registering the Aura of Shadow Dragon ''Elisia'' in the database, greetings heir of the shadow lord¡­] (Sce)


    Hearing Sce''s voice, Lia asked Kai in surprise.


    "You have met him before Kai?" (Lia)


    At Lia''s question, Kai appeared on Lia''s shoulder in his cat form and said in a calm tone.


    "Hmm, I did go to a simr facility with Tomar back then, the AI model at that time was on its 63rd generation I think¡­" (Kai)


    [Indeed, my predecessor recorded your Aura Divine general, I am the descendant of that ai model¡­] (Sce)


    Everyone had seen intelligence AIs in this world, but none of the AIs were as advanced as Sce was.


    This Ai was created by King Allen during the early days of the thousand-year demon extinction war, after being developed for two thousand years, this Ai can already be considered a proper living being at this point.


    He has his own thoughts and emotions now, he behaves just like a normal human would and he likes watching cat videos in his free time.


    He''s being permitted to use mobile robots to wander around in the factories as a ''sry''.


    Currently, the four SS-rankers hold the highest level permissions over this Ai model, and they canmand it to do anything that it is capable of doing.


    Creating excellent war strategies and assisting in the development of new technologies, this AI can help in all of these things.


    All of the war factories use Sce as their main AI to keep track of everything.


    Sce has seen the struggles of the human race for two thousand years and he thinks that assisting humanity to reach a higher level is a noble cause.


    Except for Rio none of the other students were too surprised by this ai.


    Rio was surprised because he had never seen such an advanced AI in his previous life. This AI is so advanced that it won''t be wrong to call it a ''sentient being'' at this point.


    It''s more intelligent than an average S-ranker and it''s extremely useful for the human race as a whole.


    Although Rio was surprised his face remained as Emotionless as always.


    Jin nced at the students and then said in a calm tone.


    "Although Sce is a good-natured guy, he was created to assist in war, after all, he has his own thought process for difficult conditions¡­ for example.." (Jin)


    "Sce, if you have the choice to save a thousand people by sacrificing ten people, will you kill those ten people?" (Jin)


    [The first protocol is to listen to the order of the ''Absolute'' level authority holders¡­] (Sce)


    [In the absence of an ''Absolute''mand, I will choose to sacrifice ten people to save the life of a thousand...]


    (Sce)


    [My creator King Allen von Reinhart once said: ''If I need to be a viin to save people''s lives, then I am happy to do so¡­''] (Sce)


    "He seems more human to me than many others¡­" (Rio)


    Everyone else also nodded their head at Rio''s statement.


    Sce''s personality has been mostly influenced by its creator, King Allen and he was designed as a war weapon thus his thinking will remain realistic at all times.


    ¡­


    After chatting with Sce for a while, the students continued to follow Jin through the long corridors.


    Along the way, they saw many technological weapons that were put on disy for visitors and there were also preserved bodies of strong monsters that were floating in some kind of liquid.


    "Not only is this ce a factory, but there is also a fully functional research team here, at least three thousand researchers are working in this facility¡­" (Jin)


    "They use Sce to help out in many tasks, thus the research progresses fast and new technologies appear extremely fast¡­" (Jin)


    "Currently, the major goal for our researchers is to create a more enhanced version of the high-rank healing potion¡­ it''s a difficult task¡­" (Jin)


    "Also there are some morally questionable things stored here in the researchbs too¡­ but it a good thing that they aren''t using humans asb rats¡­" (Jin)


    Everyone simply avoided talking about this topic and the students didn''t ask any questions about it either.


    They all knew that thousands of monsters get captured in the dungeon raids and usually these monsters either end up getting used for their body parts or they end up in the hands of the mad researchers.


    Being killed off is a better oue than being used by these mad researchers for their questionable experiments.


    [During the thousand-year war, we used death row criminals asb rats, but now that practice has been stopped...] (Sce)


    "You didn''t need to tell that to the children, you know¡­" (Jin)


    [It''s better to know the truth early on, the world we live in is cruel to weak people¡­] (Sce)


    "Well, yeah, no one can win an argument against you Sce¡­" (Jin)


    [Haha, you praise me too much¡­] (Sce)


    "This ai canugh too?" (Liam)


    "Sce sounds like an intelligent old professor to me¡­" (Link)


    ''Tch! Even an AI has more emotions than me¡­.'' (Rio)


    "Haha, yes, I was also as amazed as you when I first heard himugh¡­" (Jin)


    "Hey, do cry too, Sce?" (Riya)


    [Thest time I cried was three years ago, it was because Ms. Raji was being mean to me¡­ She said I sounded like creep¡­] (Sce)


    Sce''s voice carried sadness that could be perceived easily.


    Riya was the most surprised when she heard that her older sister made an Ai cry.


    "uh, well, big sis has always been a little too cold, so I can understand¡­" (Riya)


    At Sce''s sad voice, Riya could only console it with an awkward smile.


    ¡­


    After a few more minutes of chit-chat, the group reached the end of the long corridor and the door opened by itself again.


    Arge hall appeared in everyone''s eyes.


    This hall was much bigger than the previous one and the most notable thing in this hall was the gigantic spaceship that was standing on its refueling pad.


    The spaceship painted in ck and gold, looked extremely majestic.


    "This is one of the seven ''Super'' ss spaceships that our military possess, with its fully charged energy shield, its capable of resisting ten full powered blows from a peak SS-


    ranker¡­"(Jin)


    "This thing is no joke, it uses mana fusion reactors as its fuel and it''s capable of short distance teleportation¡­ at its max speed it can travel two times faster than the speed of light¡­" (Jin)


    "This insane feat became possible after the discovery of ''space-time fabric maniption technology''¡­ we used space-


    time magic of the SS-rankers to research this thing¡­" (Jin)


    Hearing about the amazing futuristic capabilities of this spaceship, Rio was really shocked this time, he had only heard of the existence of such things inics and movies in his previous life.


    But now, the real thing was right in front of him.


    "This is the pride of humanity, the name of this spaceship is¡­" (Jin)


    [''Super'' ss spaceship, Adam¡­] (Sce)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that awakeners are not the only fighting force of this world, advanced weapons exist out there that can be used to annihte the foes easily.


    Question of the day.


    If the races of this world are all so advanced, why are they still staying on earth?


    1. It''s strange


    2. The author is cooking something..( Let him cook!)


    3. Others (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 219 To The Elven Empire! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 219 To The Elven Empire! Part-3.</h4>


    Rio and others boarded the gigantic spaceship via short-distance teleportation they all had excited looks on their faces while looking at all of the futuristic things inside the spaceship.


    (By the way, Jin had to fly and manually enter the spaceship as teleportation circles don''t work on SS-rankers...)


    "This is the first time I will be traveling on a spaceship... this is quite a rare experience even for me..." (Link)


    Even for the super-rich guy Link, it was his first time boarding a spaceship.


    All spaceships of the human race are war weapons after all, they aren''t used for civilians and thus even if Link was Ashtel''s son, it was still difficult for him to get ess to a spaceship.


    (If he really wanted to ride one, Ashtel would have made it possible anyway...)


    Seemingly unfazed by the sights around him, Liam asked Jin in a confused tone:


    "Uh, I have been meaning to ask for a while now... why are we even using such a powerful war weapon just to travel... it feels kind of strange..." (Liam)


    "Aren''t we on good terms with the Elves?" (Liam)


    Hearing Liam''s question all of the students quietened down as they also wanted to know the answer to that question.


    Jin smiled slightly and said in a calm tone:


    "Well, its something to do with the face value or you could say the reputation of our race..." (Jin)


    There are hundreds of races that are members of the alliance and there are about thirty of them that have SS-rankers.


    This means at least thirty races will be sending their SS-rankers to the meeting held in the elven empire''s capital city.


    "As one of the five strongest races of today''s world, we must show enough fighting capabilities to establish our dominance..." (Jin)


    No matter the world, all nations and forces try to establish dominance over others to ensure their own safety.


    It''s a natural phenomenon and there''s nothing wrong with using your own strength to scare off the prying eyes of the ''hyenas'' that might be hiding in the dark.


    "By using this ''Super'' ss war weapon as a transport vehicle, we are showcasing a slight bit of our military''sbat power to other races... this way, we will be able to give a strong impression in front of others..." (Jin)


    "We certainly don''t have any animosity with the Elfs, but we can''t let them underestimate us either..." (Jin)


    "It would be a hassle if we get attacked by other races just because they thought that we were weak..." (Jin)


    "This is ''geopolitics''..." (Jin)


    ''Sigh... no matter which world it is... politics is always weird...'' (Rio)


    ...


    While Chatting with Jin everyone walked through the spaceship and toured the whole area inside.


    "This spaceship is huge! Training grounds, bars, theaters, etc. There are literally every facility here!" (Liam)


    "This spaceship can definitely transport at least ten thousand soldiers all at once..." (Link)


    As none of the soldiers were stationed in it right now because it was being sent to the meeting of gods, the whole spaceship felt empty and deste.


    ''It''s like a ghost city... there are many facilities here, but no one to use them...'' (Rio)


    Hearing the student''s excited tone, Jin nodded his head and said in a happy tone.


    "Well, this spaceship is built in a way that at least ten thousand soldiers can stay in it at one time for two years straight, without worrying about food, water or oxygen..." (Jin)


    "This weapon is the pride of our human race, it''s obviously not just for disy, its main cannon is capable of injuring S-rankers and it''s entirely possible to run away from the pursuit of S-rankers using teleportation..." (Jin)


    "As for SS-ranker... well, I don''t think there is any machinery out there that can escape the grasp of an SS-ranker in my opinion..." (Jin)


    Jin didn''t tell the students that he had his own doubts about the fact that ''Can this spaceship really withstand a blow from a peak SS-ranker or not?''


    Although he had his own doubts, he didn''t say them out loud otherwise he would be insulting the hard work of all the excellent researchers who put their whole life on the line to create this weapon.


    Even if he was already an SS-ranker, being hated by your people is not really a pleasant experience.


    "Okay, now you guys are free to roam around in the spaceship for all day today, and I have sent your specific room details to your wrist watches, rest there if you want..." (Jin)


    "We are going to fly to the Elven empire at a rtively slow speed as we want to show off a little bit..." (Jin)


    After saying that, Jin waved his hand and left the students alone, he disappeared into thin air.


    Seeing Jin leave, everyone started to wonder what to do next.


    Just when Lia was about to ask Rio to apany her, Riya dragged her and Ellie away with her.


    Link and Liam both went off to y in the games area, they invited Rio too but he declined as he wasn''t in the mood for it.


    Fade and Kira wandered off somewhere on their own and only Rio was left standing on the spot.


    ...


    Rio slowly walked through the corridor with his usual expressionless face and entered the lift.


    [Which floor would you like to go to?] (Sce)


    "Topmost..." (Rio)


    While standing in the lift, several thoughts went through Rio''s mind.


    ''I guess I will need to win a top spot in the tournament... otherwise, I won''t be able to get ''that'' chance...'' (Rio)


    The main thing that Rio was most interested in about the meeting of gods was because he wanted to steal a very important ''chance'' from Fade.''Also I will be able to meet ''that'' unfortunate guy too¡­'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was lost in thought, Jin suddenly appeared beside him out of nowhere.


    A confused look appeared on Rio''s expressionless face after seeing him appear so suddenly.


    But before he could ask anything, Jin started to speak on his own.


    "Oh, one more thing I forgot to tell you! I have told the other students just now, you are thest one¡­" (Jin)


    "We have some early information, it''s advised that you all shouldn''t get involved with the Elf Prince, he has a questionable character you see, and getting involved with him is trouble¡­" (Jin)


    After dropping this little bit of information, Jin disappeared into nothingness once again.


    "Why is he in such a hurry¡­ sigh¡­" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking too much about Jin''s sudden disappearance.


    ''All SS-rankers have weird personalities anyway¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio didn''t care about the information that Jin gave him, he shook his head and thought to himself.


    ''It''s fake information anyway¡­ I don''t really need to think too much of it¡­'' (Rio)


    As Rio had read the novel, he knew more about this world than anyone else. Thus, he also knew about what was going on with that infamous elven prince.


    ''Well, Fade has always been a bane of rich people, he face ps anyone in the novel and creates problems for his colleagues¡­'' (Rio)


    In the novel, Fade face-pped the Elven prince and ended up causing great trouble for his harem members.


    ''I don''t want to get involved in trouble, so I will have to solve this problem before it esctes¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio didn''t really want things to escte to the point they did in the novel.


    Fade being the arrogant guy, killed the Elven prince right in the capital city and the good rtions between the human and elven race went down the drain instantly.


    The whole group that went to the meeting of gods was hunted down by the elves like rats as they retreated back to the human empire.


    ''Although I don''t like getting involved in the main storyline, I also don''t want to be hunted like an idiot¡­'' (Rio)


    [The lift has reached the top floor!] (Sce)


    The ai voice of sce brought Rio out of his thought.


    Rio stopped thinking too much about this matter and exited the lift.


    What appeared in his view was a gigantic garden filled with various types of flowers. Warm wind breeze blew over his face and made him feelfortable.


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s face after seeing this scenery.


    ''Ever since I read about this from the novel, I had wanted to see this scenery¡­'' (Rio)


    A beautiful garden inside a massive spaceship where a warm breeze of air blows, thisbination of technology and nature seemed so bizarre yet so amazing that it brought a smile to Rio''s expressionless face.


    Rio walked through the field of flowers and sat on a bench located right in the middle of the flower field.


    ''Smells nice¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio brought out his smartphone took a selfie and uploaded it in the group chat.


    When Link and others saw this photo they all expressed surprise and asked Rio for the location.


    Obviously, Rio wasn''t stingy, he told them about the ce and they all decided to rush there.


    At their excited messages, Rio simply smiled and continued to rest among that massive field of flowers.


    ''Thankfully I can enjoy the nice odor of these flowers in this life¡­'' (Rio)


    (Rio lived a harsh life in his past life, and his sense of taste, smell, and even eyesight, were dulled by various things, by a lot¡­ but in this life, he got the chance to enjoy himself with peace¡­)


    ''Maybe, I should buy a house near arge flower field when I settle down in the future¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Rio has one more goal in his life now, that is to have a house beside arge flower field!


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, who would you want to stay with, in this flower field?


    1. Rio (He will make a good tea for you¡­)


    2. Link (He will force you to do manualbor and collect flowers for him which he will give to Riyater¡­)


    3. Riya (She will give you candies to enjoy while watching the flowers¡­)


    4. Liam (He will not even talk to you¡­)


    5. Lia (She will make a flower crown for you¡­)


    6. Ellie (She will sleep and won''t care about you¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 220 To The Elven Empire! Part-4.

    Chapter 220 To The Elven Empire! Part-4.


    ??When the spaceship was ready to fly, the ceiling of the gigantic hall slowly opened and the vast clear blue sky appeared in sight.


    The bright rays of the sun shined on the metallic body of the spaceship and made it look even more majestic than it already was.


    In the excited eyes of the maintenance staff, the spaceship slowly rose from the ground and floated up into the sky like a balloon.


    (It is very rare to see this ship fly as it mostly stays still, thus the maintenance staff is already excited to see their masterpiece taking off...)


    The whole process was so efficient and quiet that it seemed unbelievable. Such a gigantic spaceship was making not even the slightest bit of noise while taking off. This is the brilliance of technology.


    After taking off from the ground the spaceship started to elerate and head towards its destination at a fairly slow speed.


    (Currently, it''s flying at the maximum speed the most advanced fighter jet could, and this is already quite slow for this spaceship...)


    This ''super'' ss spaceship codenamed ''Adam'', is capable of amazing stealth capabilities and it can sneak past the detection of S-rankers quite easily.


    But there are always exceptions to this too. It can''t dodge the detection of beings like Alverto, moreover, even Rio can see it easily due to his ''True immunity''.


    Exceptions aside, there are barely any races in this world that have the technology to rival this spaceship.


    Just looking at this massive war weapon can make the hearts of many enemies feel cold.


    ...


    Inside the spaceship, The Topmost floor.


    Link and Riya yed happily in the massive field of flowers, Liam and Ellie slept side by side while lying down among those flowers. (All of them came to this flower field after seeing Rio''s message in the group chat...)


    While looking at all this, Rio sipped his tea as he continued to sit on a bench amidst the massive field of flowers.


    A small crown made of flowers rested on his head. It was made of various types of flowers and it looked delicate and cute.


    This was obviously Lia''s handiwork, Rio would not have let anyone else touch his head.


    In return for the flower crown, Rio brought out his personal tea brewing set from the space ring and made a delicious tea for Lia.


    Both Rio and Lia sipped the tea while sitting beside each other peacefully on the bench.


    "I am thinking of having a home beside a simr flower field like this... what do you say?" (Rio)


    "Yeah, it would be such a nice scenery... we will need to employ a skilled Gardener for taking care of those flowers though..." (Lia)


    (These two are already talking like married couples preparing for retirement... just get married already you two!!)


    "By the way, which flower do you like Rio?" (Lia)


    "Hmm, before meeting a certain someone, I used to like any type of ck flowers... but now..." (Rio)


    A look of anticipation appeared on Lia''s face as she heard Rio''s words.


    "But now?" (Lia)


    Rio smiled slightly and said in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Now I like ck Roses specifically... they are kind of rare though..." (Rio)


    "Haha, what are you talking about Rio, ck Roses? Does naturally urring Rose even have ck color in them?" (Lia)


    (ck Roses don''t exist naturally in this world...)


    "Well... even if they don''t exist, the meaning behind it still remains..." (Rio)


    A confused look appeared on Lia''s face, she knew a little bit about flowernguage too, but even she knew that ck flowers usually mean ''Tragedy''.


    "What does a ck rose mean then?" (Lia)


    At Lia''s question, Rio smiled slightly as he looked straight into her eyes.


    "It means, Undying Love... an unwaveringmitment..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s answer, a cute smile appeared on Lia''s face as she blushed at his words.


    "I-is that so..." (Lia)


    ...


    Main control room.


    A whole team of three hundred people operated the massive spaceship together.


    Sitting on a resting bench in the control room, Jin looked quite nervous.


    "You look quite nervous, don''t you have faith in the capabilities of this team which has been specially trained to fly this spaceship?" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel appeared out of nowhere and sat beside Jin on the same bench, a usual calm expression hung over his face. He seemed like the type of person who never gets stressed or nervous.


    Jin smiled awkwardly at Ashtel''s question and asked in a doubtful tone.


    "Uh, well... I am not worried about this crew''s operation capabilities, but... I am more worried about how to face so many SS-rankers at the meeting of gods..." (Jin)


    "You see... just a year ago I used to be an S-ranker and I knew for sure that I had no hope for advancing further... but now that I have be an SS-ranker all of a sudden..." (Jin)


    "I feel kind of unreal and out of ce... sometimes I doubt myself that... am I really worthy of this power or not?" (Jin)


    Hearing Jin''s stressed tone, Ashtel shook his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "That''s normal of course¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Normal?" (Jin)


    A confused look appeared on Jin''s face after listening to Ashtel''s words.


    Ashtel nodded his head at Jin.


    "Yeah, it''s normal to doubt your own worthiness, I doubt myself all the time too¡­ as they say ''With great strengthes great responsibility''¡­ it also brings self-doubts too¡­" (Ashtel)


    "It''s normal to doubt to yourself that: ''Will I be able to protect others? Am I really worthy of this strength?''¡­ such thoughts obviously appear in my mind too¡­" (Ashtel)


    Jin was quite shocked after hearing Ashtel''s words, he had never thought that the ''Strongest human of this era'', ''The Bane of demons'', ''The dominator of battlefields'', ''A being that is equal to the dragon king'' Ashtel Rex would say such words.


    Ashtel noticed the shocked expression on Jin''s face and smiled a little bit.


    "Surprised? Yes, I guess anyone would be surprised to hear such words from me¡­ but you know, even if I am being considered a ''Demi-God'' I still retain my humanity..." (Ashtel)


    "Which means, I still have all the emotions that a normal human has, I certainly also have the emotion of ''self-doubt'' too¡­ that''s why I said, it natural for you to feel nervous too¡­" (Ashtel)


    "We are just ''Demi-gods'' after all, not real ''Gods'', we still have our humanity... although these emotions are like ''mortal bindings'' that bind us to the secr world¡­" (Ashtel)


    "I think that there is no meaning to our lives without these ''constraints'' and ''emotions''¡­ those who don''t have these ''emotions'' are just heartless and cold machines of ''destruction and death''¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel raised his head and stared at the vast blue sky through the nearby window as he said.


    "You should be proud of these emotions... they are what makes you ''Human''¡­" (Ashtel)


    ¡­


    The lower area of the spaceship.


    The lowermost floor of the spaceship has a small room whose walls are all made of ss.


    You can see the ground from this room and enjoy the scenery below as the spaceship flies over it from above.


    "Whoa! The spaceship is flying over the ocean right now! And it''s so fast!" (Fade)


    An excited look hung over Fade''s face as he stared at the sea below, through the ss walls.


    "I-I feel kind of scared standing on this ss¡­" (Kira)


    "Haha, you are such a scaredy cat Kira! Look! This ss is quite strong! Even though I jumped on it, it didn''t break!" (Fade)


    Kira looked at Fade who was jumping up and down excitedly with a look of concern.


    "H-hey, calm down, if it really breaks, we will be in trouble¡­" (Kira)


    Just when Kira was about to catch Fade with her right hand to drag him out of the room, a strange crest appeared on the back of her hand and it started to shine bright red.


    "Ugh!" (Kira)


    A groan of pain leaked out of Kira''s mouth as she felt that the crest was burning and hurting her hand.


    Fade also noticed this sudden change and asked Kira in a concerned voice.


    "H-hey, are you okay, Kira?" (Fade)


    Before Fade could figure out what happened, the strange-


    looking crest on Kira''s hand disappeared instantly and her hand stopped hurting.


    A smile returned to her face and she said in a gentle tone.


    "Nothing, I am okay¡­ this is an ancestral crest of our family, no big deal¡­" (Kira)


    "Oh, i-is that so¡­" (Fade)


    What Fade did not know was that the crest that appeared on Kira''s hand was strangely simr to one of the crests that were recorded in the book that James gave to Lia before she left.


    "We should leave this ce now¡­ we don''t wanna get in trouble after all¡­" (Kira)


    "Yes, let''s go and visit the cafeteria next, I am feeling kind of hungry now¡­" (Fade)


    After the two came to an agreement, they held each other''s hand and left the room together.


    Time slowly passed and after a few hours of wait, the spaceship finally arrived near the borders of the Elven empire.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that things are getting a bit more mysterious¡­ I have done a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter¡­ let''s see if you guys can figure out something¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which type of flower do you like?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 221 To The Elven Empire! Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 221 To The Elven Empire! Part-5.</h4>


    Continent Euruin.


    At the western border of the Elven empire.


    The gigantic spaceship ''Adam'' appeared in the sky of the elven empire with a majestic momentum, shocking the border guards of the Elven empire to the core.


    The presence of the spaceship was purposely being put on disy to announce their arrival, otherwise, they could have simply continued to use their stealth abilities to infiltrate the elven empire.


    But they were not here to look for fights after all, so it was better to announce their presence so that the other party could bring escorts to take them to the right ce.


    And that''s exactly what happened when ''Adam'' revealed its presence.


    A spear made of condensed water appeared in the sky, the spear was so huge that it seemed to overshadow even the spaceship.


    Even the space seemed to be warping around the gigantic water spear.


    When Jin sensed the appearance of the gigantic spear, he was ready to fight, but Ashtel stopped him by putting his hand on Jin''s shoulder.


    "It''s meant for me¡­ stay here¡­" (Ashtel)


    After saying that, Ashtel disappeared into thin air and next he appeared outside the spaceship.


    Once Ashtel exited the spaceship, the massive spear of water instantly rushed towards him at nearly the speed of light.


    It was so fast the sky seemed to have split by the might of that spear and the clouds were scattered by the massive air pressure.


    When the spear was just a few kilometers away from him, Ashtel waved his hand and shattered the massive water spear instantly.


    [World Authority: Shockwave]


    Ashtel''s ''demi-god'' authority is ''Shockwave'', he can use it to cause a massive shockwave in the space-time fabric itself.


    His shockwaves travel using space-time as a ''medium'', thus they can elerate to a speed faster than light itself, they don''t have any restriction on speed, and can bypass any armor.


    Ashtel nced in a certain direction and said in a calm tone.


    "Your bad way of greeting others hasn''t improved yet! Ryul!" (Ashtel)


    Even though Ashtel didn''t say those words too loudly, everyone present in a 200km radius could hear his voice directly in their mind.


    At Ashtel''s words, another voice appeared as a reply from the other party.


    "BAHAHAHAH, you know me well! I was actually checking if you had be rusty after ten years Ashtel!" (Ryul)


    An Elf in luxurious clothes appeared in the sky about a few kilometers away. He looked directly into Ashtel''s eyes with a taunting gaze and his luxurious clothes emanated an aura of authority.


    A Crown made of the wood of the ''World Tree'' rested on his head.


    "Ah, I haven''t introduced myself to the new batch of talents yet¡­" (Ryul)


    A wide grin appeared on his face as he spread out his hand and said in a proud tone:


    "Wee to thend of the Elves! Children of Astra! I am Ryul Yeljyre! The Current Elf King and the absolute ruler of the whole Elven empire!" (Ryul)


    All the students inside the spaceship could hear Ryul''s voice directly in their minds as if, he was standing right beside them.


    Liam looked confused after hearing those words and said in a doubtful tone.


    "This doesn''t feel like ''telepathy''¡­ he is using some other technique to talk, Mr. Ashtel also used the same technique just now¡­" (Liam)


    "It''s ''Spirit Speech'', it''s a skill that only ''world-authority'' holders can use, they are using the space fabric itself as a medium tomunicate¡­" (Kai)


    Hearing the exnation from Kai, everyone was shocked.


    It was already an insane feat to be able to influence the spatial fabric by even a little bit, but these ''Demi-gods'' are really in their own league, they can use the space itself to speak.


    "Moreover, Authority holders can increase or decrease the volume of their words, thus, they can use this power to instantly damage the enemy''s brain by using high enough volume¡­" (Kai)


    "Although it only works on people below SS-rank, it still is an insane ability¡­" (Kai)


    At Kai''s words, Liam asked in a shocked tone.


    "Does that mean, the elf king is purposely lowering his voice''s volume to not hurt us?" (Liam)


    Kai who was sitting on Lia''s shoulder nodded his head and said in a calm tone.


    "Well, if he really did increase the volume, there are two SS-


    rankers on your side to save you guys, there''s no need to worry about such small details in my opinion¡­" (Kai)


    Even after Kai''s consoling words, no one felt at ease, they all understood how big of a gap between them and a genuine SS-


    ranker was.


    An ''Authority'' holder can instantly defeat an army of thousands of awakeners without even raising a single finger. They can simply ''speak'' and destroy the brain of the opponent.


    The existence of an SS-ranker is already an insane thing in itself.


    ¡­


    "Hmph! Do you really think I will get rusty after just a decade? Have you forgotten how I defeated youst time?" (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, a wide grin appeared on Ryul''s face and he replied in a mocking tone.


    "Hah! It was just a mere fluke! If we both fight right now! I can surely defeat you, Ashtel!" (Ryul)


    "Hoho, you wanna fight? Then let''s dance!" (Ashtel)


    A grin appeared on Ashtel''s face, he looked like a battle-


    crazed ''Berserker'' at the moment, and his aura alone started to shake the space fabric around him.


    Ryul was not intimidated by this at all though, he stretched out his hand and a wand made of the branch of the ''World Tree'' appeared in his hand.


    "Yeah! Come at me, you barbarian! Let''s dance once again-" (Ryul)


    Just when Ryul was about tounch a ''Continent'' level attack on Ashtel, a hand appeared on his shoulder.


    The icy touch of the hand immediately caused him to stop right then and there. The magic circle that was about to form in front of his wand also disappeared into nothingness and even his air of excitement disappeared.


    A feminine voice appeared in Ryul''s ears.


    "You said you wanted to escort the guests yourself? What are you doing then? Darling..." (Syvis)


    A female elf wearing the royal clothes befitting of a queen appeared beside Ryul out of nowhere.


    A cold smile hung over her face as she red at Ryul, her silver hair swaying in the air added even more charm to her beautiful face.


    Even Ashtel withdrew his aura and stopped right then and there.


    Ryul smiled awkwardly and replied with a guilty conscience.


    "Ahem, uh¡­ I-I was just entertaining an old friend, honey¡­ ahem nothing else¡­" (Ryul)


    Ashtel floated towards the two of them and nodded at Syvis with a calm smile.


    "Greetings, Syvis, it''s been a while¡­" (Ashtel)


    The Elven Queen Syvis Leocaryn nodded her head at Ashtel''s greeting and said in a gentle voice.


    "Mr. Ashtel, you are a calm-minded person, please don''t get swayed by the whims of my husband,st time you two fought, you destroyed my precious garden¡­" (Syvis)


    Ashtel scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    "Ahem, well¡­" (Ashtel)


    All the storms created by the two of them went silent when Syvis appeared out of nowhere.


    Although Syvis is not really a strong SS-ranker, she is one of the two SS-rank healers alive in this world.


    And everyone in the world knows about the importance of an SS-rank healer, they are considered world-level treasures by the whole alliance.


    As Syvis has saved countless lives over the years, even Ashtel respects her and thus he also halted his thoughts of fighting with Ryul, when she appeared.


    After Ashtel nodded his head, Syvis then red at Ryul once again, she stretched out her hand twisted his ear, and scolded him for being too excited to fight.


    Ashtel dodged his eyes and stopped looking at the pitiful look on Ryul''s face as his wife was scolding him.


    Only the Elven Queen can make the Elf king look so pitiful.


    (Later Ryul was punished with ''being restricted from eating his favorite food for a whole day''...)


    After that small incident, the rest of the journey went smoothly.


    ¡­


    With the permission of the Elf King, the spaceship easily entered the Elven Empire andnded in the reserved area, located right outside the capital city.


    All the students got down from the spaceship and entered the capital city through the main gate.


    "Whoa! So that''s the rumored ''World Tree''!?" (Riya)


    Right in the middle of the city stood the gigantic ''World Tree''.


    It was so tall that it seemed to be shouldering the sky itself on its branches. Just standing near it made everyone feel refreshed.


    Ryul stretched out his arm and said in a proud tone.


    "Located at the foot of the world tree and blessed by nature itself! Wee to the city of Ryhmel!" (Ryul)


    Leafs floated from the sky and fell on the shoulders of all the students.


    Link took the leaf in his hand and his eyes widened in shock.


    "T-this is!?" (Link)


    "Yes, this is the leaf of the world tree, the world tree has acknowledged your presence here, it has given one leaf to each of you¡­" (Ryul)


    "You can embed mana in this leaf and it will show you the map of the whole city, you can visit any ce you want by using this map in your free time¡­" (Ryul)


    Ashtel nodded his head at the students and said in a calm voice.


    "Keep these leaves close to you when you are in this ce, they are like ''Id proofs'' for you¡­" (Ashtel)


    Hearing Asthel guide the students, Ryul punched him lightly and said in a happy tone.


    "Hoho, you have be a lot milder than thest time, has something good happened?" (Ryul)


    Ashtel frowned at that punch a little, but didn''t say anything.


    He nodded his head and ced his hand on Link''s shoulder.


    "My son is also here this time, obviously I am in a good mood¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ryul instantly scanned Link from up to down after hearing those words.


    "Ho! This is a surprise, I thought this kid looked a lot simr to you, it turns out he is your son! I am also looking forward to the ''tournament'' now¡­hehe" (Ryul)


    Being stared at by three SS-rankers Ryul, Syvis, and Ashtel made Link feel nervous for some reason.


    ''I have a bad premonition about this¡­'' (Link)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your Beloved author here! Finally, we introduced the elf king and the queen, moreover, Ashtel''s authority has also been introduced now! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Which ''Authority'' would you like to have?


    1. Time (Be as overpowered as Alverto!)


    2. Space (Bend space to your will!)


    3. Elemental (Use any specific type of element and st your foes to oblivion!)


    4. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 222 World-Lore. (Extra-)(Skippable)

    Chapter 222 World-Lore. (Extra-)(Skippable)


    ??(This chapter has no character dialogs or other events, but it''s full of world lore, so if you are not a major fan of world lore, then skip it...)


    (Those who like to delve into world lore and like to know more about world-building shall continue...)


    ...


    (Lore of the World Tree and the Elven Empire¡­)


    ''Ryhmel'', A City built under the cool shade of the World tree, blessed by nature itself and cultivated by the elves for generations.


    The elemental energies and the flow of mana are always calm here, which is extremely beneficial to all living beings in this ce.


    This whole continent have massively big trees due to the ''calm'' flow of mana.


    It is said that the roots of the ''World Tree'' are spread over the whole continent and they are the reason why mana is so calm and gentle on this continent.


    Practicing ''magic'' and fast advancement in ranks can be significantly boosted with the help of a calm mana flow.


    This ability of the world tree to keep the mana flow as calm as possible has always attracted the eyes of greed.


    Demons, orcs, dark elves, etc. many races have previously waged wars with the Elven Empire in the hope of seizing the world tree for themselves.


    Many of these races have a longer lifespanpared to the human race, and thus they have few children, their poption is lowpared to the humans and thus they don''t have many talented people who could ascend to rank SS.


    But things be different with the help of the world tree.


    The world tree makes the flow of the mana extremely calm and gentle, due to which the chances of ascension to SS-rank increase by at least 30 percent and this meager increase in chance is worth fighting hundreds of wars.


    Millions have died over the past two thousand years to seize the ownership of the world tree from the Elves.


    But none were sessful.


    Dragons might be able to pull off this feat, but they don''t really need the help of the world tree in the first ce, they can simply manipte the mana in the environment all by themselves.


    Moreover, the ''Dragon King'' himself is better than the World Tree at manipting mana, so the dragons don''t really care about the World Tree.


    In the past two thousand years, only one individual was able to force the Elven Empire to cooperate with him and lend the world tree to other races from time to time.


    That person was King Allen Von Reinhart, who ''Conquered'' the whole world and nearly caused the extinction of the demon race from this world.


    During the thousand-year war, he defeated the Elf King of that time and forced him to sign a treaty.


    With that treaty in ce, the Elves had to work together with the humans and form the ''World Alliance'' as one of the founding members together with the humans.


    Moreover, Elves had to use the World Tree to help weaker races from time to time due to that treaty.


    (This treaty is known as the biggest ''shame'' in the Elven history books¡­)


    Even today, elves are still bound by this treaty, not fulfilling it will make them the enemy of the whole Alliance.


    It sounds like a one-sided treaty, but during the thousand-year war, this was an extremely necessary step.


    The treaty was a genius move and it brought many benefits to weaker races, thus preventing their extinction in the hands of the demon army.


    Elves suffered a great loss of resources during those times, but they wereter provided to them by the humans and dwarves together.


    Although there were some ups and downs, humans and Elves have a fairly good international rtionship in today''s world.


    (Yeah, you can marry yourself an Elf waifu, that if you can rizz her and make her approve of you¡­ Do you have that ''W Rizz'' though?)


    ...


    This is how the tournament came to be, which is held once every ten years along with the ''Meeting of the gods''.


    During the thousand-year war, there were too many races that were in need of immediate help and even though the Elves were forced to help them, they also had their own limits after all.


    Even the World tree is not omnipotent and it also has its limits.


    Thus to determine who would get the quota to get resources and help, the tournament was created.


    All races sent their young talents topete with each other and the winner would win the resources back home for their own race.


    Thepetition at that time was cruel, it was a literal death match as the future of a race depended on the shoulder of the duelist.


    Hard times asked for sacrifices and people sacrificed willingly.


    Even with the fair and square tournament, some weak races who were not able to produce strong talents to participate never won any resources back and thus eventually perished in the annals of history.


    Demon armies raged all over the world in those dark times, and no one had the time to care for the extinction of such weak races.


    Seeing them perish made other races feel the urgency and the tournament became even more serious and extreme.


    Sending young talents to this tournament was a double-edged sword in those times.


    On one hand, you could win and get the support of other races, but if you lose and the young talent dies then there would be one less pir of support for your race in the future.


    All due to the premature death of a great talent in the tournament''s deathmatch.


    But times changed eventually.


    The thousand-year war ended and the demon armies were pushed back to the demon continent after the death of the demon king and the royal demons.


    A thousand years of peace arrived after the war and the tournament lost its meaning, thus the rules of the duels were changed.


    Killing your opponent was banned and solid rules were established.


    The tournament became more of a show-off method for races and worked as a friendly exchange method for the members of the alliance.


    With time, things changed, and all the surviving races became more self-sufficient and advanced, thus the tournament became a way to show your strength to other races and intimidate them.


    Nowadays, times are peaceful, there are no major wars going on in the world and the demon race has been kept at bay for a long while now.


    Peace has given the world a chance to heal, the scattered corruption caused by the demon armies has all been extinguished now with thebined effort of all the members of the Alliance.


    In today''s, world everyone is busy cultivating more talented children for the future of the race and improving their technology by leaps and bounds.


    ¡­


    (More details about the Alliance.)


    There were five ''founding members'' of the ''World Alliance'' during the thousand-year war.


    ¡­


    (More details about the Alliance.)


    Humans, Elves, Dark Elves, Dwarves, and Fairies, are the five founding members of the alliance. (Yes, fairies exist in this world¡­)


    Each of them was a strong race with the power to rival several different races alone.


    But the thousand-year war changed many things.


    As the whole world knows, in an unfortunate event, the Dark Elves went extinct under the scheme of the demons. Thus excluding their name from the alliance.


    Fairies used to be a race that was governed by three Fairy lords together at that time, but due to various reasons, all three of them ended up dying and the race regressed in strength by a lot.


    The whole world knows about the amazing elemental capabilities of the fairies and it is said in records that Fairies are the greatest masters of the healing magic.


    Healing magic itself was invented by the Fairies after all.


    12:54


    Today, they live in the ''Garden of Fairies'' and have secluded themselves from the rest of the world. There''s only one way to enter the garden and that is by getting permission from the ''Dragon King'' himself.


    (Yes, the fairies are living under the protection of the dragons nowadays¡­)


    After losing all three of their Lords, the fragile society of the fairies that were over-dependent on the power of the three lords copsed quite fast and what followed afterward was a hundred-yearlong fairy hunt by the demon race.


    Even after thebined effort of the alliance, it was impossible to save the whole poption of millions from the crazy pursuit of demons.


    Fortunately for the fairy race, the Dragon King of that time took pity on the Fairies for some reason and took them under his own protection.


    Once the Fairies entered the protection of the Dragon King, the demons dared not pursue them anymore.


    ...


    As for the dwarves, they used to be more technologically advanced than any race in the whole world, they already had small spaceships a thousand years ago, but the war cost the dwarves a lot.


    Millions of lives were lost and many cities were ughtered overnight, overtime the technologies were lost to time and the whole race regressed by a lot.


    With enough time Humans became much better than dwarves in the field of technology, thus overshadowing them even more.


    Once upon a time, the dwarven-made equipment used to be famous all over the world, and the major ie of the dwarves used toe from the sale of these equipment.


    But now that humans are far ahead of them in terms of technology, the sale of their equipment has reached rock bottom, reducing their revenue by a lot.


    Now they are just a husk of their former self, not much better than other weaker races.


    All in all, in today''s world, only humans and Elves reign supreme, they are the ones who are subtly controlling the world in their palms and are enjoying the most benefits.


    We can''t me them for looking for more opportunities either, every race wants to advance after all, and no one can me them for seizing the market for themselves.


    This is all just a y of Dirty ''Geopolitics''.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since Ist wrote such a massive lore chapter, this chapter is a treat to those who are dedicated to knowing more about the world lore.


    Question of the day.


    How much do you like reading massive world lore''s?


    1. Medium (Just enough to understand the world building¡­ not much¡­)


    2. Very much (I like reading lore a lot¡­)


    3. Extreme (The author himself is a big fan of world lore''s and the amazing history of fantastic worlds, are you also as big a fan of lore as me?)


    4. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 223 Fix a broken Path...? Part-1.

    Chapter 223 Fix a broken ''Path''...? Part-1.


    ??"Hmm, we can talkter, it''s not good to stay here for long¡­ there are too many people here after all¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul is the king of the whole elven empire, and wherever he goes he attracts immense attention.


    Thus, a huge crowd started to form when he was standing right in front of the main gate of the capital city.


    (There are massive walls surrounding this city, these walls are enhanced by SS-rank magic¡­ aside from an SS-ranker, none can break through them¡­)


    At Ryul''s words, Ashtel nced around and noticed that many elves were starting to surround them, they were all just ordinary elves and none of them was an awakener.


    They seemed to have stars shining in their eyes while looking at Ryul and Syvis from so close.


    Children, elderly, and even adults all stopped in their tracks when they noticed Ryul''s presence.


    "It seems you are loved by your people a lot¡­" (Ashtel)


    At Ashtel''s words, Ryul puffed up his chest in pride and said in a happy tone.


    "Well of course! I have already been in power for about a hundred years now! They all know me well!" (Ryul)


    Elves have a long lifespan and thus the reign of a kingsts for a long time before the next generation reces them.


    The criteria to be the king of the Elves is actually quite simple.


    First, you need to be born in the royal family of the Elves, then you need to reach peak rank SS, and then you need to gather the support of the popce. Fairly simple isn''t it?


    Ryul waved his hand at the people and several of them started to jump in excitement.


    Seeing the increasing crowd Syvis opened a portal and said to the students.


    "You all can take this portal, it will directly send you all to the front of your resting area¡­" (Syvis)


    The students looked at Ashtel and Jin for approval and when they both nodded their heads, only then did they take the portal.


    One by one they entered the portal and left the scene.


    Just when Link was also about to leave, Ashtel suddenly stopped him and said in a calm voice.


    "You all are free for the next three days, we will be in the ''Meeting'' for the next three days, so you children are free to roam the city and go anywhere you like¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Just don''t cause any trouble and there shouldn''t be any problems¡­." (Ashtel)


    Ryul and Syvis also nodded their heads at Ashtel''s words. Ryul even patted Link''s shoulder and said in a calm tone.


    "Yes, children shall enjoy their youth, there''s no need to get concerned with the talks of us old folks¡­" (Ryul)


    "Jin will tell you any important information about the meeting afterward¡­ so you can enjoy your time here in the elven capital without any worries of missing out... it''s a rare chance, don''t waste it¡­" (Ashtel)


    Link nodded his head solemnly after hearing Ashtel''s words.


    Although he looked calm on the surface he was extremely excited from the inside but he dared not show off in front of the watchful eyes of four SS-rankers.


    The portal closed after Link entered it and left the ce.


    Once the children were out of the picture, the faces of all of them instantly went calm and a solemn atmosphere appeared between them instantly.


    Ryul''s eyes narrowed and he said in a very solemn tone.


    "Let''s find a quiet ce for us to talk a bit first¡­" (Ryul)


    All four of them instantly flew into the air and left the ce, leaving the excited crowd of people behind.


    ¡­


    A giant tree, Elven Capital, South-west area.


    "Whoa! So they really have houses on trees!!" (Riya)


    The ce where the portal sent the students was a resting area where small wooden rooms were built on gigantic trees.


    Everywhere you look, a simr type of architecture could be seen.


    "Hmm, it seems this whole area is purposely made as a resting ce for the foreign guests¡­ the talented kids of other races might be our neighbors for a while¡­" (Liam)


    The students looked at their own ''World Tree leaf'' and confirmed their own rooms using it.


    The leaf guided them all to their own rooms.


    There were exactly seven rooms on the gigantic tree on which they all were supposed to stay.


    Wooden stairs connected all the small rooms and the falling leaves adding another great charm to this beautiful scenery.


    "I will nt such a tree in my garden once I go back, haha!" (Fade)


    Hearing his words, everyone gave him weird looks.


    "You don''t even know that such trees are unique to the elven kingdom, right?" (Liam)


    These small rooms that are made on the tree are not artificial, the tree itself creates them.


    This is the work of a high-rank Wood Mage, who manipted the tree and made it grow in this fashion, moreover, these trees are all blessed by the ''World Tree'' itself thus they are unique.


    To nt such a tree at your home back in the human empire, you would need to get it blessed by the ''world tree'' first then nt it, and then find a high-rank wood mage to do the work for you.


    Wood magicians are verymon among the Elves, but they are quite rare in the human empire. Most people awaken violent elements like Fire.


    Calm and gentle elements like ''Wood'' are quite rare.


    "Ahem! For the time being, we all should see our rooms and rest for a few hours, after that we can go and explore the city and have some fun on our own¡­" (Link)


    Link told them all about what Ashtel said to him earlier and all of the students got excited after hearing the fact that they could wander around in the capital without any problems.


    Fade didn''t even bother seeing his own room and rushed away to y along with Kira without any care in the world.


    Others didn''t care much about them and didn''t bother stopping them either.


    While climbing the stairs, Lia asked Rio.


    "Shall we meet up after two hours?" (Lia)


    "Yeah, I will wait for you below the tree¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, Lia giggled a bit and asked:


    "You will wait? What if I am the early bird and I wait for you?" (Lia)


    Rio just shook his head at her words.


    "I wouldn''t want to make you wait for me¡­ besides, I am faster¡­" (Rio)


    Lia just rolled her eyes at Rio''s words.


    "It''s not like I am slow, you know¡­" (Lia)


    "Girls need to take a lot of time to get ready, no?" (Rio)


    "Well, that¡­ is correct I guess¡­" (Lia)


    Lia waved her hand to say bye and entered her room, Rio nodded his head and continued to climb.


    His room was just above hers and thus he reached it quite fast too.


    He opened the door lightly and walked in.


    What greeted him was a massive room, with nearly all the facilities avable.


    There was a couch, a TV, a 3d printer, and a teacup¡­ then Rio made himself tea.


    (Cough! Bro didn''t even bother waiting for a few seconds, the first thing he did after reaching the Elf kingdom was, drink tea!!)


    Only after sipping tea a few times did he properly start observing the room.


    ''This ce¡­ it''s nearly as big as my dorm room back in the academy¡­'' (Rio)


    The room which looked so small from the outside, had a massive bedroom with a king-sized bed in it, there was a kitchen, a drawing room, a washroom, etc.


    All in all, the whole ce was just as big as Rio''s dorm room back in the academy.


    But there was one notable difference between his dorm room and this ce.


    Rio stretched out his hand and ced it on the room''s wall.


    ''Hmm, as I thought¡­ the walls here are made of magically enhanced wood¡­ they have a strange calming effect¡­ perhaps some kind of mild healing magic was also used while creating this ce¡­'' (Rio)


    "The elven architecture is indeed interesting¡­" (Rio)


    ''To be able to do this¡­ at least an A-rank Wood magician and an A-rank healer is needed¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Although the wood seems sturdy¡­ I am quite sure my ''Sword intent'' can cut it¡­'' (Rio)


    Ever since Rio has awakened his ''Sword Intent'' he has always had a bad habit ofparing things in terms of whether he can ''cut it or not''.


    After observing the room for a while longer, Rio shook his head and stopped thinking too much.


    He went ahead, slumped down on the couch, and watched TV as he sipped on the rest of the tea.


    ''It''s not like I will be staying here for long¡­ there''s no need to think too much...'' (Rio)


    Truthfully speaking, Rio never really cared where he slept or stayed.


    In his past life he had even slept on the cold floor, this ce is already a great luxury in his opinion.


    As they say: ''When you eat rotten food for too long, even tasteless bread seems like a luxurious good in your eyes¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Rio really has developed a great love for Tea it seems.


    Fun fact: Rio started to drink tea in the morning to save the ''breakfast food money'' in his previous life, eventually he got addicted to tea as he continued to skip breakfast for a long time¡­


    He bought his first-ever novel from the money he saved from skipping breakfast¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which type of home would you like to live in?


    1. An Elven style home. (Live on the gigantic tree and feel the warm wind breeze¡­)


    2. A Dwarven-style home. (Live in a metallic underground bunker, although it''s not luxurious, it''s safe¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 224 Fix a Broken Path...? Part-2.

    Chapter 224 Fix a Broken ''Path''...? Part-2.


    ??Elf Captial Rhymel, Resting area, Evening.


    Standing outside his room''s door, Rio looked at his own clothes with a weird look in his eyes.


    ''So these are what elves wear?'' (Rio)


    Earlier when Rio opened the closet in his room, he found that it was filled with elven-styled clothes.


    Out of all of them, Rio decided to wear the green-colored robe, which has designs made all over it that resemble a leaf of the world tree.


    ''This thing¡­ it fits perfectly as if they knew my size and specially prepared this for me¡­ did the alliance give them my personal details¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Now I know why, ''that'' weird thing happened in the novel¡­'' (Rio)


    Thinking about the novel, Rio squinted his eyes and couldn''t help but look at his own robe again.


    ''It looks so weird on me¡­ the only thing good about it is¡­ it''s enhanced by defensive magic¡­'' (Rio)


    Although Rio didn''t really need a defense-type artifact as he already had the ''Lamont''s robe'' to protect him, he was not so insincere that he would reject wearing this robe, even though the elves went to such lengths to prepare it.


    ''I guess it''s not bad to have a change of mood sometimes¡­'' (Rio)


    ''I have even worn damaged clothes to university before in my past life, It''s not that big a deal to wear this thing now¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and walked downstairs to meet up with Lia.


    ¡­


    (Lia''s pov)


    Lia''s Room.


    Lia nced at the mirror and stared at her dress over and over.


    ''This dress is so beautiful!'' (Lia)


    Unlike Rio who had no fashion sense or clothing instincts, Lia was definitely able to distinguish the uniqueness of this dress.


    Her dress was a gorgeous-looking gown in elven style. It has an amazing design as if a national-level fashion designer designed it.


    After appreciating the dress, Liabed her golden hair and tied them in a ''ponytail'' style.


    Then she grabbed the hand fan that was ced near the mirror and then left the room.


    When she arrived at the bottom of the tree, she found Rio standing there leaning against the tree trunk with his eyes closed.


    He looked particrly handsome today in those elven-styled robes.


    With a smile on her face, Lia tip-toed towards him as she wanted to surprise him, but oblivious to her, Rio already detected her presence. He was just ying along with her sneaky ways.


    Lia raised the hand fan and covered half of her face with it and then said in a flirtatious tone all of a sudden:


    "Young man, you look so handsome, wanna hang out with this old sister?" (Lia)


    Her voice seemed to resemble a flirtatious olderdy who was trying to pick on a young boy.


    Rio was quite surprised at her words, but he decided to y along.


    He kept his eyes closed and said.


    "No thanks, I am married¡­" (Rio)


    "AHEM! COUGH!! COUGH!! WHAT!?" (Lia)


    Lia was so bewildered at Rio''s words that she choked on air and ended up coughing violently in sheer shock.


    Only then did Rio open his eyes. He looked directly into her eyes and said.


    "Idiot, you think I will not be able to recognize you?" (Rio)


    "Hmph!" (Lia)


    Lia pouted her cheeks as her attempt to sneak failed miserably.


    Moreover, her flirting technique ended up backfiring on her. She clenched her small fists and thought in her mind.


    ''I will beat you in this game one day! Just you wait! Hmph!'' (Lia)


    Rio just smiled at her cute expression and didn''t say anything else.


    Just when Lia was pouting her cheeks, Rio said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "I know a good ce, let''s take the route from the market area¡­ we can buy some souvenirs along the way¡­" (Rio)


    Rio''s tone may seem emotionless in other''s opinion, but to Lia who was able to distinguish Rio''s emotions as easy as breathing, she immediately noticed that Rio was up to something.


    ''He seems to have some other ns too¡­ forget it, let''s not delve too deep into it¡­'' (Lia)


    Although Lia sensed that something was going on in Rio''s mind, she didn''t ask him too much, as she didn''t want to ruin the mood.


    Rio stretched out his hand and Lia held it without hesitation.


    ''His hands are so roughpared to mine¡­ is this the difference between a boy and a girl¡­ even though I also train a lot?'' (Lia)


    Lia always used ''healing potions'' to cure her body after every single training session, but Rio is different, he doesn''t bother using healing potions for training purposes as he sees this as a waste.


    Thus, his hands are always like this.


    ''Moreover, his hand is much bigger than mine¡­ I would be so embarrassed if my hands became sweaty¡­'' (Lia) (Her inner thoughts)


    Lia was always troubled by the problem of sweaty hands, this was also one of the reasons why she always used to get embarrassed while holding hands with Rio in their early days of rtionship.


    But over time she figured out that Rio didn''t seem to mind it at all.


    In fact, he didn''t mind her looking through his room, his phone, or even his clothes.


    (Yeah, she has looked through all the items in Rio''s dorm room¡­ don''t underestimate her stalking abilities¡­ she has a whole cab filled with Rio''s photos that she secretly caught¡­)


    While Lia was busy in her thoughts, she didn''t even notice when they both reached the market area.


    Only when Rio stopped in front of a shop did shee out of her train of thought.


    "It''s a ''couple photo booth'', let''s try it out as we are wearing elven-style clothes today¡­" (Rio)


    Rio seemed to look even more handsome in Lia''s eyes under the rays of the setting sun.


    (He isn''t really handsome, it''s just that Lia has a beauty filter for him¡­ she seems to think of him as handsome, even though he is fairly ordinary¡­)


    "Yes, let''s try it out¡­" (Lia)


    Both of them went inside and took several photos.


    They posed while making a heart from both of their hands, then they posed while standing quite close, and then various other poses.


    Although posing seemed quite awkward, when the photos came out, the result was indeed satisfactory.


    Lia carefully put those photos in her space ring to ensure that not even one of them gets lost.


    ''I got new treasures to put in my collection now, hehe'' (Lia)


    A visible smile appeared on her face as she thought about how her collection was getting bigger and bigger slowly.


    Seeing her smiley face, Rio asked her.


    "hmm, did you like the pictures that much? You know¡­ we can go to such booths on our future dates too if you like it that much¡­" (Rio)


    "Yes! We must click many photos together!" (Lia)


    "hmm, did you like the pictures that much? You know¡­ we can go to such booths on our future dates too if you like it Lia''s eyes shined brightly at that idea.


    ''That way my collection will increase even faster¡­ hehehehe'' (Lia)


    Lia liked that idea so much that she wasughing from ear to ear.


    After walking for another few minutes, the two of them came in front of a food stall.


    The old elven woman smiled kindly at the two of them and said.


    "This is one of the local sweets of the Elven kingdom, you two should try it out¡­"


    The sweets were hanging on small wooden sticks like ''Dango'' and due to this strange resemnce, Rio decided to try them out.


    "Whoa, so sweet! It''s good¡­" (Lia)


    Rio ended up buying a whole bunch of them after hearing Lia''sments on that.


    He handed over most of them to Lia as the two continued on their way.


    "You don''t like sweet stuff?" (Lia)


    This question has been in Lia''s mind for a long time, she noticed that Rio gave nearly all of the sweets to her and only ate a few himself.


    "Hmm, it''s not that I don''t like them¡­ it''s just they make me remember some unpleasant things¡­" (Rio)


    A confused look appeared on Lia''s face as she stuffed her mouth with the sweets.


    "I was once¡­ forget it¡­ it''s nothing special¡­" (Rio)


    Lia was genuinely surprised at Rio''s hesitant tone.


    This was the first time she had seen Rio hesitate. Before this, she always thought that Rio was the type of guy who never hesitated in anything and was always calm-minded.


    But today for the first time she noticed an expression of ''feeling unpleasant'' in Rio''s eyes.


    Although she wanted to know more about it, she didn''t ask further as she didn''t want to make him remember bad memories.


    Just when Lia was busy contemting in her mind, she didn''t even notice that she was dragged to a very quiet ce unknowingly.


    "Here we are, this is the ce I was talking about¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, Lia finally came back to her senses and noticed that the two of them were now standing on a small hill.


    A forest was behind them and right in front of them was the amazing sight of the city of Rhymel, shining under the red rays of the setting sun.


    Rio then dragged Lia to a nearby bench.


    (A road goes from this small hill, that''s the route they took to arrive here but Lia was too busy in her thoughts to notice it¡­ This also shows that, when she is with Rio, she doesn''t worry about where he will take her...)


    Looking at the amazing scenery while sitting on the bench, Lia felt calm and happy at the same time.


    "I really am blessed to have met you¡­ Rio¡­" (Lia)


    "Haha, no, I am the one who is blessed¡­" (Rio)


    Both of them thought of each other as a ray of hope that was guiding them through the sea of darkness.


    The redemption of Lia who was destined for darkness proves that Broken ''paths'' can be fixed.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since Ist wrote a chapter from Lia''s perspective, so here it is!


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think is blessed?


    1. Rio and Lia (Love is rare, not everyone gets it¡­)


    2. You (You got to witness this love story, you might be blessed too perhaps?)


    3. Author (The author got to write this story, thus he considers himself blessed¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 225 Fix a broken Path...? Part-3.

    Chapter 225 Fix a broken ''Path''...? Part-3.


    ??Rhymel, southwestern area, atop a small hill.


    The sun slowly set and the night view of the city became clear.


    Seeing the night view of the city, Lia was content.


    In her opinion, this trip to the Elven Empire was already a great sess, that''s how beautiful the scenery was from here.


    The lights in this world are enhanced by magic, thus they don''t create ''light pollution'', and that''s why you can still see the starry sky.


    Under the starry sky, a giant world tree stood unmoving, and near its base stood a bright city.


    From time to time some leaves from the world tree would fall on the city and add another charm to this scenery.


    "It''s beautiful..." (Lia)


    "Indeed" (Rio)


    In fact, Rio wasn''t really looking at the scenery, he was looking at Lia''s face who was smiling in excitement, for him that was the most interesting thing.


    Lia didn''t notice Rio''s sneaky looks, she got up and took some photos of the scenery.


    Later Both Rio and Lia took a selfie together to keep it as a memory.


    ...


    Time passed, and night came, it was already 8 P.M. by the time the two of them were done enjoying the scenery.


    *Yaaawn~*


    "I feel sleepy~" (Lia)


    Seeing that cute sleepy look on Lia''s face, Rio said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "You should go back now, it''s gettingte..." (Rio)


    "Yeah- hmm, me? What about you? Aren''t youing with me?" (Lia)


    A confused look appeared on Lia''s face, she was quite surprised by his words.


    "Yeah, I have something to do... you should head back for now..." (Rio)


    "Oh, well if you say so..." (Lia)


    Although Lia wanted to know further details, she didn''t question much. She knew that Rio had always been a secretive guy.


    She didn''t mind it much and waved her hand to say bye and left with a smile, she kept looking at the photos that she clicked today, all the way back until she reached back to her room.


    Seeing Lia''s fading figure, the slight calmness around Rio disappeared instantly and his aura became exceptionally cold and sharp.


    He tilted his head towards a certain tree nearby and said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "You shoulde out now... you have been standing there for so long, aren''t you tired?" (Rio)


    A strange silence ensued in the area after Rio said those words.


    After a few seconds of strange silence, the other party gave up hiding.


    *Step**Step*


    "I am surprised you were able to detect me.... Well, I guess no ''candidate'' who was able to make it here is ordinary after all... sigh..." (???)


    Rio stared at the other party and he immediately confirmed his guess.


    ''So, he dide here after all... my guess was right... good.'' (Rio)


    "Ah, Let me introduce myself first-" (???)


    "Ailduin Yeljyre, The crown prince of the Elven Empire, the ''Millennial Druid'' title holder... Blessed with the talent of a ''demi-god''..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio pronounce all of his titles and exaggerate him that much, the guy felt quite embarrassed.


    "Ahem, cough... I-I didn''t expect you to know so much about me, by the way... please don''t call me with that weird a*s title again! It''s so embarrassing! Just Call me ''Al'' in short!" (Al)


    Al coughed a few more times as he walked over to the bench and sat down beside Rio.


    It took him quite a few seconds to calm down.


    Eventually, his face returned to normal.


    Rio scanned the guy upside down once again to confirm whether this was the rumored ''scumbag'' prince or not.


    Al has the same greenish hair as Ryul, the elf king. His hair and pupils are greenish in color with a slight golden tint in them. He is the most handsome guy Rio has ever seen in his life until now.


    (Yes, Al is more handsome than even Link...)


    But quite a few odd things stood out among all, first of all, he hadrge dark circles under his eyes, moreover, his aura seemed weak and fragile which shouldn''t be the case for a normal peak A-ranker like Al.


    Those with underdeveloped ''detection'' skills might not be able to notice the strangeness in Al''s aura, but Rio was easily able to see through it.


    ''Just like it was said in the novel...'' (Rio)


    Just when Rio was busy thinking in his mind, Al smiled a bit and said in a calm voice.


    "But seriously... uh, can you restrain your aura first... You know that your aura is quite oppressive, right?" (Al)


    Only when Al said that did Rio notice that all this while he was pressing the other party with his immense aura.


    ''Hmm, did I use it unconsciously because he was stalking me and Lia...'' (Rio)


    Rio nodded his head and restrained his aura instantly.


    As if relieved of some heavy weight from his shoulders, Al instantly leaned his back on the back of the bench and panted a little bit.


    Rio rarely uses his aura to pressure others, thus he didn''t know that his aura was condensed and enhanced by his improved ''sword intent''.


    His aura is a bit too much for weaker people like Al.


    ...


    A few minutes passed by and silence ensued between the two, Al stared at the bright city in front of him and a sad look appeared on his face.


    "heh, crown prince you say¡­ it''s just an empty title¡­ it''s worthless garbage¡­" (Al)


    At Al''s words, Rio shook his head and said in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Aren''t you able to enjoy immense wealth due to that one title? Why do you still hate it that much?" (Rio)


    "Well¡­ in the eyes of an outsider like you¡­ this title might seem quite good but¡­ only I know how heavy the burden this title holds¡­" (Al)


    Al stretched out his hand towards the bright moon in the sky andughed at his own pathetess.


    His haggard face and the dark circles under his tired eyes seemed more visible under the shine of the bright moon.


    "I once dreamt of achieving the ''peak'', I wanted to prove my worth, my existence¡­ but¡­ then appeared a light that was much brighter than my own¡­ it was so bright that it was blinding¡­" (Al)


    "You are trying to say that someone more talented than you appeared, and you stood no chance against the other party?" (Rio)


    "Someone who canpete with the elf prince to such an extent¡­ you must be talking about your sister then¡­" (Rio)


    Al was surprised at first but then he smiled.


    "Heh, you are very smart, I see, your reputation as ''Darkstar'' Rio is not just for show¡­" (Al)


    Al sighed to himself and said.


    "Well, that''s to be expected of someone who can go toe to toe with a monster like Link Rex, the son of the world-renowned Ashtel Rex¡­" (Al)


    At Al''s words, Rio shook his head.


    "No, you think too highly of me¡­ I have yet to score a single win against that guy, he is strong¡­" (Rio)


    Aside from that ''soul-splitting'' skill, Rio actually has no counterattacks for Link.


    Rio certainly can''t use soul-splitting on his friends.


    With his sword intent and other skills, he can only ''keep up'' with Link''s insane physique, there''s no other skill in his arsenal that can fatally injure Link.


    Although Rio doesn''t like to admit it, Link is one of the few persons whom Rio respects for their amazing capabilities.


    "Haha, being able to keep up with him is already a big deal you know¡­pared to you I am more of a garbage, I can''t even keep up with my little sister... sigh..." (Al)


    At Al''s words, Rio shook his head.


    "No, you are mistaken, I am only able to keep up with him in bat'', but that guy has an insane talent for everything¡­ he is a master at games, sports, piano, singing, cooking, politics, ounting, etc..." (Rio)


    "The skills that guy has makes him a monster through and through¡­" (Rio)


    While saying that, there was genuine admiration in Rio''s eyes, if not for the fact that Link was described as a ''viin'' character in the novel, Rio would have really mistaken him as the ''Main Character'' of this world.


    Hearing Rio say that Al''s eyes widened more and more in surprise.


    Although he knew a bit of insider info, only a few people in the world knew about Link''s skills that were not rted tobat.


    "You can''t be serious right? Is that guy even human?" (Al)


    "Now that I think about it¡­ even my sister who is so talented doesn''t hold a candle against that guy then¡­ sigh~ the world is so wide there are so many monsters out there¡­." (Al)


    Just when Al said that Rio immediately put his hand on Al''s shoulder and looked directly into Al''s eyes.


    "Yes, that''s exactly what I am trying to say, there are many talented ''monsters'' out there, you shouldn''t envy them, the reason why your aura has be weaker..." (Rio)


    "Is because you envied the talent of your sister a bit too much and forgot about your own ''Path''¡­ that unsolidified ''Path'' was fragile and this carelessness caused the breaking of your ''Path''¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s words, Al''s eyes widened in shock.


    As if he was struck by a sudden epiphany, the glow in his eyes returned. The me of ambition that was just about to die out once again burned in his eyes.


    [Ding! The ''Broken Path'' has been fixed!]


    [Ding! The mes of ambition burn brightly in your heart once again!]


    [Ding! Your mental state has returned to normal!]


    [Ding! You got an epiphany!]


    [Ding! Ascending to Rank S!]


    A massive amount of mana started to gather around Al instantly. A massive tornado of mana started to form, and the sudden appearance of dark clouds hid the stars in the sky.


    Thunder roared among the dark clouds, and the insanely condensed mana instantly obliterated the small hill on which Rio and Al were sitting.


    The Whole Elven Capital''s attention was grabbed by this one event, it was truly an unexpected sight.


    As they say: ''Inspiration or epiphanyes in the most unexpected moments...''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Rio really has talent in ''redeeming'' viins and showing them the proper path...


    Question of the day.


    Do you know why Al had such a sudden epiphany?


    1. It''s because he was acknowledged for the first time, by Rio.


    2. It''s because he figured out the conflicts in his heart¡­


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 226 Redemption of a depressed prince... Part-1

    Chapter 226 Redemption of a depressed prince... Part-1


    ??A few hours ago, Royal Pce, guest room.


    "A lot of the older SS-rankers have now been reced in the past ten years, so the representatives that will arrive will likely be new faces¡­" (Ryul)


    "Reced?" (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ryul''s solemn tone, Ashtel squinted his eyes.


    "Yeah, many of the previous representatives have retired voluntarily, and now a younger generation has taken over their roles¡­" (Ryul)


    "Although it doesn''t change anything for us, it certainly is going to be a lot livelier in the meeting tomorrow¡­" (Ryul)


    At Ryul''s words, Ashtel nodded his head in agreement.


    "Well, we also have a new SS-ranker now¡­ but we technically can''t count him as a part of the younger generation¡­" (Ashtel)


    While saying that Ashtel gave a strange nce to Jin.


    Jin once used to fight in the Fifty Years Orc War, during the same time as Ashtel.


    But Jin was not talented enough and never reached the realm of demigods during the war, unlike Ashtel, Neo, and Nics.


    It took him a long time to ascend to SS rank and now he is over ny years old, so he can''t be considered a part of the new generation anymore.


    (Indeed! Ashtel, Neo, Jin, and Anna all were born near the starting years of the Orc war, now they all are actually around ny years old¡­)


    Anna is actually a lot older than Raji, but she never reached SS rank and Raji was a lot more talented than her.


    These numbers may seem high, but keep in mind that the lifespan of people ranked S or above is very big.


    Taking their big lifespan into consideration, they are all rtively young actually.


    In Ryul''s case, he has already ruled the elf nation for a hundred years and it took him at least a hundred years to reach the rank of ''SS'' and be the king, thus he himself is at least two hundred years old.


    "Well, it''s not like I really was talented in the first ce, It was just a fluke that I was able to ascend to the realm of demi-gods¡­ I don''t think I will be able to make any further progress though¡­" (Jin)


    Indeed, Jin was right, although with the help of a sudden ''enlightenment'' he was able to ascend one rank further, any more progress than this would be extremely difficult for him.


    ''Enlightenment'' helps individuals break through their limits and reach a higher state, but it doesn''t increase ''Talent'' or ''Potential''.


    This means, that Jin still just has the S-rank talent, and with the improvement speed of an S-rank talent, progressing further in the realm of demi-god will be like:


    ''Trying to fly to the heavens with wings that are so small that they can''t even lift the user from the ground¡­''


    It might take him decades to make even the slightest bit of progress and in that small time frame, new SS-rankers will pop up all over the world.


    After all, there is no shortage of ''Talented'' people in this world.


    ¡­


    "Forget it, it''s not like I haven''t dealt with newbies before¡­ I have held this meeting nine times before, now is the tenth time..." (Ryul)


    "I have met many hot-headed guys over the past century¡­" (Ryul)


    While saying the word ''hot-headed'' Ryul purposely red at Ashtel with narrowed eyes.


    Ashtel totally ignored that re and didn''t bother arguing with Ryul, he nced at Syvis sitting right beside Ryul and said in his usual calm tone.


    "I have brought a very talented kid along with me this time, she has the talent to be a ''Demi-god'' level ''healer'' in the future¡­ I would like to have her trained under your care in the next few days¡­" (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, Ryul and Syvis''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    "W-what!? A kid with the potential to be an SS-rank healer has appeared!?" (Ryul)


    "This is a great news!" (Syvis)


    As Riya was not as popr as Link and the others, not many people in the world knew that she had the potential to reach rank SS, so Ashtel asked Syvis to train her on purpose.


    Syvis herself is one of the only two SS-rank healers in this world and she would be the best teacher for Riya.


    The reason why they both were so surprised was because the appearance of a healer with the potential to reach rank SS is extremely rare.


    You can assume their rarity by the fact that there are at least around fifty SS-rankers in the whole world but only two are healers among them, most of them arebat types.


    Any healer who has the potential to reach rank SS is a literal world treasure, the whole world would wee them with open arms. (Except for the demon race obviously¡­)


    There exists a Mythic grade healing potion in this world and only an SS rank healer can create it by condensing their own life essence into it.


    This potion can heal any wound, curse, or debuff. It can heal a broken soul or a destroyed consciousness, it can heal corruption and even if your head is sted off, you can still regenerate it with this potion.


    The whole world wants to have such a potion in their possession.


    That''s why, whenever a new SS-rank healer appears, the whole world will try its best to pull them over to their side.


    If one day the Elf queen wants to leave the Elven Empire, she can settle down in any corner of the world and live there respectfully, this is the importance of an SS rank healer. (Except for the demon race of course¡­)


    ¡­


    Syvis nodded her head and said with a smile on her face.


    "Good, I will personally train that girl then, I am quite sure that the whole world will benefit from the appearance of a new SS rank healer¡­" (Syvis)


    "Yes! You can never have enough healers! They must always be protected and raised with great care!" (Ryul)


    Ryul immediately narrowed his eyes and said in a solemn tone:


    "If not for the fact that the elf race already has Syvis, even we might be tempted to poach that little girl for ourselves¡­" (Ryul)


    "But other races would not think like us¡­ they will definitely try many ways to get that little girl on their side¡­" (Ryul)


    "I am quite sure that there will be people who will be ready to give enormous resources and treasures to her for free if they knew about her talent¡­" (Ryul)


    "Will she be able to ignore such sweet offers? Aren''t you worried that she will leave the human empire?" (Ryul)


    Hearing Ryul''s words, Ashtel simply smirked.


    "Heh, I have taken care of that a long time ago, you know¡­ she is engaged to my son and they have a fairly good rtionship, I don''t think she will be able to rid of her affection for my son just for the sake of a few resources¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Moreover, there is no shortage of resources in the human race, we reward the talented kids properly, and if someone tried to use force, then hehehe¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel didn''t say anything further, he just clenched his fist a little and the atmosphere in the room became insanely heavy.


    Even Jin and the other two could feel a chill run down their spines at Ashtel''s actions.


    The space itself seemed to copse in Ashtel''s fist, his title as the ''Strongest human'' was no joke after all.


    Just when the atmosphere in the room was a bit tense, a sudden fluctuation in the mana instantly attracted the attention of all four of them.


    All four of them looked directly in a certain direction as they sensed the huge condensation of mana.


    "This!? Someone broke through rank S all of a sudden!?" (Jin)


    "This aura!? It''s AL!? He broke through rank S so suddenly!?" (Ryul)


    All four of them were surprised by the sudden mana fluctuations, they all instantly teleported and arrived directly above the massive mana cyclone.


    Ryul waved his hand and ced a barrier to protect themon people from harm and isted the mana cyclone inside.


    (All four of them arrived a few secondste as they were shocked by the suddenness of the situation, these few seconds were enough for a certain someone to wear his ''shadow robe'' and flee from the ce unnoticed¡­)


    With a solemn look hanging over his face, Ryul stared below with worry in his heart.


    "Such a sudden breakthrough¡­ if he failed¡­ he will suffer a lot of damage¡­" (Ryul)


    A Ryul''s worried tone, Syvis tried to calm him a bit.


    "No need to worry, I will heal him if something goes wrong¡­" (Syvis)


    Although it was true that Syvis could heal him from even a near-death state, still as a mother, she was worried about her child too.


    Looking at all this, Ashtel simply shook his head and said:


    "You two are worrying too much, I can already sense that he is undergoing a ''perfect'' breakthrough¡­ it''s not gonna fail¡­" (Ashtel)


    Only after hearing Ashtel did the two of them calm down a bit.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Riya is much more precious than we might have thought before¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, which race will you choose to live with while being a human yourself?


    1. Elf


    2. Orc


    3. Dwarves


    4. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 227 Redemption of a depressed prince... Part-2.

    Chapter 227 Redemption of a depressed prince... Part-2.


    ??Born in the royal family and under the blessings of the whole empire, the prince of the Elven Empire was loved by everyone.


    He grew up under the care of professionals and got the best possible teachings from selected people.


    In the small eyes of the young prince, a me of ambition appeared.


    Wanting to prove that everyone''s expectations of him were not wrong, wanting to prove that his existence was not a disappointment, and wanting to prove that he could carry the burden of his father on his shoulders.


    As the only son of the King of the Elves, great expectations burdened him from a very young age.


    The maids that took care of his daily needs, would tell him stories about his father''s heroic deeds, and his mother would tell him stories about how she adventured with his father in her younger days.


    To the young prince, it was all so fascinating to hear when he was young, but as he grew up he started to realize a difficult reality.


    The world was not just a happy and good ce, thousands of soldiers die every year to protect their homnd from the Demon race. (The elf continent is the closest ce to the demon continent... they will be the first to get attack in case of war...)


    And even this number was very low actually, in case of wars, the death of hundreds of thousands of people wasmon in this world.


    Seeing the great burdens that were weighing on his father''s shoulders, the young prince became desperate for power.


    As he grew up, his parents started to rarely meet him and they started to focus on their work more instead of spending time with him.


    The time spent with parents shortened a lot, but there was still a saving light in the young prince''s world.


    He had a younger sister to talk to, she was five years younger than him but she was quite smart for her age. (Yeah, Al is five years older than Rio and others...)


    At the age of fifteen, the young prince became an ''awakener'', he was happy to find out that he had the talent to one day shoulder the burdens that were weighing his father.


    He now had a way to prove his worth.


    The young prince took part in variouspetitions and tournaments from that day onwards, he fought awakeners from all over the empire in the hope of improving himself much fasterpared to his peers.


    Winning tournaments over and over, creating amazing records one after another, became a daily thing for the young prince.


    His poprity in the empire increased to an all-time high as he proved himself worthy of the crown from a very young age.


    Moreover, he was happy to see that his younger sister looked at him with awe whenever he told her stories about his adventures.


    To him, those were days of great joy.


    But as they say: ''Nothing in this world is absolute...''


    The day came when his young little sister who always used to look up to him awakened her talent too.


    And as the only daughter of the Elf King, she proved herself to be more than worthy.


    She awakened talent equaling her older brother, but her progress was much faster than her older brother.


    Her abilities were insanely good and none of her peers were her match.


    She went ahead and broke every single record that Al had created on his journey to fame.


    She was awed by her brother''s brilliance and wanted to walk on his path but in chasing after her brother she never noticed that the eyes of her brother had changed over time.


    He used to dote on her before, but as she continued to challenge his reputation further and further, her brother started to see her as a great rival.


    But even that didn''tst long.


    Al reached peak rank A at the age of 22, and his younger sister who was now only 17 had already reached the same realm as him.


    This was thest hit that made him fall into the abyss of self-me.


    It is in nature of a living creature that if they can''t do something correct they end up resorting to self-me and self-me further destroys your own mindset.


    Al was certainly not slow actually, his father Ryul took nearly a hundred years to reach the rank SS, which was already a very fast speed by the standards of an Elf.


    Unlike humans, Elves have a very long lifespan and thus they mature slowerpared to humans.


    Humans at the age of 20 to 25 are already fully mature and might even reach their full potential if they work hard enough, but things are different for the Elves.


    Their longer lifespan causes them to mature slower and thus they take a lot more years to reach the same rank as humans do. (A long life is not always a good thing...)


    Al certainly had a bright future ahead of him if he continued to mind his own business and work hard to improve.


    But his ambition was to be the world''s best, he wanted to reach the peak and the moment when he saw his younger sister surpass him, he understood one thing:


    ''That he can''t be the best.''


    The moment Al realized this thing, his ''Path'' was already broken, his self-ming caused the mes of ambition to go extinct from his eyes, his aura weakened and his ego was shattered under the bright and radiant image of his younger sister.


    In this world, ''breaking'' of ''path'' happens when the individual ends up extinguishing their mes of ambition and dreams.


    Dreams, ambition, and a will to improve are one of the main reasons why the awakening even happens after all.


    By giving up on your own dreams, you will cut off your future and the ''path'' you wanted to strive for will be broken leading to degradation.


    Once a person''s ambition runs out and their ''path'' is broken, they can never progress any further than they already have, moreover, their strength will decline considerably.


    (Although you would still remain in the same rank, you will never be able to progress any further¡­ that''s how serious this issue is¡­)


    This ''broken'' path concept sounds extremely serious and dangerous but it is actually extremely rare.


    Among millions of awakeners, only a dozen of them ever experience such a phenomenon.


    After all, dreams and ambitions are ever-changing, and just like that a ''path'' is not a straight and solidified line.


    Over the years your thinking might change and you might want to pursue something else and thus your ''path'' will change with your ambitions, it''s not set in stone that you can''t bend your ''path'' to other directions.


    Only those whopletely give up on their future and end up resorting to extreme self-me, end up with this rare situation called ''Broken Path'' and this is exactly what happened to Al.


    ''Broken Path'' is a rare condition, but it can be cured.


    It''s not permanent, if the individual somehow realizes his own worth and a new me of ambition or hope is lit then ''repairing'' that broken path is not impossible.


    Sometimes just a simple gesture as being ''patted'' on the shoulder with eptance, can cure this phenomenon.


    Rio knew from the start about this ''Broken path'' phenomenon as it had appeared in theter chapters of the novel, also he knew about Al''s circumstances.


    In his opinion, just a simple push was enough, he timed his words well and gave the example of Link, which made Al realize that every individual is unique.


    There was no need to pursue the title of the best, it was good enough to improve on your pace.


    From Rio''s words, Al realized that he needed to stopparing himself to monsters like Link.


    The moment that realization came to Al, Rio ced his hand of eptance on Al''s shoulder.


    That was the moment Al''s ''predetermined fate'' of being face-


    pped by Fade changed, the threads of fate changed due to the influence of an ''Anomaly'' and Al got a sudden ''Epiphany''.


    The appearance of that epiphany was so perfectly timed that it immediately solidified Al''s broken path and he directly made a breakthrough.


    The umted hard work that had no ce to go, instantly burst forth when the broken path was finally mended again.


    This instantly pushed Al to rank S and he immediately ascended due to his previous efforts.


    Rio only yed a very minimal role in all this, all he did was just say a few words and pat Al once that''s all he did.


    Al was able to break through and achieve epiphany because of his umted efforts that had had nowhere to go and were dormant in his body.


    Knowing that his work here was done, Rio donned his shadow robe and left the ce unnoticed by others.


    Only one thought came to his mind as he left.


    ''Good, now I don''t have to worry about the rtions between elves and humans breaking and I won''t be hunted down by the elves like crazy¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio never liked troublesome things, that''s why he took action this time to alter the plot and change it to his own liking.


    He didn''t want to get involved in troublesome things because of Fade''s carelessness and that''s why he thought of this method.


    To him, it was just a normal or random thing to do, but for Al, this was the greatest moment of his life.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that Rio really has some great repulsion to trouble, he literally changed the plot to his liking so that he doesn''t get involved in ridiculous bullsh*t¡­


    The impact created by this little anomaly is really a big deal¡­


    Question of the day.


    What would you have done if you were in Rio''s ce?


    1. Ignore (Ignore Fade''s face-pping session, but then you will get chased by the elves as Fade would kill Al, and you will be a wanted criminal as hisrade¡­)


    2. Kill (Kill Fade first and then live a happy life, all problems get solved if a disaster ma like Fade dies¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 228 An insight on a world without Rio... (Skippable)

    <h4>Chapter 228 An insight on a world without Rio... (Skippable) </h4>


    (At the end of this chapter has some insights on what the current situation would have been if Rio hadn''t altered the original plot, read it with your own caution, because we are talking about Fade here, so brain rot is possible!)


    ...


    Time passed slowly and after a few hours, Al was sessfully able to ascend, moreover, due to the help of the sudden epiphany he seemed a bit stronger than usual newly ascended S-rankers from the get-go.


    Al opened his eyes and a smile appeared on his face after a long time.


    The original haggard and tired look on his face seems to have disappeared all now and his vitality has soured to a new level.


    The weak and fragile aura that lingered around him earlier has solidified at this time and he has be a genuine S-ranker now.


    ''Sigh, it was wasting my time on alcohol and worldly things, I would have progressed more if I hadn''t resorted to self-me...'' (Al)


    Al could also feel it now.


    The reason why he wasn''t progressing was because of his own mentality.


    Due to being in depression, he ended up resorting to heavy drinking and going to various clubs.


    His reputation of being a scumbag spread because he got in trouble with several people in the clubs after being high on alcohol.


    Loss of reputation further pushed him deeper into the abyss of depression, eventually causing harm to his progress.


    Just when Al was busy thinking about various things in his head, his parents rushed over to check on his condition.


    Only after confirming that Al had safely ascended did they both heaved a sigh of relief.


    Seeing such a concerned look on their faces for him, Al felt ashamed in his heart.


    He rarely meets his parents these days as they are busy at work, thus he has built up resentment for them, but now that he saw their concerned looks he realized that it was all just his own idiocy.


    His parents never really stopped caring for him, they were just too busy. This realization finally caused the heavy burden of negative feelings in his heart to disappear.


    "You really were careless this time, if we hadn''t taken action on time, the mana storm caused by your ascension could have troubled a lot of civilians..." (Ryul)


    "But I guess it''s okay, after all, no one was harmed anyway, so congrattions on bing an S-ranker..." (Ryul)


    "Although you will have to shoulder a lot of responsibilities from now on, this major breakthrough is still a great thing!" (Ryul)


    "I will be more than happy to help get rid of some burden from your shoulders, Father..." (Al)


    Syvis patted Al''s head and smiled.


    "Our son has grown up, it''s a moment worth celebrating... I will make a handmade cake for today!" (Syvis)


    "Oooh! Nice" (Ryul)


    "Good!" (Al)


    While the three were having a happy family time, Ashtel and Jin stood nearby silently.


    "Ahem, I think I should excuse myself now..." (Ashtel)


    "y-Yeah, I too..." (Jin)


    They both didn''t want to be a distraction when those three were enjoying their family time, so they simply excused themselves and left hurriedly.


    ...


    Rio''s room.


    Unconcerned about all the chaos that he had created, Rio was sipping tea at this moment while watching TV.


    ''As I thought, he broke through easily...'' (Rio)


    Rio sensed that the mana in the surrounding calmed down after the massive mana storm disappeared, thus he knew that Al must have broken through by now.


    The reason why Rio thought about taking this step was simple.


    He knew that plot and he knew that he could manipte the plot, so he did so to stop any trouble toe his way.


    ''If possible I would like to enjoy the scenery here for a longer time...'' (Rio)


    ...


    ording to the novel.


    Fade and Kira would have been the only two people to have arrived at the meeting from humanity''s side as all talented people like Link, Liam, Ellie, and Riya would have been dead by now.


    Lia would have already be a subordinate of the demon king after going through demonization and thus would have been on the wanted list.


    Those who defect to the demon race be international criminals and are hunted down by all races.


    Moreover, Rio would have been a simple extra in the story, he would have already been expelled from the academy by the end of the first year.


    He would have never met, James and thus never would have known about his father''s mysterious past. His life would have been very ordinary but peaceful.


    (Fun Fact: If Rio had left the academy early on when he had just transmigrated into this world, he could have fulfilled his dream of living a peaceful life, but then he couldn''t have met Lia¡­)


    In the original plot, Fade would have taken Kira to the nightclub to party and spend some quality time. (Yeah, Elves also have clubs¡­ they are not that primitive in terms of technology¡­)


    But then the dead drunk side-kicks of Al would try to flirt with Kira, Fade would get angry and face-p them all.


    Then those side-kicks will invite their dead drunk boss Al out to force Fade to apologize but as Fade is the protagonist how could he say the word ''Sorry'', where would his face go if he apologized?


    Thus he would shout and swear that if he didn''t kill them all today then he wouldn''t be a human being, after some casual cursing the two sides would fight.


    Al being weak and fragile due to the broken ''path'' problem, while still being dead drunk will lose immediately and then his side-kicks will shout that he is the son of the Elf king and Fade should apologize for hitting him.


    Then Fade would get even angrier at those words, he would say ''Even if the elf king came today, he must also kneel in front of me and beg for forgiveness!''


    Things would escte and the side-kicks would retreat with their fainted boss while swearing to take revenge on Fade.


    Then Fade and Al will have a fight in the tournament as Fade would directly challenge him in front of the whole stadium.


    Al will lose but Fade will go one step ahead and will directly kill Al right in front of the Elf king.


    And then the usual routine of chasing and killing will follow.


    By this time Ashtel, and Raji both would have been ten feet under the ground, so the one who took Fade to the meeting would have been Neo alone, he would have suffered the wrath of Ryul and Syvis and would have gotten injured.


    Fade''s carelessness would cause the demise of the good rtions between the Elves and the humans.


    Then war starts, and humans suffer under the onught of the elven armies.


    You must keep in mind that by this point there would have been no SS-ranker to protect the human empire, Jin would have never even ascended to rank SS in the first ce so don''t even bother thinking about him.


    Then Fade slowly rises to power over the years and contributes a lot to the war, he would have be the savior, the hero of the human race revered by all.


    Eventually, he would have killed Ryul and Syvis, and after defeating the Elven army, he would be considered the strongest person in the world. (Syvis refused to be his woman so he killed her¡­)


    People will treat him as a celebrity even and will forget about the fact that he was the one who started the war in the first ce.


    No one will say bad things about him as the aura of a protagonist is no joke.


    By this time Fade would have a harem of at least fifty women.


    Yes, it''s not even a joke, every son of the heavens is born as the most handsome guy, you don''t expect Fade to be ordinary in looks, do you?


    Fade actually found a beautifying technique from the system store, which made him more handsome than even Link in the future.


    People like Rio who are just ordinary in looks don''t even stand a chance in front of Fade''s handsomeness!


    ''As for that elf princess¡­ I didn''t even have to read the novel to guess what happened¡­'' (Rio)


    She gets love-struck by Fade at the very first sight and ends up being the one to reveal all the secrets of the elven army to Fade, thus causing the copse of her own empire under Fade''s deliberate maniption.


    Technically, she helped Fade kill her parents and destroy the Elven Empire.


    ''Instead of Al who is rumored to be a scumbag, I would rather want to stay away from that two-faced princess¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio wanted to stay away from the princess, but he didn''t take into consideration one key thing, and that was, that Fade wasn''t even an A-ranker now, and the princess was already a peak A-ranker.


    So it''s going to be impossible for Fade''s protagonist aura to affect her at this point.


    (The best way to avoid being influenced by the protagonist''s aura is either you be stronger than the protagonist¡­ or you kill the protagonist¡­)


    The reason why Rio hasn''t killed Fade yet is because he is still uncertain and also he has a use for him.


    ''I have no idea how the heavens will react if Fade died¡­'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since I talked about the original novel''s plot so here it is, enjoy reading about a world where Rio would not have interfered!


    Question of the day.


    If you were in Rio''s ce, would you dare to alter the plot to your like Rio is doing?


    1. Yes (I would do anything to save goddess Lia!)


    2. No (I would have gone to a distant corner of the world and would have lived there peacefully¡­ this might actually be a good idea¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 229 The Meeting of Gods! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 229 The Meeting of Gods! Part-1. </h4>


    Elven Empire, capital city, The day of the meeting.


    A hidden underground hall.


    Around a massive roundtable representatives of all races sat in silence.


    No one talked and no one whispered.


    Each of them being an SS-ranker, they all had a reputation to protect.


    The members of several races could be seen sitting around the table, elves, humans, dwarves, Orcs, Ogre, etc.


    Aside from the SS-rankers, those races who don''t have SS-rankers to represent them are being represented by their strongest S-rankers and are only allowed to stand and listen from the sideline.


    They didn''t even have the right to speak in this meeting, all they could do was stand near the walls and listen.


    But none of them dared to disagree with this arrangement.


    They might be strongest in their races, but in front of so many SS-rankers, they were worth nothing.


    It was already fortunate that the alliance is graceful and provides benefits to them too even though they don''t have SS-rankers among them.


    Weaker races like Goblins, kobolds, etc. aren''t even qualified to attend this meeting as they don''t even have S-rankers among them.


    The appearance of an A-ranker is already a big deal for weak races like them, not to mention rank S.


    Looking around in total, you could see at least 25 SS-rankers gathered here including Ryul, Syvis, Ashtel, and Jin.


    The races who had conflicts with each other were seated far away from each other and those who had better interracial rtions were seated near each other.


    This was all arranged by Ryul on purpose, he didn''t want any conflict to happen in his own empire after all.


    Hosting such a massive meeting and making so many SS rankers obey rules is a really difficult task.


    Even the slightest bit of mistake could cause massive problems.


    Although the Elven race is not afraid of any other race as they have four SS-rankers on their side, it''s always good to keep a friendly rtionship.


    The reason why everyone has chosen the Elven kingdom to hold this meeting is also because everyone is more likely to trust the Elves as they have maintained good rtions with nearly all of the races


    Currently, only Elves and Humans are the two races strong enough to hold a meeting of such a massive scale, if this many SS-rankers suddenly came to the territory of a weaker race, it may cause unpredictable chaos.


    Moreover, other races are well informed about how cunning and shrewd the humans are, thus they have put their trust in Elves.


    The thinking is simple, Humans and Elves have a great cooperative international rtionship, thus if anyone can influence the policies of the human empire, then it is the Elves.


    To keep the immense power of the human race''s advanced technologies in check, other races have voted to elect the Elves as the head of the whole Alliance.


    The rumor that Elves are a benevolent race is not really wrong entirely, they are at least more trustworthy than the shrewd humans.


    (Originally, fairies were the ones who were given the position of the head of the whole Alliance... but now that position is in Ryul''s hand.)


    And the decision taken by the members of the alliance was not entirely wrong either, from time to time, Elves have helped many races from facing extinction, thus they have good rtions with nearly every member of the Alliance.


    Moreover, Elves have the only SS-rank healer avable in the world. (That water dragon doesn''t even stay on the much, so her being an SS-rank healer is irrelevant...)


    No one wants to offend the Elves because of the presence of Syvis Leocaryn. If one day she got offended by a race, then it would be a great loss to the entire race.


    Other races will start isting them.


    That''s why, Syvis is not only a healer but a tactical weapon to keep all races in check.


    ...


    Once everyone arrived at the underground hall, all gates were shut tight and an SS-rank magic circle, which was carved all over the walls of the hall started to operate.


    It could iste any disturbance from the outside.


    Now it was time to finally start the ''Meeting of Gods''.


    *Ahem*


    "First of all, I wee all of you once again, I am pleased to see that no one is absent from the meeting and everyone has arrived on time..." (Ryul)


    Ryul started his speech in a confident and happy tone.


    Hearing Ryul''s words, nearly everyone nodded their head to show that they had epted his hospitality.


    "Now that we have all finally gathered here to discuss important matters, let''s not waste time and go straight to the main topic first!" (Ryul)


    The smile on Ryul''s face faded away and his face became solemn instantly, everyone was a bit confused by this sudden change of atmosphere, but they didn''t object to anything.


    Ryul tapped the table in front of him and a massive hologram appeared in the middle area of the table.


    "I suppose you all know that we use, ''Sce'' to calcte major problems right and with the near-urate calcting abilities of that advanced mind..." (Ryul)


    Although some of the races present here are very bad at technology, nearly every SS-ranker has heard about ''Sce'' more or less.


    They all know that it was once created by the legendary ''King Allen von Reinhart'' and thus they have no doubt about its uracy.


    Its main brain is located in the human empire but none of the races doubts Sce''s credibility.


    "This is the data we got from Sce¡­" (Ryul)


    A massive bar graph with simpleparisons appeared on the hologram.


    Although it was just mere data and the hologram itself did not have much of an impact, the numbers and the information shown by the bar graph were something extremely shocking.


    "W-what the!?"


    "T-this!?"


    "H-how is this possible!?"


    SS-rankers generally never lose their cool, but today, when they looked at the data on this bar graph, they all instantly became shocked.


    Even the S-rankers who were standing silently in the background couldn''t help but widen their eyes in shock while looking at this data.


    The representative of the Orc race suddenly got up from his seat in shock and questioned Ryul directly in a shocked voice.


    "Is this some kind of Joke!? There can''t be such an insane change in just the past ten years right!?"


    Although the Orc was questioning in a very loud voice, no one had the luxury to reprimand his rude behavior, all of them were just as bewildered as him.


    Ryul tapped the table two times with his hand.


    Everyone then went silent all of a sudden, even the orc representative sat down and calmed a bit. (It was a signal to sit and listen first¡­)


    Ryul''s tone turned extremely serious at this moment, he was definitely not in the mood to joke.


    Even the atmosphere in the hall became heavy.


    "Everyone, I know that you all are confused and surprised, in fact even I was just as surprised by this data¡­ but this is the exact data provided by ''Sce'' there''s no doubt about its authenticity¡­." (Ryul)


    Then Ryul nced at Ashtel as if giving him the signal to talk.


    At that moment, Ashtel immediately nodded his head and said in a serious tone.


    "Everyone, this data was calcted under my presence, I have kept my eyes on it from the start to the end, there''s no falsification in it, I can vouch for it myself¡­" (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, everyone went silent, no one dared to take the words of the ''Strongest'' lightly.


    They all understood the seriousness of this matter.


    "ording to the data collected¡­. ''corruption'' has started to increase at a speed hundred times faster in the past ten years¡­" (Ryul)


    "No, it would be more urate to say, the sudden increase in the spread of ''corruption'' came seven years ago from now¡­ the starting three years of the past decade were normal¡­" (Ryul)


    Hearing Ryul''s words, some of the representatives stared nkly at the hologram, some clutched their heads in frustration and some even gritted their teeth.


    The S-rankers standing nearby were even more frustrated, hearing this devastating news they all felt like their world was shaking.


    "And we all know what the increase in the spread of corruption means¡­ a massive increase in the poption of ''demons''¡­" (Ryul)


    "More and more high-level dungeon gates will start to open and the density of mana will increase with them, if left unattended dungeon waves will happen¡­" (Ryul)


    "All thisbined with the massive boost to the poption of the demons¡­ it would be a very devastating situation¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul waved his hand and a different bar graph appeared beside the previous one.


    "This is the data recorded by ''Sce Model 1'' and if you look closely¡­ this data is very simr to what we are seeing right now¡­" (Ryul)


    "The data ''sce 1'' collected was during its first decade, it was during the starting years of the great thousand-year war¡­ and the data we have today coincides with that¡­" (Ryul)


    Hearing Ryul''s words, all of the SS-rankers present felt extremely frustrated, some of them even started to deny reality at this point.


    "This can''t be, this can''t be¡­ just tell me this is all just a big joke!"


    Ryul simply shook his head solemnly.


    "I wish it was just a joke, but it''s all real data¡­ the density of Mana, Miasma, and corruption all have started to increase extremely fast since seven years ago¡­" (Ryul)


    "And this is extremely bad news¡­" (Ryul)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we have arrived at the meeting of gods after such a long wait! Let''s see what mysteries this world holds!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think could be the reason for this massive change in the world?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 230 The Meeting of Gods! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 230 The Meeting of Gods! Part-2. </h4>


    "I assume you all know the reason why all of us SS-rankers are willing to stay in this sr system right?" (Ryul)


    Everyone nodded their heads at Ryul''s words.


    "Yes, if we want we can certainly leave this sr system and head to other sr systems, but the reason we are staying here is because of Mana density!" (Ryul)


    Indeed, the mana density around this sr system is oddly much higher than the rest of the ''Milky Way'' gxy.


    "For reasons unknown, the mana density in our sr system has always been very high, which has attracted many monster waves from outside the sr system¡­" (Ryul)


    Dungeon gates are themselves a distortion in space-time fabric, thus obviously they aren''t bound to the space around Earth.


    These dungeon gates open in outer space and possibly all over the universe, but there are not enough awakeners on Earth to get rid of that many dungeon gates.


    The alliance barely purifies the dungeon gates that open inside this sr system.


    Due to ack of manpower, it''s impossible to go and purge the dungeon gates outside too.


    Humans certainly have spaceships, and even Dwarves used to have spaceships as early as a thousand years ago.


    But the reason why they are all still bound to this sr system is because of the massive numbers of monsters roaming in outer space.


    The dungeons that open outside this sr system are never closed by anyone and thus dungeon waves ur, low-level monsters that are not fit to survive in the vacuum of space die from suffocation orck of food.


    But the monsters that are at A-rank or above slowly adapt over time and eventually can survive in space.


    This means every monster that you will encounter in the space is at least A-rank or above.


    This factor alone increases the risk of exploring outer space by a hundred times.


    If you don''t have an SS-ranker tagging along while exploring outer space, you might not be able to survive if you suddenly encounter an unknown area filled with monsters that were spewed out by an SS-rank dungeon gate''s wave.


    The advanced spaceships are certainly capable of exploring outer space, but the weapons are not yet so advanced that they could harm an SS-ranker.


    The strongest spaceship ''Adam'' can barely manage to injure an S-ranker, not to mention SS-rankers.


    Also, monsters from all over the gxy try to force their way into this sr system from time to time because of the insanely high mana density of this ce.


    "The reason why this ce can create so many SS-rankers even though the birth of an SS-ranker is extremely difficult is because the mana density of this ce is extremely highpared to the rest of the gxy¡­" (Ryul)


    "Although we benefit a lot from the presence of dense mana, it is also a disaster ma for us¡­" (Ryul)


    The reason why the alliance loses so many awakeners every year just to close more dungeon gates is because of this dense mana after all.


    The denser the mana of a ce, the more dungeon gates will open there, and the more awakeners will be born too.


    Aside from the problem of dungeon gates, miasma and corruption also gets denser along with mana and thus this ce suffers from the highest number of demon attacks as miasma is also the densest in this ce.


    Demons from all over the gxy try to force their way inside this sr system to enjoy the benefit of dense miasma and be stronger.


    The sr system is vast and the number of SS-rankers is low, thus these demons somehow sneak into the sr system with the aid of the already-existing demon race inside.


    Due to the presence of an unknown number of dungeon gates outside the sr system, it''s literally impossible to exterminate the demon race from this world fully.


    The reason why the world''s strongest person King Allen was never able to fully exterminate demons from this world even after a thousand years of war, was because they are endless.


    As long as there is miasma in this world, dungeon gates filled with demons will open in some hidden corners of outer space and the number of the demons will continue to get replenished.


    This means, that even if you kill all demons and eradicate them from this sr system, there will still be more outside of the sr system.


    Eventually, they will make their way in, some way or other.


    From this, we can see that the ''thousand-year demon extinction war'' that themon people think ended in the victory of the alliance was actually just a major defeat of the alliance.


    After exterminating all demons from the sr system, King Allen realized that it was impossible to kill all demons as long as there was miasma in this world.


    And Mana, Miasma or corruption, these are basic ws'' of this world, they are a building block, and you can''t change the nature of this world.


    When the thousand-year war ended, King Allen once said: ''With the power of a demi-god, we can never change thews of this world and we are doomed to keep fighting the monsters and demons for eternity¡­''


    After saying these words, he seems to have disappeared from the sr system.


    People assumed he must have left the sr system in the hope of finding some way outside, but King Allen never returned back after that.


    "As we all know from the end of the thousand-year war, it''s pointless to try to kill all demons, what we need to do is hold on for as long as possible¡­" (Ryul)


    After the thousand-year war, all the races of the alliance that survived were not because they were strong, they survived because they were able to hold the number of demons and dungeon gates in their territory in Check.


    Eventually, when the density of miasma and Mana decreased, the number of dungeon gates opening lessened, and the number of demons also decreased.


    From this you could say that the famous thousand-year war was not actually a war, it was just a struggle to survive from the endless onught of monsters and demons.


    Only S-rankers and above-level people are qualified to know this harsh truth in today''s world.


    The alliance dared not tell the real truth to the ordinary people, otherwise it would cause massive chaos.


    (It would not be wrong to say that, all the races are living in a small bubble called a sr system, and outside of this ce are endless monsters roaming around¡­ which are all at A-rank or above¡­)


    In the history books, it''s written that King Allen led the alliance to a massive victory and caused the demons to nearly go extinct, but this is all just a massive hoax.


    It''s all a big lie to keep ordinary people calm.


    "The reason why we don''t dare to expand out territories outside of the sr system is also because we don''t have the manpower to protect the area¡­" (Ryul)


    "Fortunately, our needs of the massive amount of resources are being fulfilled by the dungeon gates, but if we want to go out and colonize other sr systems, we will need weapons that can kill even SS-rankers¡­" (Ryul)


    Over the past two thousand years, technology has advanced to the point that they can now build a spaceship and travel faster than the speed of light by bending space-time fabric.


    But the weapon technology hasn''t seen any major upgrades.


    Even if you build space-time fabric-bending weapons, this feat is as easy as breathing for even the most ordinary SS-ranker, so it''s nearly ineffective on SS-rankers.


    SS-rankers are capable of bathing in the ''Sun'' while still remaining unharmed, so it''s idiotic to think that nuclear weapons will work on them.


    Even if you use nuclear fusion-type weapons it''s useless.


    Attacks that can destroy a are mere horsey for SS-


    rankers.


    Even if an SS-ranker stands still to take a direct hit from the mainser cannon of the strongest spaceship, it''s impossible to injure them as all they would have to do is bend the space-


    time fabric to their advantage.


    (SS-rankers are called ''Demi-gods'' for a reason after all, their strength is not something to joke about¡­)


    "Denser mana is beneficial to us too, but it will attract a lot of trouble¡­" (Ryul)


    If the situation bes simr to what it used to be during the thousand-year war, then all races would need to be ready for a long death battle.


    "Right now, all we can hope is, that this wave of mana and miasma ''condensing'' passes away faster than thest time¡­" (Ryul)


    Frustration and anxiety were clearly visible on the faces of all the people inside the meeting hall right now, no one had any words to talk about.


    They all knew how dire the situation had be.


    In this kind of war, even SS-rankers might end up dying after all. (Denser miasma will increase the number of SS-


    rankers on the demon''s side¡­)


    Ryul and the other SS-rankers were now hoping that the mana wave wouldn''t stay for as long as thest one did, but they didn''t know one key thing, ''SSS'' rankers appeared in the novel after this mana wave came.


    This means this mana wave will be even longer and more dangerous than thest one thatsted a thousand years.


    But only Rio knew about how dangerous things would be in the future, others were simply unaware of it right now.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that the main events are starting now, the mysteries of this world are slowly being revealed now.


    It might not be long before we know even deeper ''truths'' of this ''hopeless'' world.


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think that SS-rankers are quite strong?


    1. Yes (They can bend space-time and even nukes can''t kill them!)


    1. Yeah (They are brokenly strong!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 231 The Meeting of Gods! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 231 The Meeting of Gods! Part-3.</h4>


    "We need to look at what could have triggered this sudden cmity¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul waved his hand and the hologram changed once again.


    The details about the demon general Azazel''s assassination mission appeared on the hologram.


    "Eight years ago, Ashtel invaded a hidden hideout of the demon army and killed the demon General Azazel, we all know about that and we all gave our approval for this mission during an alliance meeting¡­" (Ryul)


    At Ryul''s words, the Dwarf representative asked in a doubtful tone.


    "Does that mission have any relevance to this cmity?"


    Ryul nodded his head and said in a solemn tone.


    "Originally we thought that all demons that were present near Azazel had died in that attack, but just a month ago, one of the demons whose dead body was recorded as missing in that mission, was found alive¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul waved his hand again and the picture and details about a certain demon prince appeared on the hologram.


    "This is a royal demon¡­ a demon prince named Alverto Chronos perdere¡­ and we all know what it means to have ''Chronos'' in his name¡­" (Ryul)


    Hearing Ryul''s words, several of the older SS rankers were visibly shocked.


    "Exactly, this demon has the talent to awaken the demi-god level authority ''Chronos'' if he became an SS-ranker in the future¡­" (Ryul)


    "And we all know the terror that thest ''Chronos'' authority holder created¡­ we had to sacrifice five SS-rankers to deal with that guy¡­ that''s why we must not let him grow up¡­" (Ryul)


    "This demon was supposed to have died in that assassination mission eight years ago, but he somehow escaped alive and has now reached the peak of S-rank, it might not be long before he ascends to rank SS¡­" (Ryul)


    The more everyone heard Ryul talk the more they became frustrated and depressed.


    Ryul once again waved his hand and the hologram showed the image of a city in ruins with corpses scattered all over the destroyed city.


    "Right after this demon escaped, he organized arge-scale massacre in the ''Drift City'' of the human empire¡­ and the sudden increase in miasma and mana density also started exactly around that time¡­" (Ryul)


    "It''s too much a coincidence to think that there''s no rtion in these two events¡­" (Ryul)


    "Moreover, when this demon appeared a month ago, we sent an investigation team after his sudden appearance and we have found that an underground cave was filled with massive amounts of corruption, it''s likely his work too¡­" (Ryul)


    Yes, the reason why that ''Tree of Blood'' got corrupted and why Alverto appeared there was all his scheme.


    That dark ck mud was actually a condensed form of Corruption, that''s why Aaron was so shocked to see that mud.


    Alverto had been slowly corrupting the ''tree of blood'' for years as he wanted it to spit out the ''fragment''.


    The ''Tree of Blood'' was eventually not able to withstand such huge amounts of corruption and ended up giving that ''fragment'' to Zach hurriedly.


    Alverto immediately sensed the ''transfer'' of a ''fragment'' and directly teleported there to look for the new owner of the ''fragment''.


    A ''Fragment'' can only be transferred by two methods, either the owner gives it willingly or the owner gets killed by someone.


    The killer will get hold of the ''fragment'' if he kills the previous owner of the fragment.


    Alverto did exactly that, heid out a n and killed off Zach to get hold of the ''Fragment''.


    The fact that Zach and others were outside the city was even more beneficial to him, otherwise, he would have had to kill the S-ranker stationed at Oaklum first before getting rid of Zach.


    "I request you all to keep an eye open for this demon, if any of you see him, you are allowed to kill him on sight!" (Ryul)


    "If he really is rted to this current ''cmity'' then we need to deal with him as fast as possible!" (Ryul)


    Suddenly the Orc representative asked.


    "Can''t we just organize a simr mission to the Azazel one?"


    "No, we can''t¡­ we have used that tactic once already and it would be ineffective on the demon king this time¡­ he won''t be fooled by the same trick twice¡­" (Ryul)


    "Moreover, after that previous mission, the demon king likely would have moved the military information documents from his pce to some other hidden location¡­" (Ryul)


    "This increases the problems by a lot¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Yes¡­ we have no other way but to look for him ourselves¡­ that''s why I am requesting you all to keep an eye on him¡­" (Ryul)


    ...


    "Next is the topic of guarding¡­" (Ryul)


    "Every race that has at least two or more SS-rankers must send one of their SS-rankers to patrol the outer edges of the sr system¡­" (Ryul)


    No one questioned why Ryul was asking for such a ridiculous thing.


    Now that they all knew about the inevitable cmity, they knew that more monsters from the outside of the sr system would try to make their way in.


    To stop them or at least keep their number minimal, more SS-


    rankers will need to be dispatched to the outer edges of the Sr system.


    "We don''t want thes of our sr system to sustain excessive damage, so we need to keep those invading monsters at bay¡­ the tragedy that happened at ''Neptune'' must not happen again¡­" (Ryul)


    In today''s world, there''s no called Neptune anymore as it was destroyed during the thousand-year war.


    Five SS-rank dungeons opened all at the same time near ''Neptune'' and the alliance had to dispatch ten SS-rankers to keep all SS-rank monsters that were flooding out of those dungeons.


    That battle stretched over thousands of kilometers eventually, the was not able to withstand such an insane amount of disturbances in the space-time fabric and it ended up getting destroyed.


    The broken debris of that still orbit the sun in a newly formed asteroid belt.


    Fortunately, the SS-rankers of that time didn''t let any stray asteroid strike Earth.


    "We can certainly build a new in its ce but as it''s an empty area with only asteroids right now, we have been using that ce as a second line of defense after the outer edge of the Sr System¡­" (Ryul)


    The alliance currentlyys out three lines of defense.


    First is the hundreds of space probes that wander around at the outer edge of the sr system. They send back data in case any monster tries to invade the sr system.


    Then the second line of defense is situated in the orbit where ''Neptune'' used to be.


    Right now there''s a gigantic space station situated in that ce and at least three SS-rankers stay there all year long.


    That space station controls all the search probes that are spread out throughout the sr system and in case any new dungeon opens, this space station is the first ce that detects them.


    The alliance dispatches their SS-rankers from this ce most of the time when they want to deal with the matter of the sr system.


    In case of a war, SS-rankers fight in this massive empty orbit or they go outside the sr system to sort out their personal fights.


    (Nics and the Orc king fought in this orbit during that fifty-year war, eventually, they both died there¡­)


    If SS-rankers fought on Earth the coteral damage caused by their fights would destroy the, that''s why all SS-


    rankers are not allowed to fight near thes.


    They must follow the rules of the alliance and go to that massive empty orbit to sort out their grudges.


    This is a way for the alliance to keep all of its members in check.


    None of the members want the Earth to get destroyed as it''s a perfect ce to stay.


    Even the demons don''t dare to destroy this as this is located right at the center of the ce that is filled with the densest miasma.


    Destruction of Earth will be very unfavorable for any race that''s living here.


    This is also one of the reasons why even after having such advanced technology, they don''t want to leave this.


    In the whole ''Milky Way'' gxy, this ce has the densest amount of mana.


    If they go somewhere else, giving birth to a new SS-ranker without enough mana to condense will be near impossible.


    All of the races want to protect and hold their ground in this ce.


    No one wants to leave this even though they have to suffer from endless dungeon gates and monster invasions.


    The benefit this ce brings to awakeners is just that good after all.


    Before the first SS-rankers appeared the mana in this ce was thinner, only after the mana became dense did people get to ascend to a higher realm.


    What today''s world doesn''t know is that this is simrly true for the realm above SS.


    The mana density currently is nowhere near where it can support the ascension of an SSS ranker, but all of this may change with the appearance of this sudden mana and miasma ''condensing'' phenomena.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved author here! As you might have expected, the meeting of gods is a major event it has solved many mysteries and has also created even more of them!


    Question of the day.


    Which of your previous questions about the world were answered in this meeting, that you were confused about before?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 232 The Meeting of Gods! Part-4.

    Chapter 232 The Meeting of Gods! Part-4.


    ??"If it''s about guarding and patrolling, then we Beast folk are willing to send one of our SS-rankers¡­" (Beast Folk Representative)


    The representative of the beast tribe said in a calm and confident tone as he stared into Ryul''s eyes. (Yeah, cat girls exist in this world too¡­)


    There are several major tribes and they are currently ruled by beast overlords.


    Overlords is a title in the beast folk given to only those who reach rank SS.


    Their technology is significantly less developedpared to Humans, but they are not to be underestimated either.


    There''s an old saying: ''The most amount of berserkers are always found in the Beast people''s army!''


    They have several major tribes like the Fox tribe, Feline tribe, etc, but all of these tribes are jointly ruled by Overlords.


    The Beast folk are located on a much smaller continent located in the northeast of the Elven Empire.They share their small continent with Dwarfs and other weaker races.


    The human continent is located in the northwest area direction of the Elven Empire, Demon continent is near the southwest area of the Elven Empire.


    The now-ruined Maya continent is located far to the west of the Human Empire.


    "But in return we expect more dungeon rewards to be tilted on our side around this time¡­ we have some talented children to take care of after all¡­" (Beast Folk Representative)


    There''s no free lunch, after all, the beast folk representative agreed toe forward and send one of their SS-rankers on this dangerous job, it was all for the sake of getting more resources.


    Although the other SS-rankers didn''t particrly like this approach, they also understood the situation and no one objected to this.


    Ryul and Ashtel nodded their heads, which means the proposal of the beast folk representative was approved.


    Then Ashtel spoke next:


    "From our side, We will send Neo on this mission, with his vast monster army, it would be much better to send him on this scouting mission¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Also we don''t need any major resources for this work, we just hope everyone can cooperate in this time of difficulty¡­" (Ashtel)


    The human race is located on the biggest continent of this and out of all the dungeons that open in the whole sr system, nearly twenty-five percent are solely controlled by humans.


    Thus, they have no shortage of resources, waging a hundred years of war is no big deal for them nowadays, they are fully self-sufficient. (The war experiences gained during the thousand-year war are no joke¡­)


    The representatives of other races nodded their heads in approval and praised Ashtel''s decision a lot.


    "As the head of the alliance, we will be sending two of our SS-rankers to this mission¡­ as for thepensation, we will loosen the burden on our world tree this time¡­" (Ryul)


    Hearing Ryul''s words, nearly all of the representatives were shocked, they all knew that Ryul was trying to cut off their opportunity to get benefits from the world tree.


    But before they could say anything, Ryul continued:


    "We need to prepare and give ample rest to the world tree, a new war is right upon us, I would ask you all to understand our situation and give us face¡­" (Ryul)


    In simple words, Ryul was saying them to ''F*ck off! We gonna keep all benefits to ourselves during the next few years!''.


    All the other representatives wanted to severely criticize Ryul''s actions, but no one dared to say anything.


    After all, all cards are in Ryul''s favor right now, he has no one to restrain and even the strongest person Ashtel is his friend so there is no opposition.


    Moreover, the Elves have the favor of the World Tree, without their permission no one would be acknowledged by the World Tree.


    Then they also have Syvis, and no one wants to offend an SS-rank healer, in case they had to ask for healing, it will cause problems for them if they can''t hire Syvis.


    All of this means that the Elven race is literally dominating the whole alliance alone! And no one dares oppose them right now.


    "Well, of course, we aren''t inhumane, we will only reduce the goods produced by the world tree for a certain amount¡­ it''s not going to be reduced to zero¡­" (Ryul)


    The world tree produces various types of fruits that are capable of enhancing the ''elemental affinities'' of those who consume them.


    Sometimes the World tree can even produce fruits that significantly improve in smoother realm ascension and enhance the person''s talent slightly.


    Such rare items are always in demand all over the world.


    Even the fallen branches of the world tree are extremely valuable as they can be used to create S-rank wands for mages all over the world.


    The Leaves of the World tree can be used to create high-grade nourishment potions and can even be used as mild healing items.


    Drinking the juice produced from the flowers of the world tree can increase lifespan and vitality.


    Simply speaking, the world tree is a literal treasure box that gives endless benefits.


    Due to the treaty, the Elven race has to give a certain percentage of these goods to the alliance and distribute it evenly among the weaker races as a form of support from the alliance.


    Even Humans provide a certain amount of resources extracted from the dungeons to support the weaker races.


    The alliance is a great help for all races, it creates a harmonious and cooperative tform for all races.


    Without the existence of this alliance, it would have been difficult to keep so many races in check and there would have been endless wars on this.


    The reason why there are no wars right now is because of the alliance too.


    (The war between Orcs and Humans was indirectly caused by the schemes of demon general Azazel, nowadays rtions between humans and Orcs are much milder than how they used to be¡­)


    "Hmm, although we don''t have any SS-rankers to send on this mission, we can provide a major discount on the maintenance cost of all the technological equipment that will be used during this mission¡­" (Dwarf Representative)


    "Oh! That would be a great help¡­ With the technological aplishments of the Dwarves, we have no problem in trusting the equipment to you¡­" (Ashtel)


    Asthel was pleasantly surprised by this proposal and nodded his head in acknowledgment.


    Originally the humans would have had to bear the whole cost of equipment maintenance but with the dwarves providing a major discount, things will get much easier.


    The dwarf representative who looked quite young by his race''s standards smiled happily at Ashtel''s approval and said:


    "Well, our revenue has been decreasing a lot recently¡­ so we are trying to attract more customers by providing discounts¡­ besides even with discounts given, we will be able to make a considerable profit from this¡­" (Dwarf Representative)


    Ashtel and others nodded their head in agreement, they all are working for the better of their own races, thus they all know how much effort the Dwarf is putting in.


    Due to the mutual understanding between each SS-ranker, they all admired each other''s devotion to their races.


    They may all be extremely strong and aloof in the eyes of themon folk, but the heaviest responsibilities also fall on their shoulders.


    If their race wants extinct while still being under their protection, then that will be the greatest shame to their name in their opinion.


    ''The strongest people might get to enjoy a lot of benefits in peaceful times, but when the hard timese, they are the first to suffer¡­''


    Each of the SS-rankers present here in this meeting represents the hopes and dreams of millions of people, and each of them carries the weight of responsibility to protect their people and hometown.


    None of them will back off when ites to protecting the survival of their race.


    The representatives of the weaker races may fear the power that Ashtel and Ryul hold, but none of them will back off if they are pushed too much.


    Ashtel and Ryul both know this fact, thus they dare not make the whole alliance their opponent.


    ''Even the Biggest Mountain may copse under the collective will for survival''


    ¡­


    "Okay, these were the major matters, the rest are all minor matters that need to be addressed now¡­" (Ryul)


    The major matters for the alliance include any uing war or the strange behaviors of the demon race.


    On the other hand, minor matters include, ''How many resources to distribute to a certain race'', ''Which race to put on the outer edge patrol duty during the next decade'', ''Which race should trade their rarer resources in the next decade'', etc.


    All these matters are also discussed in this meeting.


    The duties of various races for the next decade are decided in this meeting with the tacit approval of everyone.


    The situation of conflict in interests arrives sometimes but with the advice provided by so many SS-rankers, it''s quite easy to solve most of the problems.


    With the thinking capabilities of so many SS-rankersbined, there are very few problems that can''t be solved.


    This amazing harmony and this amazing mutual understanding between so many SS-rankers, who barely even know each other is indeed a sight to behold.


    Being able to cooperate like this on such arge scale, perhaps that is the reason why they were all able to avoid extinction from the endless onught of the monsters and demons.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that not even SS-


    rankers are free from burden, various heavy responsibilities weigh them down and keep them humbled¡­


    Question of the day.


    If you be an SS-ranker, would you work for the people or not?


    1. Yes (I will be the hero who will be loved by all!)


    2. No (I will go and explore the vast universe outside!)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 233 The Meeting of Gods! Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 233 The Meeting of Gods! Part-5.</h4>


    The Meeting went on and on for three days straight, there were no breaks in between either.


    Everyone who attended the meeting was at least S-rank or above, thus none of them had any need for short breaks or food, etc.


    S-rank and above level individuals can survive by consuming mana, thus they have no need for food, water, oxygen, or any basic need of an organism.


    Their body is capable of digesting even the most toxic poisons thus they don''t produce any organic waste and they can use mana in ce of oxygen thus they can breathe in space too.


    You can say that after reaching rank S an organism elevates to a higher level than a mortal.


    Due to their amazing natural healing capabilities, thus their life is very tenacious like a cockroach.


    They can survive for as long as they want without any need for food or water, thus there were no food breaks in between the meetings thatsted for three days straight.


    With the amazing mental capability of S-rankers and above-level individuals, it''s not surprising that they can attend such a long meeting while still remaining in a perfectly calm state all along.


    Their mental capacity is vast, their brains can already be considered better than supeputers.


    ...


    Ryul nced at all the members of the alliance and heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''This meeting seems to have gone by without too much trouble, I was worried for nothing... this new batch of SS-rankers is not all that bad...'' (Ryul)


    Then Ryul nced at Ashtel and thought to himself.


    ''Or perhaps they were acting so mildly was also because this ridiculous monster is also here right now, no one wants to offend him I guess...'' (Ryul)


    While Ryul was busy thinking in his mind, other SS rankers were also having friendly chit-chat with each other at the moment.


    All the topics for the meeting were already discussed and countermeasures were proposed, now that all of them are free of their official duties it is the perfect time to chat a bit with each other.


    After all, it is not every day you get to meet so many SS-rankers in one ce.


    Seeing that the time was right, the Orc Representative walked over to Ashtel with a smile on his face.


    "Uh, It''s an honor to meet a warrior like you, I am Gradba, a traditional warrior and the son of an Orc General... I have wanted to meet you for a long time." (Gradba)


    Ashtel didn''t know what motive this Orc had for approaching him, his face still remained calm but he was already thinking about various things in his mind.


    Ashtel nodded his head and returned the greeting.


    "Hmm, it''s nice to meet you too... I am Asthel Rex, a descendent of Astra." (Ashtel)


    Gradba nodded his head.


    "Uh, we Orcs don''t know how to talk in circles, so I will be straightforward with you... recently we have discovered a massive underground fortress near a volcano in our territory..." (Gradba)


    "Underground fortress?" (Ashtel)


    A visible frown appeared on Ashtel''s face, he knew that it was likely a fortress built by humans during the era of King Allen.


    "Yes, its doors are locked and I didn''t try to forcefully open it as it may self-destruct if we forced our way in, so I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about it..." (Gradba)


    "Hmm, well, I think it''s likely something left behind when the human army retreated after the thousand-year war... it might contain some information records on what was going on during those times or war..." (Ashtel)


    "It has amazing historical value I assume..." (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, Gradba nodded his head and said.


    "Yes, I was also thinking that that''s why I want to propose a cooperation, as a warrior I will pledge on my pride that this proposal is not a false statement..." (Gradba)


    After hearing Gradba''s words, Ashtel finally realized that this Orc was really serious at the moment, pledging on the pride of a warrior is one of the greatest promises that an Orc can make.


    Ashtel straightened his back and finally got interested in the matter.


    "Hoh, interesting, tell me more about it..." (Ashtel)


    Seeing that he was sessful Gradba felt quite happy in his mind.


    "Well, it''s like this, we have quite a few talented kids now, and they need better facilities to train, So we want to exchange that fortress with the technology to make personalized gravity chambers..." (Gradba)


    Everyone in the world knows that Orcs are very far behind in terms of technology and civilization, they have barely reached the industrialization phase recently and their society has always been more dependent on personalbat power.


    Personal strength determined the hierarchy in the Orc race for a very long time.


    Only after the death of the Orc King did everyone realize the importance of technology and now they are making rapid progress in the field of technology.


    But still, they are at least two thousand years behind the human race in terms of technology.


    Gradba is the only SS-ranker in the current Orc race, and his thinking process is very different from the previous SS-rankers of the Orc race.


    All of the previous ones believed that they didn''t need to focus on technology and that personal strength alone was already good enough.


    But Gradba is different, ever since he ascended to power, he has been trying to improve the technological aspects of the Orc race.


    He noticed that there are many talented young children among the younger generation and they will definitely benefit if they can get proper training equipment.


    That''s why he came up with this proposal.


    "Hoh, so you are willing to sacrifice any rare things that could be found in that fortress to us?" (Ashtel)


    "Indeed, For the sake of the younger generation, I think it''s not really a big deal to lower my head a bit¡­" (Gradba)


    The Orcs have always considered themselves as a warrior race and they never lowered their head to anyone.


    But for the sake of the younger generation, today a Demi-god realm Orc was willing to lower his head.


    It was already a big deal.


    "Your proposal is indeed tempting, but you know that the gravity chambers are not that cheap right? You will need to put something else too on the table to make the negotiations move forward¡­" (Ashtel)


    Gradba knew that Ashtel would not be satisfied with just a piece of mere information on a forgotten fortress.


    "Of course, aside from the fortress, I am willing to establish a trade route for the ''Blue ore''¡­" (Gradba)


    Ashtel''s eyes widened in surprise.


    Blue ore is one of the rarest materials found in the SS-rank dungeons, it can be used to craft S-rank weapons and artifacts.


    In today''s world, a dungeon with blue ore in it is coveted by all races and the trade market for this ore is very big but there are not enough for everyone.


    Humans currently have a vast stock of this material but no one can have enough of such a precious metal, right?


    "We are willing to trade a lot of Blue ore along with the fortress in exchange for the gravity chamber¡­" (Gradba)


    Ashtel finally nodded his head.


    "Your proposals are indeed very tempting, I agree. We can cooperate." (Ashtel)


    Hearing Ashtel''s reply, Gradba smiled from ear to ear and thanked Ashtel.


    He left behind his contact information and went back to his seat with a happy smile on his face.


    Jin nced at the fading back of Gradba and asked Ashtel in a doubtful tone.


    "Is it really okay to be cooperating with them¡­ you know how manyrades we lost to the orc army during the fifty-year war right?" (Jin)


    Jin and Ashtel have both faced those difficult times when the Orc army was invading the human empire and they have seen many of theirrades die in that cruel war.


    Hearing Jin''s question, Ashtel shook his head and said.


    "The war was a scheme of the demons, we don''t need to remain so cold against the Orcs anymore as the war has been over for so long now¡­" (Ashtel)


    "I was also thinking about how I should re-initiate a good rtionship between the humans and Orcs, this seems to be the perfect opportunity¡­" (Ashtel)


    Jin was still not convinced though.


    "But-" (Jin)


    "Don''t forget a massive cmity is just around the corner, a great war against the demons and monsters might start soon, we are indeed self-sufficient, but it''s always good to have more allies on your side¡­" (Ashtel)


    Jin finally understood the ins and outs of this matter.


    The reason why Gradba asked for cooperation at this exact moment was because he figured out the danger of the uing war and he wanted to strengthen the younger generation.


    Trading some lifeless blue ore to enhance the survival of the Orc race is a great deal for the Orcs, and Ashtel agreed to this because he knew that blue ore would be useful in the uing war.


    This means both parties are in a win-win situation with this cooperation.


    "We likely will have to cooperate with the Orcs in the uing war, it''s better to resolve our personal conflicts before that timees, otherwise it will prove to be difficult for both races to cooperate¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel didn''t say that he was doing this for his son too.


    He wants to solve all conflicts with the Orc race before Link ascends to power.


    That way Link will have an easier time in the future while dealing with the endless onught of the demon armies, at least he won''t have to worry about a betrayal from fellow allies.


    Ashtel was already thinking far into the future.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that the movements of the demon race really have the power to make the various races forget personal conflicts and unite together as a whole.


    Amon threat helps people unite after all.


    Question of the day.


    What do you think of Ashtel''s decision?


    1. Clever (He plotted everything quite cleverly!)


    2. Double-edged (Once the war with demons ends, cooperation with the Orcs might not be feasible anymore!)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 234 Days of Leisure... Part-1.

    Chapter 234 Days of Leisure... Part-1.


    ??Three Days ago.


    When the meeting of Gods started and all the SS-ranker and S-rankers that arrived from all over the world went into seclusion to discuss important matters, the students they brought were also not sitting idly.


    Some went to the shopping area to buy local elven goods, and some toured the whole Capital city over the course of those three days.


    During these three days of free time, several members of the younger generation encountered each other while wandering around in the vast city and ended up bing friends with each other.


    Although everyone was having a rxing time, they all knew that no one who was able to make it here was weak.


    Each of the students has gone through rigorous tests to make it to this tournament, thus not even a single candidate who came here is weak.


    Thus, while touring the city people also tried to gather as much information as possible about the others.


    This is an early preparation tactic, the three days of time is obviously given for this reason too.


    Everyone was trying to poke others for more information but no one came to trouble Link until now for obvious reasons.


    ¡­


    Link''s Room.


    Link buttoned his shirt andbed his hair.


    He smiled at himself while looking at the full-body mirror.


    "Good, time to go!" (Link)


    Yesterday, Link was utterly bored while sitting in the room all day long, so he decided to go and wander around the city for some sightseeing today.


    Link opened the door of his room and went over to Riya''s room first as he wanted to take her with him on this trip.


    *Knock**Knock*


    Like the gentleman he is, he knocked on the door and waited for Riya to open the door.


    *Siuuuu~* (Voice of cold air blowing in utter silence)


    Five minutes went by but there was no response.


    Link knocked on the door again but there was no response again.


    "What happened, is she still asleep?" (Link)


    Link nced at the password interface and entered:


    ''Ilovecandies'' (Yeah, that''s literally the password Riya uses on every single thing¡­)


    Link has known this password since years ago, after all, he was the one who suggested this password to her during their childhood days, and Riya has always been using this password since then.


    ''Such a weak password, she makes me worried for no reason¡­'' (Link)


    Link simply shook his head and entered the room.


    Entering the room, Link saw utter destruction of the atmosphere.


    Shoes, towels, chairs, candy wrappers, etc, things were scattered all over the floor.


    There were so many things scattered over the ground that it was difficult to walk.


    ''She made this mess in just one night? Ugh, when the elven cleaning staffes, the image of the human race will be affected by this I think¡­'' (Link)


    Link swiftly made his way to the living room.


    The TV was still on and beside arge heap of things, Riya was sleeping on the floor near the couch while hugging a pillow.


    Saliva covered her cheek and candy wrappers were scattered all over the floor around her.


    Link shook his head in defeat.


    He bent down and carefully ced her on the couch after picking her up from the floor.


    ''Hmm, has she lost weight¡­ she somehow feels lighter than before¡­ her eyes have dark circles under them too¡­ did she perhaps watch TV all night yesterday?'' (Link)


    Just when Link was contemting what to do in his mind, Riya started to sleep talk.


    "nooo~ Link that''s my candy~" (Riya)


    Hearing her talk about candies even in her dreams, Link shook his head in defeat.


    ''Ugh, this girl¡­ even her dreams are about me stealing her candies¡­'' (Link)


    Link went ahead and pinched her cheeks in annoyance.


    "Uuuuhh" (Riya)


    Riya slowly opened her eyes from the pain of her cheeks being stretched by Link.


    Her eyes went blurry in an instant.


    "It hurts¡­" (Riya)


    "Then get up, it''s already morning you know, the sun has already started to rise!" (Link)


    But Riya closed her eyes again.


    "Let me sleep five more minutes..." (Riya)


    Link pinched her cheeks again and she had no choice but to wake up angrily.


    "Link you meanie!" (Riya)


    While rubbing her reddened cheeks and a pout hanging over her face, she ran away to take a shower.


    Link simply smiled as he thought that her pouting face looked cute.


    He was being especially careful not to use too much strength, otherwise, his insane strength could seriously hurt her.


    Still, it hurts to have your cheeks pinched by a guy who can tank Rio''s sword intent with bare hands.


    ¡­


    Around the same time, On the destroyed hill.


    "I knew you woulde!" (Al)


    "Well, If I hadn''te, you would have pestered me, no?" (Rio)


    This ce used to have a hill just yesterday and now it has be t ground due to themotion that Al caused during his ascension.


    With a smile on his face, Al stretched out his hand toward Rio.


    "It''s good that you came, I wanted to thank you for yesterday-" (Al)


    Rio shook hands with Al but didn''t take the credit.


    "All I did was just say some random motivational words¡­ it was your own efforts that helped you in the end¡­" (Rio)


    Al scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    "Even so, if you hadn''t given me that advice I might have still been wandering around with no purpose to live¡­" (Al)


    "Last night I suddenly had an epiphany and was able to break through rank S due to your advice¡­ so I would like to thank you for it¡­" (Al)


    Al brought out an invitation card from his space ring and handed it over to Rio.


    "We will hold a small party two days from now when the meeting of the gods ends, this is an invitation to that party, you can bring any number of friends you want to that party¡­" (Al)


    "It''s a private party, so only my family members and a few friends of my father are invited¡­ you can enjoy a hearty meal if youe¡­" (Al)


    Rio took the invitation card from Al without hesitation.


    "Well if it''s a meal then I won''t decline¡­ we have quite a lot of foodies in our team¡­" (Rio)


    Al nodded his head and smiled.


    "By the way, I wanted to ask a question¡­ uh, how you figured out that I had a ''broken'' path¡­" (Al)


    At Al''s question, Rio made up a lie on the spot.


    "I know someone who once suffered from the same condition¡­ besides, your aura looked weirdly weakpared to usual A-rankers¡­ I am more surprised that your parents didn''t notice this phenomenon until now¡­" (Rio)


    "They are much more knowledgeablepared to me after all¡­" (Rio)


    At Rio''s words, Al shook his head in sadness.


    "Well, my parents have always been too busy with work to notice anything different about me, I guess¡­ but I don''t me them for it though¡­" (Al)


    Al nced at the vast city with a smile on his face.


    "After all they have been working for the sake of a bright future for the whole Elven Empire¡­ and I will likely follow in their path too eventually¡­" (Al)


    Rio''s face remained as emotionless as always, but his interest was piqued by Al all of a sudden.


    "So, what type of King will you be?" (Rio)


    Al smiled at Rio''s question and said with a determined look on his face.


    "A King who will devote his whole being to the bright future of this empire¡­ just like my Father..." (Al)


    "Is that so¡­" (Rio)


    Rio nodded his head at Al''s words.


    They both stood in silence as they stared at the rising sun.


    ''Perhaps that rising sun is a sign of the rise of a new era for the Elven Empire¡­'' (Rio)


    (And that''s how Rio turned another viin character into a decent person...)


    ¡­


    Riya''s Room


    After a whole hour, Riya finally got ready.


    When she returned to the living room, she found that the whole ce had been cleaned up and there was no trash to be found in sight anymore.


    Link was sitting on the couch and was ying games on his smartphone at the moment.


    Riya walked over to him and said with a pout on her face.


    "Thanks for cleaning the room, but I haven''t forgiven you for earlier¡­" (Riya)


    Link sighed in defeat and patted her head.


    "There there, no need to get so angry at me, I was just messing around a bit¡­" (Link)


    "Oh, I almost forgot, I came over to ask you if you wanted to go and hang out around the city with me¡­" (Link)


    "It''s a rare opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of the Capital city of Rhymel, we shouldn''t waste this opportunity by sitting in this small room all day long¡­" (Link)


    Even at Link''s attempt to quell her anger, Riya simply continued to pout her reddened cheeks.


    "No, I am not going! Hmph!" (Riya)


    "Sigh~ too bad, I was thinking of seeing what the famous sweets of the Elven Empire tasted like, I guess we won''t be able to experience them¡­" (Link)


    "Also I heard that the local candies made here in the Elven empire taste a lot different than the ones made back at home¡­ it would be such a shame to miss this opportunity to taste them-" (Link)


    "I-I will go! I-I am only going because of the candies, okay! I haven''t forgiven you yet!" (Riya)


    "Yes, yes¡­" (Link)


    Link wiped the dripping saliva from her excited face with a handkerchief and smiled at her happy face.


    ''Maybe I shouldn''t have pinched her face that harder¡­ sigh~'' (Link)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since Ist wrote about the chemistry between our beloved characters Link and Riya, so here it is! Enjoy the diabetes!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you have the courage to get your cheeks pinched by Link?


    1. Yes (He certainly can control his strength I think¡­)


    2. No (I-I will pass¡­ he can literally rip apart my face and dislocate my jaw with even a little bit of strength¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 235 Days of Leisure... Part-2.

    Chapter 235 Days of Leisure... Part-2.


    ??Rhymel, South East Area, Inside a Mall.


    Women''s clothing section.


    "The local dresses of the Elven Empire are really quite unique... I am having quite a lot of difficulty on which one to buy..." (Lia)


    "Why not buy them both? All of the expenses will be funded by the SS-rankers anyway..." (Ellie)


    Hearing Ellie''s words, Lia hesitated a bit but then eventually decided to agree with her words and bought both dresses.


    The government will pay the SS-rankers an insane amount of money, for them this little expense isn''t even worth mentioning.


    Just when the two were busy shopping, an unfamiliar voice rang out in their ears.


    "Oh, I encountered some famous people it seems..." (???)


    A girl with cat ears and a fluffy Blue tail walked inside and smiled at Lia and Ellie.


    Her bluish hair waved in the air and her cat ears seemed to be waving in excitement.


    "I am Miki Kotov, a candidate representing the cat folk..." (Miki)


    Miki walked over to Lia and Ellie with an excited look on her face.


    "I have always wanted to meet you ''Mad demon Sword'' Lia, I have heard that you have defeated A rankers before even though you are only at the peak of rank B..." (Miki)


    Miki stretched out her hand.


    "I hear that humans shake hands as a sign of goodwill..." (Miki)


    Lia was bewildered by her sudden appearance, but she didn''t reject the handshake.


    [Ugh, one of my descendant bloodlines is still alive? Didn''t expect thating...] (Kai)


    ''What!? She is your descendant!?'' (Lia)


    [Well, not physically... The cat tribe with the surname ''Kotov'' was once blessed by me with my own blood...] (Kai)


    [They were a weak and dying race, I took pity on them and ended up blessing them with my own blood, I can feel that this girl has awakened her bloodline...] (Kai)


    [It might not be long before she breaks through rank A too, just like you...] (Kai)


    ''So is she stronger than me?'' (Lia)


    [Hmm, that... I don''t know, you two both seem to have simr levels of strength in my opinion, it all depends on wits and tactics when ites to the winner...] (Kai)


    ''I see...'' (Lia)


    Lia was quite surprised by the fact that even Kai seemed to have indirect descent roaming this world even though he is just a spirit and can''t really have children of his own.


    Miki who was unaware of Lia''s inner monologue simply smiled.


    Beast folk are known for their straightforwardness and thus she didn''t hesitate at all and directly stated her business foring here.


    "Actually, the reason I came over was to measure my strength against the candidates of the human team..." (Miki)


    "I don''t mean any harm though, I just wanted to see for myself andpare my level to others..." (Miki)


    Lia squinted her eyes at her straightforwardness and asked:


    "So, what''s your evaluation of me then?" (Lia)


    "Well, you yourself seem equally strong as me... but my instincts tell me that there is something more to you than it meets the eye..." (Miki)


    "Perhaps it''s just my imagination..." (Miki)


    [Hoho, as expected of those blessed by my bloodline, her perception is very strong, beast folk are well known for their amazing instincts and perception...] (Kai)


    [But this girl seems to have better perception even whenpared to other of her kin...] (Kai)


    [Kiddo, let me warn you, her perception and detection abilities might be near the level of that little guy Rio...] (Kai)


    Lia knew how amazing Rio''s detection capabilities were, he once trained his detection in the ''chaotic mana'' filled dungeon of Maya and not even Link couldpare to him in that field.


    The stronger an individual''s detection and perception is, the faster they can react to iing attacks.


    During the ''Group survival test'', barely any of the concentrated attacks from Link, Lia, Liam, and Elliebinednded on Rio, that was all due to his amazing reaction time.


    If Miki can react at the same speed as Rio, then it will be extremely difficult for anyone in their team to defeat her, except for Rio of course.


    Lia''s eyes became a bit more serious after figuring out the ins and outs of this situation.


    ''As expected, any candidate who was able toe here is not weak, each of them is a top-level talent of their respective races....'' (Lia)


    "By the way, who is that girl over there, I haven''t heard anything about her..." (Miki)


    Miki looked confused when she noticed Ellie who was sneakily nibbling on the packed food that Liam had given her earlier before she left for shopping along with Lia.


    "Oh, her? That Ellie, she is a summon of Liam, she isn''t a candidate so you might not have heard of her..." (Lia)


    Ellie waved her hand at Miki to say ''hi'' and then continued to nibble on the food, pretending to be a stupid summoned beast.


    And her tactic worked actually, Miki mistook her to be a ''mimic'' type summon.


    "Ah, I have heard that the SS-ranker Neo Aldif has many ''mimic'' type summons who can take human form, as his son Liam might have also summoned a mimic who can take human form..." (Miki)


    Miki nodded her head again and again as if she had already figured out everything.


    Although Liam is famous for the fact that he had contracted a dragon, not everyone in the world has seen Ellie''s human form, and as she is an S-ranker hiding her aura from lower- ranked people is easy for her.


    Due to this Miki misunderstood Ellie as a weak mimic-type summon.


    "By the way, I met that guy named Fade and that woman named Kira earlier, but they both seemed too ordinary to me¡­" (Miki)


    "I nearly thought that the candidates of the human race were weaklings, after seeing them¡­" (Miki)


    "But after meeting you, I have changed my mind¡­ you are indeed worthy of your title¡­" (Miki)


    Lia personally doesn''t like her own title but she didn''t reject Miki''s praise.


    "Well, now that you have inquired about us, why not tell us something about yourself too then?" (Lia)


    "Father said that I shouldn''t reveal too much about my strength, so I will just tell you the usual information¡­" (Miki)


    "I am actually the strongest among my group, others are much weaker than me¡­ well we certainly can''tpete with the amount of talent that the human race holds, but we have been through our fair share of battles¡­" (Miki)


    Like every other participant, Miki knew about the existence of Link Rex from the start.


    She knew that few could contend with that monster and she certainly isn''t one of them.


    "Next I will go look for Liam from your group, as for Link Rex, I will pass¡­" (Miki)


    "I have heard rumors that Link Rex is a hot-tempered guy and he gets violent very fast¡­ also his title is ''Berserk Warrior'' so I don''t want to get involved with him¡­" (Miki)


    The image of red red-haired guy obsessed with Riya came to Lia''s mind when she thought about Link.


    From her perspective, Link looked like a love-struck boy who always behaved like a gentleman towards Riya and always protected her from danger.


    ''Yeah, I-I can''t imagine him being a mindless hot-headed berserker¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia has seen Link tank Rio''s sword intent head-on, but she doesn''t think of him as a violent-natured person.


    (What she doesn''t know is that the Link in the original story was a sadist who liked torturing innocent people for fun¡­)


    "Aside from that, I wanted to pay a visit to the ''Darkstar'' title holder, but he seems to have vanished from my perception range¡­" (Miki)


    "he is the only candidate I can''t detect so I might have to pass on meeting him¡­" (Miki)


    Lia was secretly relieved that Miki didn''t get to meet Rio, her possessive nature wanted to keep Rio all for herself after all.


    "Haha, he has always been like that, even we are unable to find him unless he shows up on his own¡­" (Lia)


    Miki nodded her head and chatted with Lia for a few more minutes.


    The two of them had a friendly chat about each other''s likings and how life was in their hometowns.


    Miki told Lia that thepetition in the cat race is very fierce, the resources are scarce and the amount of healers they have is quite low.


    So, every young talentpetes fiercely over there to get their hands on more resources like ''mana potions'' and ''healing potions''.


    Even Miki came here with the ambition to get a high enough rank in this tournament so that she could help her father in some way or another.


    Each of the candidates has the responsibility to shoulder the face of their race in this tournament, no one is going to back off so easily.


    After chatting happily with Lia and exchanging a lot of information, Miki left with the same happy smile on her face. Her tail seems to be dancing in excitement.


    ''It seems not only us are the ones who came here with dreams and ambitions¡­'' (Lia)


    [It''s cruel if you ask me¡­ students worked so hard toe here, and if they lost too early, all of their hard work will go to waste¡­] (Kai)


    [But I guess that''s the way of the world¡­] (Kai)


    ''I think being able to experiencebat methods of so many talented individuals¡­ that''s already good enough¡­ wining or not does not matter that much¡­'' (Lia)


    [Haha, you can say that because you aren''tcking resources¡­ even if you lose in the very first round nothing will change for you¡­] (Kai)


    [But for the weaker races, this tournament is an opportunity thates only once in ten years¡­] (Kai)


    [I feel bad for them already¡­] (Kai)


    ''You are talking as if you know that everyone else is going to lose so easily¡­'' (Lia)


    [Or else? Do you think they will win against that monstrous guy, Link? Can they break through his ''Dao Rhythm''?] (Kai)


    ''Well that¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia didn''t say anything in return as she knew just how one- sided the situation was.


    Even without ''Dao Rhythm'' Link was already too strong for them and now that he has one of the most broken skills it''s near impossible for anyone else to get the top spot aside from Link.


    ''I wonder what Rio thinks about this¡­'' (Lia)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems nearly everyone knows just how broken Link''s strength is, even the enemies don''t want to go near him!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think anyone has a chance against Link?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 236 Days of Leisure... Part-3.

    Chapter 236 Days of Leisure... Part-3.


    ??(World Lore)


    During the ''Thousand Year War'', to make trade easy among all of the members of the alliance, King Allen brought forward the concept of a unified currency that would be recognized by all of the members of the world.


    The full name of the currency of this world is, ''World Recognized Alliance''s Unified Currency'' in short they call it ''Alliance Coin'' or simply ''Coin.''


    In today''s world, they don''t use ''Physical objects'' as money, all transactions happen via the Inte and there are no physical transactions involved.


    This has improved the transaction efficiency by a lot and over the past millennia this technology has spread all over the world extremely fast.


    Today, all races recognize this method of transaction and everyone can trade using the same currency, thus there''s no need to worry about currency exchange.


    You can go to any other nation and use the same money to buy the things you need.


    International migration is extremely rare in this world but there are always some exceptions.


    Some people end up moving to other races and there are no restrictions on this either, as long as the other race is not an enemy you can certainly go there.


    So many races have fought for a thousand years from shoulder to shoulder and over time they have ovee racial discrimination for each other.


    Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds and basic education is free for everyone, so with an educated mindset obviously people will be able to ovee many difficulties.


    Aside from currency, there have been amazing changes in ''Language'' in the past two millennia.


    Having several differentnguages proved to be a problem during the thousand-year-long war and thus, King Allen invited national level Masters of literature from all of the races.


    Each of them contributed and eventually, a unifiednguage called ''EzKina'' was created.


    All races gave it their approval as everyone took part in its creation and those who didn''t approve were beaten by King Allen and had to agree to the terms under pressure.


    ''EzKina'' received worldwide support and professionals started to spread thenguage all over the world.


    It took a long time to spread thenguage but after two millennia, now every individual in this world can speak thisnguage.


    The localnguages have not disappeared but they are as good as dead nowadays.


    After all, every official document and every single text found all over the world is now written in ''EzKina'' texts.


    Due to free education, everyone got to learn it and now there are nonguage barriers among all races of the alliance.


    You can literally go to any corner of the world and people there will still be speaking in Ezkina.


    This is the reason why Lia was able to talk to Miki without any problems earlier.


    Lia wasn''t using any trantors, she was able to understand Miki because they were both talking in the samenguage.


    Although tranting devices have also been invented, King Allen wanted to unify the world under one tform, he wanted to erase nearly all reasons for hate and discrimination.


    His efforts paid off in the end, due to being able to talk the samenguage, the soldiers cooperated on the battlefields very efficiently and things worked in the favor of the alliance.


    Eventually, the war ended and the people were able to enjoy a millennia of peace.


    (The reason why the characters'' names sound so random is that they are being tranted by the author in English, otherwise, they would have sounded rhythmic in thenguage of ''EzKina''.)


    (Cough! The author is trying to fill the potholes, so cut him some ck guys... cough!!)


    ...


    Rhymel, Main Market area.


    "Hmm, it''s a good thing that the same currency ispulsory for the alliance members, it makes buying things so much easier..." (Link)


    Link easily swiped his ''ck Card'' and paid for the sweets and candies that Riya bought.


    Riya''s eyes shined in happiness, but instead of eating the candies instantly, she ced them in her space ring.


    That was very odd from Link''s perspective.


    "Hmm, are you not feeling okay today? Usually you would have immediately pounced on the candies after getting your hands on them..." (Link)


    "I-I am keeping myself on hold right now, I won''t eat any candies until I am able to enhance my healing capabilities..." (Riya)


    "What? Then what about the candy wrappers scattered all over your room in the morning?" (Link)


    "I-I threw them all..." (Riya)


    Riya wasn''t lying at all, she hadn''t eaten a single candy since the day she promised to improve herself.


    The reason why dark circles appeared under her eyes was not because she was watching TV all night, it was because she was throwing her candies and was heartbroken by her own actions.


    "W-what!?" (Link)


    Link hurriedly stretched out his hand and ced it on Riya''s forehead to see if she was having some problem with her brain or something.


    Riya annoyingly pushed his hand away and said:


    "Like I promised I won''t eat candies until I am able to cure ''corruption'', I am not backing out of my promise..." (Riya)


    A determined look appeared in Riya''s eyes. Without Link noticing, Riya had matured significantly over the past month.


    ''I can afford to lose candies b-but I can''t lose you...'' (Riya)


    The reason for Riya''s unwavering motivation is Link, of course, she was unable to save a life and has always been ming herself for it.


    She won''t be able to sleep peacefully again unless she learns how to cure ''corruption''.


    Not being able to sleep peacefully is also one of the reasons why she has dark circles under her eyes now.


    For the sake of even a little bit of improvement, she has even sacrificed her own sleep now.


    And even Link was unaware of this fact.


    Seeing the rare serious look on Riya''s face, Link was shocked to the core, but he didn''t dare refute her.


    He could feel that Riya was being serious and it would be too rude to take it as a joke now.


    "Uh, you should be moderate with this kind of thing, increasing rank is a slow and steady process¡­ don''t put too much stress on yourself¡­" (Link)


    Link couldn''t believe that a day woulde when he would be the one to give health advice to Riya who has always been worried about his health before.


    This is the first time that Link has to worry about Riya''s health as she always remained cheerful and happy before, but the incident at Oaklum has shaken her to the core.


    The loss of a life right under her care was a great scar for her and it caused her to mature fast.


    While Link was thinking about how to lighten the mood, his eyes suddenly fell on a nearby plushy shop.


    "Then how about I buy a cute plushy to cheer you up and boost your morale¡­" (Link)


    Link dragged Riya with him to the plush shop and bought a plushy holding a banner with ''Good Luck'' written on it.


    The plushy had a cheerful expression as if it was trying to boost the morale of the athletes like a cheerleader.


    A slight smile returned to Riya''s face after seeing the cute-


    looking plushy.


    "Hehe, I will certainly be able to achieve that higher level of healing capability¡­" (Riya)


    ''With you cheering me on, I think I can do anything in the world Link¡­'' (Riya)


    "Yes! You are the best healer I have ever known!" (Link)


    ''Don''t worry, I will cheer you and help you reach your goals so that you can smile happily once again¡­'' (Link)


    ¡­


    Arge skyscraper far away.


    Roof Top.


    "Uh, boss, is it really okay to keep an eye on them like this?"


    An elf candidate nced at the back of the other elf standing near the guard rails, with a troubled look on his face.


    The other party simply smirked at that question and said in an amused tone.


    "Well, of course, we have to find as much information about the strongest participant of this tournament¡­"


    "We need to gather as much information as possible and provide it to the princess¡­ after all only she is capable of going against that ridiculously strong guy¡­ but even she needs some strategy otherwise she will be in trouble¡­"


    "So are you perhaps thinking of targeting that girl beside him?"


    The ''boss'' immediately red at his subordinate.


    "Are you an idiot? Can''t you see that Link is being so intimate with her, if we plotted something against her, do you think he will spare us?"


    "It will be a death match at that point, and I don''t think anyone among the younger generation can survive a death match against that monstrous guy¡­"


    "Our work is to just gather information, the rest will be left for the princess to decide¡­ If not for her orders I wouldn''t have wanted to gety involved in this risky n at all¡­"


    "If he detects us spying on him, we are dead¡­"


    "Also¡­. Not even the Elf king will be able to face the wrath of his father if something happens to Link¡­ we must remain careful¡­"


    Hearing the criticism from his boss, the young elf nodded his head and went silent.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems some people are also keeping an eye on Link too, well can''t me them either, Link''s name carries that much weight after all.


    Question of the day.


    If given the mission to spy on, who would you rather choose?


    1. Link (If he noticed you spying on him, you will be meat paste in a single punch¡­)


    2. Liam (If he notices you spying on him, he will feed you to his wyvern and other lower-level beasts¡­)


    (Moreover, if Ellie is near him, then she will notice your spying activities in an instant¡­)


    3. Rio (Don''t bother even choosing him as your target, it''s near impossible for you to even detect him in the first ce and he can easily find you out¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 237 Night Party at the Royal Palace... Part-1.

    Chapter 237 Night Party at the Royal Pce... Part-1.


    ??Time flew by when the students were excitedly wandering around the Elven city every day.


    The meeting of gods ended in the evening of the third day and all the SS-rankers left the meeting hall one by one.


    Everyone went back to their designated rooms to rest for the night.


    The Tournament is going to be held tomorrow after all and everyone is excited about it so most of the students went to rest early.


    Except for Rio and the others of course.


    ¡­


    In the back garden of the Royal Pce.


    "Whoa! This ce is so beautiful!" (Riya)


    All of the students felt quite astonished while looking at the trees that were brilliantly decorated with lights and the whole garden was filled with colorful flowers.


    A band of musicians started to y ssic elven music when the students entered the garden.


    The refreshing wind breeze made the atmosphere even better.


    Ryul and Syvis personally came to wee the students.


    "We originally only invited Ashtel and Jin for drinks but now that Al has decided to invite you kids too, then we decided to throw this party a bit more luxuriously, hehe¡­" (Ryul)


    Ashtel who was already sitting on a nearby chair and was sipping wine with Jin nced at the students and nodded his head.


    "You guys have to enter the tournament tomorrow, so don''t stay up toote, when you feel sleepy you are free to go back anytime¡­" (Ashtel)


    The students nodded their heads.


    A maid came and served them juice as they were all minors and couldn''t drink wine.


    Just when Link was about to sit down, his danger senses immediately tingled and he immediately took a fighting stance.


    [Dragon arts: Vortex barrier punch!]


    A massive fist that seemed like a giant''s collided with Link''s fist and a massive shockwave appeared from the collision of those punches and the air pressure directly swept away the furniture nearby.


    "Hoh, you are indeed as strong as the rumors say, Link Rex¡­" (???)


    Only after hearing that heavy voice did Link look at the attacker and his eyes immediately widened in pure shock.


    The woman standing in front of him was at least 5 meters tall and her whole body seemed as if it was about to burst apart from those massive muscles.


    The size of her bicep alone seemed bigger than the size of an ordinary human''s face.


    She was so well-built and muscr that her massive muscles might even put an ogre to shame.


    The womanughed loudly after Link blocked her punch effortlessly.


    "BAHAHA! I knew I would be able to get a good challenge out of you, you are the strongest guy I have ever seen while being the same age as me, interesting!" (???)


    Hearing herughter, an amused look appeared on the four SS-rankers'' faces, but none of them said anything, as if they all knew that this was definitely going to happen.


    Ashtel even continued to sip his wine without even caring about what was going on around here.


    Only Ryul tiptoed his way to the girl''s side and said in a proud voice while looking at everyone.


    "Behold everyone! This is my proud and beautiful daughter, Vanya Yeljyre!" (Ryul)


    Only the maids of the household cheered at Ryul''s words.


    The students were just bewildered at this sudden introduction.


    "Hahaha, you praise me too much Father!" (Vanya)


    As if an enchantment had been released, her body started to shrivel and shorten at an insane speed.


    In an instant, Vanya returned back to her normal form. (Yeah her clothes are magical items they can expand and shrink¡­)


    [It''s transformation magic¡­] (Kai)


    ''It''s transformation magic¡­'' (Ellie)


    Both Ellie and Kai recognized the magic that Vanya was using earlier and they immediately notified their masters respectively.


    When Vanya returned back to her normal form, she turned into a beautiful girl who looked nothing like the ''giant'' they had just seen.


    A maid brought juice and handed it over to Vanya and Link both.


    "Forgive my rudeness, I just wanted to test for myself if the rumors about the famous Link Rex were true or not, but now that my doubts are resolved, let''s forget this matter with a toast!" (Vanya)


    "This is the way of a true warrior, no?" (Vanya)


    Although Link was quite angry by this sudden attack, he still raised his hand for a toast.


    ''If the four SS-rankers weren''t here looking at us, I would have definitely delivered a counterattack¡­'' (Link)


    Link held his hand back, otherwise, he had many ways to counterattack that sudden sneak attack.


    "haha, the elf princess certainly is ''unique''¡­" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s words, Ryul dered proudly.


    "Well, of course, Vanya has been blessed by the world tree since birth, her transformation magic was bestowed to her by the world tree itself¡­" (Ryul)


    "She is extremely skilled at it you know¡­" (Ryul)


    Vanya went ahead and sat on a nearby table while sipping the juice.


    Link and others also sat down as if all of them had forgotten about the mess caused by the collision of Link and Vanya''s fists.


    Rio asked Link in a quiet voice.


    "She blocked your punch?" (Rio)


    "Hmm, yes¡­ this is the first time someone of my age has blocked my punch head-on like this¡­" (Link)


    "Things might get interesting in thepetition after all¡­" (Link)


    ''Well, of course, no candidate who made it here is weak... it''s just you are too strong¡­'' (Rio)


    A smile appeared on Link''s face as if he was excited for tomorrow''spetition now.


    After a while, Vanya walked over toward the group and sat beside them to have some casual chit-chat too.


    "It''s surprising actually for me too, that punch earlier was definitely not that weak, and you handled it so easily, your reaction time is quite fast!" (Vanya)


    "Well, I train my reaction time a lot¡­" (Link)


    Vanya''s voice seemed soft and enthusiastic in her normal formpared to the heavy and manly voice of her gigantic form.


    (There''s no doubt that she can crush people''s heads with her bicep in that form¡­)


    As fellow warriors, Link and Vanya immediately became friends after just a single exchange of fists.


    ''How did it be like this, wasn''t she supposed to show her giant form only during thepetition?'' (Rio)


    In the original novel, when Fade met her for the first time, she appeared in her normal form and directly fell in love with him at first sight, but now things have changed.


    The first time she appeared in front of the human candidates was in her giant form and that was to contend with Link.


    Originally Link should have been long dead by now and thus he couldn''t have appeared here.


    ''Perhaps, she wants topare her muscles with Link? Don''t tell me she is also a muscle idiot like Link¡­'' (Rio)


    The story has taken a strange turn, the princess who was supposed to show up as an elegant and cool beauty, has appeared as a wild and courageous warrior who wants topete with Link.


    What Rio didn''t know was that she had been trying to gather as much information about Link as possible, and thus she had no time to meet Fade these past few days.


    Moreover, with a world-famous warrior right in front of her, who canpete with her on equal grounds, why would she even bother with Fade right now?


    Thus, indirectly Rio made the meeting of this heroine with Fade impossible by saving Link.


    If Link wasn''t here, then Vanya would have looked for Fade but now the circumstances are totally different.


    The only person who was unhappy at the moment was none other than Riya.


    Arge pout appeared on her face when she saw Link talk with Vanya as if he was interested in her.


    "Haha, You certainly are a strong warrior Link Rex, how about you marry me? Ourbination will be a massive sess!" (Vanya)


    "Uh, I am already engag-" (Link)


    Before Link couldplete his sentence, Riya immediately clung to Link''s arm.


    Her ears standing like an alert cat, she red at Vanya and dered:


    "No! Link is mine!" (Riya)


    This scene made all the adults watching feel quite amused.


    Ashtel even ended upughing on this rare asion.


    Being red at with such intensity, Vanya had no choice but to back away.


    "I am already engaged actually, so I will decline your offer, Ms. Vanya¡­" (Link)


    "Ah, that''s such a shame, but it can''t be helped I guess¡­" (Vanya)


    Vanya''s proposal was just a half-hearted one she was just testing Link''s mentality.


    She had seen many young people who got overwhelmed by her beauty, but as Link is already engaged he is effectively immune to her charm.


    (Fun Fact: Being in a happy rtionship gives you 50 percent extra resistance to charm-rted spells and attacks¡­ that''s why subus-type demons rarely target couples¡­)


    As they say: ''Love is one of the strongest powers out there¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Rio changed the plotline once again without even knowing it¡­.


    Another one of Fade''s heroines has been led astray by Rio''s unconscious influence it seems¡­.


    Question of the day.


    Would you have epted Vanya''s offer if you were in Link''s position?


    1. Yes (She would immediatelyugh at your fickle heart if you epted¡­)


    2. No (I am devoted to goddess Lia, no demon can shake my heart!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 238 Night Party at the Royal Palace... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 238 Night Party at the Royal Pce... Part-2.</h4>


    "Okay, okay, don''t tease little Riya now¡­" (Syvis)


    Syvis gently twisted Vanya''s ear and made her beg for mercy.


    Vanya had no choice but to admit defeat under her mother''s pressure.


    Syvis then nced at Riya and patted her head gently.


    "Youngdy, no one is going to take him away from you, haha" (Syvis)


    Only after Syvis''s assurance did Riya finally loosen her grip on Link''s hand.


    "I heard you wanted to enhance your healing abilities¡­ what do you say, will you like to learn from me for the next few days?" (Syvis)


    Hearing Syvis''s words, Riya''s eyes widened in surprise.


    She knows that Syvis is a genuine SS-rank healer, and being taught by her directly is definitely a great help for her.


    "Link''s father has also given his permission, so there shouldn''t be any problem I think¡­" (Syvis)


    Riya nced at Ashtel and seeing that he nodded his head in agreement, Riya also agreed to it.


    "Good, haha, you resemble Vanya''s younger self, she used to be such a happy and careless girl back then, and now she has be so crafty¡­ sigh~ children grow up so fast¡­" (Syvis)


    For Syvis this is an opportunity to teach a person who can be an excellent healer in the future and for Riya this is an opportunity to improve her healing capabilities.


    Thus it''s a win-win situation for both of them.


    ¡­


    After these few small events, the party continued without any problems.


    Maids brought over food and served it to all of them.


    While eating the food, Rio nced at Al and asked:


    "Didn''t you say some of your father''s friends were going toe too?" (Rio)


    "Ah, it seems the friends he mentioned were actually Mr. Ashtel and Jin after all¡­" (Al)


    "He called them friend? Even though he was about to attack father just the other day¡­" (Link)


    "Hmm, perhaps they might have worked on some missions together before¡­ also didn''t Ms. Raji mention that Elf King and Link''s father met in the previous meeting?" (Liam)


    "Cough, ah, yes, I was quite young back then, but I vaguely remember that the two of them fought with each other for some reason¡­" (Al)


    "They ended up destroying a garden which mother liked a lot¡­ I think it might not have been a real fight¡­" (Al)


    "After all, if two SS-rankers of their strength had fought, just the shockwaves produced by the collision of their attacks could have wiped out the whole Elven Empire¡­" (Al)


    "They likely suppressed their strengths and just a little confrontation¡­ an auraparison perhaps?" (Liam)


    "No it could be an arm wrestle, Father seems to like that sport¡­ I have seen him attend arm wrestling tournaments before¡­" (Link)


    "Hmm, that is also possible¡­" (Al)


    All four of them nodded their heads, all boys could agree that arm wrestling is an amazing sport.


    "If not for Mother''s anger, the two of them might have really fought a proper duel¡­ and that would have been quite bad for the I think¡­" (Al)


    "Yeah, your mother is indeed quite capable, she made two SS-rankers stop fighting and even scolded them¡­ a truly courageous person¡­" (Liam)


    "Ahem¡­ I think the two of them didn''t want to see how the healer can use healing magic in a wrong way¡­. Cough!" (Al)


    "Cough¡­ahem! W-we shouldn''t talk about that forbidden subject¡­" (Liam)


    Link and Rio rolled their eyes and didn''t say anything else either as they both knew not to dwell too deep in this abyss.


    ¡­


    While the boys were busy having some shady discussions, the Girls were also having personal talks while sitting beside another dining table.


    "Your Transformation magic is quite good actually¡­" (Riya)


    Riya nced at the mountainous weapons in Vanya''s arsenal with great jealousy.


    Riya thought in her mind:


    ''If I had transformation magic, I would have made mine even bigger!'' (Riya)


    "Haha, it''s not my real magic actually, my magical affinity is fire magic. This transformation magic was given to me by the world tree''s blessing¡­." (Vanya)


    "Generally only spirit beings or high-ranked monsters like dragons have the ability to transform their body to their will, but in some rare asions even ordinary people can use it¡­" (Vanya)


    "Just like me¡­" (Vanya)


    While saying that Vanya used transformation magic on her hand and her hand instantly bulged up with thick and strong muscles.


    "It costs a lot of mana to maintain it though¡­ unlike Link who naturally has a strong physique I make it through transformation so mine consume a lot of mana¡­" (Vanya)


    "But as you are a mage, your mana capacity should be bigger, no?" (Lia)


    "Yeah, that''s the reason why I can maintain the transformation form for a long time.." (Vanya)


    [Girl, if you encounter her in the tournament tomorrow, you will not be able to win unless you go all out and use my blessings¡­] (Kai)


    [Moreover, she is an A-ranker, she will be a troublesome foe to deal with¡­] (Kai)


    ''I know, I can feel it that it''s going to be as difficult as dealing with a slightly weaker version of Link¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia couldn''t help but be astonished at how many talented people are gathered in this one ce right now.


    Not only did she meet Miki just the other day whose reaction time and perception were nearly at Rio''s level, but today she even met Vanya who can tank a head-on blow from Link too.


    And this is just the tip of the iceberg.


    The tournament hasn''t even started yet, the hole cards haven''t even been shown yet.


    ''It seems the tournament is going to be a lot lively¡­ there will be many opponents worth fighting¡­'' (Lia)


    Originally Lia wasn''t that optimistic about the tournament as she knew that with Rio and Link on their team, they were bound to win, but now that she has met the talented people from other races, her expectations have risen.


    ''I am looking forward to it¡­'' (Lia)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile on the third table, consisting of the adults.


    "Sigh, drinking this elven wine is making me remember some pleasant memories of my wife actually¡­" (Ashtel)


    "This is the ''remembrance wine'' created from the flowers of remembrance that are only found in a garden blessed by the world tree itself¡­" (Ryul)


    "It can make people remember people their happy memories¡­ it''s good for mental health, but if someone below rank SS drinks it, they will faint on the spot due to not being able to handle the amount of mana in this wine¡­" (Ryul)


    Jin nodded his head and said in an amused tone.


    "This is certainly the heaviest and most lethal wine I have ever drunk¡­ even an S-ranker might pass out cold for a few hours after drinking this thing¡­" (Jin)


    "Well, Syvis made it personally, obviously it''s going to be good!" (Ryul)


    "Haha, you praise me too much darling¡­. But remember not to drink too much of it or you are not going to have any tomorrow!" (Syvis)


    "Ehhh! I want more~" (Ryul)


    "Nope, you aren''t getting it¡­" (Syvis)


    ¡­


    The time passed and hours went by, after enjoying the party, the group of students got up to leave.


    Vanya stretched out her hand for a handshake and said in a calm tone:


    "I look forward to your performance in tomorrow''s match Link, Make sure you make it to the finals so that we can fight each other without anyone getting in our way of having a fun battle¡­" (Vanya)


    Link shook her hand and nodded his head:


    "You too¡­" (Link)


    Al then shook hands with Rio and said:


    "I am already an S-ranker so I will not be fighting in this tournament, but I will cheer for you all from the spectator''s bench¡­" (Al)


    Rio nodded his hand at Al and then left with the rest of the group.


    While on the way back, Liam nced at Link and whistled:


    *Whistle~*


    "You charmed the Elf princess so hard, she directly proposed marriage to you dude!" (Liam)


    Rio also nodded his head at Liam''s words.


    "I didn''t expect you to be such a womanizer, Link¡­" (Rio)


    Riya who was already upset at Link immediately pouted her cheeks and said in an angry tone.


    "You were really enjoying yourself back there when you shook hands with her, huh¡­" (Riya)


    Seeing that everyone was using Link, Lia, and Ellie also didn''t hold back:


    "Link is a womanizer¡­" (Ellie)


    "Link is a womanizer¡­" (Lia)


    A deep frown appeared over Link''s face after hearing them all falsely use him for no reason.


    "Ugh¡­ you guys are thinking too much, I have devoted my heart to Riya, no one else can sway me at all!" (Link)


    "Riya is the most beautiful woman in the world!!" (Link)


    Due to being annoyed by them all, Link ended up shouting that line at the top of his lungs, and people even opened their house windows to see who was dering their love so loudly in the middle of the night.


    Riya''s face turned as red as a tomato after hearing Link dere those words so loudly.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that none can sway Link with charm as Riya is the only woman whom he has in his steeled heart¡­


    Fun Fact: Riya will tell this story to her kids in the future just to make Link embarrassed¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think has the highest chance of winning this tournament?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 239 The Tournament of Supreme talents, Starts! Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 239 The Tournament of Supreme talents, Starts! Part-1.</h4>


    Morning, the opening day of the Tournament.


    The National Stadium of Elven Empire, Near the King''s Memorial.


    *Boom*


    Fireworks lit the morning sky above the stadium and a lot of reporters flocked all around the stadium.


    Influential people from all over the world who had bought extremely expensive tickets to watch this tournament live filled the stadium''s seats to the brim.


    With today''s technology it''s possible to use a hologram to watch the tournament from thefort of your home, but seeing it all from your own eyes feelspletely different after all.


    Thus, no seat in the stadium was left empty today.


    Media and reporters were all flocking in excitement, TV channels all over the world were focusing on telecasting this tournament.


    The whole world seems to be boiling over this massive-scale event.


    The government even dered the opening day of the tournament a national holiday in the human empire so that everyone could enjoy and watch this event.


    But the most shocked were not theizens, but the participants themselves.


    ¡­


    Inside the waiting area, Room 1.


    "Uh, I thought the meeting of gods is a very secretive meeting¡­ then why are we showing off in front of the whole world?" (Liam)


    All the students looked at Jin withplicated expressions on their faces.


    Jin shook his head and said in an apologizing tone.


    "I was going to inform you about this to you guys but I ended up drinking a bit too much yesterday and ended up sleeping all night long so¡­ uh, forgive me¡­" (Jin)


    Jin smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    "The tournament was indeed going to be held in a secretive manner just like it always has been, but during this meeting of gods, we have altered the rules a bit¡­" (Jin)


    "From now on, the meeting will be held in disguise of this tournament¡­ we will tell the world that the reason why so many SS-rankers have gathered here is because of the tournament¡­" (Jin)


    "This is being done to improve the secrecy of the meeting even further¡­" (Jin)


    Rio and others squinted their eyes at that answer.


    "Why go so far to hide the meeting even more after all these years? They should have done something like this hundreds of years ago if they really wanted to keep things secret¡­" (Link)


    Jin nodded his head and said in a calm tone:


    "The thing is¡­" (Jin)


    (Here Jin exined the uing ''cmity'' to the students to give them basic knowledge about the things happening in the shadows¡­.)


    (I am not going to repeat it again, go back to the previous chapters if you have forgotten about it¡­)


    "So, we are trying to use this tournament as a way to keep the general popce calm and distracted from the fact that more and more dungeons are opening as time goes¡­" (Jin)


    "With this tournament, we can keep people busy for at least a few years as they will be focusing on the rising stars that will emerge from this tournament¡­" (Jin)


    "SS-rankers will be able to get the armies ready in the meantime when the interest of the popce gets shifted from the SS-rankers¡­" (Jin)


    Liam frowned at Jin''s words and said in a doubtful tone:


    "This idea likely won''t be feasible, it has too many ws, and there''s no guarantee that people will focus on the new rising stars that hard¡­" (Liam)


    "And even if the idea seeds¡­. We can''t hide the truth for long¡­ when the amount of mana and miasma bes high enough, the demon armies will start their invasion¡­" (Liam)


    "No wait¡­. Perhaps the reason why the demon army has been so quiet these past few years is all because of this reason¡­ they might already be preparing for a full-scale war¡­" (Liam)


    The atmosphere in the room became tense after the students learned the deeper truths about this world.


    "Sigh¡­ I am ashamed to put the burden on you children, but even we are out of options, we need some time to prepare¡­" (Jin)


    "If the data gathering results of the AI sce hade out a few years earlier, we could have had more time to prepare, but we kept the AI busy with building the spaceships, thus it had to divide its calction power¡­" (Jin)


    "Dividing the calction power caused the data gathering to slow down¡­ now we have a very small amount of time left¡­" (Jin)


    "How much time do we have?" (Link)


    "Around two to three years at most I think¡­ it can even be earlier¡­" (Jin)


    Link clenched his fist tightly in frustration, Liam sucked cold air with widened eyes and everyone else was also shocked by this deration.


    "J-just three years?...." (Link)


    Among the shocked crowd group, only Rio''s face remained as expressionless as always.


    He knew that this cmity wasing from the very first day he arrived in this world, thus he wasn''t surprised in the least.


    ''The reason why I have been pushing myself so hard, the reason why I resorted to stealing the chances of the protagonist, was because I knew that such a massive cmity wasing¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio had been preparing for this since day one, and thus he was not as shocked as the others.


    ''Moreover, this first wave is nothing special, the real trouble wille when ''that'' being descends¡­'' (Rio)


    In a chaotic world destined to be ravaged by endless hordes of monsters, being weak is the original sin.


    Thus, Rio had decided to be strong from day one, if he had left everything to luck, he could have never reached the level he has today and his life would have been entirely dependent on luck.


    In a story where the hero alone shines and enjoys avish life, extra characters like him die in hordes every day, thus to defy the destined fate, Rio has decided to be strong.


    ''The chance of this surviving ''that'' being is very low¡­ who knows if this story has a bad ending in the first ce¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio had read the story till the chapter it had been written at that time, but he never read the real ending of the story, so he isn''t sure if this world has any hope or not.


    ''The situation of this world might be hopeless, but there should be some way to at least save Lia and myself from this disaster¡­'' (Rio)


    All Rio cared was about Lia''s safety, if she''s safe he doesn''t care about the rest of the world, he''s not a hero and there''s no point in trying to be one.


    Just when Rio was contemting in his mind about what to do in the future, Link suddenly ced his hand on Rio''s shoulder and said in a confident voice.


    "Hmph! If Rio and I work together in the future, we can certainly keep the monsters in check! I don''t think I will lose as long as Rio is by my side!" (Link)


    Hearing Link''s words, the whole group was stunned for a moment but then they all smiled and nodded their head.


    Even Jinughed in amusement.


    "Haha, yes, with the two of you holding the sky up for the human race, we don''t need to worry about the future that much¡­" (Jin)


    "Who knows, you two might already reach rank SS in the next few years! And unlike the half-assed SS-ranker like me, you two will certainly be much stronger!" (Jin)


    A look of pride appeared on Jin''s face as he thought about how he had once taught these two personally and his students might surpass him soon.


    Seeing Link''s blind trust in his ability, Rio was quite surprised in his mind but his face remained emotionless.


    ''You are cing too heavy a responsibility on my shoulder¡­ but I guess protecting your back till everything seems hopeless might not be a bad idea either¡­'' (Rio)


    Rio has always had a vague feeling that there is definitely some connection between Link and Fade.


    Fade seems ''lucky'' like a genuine protagonist but his personality is straight-up ''weird'', on the other hand, Link has the ''bad luck'' of a viin but his capabilities match up with that of a person ''favored by the world'' itself.


    ''Strange¡­ very strange¡­ my plot sense is tingling violently for some reason¡­'' (Rio)


    The only person who was able to sense something amiss and was able to snap out of it properly was Link too.


    Link noticed the presence of a ''mysterious force'' without Rio even telling him beforehand. (Referring to ch-129, read it again if you don''t remember it¡­)


    ''There is definitely something going on behind the scenes¡­'' (Rio)


    ''Moreover¡­ ording to the AI sce''s data¡­ everything started around the time when Alverto attacked Drift city¡­ is there some connection between this Alverto and this cmity¡­'' (Rio)


    The reason why Rio wasn''t sure is that Alverto was never mentioned in the original novel, thus Rio doesn''t know much about him.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that the mysteries of this world deepen the further you try to find answers, maybe the secrets of this world are indeed as deep as the abyss¡­


    Question of the day.


    Now that you know the reason why Rio has been so hell-bent on stealing the chances of Fade, what would you choose to do?


    1. Steal (Steal the protagonist''s chances and survive some way or other!)


    2. No (I will just ept my fate as an extra and die peacefully¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 240 The Tournament of Supreme Talents, Starts! Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 240 The Tournament of Supreme Talents, Starts! Part-2.</h4>


    After the fireworks show ended, the excitement of the audience reached its peak.


    Amidst the endless cheers of the public, the opening ceremony of the tournament finally started.


    An energetic young elf who was sitting on the seat of thementator held the mic in her hands and marked to opening of the show.


    "Wee guests from all over the world!" (Commentator)


    "The Elf nation wees everyone who came here to watch this exciting tournament and we also appreciate the enthusiasm of the audience who is looking forward to this event from their homes!" (Commentator)


    "Today is the day when the opening ceremony for this event will be conducted! So let me paint the whole picture for everyone!" (Commentator)


    The Elf girl''s sweet yet energetic voice rang out throughout the stadium and her sweet voice made everyone who was watching the show no matter from their phones or TV feelfortable.


    "The first thing on the List is! Of course the Entry of the ''pride'' of the world, the SS-rankers!" (Commentator)


    "SS-rankers from all over the world have gathered to this ce today, thus we can guarantee that the whole tournament will be conducted fair and square!" (Commentator)


    "After all, no one can do shady things right under the nose of so many SS-rankers!" (Commentator)


    "Then let us wee them first!" (Commentator)


    In the excited eyes of the crowd, Ryul was the first one to enter the sight of the people, he came out of a portal and stood right in the middle of the sky above the stadium so that everyone could see him easily.


    "First up is the beloved King of the Elven empire, Ryul Yeljyre!" (Commentator)


    Ryul waved his hand at the audience and the excitement in the eyes of the elf folk skyrocketed instantly after seeing him.


    Ryul didn''t stay there too long, he directly teleported to his designated seat in the VVIP area where all SS-rankers are supposed to sit.


    "Then Next up is the world-famous SS-rank healer, Syvis Leocaryn!!" (Commentator)


    At her arrival, the whole audience was mesmerized by her beauty and the cheers became noticeably louder.


    "The third person is a special one! Everyone wees the world''s strongest Man! Ashtel Rex!" (Commentator)


    The eyes of the audience widened in sheer shock at the fact that even Ashtel had arrived at this tournament.


    When the announcement was made that SS-rankers from all over the world woulde, people thought that just some less famous SS-rankers from other races might get invited.


    But who would have thought that even Ashtel Rex, one of the most famous SS rankers would appear here too.


    The poprity of this tournament''s show on all social media tforms instantly increased upon Ashtel''s arrival.


    (Don''t underestimate his poprity, he is more famous than an international movie star¡­ his fan base is massive!)


    Ashtel also didn''t stay too long and directly teleported to his designated seat just like the two did before him.


    One by One all of the Other SS-rankers appeared through the teleportation portals and waved at the audience before going to their designated seats.


    None of them stayed for too long as each of them didn''t care too much about poprity at all, they were all popr enough already.


    Today it''s not their day to show off in front of the people, it''s the children who are supposed to be showing off in front of the audience today.


    All SS-rankers understood this fact, thus they only announced their arrival and went back to sit in their designated seats silently.


    They didn''t even say any extra words to avoid getting too much poprity.


    But obviously, the audience wasn''t thinking like them, the whole world was boiling like crazy after seeing so many SS-rankers appear in one ce together.


    Those who had bought tickets toe to the stadium in person felt so lucky that some of them were even crying in happiness.


    (SS-rankers in this world are considered real demi-gods, and being in the presence of so many demi-gods all at once, this is already enough to be considered a feat that is worth bragging endlessly¡­)


    The excitement of the crowd was so huge that if not for the protective barrier that was keeping the crowd isted from the stadium ground, the audience would have already rushed over to take a closer look at the demigods.


    After half an hour, all the SS-rankers had arrived one by one and had taken their designated seat.


    Even though they were all suppressing their aura, with so many SS-rankers being concentrated in one small ce, the atmosphere in the VVIP area became extremely heavy and tense on its own.


    Even the space-time fabric started to bend and stretch due to their collective presence.


    Fortunately, no one below SS rank was present in that area, otherwise, they would have likely fainted on the spot.


    (The meeting hall earlier was enhanced by an SS-rank barrier thus the aura of the SS-rankers didn''t affect the S-rankers standing near the walls, too much¡­ but things are different in this ce, there''s no SS-rank barrier here¡­)


    "Now that all of the SS-rankers are here, let us start the opening ceremony by cutting the ribbon on the phoenix torch!" (Commentator)


    The whole audience''s focus was diverted onto a massive bowl ced high above the central area of the stadium.


    The massive bowl seemed to be hanging in mid-air and elven-style craftsmanship could be easily noticed on the giant bowl.


    Quite a few broken branches of the world tree were ced in that massive bowl and the me extracted from a phoenix was burning those branches with an intense heat.


    If not for that bowl, the whole stadium would have been incinerated by those intense mes.


    (Phoenix is a rare SS-rank creature, it''s a species equivalent to dragons of this world, but Phoenix''s are rarely seen, and even in the long records of the human race, it has rarely been mentioned before¡­)


    Al appeared near the crowd along with the two other SS-


    rankers of the Elven empire.


    "The Crown prince of the Elven Empire, Ailduin Yeljyre will be the one to cut the ribbon on the phoenix me today!" (Commentator)


    "The crown prince has broken through S-rank recently and as a reward, he has been awarded this great opportunity!" (Commentator)


    Hearing those words, the whole elven audience was left in shock and awe.


    No one expected Al to get such an honorable duty at this massive-scale tournament.


    His bad reputation has started to show some signs of recovery in this event.


    Al waved his hand at the audience and cut the ribbon with a bright smile on his face.


    Rio who saw all this from his smartphone while sitting in the waiting area felt quite weird after thinking about how Al turned over a new leaf so fast.


    ¡­


    "And now! With the ribbon cutting already done! We can finally announce the events of this tournament!" (Commentator)


    "The tournament will be conducted in two phases! There will be a team phase and then there will be an individual battle phase!" (Commentator)


    "In the first phase, all the students will be working in pre-


    determined teams! All of the candidates will work together with their fellow team members to win three team matches!" (Commentator)


    "The team which wins three matches against other teams will move to the next phase and the defeated teams will be eliminated!" (Commentator)


    "There is no freedom of losing even a single match, losing even once means direct elimination!" (Commentator)


    "Once the team match ends, all of the candidates who will pass the first phase will have to fight in a knockout tournament!" (Commentator)


    "All participants will get rewards based on how far they make it into the tournament, but there will only be one winner!" (Commentator)


    "The winner will be rewarded with the ''Blessing of the world tree'' itself!" (Commentator)


    The enthusiasm of the audience increased even further after hearing about the rewards and the events of the match.


    In the hidden corners like bars and underground casinos people even started to bet on who might win and who might lose.


    The whole world seemed to have be lively and active at this moment.


    Compared to the excited audience the atmosphere in the waiting area became morepetitive.


    Link stretched out his hand in the form of a fist towards Rio and said with a smile on his face.


    "Hehe, it seems we will be fighting in the finals then¡­" (Link)


    Rio didn''t hesitate much and returned the gesture with his fist.


    "It will be interesting I guess¡­" (Rio)


    Liam who was standing nearby also stretched out his fist and said in a proud tone.


    "Don''t forget me too, who knows, I might end up defeating the two of you, hehe!" (Liam)


    Just when the three of them were having a happypetitive moment an irritable distraction also decided to raise his voice.


    "Heh, this is what I was waiting for! In this tournament I will beat you all rich bast*rds and win it easily!" (Fade)


    "The time to give the humiliation back by a millionfold has finallye!!" (Fade)


    Fade pointed his finger at Liam and Link and smirked at them while talking in a mocking voice.


    (For some reason he automatically ignores Rio''s existence¡­ as if he can''t even see him, perhaps a result of the trauma caused by Rio during that system crash moment¡­)


    Link and Liam nced at Fade with a look as if they were looking at some roadside trash.


    "Shut up!" (Link and Liam)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that we might be able to see Rio and Link go all out this time¡­


    Question of the day.


    How far do you think Fade will make in this tournament?


    (Tell me in thements!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 241 The Tournament of Supreme Talents, Starts! Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 241 The Tournament of Supreme Talents, Starts! Part-3.</h4>


    Capital City Astra, Rex Mansion.


    Guest Room.


    "Hoho, Master Ashtel looked quite amazing there¡­" (Olin)


    Sitting on the couch, Olin nced at the TV and smiled when Ashtel appeared on the screen.


    Hearing Olin''s words, Ste came inside the room with an excited look on her face.


    "Oh, where?" (Ste)


    Olin shook his head and said:


    "You missed it, you took too long toe¡­ it seems you are getting old-" (Olin)


    "Who are you calling old!?" (Ste)


    "Cough! Cough! I-I mean¡­ oh! There he is! Look he is there in the VVIP section!" (Olin)


    Hearing Olin''s words, Ste forgot about being angry and hurriedly looked at the TV.


    "Ah, it''s true, he is there¡­ so he went to the Elven Empire with Link¡­" (Ste)


    The general popce only knows that seven young talents from the academy have gone to the tournament with the SS-rankers, they don''t know about the secret meeting.


    "Hmm, but why do feel that he looks kind of worried?" (Ste)


    Ste''s old eyes stared at the screen and the look on her face became a bit doubtful.


    "Isn''t it just your imagination? He is an SS-ranker now you know¡­ what can make him worried¡­" (Olin)


    Ste red at Olin and said in an annoyed tone:


    "You old bone! I have raised him since the time he was a snotty brat! You think I don''t know anything about him!?" (Ste)


    "W-well, perhaps he is worried about young master Link I guess¡­ after any parent will be worried about their children¡­. This is a very big day for young master Link after all¡­" (Olin)


    Ste was still not fully convinced by this but as she didn''t know the inside information, she just shook her head and stopped thinking about it.


    She walked over to Olin''s side and poured tea for both of them.


    Today they are going to watch the show.


    *And now! We are going to introduce all the teams that will be taking part in thispetition!* (Commentator)


    The massive gate of the waiting area opened slowly and amidst the cheers of the excited audience first group appeared.


    *First up is the team from the human empire! The group that came here afterpleting the most difficult missions!* (Commentator)


    *The team of candidates that has survived the attack of an S-rank demon!* (Commentator)


    *Rumors have it that the strongest candidate among all of today''s candidates is also in this team!* (Commentator)


    *Everyone! wee Team Astra!* (Commentator)


    With Link leading at the front and holding arge banner with ''Astra'' written on it, all seven members of the team entered the stadium in an ''arrow formation''.


    (Liam has un-summoned Ellie so she isn''t in this formation right now¡­)


    The banner with a dark red background color and the word ''Astra'' written in ''golden'' swayed in the air and a smile appeared on Link''s face as all cameras and eyes were focused on him directly.


    While waving his hand at the audience he led the team to walk forward and stand on their designated spot.


    (All teams will appear one by one and will stand at their designated spot while holding the banner¡­. Each banner will have the name of the capital city of the respective race written on it...)


    Seeing Link appear on the TV screen, Olin and Ste''s eyes widened and a satisfied expression appeared on their old faces.


    "Sigh~ young master has grown so much¡­ he used to y around in the mud and hide in the garden when he was young¡­ and now¡­. Now he is representing the face of the whole human race in front of the whole world¡­" (Olin)


    "Yeah¡­ Right now, the banner he is holding represents the dignity and pride of the entire human race¡­ He has grown up a lot¡­" (Ste)


    The dying mes in the eyes of these two old folks seemed to have rejuvenated today after seeing Link''s growth.


    "If Mistress was still alive, she would have been so proud of her talented child¡­ he really makes me feel so proud of him¡­ Sigh¡­ children grow up so fast¡­" (Ste)


    ¡­


    Rex Mansion


    Bodyguard''s changing room.


    "Whoa! Finally young master has appeared on the screen!!" (Boris)


    The usual calm and collected personal butler is cheering loudly with the other bodyguards while looking at Link wave at the camera.


    The bodyguards nced at him in concern and tried to take away the bottle from his hand.


    "Hey hey, it''s not good to be drinking so much wine, you are in the Rex Mansion right now you know¡­"


    "No~ I am going to enjoy the day today! I will cheer young master Link with all my might!!" (Boris)


    Due to drinking too much, Boris''s whole face was getting red, yet he still cheered for Link.


    The bodyguards shook their heads and ended up going with the flow in the end.


    Everyone raised a ss of wine and toasted while saying:


    "May victory be on the young master''s side, Cheers!"


    ¡­


    Silver Mansion.


    An underground secret room.


    While sitting on a couch, James smiled when he saw Lia appear on the screen along with the other team members.


    He nced at the nearby statue and smiled.


    ''Your daughter has be independent now¡­ you can rest assured she has found her own ce in the world¡­'' (James)


    This underground secret room is actually a ce that James has been keeping secret from everyone, even Lia doesn''t know about this room.


    Before bing an awakener, James was talented in creating stone statues.


    He left that talent behind when he became an Awakener, but after his wife''s death, he picked this talent up again.


    He hand-crafted several statues in remembrance of his wife so that he doesn''t end up forgetting her face one day.


    After smiling at the statue of his wife, he nced at the smartphone screen again and continued to watch his daughter make him proud.


    ¡­


    Academy, Principal''s Office.


    While sitting on the principal''s chair, Raji stared at her smartphone and sipped the dark red wine from the fancy ss she held in her other hand.


    When Riya finally appeared on screen, a smirk appeared on Raji''s face.


    ''She used to be a crybaby when she was young¡­ but look at her now, she looks so excited and happy while standing beside that little guy Link¡­'' (Raji)


    ''Time really does change fast¡­'' (Raji)


    Raji could have never imagined before that the same na?ve and immature younger sister of hers would be able to stand in front of the whole world without even getting nervous.


    ''It seems my decision of getting her acquainted with Link was indeed right¡­'' (Raji)


    If Riya had never met Link, she certainly could have never had the courage to go up the stage and stand under the prying eyes of the whole world like this.


    But with Link standing beside her, Riya was not worried about anything.


    Her nervousness and anxiety disappear when Link stands beside her, even today, she isn''t worried about being nervous, after all, Link is standing there to support her.


    ''She isn''t even nibbling on her beloved candies today¡­ has she finally matured?...'' (Raji)


    A rare smile appeared on Raji''s usual cold face.


    ''She has grown up¡­'' (Raji)


    ¡­


    Underground Tavern, Novo.


    Today the tavern is oddly empty, no guests are drinking and talking like usual.


    The tavern is covered in utter silence, but still, Irvin wasn''t depressed about it.


    Instead, a smirk appeared on his old and tired face.


    ''It was a good decision to buy the smartphone, otherwise I wouldn''t have been able to watch this¡­'' (Irvin)


    Irvin stared at the screen and smiled when he saw Rio appear with his team.


    "Hoho¡­ so he made friends with the son of that SS-ranker?... his father made friends with the SS-ranker and now he is doing the same¡­" (Irvin)


    "Is this the reason why they say: ''Like father Like son''?" (Irvin)


    Irvin''s old eyes shined brightly as he looked at Rio walk side by side with Link.


    "But still¡­ he really is something else to be able to reach that stage¡­ not many can get this amazing opportunity¡­" (Irvin)


    Irvin then nced at a nearby shelf, a rusty knife rested on the shelf as if it was being put on disy purposely.


    ''It seems, your son might surpass you soon¡­ boss¡­'' (Irvin)


    That rusty knife seemed just an ordinary knife, but it had many memories attached to it, and only Irvin knew the importance of that knife.


    For others, it might be worthless garbage, but for Irvin, it''s a priceless treasure.


    That knife was once given to him by Kevin himself, it was a symbol of their organization and represented them as unique.


    The knife itself had no special abilities, it was just an ordinary knife, but it showed that they were genuine assassins, it was a ''mark of an assassin'' for their organization.


    ''Time flew by so fast¡­ who would have thought that I would get to see his legacy still alive after such a long time¡­'' (Irvin)


    ¡­


    Dragon Valley.


    Dragon King''s Throne Room.


    A young girl nced at her father who had a rare amused expression on his face.


    He was smiling while looking at the smartphone that was floating in mid-air right in front of him.


    The girl walked over to his side without any hesitation and asked curiously.


    "What are you watching Father?" (???)


    Hearing the girl''s voice, the being who can make any person in this world fearful, smiled and replied in a calm yet majestic voice.


    "Seeing if there''s any young talent worthy of my notice¡­" (???)


    The young girl looked at the screen curiously and asked:


    "So, have you found anyone worth your notice Father?" (???)


    "Hmm¡­ yes¡­ it seems I have found something very amusing¡­" (???)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that appearing on the stage has garnered them a lot of attention from all over the world. Let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day.


    If you had to go on stage at such arge-scale event, would you have fainted or not?


    1. Yes (My Anxiety issues would have definitely made me faint!)


    2. No (I have been trained by Rio all along, nothing can sway me now!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 242 Mentality Of those at the Peak. (Skippable)

    Chapter 242 ''Mentality'' Of those at the ''Peak''. (Skippable)


    ??Time passed and introductions ended after all the teams appeared on the ground while holding their respective banners.


    From the start of the opening ceremony to the end of the introductions, two hours went by in a sh.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "Which team do you think has the best chance to make it to the next stage?" (Ryul)


    Ashtel smirked at Ryul''s words and replied:


    "Hmph, do you even need to ask?" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel''s eyes directly fell on his son who was holding the banner and a look of pride appeared on his face.


    "Of course, Team Astra has the best chance¡­" (Ashtel)


    "Cough, I mean beside them, I wasn''t including them¡­" (Ryul)


    "You should have properly exined then¡­ hmm, besides them¡­ I would have said that the elven team might have the best chance earlier¡­ but now that I have seen all these candidates¡­ it''s different¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel''s eyes narrowed for a moment and then said in a doubtful tone:


    "Hmm? The rank of all the candidates of this year is quite high for some reason¡­" (Ashtel)


    "So it might not be so easy to distinguish between them without actually seeing them fight¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel''s doubt was indeed reasonable.


    In the previous tournaments, the rank of most of the candidates remained around ''C+'' to ''B+'', rarely ever A rankers appear in thispetition as most of them were just young students who had awakened for only one and a half years now.


    But things are different in this tournament from the previous ones.


    There''s no candidate who is below rank B, the talent pool for this tournament is from ''B-'' to ''A'' rank.


    This means the overall talent of the whole younger generation has improved in the past decade.


    ''Is this also the result of the increase in mana density during thest decade?'' (Ashtel)


    Thinking about this, Ashtel remembered that the first SS-rankers appeared only after the mana became denser during the previous mana wave.


    ''Could it be that more SS-rankers will be born in the future due to the rapid increase in mana density?'' (Ashtel)


    This thought alone caused a lot of worry to Ashtel.


    Everyone knows that the beings who reach rank SS are very strong and the reason why the alliance puts so many restrictions on them is to keep all SS-rankers in check.


    But if the number of SS-rankers increases, managing them all and keeping track of them will be extremely difficult.


    Usually, most SS-rankers are sensible and mature people, they have a soft spot for their hometown thus they don''t do anything to harm the.


    Thus the general popce usually lives in peace as no SS-rankers disturb the mortal world without any proper reason.


    But if too many SS-rankers appear then some immature people may also appear.


    And if they tried to harm the, it would cause massive casualties and major trouble for all races.


    Worst case scenario, if some criminal ascended to rank SS then massive tragedies will likely happen.


    ''This mana wave¡­ I have a feeling that things are going to be chaotic in the near future¡­'' (Ashtel)


    A peak SS-rankers intuition is no joke, their perception never betrays them most of the time.


    As the holders of ''World authority'' their perception gets enhanced by the ws'' of this world, thus they often can predict threats that may create major troubles for them.


    (This phenomenon depends purely on luck and is very random¡­ it''s not a proper ''foresight'', but a mere speck of it¡­)


    The Ashtel''s eyes fell on Link again.


    ''Perhaps the reason why I have been training him for so long is because I subconsciously knew that things would be chaotic in the future¡­ I wonder if he will able to manage the situation in the future¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Ashtel has always been strict with Link because he wanted him to grow up into someone who could surpass him one day.


    His intuition has subtly told him, that Link has the potential to surpass him one day and pioneer a new path for the human race, that''s why Ashtel must help Link out as much as possible.


    The suggestion of making this tournament into a public event also came from Ashtel himself.


    He wanted Link to establish a reputation for himself early on.


    Others currently refer to Link as ''The Son of the strongest man'' but Ashtel doesn''t want Link to always live in his shadow.


    Instead, he would be happy if he gets overshadowed by Link''s brilliance in the future.


    ''With this tournament, I guess Link will be able to gather a decent amount of reputation for himself¡­ at that point, it would be much easier to handle the situations in the world once his reputation is high enough¡­'' (Ashtel)


    Personal strength is indeed the most important, but you can''t do everything alone either, eventually, you will need allies too.


    But to make stronger allies you need a reputation to match those strong allies, without that reputation you will never be able to keep your grasp on the world.


    As someone who has worked his way up to the peak from the bottom levels, Ashtel knows the importance of reputation and strength the most.


    (Fun Fact: All the wealth that the Rex family holds today, has been created by Ashtel himself. Before he ascended to power, the Rex family was on the verge of bankruptcy¡­)


    ¡­


    Ryul shook his head and said:


    "Your evaluations are so strict, now I know why your son was able to grow up so fast, your standards are just too high¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul figured out that Ashtel wasn''t too optimistic about the Elf team as other candidates were also showing excellent aura.


    Ashtel nodded his head at Ryul''s words and said:


    "Well, if the students under are too talented, your standards get higher and higher¡­ my opinions on the teams might indeed be considered wed¡­" (Ashtel)


    Gradba who had been listening until now while sitting on the seat right behind the two finally spoke:


    "Hmm, in my opinion, the team sent by the Beast folk has a promising leader, they might not be too far off your team level Elf King¡­" (Gradba)


    While Saying that Gradba nced at Miki who was standing with a proud expression on her face among her fellow teammates.


    Her presence was overshadowing the nearby teams easily.


    Listening to those words, the representative of the beast folk shook his head and replied to Gradba in a calm tone:


    "In our team, only the leader is strong rest are average, but I think your team has a higher chance as nearly all of them are at the same level¡­"


    "Being at the same level improves coordination after all¡­"


    Ryul tilted his head in doubt and said:


    "Sigh, all of them are such talented children, I think aside from my daughter, others might not be able to contend for long with them¡­" (Ryul)


    A heated discussion started between all of the SS-rankers, But none of them praised their own teams, they were praising and pointing out the feats of other teams instead of talking about their own.


    This is obviously a friendly gesture to show respect for the dedication and efforts put in by everyone.


    Each one of them has gone through their fair share of battles and difficulties before achieving their current levels.


    Thus, all SS-rankers have a tacit understanding between them, none of them belittles each other and none of them creates infamy for the other party as they all know, that each SS-


    ranker holds the sentiment of their respective race.


    Jin, who has just recently be an SS-ranker was quite astonished after seeing all these SS-rankers being so respectful towards each other.


    ''D*mn, the difference in the thinking process of the people at the peak of the world and those who are below rank SS is really huge¡­'' (Jin)


    Jin has been an S-ranker for a long time, and he has fought hundreds of thousands of battles over the years, he knows just how dark the hearts of the people can get when in battle.


    Seeing the strongest being in this world being so humble and respectful was indeed a shocking sight for him.


    Jin can feel it from his intuition that none of them were putting up a fa?ade either, they were genuinely appreciating each other''s teams as if it was their own.


    (Fun Fact: Except when in battle with someone of equal strength, SS rankers barely ever use underhanded tactics as it''s near impossible for someone of lower rank to defeat them¡­)


    ''Comparing the thoughts of the people at the lower levels to them feels likeparing sh*t with pure water¡­ today is really an eye-opener for me¡­'' (Jin)


    That day, Jin''s mentality matured quite fast after being in the presence of so many SS-rankers.


    Perhaps today''s events may affect his future decisions greatly.


    As they say: ''If you stay with excellent people long enough, some of their excellence eventually rubs off your face too¡­'' (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems when you ascend to rank SS, ''mentality'' and ''ambitions'' might y a major role in it, perhaps being an SS-


    ranker itself is a ''mentality''¡­


    Question of the day.


    What could be the reason for SS-rankers being so humble?


    They have seen the world''s true colors, they have seen through the facade of ''Evil'' The experiences they gathered from their path to ascension, made them humble as they understood how precious ''life'' itself is¡­ Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 243 Team Battles! Part-1.

    Chapter 243 Team Battles! Part-1.


    ??"And now! The time hase! The team matches between the supreme talents of all races will begin now!" (Commentator)


    A gigantic hologram appeared in the middle of the stadium, and with the names of all teams disyed on it, the hologram hung in mid-air for all to see clearly.


    "This leaderboard will show us which team has defeated how many opponents, the teams that defeat three teams before the time limit ends, will get to go to the next stage of the tournament!" (Commentator)


    In the enthusiastic eyes of the audience, all of the candidates waved at the audience onest time before a massive teleportation circle appeared on the stadium ground.


    The massive teleportation circle shined brightly and teleported all of the teams to a massive forest.


    Massive hologram screens appeared all over the stadium to show the scenes from each angle.


    "As defeating others might be easier for some stronger teams, our rule-makingmittee has decided to add a weakness for all teams!" (Commentator)


    "Each team holds a banner made of ordinary materials and even the weakest awakeners can break that banner easily without applying too much force, each team has to protect their respective banners with utmost care!" (Commentator)


    "If the banner gets broken then the whole team will be eliminated! This rule creates a bnce for weaker teams! And provides a worthwhile challenge for the stronger ones!" (Commentator)


    The scene on the massive hologram screens changed and started to show the starting position of each team.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "You proposed to add such a rule, aren''t you worried that your team will get eliminated if their banner breaks down?" (Ryul)


    Ashtel just shook his head at Ryul''s doubtful voice.


    "If they can''t even protect a lifeless banner, then it means they arecking coordination in their team, if they can''t even do something that simple, I would rather just admit defeat and go home¡­" (Ashtel)


    Ryul squinted his eyes at Ashtel''s words.


    "You really are quite strict at even your own son¡­ you purposely made those banners extra fragile, even a little carelessness and even a weaker team may seize the opportunity to break it with long-range attacks¡­" (Ryul)


    Gradba also nodded his head at Ryul''s words.


    "Indeed, if it''s about close-rangebat, team Astra is near invincible with Link, but long-range attacks are different, Team Astra obviously doesn''t have an archer..." (Gradba)


    "Well, if I just let them run wild without any problems, wouldn''t this tournament lose its meaning then? It''s better for them to encounter difficult situations so that they can ovee them right now and be stronger¡­" (Ashtel)


    Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Ashtel''s words, they knew that it was better to face problems in this tournament instead of facing them in actual battle.


    ¡­


    East line forest.


    Liam looked at the sky and said in a thoughtful tone:


    "They cast a massive barrier, it''s covering a huge area it seems¡­. Perhaps to block interference from outside or limit the battlefield, but still the scale of the barrier is really massive¡­" (Liam)


    Liam then nced at his wristwatch and sighed:


    "We only have twelve hours toplete the mission, moreover we still have to protect the banner¡­ it''s as if someone has deliberately made these rules to target our team¡­" (Liam)


    Liam''s perception has always been sharp, he immediately sensed the hidden thoughts behind all of this.


    At Liam''s words, Link handed over the banner to Lia and said:


    "It doesn''t matter, with Rio''s reaction time, I don''t think any long-range attack willnd on the banner¡­ we can give the banner to Lia and he won''t let her get hurt¡­" (Link)


    Link gave a thumbs up to Rio while saying that right on his face.


    Rio just rolled his eyes at Link''s words and shrugged his shoulder.


    "You know, she can defend the banner even if I don''t do it¡­" (Rio)


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Protection of Adamantium!]


    Lia immediately tried to create a protection barrier around the fragile banner, but before she could do it the blessing shattered on its own.


    "No, it won''t work¡­ The person who made this thing has added their ''Authority'' to it¡­" (Kai)


    "You can''t cast a barrier on this banner unless you are an SS-ranker¡­" (Kai)


    Hearing Kai''s words who appeared on Lia''s shoulder in his cat form, everyone understood that things were not as easy as they had expected.


    "Someone really is targeting us¡­ they even know that we might try to use Kai''s blessing to cast strong barriers¡­" (Liam)


    Then everyone nced at Link.


    "W-what? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" (Link)


    "It was likely your father who did this amazing work I think¡­" (Liam)


    "Ugh¡­ he''s messing with us on purpose¡­" (Link)


    "Hah! Who cares! I can beat all of the teams by myself! No one can even touch the banner!" (Fade)


    Link really wanted to punch this guy''s annoying face, but he knew that they were live right now, and doing that would show that the coordination between their team was really bad.


    "How about we give the banner to Riya, Lia and I will protect her with the banner, you guys can handle the frontline¡­" (Kira)


    Although Liam didn''t want to acknowledge her help, right now they had to work as a team and thus he nodded his head.


    Moreover, Riya is the only person whom the whole team can trust, even Fade dare noty his hands on the healer who saved his life back in the Maya dungeon.


    "Hmm, but still, this ce is so vast, how do we find the other teams-" (Link)


    *Cling!*


    Rio''s sword hit an arrow which was about to hit Link directly in his left eye.


    "We don''t need to find them¡­ they are already here¡­" (Rio)


    [Elemental sword art: Stone Type: Barrier strikes!]


    With his insane speed, Rio swung his sword a hundred times in the span of a single second and deflected all hundred arrows that came flying with concentrated fire mana attached to them.


    Liam immediately brought out his wand and fired at a nearby tree.


    "It''s a feint, they are trying to distract Rio with long-range attacks-" (Liam)


    Before Liam couldplete his sentence a spear came flying and nearly hit his head if not for the fact that Liam side-


    stepped on time.


    Lia and Kira took a defensive stance and ced barriers around Riya to protect the banner.


    Before Link could move, his danger sense tingled and he raised his hand to block.


    [Dragon Arts: Unmoving Draconic form!]


    A gigantic punch crashed heavily with Link''s right arm and the collision produced a massive shockwave.


    "Yes! You really are just as strong as they said, Link Rex!"


    An Orc with a height of nearly 4 meters appeared in front of Link.


    His fist didnd on Link, but it couldn''t make Link move even a single inch even though the collision force caused the ground to crack.


    Another Orc jumped out from behind the trees, the spear that nearly hit Liam earlier flew in the air and came back into the other Orc''s hand on its own.


    Even Liam''s eyes widened in surprise at that sudden show of skill.


    "Spear intent!?" (Liam)


    The Orc holding the spear took his stance and said in a proud tone:


    "I am Xagok, a warrior from the proud Orc Race¡­" (Xagok)


    Xagok stated his name as took the stance and charged his spear with spear intent.


    "Ho¡­ spear intent you say? Then I will be your opponent¡­" (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio who had already dealt with all the iing arrows, signaled Liam with hand signs to step back and target the archer instead.


    (Each awakener of the human empire is taught ''how to use hand signs tomunicate in battle'' during their academy years¡­)


    Liam didn''t dy either and nodded his head.


    He ced his wand on the ground and focused his perception on detection alone, to pinpoint the location of the opponent Archer.


    Xagok who saw Rio pull out ''Sword Intent'' smiled happily.


    "It''s rare to meet someone who can use sword intent, I look forward to what you can show me today¡­ state your name, and let us fight to our heart''s content!" (Xagok)


    Rio''s face remained expressionless as always, he raised his sword and ced it beside his waist.


    Stretching out his right leg and after taking his stance, Rio replied to Xagok in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Rio sh, a Swordsman¡­ may the ''Flow'' enlighten us both..." (Rio)


    "Indeed, May the ''flow'' enlighten us both..." (Xagok)


    *Boom!*


    After Rio and Xagokpleted their words, both of themunched at each other like a cannonball.


    Rio''s sword intent shed with the spear intent and the collision of two ''legendary'' rank skills caused even the space to tremble.


    A crazy smile appeared on Xagok''s face as he stared at Rio with great awe.


    "Amazing! This precision! This force! You have achieved high precision over the ''flow'' haven''t you! Amazing!" (Xagok)


    (For those who have forgotten what this ''flow'' they both are talking about is, go back to the group survival event and read it all over again... but in short, it refers to the flow of ''intent'' and ''mana'' used in skills like sword intent or spear intent...)


    "You aren''t bad either¡­" (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Rising spiral!]


    Rio swung his sword in a down to upward motion and a massive thunder arcunched at Xagok at an insane speed.


    [Spear Intent]


    [Bear w style: Deflective push!]


    Xagok''s spear carried out three consecutive strikes as if it was an attack from a bear''s w and he used that attack to deflect the trajectory of the thunder arc.


    "Amazing, you deflected my attack¡­ that''s quite a surprise¡­" (Rio)


    Before Xagok could react, Rio had already appeared right beside him when he was distracted by deflecting the thunder arc.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon type: Swift blow!]


    Rio swung his sword in a circr arc and his sword which was enhanced with sword intent, easily caused lethal damage.


    Xagok desperately tried to step back but due to Rio''s insane speed, he still got slightly scratched on the left side of his face.


    Even that little scratch was enough though, it was a scratch caused by sword intent after all, the lingering energy of Rio''s sword intent directly destroyed Xagok''s left eye before he forcefully suppressed it with his mana.


    Sword Intent and Spear intent, are lethal skills, even a little scratch from them is harmful if you don''t suppress the lingering energy around the wound on time with your mana.


    The reason why Xagok was not able to react fast enough was because Rio is too fast.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Rejoice! After so long you get to see Rio in battle, I rarely write battle scenes, so this is perhaps a breath of fresh air I guess¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to experience what it feels like to be fighting Rio?


    1. Yes (Please go to therapy¡­)


    2. Nope (I would pass¡­ don''t wanna get turned into ''finely sliced sd''¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 244 Team Battles! Part-2.

    Chapter 244 Team Battles! Part-2.


    ??*Boom!*


    The ground cracked as the debris flew into the air creating massive dust clouds.


    "Hahaha, nice! You can take quite a few punches from me! You are strong!" (Link)


    Indeed, being able to tank Link''s punches is a great feat.


    The orc warrior was able to tank several of Link''s punches which could have already killed an ordinary A ranker by now.


    Only Rio has dealt with Link''s punches without taking much harm, but obviously, others don''t have Rio''s levels of reaction time or speed.


    With a smirk on his face, Link raised his fist and punched in front of him.


    [Dragon Arts: Mid-range vortex!]


    The cloud of dust and debris around Link immediately got swept away due to the massive wind pressure caused by Link''s attack.


    The wind pressure immediately revealed the opponent who was trying to conceal himself with the dust cloud.


    "My detection skills have improved due to fighting a slippery guy you see, it''s pointless to create a dust cloud to reduce my senses¡­" (Link)


    The Orc warrior''s whole body was covered in wounds, he likely had several bones broken too, yet a smile hung over his face as he saw Link''s massive and intimidating aura pressing down on him.


    ''Damn, this guy is a monster¡­ I don''t think I can hold him too long...''


    Link saw the hesitation in the other party''s eyes, and smiled meaningfully:


    "Hmm, buying time huh? Okay then, let''s decide the oue of this battle with one massive attack¡­" (Link)


    Link raised his left hand and ced his right hand near his waist.


    He took his martial stance to show clear respect for the other party''s resolve to try to hold Link in ce so that his other teammates could go for the banner.


    Seeing Link''s gesture of respect, the orc warrior smiled and wiped the blood from his mouth.


    "Then so be it¡­"


    ''With broken bones, I don''t think I can hold him longer if I try to run around too much¡­ this one attack is good enough¡­''


    The orc warrior stomped his feet in the ground making massive cracks in the ground.


    He concentrated all of his mana into his hands and ced his hands in an ''X'' shape to cover his chest.


    "This is my strongest attack! I wonder if you really have the courage to take it head on?"


    Link ced his mana in his right fist and smiled.


    "One attack would be enough¡­" (Link)


    The Orc warrior didn''t reply and directly rushed at Link in straight charge.


    [Rhino horn Style: Crazed Rush!]


    His momentum was indeed strong, any ordinary A-ranker would directly be killed if he got hit by this straightforward rush attack.


    The winds howled as the wind pressure created by that rush was so massive that nearby trees and boulders flew away instantly.


    "Good" (Link)


    Link liked the courage of the other party, he was impressed by the fact that the other party dared to charge at him so fiercely just to buy some extra time for his team.


    ''They must be nning something behind the scenes otherwise why would they need to buy time¡­'' (Link)


    Link could feel that the other party wanted to keep Link away from the rest of the team, but Link was not too worried, as he was not the only monster their team had.


    Seeing the crazed rushing closer and closer, Link finally moved.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    Enhanced by Dao Rhythm, Link''s strength at that moment reached the level of a peak S ranker, it was too insane a feat to even fathom, but for Link that was just a regr Jab.


    *Boom!*


    The massive wind pressure swept the nearby debris away, if not for the barrier in the sky, even the clouds would have been swept away.


    The punchnded on the other party''s hands and directly blew away the left half of his body in an instant.


    Blood flowed out like a fountain from the wound and the orc warrior fell on the ground in a pool of blood.


    A pained look appeared in his eyes, yet his face remained smiling.


    *Step*


    Link walked over to his side and nced at his smiling face with a doubtful expression on his face.


    "Hmm, you are still smiling? You really are a strange guy¡­" (Link)


    The other party looked at Link and said:


    "Haha, no one told me that you had reached the pinnacle form of martial arts¡­ you even have ''dao Rhythm'' in your arsenal¡­ you truly are the pride of all warriors¡­"


    Martial artists take pride in each other and like to encourage each other, but all Martial artists hope to achieve the pinnacle of martial arts.


    That pinnacle is to achieve the legendary skill ''Dao Rhythm''.


    Just like all swordsmen want to learn Sword intent, all martial artists dream of achieving Dao Rhythm.


    Only one or two martial artists appear in five hundred years who are able to achieve Dao Rhythm, they are extremely rare talents.


    Learning Dao Rhythm is more difficult than Sword intent and thus there are very few people who can actually learn it.


    "Seeing you¡­ Use Dao Rhythm on me, it was my great honor actually¡­ now I can brag to my friends that I tanked a direct attack from ''Dao Rhythm'' hehe¡­"


    "Thanks, Great Warrior Link¡­"


    With that said, a teleportation circle appeared below his body and he was directly teleported off to the infirmary to be healed by S-rank healers.


    ¡­


    VVIP area.


    "That orc warrior¡­ he has great resolve¡­ you have raised the young talents quite well.." (Ashtel)


    Gradba shook his head at Ashtel''s words and said:


    "No, no, these little kids are just idiots, you praise them too much, I had already given them advice not to get into a confrontation with team Astra, but these guys didn''t heed my words at all¡­" (Gradba)


    Ryul rolled his eyes at Gradba''s words and said:


    "But you seem to be smiling yourself¡­ I think you wanted them to go for team Astra even if it meant losing¡­" (Ryul)


    "Well¡­ Orcs inherently take pride in challenging the strong¡­ I can''t me them for not heeding my words¡­ but seriously even I didn''t expect that these little kids would be so brave today¡­" (Gradba)


    A smile appeared on Gradba''s face as he talked:


    "Even if they lose, they will lose while fighting the strong, so I can''t me them for having amazing resolve¡­" (Gradba)


    Ashtel and Ryul shook their heads as they knew that Gradba was already impressed by his team, he would definitely reward them instead of reprimanding them when they go back.


    After all, his team has already developed enough courage and resolve, they don''t even need the rewards anymore.


    ¡­


    *Clink!*


    A spear and a sword collided with each other and the wind pressure created by those collisions blew away massive amounts of debris.


    ''Even though this guy is so much smaller in stature than me, the force behind each blow is stronger than me¡­ it''s likely because his sword intent is too strong and heavy¡­'' (Xagok)


    Sword intent and Spear intent are made of simr ws'', they just work with different types of weapons.


    The real differencees from the user itself.


    In a battle between two people who can use these legendary skills, the victor is decided by ''whose mastery over is higher..''


    In other words, Xagok was overwhelmed because his mastery over his spear intent was much weakerpared to Rio''s mastery over his sword intent.


    Even a skinny and weak person can deal heavy blows if they have skills like sword intent. (Rio is not skinny, he just looks smaller in front of this massive orc¡­)


    "Hmm, you have been defending all this while¡­ are you trying to buy time or something?" (Rio)


    Rio''s words sounded like devil whispers in Xagok''s ears.


    ''So fast!?'' (Xagok)


    Before Xagok could dodge or defend, Rio had already appeared right behind him.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Compressed arc!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and fired apressed arc made of thunder.


    [Spear Intent!]


    [Bear w Style: Defensive roars!]


    Xagokgged behind in defending and was barely able to move his spear intent to block a fatal injury as he jumped away from the center of the attack.


    But as he was a step toote, a few of the electric sparks still grazed his skin and nearly a hundred cuts appeared on his body in an instant.


    Blood flowed out like a fountain.


    But before he could even stabilize, Rio, seemingly teleported and appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye.


    "Shouldn''t have left yourself wide open like that¡­" (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio swung his sword in a down-to-upward motion and directly sliced off the right hand of the other party.


    Xagok fell on his butt as that attack''s heavy blow broke his bnce.


    His severed right arm flew in the air and fell far away while still holding the spear in its grasp.


    Rio ced his sword on Xagok''s neck and said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "You lost¡­" (Rio)


    From Rio''spressed thunder attack to this, only three seconds had passed, and the winner was decided in such a short time span.


    A smirk appeared on Xagok''s face.


    "Well, you really are better than me at controlling the legendary skill, but I havepleted my work¡­ I have bought enough time¡­ I surrender now.." (Xagok)


    A teleportation circle appeared and teleported Xagok away.


    But before Rio could think about anything he felt a massive amount of mana condensing in the sky above them.


    A gigantic meteor made of moltenva seemed to have appeared out of a massive magic circle floating in mid-air and this attack was directly aimed at the banner.


    Rio then nced in another direction and noticed that Link had already defeated the opponent warrior.


    ''Hmm¡­ the mages on the other team are really clever¡­ they used this spell on purpose¡­ even if I hit it sword intent it will likely ''auto-aim'' at the banner again¡­'' (Rio)


    ''To be able to cast this spell, do they have four fire magicians in the same team? That''s such a coincidence¡­.'' (Rio)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that mutual respect and pride among warriors is a worldwide thing, perhaps only a protagonist suffers from clich¨¦ like face pping events, others live a fairly normal and respectable life¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you be able to remain as calm as the orc warrior, if you have to face Link?


    1. Nope (I don''t wanna feel how it feels to be hit by Dao rhythm¡­)


    2. Yes (I am a disciple of Rio, I fear no one!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 245 Team Battles! Part-3.

    Chapter 245 Team Battles! Part-3.


    ??To Cast Spells that can auto-track a target in a certain range, you either need an extremely talented mage or several mages to work together.


    (Of course, people at Rank S or above can cast it without any problems.)


    ''They most likely don''t have A-ranked mages... that warrior Orc and that guy Xagok, only those two might have been A-rankers in their team...'' (Rio)


    While looking at the massive amount ofva pouring down from the sky, Rio thought:


    ''hmm, which one do I use now¡­ thunder spread?'' (Rio)


    Rio certainly can defend against precise and strong strikes, but when ites to liquidized attacks like va'' etc. It''s quite difficult to do so.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Divine ascent!]


    Just when Rio was contemting about which technique to use, a massive pir of silver light pierced through the fallingva and caused theva to be swept away by the wind pressure created by the silver pir of light.


    Theva got scattered and wasn''t able to hit the target anymore as Lia''s attack directly broke the magic circle in the sky, thus destroying the auto-aim ability of the spell.


    ''Ah, yes¡­ I didn''t need to worry about her safety; she could do that herself.'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and stopped worrying about the banner they were protecting.


    [North-east, 500meters¡­] (Ellie)


    ''Hmm, so Liam tracked them down with mana detection already... he is using Ellie''s telepathy to send information to others. (Rio)


    After getting the exact location, Rio was just about to dash in the direction of the other team''s mage and archers, but he stopped because a notification rang out from his wristwatch.


    [Congrattions! Your team has defeated a team sessfully!]


    [Time Left: 11 hours, 16 minutes]


    ''They already surrendered?'' (Rio)


    ''It must be because they saw their ultimate attack fail so easily.'' (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and went back to the team.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    Ashtel nodded his head as he said in an approving tone:


    "Indeed, they made the right decision, the main attack had failed and the main attack force of the team had already copsed, the decision to surrender was indeed good." (Ashtel)


    Even Ryul nodded his head at Ashtel''s words.


    "Well, of course, if this was a real battle, then it''s always good to retreat when the main force has copsed so fast; you can always fight again, but pointless deaths are unnecessary." (Ryul)


    Gradba just shook his head at his team''s defeat.


    "Sigh¡­ I was thinking that they would at least make it to the individual phase, but it seems they ended up following their heart in the end. they challenged the one team they shouldn''t have and ended up with a thorough defeat. (Gradba)


    Gradba then looked at the golden-haired girl in team Astra and said:


    "I thought that only the boys of your team were strong... but I didn''t expect that even the girls were this strong¡­ that girl destroyed the spell fired by four B-ranked mages in one attack. (Gradba)


    Jin nodded his head at Gradba''s words and said in a proud tone:


    "Well, of course she is strong! She is a descendant of Tomar, ''The Silver Dawn''; she has inherited ''Divine Spirit''s general'' as her familiar. (Jin)


    Gradba nodded his head at Jin''s words; he finally understood just how ridiculous the lineup of Team Astra was.


    ''Even the members who look weaker than others are strong... it seems that there will be many monsters in the human race in the near future. (Gradba)


    Other SS-rankers were also impressed when they heard about Lia''s background; after all, nearly all of them knew about ''How Tomar wandered all over the continent to eat dragons.''


    "But still, I was thinking that Xagok would be able tost quite long; who would have thought that you guys were hiding such a hidden gem... that sword intent... it was already at the level where it could hurt even an S-ranker." (Gradba)


    The only time Rio''s real abilities were leaked to the world was when his fight with Link and the others got leaked to the media during the group survival test.


    But at that time, Rio''s sword intent wasn''t this strong yet; Rio was only at rank B around that time, and now that he is an A-ranker, his sword intent has been strengthened by a lot.


    That''s why anyone who has only seen his sword intent from the group survival test will be taken aback by the progress he has made in this short time.


    "Ah, that kid, Rio... he''s always been like that; he hides quite deep, even though we don''t know about all of his skills. (Jin)


    With his intuition of an SS-ranker, Jin could feel that Rio definitely had many tricks up his sleeve which even Link and the others didn''t know about.


    Link and the others have only seen Rio use ''soul splitting'' once, and even at that time, Rio''s attack was disguised as a normal attack so even they don''t know about the ins and outs of that skill.


    The skill that Rio uses on almost every asion is ''sword intent'', and with this skill alone, he has been able to dominate his opponents until now.


    (Fun Fact: Rio won''t use soul splitting on enemies unless he sees no hope of winning with sword intent.)


    ¡­


    East Line Forest, Southern Area.


    Standing on a gigantic tree, Vanya nced at a nearby elf girl who was looking in a certain direction and asked:


    "So, how did it go?" (Vanya)


    "They easily won... the Orc team didn''t even stand a chance against them¡­ Furthermore, we might have to be more cautious with that ck-haired boy. his control over Sword intent is not something to be taken lightly.


    Vanya nodded her head and replied,


    "Good, your observation and detection skills are as good as always." (Vanya)


    The elf girl shook her head and said in a calm tone:


    "You praise me too much, princess; I am just doing my work."


    "Haha, you don''t have to be that modest, you know." (Vanya)


    The Elf girl continued to observe team Astra for a while and suddenly a smile appeared on her face:


    "Princess, I see a chance for us."


    An amused look appeared on Vanya''s face as she heard those words.


    "Ho¡­ tell me about it then." (Vanya)


    At Vanya''s words, the Elf girl pointed towards a smallke near the southern area.


    "They have started to move and are heading towards that smallke... this might be our chance."


    "We already know that two teams are hiding there; they will definitely have a fight with those two teams."


    "We shall ambush them there after they get tired enough."


    A smile appeared on Vanya''s and the other elf''s faces as they understood what the elf girl was hinting at.


    "Of course, we will ambush them there... after all, it''s easier to deal with a tired enemy." (Vanya)


    ¡­


    Unaware of the dangers and traps ahead of them, Team Astra started to walk forward in order to look for more enemies.


    "Hmm, it''s quite odd; we aren''t encountering any teams at all... it''s as if others are deliberately avoiding us." (Lia)


    "Well, of course, they are avoiding us; we are not the only people who are capable of using detection-type skills, and other teams might have them too." (Liam)


    "People likely noticed that we trounced the Orc team." (Rio)


    "Ugh¡­ I should have held back after all." (Link)


    "Hah! If not for you rich bast*rds! I would have defeated them easily!" (Fade)


    "Oh, wait, what were you doing during the fight, by the way?" (Liam)


    Liam nced at Fade in confusion, as he didn''t see Fade do anything at all during the whole fight; even Kira was holding a barrier to protect the banner, but Fade wasn''t.


    Fade confidently puffed up his chest and said,


    "Well, of course, I was looking out for potential attacks!" (Fade)


    Just when Liam was about to scold Fade on the spot, Rio suddenly ced his hand on Liam''s shoulder and said in his usual emotionless tone.


    "I have an idea, actually... we can use him as an enemy-finding ma." (Rio)


    "Huh? What do you mean by that?" (Liam)


    In the confused eyes of Liam and the others, Rio directly dragged Fade with him and made him stand in the leading position.


    "Okay, now choose any random direction to go; we will follow you from behind." (Rio)


    Although Fade was confused by that, he dared not refute Rio''s words and started to walk in a random direction.


    "Uh, will this really work?" (Link)


    Rio nodded his head at Link and said,


    "Just wait and see." (Rio)


    ''With Fade''s ridiculous Luck and disaster-attracting abilities, he can certainly find us enemies much faster.'' (Rio)


    Although others were quite doubtful about this approach, they didn''t object to it either.


    They all think that Rio is a sensible guy who does everything after thorough nning and as they have all been together for a while now, none of them doubted Rio''s decisions too much at that moment.


    Yeah, the reason they are now heading towards thatke where two teams are already waiting in ambush is because Fade is leading the way. (It seems even Fade has some worth after all.)


    Rio''s words turned out to be one hundred percent right; after about half an hour of walk, they easily attracted the enemies using Fade as apass.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Rio really knows how the protagonist halo works and even knows how to take advantage of this thing; perhaps seeing Fade''s bullsh*t for too long has made him able to see through all these things.


    Question of the day:.


    Would you dare to use Fade as a disaster ma too?


    1. Yes. (We can tie him on a tree and enemies wille flocking over to look for him immediately.)


    2. Yeah (Plot armor goes brrrrr~)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 246 Team Battles! Part-4.

    Chapter 246 Team Battles! Part-4.


    ??"Do you really think this will work?" (Link)


    Link nced at Fade leading the way for the team and asked Rio in a doubtful tone.


    Usually, it''s Link who leads the team as the leader, thus he has his doubts about Fade''s ability to lead the way.


    "Will work? It''s already working¡­" (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Serpentine Flow!]


    Rio''s sword swung in the air like a slithering snake and the wind followed his sword''s rhythm instantly as if it was forming a snake in the air.


    Hundreds of arrows came over flying at the group instantly, but before they could hit, the wind pressure formed by Rio''s sword immediately caused them to deviate from their trajectory.


    The arrows fell on the ground but as they were covered in massive elemental energies of various kinds, they directly exploded.


    [Shadow Magic: Shadow Barrier!]


    Liam instantly provided support and cast the shadow barrier to negate the effects of the explosions.


    With Rio and Liam''s teamwork, not even a single scratch appeared on the team members.


    Liam nced in the direction where the arrows came from and said:


    "Arrows with such condensed elemental energies of so many types¡­ this is an attack from the Elf team¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing the word Elf, an excited smile appeared on Link''s face, he clenched his fist and said:


    "Hoh¡­ it seems I might be able to have a proper fight this time¡­" (Link)


    Link wanted to fight the Elven princess ever since she blocked his punch back at the royal pce, this is the best opportunity for it.


    Liam ced his wand on the ground and a medium-sized magic circle appeared.


    [Summon: Doom Bats!]


    Three massive bats appeared out of the magic circle and flew into the air instantly.


    The bats infused their echolocation ability with mana and instantly mapped out the whole area in the two-kilometer radius around them.


    "Hmm, I see, so that''s how it is¡­" (Liam)


    A smirk appeared on Liam''s face as he received the feedback from his bats.


    "It seems they are nning an ambush against us¡­ there are two teams hidden near ake which is located just a hundred meters ahead of us and the Elves are hidden in the trees behind theke¡­" (Liam)


    "Those three teams are working together?" (Link)


    "Likely¡­" (Liam)


    Hearing the conversation Rio nced at Link and asked:


    "So, should we rush straight?" (Rio)


    A smirk appeared on the faces of all team members at Rio''s question.


    "Is that even a question? Of course, we go straight!" (Link)


    A massive arrow, the size of a small building came flying towards the flying bats.


    *Boom!*


    But before the arrow could collide with the bats, a magic barrier appeared around the bats and the arrow ended up colliding with the magic barrier.


    "They used transformation magic on the arrow to increase its damage¡­" (Liam)


    Link nodded his head and replied:


    "Must be the work of that elf princess¡­" (Link)


    "The arrows will keeping if we stay here, let''s move¡­" (Rio)


    The three of them nodded their head and rushed with the team toward theke instantly.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "Teaming up against an enemy that is too strong for you to handle alone¡­ that''s an excellent move!" (Ashtel)


    Ashtel nodded his head in satisfaction when he saw the elves teaming up with the other two teams to fight together.


    Ryul rolled his eyes at Ashtel''s words and said:


    "Well, they certainly would have had a better chance if it was some other team¡­." (Ryul)


    "Still, even Link and the others will have a difficult time if they have to fight so many opponents all at once¡­ three teams means they have to fight 21 opponents!" (Jin)


    Each team has seven members, and thus team Astra will have to face 21 opponents if they fight three teams together.


    Ryul shook his head and said in a solemn tone:


    "But still, I am not sure if they can really eliminate even team Astra¡­" (Ryul)


    Some things are always uncertain, and the oue of this confrontation is also quite uncertain, thus, not even the SS-rankers knew who would emerge victorious.


    "The thing is¡­ every member of team Astra is unique and strong in their own way, to defeat them you need precise and different ns¡­ I wonder if Vanya will be able to think of a proper n in such a short time¡­" (Ryul)


    "Yeah, usually, the support type members are the weakness of a team, but that''s not the case with team Astra, even if you exclude, Link, Rio, and Liam, the rest of the members are not to be underestimated either¡­" (Syvis)


    Ashtel nodded his head at the two and said:


    "Well, let''s wait and see¡­ who knows how things will turn out¡­" (Ashtel)


    ¡­


    *crack*


    Just when Link stepped on a fallen dried leaf on the ground, a massive boulder came flying at him and hit him in the face.


    *Boom!*


    The boulder cracked and broke apart from the collision, its debris scattered all over the ground.


    Meanwhile, Link stood there unharmed as he patted the dust off his clothes.


    "Is this supposed to be a trap? You should improve your trap-making skills¡­" (Link)


    Link was unimpressed by that trap, he didn''t even bother dodging it as he knew it was pointless.


    *ng!*


    An arrow enhanced with wind magic came flying at Link and directly hit his eyeball.


    But nothing happened to Link! He stood there unfazed!


    The arrow''s iron-head broke apart from hitting Link''s eyeball!


    Link just rubbed his eye and continued moving forward as if it was no big deal.


    The Elven archer who had fired the arrow at Link, felt his hand tremble while watching this incredible sight.


    Even Vanya was taken aback for a moment.


    "Cough! Cough!¡­ ahem! Don''t attack Link with arrows anymore¡­ just target the other members¡­ I will fight with him personally¡­" (Vanya)


    The other team members walked out of the forest and came in front of theke while following behind Link.


    Liam''s eye twitched when he saw Link tank an arrow with his eyeball.


    ''The f*ck did I just see!? Is this even humanely possible!?'' (Liam)


    Unaware of the surprise of the others, Link was only interested in one thing right now, he wanted to have a proper fight, and he wasn''t even bothering with dodging these measly attacks anymore.


    Rio nced at theke''s surface.


    "Illusion type¡­" (Rio)


    [Sword Intent!]


    Sword intent, Dao Rhythm, etc. These types of skills are a direct countermeasure for any type of illusion skill, moreover, due to ''True Immunity'' Rio easily saw through the illusion that was cast on the Lake.


    Rio''s sword intent cut through the illusion like a torch in the darkness and the illusion immediately broke apart.


    Once the illusion broke, the opponent became visible.


    "Murlocs and Mermaids¡­ quite thebo we have here¡­" (Liam)


    Although the other party was surprised, they didn''t dare to dy.


    Immediately the mermaids started to cast group magic and the murlocs brought out their weapons to defend.


    Just when Link was about to rush forward and st them all in one go, his danger senses tingled and he jumped away.


    *Boom!*


    A gigantic punchnded on the spot where Link was standing and caused the ground to crack.


    Even theke''s water was nearly swept away due to the massive shockwave.


    "Your opponent will be me! Link Rex!" (Vanya)


    "Hoh! So you finally decided toe out of the hiding spot!" (Link)


    Just when Liam was about to provide support for Link with magic, his bats flying in the air gave him the warning and he deployed a magic barrier to defend himself.


    *Boom!**Crack!*


    Liam cast three barriers to defend against the iing arrow, yet the arrow still broke two of them and made cracks in the third barrier too.


    An Elven archer with bluish hair appeared on a nearby tree.


    Her eyes stared at Liam coldly as if she was saying ''Your opponent is me, don''t bother looking away...''


    Rio nced at Lia and said:


    "I will leave the support to you then¡­" (Rio)


    After Lia nodded her head, Rio immediatelyunched at the Murloc warriors alone.


    Kira and Lia deployed a barrier around Riya who was still holding the banner and focused fully on defense while Rio and the others focused fully on Attack.


    The coordination between team Astra was already very strong from the beginning, each of them knew their roles and followed them sincerely.


    Of course except for one person.


    "This is my chance to shine!" (Fade)


    Fade''s eyes shined as he saw an Elven Wizard appear near them.


    Elven Wizard''s goal was clear, he had to cooperate with the rest of the Elven team members to break the banner of team Astra before Link and the others could make it back.


    Three Elven swordsmen and one Wizard, all of whom were peak B-rankers, rushed at Lia and the group while Rio and others were being distracted by the others.


    Still, Lia was not worried at all.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of Light!]


    Two silver wings appeared behind her back and her eyes went cold in an instant.


    Her sword ''Ambient Silver'' shined with silver aura and a cold smirk appeared on her face. (Don''t forget that her title is ''Mad Demon Sword''¡­ she''s crazier than Link, when in battle¡­)


    Not wasting any time, one of the Elven swordsmen thrust his sword towards Lia at an insanely fast speed.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Simple Thrust!]


    *Clink!*


    Lia''s sword''s tip directly collided with the tip of the other party''s sword and canceled out the attack instantly.


    But Lia wasn''t done yet, her silver wings pped and gave her a forward push increasing her thrust attack''s force.


    The Elven Swordsman lost bnce and flew back like a cannonball due to the massive force of Lia''s sword thrust.


    "When ites to stab attacks, not even Rio can do them better than me¡­ still you dare to use them against me? Ridiculous¡­" (Lia)


    Lia looked at the opponents with a cold look on her face as her eyes shined with silver aura.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s been a while since I wrote about Lia fighting so freely, let''s savor this moment where she is showing why she isn''t a viiness just for show¡­


    Don''t forget, she has mastery over thrust attacks and even Rio had difficulty defending against them during the group survival event¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to test your stab attack skills against Lia?


    1. No (She will stab a hundred holes in your body before you even attack¡­)


    2. Nope (Don''t wanna be a walking sieve¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 247 Team Battles! Part-5.

    Chapter 247 Team Battles! Part-5.


    ??*Bam!*


    Two punches collided, causing massive shockwaves in the air; the ground cracked, and nearby trees were immediately uprooted due to the massive air pressure.


    "Hahaha! Amazing! To be able to keep up with me like that!" (Link)


    Linknded on the ground and took his stance once again, A crazy smile hung over his face as if he were thoroughly enjoying this battle.


    [Dragon Arts: Overload: Medium!]


    Condensed mana whirled around Link''s body as he used his skills.


    Vanya wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand and took her own stance.


    [Elven Style Imperial Arts: Enhance: Speed!]


    Vanya stretched out her hand and a smirk appeared on her face.


    "I can see that you are holding back for some reason, but don''t underestimate me either!" (Vanya)


    *crack!*


    The ground under Vanya''s feet cracked due to sheer force and she immediatelyunched at Link like a cannonball.


    "Don''t try topete with me in terms of speed! I have fought a guy much faster than you!" (Link)


    A smirk appeared on Link''s face as he side-stepped instantly and counterattacked with an uppercut to her shoulder.


    [Elven Style Imperial Arts: Enhance: Defense!]


    Vanya had to concentrate a lot of mana on defense, as she knew she couldn''t dodge that attack.


    The attacknded on her left shoulder and she immediately flew away like an arrow, Her body crashed with many trees and boulders before finally stopping.


    But obviously, Link wasn''t going to let this opportunity go so easily.


    He immediately pursued and attacked her with a kick as he came flying down at her from mid-air.


    [Dragon Arts: Falling thunder!]


    Vanya barely dodged that attack as she jumped away on time, but the flying debris still gave her a few scratches.


    (Don''t underestimate the stray debris; even the stones that fly in the air after Link''s attack have five times the speed of sound.)


    Link nced at Vanya with an amused look as he said in a doubtful tone:


    "Forget about me; you are the one who is holding back, I think... ''transformation'' is likely not the only thing you have, right?" (Link)


    Link and Vanya started to slowly walk in circles as they stared at each other as if they both wanted to see through their opponent''s mind.


    "Heh, so you can sense that?Well, I am trying to save my other tricks for the individual phase of thepetition, so I can''t reveal them right now." (Vanya)


    "Hah! Do you think you will make it to the individual phase? If you can''t defeat me right now, will you even be able to leave?" (Link)


    A smirk appeared on Vanya''s face as she heard Link''s words.


    "Well, you don''t need to worry about that; I have my ways." (Vanya)


    ¡­


    Around the same time.


    Above the Lake.


    *Swish*


    Following the sound of a sword being swung in the air, a hundred sword strikes came down at a Murloc martial artist.


    The speed of those sword strikes was so fast that none of its fellow teammates were able to react in time to save the guy.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water type: Flow of a Hundred Streams!]


    The sound of meat being cut resounded throughout the area and the Murloc martial artist lost its four limbs in an instant.


    Blood flowed like a fountain and a teleportation circle appeared below him instantly.


    Fortunately, an S-rank healer will heal him to full health soon.


    But what made the other Murloc warriors so shocked was the fact that Rio looked totally unconcerned and indifferent after nearly killing an innocent person.


    ''I used too much strength there.'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Thunder arc!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and swung it down towards a nearby Murloc spearman.


    A massive thunder arc shot out of Rio''s sword and instantly hit the Murloc Swordsman.


    Thunder-type attacks have a more severe effect on the Murloc race, as their resistance to thunder is lowerpared to other races.


    Rio''s attack was really inhumane; the Murloc spearman immediately got burned ck and fainted because of that condensed thunder arc.


    Seeing Rio''s inhumane way of defeating his opponents, the other Murlocs stepped back in fear; to them, Rio looked like a cold-blooded murderer at that moment.


    But unlike the fearful Murlocs, Rio wasn''t even thinking about them in his head.


    ''Hmm, it seems I have be proficient at walking on water now¡­'' (Rio)


    Indeed, Rio''s proficiency over his sword has been honed so much that he can even walk on water now.


    He is literally fighting the Murlocs while standing on theke''s surface as if it were solid ground!


    Usually, Murlocs have a higher advantage when the battle takes ce near water bodies likekes, rivers, etc.


    Most of their skills are rted to the water element; thus, they get a significant boost by staying near water during battles, but this major advantage waspletely useless against Rio.


    Unlike ordinary A-rankers, Rio could walk or run on the water just like he does on the ground, so it was nearly impossible for him to get hit so easily.


    Currently, he can run at the speed of Mach 7 as if it were nothing.


    Moreover, he uses sword intent to cover his body, so he doesn''t disturb the atmosphere around him, which means no waves are created in water or air when he runs at that insane speed!


    Which makes him nearly invisible to detection without great proficiency in detection-type skills.


    ''I should finish this early... I want to have some teater.'' (Rio)


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Thunder Type: Spreading Thunder Pulse!]


    Rio ced his sword beside his waste and swung it horizontally.


    A massive shockwave made of condensed thunderunched from his sword swing and burned the cowering Murlocs to crisp in an instant.


    The entire Murloc team would have perished in that single attack if it weren''t for the barrier the seven mermaid people put up from behind.


    Only two Murlocs were left standing with half-burnt bodies as they were covered by the magic barrier on time; the rest of them were already teleported away from the scene.


    ''hmm, how many of my attacks can that barrier take? I wonder... hundred? Thousand?...'' (Rio)


    While contemting in his mind, Rio''s face remained as expressionless as ever, and his eyes remained devoid of life. (Rio is being a real menace right now.)


    ¡­


    Around the same time.


    *flink!*


    Following the sound of an arrow beingunched, a massive explosion happened on the ground.


    Debris flew into the air, reducing the visibility, but that was not a problem for Liam''s bats, as they could easily use detection topensate for theck of visibility.


    [Advanced Fire Magic: Ray of Boilingva!]


    A gigantic beam of condensedva fired at the elven archer standing on the treetop.


    The speed of thatva ray was faster than sound itself and it was so hot and concentrated that you could feel the heat from far away.


    Liam sted off all the trees in a hundred-meter range ahead of him.


    Even the ground seems to have melted from that insane heat.


    The Elven Archer had to dodge desperately in order to survive that attack.


    By barely escaping the attack, she was not injured and only a light burn mark had appeared on her right shoulder.


    That wasn''t going to stop her from attacking.


    She stretched out the string of her bow and used her skill to condense a fire arrow out of thin air.


    [Companion Style: Condensed Fire Arrow!]


    She fired the arrow at Liam while still in mid-air.


    Liam was not to be outdone by her either.


    He ced his wand on the ground and did what a summoner does¡ªhe summoned!


    [Summon: Titan Mammoth!]


    A gigantic mammoth appeared out of the summoning circle and instantly blocked the arrow attack for Liam.


    *bahruuuuuhhhaaaaa!!*


    The condensed arrownded on the mammoth''s stomach and it did cause a wound on the mammoth''s body, but the wound started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Liam smirked as he nced at the shocked Elven archer''s face.


    "I have no shortage of summoned beasts... I wonder how long you will be able to keep me busy." (Liam)


    This mammoth is the third-strongest summon in Liam''s arsenal.


    First is obviously Ellie, second is the wyvern he uses most of the time, and third is this ''tanky'' guy, this mammoth has exceptional self-healing capabilities.


    ''Unfortunately, I can''t summon Ellie in thispetition; otherwise, I wouldn''t even have bothered with using any other summons.'' (Liam)


    Ellie is an S-rank Summon, that''s why Liam is not allowed to summon her during thepetition, otherwise, he would have summoned her long ago.


    [Master, I can still do basic things like ''blessing'' or ''barrier'' though.] (Ellie)


    ''Yeah, but still¡­'' (Liam)


    Ever since the group survival test, Liam hadn''t de-summoned Ellie even once; he has be so used to being beside her that it feels weird now that she isn''t near him.


    ''My chances of winning this wholepetition would have been very high if I could summon Ellie, but now I am not so sure about it.'' (Liam)


    Liam waved his hand and ordered the Mammoth to pursue and attack the Elven archer.


    Using the bats, he could easily pinpoint her location and thus there was no way for her to run away from the range of the Mammoth.


    The Mammoth''s heavy steps made the ground crack under his feet and its imposing aura made the Elven Archer feel a bit intimidated.


    (Liam usually gets overshadowed by Rio and Link, but he isn''t weak either.)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved Author here! The battles seem to have intensified a lot! Let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day:.


    Would you like to ride atop Liam''s pet mammoth?


    1. Yes (I want to experience sleeping on its fluffy back!)


    2. Yeah, I want to experience the thrill of traveling while sitting on its back!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 248 Team Battles! Part-6.

    Chapter 248 Team Battles! Part-6.


    ??[Sword intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type, Horizontal Shift!]


    *crack!*


    Rio''s sword swung horizontally at breakneck speed, instantly breaking through the mermaid team''s barrier.


    Rio shattered the barrier and severely injured one of the mermaid mages, before the other party even had a chance to react to the situation.


    Witnessing one of their team members being teleported after only one attack from Rio made the mermaid wizards realize right away how serious this situation was.


    "Sh*t! He is too quick! Restrict the field, or we''re out!"


    A mermaid wizard with a higher level of intelligence immediately assumedmand of the conflict and urged his fellow mermaids to limit Rio''s movement.


    The other mermaid wizards nodded and immediately began casting magic.


    [Intermediate Water Magic: Water Wave!]


    As a result of having already lost the majority of their team members, the two murlocs wanted to put some distance between themselves and Rio.


    But before they could move, one of the mermaid wizards chanted water wave magic, which resulted in the enormous water wave pushing them in the direction of Rio.


    It was obvious that Rio was not going to pass up such a fantastic opportunity.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Twin ws!]


    Two enormous wind arcs flew out of Rio''s sword and struck the Murloc warriors, who were in a state of great panic.


    If Rio had not purposefully held back, the wind arc that was enhanced with sword intent would have been so powerful that it would have almost killed the two murlocs on the spot.


    [Congrattions! Your team has sessfully defeated two teams!]


    [Time left: 9 hours and 45 minutes.]


    Rio received another notification on his smart watch as the entire Murloc team was vanquished and teleported away; however, he was unable to look at it at the moment since he was too busy.


    Two sizable water waves that surged in opposite directions confined Rio to a small area.


    A massive magic circle materialized a few meters in front of Rio, it was the result of thebined efforts of four water-type magicians.


    [Combination spell: Condensed Water Arrow!]


    A beam of water that was extraordinarily condensed wasunched at Rio at a speed that was ten times faster than the speed of sound itself.


    That water beam created such a loud sonic boom that it echoed throughout the entire forest, frightening off numerous wild animals.


    That water wave created such powerful shockwaves that the entireke was split in half right away.


    ''This one''s fast...'' (Rio)


    Considering that Rio was preupied with the murlocs and was constrained by the enormous water wavesing from both sides, he was unable to avoid being hit by that beam of water that was traveling at an incredible speed.


    [Sword Intent: Stone Type!]


    Rio instantly raised his sword and covered it in defensive stone elemental energy with sword intent.


    At the same time, he thrust the pointed tip of his sword towards the beam that was approaching.


    ''I can use the shadow robe but I don''t want to show it here so...'' (Rio)


    Rio was subjected to a tremendous amount of pressure on his arm as a result of the condensed water beam colliding with the tip of his sword.


    ''This force is as powerful as Link''s strongest punch...'' (Rio)


    Not only was thebination spell quite powerful, but it also required a significant amount of mana from the mermaid wizards.


    As a result, they were unable to keep it going for more than five seconds at a time.


    However, during those five seconds, the water beam was able to sessfully push Rio backwards by tens of meters.


    Rio also sustained a few minor cuts on his body here and there as a result of his actions, which caused the water from the beam to scatter in random directions.


    Due to the fact that the water beam was unable to prate Rio''s sword, the water began to disperse and fly away in a random direction, resulting in small cuts on Rio''s body.


    However, Rio was unaffected by these minor details.


    Due to the fact that Rio had been facing that beam head-on, his right hand had several bones broken, so when the attack came to an end, he switched the sword onto his other hand.


    ''So that''s how a full blow from abination spell feel... Although strong, itcks the "flow" that Link''s punches have...'' (Rio)


    Rio''s figure suddenly became hazy in the eyes of the exhausted mermaid wizards, and the next time they saw him, he was standing directly behind them.


    "Nothing to be surprised at, I''ve taken blows of this level before..." (Rio)


    [Sword intent: Overload!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Uncontrolled Thunder Pulse!]


    Rio''s attack was at the very least ten times stronger thanks to sword intent that was operating at maximum capacity as a result of "overload."


    Rio''s sword unleashed a thunder arc that was apanied by enormous tentacles made of condensed thunder elements.


    This arc struck all six of the Mermaid team members who were still fighting.


    The sword intent enhancement makes this AOE attack nearly impossible to dodge from close range for even an A ranker.


    Rio only needed tond that one hit in order to eliminate the entire Mermaid team in a single assault.


    Six teleportation circles appeared and transported the mermaid wizards away.


    [Congrattions! Your team sessfully eliminated three teams!]


    [Congrattions! Your team has finished the team battle phase of thepetition!


    [Congrattions! Your team has broken previous records and surpassed the shortest time required toplete the first phase of this tournament!]


    [As you have alreadypleted the team battle phase, you are no longer eligible to remain in the team battle area!]


    [Initiating teleportation...]


    Before Rio could react, a teleportation circle appeared beneath his feet, transporting him away in an instant.


    ¡­


    VVIP area.


    *Complete silence*


    There was not a single SS-ranker who spoke because they were all at a loss for words to adequately express their reactions to shock.


    As they had all witnessed Rio''s fight against the Murloc and mermaid teams just now, they were all aware of how easily Rio prevailed in that battle.


    ''It''s not even a battle at this point. It was just a one-sided massacre. (Ryul)


    Although Ryul has been present in a significant number of thesepetitions over the course of thest century, this was the very first time that he had witnessed a single candidate triumph over two teams by himself.


    Anyone who was able to make it to this point is not a weak candidate; each of them is a genius in his own way.


    However, to think that Rio was able to defeat all of the geniuses that they had on two different teams is truly remarkable.


    Ryul nced at Ashtel after seeing Rio''s image on the hologram:


    "You didn''t tell me there was someone as strong as Link on your team....I had heard the rumor that there was another kid who could keep up with Link during the tests you conducted, but this... This isn''t what we call ''keeping up''¡­" (Ryul)


    Ryul''s remarks even caused Ashtel to shake his head in helplesness.


    "Well.... even I didn''t expect this to happen¡­ perhaps his sword intent got enhanced after reaching rank A¡­ the data we have about him was recorded when he was at rank B¡­ so¡­" (Ashtel)


    All of the other SS officers looked at Ashtel with baffled expressions.


    They were already aware that humans were in possession of a monster named Link, but nothing could have prepared them for the possibility that there was another hidden monster right next to Link.


    This is an extremely shocking news!


    The silent mermaid representative spoke to Ashtel in a meaningful tone.


    "You hide quite deep...The future of humanity seems to be promising..."


    Ashtel could only shake his head in helplessness, as he had not expected this to happen either.


    ''Ugh, I thought they''d face some difficulty after three teams joined to fight them...Who would have thought that this kid alone could eliminate two teams...'' (Ashtel)


    As Link and the others were preupied with the Elven team, Rio had to face those two teams by himself.


    If Rio had still been a B-ranker at the time, his chances of winning would have been significantly lower.


    But, now that he is an A-ranker, his victory was already guaranteed from the moment he chose to use sword intent.


    ...


    The Murloc team consisted entirely of warriors, whereas the mermaid team consisted entirely of water-type wizards.


    These two teams were obviously verypatible with each other; they could have easily defeated others with such an incrediblebination, but unfortunately for them, they ended up facing Rio.


    The Murloc and mermaid teamscked anyone with a skill capable of canceling Rio''s sword intent, leaving them defenseless against it.


    Ryul repeatedly looked at Rio''s image on the hologram, thinking to himself:


    ''The human race has struck gold this time...There are many ridiculous monsters among the younger generation.... Perhaps these monstrous geniuses will overshadow the entire next generation...'' (Ryul)


    An amused look appeared on Ryul''s face. He nced at Ashtel and said:


    "Actually... this makes things even more interesting...Given the skills of the two of them, it''s likely they''ll face off against each other in individualbat phase..." (Ryul)


    Ashtel nodded his head at Ryul''s words.


    "If that happens, we might get to see them both fight at their full strength¡­" (Ashtel)


    ...


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your favorite author here!


    Rio''s incredible feats have captured the attention of everyone, and the SS-rankers appear to have finally taken him seriously.


    People will undoubtedlypare Link and Rio in the future. Rio and Link''s fans will engage in heated online debates over who is stronger between them.


    Question of the Day.


    Do you also think Rio did those two teams really dirty?


    1. Yes (Bro considered drinking tea while fighting...)


    2. Yeah! (He didn''t even use his full strength and only got injured while testing the spell''s effects!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use the power stones and leave a review if you enjoyed the story. Share your thoughts on the chapter. Your encouragement drives me forward.

 Chapter 249 Team Battles! Part-7.

    Chapter 249 Team Battles! Part-7.


    ??A few minutes earlier.


    *Swish~*


    "Urk!..."


    As Liaunched toward one of the Elven swordsmen and pierced his abdomen with her de, tremendous wind pressure appeared, causing the trees in the surrounding area to be uprooted.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: w rush!]


    Lia''s sword thrust generated a force that sted a hole in the opponent''s abdomen, causing the other party to pass out instantly and blood to flow like a fountain.


    In addition, his internal organs began to leak out along with the blood that was pouring.


    Fortunately for him, though, he was teleported away at the appropriate moment, and he will eventually return to full health thanks to the S-rank healer.


    If Lia had targeted his heart rather than his abdomen, she would have been able to kill the other party in an instant. However, she did not want to do that because, after all, this is apetition and not a death battle.


    The remaining two elven swordsmen, seemingly unaffected by their buddy''s defeat, quickly charged at Lia.


    [Rose Style Sword Art: Pointed thorn barrage!]


    A sour frown appeared on Lia''s face as she observed the opposing sideunch thrust attacks in her direction.


    "Like I said, don''t try stab attacks against me¡­" (Lia)


    [Silver Lion swordsmanship: Obliterate type: Barrage!]


    The silver wingsthat were swaying behind her back fluttered once more, giving her an incredible boost in terms of speed and agility.


    Within a single second, Lia was able tounch one hundred sword thrusts thanks to her agile sword-moment abilities.


    Not only did she defend herself against all of the stab attacks fired by the other party, but she also counterattackedwithher own attacks.


    The silver aura-wrapped de prated the other party''s flesh ten times, giving him the appearance of a human sieve.


    The other person didn''t have time to respond; he could only stare at Lia with astonished eyes as he was transferred away.


    While Lia was preupied with the other two swordsmen, the third swordsman took advantage of the situation by charging up his sword aura and condensing it to its maximum potential.


    [Stream Water Sword art: Reversed waterfall!]


    Using his de, the elven swordsman swung it in a down-to-upward motion and then sted arge arcposed of condensed water at Lia.


    As a result of her distraction, Lia was a little bitte to react; she raised her de to defend herself and utilized her wings to narrowly avoid a deadly injury.


    A vicious sword cut appeared on her left shoulder.


    The sword cut was so precise and lethal that it rendered her left handpletely useless.


    That one attack also pierced through the left wing.


    The elf swordsman didn''t pass up this wonderful opportunity.


    He immediately proceeded to stomp the ground and dash in Lia''s direction.


    He raised his sword close to his shoulder and swung it downward at a sixty-degree angle.


    On the other hand, Lia was quick to respond; she used Kai''s spirit mana to abruptly stop her blood flow, and she pped her right wing in order to give herself a shove in the opposite direction.


    She sessfully evaded the strike, lowering her knees and raising her hand tounch a deadly upward thrust attack directly into the other party''s abdomen.


    ''As I thought¡­ this elven swordsman''s attacks don''t have the same lethality as ''he'' has¡­ likely because he don''t have sword intent¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia smirked and condensed the silver aura on the tip of her de, piercing the other person''s abdomen.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Maximum Obliteration thrust!]


    Lia''s attack was so powerful that it blew a giant hole in the other party''s body, causing a massive amount of blood to gush out.


    Lia was unable to avoid it in time, so some of the blood even sprayed back onto her face.


    Blood stained her face, revealing aplex look as she watchedthe other person disappear by teleportation.


    ''ugh¡­ I did it again¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia is known as the "Mad Demon Sword" because she frequently finds herself covered in blood when she engages inbat.


    This leads others to believe that she is a demon who enjoys bathing in blood or something simr.


    In reality, the issue lies in the fact that her sword technique is constructed in such a way that each and every attack causes the opponent to suffer huge amounts of bleeding.


    The sword art that she practices is a technique that was developed by Tomar, also known as "The Silver Dawn," and it has been handed down from one generation to the next.


    Although it also features arge number of slicing attacks, Lia primarily uses thrust attacks because that is the type of attack at which she is most skilled.


    This swordsmanship amplifies the user''s attacks with a bonus effect. This bonus effect enhances the likelihood of the opponent''s wounds bleeding excessively, which is a significant advantage.


    Lia''s reputation has suffered primarily because of this, and she has never enjoyed finding herself in such a situation.


    However, she asionally resorts to this tactic when she needs to take matters seriously.


    [You have improved quite a lot kiddo¡­ it seems rank A is not too far away from you now¡­ just solidify your ''path'' and you are good to go!] (Kai)


    ''What even is a ''Path'' in the first ce?...'' (Lia)


    [Well¡­ you could think of it as a solidified ''Ambition'' or a ''dream yet to be achieved''¡­ er. Something like that¡­] (Kai)


    ''That''s such a vague exnation¡­ is there no proper way to achieve it?'' (Lia)


    [No, every individual is unique so you have to figure it out on your own¡­] (Kai)


    (What Kai didn''t tell Lia was that she had already found her own ''path'', it''s just that she hasn''t realized it yet¡­)


    Lia shook her head and put the issue out of her mind, realizing that Kai was of little use in this situation.


    She turned her head in a particr direction and thought.


    ''hmm, I took care of the three swordsman of the elven team, Liam is dealing with the fourth one, Link is fighting the princess¡­ sixth is likely a healer¡­ so only one left¡­'' (Lia)


    ''That person likely went to attack the banner¡­ I guess Kira and Fade should be able to deal with that person¡­'' (Lia)


    Despite the fact that Lia was aware that Fade and Kira were both B-rankers and would not be easily defeated, she still made the decision to go back and investigate the situation on her own.


    However, just as she was ready to take the first step, the rm on her wrist watch began to ring.


    [Congrattions! Your team has passed the team battle phase!]


    [Initiating Teleportation¡­]


    Lia''s face began to show a trace of a smirk as she cast her gaze in the direction of theke.


    ''He already dealt with both of the teams?... as expected, he''s always fast¡­'' (Lia)


    Lia was taken aback by Rio''s abilities, but just as she was thinking aboutit, a teleportation circle materialized beneath her feet and sent her back as well.


    ¡­


    Around the same time.


    "Kehehehe! See! I am better than you pathetic rich bast*rds!" (Fade)


    With both of his legs damaged from Kira''s earth magic, the Elven Wizard was crawling on the ground, and Fadeughed mockingly at him.


    "You dare look down at me! You were courting death!" (Fade)


    When Fade raised his wand to the sky, a massive magic circle appeared.


    Riya, who was holding the banner, could not help but say aloud:


    "You don''t need to go that far, do you? He''s already defeated-" (Riya)


    "Shut up! I do what I feel like doing! I don''t take advice from the likes of you!" (Fade)


    The fact that Link and the others were not present meant that Riya did not have any effective means of getting him to stop, so she simply shook her head and stopped bothering withhim.


    Just as Fade was about to strike the magician, a notification from his wrist watch saved the day.


    [Congrattions! Your team has passed the [Initiating Teleportation¡­]


    Before Fade could cast his spell, the teleportation circle materialized and transferred the three of them away from the area.


    The elf wizard exhaled in relief upon realizing that his life had been spared.


    **Boom! **


    The moment he was about to rx, Vanya swooped down like a cannonball, only a few meters away from him.


    "Ugh..." (Vanya)


    She stood up from the crater caused by her fall, clutching her shattered left hand with a painful face.


    She seemed to have returned to her normal self but her left hand was twisted in an unusual way, and her entire body was covered with dirt.


    "Ugh.. looks like I shouldn''t have held back too much during the fight¡­ nearly ended up losing¡­" (Vanya)


    At the very moment that Link was going to finally take things seriously, the notification rang out and teleported him away. As a result, she avoided having to reveal her trump cards.


    Aplex expression appeared on Vanya''s face as she cast a nce in the direction of the wizard:


    "Tch¡­ so they beat you that badly too?... All members of their team are exceptionally strong¡­" (Vanya)


    After a short while, the archer girl arrived at the location, apanied by another elf girl who was walking alongside her.


    Vanya grinned as she cast a quick nce at their team''s healer.


    "Good thing we didn''t involve you in the battle¡­" (Vanya)


    The other party nodded and began to heal all three of them with a serious expression on her face.


    Their team has suffered the loss of three members as a result of this conflict; yet, because Vanya is their leader, they were not concerned about failing to pass the team battle phase.


    "Well, despite the fact that we were defeated by team Astra, there are still a great number of other teams roaming throughout the forest; let''s pick up our next target after we have fully recovered from our injuries..." (Vanya)


    The other three nodded and immediately agreed with Vanya''s decision.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Lia is also not too far away from her ascension, let''s see what gives her the final push¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which team do you think suffered the most?


    1. Elven team


    2. Murloc team


    3. Mermaid team


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 250 The Essence of Healing... Part-1.

    Chapter 250 The Essence of Healing... Part-1.


    ??Infirmary, Cafeteria.


    "Yeah¡­ they were quite strong; I nearly lost a hand during battle¡­" (Rio)


    "Hoh¡­ so they were somehow able to hit you... with your amazing speed? D*mn! That''s quite an amazing feat, I guess!¡­" (Link)


    Rio didn''t tell him that he purposely took the hit as he was testing out the effects of the spell.


    The healers quickly restored all of them to full health after teleportation, and since it is already well past noon, this is the ideal time to eat some snacks and chill with the friends.


    Thus, all six of them, including Ellie, came to the infirmary''s cafeteria to have some snacks and drinks.


    "But still, I am quite surprised that you were able to defeat two teams all by yourself¡­ Meanwhile I was fooling around the whole time, ugh¡­" (Link)


    Rio shook his head at Link and replied:


    "You all kept the Elven team busy, that''s why I wasn''t interrupted mid-fight¡­ Indirectly, we won it together¡­" (Rio)


    A smile appeared on Link''s face after hearing those words.


    "Well, that princess is tough¡­ during our fight, she was definitely holding back her full power¡­ Although I didn''t get the chance to use ''Dao rhythm'' either, I am quite sure that she has some trump cards hidden too¡­" (Link)


    Lia nodded her head and added:


    "The elven team really had some skilled fighters, I fought with the three swordsman of their team, they had above average level of skill, if I didn''t had Kai''s blessings, it would have been a tough fight¡­" (Lia)


    At Lia''s words, Rio replied in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Kai''s blessings are a part of your own strength; there''s no need to look down on yourself for using a power that clearly belongs to you¡­" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s words, Lia nodded her head and a smile appeared on her face.


    ''He saw through me, ugh¡­'' (Lia)


    Originally, Lia was quite distressed at the fact that she had to use Kai''s powers to win, she was trying to hide her distress by keeping a normal face; but Rio saw through her fa?ade in an instant.


    All he needed were a few words to figure out the inner monologue of her mind.


    "By the way, where''s Riya? I haven''t seen here anywhere since we came back¡­" (Lia)


    Lia nced at Link with a doubtful expression.


    "Oh, I met that Elf queen earlier; she said that Riya would start her training right away¡­ she likely took Riya away with her; I didn''t even get to talk to Riya aftering back from the battle¡­" (Link)


    "huh? Isn''t thepetition still going on? There''s still a few hours before the team battle phase ends, Why did the queene over so fast? Wasn''t she sitting with the other SS-rankers earlier¡­" (Lia)


    "Father did ask her to be Riya''s mentor; I guess she knew that there wasn''t enough time and wanted to start the training early¡­" (Link)


    Rio nodded his head and said,


    "The individual battle phase will be conducted tomorrow and after that, only the reward ceremony will be left¡­ we don''t have a lot of time left here; soon we will be going back home¡­" (Rio)


    Just when Rio said that, Liam and Ellie came over with piles of snacks in their hands and ced them on the table.


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam''s expression turned disappointed.


    "Ugh.. I want to stay in the Elven Empire for at least a month! This ce is so good and nice!" (Liam)


    "Who doesn''t? But we have no choice either¡­ you know that we have been out of the academy for our whole second year, right?" (Link)


    "Yeah, we will likely need to concentrate on studies after this¡­ more than half of the second year is already gone¡­ we even skipped the mid-term exams because of this tournament¡­" (Lia)


    "Ugh.. I hate exams¡­" (Liam)


    While eating snacks and drinking juice, everyone started toin about their tight schedule.


    "Will we need to give the midterm exams on ater date then?" (Rio)


    Liam shook his head at Rio''s question.


    "Nah, It''s very likely that they will consider our performance in this tournament as a way of assessment; we likely have already passed the mid-term exams with how amazing we are doing¡­" (Liam)


    "Phew~ that''s quite the relief; I haven''t studied a lottely¡­" (Link)


    Liam red at Link while saying in a scornful tone:


    "You dare say that when you have been second in all theory exams! Your marks are far better than ours!" (Liam)


    (Kira is the first position holder when ites to theory and written exams¡­)


    Rio wasn''t surprised at Link''s amazing feats anymore.


    He already knew that this guy is just too talented, aside frombat, he has learned various things and has excelled in them all.


    Although Ashtel wanted Link to be strong, he certainly didn''t let Link skip his studies.


    Link had to study a lot after the final examsst year because Ashtel had grounded him.


    Link had skipped his studies a lot during the first year; he didn''t even figure out Alverto''s identity during the final exams event as he didn''t study about monster characteristics.


    Ignoring the bickering of Link and Liam, Ellie continued to nibble on the snacks, pretending to be stupid so that no one notices her sneaking more snacks in her own te.


    Lia obviously saw her stealing half of Liam''s food, but didn''t say anything at all.


    When Liam finally looked at his te, it was already empty.


    "D*mn bro! How do you eat so fast!? You even at mine?" (Liam)


    Liam mistook Rio as the culprit.


    Rio has the habit of eating very fast; his te was already empty while Liam and Link were bickering, and thus Liam thought Rio ate his food too.


    "My bad bro, my hand slipped a bit, I guess¡­" (Rio)


    "D*mn! Your hand slips quite a lot!" (Liam)


    In the end, Ellie was caught red-handed while she was stuffing her mouth with snacks, and Liam banned her from eating his hand-made food for a whole day.


    (Later, she will roll on the ground and force Liam to reduce the ban''s time period¡­)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, around the same time.


    The queen''s garden.


    "How is it? Is this ce to your liking?" (Syvis)


    At her question, Riya nodded her head, She nced all around herself with shining eyes.


    "Whoa! This ce is filled with high-grade herbs¡­ you can make any type of potions with these many high-grade ingredients!" (Riya)


    Riya may becking in aspects like mon sense'' but none can doubt her prowess in healing and potion making.


    Yes, healers can make potions too; it''s just that potions are made in factories nowadays, so there''s not much market for the healers to sell hand-made potions.


    This business is basically as good as dead; no healers bother with potion-making anymore nowadays.


    Yes, healers can make potions too; it''s just that potions are made in factories nowadays, so there''s not much market for But talented people like Riya are different; she has vast knowledge when ites to herbs and potion making.


    "Whoa! Is that the ''Red Dragon Mist Petal''!? You have such rare things here!?" (Riya)


    Syvis nodded her head and smiled at Riya who was jumping around like an excited bunny.


    "This is just a small portion, I used to have a bigger garden¡­ but those two muscle heads destroyed it! Tch!" (Syvis)


    The more Riya looked at the garden, the more impressed she became. She stared at Syvis with shining eyes.


    "So, when are we starting the training?" (Riya)


    "Ah yes, we will do that too¡­ but before that, I need to ask you a question¡­" (Syvis)


    A look of doubt appeared on Riya''s face; she wondered what question an SS-ranker wille up with.


    "Yes¡­ let me be clear, though¡­ if you didn''t answer the question in a limited time¡­ You will never be able to leave this garden." (Syvis)


    All of a sudden, the gentle and calm aura around Syvis became solemn and cold. She became distant and dangerous.


    At that moment, Riya knew that Syvis was being serious with her. Syvis''s serious face showed that Riya really need to pass the test; otherwise, she would never be able to leave this ce.


    A look of determination appeared in Riya''s eyes.


    "I see¡­ you have the necessary determination already¡­ then we don''t need to go through too much trouble¡­ we can directly skip to the question¡­" (Syvis)


    If it were any other student, Syvis would have needed to use ''Shady tactics'' to make them determined enough, but as Riya has already understood her own weakness, she didn''t need any other external factor to give her a push.


    "My question is simple: What do you think is the essence of healing?" (Syvis)


    The temperature in the whole garden suddenly went a lot colder as Syvis disyed her aura of an SS-ranker.


    Her words carried a lot of weight; those words alone were enough to make Riya feel confused and bewildered.


    "There''s no hurry; the time limit is the reward ceremony¡­ you have to give me an answer before that¡­ if you can''t give me the answer until then¡­ you will stay here in this garden as nutrition for these high-grade herbs¡­" (Syvis)


    Riya gulped her saliva as she felt her throat be dry, She could feel the seriousness of this matter now.


    "You know¡­ the reason there''s so few SS-rank healers in this world is because not even 1% of the healers all over the world can understand the essence of healing¡­" (Syvis)


    "Show me if you have what the others don''t; prove your ability through action¡­" (Syvis)


    "Can you do it, lost sheep?" (Syvis)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Riya is stuck in a tricky situation now, let''s see how she solves this¡­


    Would you have epted Syvis''s method of teaching?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 251 The Essence of healing... Part-2.

    Chapter 251 The Essence of healing... Part-2.


    ??"Can you do it, ''Lost Sheep''?" (Syvis)


    "I will do my best!" (Riya)


    With determination and ambition shing in her eyes, Riya''s reply to Syvis was firm, and her voice was unhesitant.


    Syvis nodded her head in satisfaction.


    ''She might be the best disciple I have ever taught¡­'' (Syvis)


    "Good, ah yes! Before I forget, let me introduce you to someone first... Come with me¡­" (Syvis)


    Riya nodded her head at Syvis''s words and followed her without hesitation.


    While walking through the massive garden, Syvis started to point out a few things first.


    "I can see that your progress seems to be hindered¡­ you have been stuck in rank B for quite a while now, right?" (Syvis)


    Riya nodded her head with a sad expression on her face.


    She had already reached Rank B before the final Examsst year, but she''s been stuck in the same rank ever since.


    Although her skills have improved in the meantime, her rank has not improved past ''B+''.


    "Why do you think that is?" (Syvis)


    "Isn''t it because I haven''t trained hard enough?" (Riya)


    Seeing the self-doubting expression on Riya''s cute face, Syvis giggled a bit.


    "No, that is not it¡­ think, think¡­ without thinking, you won''t reach anywhere, my little lost sheep¡­" (Syvis)


    "I am not a sheep, though¡­" (Riya)


    Riya pouted her cheeks as Syvis kept referring to her as ''Lost Sheep'' instead of using her real name.


    If not for the fact that Syvis is her teacher now, Riya would have stopped talking to her by now, as she was continuously being so cheeky towards her.


    "Let me give you a hint¡­ hmm, you see, you likely advanced from the lowest rank to rank B by doing nothing but training your skills, right? But now it''s not working that way¡­" (Syvis)


    "Moreover, your rank is restricting your skills from improving now¡­ aren''t I correct?" (Syvis)


    With a yful look on her face, Syvis stretched out her hand and messed up Riya''s hair, who was walking right beside her with a pout on her face.


    Her words made Riya think about herself more deeply, though.


    While fixing her hair with her hand, Riya replied:


    "Hmm, are you trying to say that I amcking something else that''s not rted to healing skills?" (Riya)


    "Yes, indeed, what you arecking is the ''path'' you want to walk¡­ After all, without a ''path'' to walk, how will you progress?" (Syvis)


    "Ugh¡­ my big sis also said that I need a ''path'' or something but¡­ what even is a ''path''... I can''t understand it at all, is there no other way?" (Riya)


    Syvis pointed her index finger to Riya''s head.


    "A ''path'' is basically just a dream brought to reality or an ambition fulfilled through a strong wish¡­ everyone is unique and thus everyone have different paths to walk¡­" (Syvis)


    "There''s no other way for this¡­ you need to find that path yourself, Lost Sheep¡­" (Syvis)


    "But how does this rte to the original question you asked? Does the essence of healing have anything to do with a ''path''?" (Riya)


    "It has¡­ these two are parallel to each other¡­ if you can realize even one of them, you will advance further!..." (Syvis)


    ''Well, understanding the essence of healing is only possible for talented people¡­ I don''t ask this question to my other students, as they aren''t qualified enough¡­'' (Syvis)


    "Maybe if you find your path, you may realize the essence too¡­ who knows, it depends on your own ability¡­" (Syvis)


    Riya''s head was filled with more question now than ever, no matter how much she thought, Even though Syvis answered a lot of her questions, more questions have popped up in her mind now.


    Just when Riya''s head was overheating due to confusion and overthinking, the two of them finally reached a small tree situated right in the middle of the queen''s garden.


    Under the shade of the tree, a small table and three chairs were ced.


    Tea and pastries were both were arranged by Syvis.


    Riya immediately noticed a beautiful middle-aged woman sitting on one of the three chairs.


    She was wearing a floppy hat and a simple white gown; her blue-purplish hair swayed in the air, giving her extra mature charm.


    She tilted her head towards Riya and her bluish, serpentine-like eyes shone with great wisdom in them.


    Syvis dragged Riya with her and made her sit beside them both.


    She smiled and introduced the other party to Riya.


    "This is an old friend of mine, her name is very long-" (Syvis)


    Before Syvis couldplete her sentence, the other party smiled at Riya and said in a gentle tone:


    "I am Aria Shinaya Un Mirage, You can call me Aria for short¡­" (Aria)


    Riya''s eyes widened in sheer shock after hearing that name, She stood up from her chair and shouted in a loud voice:


    "The dragon of the deep sea!, the strongest healer in the world!, Aria ''The Heaven''s Gift''!?" (Riya)


    Hearing Riya utter her various titles with such awe, aplicated look appeared on Aria''s face.


    "Uh¡­ you don''t need to shout those embarrassing titles out loud, you know¡­" (Aria)


    "You are my idol! Can I get your autograph!?" (Riya)


    "Eh, what¡­" (Aria)


    "Ahem! Calm down a bit you two¡­" (Syvis)


    To prevent the situation from escting further, Syvis had to intervene.


    Riya finally calmed down from that sudden shock and sat down on her chair again.


    Syvis nced at Riya and said:


    "When I told her that a talent like yours had appeared, she came over in a hurry¡­" (Syvis)


    "That''s not all; I still need to investigate something else too¡­ but I will leave that forter¡­" (Aria)


    "Well, it''s extremely rare to see a healer of your level of talent appear so, it''s a good thing to make acquaintances early¡­" (Aria)


    Aria nodded her head at Riya while sipping the tea prepared by Syvis.


    "Sigh~ the taste of the elven tea is always amazing; I missed it a lot in the past century¡­" (Aria)


    Hearing her words, Riya immediately questioned with a puzzled expression:


    "Ah, yes, in the records, they said that you went missing a hundred years ago¡­" (Riya)


    "Well, I needed a breather after healing the world tree¡­ I was quite exhausted, so I went on a trip to the outer edge of the sr system with an old friend¡­" (Aria)


    "Heal the world tree? That''s the first time I have heard about it¡­" (Riya)


    Riya totally ignored the conversation between Aaron and Kai during the investigation event as she was nibbling on candies, so she didn''t hear much about Aria at that time.


    At Riya''s question, Syvis nodded her head.


    "It''s considered a national secret of the elven race, but as you already know about it, let me brief it to you¡­" (Syvis)


    With a solemn expression on her face, Syvis started to exin.


    "The world tree roots go deep into the and thus it can''t be uprooted¡­ although it provides stability, it''s also a disadvantage¡­" (Syvis)


    During the thousand year war, millions of monsters and demons died on the''s surface, thus contaminating thend with miasma and corruption caused by the dead bodies.


    Even though the SS-rankers tried to purify it all, a thousand years of contamination still caused immense damage. The corruption prated the ground and went deep into the.


    Eventually, it came into contact with one of the roots of the world tree and started to corrupt the whole world tree.


    The world tree can certainly purify arge amount of corruption on its own, but a thousand years of contamination still caught up to it and destroyed its roots.


    After the war ended and centuries passed, the world tree started to wither and die.


    In the six hundred years directly after the thousand-year war, not a single SS-rank healer was born and the withering on the world tree reached extreme levels.


    Elves had already started to think that it was time for their beloved world tree to pass away.


    But then Aria was born into the world with a great talent for healing magic.


    Her talent was nearly at the level of the Dragon King himself.


    After she grew up, she offered her help to heal the world tree, and the elves were overjoyed by this.


    But even with her help, it was still difficult to purify and heal the world tree, as it had been facing corruption for more than a thousand years.


    Corruption ran too deep into the world tree, even its trunk and branches had gone dark ck due to the effects of corruption.


    With her amazing talent, Aria slowed down the corruption a lot, while waiting.


    She waited for a hundred years, and her wait paid off.


    Syvis was born into the world just a hundred yearster.


    The two of them then worked together to properly heal and purify the world tree.


    Healing such a gigantic tree was no easy task; it''s roots alone were thousands of kilometers long.


    It was a daunting and very exhausting task, but with thebined efforts of two SS-rank healers, it was eventuallypleted.


    Aria received her title ''The Heaven''s Gift'' because she helped the elves when they were least expecting it.


    (It took them fifteen years of continuous healing and purification toplete this task¡­)


    "Sigh, if you had been born a few centuries ago, we both wouldn''t have to work so hard, the problem could have been solved much more easily with three SS-rank healers¡­" (Aria)


    Riya couldn''t help but smile happily at those words, as she was happy that her ''idol'' was talking so highly of her.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Riya finally got to meet her idol today, maybe she will get to learn something good from her¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who will you take as your mentor if you be a healer?


    1. Syvis (A strict way of teaching¡­)


    2. Aria (Teaching? What''s that? We don''t do that here¡­)


    3. Riya (You will need to offer rare candies if you want to be her student¡­ moreover, Link''s bodyguard''s will stare at you 24/7¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 252 The Essence of Healing... Part-3.

    Chapter 252 The Essence of Healing... Part-3.


    ??"So, that''s how it is¡­ Sigh, It would have been better if I came back early¡­" (Aria)


    "Well¡­ perhaps that demon prince attacked him because of that tree or something he was researching¡­" (Riya)


    Aria shook her head and said in sad tone:


    "Aaron is my second-youngest child¡­ truthfully speaking, dragons don''t have the concept of marriage as they live alone most of the times¡­" (Aria)


    "We just agree to have kids with the dragons of the same age who we are most familiar with¡­ hmm, I guess that''s how love works in the dragon race¡­" (Aria)


    This is also the reason why there''s no dragon queen in the dragon race.


    Even if a female dragon bes the strongest, she would still be considered the dragon king, not the dragon queen.


    "But still, it''s quite saddening to lose a child¡­" (Aria)


    Dragons usually like to stay in solitary confinements, buildrge magic barriers around their nests, and sleep for years.


    Some dragons take interest in various hobbies and practice them over the years, like Aaron, who took interest in researching the tree of blood.


    Most dragons don''t have great motivation like Aaron, though.


    As dragons have very long life-span, things get boring after you keep doing it for centuries or more.


    Thus, most dragons pass time by sleeping for decades and centuries.


    A dragon doesn''t need mortal food, they can directly ingest mana from their surroundings and live without eating anything else, so they don''t even need to find food.


    Dragon''s usually don''t have much interest in technology either, and barely any of them are interested in research. Due to this, the dragons are ironically far behind other races in terms of technology.


    The reason why the dragon race is so strong without even having an ounce of technology is because each true dragon has the potential to reach S-rank in its lifespan.


    They don''t even need to do anything at all either, they just need to sleep, ingest mana, and grow over time.


    They literally grow by just sleeping and doing nothing.


    If a dragon lives for two hundred years, it bes an adult dragon and ascends to rank S without even getting up from their bed.


    Other races envy and fear the dragons because each one of them has such high potential.


    Breaking through Rank-SS is actually much easier for the dragon race, but they don''t bother with it as they are just toozy to even move.


    Newborn dragons are supposed to have inherited knowledge stored in their DNA and bloodline, so they know how to take care of themselves from the very start.


    They ingest mana and survive anywhere in the world, but still, quite a lot of dragon mothers take care of their children till they are at least ten years old.


    During that time of ten years, if you try to attack their child, you will meet with fearsome bacsh from the mother, just like how Kai and Tomar did when they attacked Aaron in his childhood.


    ¡­


    "Well, even SS-rank healers are powerless against death¡­ even we can''t reverse it¡­" (Aria)


    Seeing Aria shake her head, Riya asked in a confused tone:


    "Hmm, but isn''t there a rumor that SS-rankers can revive the dead?" (Riya)


    "That''s just a rumor made up by someone, there''s no way to revive the dead¡­ we can certainly heal someone who has even a little bit of life-force left in them, but if the soul has already left the body, then there''s no way to do it¡­" (Aria)


    "Wait¡­ does that mean you can revive the dead if you can capture their souls? Then howe the necromancers do it even without being SS-rankers¡­" (Riya)


    At Riya''s question, Syvis smiled and answered in a gentle tone:


    "Well, the necromancers don''t control souls of the dead, they just force their will and mana into the dead bodies and to make them move, those dead bodies they control don''t have ''free will''s'' of their own¡­" (Syvis)


    At Syvis''s words, Aria added her own thoughts.


    "if they really want a summon with ''free will''¡­ The SS-rank necromancers usually make ''forbidden contracts'' with the ''dead souls'' and ask them to be their subordinate¡­" (Aria)


    "This method relies heavily on the choice of the dead soul, if the person has just died and wants to return to life, they can agree to be the subordinate of the SS-rank necromancer, thus returning to life as an undead¡­" (Aria)


    "But that''s a very bad idea; it practically just makes you a ''sl*ve'' of that necromancer¡­ no person with a sane mind will do that¡­"


    "Your soul will not be able to leave this world peacefully unless your undead body dies¡­or the necromancer dies¡­" (Aria)


    The confusion in Riya''s mind increased even more after those words.


    "Then where do souls usually go after death?" (Riya)


    "Actually, there was a person who once led extensive research on this topic¡­" (Aria)


    "She was the ''First SS-rank Healer'' and the ''First Awakener'' of this world, her research on healing and life was so detailed and so advanced for her time, that people gave her the titles ''Goddess of Life and Cure''¡­" (Syvis)


    "She was born during the era when mana and dungeon gates opened for the first time in this world¡­" (Syvis)


    Hearing such high praise from both Aria and Syvis, Riya got curious to know about this person.


    "Uh, this is the first time I am hearing about this¡­" (Riya)


    A confused look appeared on Syvis''s face at Riya''s question.


    "Huh? Records and famous books are written on her; have you never read a book about her¡­ hmmm, you might have heard this poem as a child then¡­" (Syvis)


    [Young fairy Young fairy, don''t cry,


    The benevolent goddess of cure, Will bless your heart.


    Those against her radiance, are small fry.


    Her benevolence extends to all


    She can heal your soul.]


    "Ah, yes! My mother used to sing that poem to me when I was young!" (Riya)


    "Yes, that poem was actually made during her era; it hassted for more than two millennia now¡­" (Aria)


    Syvis and Aria nced at each other and nodded their heads.


    "That person was called Astra ''The Enlightened God of cure''; the capital city of the human race is named after her and the human continent was also named ''Astrum'' after her name, ''Astra''¡­" (Syvis)


    Aria nodded her head and said:


    "Her feats were immense and her fame spread all over the world¡­ she had such a kind of heart that people considered her as a ''Mother'' figure¡­" (Syvis)


    "This is the reason why humans are referred as ''Children of Astra'' by the whole world nowadays¡­ This is a show of respect for her..." (Aria)


    Hearing all this amazing information, Riya felt quite excited, She hadn''t read many history books so she didn''t know about all this.


    But today she figured out the truth behind why everyone referred to humans as ''Children of Astra''.


    "But¡­ the reason why the whole world came to respect her was because of the ultimate sacrifice she made. She sacrificed her ''Soul'', ''Will'' and ''Life'' to create a sword for King Allen¡­" (Syvis)


    "Records say that the sword she made with her ''life'' was called ''The sword of Promised Destinies''¡­ King Allen once used that sword to change a ''Certain Destiny''¡­ which the world isn''t aware of¡­" (Aria)


    "Then where did that sword go?" (Riya)


    Aria shook her head.


    "With the disappearance of King Allen a millennia ago, that sword also disappeared¡­ we aren''t aware of its whereabouts'' anymore¡­" (Aria)


    "There are rumors about it though; it''s said that ''it was a one-


    time-use weapon'' or something like that but we aren''t sure about it¡­" (Syvis)


    "One-time use weapon?" (Riya)


    "Yeah, it''s a type of weapon which self-destructs after you use it once¡­" (Aria)


    Riya was quite surprised that such a strong weapon was only usable for one-time.


    "She was the only person who understood the essence of healing to an extreme level, no onees close to her in terms of mastery at healing¡­" (Aria)


    "Even after two millennia, not a single SS-rank healer has been able to reach her level of mastery¡­ she wasn''t the ''First Awakener'' for nothing after all." (Syvis)


    Astra was the first individual to receive recognition from the heavens and awaken when the dungeon gates had just begun to open and the various races were beginning to arrive on this via those dungeon gates.


    In those days, the people in power made her life very difficult and even tried to use her as ab rat many times, but she survived some way or another.


    Eventually more awakeners appeared and her life was spared.


    She then went on to be an S-ranker and continued to help people.


    Later, during the first few decades of the thousand-year war, she ascended to rank SS right after King Allen.


    She was a member of the ''Golden Generation'', which was led by King Allen himself.


    Her circumstances of death are mysterious and hazy, but they are rted to ''The Sword of Promised Destinies'' in some way or another.


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    If you were confused about why humans were being referred to as ''children of Astra'' all this time, then here is the exnation you wanted! Let''s gooo!!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that the previous golden generation was really mysterious and strong?


    1. Yes (Each member from it is a legendary and world-known figure after all!)


    2. No (The current golden generation will be even better!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 253 The Essence of Healing... Part-4.

    Chapter 253 The Essence of Healing... Part-4.


    ??"Golden Generation¡­ I have heard about it a bit but I am not sure¡­" (Riya)


    Riya''s knowledge in history is very low, so she doesn''t know much about the golden generation.


    "Hmm, it was a group of ''five'' extremely talented individuals; each one of them was unique and strong in their own fields.." (Aria)


    "The leader was obviously King Allen, who was a swordsman... second was Astra, the healer of the group¡­" (Syvis)


    "Third one was Ivan, the greatest magician to have ever lived... fourth was a Martial Artist named Farim Melok, and thest one was a necromancer named Zain Dred¡­" (Sylvia)


    "ording to the records of that time, the magician Ivan died as he failed to ascend to a higher realm; his was trying to forcefully break through a higher state that no one had ever achieved¡­" (Sylvia)


    If Rio was here, he would have been quite surprised to hear this name; after all,one of his strongest skills, ''Concentration'', was a result of wishing at the ''Lake of wishes'' that Ivan left behind after his death. (Referring to Ch-21..)


    The giant snake Marik is still guarding his grave to this day.


    "On the other hand, The Martial Artist ''Farim Melok'' was not as famous as the others but he was a strong person nheless¡­


    "Actually, he was the one who caused fatal injuries to the previous dragon king¡­ those fatal injuries eventually cost the life of the dragon king after suffering from them for a long time¡­" (Aria)


    "The previous dragon king killed him with his own hands, but he was also greatly injured due to that fight¡­" (Aria)


    Talking about Farim, a strange expression appeared on Aria''s face; after all,his name is quite taboo among the dragons.


    He was a being who injured the dragon king so heavily that it eventually caused the dragon king''s slow death.


    "There weren''t any other martial artists of his level in the past two millennia but¡­" (Syvis)


    "But?" (Riya)


    Syvis smiled at Riya and replied in a meaningful tone:


    "But now there are two such people¡­ one is Ashtel Rex, ''The Dominator'' and the other is ''Link Rex'', who hasn''t grown up yet¡­" (Syvis)


    "Whoa¡­ you mean that they both can fight even the dragon King one day!?" (Riya)


    "Well, Link has yet to grow up, so currently only Ashtel Rex is the one who can fight with the dragon king¡­ hmm, I would say that the result will end up same as it did with Farim Melok¡­" (Aria)


    "Although the dragon king is stronger, even I don''t think anyone can make it out unscathed after fighting a death battle with Ashtel Rex¡­" (Aria)


    "Whoa¡­ I knew that Link''s father was strong but this much!?..." (Riya)


    "But well, you need to keep in mind that during the time of the previous Dragon king, there were no capable healers to heal him back to full health, but now there''s me¡­" (Aria)


    "So, even if the dragon king got injured, I will heal him, so ultimately the dragons are the winners¡­" (Aria)


    Riya pouted her cheeks when she heard those words:


    "I can heal Link''s father too!" (Riya)


    "Haha, yeah¡­ so in order to heal him, you must work hard and try to improve¡­ after all, rank S or below-level healing doesn''t work on SS-rankers¡­" (Aria)


    SS-rankers have a tenacious and strong physique; their natural healing is already as strong and effective as an ordinary S-rank healer''s healing skills


    So even without the help of others, SS-rankers can heal themselves easily.


    The reason Rahab wasn''t able to heal himself was because Rio injured his soul, and healing your soul takes an extremely long time if you rely on the natural healing process.


    It''s better to use special soul-healing items or just go to a healer to get it done. (Yes, healers at rank S or above can heal the soul to some extent¡­)


    ¡­


    "The deaths of Astra, Farim and Ivan are confirmed facts that everyone believes to be true, but the situation with the other two members of the golden generation is different¡­" (Aria)


    "King Allen went missing soon after the thousand-year war ended, as if he had vanished from the world; some suspect he left the sr system to search for something outside¡­ but no one is sure about it¡­" (Syvis)


    Aria shook her head at Syvis''s words and said with a sigh:


    "Well, he''s been missing for more than a thousand year now¡­ the chances of his survival are slim¡­" (Aria)


    "But we can never be sure about this¡­ After all, the lifespan of an SS-ranker is quite long¡­" (Syvis)


    Aria nodded her head and stopped talking about that matter, she directly changed the topic.


    "Andst one is the necromancer Zain Dred, there are actually very few records about him; the reason for his fame was his huge undead army that wreaked havoc in the territories of the demon race¡­" (Aria)


    "Usually it''s the demon race thatys siege on other races with their huge numbers, but Zain Dred was different; he was a walking army on his own¡­ he liked toy siege on the demon territories for fun¡­" (Aria)


    "It''s very likely that he might have caused the death of millions of demons¡­ whenparing the highest number of demons yed by one individual alone, Zain was second to none¡­" (Aria)


    Aplicated look appeared on Syvis and Aria''s faces when mentioning the name of Zain.


    "That person was renowned for his shrewd and notorious personality; I feel ashamed to admit it but he once killed an Elven King and made him his puppet¡­" (Syvis)


    "Only after the puppet was fully destroyed in various battles did he let go of it¡­" (Syvis)


    "Tch¡­ I can feel your emotions¡­ many dragons fell under gigantic army and became his ythings.." (Aria)


    "If not for the fact that the dragon king was injured by Farim around that time, he would have definitely fought Zain for such a disrespectful act¡­" (Aria)


    "So even the dragon king feels helpless sometimes?" (Riya)


    "Well, of course he does; although dragons are wise and have long-life spans, even they have emotions of their own, and they feel emotions just like you humans do¡­" (Aria)


    "Even the undead can feel lingering emotions like ''hate'', ''greed'', and ''desire to kill the living''... etc.. truthfully speaking... a being with no emotions can''t exist... they would be a huge anomaly for this world..." (Aria)


    "I used to think that all dragons were arrogant and mighty! but to think they have such diversity too..." (Riya)


    "haha, that''s not how it is¡­ Dragons respect strength, and if you are strong and talented, then they will certainly not disrespect you in any way¡­" (Aria)


    Being weak is the original sin in this world.


    All dragons are born with the potential to reach rank S; thus, they look down on the weak, but if you reach rank S or above, then they will start respecting you as they will consider you an equal.


    Just then, Aria suddenly remembered something.


    "Ah, after talking for so long, I nearly forgot about the important task that the dragon king gave me before I came here¡­" (Aria)


    Hearing her words, both Riya and Syvis were quite surprised:


    "Important task?" (Riya)


    "Is it something about the meeting of gods?" (Syvis)


    Aria shook her head at Syvis''s question and nced at Riya before saying:


    "He watched your team appear in the stadium and after seeing you all fight, he got interested for some reason¡­ although I don''t know what he found so amusing, it''s quite rare to see him smile¡­" (Syvis)


    "So here, take this¡­" (Syvis)


    Syvis brought out a small token from space ring and handed it over to Riya.


    "He asked me to deliver it to your team when I was just about to leave the dragon valley a few hours ago¡­" (Aria)


    Riya took the small but exquisite-looking token in her hand and asked with a doubtful tone.


    "Uh, what is this?" (Riya)


    "It''s an invitation token; if you embed it with mana and break it, a portal will open to the ''Dragon Valley''¡­ you can visit the dragon valley if you have this token¡­" (Aria)


    "Wait!.. does that mean-" (Riya)


    Aria nodded her head with a gentle smile on her face.


    "Yes, the dragon king has extended an invitation to your team, he has given his permission, and you can visit the homnd of dragons by using this token¡­" (Aria)


    Syvis and Riya both were extremely shocked by those words.


    Getting an invitation directly from the dragon king is as rare as finding a diamond in the vast ocean.


    "Does that mean all six of us can visit!?" (Riya) (Riya isn''t counting Fade and Kira¡­)


    "Yes, all six of you are free to visit¡­" (Aria) (She doesn''t know the exact number of people in their team as she didn''t watch the team battle¡­)


    "When should we go there, though?" (Riya)


    "Hmm, I guess you should go two months from now¡­ a festival that''s only held once every 250 years will be organized at that time, you should definitelye around that time¡­" (Aria)


    "But won''t he get angry if we dy too much?" (Riya)


    "Haha, no, a few months are no big deal for us dragons¡­ even a little nap for us is years long¡­" (Aria)


    Riya nodded her head and ced the token in her own space ring, making sure that she didn''t end up losing it.


    Although Riya was excited about this, she also knew that this was a very important matter.


    ''I will show this token to big sis and Link''s father first¡­'' (Riya)


    Riya wanted to hurry and show this amazing thing to Link, but she needed to make sure that it was really safe.


    She knew that her big sis and Link''s father are reliable people, so it''s better to get it appraised by them first.


    The incident back in Oaklum has made her more mature and cautious; she doesn''t want Link toe into contact with something that a strong person like the dragon king came up with.


    ''I can''t afford to lose Link... I will not be able to live if something happened to him because of me...'' (Riya)


    Riya wasn''t doubting Aria on purpose, she was just being cautious; that''s all.


    (Without noticing it herself, Riya has be overly protective of Link¡­ )


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Another major event is right around the corner! Let''s go guys!


    Question of the day:.


    What would you prepare if you had to give a gift to the dragon king?


    1. A list of funny jokes


    2. A stick (Surely every man will like the legendary stick sword¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 254 The Essence of Healing... Part-5.

    Chapter 254 The Essence of Healing... Part-5.


    ??After talking with Syvis and Riya for a few more minutes, Aria left with a satisfied smile Before leaving, she said:


    "Work hard, you have a bright future ahead, maybe the day when you can stand shoulder to shoulder beside me is not too far away¡­"


    "Also, don''t forget about the token¡­ make sure you arrive on time, You can see many types of dragons there¡­ it''s a rare opportunity; don''t waste it¡­"


    Riya nodded her head at Aria and waved her hand, saying goodbye for the time being.


    She was excited to go, but her current focus was on bing better at healing; thus, she couldn''t rush even if she wanted to.


    Once the portal closed, Syvis nodded her head and said in a doubtful tone:


    "It''s rare for her to invite someone over¡­ actually, I myself have never been to the dragon valley either; only with the permission of the dragon king can you enter that ce, but¡­"


    Noticing the hesitation on Syvis''s face, Riya became curious and asked back:


    "But?"


    Syvis shook her head and replied,


    "But people like Ashtel Rex don''t need no permission, I think¡­ if he wants, he can simply force his way in¡­"


    A strange expression appeared on Riya''s face after hearing that.


    "er¡­ wouldn''t that cause a war?..."


    Syvis nodded her head and replied,


    "It could cause a war¡­ but I am just giving a hypothetic answer¡­ After all, the dragon race doesn''t usually get involved with anyone, so the humans have no reason to fight them¡­"


    "Infact, the dragons have never had a major conflict with humans¡­ only individual battles happened¡­ there weren''t any full-scale wars¡­"


    Hearing those words, Riya heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''This means that the rtionship between humans and dragons is not bad, and we won''t be targeted if we go to the dragon valley¡­'' (Riya)


    Just when Riya was busy thinking about various things in her mind, Syvis patted her shoulder and said in a gentle tone:


    "Well, now that the chit-chat is done, let me tell you the rules¡­"


    "You are not allowed to eat, drink or sleep for the next week; the reward ceremony will be exactly on the day after this one week ends, so you better hurry¡­"


    "Otherwise, your little friend will leave you behind and you will never be able to stand beside him again¡­"


    Her tone was certainly gentle, but Riya could feel the massive pressure weigh on her as she gulped her saliva.


    "A-atleast let me have water-"


    In response to Riya''s plea for mercy, Syvis shook her head and opened a portal of her own to leave.


    "By the way, I have sealed this ce shut, you can''t run anywhere, I will make you stay here for as many months as possible if you don''t improve¡­"


    "I already have permission from Ashtel Rex himself, so don''t think anyone wille to help you here¡­"


    "Weakness is the original sin, don''t me me for your own weakness, work hard and improve¡­"


    "Also, take this¡­ healing this withered flower is your main objective; you mustplete it on time¡­"


    Syvis brought out an unknown withered flower from her space ring; the flower had already turned brown and was in a near-death state, and healing it would be a difficult task.


    Before Riya could ask for more details, Syvis left via the portal, leaving Riya behind all alone.


    "Ugh.. this is so unfair!"


    To Riya all of this felt really unfair; she never expected that she wouldn''t even be allowed to drink water for a whole week.


    Although B-rankers like her can survive for quite a few months without drinking water or eating food, they can still feel starvation like normal humans.


    By bing an awakener, you can be strong, but you''re feelings as a human being will never fade away, they will remain with you till yourst breath.


    Thinking about those tasty pastries that she ate just now, Riya''s face turned sour.


    "Ugh¡­ I should have eaten a few more¡­ sigh~"


    Aftermenting her bad luck, the determination to improve returned on Riya''s face, and her eyes shone as she stared at the withered flower.


    ''What specie of flower is this?... This is the first time I have seen this¡­ is it so rare that it wasn''t even recorded in the herb encyclopedia?''


    As the whole flower was withered, it was difficult to figure out what its specie was, so Riya stopped thinking further and ced the flower on the tea table.


    ''Okay, let''s start¡­''


    Riya raised her hand and ced them carefully around the flower.


    [Intermediate Heal: Maximum output!]


    Just when Riya tried to heal the flower, a bacsh happened and her healing magic was abruptly stopped.


    *Bam!*


    The bacsh from the flower was so strong that it caused a small explosion, destroying the tea table and the nearby chair altogether.


    "Ugh!"


    Riya fell to the ground a few meters away as a result of the shockwave blowing her away from the explosion''s epicenter.


    With trembling eyes, Riya looked at her hand and found them covered in blood.


    She lost two fingers in that explosion; the pain was so unbearable that she nearly lost consciousness.


    [Intermediate heal: self-restoration!]


    Riya gritted her teeth and with tears in her eyes, she forcefully healed herself.


    Once the healing wasplete, the pain faded away, and she panted heavily.


    *PANT**HUFF**PANT*


    ''This pain¡­ it''s horrible¡­. When was thest time I felt this?... I think it was during the time when I injured my head while we were fighting that demon prince¡­''


    Since she was a young child, Riya has received a lot of care and love from her mother, big sister, andter Link, who has protected her from harm.


    Having lived under the protection of others, she has never gotten heavily injured before.


    Link has protected Riya from any and every harmful thing, he didn''t even let her hold a knife for fear that she might identally cut herself.


    Although that was Link''s way of showing his care for her, that overprotectiveness certainly has hindered Riya''s growth.


    A healer who doesn''t know what real ''pain'' is can''t figure out how others feel in dangerous situations.


    To be a fully-fledged healer, a healer must know pain beforehand.


    Thinking this far, the determination in Riya''s eyes returned, She got up from the ground and patted the dirt off her clothes.


    ''I can''t back out now; for the sake of saving lives, this much pain is nothing...'' (Riya)


    The previous failure made Riya more determined than ever before, she wasn''t going to lose so easily.


    ''To stand beside him as equal, to achieve my dreams and to make an identity of mine alone, I must preserve through this¡­'' (Riya)


    Riya walked over to the center of the crater that had been created by the previous explosion and grabbed the flower again.


    She ced it on the ground and covered her whole body in healing magic.


    [Intermediate Heal: Full Body type: Self Restoration!]


    By covering herself in this much healing, she made sure that she wouldn''t get too heavily injured next time.


    With better preparation this time, Riya again ced her hands around the mysterious flower.


    [Intermediate Heal: Maximum output!]


    *Baaam!*


    The result was the same: an explosion urred, causing Riya to lose one eyeball this time.


    Half of her face was burned, and she lost nearly four of her finger''s this time, but as she was covered in healing magic, her body started to heal at a rapid pace, returning her to full ''HP'' again.


    ''I can do it! Yes I can!''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, at the same time,


    Queen''s garden, In the sky above.


    "Hoh¡­ I thought she might faint in the first try but I was mistaken¡­ this girl¡­ she isn''t as weak-minded as I was expecting her to be¡­"


    A satisfied smile appeared on Syvis''s face as she stared at Riya''s every move with great concentration.


    She had already hidden her presence and no one below Rank SS can detect her standing in the sky above the garden.


    ''It was a good idea to put up a show of leaving¡­ hehe''


    Actually, Syvis never sealed the garden and she never really restricted Riya.


    It was all just a bluff she used to make Riya more determined.


    She wanted to convey that Riya had no way to retreat and that moving forward will be her only option.


    ''but I guess I didn''t really need to force her like this¡­ she already have enough determination; all she need is a small push¡­''


    As Riya wanted to protect the one person she cherished the most in the world, her determination was already very solid.


    Right now, she is so determined to improve that even if Link said to stop, she won''t hear him.


    ''Good, this is good, focusing on your ambition is the first step to forming a ''path'', you are walking in the right direction, just don''t give up half-way now¡­''


    Syvis continued to nod her head in satisfaction, Riya has already proven herself to be the best student Syvis could ever get.


    ''You can do it lost sheep, find your ''path'' and earn yourself a ce in this world¡­''


    Riya has grown from the weak and frail girl who used to cry at even a small cut and has be a mature girl who is determined to protect her loved ones¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems we can finally see improvement in Riya''s character now¡­


    Question of the day:


    I have tried writing this chapter without the use of ''(__)'' these brackets. Tell me if you like it without them or with them.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 255 The Essence of Healing... Part-6.

    Chapter 255 The Essence of Healing... Part-6.


    ??"Huff... pant...huff..."


    With bloody palms trembling and reddened eyes, Riyay on the ground,pletely exhausted.


    Her expression showed that she was in a lot of pain; her hair were messed up and even opening the eyes felt difficult.


    "cough! Cough..."


    She coughed up blood and gasped for air. Today is the most traumatizing day of her life.


    She raised her trembling palm, which was smeared in blood and was losing two of the fingers.


    ''This won''t do... I am doing something wrong...''


    Three hours had passed since she first started to heal the flower; in those three hours, she went from feeling pain to bing somewhat numb to it.


    At some point, she wanted to just give up, but after healing herself continuously, her resolve continued to improve.


    ''Forcefully using the healing magic on the flower won''t work... I need something else...''


    Riya had never seen a flower like that before.


    That flower seemed frail and weak, but even after withstanding so many explosions it was still intact and not a single scratch had appeared on it.


    After thinking about this strange phenomena, Riya came to the conclusion,


    ''It''s an SS-rank item... Furthermore, it has high resistance to magic...''


    Herbs or individuals that have high resistance to external magic are difficult to heal, you need an extremely skilled healer or a healer that is higher in rank than them.


    Usually, an S-rank healer can heal anyone at rank S or below, even if the other party has high resistance to external magic.


    But SS-rankers are different, their resistance to external phenomena is immense, healing them with the magic of an S-ranker is near impossible and it even causes massive rejection.


    Same thing is happening right now with Riya.


    The flower has extremely high resistance to external phenomena, so healing it with a magic lower than rank SS is near impossible.


    Riya ced her trembling hand on her abdomen and healed herself with the leftover mana.


    [Intermediate Heal: Continuous mild heal.]


    Compared to how her body was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye before, this time her body started to heal at much slower pace.


    ''I am nearly out of mana... will have to make do with this for now... Otherwise, I will die from excessive bleeding...''


    Riya continued to lie down for another half an hour and when she was about 80 percent healed, she sat up again.


    ''No matter how many times I try... a healing magic below rank SS won''t work and the oue will remain same... is there really no other way?...''


    A look of doubt appeared on Riya''s half-burnt face as she contemted in her mind,


    ''I am missing something crucial here... Mrs. Syvis won''t just give me this particr flower for no reason; there must be a reason why she arranged such an impossible-looking task...''


    For the first time in her life, Riya focused on herself and tried to figure out what she was doing wrong.


    Most of the time, either she is focused on candies or on Link.


    She usually doesn''t care about anything else, but now that she''s been driven to a corner by Syvis, she has no choice but to think hard and focus on what she was doing wrong.


    As the saying goes: To win a battle, you must know yourself first... (It''s a reference from Sun Tzu''s quote...)


    Riya walked over to the flower again and sat down beside it with a doubtful look on her face. (Her face is half burned, but it''s still healing due to mild heal...)


    Staring at that flower, a thought came to her mind:


    ''could it be that... there''s some other way to healing.... A way to bypass the magic resistance?... does such a way exist?...''


    Riya nced around herself and noticed that the area in a fifty-meter radius of hers was already littered with broken rocks and scattered debris.


    Small and big craters spread all over the area; this was all a result of Riya''s continues attempt to force her healing magic.


    ''Forcing my healing magic won''t work... not only does it not have any effect, it causes immense rejection and my mana backfires onto me instead...''


    Whenever Riya tries to heal the flower, her mana backfires and she loses control of it, which causes explosions and affects her mana circuits too.


    ''Unless I bypass this resistance.... There''s no way to heal this flower...''


    Thinking this far, Riya understood one key thing, and that is the weakness of her control over healing magic.


    Usually, the higher your rank gets, the more control you have over your magic and the less likely you are to face bacsh.


    Riya is currently only a B-ranker, the difference in rank is too huge, and thus, when the bacsh urs, her healing magic loses control almost instantly due to her weak control.


    Riya got up from the ground, slowly walked over to the nearby tree and sat under its cool shade.


    The mild breeze made her feel refreshed and helped her clear her mind.


    As her mind cleared up, she started to think back to Syvis''s words and actions, and one thing stood out from her words the most.


    ''Lost sheep... what does she mean by that?...''


    No one had ever used some random nickname to refer to her, Link and the others always call her by her real name, so this is the first time someone has given her such a strange nickname.


    ''No... she wasn''t trying to tease... her words carried the feeling that she was stating the truth...''


    A look of doubt appeared on Riya''s face while thinking about this.


    ''It''s as if she knows something about me that I myself don''t... as if... I am forgetting something crucial...''


    As the exhaustion caught up to her, Riya fell asleep under the cozy shade of the tree.


    The wind caressed her face, making her feelfortable.


    ...


    (Riya''s hazy dream)


    A hazy figure resembling Link seemed to be scolding her for some reason in that dream.


    She stood there and said something that made Link upset.


    The dream was too hazy and bizarre; Riya was not able to understand what was happening.


    She wanted to chase behind him, but Link seemed to have be upset with her and didn''t stop for her.


    As if a ss was shattered, something clicked inside her mind, and she forgot about that memory.


    Perhaps it was because she never wanted to remember that day, or perhaps she suppressed something very important to herself in her mind on that day.


    But one thing was sure: she had forgotten something important to herself.


    ...


    Three dayster,


    "Ugh..."


    For the past three days, Riya has tried all of the techniques in her arsenal.


    She used the ''state detection'' skill to detect and analyze the flower, but even that didn''t work.


    It was as if her mana was being rejected at an atomic level.


    Unless she bypasses that immense resistance, her magic won''t work at all.


    Not only she did not eat or drink anything for three days straight, but she has also suffered countless wounds in the past three days.


    She healed herself again and again; eventually, her mind went numb to all of it.


    Her concentration reached such a focused point that she forgot about everything beside herself and that flower.


    She stopped thinking about what was happening outside the garden and how Link and others were faring in the individual tournament.


    All she had on her mind now was that she needed to somehow heal that flower.


    ¡­


    Fifth day of the training.


    After countless failed attempts, Riya figured out how to properly minimize the damage and how to recover faster from her wounds.


    She concentrated her healing magic on her brain and forcefully stopped her own pain receptors.


    Which means, no matter how many times she gets injured, she won''t feel any more pain.


    Tempering with the brain was a risky move, but for a genius like her, this was not worth mentioning.


    She may be na?ve in other aspects, but when ites to healing, no one in the younger generation canpete with her.


    ¡­


    Sixth day, evening.


    Looking at the setting sun, Riya felt immense disappointment in herself.


    ''Even after doing so much¡­ I still haven''t aplished anything at all¡­''


    Not only did her rank not improve, but her skills were also stuck in a bottleneck. Her countless failed attempts were now starting to destroy her determination inch by inch.


    Sitting in the flower field area of the garden, Riya felt powerless and worthless at that moment, Her mind was filled with negative thoughts as she stared at the setting sun.


    ''Tomorrow is the day of reward ceremony¡­ I don''t even know who won; I never even went to cheer up Link in his battle¡­ I-I am worthless¡­''


    Tears welled up in her eyes as shemented her powerless self, She wanted to finish this training early and go cheer for Link''s sess, but in the end she achieved nothing.


    Her dreams, her goals, her purpose to live, everything seemed to have be too daunting for her.


    Just when she was on the verge of copsing, she noticed a ''Rose'' from the corner of her eyes.


    Riya wiped the tears that were blurring her vision and nced at that ''Rose'' once again.


    ''Come to think of it¡­ Rose is Link''s favorite flower¡­''


    She got up and walked over to the flower, She wanted to caress it but as Rose have thorns on it, one of the thorns pierced her finger and her finger started to bleed.


    ''Ah I forgot that it had thorn-''


    Just when Riya was about to heal her finger, a sudden memory came to her mind as if the suppression over it was gone.


    ...


    (Riya''s suppressed dream)


    Link mansion, flower garden


    "See! I worked hard to grow this rose myself! Doesn''t it look good!"


    Link puffed up his chest in pride while showing the flower to Riya.


    "Whoa! It looks beautiful!"


    Influenced by his enthusiasm, Riya tried to caress the rose, but one of its thorn''s pierced her finger, causing it to bleed.


    Link hurriedly brought out a band-aid from inside the house and carefully ced it on her finger.


    Then he scolded her.


    "Idiot! Can''t you take care of yourself properly! You make me so angry at you!"


    Riya pouted her face after hearing those words and replied.


    "Hmph! I can take care of myself! Just you see! In the future, I will deal with any injury easily!"


    At Riya''s words, Link became even more angry and said,


    "No! you will never get injured if you stay beside me! I am strong! I will protect you!"


    Riya didn''t want to outdone by him and said,


    "I will protect you instead!"


    Link became angry and ran away to show his disagreement, Riya tried to chase behind him, but he was too fast for her.


    Riya stood in the garden all alone and stared at her injured finger.


    ''Could it be¡­ he wouldn''t like me anymore if I became stronger than him?...''


    As Riya was a na?ve child, she misunderstood Link''s action of leaving as a way of saying that he wanted to be the one to protect her, not the other way around.


    This thought subconsciously suppressed Riya''s dream of improving and bing stronger.


    Her ambition vanished because she was afraid of Link''s hatred.


    As a result of that small misunderstanding, she lost her ambition that day.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    ''H-how did I forget¡­ I-I forget my dreams, I forgot my ambitions¡­ I lost my ''path'' long ago¡­''


    At that moment, Riya realized why Syvis referred to her as a ''Lost Sheep''.


    Riya had lost her ''path'' long ago; she was indeed a ''lost sheep'' at this point as she had no clear ''path'' to walk on.


    The long-lost determination returned into Riya''s eyes, a new me of ambition condensed in her heart and she clenched her fists with resolve.


    ''No, I must not lose my ''path'', I can''t always remain in Link''s shadow, I must carve out a future that belongs to only me and me alone¡­''


    ''I must not forget my dream of healing every wound, ever again!''


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have realized your ''Path'' to ascension!]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    I know I know, this chapter is too long, but believe me, this is a special chapter so yeah, it was supposed to be long, so no question today as it''s already too long.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 256 The Essence of Healing... Part-7.

    Chapter 256 The Essence of Healing... Part-7.


    ??Every individual have a unique ''Path'' to walk on in their life.


    It''s the dream and ambition that you choose yourself and would want to pursue for your whole life.


    It is a condensed version of your self-belief and is the result of your egotistical desire to have your own ce in the world.


    May it be talentless or talented, realizing your own ''Path'' varies in difficulty for everyone.


    Some realize it as easy as breathing, while others have to go through various hurdles to realize it.


    In the end, it all depends on a whim, a thought and a desire to be a better version of yourself.


    A Path is different from a sudden ''interest'' or a ''hobby'', you can''t just one day go and say that ''I like this thing and I will do all my life'', your words must have real determination in them.


    Realizing the ''Path'' sounds simple but it isn''t really that easy.


    Once an SS ranker said: ''Your path is something that links you to your destiny, it can''t be abandoned, as you would rather die than abandon it¡­''


    ''Those who abandons their dream and ambitions never progress further, and not being able to see yourself at the ''peak'' that you could have achieved is a great shame¡­''


    ¡­


    Queen''s Garden


    During the whole week, Syvis didn''t even budge from her spot and stood in the sky, always keeping a careful watch on Riya''s every move.


    If Riya was really in any fatal danger, Syvis would have saved her immediately.


    Even after seeing Riya fail countless times, Syvis wasn''t disappointed in the slightest, instead, a smile hung over her face as she thought to herself,


    ''Yes¡­ keep going, you are progressing, it won''t be long now¡­''


    Riya had chatted with Syvis and Aria for a long time on the first day of the training, that chatting was not pointless.


    In those few hours, Syvis had tested out Riya''s personality and attitude quite a few times.


    Although, with the intuition of an SS-ranker, Syvis already noticed that Riya was definitely lost in her own thoughts, she didn''t know what exactly it was.


    That was the reason why Syvis referred to Riya as ''Lost Sheep''; she wanted to convey that Riya already had lost her path long ago and needed to find it back.


    [Only you yourself can find your true self]


    With a small push from Syvis, Riya was able to progress further.


    When Riya was on the verge of copsing on thest day''s evening, Syvis thought that maybe she had been a bit too harsh on Riya.


    Seeing Riya cry, Syvis''s heart melted, but just as she was about to end the training reluctantly, she stopped as she noticed the changes below.


    Riya was staring at the "Rose" as she experienced a sudden realization.


    Syvis noticed the brilliance and determination returning in Riya''s eyes, and thus she stopped herself from moving.


    Originally, this one-week training was for Riya to realize her ''Path'', but even Syvis wasn''t expecting anything more than this.


    She thought that even after realizing the path, it might take Riya a few more months of practice before ascending.


    Even her most talented students took years to reach rank A, not to mention Riya, who has been an awakener for barely 2 years now.


    Even though she already had high expectations, Riya''s immense talent far exceeded them.


    Dark clouds formed in the sky, and condensed thunder started to brew up instantly.


    An immense amount of mana started to condense around Riya and form a tornado of mana.


    If it were only that, Syvis would not have been so shocked.


    *Rumble**crack*


    The thunder in the clouds turned dark purple, and it''s aura became immensely strong, even the space-time fabric started to crack from the pressure created by those purple lightning bolts. Seeing those purple bolts of lightning crawl around the clouds, Syvis''s eyes trembled.


    "T-this is¡­ ''heaven''s jealousy''!? The purple tribtion¡­. That''s heavenly punishment! Th-this!?"


    Syvis was so shocked that she had no words to speak.


    ''Heavenly punishment, or Heaven''s Jealousy'' appears with a purple thunder tribtion.


    The space-time fabric itself generates these purple bolts of thunder; thus, even if you are in outer space or anywhere else, you will still be hit.


    The ''Heavenly Thunder'' and the purple lighting have a ''guaranteed hit effect'', it can''t be avoided.


    In the legends and myths, it is stated that the heavenly punishment only appears when the heaven''s itself feels jealous of an individual or an artifact.


    Heaven''s jealousy also appears when you try to ascend above the demi-god realm.


    Most SS-rankers don''t die of natural causes.


    But nearly 85 percent of them die in an attempt to break through to the next realm.


    The reason why no one has ever been recorded to have broken past rank SS is because no one has ever been recorded to have passed the heavenly tribtion.


    In all of history, only two people have ever survived heaven''s jealousy.


    One was King Allen von Reinhart, and the other was Link Rex, who survived it because of Ashtel Rex''s support.


    There has never been anyone else in this world who has survived this immense cmity other than these two.


    The purple thunder carries the power to annihte the ''soul'' of an individual.


    If someone below Peak Rank SS gets hit by this purple thunder, they will die instantly.


    Even peak SS rankers can sustain permanent damage to their souls from this purple thunder.


    The best way to counter it is to never let it touch you.


    And that''s exactly what Ashtel Rex did for Link: Ashtel ripped apart the space-time fabric itself, causing the purple thunder to fall into the void.


    The purple thunder that Link attracted at his birthsted for a whole month, even Ashtel was exhausted by such an intense battle.


    Just when Syvis was worried about Riya''s safety, Ashtel and all of the other SS-rankers came flying instantly.


    Each of them had a solemn expression as they saw the heavenly tribtion brewing in the sky.


    Gradba looked at the sky and said in a thoughtful tone:


    "This thunder tribtion looks weaker than the one that appears when an SS-ranker tries to go beyond¡­ but still¡­"


    All of the other SS-ranker nodded their heads too.


    They all knew that even if this thunder was weaker, it was still too strong for a child to withstand.


    *ck*


    Ashtel cracked his knuckles and said in a calm tone,


    "Who cares, I have repelled it once; I don''t care if ites again now-"


    Although the other SS-rankers dared not do the same things as Ashtel, they had no doubts that Ashtel couldn''t do it.


    Everyone in the world knows that Ashtel has tanked the purple thunder before to save his son from the world''s jealousy.


    Just when Ashtel was about to go ahead and help out Riya, he suddenly stopped mid-way and narrowed his eyes while looking at her.


    "This is?"


    A look of doubt appeared in Ashtel''s eyes.


    The mana in the atmosphere started to condense on it''s own and formed two gigantic hands made out of pure condensed mana.


    Those two hands slowly covered Riya in their gentle grasp, as if they were trying to protect her.


    "Wh-what the!? This is insanity!!"


    Gradba shouted at the top of his lungs when he saw this mysterious phenomenon.


    All of the SS-rankers stepped back and made their distance in an instant.


    The lower-ranking SS rankers even felt a slight threat from those two hands, which made their eyes tremble.


    Even Ashtel had to back off a bit to avoid the aura of those two hands.


    Syvis''s eyes widened in sheer shock as she stared at those hands made of condensed mana.


    "Th-this is¡­ the ''World''s Blessing''!!! The world itself is protecting her!!"


    All SS-rankers knew that this world is filled with strange phenomena, but all these phenomena are nothing whenpared to the phenomena that are manifested by the world itself.


    Even SS-rankers can''t bypass the restrictions created by the world itself.


    Which means that these two hands, which are protecting Riya in their grasp, are immune to the attacks of any SS-ranker present here.


    Those two gigantic hands were giving off a threatening aura to warn all of the nearby SS-rankers not to get close to Riya.


    Once the two gigantic hands had fully covered Riya in their gentle embrace, the heavenly thunder fell.


    The bolt of purple thunder was as wide as half a kilometer and was made up of condensed ws'' and ''phenomena''.


    But even with all that might, the heavenly thunder wasn''t able to scratch those two gigantic hands.


    Seeing this, Ashtel and the others finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    With the blessing of the world protecting her from harm, Riya was safe, that''s all that mattered at the moment.


    After the first thunderbolt failed, the space-time fabric started to tremble.


    The thunder clouds in the sky became denser, and another gigantic thunder fell immediately.


    But once again, Riya remained unharmed.


    Unaware of what was happening outside, her eyes were closed at the moment and she was solely focused on herself.


    [Ding! You have learned the true path of a healer!]


    [Ding! The world has recognized your ambitions and desires¡­]


    [Ding! You have been granted the protection of the world itself!]


    [Ding! All conditions met! You have seen through the essence of healing¡­]


    [Ding! You have achieved the legendary rank passive Skill ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana''¡­]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Damn! Who could have thought I would end up cooking so damn good! It took a while, but the end result came out great.


    Question of the day:.


    How long do you think the author was cooking for this scene?


    1. From the moment they came to the Elven Empire?


    2. From the moment Riya stopped eating candies?


    3. From the moment Riya was unable to save Zach?


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 257 Heart of Eternal Nirvana.

    Chapter 257 Heart of Eternal Nirvana.


    ??From the day Mana descended in this world until today, more than two millennia have passed, but a healer capable of awakening the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' was never born.


    Most healers dream of healing their loved ones or saving as many lives as possible.


    Even SS-rank healers don''t have the mentality to heal every wound possible.


    There are infinite ''paths'', but only a few are really recognized by the ''world'' itself.


    Riya tapped into that possibility when she realized her ''path''. She condensed a ''path'' that was recognized by the world itself and gained the blessing of the world.


    Moreover, due to her overwhelming talent and past experiences, in that final moment, Riya realized the real essence of healing.


    She realized that healing is not all about regeneration and restoration; she tapped into the very ws'' of recovery and forced the world to recognize her excellence.


    ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' is a healer''s equivalent skill to ''Sword intent'' or ''Dao Rhythm''.


    Just like ''Sword Intent'' and ''Dao Rhythm'', the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' condenses the world''s ws'' in the form of ''phenomena'', thus enhancing the user''s capabilities.


    Each legendary skill has the power of a w'' behind it.


    ''Sword intent'' has the power to cut through anything and everything once you train it to perfection.


    ''Dao Rhythm'' gives a perfect physique to the user; it eliminates all weaknesses and makes the user overwhelmingly strong.


    Simrly, ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' puts the user in a ''peaceful'' and ''focused'' state; moreover, it lets the user bypass any mana resistance, thus making it possible to heal others without facing mana rejection.


    In her pursuit of trying to heal the withered flower, Riya formed the Eternal Heart, and with this heart, she can finally bypass the mana resistance and heal the flower.


    Her pain and suffering paid off.


    ¡­


    [Ding! All conditions met! You have seen through the essence of healing¡­]


    [Ding! You have achieved the legendary rank passive Skill ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana''¡­]


    [Ding! You have solidified your belief and realized your ''Path''!]


    [Ding! Ascending to Rank A¡­]


    Unaware of the chaos that she created outside, Riya was only focused on herself at that moment.


    In the gentle protection of the world, she felt safe and rxed, as if she had returned to her mother''s embrace.


    Condensed mana entered her body and elevated her rank to ''A'' making her not only physically but mentally stronger.


    Her skills ascended, and her aura condensed further.


    No matter how many times the purple thunder poured on her, she remained unharmed under the protection of the world.


    Eventually the thunder calmed down and the clouds in the sky dissipated, revealing the bright, starry sky.


    The two gigantic hands slowly dissipated, and Riya opened her eyes as the mana tornado stopped.


    The bright moonlight shined on her face, and her beautiful white hair swayed with the wind, adding another charm to her.


    At that moment, Riya had already seen through thew of healing itself; now she has be an exceptional healer with no equals.


    Once she grows up, her healing magic will be much stronger than any SS-ranked healer''s magic recorded in history.


    ¡­


    Seeing that Riya had finallypleted her ascension, all the SS-rankers nodded their heads at Ashtel and left one by one.


    They knew that this wasn''t the time to be staying here; they could inquire about Riya from Ashtelter.


    Seeing that the others had left, Ashtel dove down with Syvis, Jin, and Ryul.


    Riya came out of her momentary daze, smiled when she looked at Syvis, and said, in a calm tone, "Master, I understand it now¡­. The essence of healing is selfless kindness and care; a healer must heal the injured without binding themselves to mortal desires."


    "Only with true kindness can one have the heart to heal all wounds in the world¡­ this is the true meaning of thew of healing¡­"


    Riya''s words seemed vague and iprehensible to Syvis and others, as they didn''t have the same level of understanding as Riya.


    Riya had already surpassed Syvis in terms of ''understanding'' the nature of healing; now all she needs is to improve her rank.


    Although Syvis couldn''tprehend the w'' that Riya was talking about, she still nodded her head and replied in a happy tone:


    "I originally had low expectations, but I didn''t expect that you would be able to achieve so much in such a short time; I underestimated your resolve¡­"


    Syvis stretched out her hand and patted Riya on the head.


    "Good work! You are no longer a ''lost sheep''; now you are a mighty dragon that has the confidence and courage to stand its ground in front of the whole world¡­"


    "Congrattions! You have earned a ce for yourself in this world, ''World''s Chosen'' Riya Croft¡­ From now on, I will respect you as an equal."


    Getting such a bigpliment made Riya feel happy in her mind. She happily epted that new title and thought that all the pain she suffered in the past week was worth it in the end.


    Riya stretched out her hand and brought out a purplish-blue flower from her space ring.


    "I have healed this flower to its prime form¡­"


    Syvis took the flower from Riya''s hand and nodded her head.


    "This flower is called ''The Flower of Remembrance'' it''s usually found in ces where many people have died¡­ this flower condenses the lingering ''will'' of the dead and forms a ''phenomenon'' in its heart¡­"


    Syvis smiled at Riya gently and added,


    "If someone pours their mana into it, they can manifest this phenomena, which causes the user to remember a cherished or forgotten memory¡­."


    After exining everything, Syvis returned the flower to Riya.


    "You have healed it to its prime form, so take it as a gift from me¡­ It''s an SS-rank item; it won''t be destroyed easily, so you can grow it in any pot you want¡­"


    Riya nodded her head and happily put the flower back into her space ring.


    She epted the flower as a gift from her master.


    Syvis nodded her head and said,


    "This is it; I have nothing else left to teach you, Riya; your mastery in healing has gotten the acknowledgement of the world itself, and you have passed my training with flying colours¡­"


    Riya bowed her head a bit and thanked Syvis for all that she had done for her.


    Then Syvis waled towards Riya and nced all around for a moment before twisting Riya''s ear.


    "Master! Ouch! It hurts!"


    Riya begged for mercy with slight tears in her eyes, but Syvis only smiled creepily and said,


    "It took me so many years to create this new garden! You brat directly destroyed all of the precious herbs that I had saved for so many years¡­"


    Riya hurriedly ran away from Syvis to dodge those merciless scoldings from her, and Syvis chased behind her all around like a mother trying to punish a naughty child of hers.


    Seeing all this, Ryul and others shook their heads.


    "They certainly are a lively bunch¡­ sigh~"


    Even Ashtel nodded his head at Ryul''s words.


    Ryul then looked at the sky for a moment and said it in a solemn tone.


    "Have you noticed it too, Ashtel? What just happened was very strange¡­"


    Ashtel nodded his head at Ryul''s words and replied in return:


    "The heavenly punishment and heavenly protection both appeared for the same person¡­ This is very wrong and weird¡­"


    "It''s as if the world is divided into two fronts: one wants to punish those with talents, and one wants to protect¡­"


    Ashtel thought for a moment and then added,


    "This shouldn''t have been the case; the world is a single entity after all, and how are two contradictory things happening at the same time¡­"


    Ryul nodded his head at Ashtel and stared at the sky with a solemn look on his face.


    "This is a very bad omen¡­ If the will of the heavens itself starts to show ws like this, the future of this world will be very chaotic¡­ We need to prepare the younger generation for this¡­"


    Ashtel sighed and replied,


    "The other SS-rankers likely also noticed this strange phenomenon; they retreated for the moment, but none of them will be at ease either. We need to arrange a temporary meeting tonight... Assemble them all¡­"


    Ryul nodded his head and flew back towards the pce.


    Ashtel also shook his head and left with Jin in tow.


    Perhaps this event was the one that triggered a massive change in the world and awakened many hidden problems.


    Nheless, Riya achieved great sess and proved her worthiness; she demonstrated that she is qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with Link and the others.


    On that day, she cast away her immature self and became a real healer.


    The long-lost smile returned to her face as she finally found a way to deal with ''corruption''; now she isn''t as afraid as before.


    If the current version of her was at Oaklum, she could have easily purified the corruption.


    In other words, now she can finally eat her candy again.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, our candy girl has walked out of her depression phase and figured out her own path. Now she isn''t the weak and frail Riya anymore; she went through immense pain to achieve her current level.


    It is better not to underestimate her resolve anymore.


    Question of the day:.


    Which legendary skill do you like the most?


    1. Sword Intent


    2. Dao Rhythm


    3. Heart of Eternal Nirvana


    4. Mana Field


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 258 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-1.

    Chapter 258 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-1.


    ??One week ago.


    When Riya had only just begun her training, the team battles ended in the elimination of many teams and individuals that day.


    The team battle''s strict rules gave the weaker teams a significant advantage, which led to the elimination of many stronger teams because they were unable to defend their banners.


    Moreover, any individual who gets eliminated in the team battle phase will also not be able to advance to the individual tournament, even if their team has passed.


    This indicates that only 64 individuals, including those from Team Astra, managed to advance to the individual phase out of all teams.


    The individual phase will be conducted as a knockout tournament.


    This will be a show of real battle prowess, as everyone will be fighting a one-on-one match with the strongest talents of the current generation.


    The 64 individuals who made it to this phase of the tournament all have something unique in them, and none of them is weak. Now it all depends on the matchup.


    The tournament''s individual phase will span six days, with the reward ceremony taking ce on the seventh day.


    ¡­


    Waiting Room No-63.


    Arner, the only dwarf team member who made it to the individual phase, nced at the TV screen with a solemn look on his face.


    Arner was sitting in thisrge room alone, as each of the 64 individuals had their own waiting room.


    Although he is a young dwarf, he already has a long beard and rough skin, which is the iconic look of all dwarfs.


    Arner stared at the TV and prayed for a weaker opponent.


    The TV screen rolled the names of all contestants, and after a few seconds, the roulette stopped at one.


    [Congrattions! Your Match has been fixed!]


    [Arner Steelminer vs. . Rio sh]


    [Timing: 11:00 A.M.]


    [Please get ready and make sure to arrive on time!]


    Seeing the unfamiliar name appear, a doubtful look appeared on Arner''s face.


    He pulled out his smartphone and searched the inte for information about Rio.


    He had also been in the team battle area and hadn''t seen Rio''s feats, so he was totally unaware of Rio''s abilities.


    Still, Rio''s previous battle made him quite famous, so Arner was able to find information on him very quickly.


    *Gasp*


    What the search engine returned as the top result was,


    [Rio sh, the eliminator of two teams! The dark star that shines with immense radiance!]


    Arner searched through all the details that were recorded in the video, and the more he looked, the more dark his expression became.


    In the end, he reached only one conclusion.


    ''I am dead¡­''


    Arner shook his head and threw away the phone on the bed.


    Hey down on the couch and started to think about what to do next.


    "In the first ce, why the f*ck are they making me fight with a monster who destroyed two teams alone!?"


    ck lines appeared on Arner''s face as he thought about it.


    "Ugh¡­ That guy is being considered an equal to the world-famous monster Link Rex, and I have to fight him!?"


    Arner got up and started to walk around the room in a circle to think of some countermeasures.


    ''That guy has insane speed, and his attacking power is also not weak due to sword intent, thus¡­. It would be at a disadvantage if the match got dragged on for long¡­''


    As if he had thought about something, a look of determination appeared in Arner''s eyes.


    "Okay, then¡­ I will settle the match in the very first minute! That''s my only chance of sess¡­"


    Arner clenched his fist and took his battle hammer before leaving the waiting room.


    ''First, let''s go and cool my mind off with some juice!''


    Arner went downstairs and asked for orange juice in the cafeteria, but it seemed that they were out of juice.


    ''Ugh, do I need to use that 3d printer to make juice now?¡­''


    Although the 3D printer can indeed print juice, it can''t replicate the taste so well, and it usually doesn''t seem to taste good enough.


    (No, you can''t print a nuke; don''t even think about it! They have ced restrictions on the printer!)


    Arner shook his head and went out of the front gate to get some fresh air.


    He noticed a bench nearby and decided to sit on it.


    Only after sitting on the bench did he notice that someone else was also sitting on the other side of the bench.


    Arner nced at the other party, and his eyes widened in shock.


    The other party''s dark ck hair waved in the slow breeze, and his dead fish-like eyes stared at the horizon with an expressionless face.


    Arner nced at Rio, who was calmly sipping orange juice and enjoying music through his headphones.


    ''D*mn! I didn''t even notice him sitting here till I came so close; this guy is a monster!''


    It''s not that Arner''s perception was weak; it''s just that Rio''s ability to suppress his own presence has always been remarkable.


    Arner himself is at rank ''A-'', and he was still not able to detect Rio, which shows how capable Rio is at stealth.


    Just when Arner was staring at Rio so intently, Rio also noticed Arner''s intense gaze.


    Rio brought out a juice can and handed it over to Arner, seemingly misinterpreting something.


    "No need to stare at my juice; you can have this one instead¡­"


    After a moment of shock at Rio''s emotionless tone, Arner nodded his head and took the ''juice can'' from Rio''s hand.


    A thought popped into his mind.


    ''Hmm, he is surprisingly a chill guy¡­''


    *Gulp*


    After taking a sip of the refreshing juice, a smile returned to Arner''s face.


    He nced at Rio and thanked him.


    "By the way, you know we will be fighting each other as opponents an hourter."


    Hearing Arner''s words, Rio nodded his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Yeah¡­. Don''t hold anything back on me; go all out¡­ Maybe luck stays on your side¡­"


    Arner felt quite uncertain about Rio''s emotionless voice.


    ''Why is this guy''s voice so rough and nk¡­ It''s as if he is an emotionless robot or something¡­ He certainly is a weird guy¡­''


    Arner shook his head and replied in an uncertain tone.


    "Sigh~ I don''t know if I can win though¡­"


    As he replied to Arner, Rio continued to stare at the horizon like an emotionless mechanical doll.


    "Well, no one is invincible in the world; I have faced defeat too¡­ In my opinion, you should give it your best anyway; it''s not like we are fighting a death match here¡­"


    Arner nodded his head in response to Rio''s words.


    "Yeah¡­ if it was a death match, then I would have rather note here in the first ce¡­"


    Rio abruptly tilted his head and inquired.


    "How high do you think your chances are to win?"


    Arner nced at Rio''s expressionless face for a second before replying in a solemn tone:


    "Well¡­. I think it''s 1/100¡­"


    Hearing Arner''s words, a bit of light returned to Rio''s eyes, as if his curiosity was piqued at that moment.


    "I see¡­ So you do have an ability that can help you win against even me?..."


    At Rio''s words, Arner nodded his head, and a proud look appeared on his face.


    "Don''t underestimate me too much; even the mouse knows how to fight back when cornered¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at Arner''s confident words.


    "I see, you need to show me what you have gotter then¡­ Let''s continue this conversation in the ringter¡­."


    Before Arner could say anything else, Rio''s figure blurred, and he disappeared from his seat.


    Although Arner had heard about Rio''s fast speed from the videos, seeing it in person still surprised him a lot.


    ''I see¡­ I would need to use that method then¡­''


    Meeting Rio here was an excellent opportunity.


    Arner got to see Rio''s abilities beforehand, and now he was confident that he wouldn''t lose so easily anymore.


    ''No¡­. If this n works, I can win this battle!''


    Believing in yourself is the first step to victory. If you can''t even believe in your own victory, then how will you achieve it?


    He has already formed a n in his mind; now all that''s left is to enter the ring and carry out this n before Rio notices it.


    Arner gulped down thest sip of juice from the "juice can" and clenched his fists with great determination.


    ''The hopes and beliefs of my whole race are resting on my shoulders right now; I shouldn''t disappoint them. Even if my n doesn''t work out, I must not tarnish the trust of my kin¡­''


    With a confident smile on his face, Arner went back to his room.


    ...


    ''Interesting¡­''


    Rio, who was standing on a nearby building''s rooftop, smiled a bit as he saw Arner''s confident expression.


    A thought appeared in his mind.


    ''Will I get to see something interesting today?... or will it be another disappointment?...''


    Rio nced in the direction of the yground and pondered.


    ''I am looking forward to it¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, the individual battles are starting! Grab your popcorn! Get ready for continuous epic matches!!


    Question of the Day


    Do you also feel that Rio is behaving like a bored viin right now?


    1. Yes (He is acting as if the only source of entertainment he has is seeing strong attacks!)


    2. Yeah! (Bro seems like ast boss viin who has lived for many centuries and has be utterly bored¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 259 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-2.

    Chapter 259 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-2.


    ??"Yes, I am fully prepared..."


    Arner nodded his head as he talked to his teacher via his smartphone.


    SS-rankers cannot personally meet the contestants during this event, but they can stillmunicate with them.


    Arner had called his teacher to consult about whether or not he should use the n he had made.


    After getting the agreement of his teacher, the confidence on Arner''s face returned.


    Before Arner ended the call, the other party gave him some small advice:


    "By the way, don''t overdo it; all that matters is that you tried your best... Overdoing it is harmful for your future progress as it may leave some trauma..."


    Arner nodded his head and smiled.


    "Understood!"


    With his chest puffed up with pride, Arner donned hisbat suit and grabbed his hammer to finally leave the waiting area.


    He walked through a long corridor and finally arrived at the yground entrance. With a determined look, Arner entered the yground field.


    Just when he entered, thementator introduced him enthusiastically.


    *And now! The contestant with the best control over the thunder element, the holder of the title ''Child of Thunder'', Arner Steelminer, enters the battlefield!*


    Amidst the loud cheers of the audience, Arner slowly walked over to the middle area of therge stadium.


    Rio was already standing there beforehand.


    Arner and Rio both stretched out their hands to do a handshake before the match started.


    Both of them nodded their heads at each other, then immediately jumped back to create an appropriate distance for both of them.


    The handshake showed that this was just a friendly duel and that there were no grudges between them.


    (Fun Fact: When this tournament was still considered a deathmatch, the participants never used to handshake or even talk to each other... they used tomunicate directly with weapons...)


    And the distance was created to give each other enough room to do a proper ''first attack''.


    A massive hologram appeared, showing a timer of 30 minutes.


    If none of the two are able to win in the next 30 minutes, then both of them will be eliminated, as there are no such things as ''Draw'' in this tournament.


    Thementator raised the enthusiasm of the audience and started a countdown.


    *And now, the third match of the first round begins in 3... 2...1! Fight!!*


    When the word ''Fight'' was shouted, Arner and Rio both took their stance in an instant.


    Arner knew that Rio was fast, and he would try to deal a quick blow to him, but he was prepared for that.


    [Thunder Dwarf Art: Full Immersion!]


    Without wasting any time on using low-level skills to create a good show, Arner directly used one of his strongest techniques to cover his whole body in a condensed thunder aura.


    Rio''s sword swung horizontally at an insane speed, and just when it was about to hit Arner''s neck, Arner''s thunder aura activated and pushed him down.


    With that small push, Arner dodged Rio''s attack and swung his hammer.


    [Thunder Hammer Style: Rise of Steel!]


    Arner''s hammer swung at Rio in a downward-to-upward manner, still covered in a thunder aura.


    However, before it couldnd, Rio tilted his sword a bit and deflected the attack''s trajectory in an instant.


    [Handling]


    Arner wasn''t surprised that Rio was unaffected; it would have been strange if Rio really got hit with such a slow attack.


    Taking advantage of the fact that Rio was momentarily distracted, Arner stomped the ground with his right feet, and a massive thunder st happened in an instant.


    The ground cracked, and blue thunderbolts flew far and wide in the massive stadium.


    Fortunately, an SS-ranked barrier protects the audience, ensuring their safety.


    From the start of the duel until the thunder st appeared, only five seconds had passed, but Arner and Rio had already exchanged quite a few blows in these few seconds.


    If it weren''t for the high-tech cameras that show the yback in slow motion, people below rank A couldn''t even see what was happening between the two.


    *boom*


    Arner stomped on the ground once again, and the second st of thunder appeared, creating a massive shockwave.


    Even after unleashing such a strong ability, Arner''s face remained solemn, and he jumped back quite a few meters.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Sound Type: Atomic Deflection!]


    Due to his amazing sword skills, Rio not only deflected the shockwave, he even caused the massive thunder attack to dissipate.


    Without caring about Arner''s shock, Rio said in his usual emotionless tone:


    "Continue..."


    Rio''s image blurred in an instant, but Arner was ready for that; he had already seen Rio use that swift movement technique an hour ago, and he now had a countermeasure for it.


    Arner immediately ced his hammer on the ground and unleashed a massive amount of his mana and thunder into the earth.


    [Thunder Dwarf Art: Static Thunder Field!]


    Arner''s aura covered the entire stadium ground, creating a massive thunder field that helped him track down Rio''s movements much more easily.


    Arner immediately jumped to the right as he sensed Rio''s swording at him.


    And sure enough, Rio appeared right at the spot where he was standing just now.


    "Hoh, this field is good; electricity has a much faster speed than an individual; this way, no matter how fast someone is, you can easily figure out their moves...."


    Hearing Rio''s emotionless words, Arner didn''t let his guard down for even a single second.


    He knew what kind of monster he was up against, and even a single moment of distraction could be fatal.


    At that moment, Rio''s figure appeared to be teleported directly in front of Arner.


    [Darkwing Movement Art: Steady Steps.]


    Seeing Rio appear so close to him, Arner was shocked; he didn''t expect Rio to still have more speed than earlier.


    ''He bypassed my electric field!?''


    Arner had misunderstood Rio''s normal speed to be movement art, but when Rio really used his movement art, only then did Arner see the horror of Rio''s immense abilities.


    [Thunder Dwarf Art: Short Switch!]


    Arner immediately used one of his strongest abilities to dodge Rio''s attack.


    His body switched positions, with the dirt on a spot twenty meters away from the current one.


    The ''Short Switch'' ability works in cooperation with the''static field''.


    Arner used static fields earlier because his short switch ability allowed him to switch positions with any inanimate object inside the static field.


    However, as the skill''s activation caused a slight dy, a small cut still appeared on Arner''s right cheek.


    Arner heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Phew~ barely made it¡­ Now to the main part¡­''


    A smirk appeared on Arner''s face. Before Rio could attack him again, Arner immediately ced his hammer on the ground and forced a massive amount of concentrated mana into a one-meter radius.


    Rio used his ''Darkwing movement art'' to chase Arner, but just as his sword was about to hit, Arner switched positions again.


    Arner repeated this same tactic five times; he ced a small amount of mana and then left.


    Rio frowned a bit at those strange moves.


    Just when Arner was about to do the same thing for the sixth time, Rio suddenly used more force in his legs.


    [Darkwing Movement Art: Instantaneous Rush!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Setting Summer Night!]


    In an instant, Rio appeared right behind Arner and swung his sword in a downward manner.


    The attack was so precise and lethal that Arner had no chance to counter it.


    Arner barely pushed himself away and avoided a fatal wound, but the attack still hit his right hand, cutting off his arm in half.


    A massive amount of blood started flowing out like a fountain.


    But Arner stood unfazed; he grabbed his hammer with the other hand and used thunder to immediately stop the bleeding, while jumping away to make some distance from Rio.


    Rio stopped attacking at that moment, as he felt a bit strange.


    "Hmm¡­ is this it, Arner?"


    At Rio''s words, Arner narrowed his eyes, ignoring the sweat on his forehead, and replied with a smirk.


    "I was hoping to ce three more ''cores'' but I guess that''s not possible now¡­ Let''s go with five for now¡­"


    Arner immediately ced his hammer on the ground and pushed nearly all of his mana into the static field as he shouted.


    "The truth is, static field is just the ''base''; the real attack needs eight static ''cores'' to function¡­ I was only able to ce five, but five is also enough to activate this attack."


    A crazed and excited look appeared on Arner''s face as a massive amount of condensed thunder started to dance around him in an uncontrolled manner.


    The whole static field started to glow up, and a massive magic circle appeared under Rio''s feet.


    Rio dodged with his ''Darkwing Movement Arts'' technique, but the magic circle followed him everywhere, even in the sky.


    Arner smirked and shouted.


    "No use trying to dodge this one, Rio! It''s an attack with an ''un-dodge-able property''! As long as you are inside the static field, you can''t dodge it!"


    From the start of the duel to this moment, everything went just like Arner predicted.


    He knew that this attack was the only way to really attack Rio.


    But he needed to buy time, and the''short switch'' ability yed its role right there.


    If Rio had used his sword intent to shatter the static field, he could have still stopped Arner''s attack.


    But Arner took the gamble and won.


    He gambled on the possibility that Rio wouldn''t use his sword intent as long as Arner didn''t show too much strength,


    Seeing Rio staring at the magic circle that was locking at him.


    ''If this was a real battle, Rio could have easily walked out of the static field''s range, but right now, we are inside an enclosed SS-rank barrier, and you can''t leave the static field at any cost¡­''


    If the SS-rank barrier hadn''t been there, Arner''s n wouldn''t have worked, but its presence worked in his favor and helped him trap Rio.


    ''Although the damage will be reduced a bit as I only created five ''cores'' instead of eight, that should be enough to do the work¡­''


    As Arner finished pouring his mana into the ground, he smiled at Rio and said,


    "This is checkmate, Rio sh!"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    If you have noticed, I am showing the event from Arner''s perspective rather than Rio''s. This is because right now, Rio is ying the role of the ''challenge'' and Arner is the ''challenger''.


    It depends on Arner if he can pass this challenge, though¡­


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also think Arner is quite a good strategist?


    1. Yes! (He''s at least better than a certain dumb harem lord¡­)


    2. Yeah (Author really knows how to make amazing side characters outta nowhere!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 260 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-3.

    Chapter 260 Arner, The Child of Thunder... Part-3.


    ??VVIP Area.


    "That un-dodge-able attack technique... Isn''t that a very rare technique in your race, Baneas?..."


    Upon hearing Ashtel''s confused words, Baneas Oreforge, the representative of the Dwarf race, nodded his head and responded in a proud tone.


    "Well, that technique is actually very difficult to learn. First of all, not only do you need amazing intuition and thunder affinity, you will also need to reach rank-A to even start using this ability..."


    Baneas paused for a moment before continuing,


    "In the past century, none were able to master this ability, as theprehension capability required to master it is very high... All in all, this technique is useless in the hands of untalented people..."


    While saying that, Baneas nced at Arner and continued with a smile on his face.


    "But in the hands of the talented, this ability has great potential..."


    Hearing Baneas''s words, Ashtel and Ryul both nodded their heads. They both knew about this secret technique, but this was the first time they were seeing it in person.


    Ashtel narrowed his eyes and spoke in a tone of amusement.


    "Hmm... this technique is able to involve a w'' in itself, which is indeed impressive... This kid, Arner, has the potential to reach rank SS in the future..."


    Ryul quickly recognized the technique and spoke in a calm tone.


    "To be able to control the power of a w'' at such a young age... Arner is indeed talented; you guys better not waste his potential."


    Baneas scratched the back of his neck at their words, feeling quite embarrassed.


    As an early-level SS-ranker, he is significantly weaker than Ashtel and Ryul, so Arner''s ability to receive praise from the renowned "Ashtel Rex" is truly remarkable and a source of great pride for the Dwarf race.


    "You praise him too much; in my opinion, Rio sh has a better grasp over the w'' of ''Sword Intent''; I am not sure if this attack will even seed..."


    Ryul responded calmly, shaking his head at Banea''s words.


    "No, the w'' that Arner has involved is affecting the whole battle field; unless Rio smashes the whole battlefield with his''sword intent'', the damage from Arner''s attack will not be reduced much..."


    While thinking about this, a smirk appeared on Ryul''s face as he continued,


    "This kid, Arner, nned out everything quite well; he also took Rio''s sword intent into consideration! That''s why he used so much mana to cover the entire stadium ground in his ''static field''...."


    Even Ashtel nodded his head at that.


    "A genius move indeed; even Rio is bound to face some trouble now..."


    There are very few people who can involve the world''s ws'' in their attacks.


    Some use secret techniques to achieve this, and some uses ''Sword intent'' or other equivalent skills to achieve this.


    In his attack, Arner invoked the w of confinement''.


    He enhanced his technique''s damage by sacrificing its confinement power.


    Arner didn''t have to worry about Rio escaping because a massive SS-rank barrier surrounded the stadium.


    Thus, he reduced the confinement power of his ''static field'' to near ''zero'', and thus his attack''s damage improved ordingly.


    Now, unless Rio smashed the whole stadium ground with the whole ''static field'', he can''t dodge this attack.


    This is the horror of an attack that involves a w."


    Most awakeners choose not to bother with those who can control ws'' because they don''t want to be involved in such troublesome attacks.


    ...


    Seeing that Rio had stopped moving, a smirk appeared on Arner''s face.


    ''So you have realized that you can''t stop this attack anymore... Even if I faint or die, this attack will still not stop, so it''s pointless to attack me right now, and it''s better to put up defenses...''


    The smile on Arner''s face widens as he thinks to himself. ''But it''s pointless; even if you try to defend with sword intent, this attack will continue till it hits you directly...''


    In the excited eyes of Arner, the whole static field became bright, showing that it was finally ready to be used.


    "This is it, Rio!"


    [Secret Dwarven Art: Unstoppable Bane of the Thunder God!]


    From the ground beneath Rio''s feet, a gigantic beam of condensed thunder shot up, rising at an immense speed.


    The beam only stopped after it collided with the SS-rank barrier in the sky.


    A massive shockwave spread, and the ground over the whole battlefield cracked in an instant.


    That shockwave created a sonic boom that spread widely, causing some audience members to fall off their chairs in shock.


    The ''un-dodge-able attack'' was indeed an excellent move.


    To use this attack, Arner nearly ran out of mana, and now he barely even has any left.


    Just when Arner was smiling at the sess of his attack, he noticed someone standing beside him.


    When Arner noticed who the other party was, he nearly fainted from the sheer shock.


    Rio was standing right beside him, totally unharmed, and was even watching that attack happen along with him, like a spectator.


    His expression was just as emotionless as always, as if he had nothing to do with what was happening inside the range of that attack.


    Rio nodded his head at Arner and said it in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Indeed, this attack is an excellent move... If you had used it against any other member of Team Astra, you certainly could have had a better chance of winning..."


    Rio''s sword swiftly sliced off Arner''s other hand and inflicted numerous cuts across his body.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Relentless Pursuit!]


    Arner''s body flew away and fell powerlessly to the ground after facing that fatal onught, but Arner didn''t care about his own injuries at the time.


    He wanted answers more than anything else.


    *step**step*


    While holding his sword in his right hand, Rio slowly walked over to Arner with steady footsteps.


    At that moment, Rio''s aura was so intimidating that people mistook him for a ''cold'' and ''ruthless'' fighter.(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push(["_mgc.load"])})(window,"_mgq");


    Rio raised his sword and ced it near Arner''s neck, and his cold, emotionless voice rang out in Arner''s ears.


    "That attack certainly could have worked on others, but that''s not the case for me¡­ I have my methods."


    "Underestimating me was the reason that you lost, Arner Steelminer¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, a slight smile appeared on Arner''s face, and he nodded his head.


    "Yeah¡­ I underestimated you, Dark Star. Let us fight again in the future when the opportunity arises¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at Arner''s words and sheathed his sword.


    A teleportation circle appeared below Arner and took him to the infirmary in an instant.


    *And after an unexpected turn of events! Rio sh has won this match! The Children of Astra have once again proved to the world that they are undefeatable!!*


    As thementator announced Rio''s victory, the audience burst into massive apuse, but ignoring all that, Rio simply walked back to the waiting area without even bothering to wave his hand at the audience.


    He can''t smile or celebrate his own victory, so it was pointless to stay here.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    *Dead Silence*


    Rio easily evaded Arner''s attack and stood beside him, watching the attack unfold like a spectator, shocking nearly all of the SS-rankers.


    This turn of events was extremely shocking for even the SS-


    rankers.


    Ashtel and others knew that Rio might win, but they had thought that Rio would have to tank out this attack at the very least, which would give him some challenge.


    But even they didn''t think that Rio would simply walk it off like nothing had happened at all.


    Ryul looked at Ashtel and inquired in a tone of shock.


    "What the f*ck just happened? Did I see something wrong? Why does it seem like Rio didn''t even do anything to avoid that attack, and the attack got deflected on its own?"


    As an SS-ranker, Ryul noticed more details than the rest of the audience; he saw everything happen in extreme slow-motion, which is why he was super confused at the moment.


    But even Ashtel had no answer to Ryul''s question.


    "Uh¡­. well, even I don''t know what just happened¡­ This is the first time I have ever seen someone dodge a w-infused'' attack with such ease¡­"


    The SS-rankers observed that Rio remained motionless.


    Just when the attackunched, he used his ''movement arts'' to stand beside Arner, and the ''un-dodge-able'' attack stopped pursuing him for some reason, as if it had lost the target.


    But this shouldn''t have been possible in the first ce; the attack was ''infused'' with a w'', and if Rio had tried to dodge it, the attack would have followed him all around the battlefield.


    However, after activation, the attack ceased to pursue Rio for an unknown reason.


    None of the SS-rankers had any idea what just happened, as even they hadn''t seen this kind of situation.


    The only person who knew about the real situation was Rio himself.


    ¡­


    Waiting Area.


    As Rio entered his waiting room, he nced at the notification panel of his status window.


    [Ding! An abnormal threat was detected!]


    [Ding! ''True Immunity'' has been triggered!]


    [Ding! You are immune to the ''indefinite tracking'' ability!]


    Rio shook his head and closed his status panel.


    ''This skill is too broken; it activates on random asions, and even I don''t know when it will activate¡­''


    Rio was actually about to use his shadow robe to counter that attack, but even he didn''t anticipate that Arner''s technique''s "un-dodge-able" property might trigger ''true immunity''.


    Even Ashtel and others couldn''t figure out what happened because ''true immunity'' can negate the perception of SS-


    rankers as well.


    Rio became ''invisible'' to the static field''s tracking ability once ''True Immunity'' activated.


    Thus, he simply walked out of the attack range and watched it all without any care in the world.


    Rio can deactivate this skill if he wishes to, but he can''t activate it at his will, it''s a passive ability that works on its own. (He deactivated it when he fell into Marik''s illusion...)


    While shaking his head, Rio walked over to the mirror, and as he looked at himself, a thought came to his mind.


    ''I was nning on having a proper fight¡­ but it seems this one was really one-sided¡­''


    From the start of the duel to the end, Rio didn''t suffer a single wound; this was a great disappointment in his opinion, but he still respected Arner''s determination.


    ''Forget it; let''s see if the next opponent can do better than this¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here.


    It kind of feels like Rio has lost the feeling of excitement that he used to have when fighting¡­ Now he has be even more ''empty'' than ever before¡­.


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also think that Rio is a straight up menace?


    1. Yes (Bro literally stood beside the attacker to appreciate the attack like it was nothing¡­)


    2. Yeah (His unamused behavior in all situations makes him seem like a viin type character¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push(["_mgc.load"])})(window,"_mgq");

 Chapter 261 Round two... Part-1.

    Chapter 261 Round two... Part-1.


    ??In this knockout-type tournament, Rio has to win six consecutive matches if he wants to im the title of champion.


    His first match ended in an overwhelming victory against Arner, which increased his poprity even further.


    In bars and clubs all over the world, people have started to ce bets on his name.


    Although this tournament built a solid reputation for him, Rio didn''t care much about it.


    This reputation will undoubtedly benefit him in the future, giving him priority when conquering dungeons, but for Rio, being popr didn''t hold much interest.


    Many popr awakeners in this world have a massive fan following, and some of them even sell ''Merch'' to their fans to earn extra money.


    Having a fan base basically secures your retirement.


    You can sit back and sell some random ''Merch'' to your fans, earning enough money to live a peaceful life after retirement.


    While sipping tea as usual, Rio nced at his smartphone screen and watched the videos of various participants to improve his own knowledge.


    Although none of the strong participants used their hidden trump cards, it was still a good idea to prepare ahead of time by researching their abilities.


    A battle junkie like Rio always prepares for battle a lot; nowadays, his best way to pass time is to watch other people''s fights and improve his own knowledge.


    ''Oh, so Lia won her first match with ease too, as expected of her¡­''


    Rio didn''t get to see Lia''s match in person because none of the participants could leave the waiting area, but he watched it on his smartphone.


    ''But they did say that all of the eliminated candidates cane and watch the ''finals'' in person¡­''


    The final match of this tournament will likely be a big hit, so all candidates were allowed to watch it directly from the audience seats.


    However, they are unable to exit the waiting area until they engage inbat or face elimination.


    Rio scrolled through the videos and saw Link and Liam''s matches, too.


    Both of them faced strong opponents, as none of the candidates who made it here are weak, but still, both of them won easily.


    Link''s match was even more one-sided; he beat his opponent unconscious with three punches, and his match didn''t evenst more than a minute.


    Seeing Link''s overwhelming show of power, Rio shook his head and got up from the couch to gaze at the horizon from his room window.


    ''The main problem is¡­. will I have the courage to injure Lia?''


    Even during the ''group survival event'', Rio rarely attacked Lia, instead mostly evading her attacks.


    But things are a bit different now.


    If he purposely doesn''t attack her, then she will mistake it for a sign of mockery.


    She will think that Rio looks down on her and believes she can''t withstand his attacks.


    Rio doesn''t feel like raising his sword against her; it''s as if his sword loses its lethality and refuses toe out of its sheath.


    ''Have I be too soft?''


    Rio nced at his trembling palm and clenched his fist to stop that strange feeling.


    Just when Rio was still contemting in his mind, the gigantic hologram appeared in the middle of his room, and the roulette started.


    [Ding! Congrattions on passing the first round yesterday!]


    [Congrattions! Your Match has been fixed!]


    [Rio sh vs. Fade Crest]


    [Timing: 10:00 A.M.]


    [Please get ready and make sure to arrive on time!]


    Seeing the name of the opponent, Rio''s dead fish-like eyes narrowed in an instant, and a slight tinge of excitement returned to his ''hollow'' eyes.


    A rare smirk appeared on his expressionless face, and the temperature in the room became cold in an instant.


    "Got you¡­"


    ¡­


    Waiting Area, Fade''s room.


    *crack!*


    The ss of water fell from Fade''s hand and broke into many pieces after hitting the floor.


    But Fade didn''t have the time to bother with that right now.


    His eyes were filled with fear as he looked at his next matchup.


    [Congrattions! Your Match has been fixed!]


    [Rio sh vs. Fade Crest]


    [Timing: 10:00 A.M.]


    [Please get ready and make sure to arrive on time!]


    "Congrattions my a*s! How did I end up being paired with that guy!? Sh*t!"


    It''s been more than a year since the day when Rio caused Fade''s ''system'' to crash, and ever since that day, Fade has be extra careful.


    He has stopped using ''appraisal'' on random people out of fear that something simr might happen again.


    No one understood the importance of the system more than he did; without it, he would be nothing today.


    He wouldn''t have even made it past the midterm exams if he hadn''t had this systemst year.


    Originally, Fade should have already been a peak A-ranker around this time, but due to Rio''s continued stealing activities, Fade has lost a lot of his opportunities over the past year.


    Nearly all major opportunities like ''True Immunity'', ''limitless talent'', etc. were all stolen by Rio; thus, his progress has been hindered by a lot.


    In the original plotline, the main reason behind his extremely fast progress was the ''limitless talent'', but now that it has been taken by Rio, Fade has to collect a massive amount of ''Exp'' to improve his talent manually.


    No one in this world can improve their talent manually like he can, but even an amazing ''cheat'' has its own limitations.


    The higher rank Fade bes, the more ''Exp'' he would need, and the ''Exp'' needed to improve ''talent'' is a hundred times higher each time he tries to improve it.


    Initially, he didn''t need to waste exp on improving his talent due to its ''limitless'' nature, but now that he needs to umte an incredibly high amount of exp, his progress has significantly slowed down.


    It may seem like a disadvantage, but truthfully speaking, Fade has enjoyed a lot of advantages too.


    Even though he has to collect a lot of Exp, at least he has the assurance that he is improving slowly; others don''t have the same advantages.


    Even without limitless talent, Fade can theoretically get stronger and stronger without any limits at all.


    By utilizing his system, he can also transcend the realm of SS.


    (If you were confused about why Fade was progressing so slowly despite having a system, then this was the answer¡­)


    Over the past year, Fade has been through many life-


    threatening situations, but he has made it out of them with the help of his amazing luck.


    The only time he ever ran out of ''luck'' was when he met the ''Anomaly'' called Rio sh.


    Using the ''apraisal'' on Rio resulted in significant damage to his soul and the system that resided within it.


    After that event, Fade took three months to fully heal his soul, and he suffered from continuous ''nightmares'' for those three months.


    Due to those three months of continuous nightmares, Fade has a massive repulsion for Rio''s name.


    He always tries to avoid interacting with Rio the most.


    This is also the reason he never argued with Rio during any of the missions they undertook.


    He only bothered Link and Liam because he wasn''t particrly afraid of them, but Rio was a different story.


    And now that he has to suddenly go against Rio and fight him fair and square, he feels immense nervousness.


    Fade clenched his fist and tried to calm down his tensed nerves.


    ''No, I don''t have anything to fear;st time I was not even a C-


    ranker when he struck the ''system'', but now I am a B-ranker¡­ I just need to refrain from using appraisals on him, and everything will be fine¡­''


    It''s not that Fade hasn''t thought of defeating Rio in the past year; it''s just that he hasn''t been as strong as Rio all this time.


    Rio''s progress is nearly as fast as Link''s, and catching up to him is a really difficult task.


    Fade has to spend an immense amount of ''Exp'' to learn a skill, but Rio can easily surpass him due to how amazing his talent is.


    This is the difference between a ''cheat'' and a ''genuine talent''.


    [The more you ''cheat'' the world, the more wed your ''existence'' bes¡­ and those who ''cheat'' their own ''self'' have the greatest ''ws''¡­] (Source: Trust me bro.)


    Suppressing his own nervousness, Fade shook his head and got ready to fight.


    He grabbed his wand and defensive items and walked towards the arena with a calm look on his face.


    (Yeah, he didn''t return Kira''s wand after he borrowed it from her during the ''final exams'' to fight with Liam¡­)


    ''No matter what, I must ovee this fear today! If I don''t pay this humiliation a million-fold back, then I will have no face in the world!''


    As he entered the stadium grounds through the tunnel, thementator raised the enthusiasm of the audience.


    *And now! The first match of the second day is about to start! Grab your popcorn, people! We are going to witness yet another amazing battle!*


    *This time, both of the opponents are from the same team! Let''s see if the two of them will be able to go all out against each other, despite being teammates!*


    Others didn''t know about the interpersonal rtionships between Fade and his teammates.


    Thus, they assumed that Fade and Rio were actually friends; nothing is more exciting to watch than two friends fighting with each other on this battlefield.


    The audience was thrilled and started to yell loudly to cheer them both on.


    But Fade was not in the mood to smile right now.


    After all, a monster called Rio was staring right into his very ''existence'' right now.


    From Fade''s point of view, Rio seemed like a major viin.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, we get to see a fight between these two! This is such a rare moment that I feel excited while writing it.


    Question of the day.


    Were you also surprised to see this matchup?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 262 Round two... Part-2.

    Chapter 262 Round two... Part-2.


    ??In any battle or duel, the first attack you use shows your capabilities andbat knowledge.


    The situation in each battle is always different, so the first move you make should always be powerful for that unique situation.


    Carrying out a devastating first attack and dealing heavy damage in one go is an excellent strategy that many ''awakeners'' use.


    Not only does it make the opponent feel intimidated, but it also establishes your dominance, thus giving you a psychological boost.


    Whenever two ''awakeners'' fight, they not only sh with their physical bodies; they also experience a psychological sh.


    In the end, the one who can maintain their calm and think more rationally to counter the situation emerges victorious.


    All this is just basic knowledge that every ''awakener'' learns by instinct.


    The more battles you fight, the sharper your senses be, and the better you perform against stronger enemies.


    Using a ''wrong first move'' can lead to devastating damage and can lead to your defeat..


    ¡­


    *3..2..1! Fight!*


    [Basic Non-attribute Magic: Mana Shield!]


    Fade''s first move was to cast a ''Mana Shield''.


    This would have been an excellent first move against regr swordsmen, as it would have ensured the mage''s safety.


    Mages are much more fragile than warriors; after all, it''s always good to keep a strong shield up all the time.


    But that''s only true for ''ordinary'' swordsmen.


    Fade''s first mistake in this battle was to lump Rio together with other swordsmen.


    He forgot just how insanely fast Rio could swing his sword.


    *Clink*


    Before Fade couldplete his ''Mana Shield'', the Rio figure blurred, and a sword appeared right above Fade''s wrist.


    Fade''s eyes widened in shock as he desperately tried to dodge, but it was futile.


    In an instant, Rio swung his sword downward and split Fade''s wrist.


    Blood flowed out of Fade''s severed arm like a fountain and painted the ground red in an instant.


    "Ahhhh!"


    Fade lost his wand along with his dominant hand, and he groaned loudly due to the pain.


    (He hasn''t raised his pain resistance as he was too focused on investing in his talent¡­)


    Without the wand, Fade''s magic lost a lot of effectiveness.


    In a desperate attempt to survive, Fade raised his other arm toward Rio.


    [Intermediate Fire Magic: Ray of dominating fire!]


    A massive ray of fire magic was fired at Rio in an instant.


    Because Fade''s magic proficiency was high, the color of the fire was dark blue, indicating that it was extremely lethal.


    But Rio simply used his ''Darkwing Movement Art'' to move out of the way in an instant.


    Without waiting for Fade to react, Rio appeared beside him, swung his sword at his chest, and made a massive cut on Fade''s chest.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire type: Rising dawn!]


    The impact from that attack was so strong that Fade''s body flew away like a cannonball and collided with the barrier at the edge of the field before stopping. Rio''s attack was merciless; that sword swing broke the whole ribcage and damaged many of Fade''s internal organs.


    At that point, Fade was barely conscious.


    Rio''s eyes shed with disappointment as he saw Fade losing so easily.


    ''Is this guy really a protagonist? Don''t protagonists usually like to turn a hopeless situation around?... Come on, show me what you got.''


    Just when Rio was getting more and more disappointed at Fade, a huge amount of mana started to condense around Fade.


    With his trembling hands, Fade barely cast a spell.


    [Basic Healing Magic: Quick Heal!]


    To Rio''s surprise, Fade was able to use healing magic despite not being a healer himself.


    The entire audience, including the SS-rankers, was shocked at this sudden turn of events.


    *Amazing! Just when he was about to lose, Fade revealed an amazing trump card! He can use healing magic!*


    In this world, learning a skill from another ''ss'' is an extremely difficult task.


    It actually depends entirely on luck.


    Not even geniuses like Link can go and learn the skills of a different ss so easily.


    It''s not that Link can''t use swords like Rio; it''s just that he doesn''t have the ''sword aptitude'', His aptitude is in martial arts, and if he tries to learn swordsmanship, he won''t be able to go too far.


    Usually, no one wastes their time trying to learn the skills of other sses, as it will hinder their own ss''s progress.


    Instead of wasting time on a skill that will take decades to improve, it''s much better to work on your own talent.


    This is such a basic level of knowledge that even elementary school kids in this world are familiar with it.


    Only ''lucky'' people who are born with more than one aptitude try to follow this path.


    Still, learning the skills of some other ss won''t change your own ss at all, and there are no real benefits to it.


    But some people still try to do it.


    And Fade is one such person.


    With the help of the system, adding a few more aptitudes is not a big deal for him.


    He invested in learning healing magic because he wanted to heal himself whenever the need arose.


    ¡­


    Rio remained motionless, determined to discover the number of Trump cards this ''protagonist'' possessed.


    He wanted to measure the depths of what it meant to be a protagonist.


    While Rio waited, Fade''s severed arm grew back, and his wand flew back towards him on its own, using basic wind magic to make it fly back to him.


    With great difficulty, Fade stood up once again, and a look of fear and hatred appeared on his face.


    ''Just you wait! Once I be stronger, I will pay this humiliation back!''


    While Fade was ring at Rio, Rio was also contemting something in his mind.


    ''Hmm, basic healing isn''t really a power skill; it barely heals you, and the regeneration it gives is slow. He likely hasn''t fully healed yet¡­''


    Rio''s perception of healing magic was already broken, as he had seen Riya use healing magic.


    In front of Riya''s healing magic, Fade''s magic seems half-baked and too inefficient.


    Riya would have only needed 1/100th of her mana to do the same amount of healing that Fade just did right now.


    Seeing that Rio wasn''t moving, Fade decided to attack first.


    He pointed his wand towards Rio and cast magic.


    [Intermediate Fire Magic: Ray of Dominating Fire!]


    Fade was using this spell again, as it was the fastest spell he had in his arsenal. Other spells were strong, but they were equally slow.


    Before Fade''s attack could evennd on Rio, Rio''s devilish whisper sounded in Fade''s ears.


    "Is this all you have? How disappointing¡­"


    Before Fade could react, Rio swung his sword horizontally, nearly splitting Fade in two.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Horizontal Shift!]


    Rio could have instantly killed Fade if he hadn''t held back during the extremely fatal attack.


    "Ahhhhh!!"


    As Fade fell to the ground while screaming, his internal organs started to spill out of the massive wound.


    Fortunately for him, the teleportation circle appeared just on time and teleported him away.


    This marked Rio''s victory.


    *And with the final blow! Rio sh is the victor!*


    From the start of the match to the end, barely five minutes had passed.


    This implies that Fade barelysted five minutes, and the match concluded before the spectators couldprehend the events.


    Rio shook his head in sheer disappointment and started to leave.


    ''Even Arner performed much better than this guy¡­ This guy seems like a ''fake protagonist'' to me, actually¡­''


    While fighting yesterday, even Arner amused Rio more than Fade, but today was a total disappointment.


    In the first ce, not to mention ''sword intent'', Rio didn''t even get to use a single buff during the whole fight.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    Ryul shook his head and said,


    "This kid, he''s really strong¡­ Other students can''t even keep up with him¡­"


    Hearing Ryul''s words, Ashtel nodded his head and said in a calm voice,


    "Indeed¡­ Today, the match was over in ten minutes, and today''s match didn''t even take five minutes¡­"


    Baneas, the dwarf representative, also nodded his head and said in a solemn tone,


    "Even during Arner''s fight, he never even used his ''sword intent''¡­"


    As things were just too one-sided, all SS-rankers couldn''t help but sigh.


    They were already expecting Link to perform overwhelmingly well, but seeing Rio dominating the field like this was really unexpected.


    Ryul sighed and said,


    "Unless he meets someone strong next, his amazing winning streak will keep going¡­"


    Ashtel nodded his head and spoke in a serious tone.


    "I won''t be surprised if Rio made it to the finals without facing much difficulty¡­ Aside from Link and Liam, I don''t see anyone winning against him¡­"


    Other SS rankers couldn''t help but nod their heads at those words.


    They didn''t want to discredit their own candidates, but it''s also impossible to ignore the truth.


    ...


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    I know the chapter seemed boring, right? Well, it was intentional.


    I want to show how bored Rio is feeling from this fight, so cut me some ck if you feel that this was a waste¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who would you rather fight?


    1. Rio (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will simply knock you out by hitting you with the back of his sword, you won''t suffer much¡­)


    2. Link (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will knock you out in a single attack to the back of your neck¡­)


    3. Liam (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will give you the chance to surrender¡­)


    4. Lia (She will respect your determination to fight and will st massive holes in your body with her sword¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 263 Path to Spiritual Ascension! Part-1.

    Chapter 263 ''Path'' to Spiritual Ascension! Part-1.


    ??Infirmary.


    An elven healer retracted her hand as she healed the small wound on Lia''s hand.


    Lia nodded at the healer to thank her, then got up to leave.


    While walking back to her own waiting room, Lia brought out her phone and scrolled through the videos of a certain someone''s fights.


    ''He won so easily¡­ He has be much stronger than he was during the group survival test¡­ Meanwhile, I haven''t made much progress at all¡­''


    Seeing Rio''s disy of overwhelming strength, Lia clenched her fists.


    She might have epted him as a close person to her, but herpetitive spirit won''t just acknowledge defeat so easily.


    Rio has been progressing extremely fast recently, and he has left Lia far behind.


    ''If not for Kai''s blessing¡­ I won''t even be worthy of standing on the same stage as him¡­''


    To Lia, being left behind in dust like this was a great blow.


    She also wants to progress; she wants to remain equal to him and wants to stand side-by-side with him.


    [You don''t need to me yourself that much, girl; you are progressing, and it''s not that you are slow¡­ ''That guy'' is just too fast¡­]


    Kai''s words were indeed true;pared to other students, Lia''s speed of improvement wasn''t all that slow; it''s just that she wasparing herself to monsters like Rio and Link.


    (Keep in mind that originally Lia only had S-rank potential, and it increased to rank SS only after she awakened Kai''s blessing¡­)


    Kai manifested on Lia''s shoulder in the form of a cat and spoke in a calm tone.


    "The thing is, you haven''t even properly manifested my powers yet¡­ The most crucial step to controlling a spirit beast''s power is to have a ''path''¡­"


    Kai thought for a moment before continuing,


    "You have yet to use proper forms of my blessing¡­ What you are using right now is merely a side product¡­ They hardly qualify as genuine ''blessings''.


    Lia shook her head, clenched her sword''s hilt, and said it with a troubled look on her face.


    "Still¡­ even then, I will only be depending on your power¡­. I don''t want to depend on external help to show off."


    Before Lia could express any more self-loathing, Kai smacked her forehead with his small paw and spoke in a serious tone.


    "Idiot! I am contracted with you, and my powers are yours to use¡­. Simply speaking, my powers are an extension of yours; without your mana, I can''t exert my full strength either!"


    Kai nodded his head and said,


    "You awakened my powers with your own efforts; this power belongs to you; it''s not an external buff; if you don''t ept this power as your own, it will be difficult for you to progress¡­"


    Kai''s eyes narrowed as he continued.


    "Perhaps the reason you are not able to find your path is also because you are refusing to take this power as your own¡­ That''s a bad mentality, kiddo¡­"


    Kai gestured to Liam''s video on Lia''s phone.


    "That kid Liam uses the power of his summons to defeat his opponents, yet he never considers the summoned beasts as a separate power from himself; he has epted his own powers¡­"


    "Self-loathing will get you nowhere; if you want to im the long-lost title of ''Silver Dawn'', you better ept yourself first¡­"


    Listening to Kai''s scolding, Lia sighed again and again.


    She was really not in favor of using external power to defeat others.


    Before contracting Kai, she had always believed in her own power and tried to achieve the peak with her own strength.


    But ever since she started using Kai''s power, she has be conflicted in her heart.


    ''Rio also said the same thing the other day¡­ This power is mine, and I shouldn''t deny my true self¡­ but I feel like I am cheating whenever I use this power¡­''


    Seeing the troubled look on Lia''s face, Kai couldn''t help but shake his head as he thought to himself. ''Sigh, this kid still has a long way to go¡­ Let''s see how long it takes for her to find her own ''path''¡­''


    Kai believes that Lia is a child who easily bes overly preupied with her own goals and ceases to consider things that are right in front of her.


    He thinks that if Lia hadn''t had the goal to chase after Rio, then she might have already lost herself to this weirdly obsessed mentality.


    That''s what happened in the original timeline: she lost herself to the hunger of immense power, then went through demonification and became cruel and vicious.


    (She was never able to awaken Kai, as demons can''t have contracts with divine spirits¡­ demon and divine spirits are natural enemies of each other¡­)


    ¡­


    While contemting all this, Lia reached her own waiting area.


    She had already passed her second match with moderate difficulty and her third match would be tomorrow.


    Lia nced at the setting sun and realized that there were only a few hours left for preparation.


    To increase her ownbat knowledge, she sat down on her bed and started watching the battle videos of all matches.


    ''Liam, Link, and Rio, all three of them are winning their matches without facing any difficulties at all¡­ Not a single opponent has survived the past ten minutes in front of them¡­''


    (Liam usually gets overshadowed by Link and Rio, but he''s also a peak SS-rank talent, and with Ellie on his side, his improvement speed is not too far behind Rio and Link¡­)


    ''Currently¡­ I have no chance of winning against them three if I end up fighting them¡­''


    Lia didn''t want to acknowledge her own weakness, but she couldn''t ignore the truth either.


    Due to the rules ofpetition, she can''t summon Kai in his proper form; thus, her powers are naturally reduced.


    She has to make do with his ordinary blessings.


    ''Rio has ''sword intent'' , Link has ''Dao Rhythm'' and even Liam can use ''Shadow Field'' without manifesting Ellie in a proper form¡­ Only I don''t have a proper finishing move like them three¡­''


    Lia knew her own weaknesses better than anyone else.


    Thinking and stressing over all these things caused Lia to fall asleep from exhaustion.


    ¡­


    The night passed, and the morning of the third day arrived.


    Once again, the audience gathered in the stadium, and the broadcasting of the battles began.


    The first match of the day turned out to be between Rio and Kira.


    This matchup surprised everyone. Rio just defeated one of his own teammates yesterday, and now he has to fight another one of hisrades.


    Lia woke up early, and after donning herbat outfit, she stared at Rio and Kira''s fight.


    She wanted to assess Rio''s capabilities more. (She wasn''t even thinking that Rio could lose¡­)


    The match started amidst the loud cheers of the audience, but it ended in the very next second.


    When the countdown to the match ended, Kira raised her hand and said,


    "I admit defeat!"


    Everyone, including Lia and the SS-rankers, was taken aback by this sudden turn of events.


    But then everyone figured out the truth.


    "I admit defeat!"


    Everyone, including Lia and the SS-rankers, was taken aback Kira is a smart person; she''s already sure that she can''t win against Rio, and her oue would likely be simr to Fade''s, as her spells are not much different from his.


    It was a wise choice to avoid wounds when you knew there was no point to this battle.


    Lia noticed the barely visible look of disappointment that shed through Rio''s eyes when he had to sheath his sword, which had barely been unsheathed.


    ''He''s bored¡­''


    Lia can see Rio''s suppressed emotions better than others; after all, she''s been staring at him for nearly a year now.


    No one can decipher Rio''s feeling better than she does.


    ''He likely wanted to have a proper fight but hasn''t been able to achieve it¡­''


    Thinking this far, Lia shook her head.


    ''Sigh, what can I say, You are just too strong¡­''


    Just as Lia was passing time while watching Rio''s battles, the huge hologram screen in her room moved and the roulette started.


    [Ding! Congrattions on passing yourst match!]


    [Ding! Congrattions! Your next match has been fixed!]


    [Lia Silver Vs. Miki Kotov]


    [Time: 11:00 A.m.]


    [Make sure you arrive on time!]


    Lia''s eyes narrowed instantly as she saw her opponent''s name.


    ''It''s that cat girl? This is going to be difficult¡­''


    Lia met Miki a few days ago and has also seen her battle videos.


    ''Kai said that she''s only below Rio in terms of speed and agility¡­ I need to keep my calm¡­''


    In the next two hours, Lia did more research on Miki''s abilities and found that Miki hasn''t used her full strength yet in past battles, so the information on her true battle prowess was still vague.


    ''I need to be cautious of that unpredictable fighting style of hers¡­''


    After finishing her research, Lia checked the time and made the decision to move.


    She got up from her seat, ced her sword around her waist, and, with a determined look on her face, walked towards the arena.


    ''I must win this¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally! It''s time for Lia to shine! Let''s see how she''s going to deal with the obstacles in her way!


    Question of the day.


    If you had to fight Rio, will you surrender or fight?


    1. Surrender (Kira''s move was excellent, she knew her limits!)


    2. Fight (True warriors never back down from a challenge!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 264 Path to Spiritual Ascension! Part-2.

    Chapter 264 ''Path'' to Spiritual Ascension! Part-2.


    ??"We met again, Lia Silver... My previous opponents were barely decent, but I think you won''t disappoint me¡­"


    Miki cracked her knuckles as she stared at Lia with fierce eyes.


    Last time she saw Lia, she was in the market area, and that was just a friendly exchange between two candidates.


    But things are different now; both of them have a goal to achieve, and none of them will back down from this fight now.


    Lia unsheathed her sword, ced it around her waist, and replied with a smile on her face.


    "Same, I am looking forward to this fight too¡­ But let me tell you first, I am nning on winning this match!"


    Hearing Lia''s words, Miki also smiled in excitement and took her fighting stance.


    "That''s exactly what I had in mind too!"


    Both Lia and Miki have something to prove, and neither of them can afford to back down easily.


    Miki wants to prove herself worthy of her father''s throne, while Lia wants to prove herself worthy of standing beside Rio and others.


    *And with great excitement in the eyes of both candidates! We are going to start this exciting battle!"


    *3¡­2¡­1¡­ Fight!*


    [Feline-style martial arts: Explosive rush!]


    When thementator said "fight," Miki, who has a faster reaction time, immediately used her skill.


    Compared to her, Lia''s reaction was a bit dyed.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Rising Drill Thrust!]


    In response to Miki rushing towards her at an astonishing speed, Lia bent her knees a bit and covered her sword in condensed silver mana that spun around the tip of her sword like a drill.


    She twisted her wrist upward andunched that drill-like attack directly at Miki''s heart.


    *ng*


    Miki jumped in an instant, hitting Lia''s sword from the side with her fist, easily deflecting the attack.


    But Lia was already ready for this oue.


    ''I have fought a much faster guy before; this much speed is nothing!''


    Lia immediately stomped the ground and forcefully changed her position by cracking the earth.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Descensions w Surge!]


    Miki condensed the mana around her fist and used ws to attack Lia from mid-air.


    However, Lia had forcefully shattered the ground and changed her own position slightly, resulting in Miki''s attack falling in the wrong ce and not hurting Lia at all.


    Seeing the attack fail, Miki twisted her body andnded in a faraway ce, thus making some distance between herself and Lia.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Straight line charge!]


    Obviously, Lia didn''t let go of this opportunity; she immediately thrust her sword forward andunched at Miki like a cannonball.


    Her attack was fast and abrupt.


    Lia was sure that this attack wouldnd, but it actually missed.


    Miki bent her spine backwards as if it were made of some stic and flexible fiber, easily dodging the attack.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Rising ws!]


    While still bent in that unnatural way, Miki immediately used her leg-type technique and condensed mana in the form of ws at her feet.


    She struck in an upward manner, as if she were trying to scratch a solid surface. *ng!*


    Lia reacted quickly, using her sword to defend herself from the attack.


    Still, the impact of that attack was extremely strong, pushing her back quite a few meters.


    ''She''s extremely agile; perhaps her cat bloodline gives her an amazingly flexible body¡­''


    Lia ignored the small w mark on her wrist and immediately pressed forward with an ''A.O.E.'' type attack.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Consecutive Mana sts!]


    Lia thrust her sword toward Miki several times in a single second, and each attack carried condensed mana, which fired condensed shockwaves in Miki''s direction.


    This attack isn''t really fatal, but it can at least narrow down Miki''s escape routes, and that''s what Lia was aiming for.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Shockwave!]


    When Mike attempted to avoid Lia''s previous attacks, it narrowed her escape routes, rendering her flexibility and speed useless. Finally, Lia used one of her strongest attacks, the ''obliteration type'' attack.


    She thrust her sword at Miki, and an immense and strong shockwave hit Miki directly in the chest.


    ''This should do some damage.''


    Before Lia could rx, Miki bent her knees andunched at Lia like an arrow.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Destructive Ray!]


    As if she hadpletely ignored Lia''s previous attack, Miki immediately hit Lia''s sword with an extremely strong kick.


    The impact of that attack caused Lia to lose her footing, and she flew away a few meters beforending.


    ''She ignored my attack!? That shockwave-type attack did no damage!?''


    Kai''s voice resounded in Lia''s head, as if noticing Lia''s shock.


    [It''s a specialty of the cat folk; cats are known for surviving falls from great heights¡­.]


    [Simrly, she just now absorbed shockwaves and used them tounch a strong attack in return¡­]


    Lia feltplicated emotions after hearing those words.


    ''This is the first time I am seeing someone tank such a massive shockwave, though¡­. Oh wait, I guess Link can do that too¡­''


    At Lia''s question, Kai replied in a calm tone,


    [Indeed, even among the cat folk, it''s extremely rare for a person to be born with such an amazingly gifted physique¡­]


    [She has mastered the core powers of her bloodline and can even absorb your attack''s damage to return it back¡­]


    Kai paused for a moment before speaking,


    [There''s no doubt; she''s a genius who was born with amazing talents!]


    Lia clenched her sword tightly and inquired in a confused tone.


    ''Why do you sound so proud though?''


    Kai simply smiled slightly and responded.


    [Hehe, well, she''s technically my descendant, no? I am proud of the fact that my descendants have a bright future¡­]


    Hearing those words, Lia shook her head a bit and gritted her teeth.


    ''Genius or not¡­ I can''t afford to lose here; I must prove to him that I am not weak¡­''


    [You think too much, kiddo¡­ Believe me, that guy will still not look down on you if you suddenly be an ordinary human¡­ you worry too much-]


    ''No! Even then! I must not lose!''


    With a stubborn look in her eyes, Lia took her stance once again.


    (The talk between Lia and Kai happened in a single second as they were talking via her consciousness, so not too much time had passed, actually¡­)


    Miki smirked a bit and stretched out her hand, She signaled at Lia and taunted her.


    "Come! Let''s see what more you have!"


    Lia''s expression immediately turned cold as a thought came to her mind,


    ''Kill!''


    With that taunting, the atmosphere on the battlefield finally became more intense and serious.


    The audience was already going insane after seeing such an intense exchange of continuous blows between the two.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "Your daughter is certainly a talented individual, Meqham¡­ I was expecting her to be strong from her aura, but her talent to absorb others attacks is also a rare find!"


    Meqham Kotov, the representative of the Cat-folks, nodded his head at Ryul''s words and replied in a proud tone.


    "We don''t have many talented children in the current younger generation, only she stands out among them currently¡­"


    "Rest are barely average; that''s why all of them didn''t even make it past the team battle phase¡­"


    Meqham thought for a moment before continuing,


    "Sigh~ if not for her, we wouldn''t have made it past the team battle phase at all¡­ That would have been such a shame¡­"


    Gradba, who was sitting nearby, grumbled a bit at those words,


    "What''s so bad if you lose¡­ Having the courage to fight the strong is what matters in the end! That''s the way of a true warrior!"


    Meqham shook his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "No, I wasn''t trying to look down on the kids of your team; I was saying that because my team would really have been too weak for this tournament if not for her¡­"


    After hearing those words, Ashtel inquired in a confused tone.


    "Hmm, then how did the others pass the qualification tests beforeing here?"


    Meqham sighed at those words and replied.


    "We don''t have as many talented people as your team Astra has; we had to lower the difficulty bar for the candidates, and otherwise I couldn''t have even assembled a proper team¡­"


    The other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Meqham''s words; they knew all too well how rare a true genius is.


    There are people who try to make up for their low talent with immense hard work, but even those types of people are extremely rare, and most people just give up early.


    That''s why talented people are favored the most; they don''t give up after seeing the hard work, as they know that their progress is fast.


    Saying that ''hard work is better than talent'' is only true in extremely rare circumstances.


    Most people never work hard to begin with, and thus talented people reach greater heights without too much trouble.


    Rarely does someone appear to be willing to work hard andpete with talented people.


    It''s better to rely on the talented than to wait for a hard worker to appear.


    (This is the cruel reality of the world,ziness may bringfort, but it can''t bring results¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that things are going to get more intense now¡­ The battle between Lia and Miki has barely just started!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Lia really need to prove herself at all?


    1. No (She''s being too self-conscious¡­)


    2. Nope (Rio won''t leave her behind, she''s just thinking too lowly of herself¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 265 Path to Spiritual Ascension! Part-3.

    Chapter 265 ''Path'' to Spiritual Ascension! Part-3.


    ??"Actually, I am quite surprised that you were able to defend yourself against me so easily; it''s as if you have dealt with fast-paced fights like this before¡­"


    Miki stared at Lia with the eyes of a predator and said it in an amused tone.


    "If it were someone else, they would have already been heavily injured by so many agile and difficult-to-dodge attacks¡­"


    Miki even used her talent to absorb Lia''s attack and surprise her with an instantaneous counterattack, yet Lia still barely avoided injury.


    This proved Lia''s capability to fight fast-paced battles.


    Hearing Miki''s words, Lia smirked a bit and said, in a confident tone,


    "This isn''t the first time I am fighting someone fast and agile¡­"


    Lia ced her sword around her shoulder and continued,


    "In fact, I have fought someone who is much faster and more dangerous than you¡­ His one move is enough to render the enemy powerless, so don''t expect me to go down so easily¡­"


    Miki stretched out her hand and took her stance in response to Lia''s sword stance.


    She smiled excitedly and said loudly,


    "Then show me! Just how good you are at it!"


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Counter Pounce!]


    Lia also swung her sword in a downward motion in response,


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Silver w''s Might!]


    Three massive arcs made of condensed silver mana fired from Lia''s sword as she swung it in a downward motion. (That was a slice-type attack; Lia rarely uses them, but the silver lion swordsmanship has a lot of them too¡­)


    Those condensed arcs resembled a w strike from a lion; moreover, they carried the might of the apex predator.


    Miki felt a lot of suppression from that attack, and she had to get serious as Lia was also bing serious now.


    Her nimble body jumped and deflected Lia''s attack with her ''counter pounce'' technique, but to her surprise, those silver arcs changed their trajectory and pursued her again.


    ''These are stronger ones; I can''t dodge them¡­ gotta ''absorb'' it-''


    Before Miki coulde up with a counter, Lia slightly bent her knees andunched at her at an immense speed.


    Two gigantic wings made of silver mana manifested behind her and enhanced her speed to an insane level.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of Light!]


    "I don''t like using this power, but¡­ I can''t afford to lose either¡­"


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliterate Type: Compressed Thrust!]


    Miki''s eyes widened in shock when Lia reached such an insane speed in a matter of seconds; moreover, she could feel some kind of suppression on herself all of a sudden.


    When Kai''s aura appeared, it ced a suppression on Miki, as she is technically his descendant.


    Lia didn''t want to use this effect, as she knew that it would feel like she had cheated against Miki, but she couldn''t afford to lose this match either.


    In response to Lia''s attack, Miki crossed her arms around her chest in order to defend herself.


    In that moment, she decided to bet it all on her inborn talent called ''Shockwave Absorption''.


    First, the three massive silver arcsnded on her and made shallow cuts on her body, and then Lia''s thrust attack collided directly with her forearm.


    *Booom!*


    A massive shockwave spread, breaking the whole arena ground, and massive amounts of debris flew into the air.


    Even with the help of the shockwave absorption ability, Miki wasn''t able to fully absorb the damage, and her right forearm was sted in smithereens in an instant.


    Fortunately, she was finally able to dodge the attack by bending her spine backward in an instant and pushing it towards the ground.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Pulsating Rebound!]


    Miki kicked Lia in the stomach with all of the shockwave energy she had absorbed in her body, in an attempt to do some decent damage.


    But before her attack couldnd, the two silver wings pped in an instant, and Lia flew into the air with immense speed, easily dodging Miki''s attack.


    Miki bulged up her right hand''s muscle and forcefully stopped her own bleeding to reduce blood loss.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Skyward Jump!]


    Miki stomped the ground and used mana to forcefully jump into the sky in order to chase Lia.


    [Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Pulsating Rebound!]


    By concentrating the residual shockwave energy, she kicked Lia in mid-air, and this time her attacknded as Lia wasn''t expecting to be chased in mid-air.


    The kicknded on Lia''s shoulder, and she fell from the sky and hit the ground in an instant.


    A massive crater was formed from that collision.


    Ignoring the few broken bones in her body, Lia immediately got up and flew away from the spot.


    *Boom*


    Miki''s fist hit the exact spot where Lia had fallen just now; if Lia hadn''t dodged, she would have been hit directly in the face.


    [Kiddo, stop holding back; if you keep this match dragging, you will lose....]


    Kai''s concern was obvious.


    Miki''s talent was much overpowered.


    She was absorbing a slight amount of shockwave energy from all of the things happening on this battlefield.


    Every time she hits something, may it be ground or Lia, she absorbs a massive amount of shockwave energy, which slowly builds up over time.


    Now that nearly fifteen minutes have passed since the start of the match, Miki has built up a considerable amount of energy.


    Lia wasn''t able to sense it, but Kai obviously did, so he warned Lia beforehand.


    ''I see¡­ If that''s the case¡­ then let''s not drag it further¡­ I should settle this match in one final move...''


    A look of determination appeared in Lia''s eyes.


    Her pupils and hair turned silver after being covered in her silver aura, and Kai''s blessing covered her whole body, including her sword.


    Lianded on the ground and opened her wings wide. She pointed her sword towards Miki and smiled a bit while taking her stance.


    Seeing Lia''s actions, Miki immediately understood what Lia was trying to do, and in response, Miki also took her stance.


    She knew that the final moment of this battle had alreadye; now it was all or nothing.


    "This is it; Lia Silver! I can see your hard work! That air-tight stance! That mental fortitude! It''s all honed to perfection!!"


    An excited look appeared on Miki''s face as she said those words.


    "Indeed! You are the best opponent I could ask for! Let us exchange blows once more; let''s decide the victor now!"


    [Miki Style: Unique Art: Destructive Shockwave!]


    A person can create their own ''Unique Art'' to suit their particr fighting style.


    Developing this type of technique is a daunting task.


    It takes immense hard work and relentless training to form abat technique that is unique to your true self.


    Miki was born with the rare talent to absorb shockwave energy.


    This talent is so rare that there are barely anybat techniques rted to it.


    Thus, Miki had to create a style of her own; she worked day and night to form her own ''Unique Art'', which is the ''Miki Style Martial Art''.


    Miki used all of the reserved shockwave energy that she had collected in the past fifteen minutes in one single attack.


    She pushed all of that energy into her punch and attacked Lia with immense momentum.


    But Lia wasn''t going to back down from this either; she smiled and condensed mana around her sword''s tip.


    "Good, let''s go all out then¡­"


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Maximum Enhancement!]


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliterate Type: Overload!]


    Not only did Lia enhance herself with Kai''s blessing, she also used her strongest attack in sync with it.


    She pped her silver wings and gained immense momentum in an instant.


    Miki and Lia bothunched at each other, and their attacks collided in an instant.


    A massive shockwave was created, and the whole stadium ground cracked in an instant.


    The flying debris would have affected arge number of people if it weren''t for the SS-rank barrier that was shielding the audience.


    Some people went temporarily deaf as a result of the collision''s loud voice.


    In the center of it all, Lia''s sword''s tip was pushing towards Miki''s fist.


    Both of them were at equal levels, and none of them was ready to back down.


    Seeing that they were in a stalemate, Miki smiled and said,


    "Is this all?"


    Lia smirked at those words and said,


    "Of course, not!"


    Lia pushed even more of Kai''s mana into that attack and slowly overpowered Miki, breaking the stalemate in an instant.


    When Lia''s growing power output dered all of Miki''s stored energy to be useless, her eyes widened in surprise.


    "T-this is!?"


    But before she could figure out anything, Lia''s momentum increased even further and blew Miki away at an immense speed.


    Her body flew away like an arrow and hit the barrier before falling powerlessly to the ground.


    She had exhausted all of her mana and energy in that one attack, but in the end, she still lost to Lia due to the difference in total output.


    Kai''s blessing significantly increased Lia''s output.


    Fighting Lia in that enhanced state was like fighting against some who have peak A rank-level mana output.


    Lia walked over to Miki, who was sitting with the support of the barrier and an exhausted look on her face.


    "I admit it¡­ Lia, you are stronger than me¡­ But I will keep working hard; let''s fight again someday¡­"


    Lia nodded her head and replied with a smile,


    "Indeed¡­ I look forward to that day¡­"


    *After a long struggle! Finally, Lia Silver has emerged victorious in this intense battle!*


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Will this victory bring more trouble to Lia''s mind, or will it be a catalyst for improvement? Let''s see what happens¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Lia cheated by using Kai''s power?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 266 Path to Spiritual Ascension! Part-4.

    Chapter 266 ''Path'' to Spiritual Ascension! Part-4.


    ??*And so! Lia Silver is the winner of this intense battle!*


    A teleportation circle appeared and took Miki to the infirmary.


    Lia nced at the audience and raised her sword in the air to demonstrate her victory.


    Amidst the loud cheers of the audience, Lia finally exited the stadium grounds via the same tunnel that she had entered.


    As she wasn''t really injured in the previous fight, she didn''t need to go to the healer, so she decided to go back to her own room.


    However, just as she entered the waiting area, a familiar voice greeted her from the side.


    "Congrattions on winning; you have gotten stronger than before¡­"


    Hearing those words, a smile appeared on Lia''s face as she nced to her left, and sure enough, Rio was standing there while leaning against the wall.


    His face was still expressionless as ever, and his eyes were just as lifeless as always.


    But from Lia''s perspective, he was smiling and congratting her for this victory.


    "When did youe here¡­ I didn''t even sense youing.."


    Rio simply shook his head in response to Lia''s words.


    "I was standing here all along¡­ Even when you entered the stadium grounds, I didn''t want to disturb you as you looked so determined¡­"


    Lia was taken aback by Rio''s words.


    She certainly didn''t sense that Rio was there when she was leaving to fight; this just shows how amazing Rio''s stealth abilities have be.


    [Cough¡­ I did detect him standing there, but I guessed he didn''t want to disturb you, so I didn''t tell you either¡­]


    Hearing Kai''s exnation, Lia shook her head and sighed.


    "I would need to take a shower first; I got my clothes covered in dirt while fighting¡­ Shall we meet at the cafeteria one hourter?"


    Rio nodded his head at Lia''s words, and his figure blurred in an instant.


    As he disappeared, he left a few words behind.


    "Okay then, let''s meet an hourter¡­ I am waiting for you there¡­"


    Seeing Rio leave so fast, Lia could only shake her head.


    ''He''s gotten so fast after advancing to rank A¡­ Now I can''t even detect him anymore¡­''


    When Lia had fought Rio during the ''Group Survival Test'', she was able to barely keep up with Rio''s speed and was able to see his attacks.


    But after Rio became an A-ranker, he seems to have reached a totally new realm.


    Not only has he be much stronger than before, he can even beat ordinary A-rankers without batting an eye.


    [This kid¡­ He''s getting more unpredictable as time passes¡­ I am starting to lose track of him¡­ it won''t be long before he bes undetectable for me¡­]


    Even Kai was surprised by Rio''s insanely fast progress.


    [To think two insane monsters like Link and Rio were born in the same era¡­ the chance of this happening should have been extremely low¡­]


    [I guess the next millennia will be dominated by the human race¡­]


    Lia also nodded her head at Kai''s words, but she couldn''t help but feel strangely troubled in her heart.


    She clenched her fist tightly and shook her head.


    ''I just need to keep training¡­''


    Lia stopped thinking about these things and went back to her room.


    Kai manifested in his cat form and slumped on the couch while Lia went to take a shower.


    He respects his master''s privacy; even when he was with Tomar, he would manifest in his cat form and leave for a few hours when Tomar was busy with his wife.


    (Fun fact: Rio threatened Kai to never forget about Lia''s privacy; otherwise, he would st him off with ''Sword Intent''... and as ''Sword Intent'' is like poison to spirit beasts, Kai had no choice but to give in¡­)


    ¡­


    Cafeteria.


    Lia arrived at the cafeteria five minutes earlier than the promised time, but Rio was already sitting there.


    Lia smiled a bit and went over to sit beside him.


    "Sigh~ you always beat me when ites to arriving early¡­"


    Lia once arrived about half an hour early on one of their dates, but as it turned out, Rio was already there.


    Usually, he arrives an hour earlier than the promised time; he picked up this weird habit in his previous life.


    (The word ''Late'' doesn''t seem to exist in his dictionary¡­)


    Rio shook his head in response to Lia''s words.


    "It''s a habit; don''t worry about it¡­"


    Lia sighed at those words,


    "You make me feel guilty whenever I gette..."


    Hearing those words, a yful look appeared on Rio''s face all of a sudden,


    "Well, if you really feel guilty, how about you make it up with a kiss then? Fair deal, isn''t it?"


    Hearing his rare yful tone, Lia felt a bit embarrassed at those hooligan-like words.


    Rio usually suppresses his emotions all the time, so when they do surface, Lia is always surprised.


    (If Rio had normal emotions like others, he would have teased Lia all day long, and she would have fainted from his relentless attacks¡­)


    "W-well¡­ Maybe on the next date, I guess¡­"


    Hearing those quietly spoken words from Lia''s mouth, Rio nodded his head and stopped teasing her further.


    The waiter served the food, and the two of them started eating.


    After finishing their meal, the two got up and went for a walk in the back garden.


    Lia stretched out her hand, and Rio held it gently, and the two walked side-by-side.


    At that moment, Rio finally arrived at the key question.


    He nced at Lia''s face and asked in a calm voice.


    "You seem troubled¡­ Is something bothering you these days?"


    Rio might not be able to show his own emotions, but he is very good at discerning others emotions with just a slight hint.


    He had already seen through Lia''s smiling fa?ade that he could feel that she was troubled with something, and the fact that she wasn''t talking about it meant that it was something difficult to express.


    Rio''s unexpected question caught Lia off guard, but she then sighed.


    "Sigh¡­ You saw through me; you rarely show emotions, yet you can discern others emotions so easily¡­ That''s so strange¡­"


    Rio dismissed Lia''s statement with a shake of his head.


    "I have always been like that¡­ Sigh, don''t try to change the topic; talk about what''s bothering you¡­"


    Lia''s attempt to change the topic failed, as Rio saw through it in an instant.


    "Even during the fight, you seemed troubled for some reason; you were behaving as if you didn''t want to use your full strength¡­"


    Rio''s word caught Lia off-guard; she never expected that Rio would notice such small details.


    "Sigh~ now that you have cornered me so badly, I have no other choice¡­"


    Lia sighed and admitted defeat. She figured out that she couldn''t win in arguments against Rio.


    With a troubled look on her face, she said,


    "The thing is¡­ I feel guilty for using Kai''s power¡­ I don''t want to rely on external power to win; even during that fight, I won because Kai''s blessing enhanced my mana output¡­"


    "If not for that, I would have lost to Miki in that fight¡­ I feel like I have cheated¡­ I don''t deserve this victory; in the end, I didn''t win with my own strength."


    Before Lia could continue, Rio flicked his finger at her forehead, breaking her out of that self-loathing talk.


    "That hurt!"


    Lia rubbed her forehead and pouted her cheeks at Rio''s actions.


    But Rio just shook his head.


    "What are you talking about¡­ Kai was summoned by you; he''s a power that exists for you to use, and your strong ''will'' reached out to him and awakened him from century''s old slumber¡­"


    Rio stared into Lia''s eyes and continued in a calm voice.


    "Kai carries the power that was created by your ancestors to bless your bloodline¡­"


    "You simply inherited what was supposed to be yours; this power belongs to you and only you. The moment you awakened these powers, you had proved yourself worthy enough to use them..."


    Rio''s words hit Lia''s heart directly.


    "Miki admitted her defeat when she saw the real power you hold; she respected your strength, and she already acknowledged your use of this power, so why do you think you cheated against her?"


    Lia had no words left to answer that question; she could feel some hidden darkness start to vanish inside her heart.


    Rio stretched out his hand and said it with a rare smile on his face.


    "Be proud; you are worthy... There''s nothing wrong with using a power that was clearly meant for you. Keep getting stronger and apany me to the peak of this world¡­"


    "I trust that you can do it, Lia¡­"


    Rio''s words were full of trust and acknowledgement.


    Not only did he express his feelings toward them, he also told her how much he trusted her.


    Those words carried the emotions of acknowledgement and care for her.


    Lia''s eyes moistened at those words.


    This was the first time that someone had trusted her this much in her life; not even her father had acknowledged her so openly.


    Rio''s words seemed to have acted like a catalyst for Lia.


    Those words carry such weight that they cleared the dark clouds of self-doubt that were swarming in Lia''s heart.


    At that moment, Lia had epted her true self, epted her powers, and acknowledged her existence for the first time.


    [Ding! You have attained a sudden ''Epiphany''!]


    [Ding! You have realized your ''Path''!]


    [Ding! You have fully conquered the darkness in your heart and have achieved a state of ''peace''!]


    [Ding! As a result of conquering the darkness fully, your suppressed talents are resurfacing!]


    [Ding! All conditions met! Ascending to rank A¡­]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Rio really has a talent for helping others find their true self¡­ He should be a ''therapist'' at this point¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to get some life advice from Rio, too?


    13:02


    1. Yes (Ask him about how to rizz up a girl like Lia¡­)


    2. No (He won''t listen to your ramblings unless you are Lia or a friend of his¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 267 ’Path’ to Spiritual Ascension! Part-5.

    <h4>Chapter 267 ''Path'' to Spiritual Ascension! Part-5.</h4>


    As Lia''s rank rose to the next level, a massive tornado of condensed mana appeared around her, just as it usually does when an A-ranker or above-level individual ascends.


    As Rio had witnessed this type of sudden ascension before, he wasn''t caught off-guard, and he directly jumped away to make some distance.


    If it were normal, Ashtel and others would have arrived by now, but currently, they are prohibited from leaving the VVIP area until the tournament concludes.


    This rule was made so that none of the SS-rankers try to do anything shady to make their candidates win; after all, a fair and squarepetition is the key to improvement.


    As a result, aside from a few A-rankers who were on patrol duty, no one else came to watch Lia ascend.


    But still, with the amazing detection capabilities of the SS-rankers, they could all sense her ascension from far away.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    Ashtel nced in the direction of the mana tornado, and a smirk appeared on his face.


    "Haha, this is it¡­ The real benefits of this tournament are already showing; after going through an intense battle, that girl Lia seemed to have gained a lot of experience¡­"


    Ryul also nodded his head at Ashtel''s words and spoke in a calm voice.


    "Yeah, she ascended to the next rank after going through the baptism of an intense battle; the purpose of participating in this tournament has been achieved¡­"


    Gradba and others also congratted Ashtel and Jin on the appearance of another monster in Team Astra.


    Ashtel nodded his head and spoke in a confident tone.


    "She became a B-ranker around the final exams, and now she has reached rank A in a much shorter time frame... This is indeed a pleasant surprise.


    Originally, Lia''s maximum talent potential was only S-rank, so her improvement speed was much slower whenpared to Rio and others.


    However, after she awakened Kai as her familiar, she repeatedly enhanced her talent, and her rate of improvement equaled Liam''s, only falling short of Link and Rio.


    Now Lia can be considered one of the few most talented people in this world.


    And with Kai as her familiar, she''s nearly undefeatable in the same realm.


    Unaware of the storms she had created, Lia was currently floating inside the gigantic mana tornado.


    Her eyes were shut tight, and she was focused on herself at the moment.


    Mana was strengthening her body as her rank was improving.


    ¡­


    Lia''s ne of consciousness.


    "Hmm, this ce is-"


    Just when Lia felt a bit confused while standing in this unending void, Kai''s figure appeared in front of her.


    "This is your ne of consciousness, the same ce where we first met¡­ This is the ce where you awakened me, Kiddo¡­ No, I should call you Master Lia now¡­"


    Upon hearing that, Lia giggled slightly and remarked,


    "That sounds so weird. You sound better when you use ''kiddo'' to talk to me; you should continue using that¡­"


    Kai nodded his head at Lia''s words and continued.


    "Well, if you say so¡­ By the way, it seems you have finally figured out your true self¡­ The talent that you subconsciously suppressed in your childhood seems to have started resurfacing."


    A confused look appeared on Lia''s face after hearing those words, and she asked in a doubtful tone,


    "Suppressed? I awakened at 15, How did I suppress my talents before I was even awakened? Is that even possible?"


    Hearing Lia''s question, Kai nodded his giant lion head and replied in a calm voice.


    "The thing is, all beings are born with a certain amount of talent; ''awakening'' is a process when you manifest those talents and gain the blessing of the rules of ''mana''¡­"


    "People who are born with talent at rank B or above don''t need to worry about the process of ''awakening'' as it happens for them as they reach the age of 15¡­"


    Kai pondered for a moment before proceeding.


    "Those who have lower-ranking talents need to work hard, and they can awaken if their ambitions are acknowledged by the mana of this world¡­ It''s an easy process; actually, it''s not as grand as it sounds¡­"


    There are millions of people with low-ranking talent, and they still awaken at the same age of 15, which shows that the minimum criteria to get acknowledged by Mana is quite low.


    Unless you are mentally unstable and can''t focus on one ''ambition'', you will most certainly awaken by the age of 15.


    All schools try to make their students figure out their dreams so the children usually have something in their mind before reaching the age of 15, and those who don''t have end up gettingte.


    Their ascension gets dyed.


    [Dream as big as you can! Without a goal, life loses its meaning! Only strong ambition can help you achieve your dreams.]


    This saying is not a joke; it''s the fundamental truth of this world. To be an awakener, you must have ambitions, dreams, and goals!


    ¡­


    "But sometimes, people end up getting so fixed on a single goal that they end up forgetting about other things¡­ That''s exactly what you did, Kiddo¡­"


    Kai''s words pointed out all the mistakes that Lia made.


    "You focused so much on improving your strength that you made it your ambition¡­ Those who walk the path of revenge end up forgetting what they already have¡­"


    After her mother''s death, Lia experienced mental stress.


    Her father didn''t care for her in all those years. Moreover, her progress wasn''t as explosive as she wanted it to be, which created a feeling of self-loathing in her heart.


    Causing her to lose herself in the darkness.


    Intense negative feelings attract''miasma'' and ''corruption'', and Lia was nearly caught up in them if not for the fact that Rio shone like a bright light, which saved her from this darkness.


    But even after all this, Lia still couldn''t ept the fact that she had to rely on Kai''s power to fight.


    She wanted to be strong on her own, but she still had some negative feelings in her heart.


    But once Rio acknowledged her hard work and showed his immense trust for her, Lia finally conquered the darkness.


    Negative emotions are what weaken your bond with divine spirits, and once Lia cast away all the negative emotions hidden in her heart, she finally achieved perfect synchronization with Kai''s divine blessings.


    Her control over the spiritual mana improved significantly as she figured out her real self. She had attained an ''epiphany'' at that moment.


    She achieved what was nearly impossible for most people.


    "Now that you have figured out the true nature of your heart, your soul has be much stronger than before¡­ It won''t be wrong to say that, in terms of soul at least, you are better than Link and Riobined¡­"


    "Even I can feel the suppression from your strong soul while staying in this ne of consciousness¡­"


    Kai was amazed at Lia''s progress; he had watched Tomar at his peak, and still, Tomar didn''t have as much talent as Lia had for controlling divine spirits.


    In the future, she can be much stronger than Tomar was in his prime.


    "With your soul being strengthened, the power of my blessings will improve¡­ I look forward to seeing your improvement¡­ Go now; it''s time for you to wake up¡­"


    Lia nodded her head at Kai; she could feel that her ascension was about to end and that it was time to leave this ne of consciousness.


    But before leaving, she smiled and said,


    "Divine Spirit General, thanks for your help¡­ I am forever indebted to you¡­"


    Kai simply smiled at those words and nodded his head.


    "Haha, it''s my pleasure to be familiar of someone as talented as you¡­ Lia, ''The Silver Dawn''¡­"


    With that title bestowed upon her, Lia left the ne of consciousness.


    ¡­


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have ascended to rank ''A-''!]


    [Ding! You have conquered the darkness! Your soul has been strengthened significantly!]


    [Ding! Miasma and corruption will be greatly suppressed by your mere presence, as you have already conquered the darkness of this world!]


    [Ding! Your ability to control the divine spirit''s mana has improved greatly!]


    [Ding! All conditions met; your suppressed talent has been reawakened fully!]


    [Ding! You have awakened the legendary rank talent ''Absolute Precognition!'']


    The mana tornado around Lia finally dissipated, and shended on the ground, A smile appeared on her face as she nced at the description of her talent.


    [Talent: Absolute Precognition (SS++)


    [Talent description: A talent awakened by those who have conquered the darkness and found their true selves. There are extremely few individuals who have awakened this talent.


    Creatures that live on miasma and Corruption will feel threatened by your mere presence! You are a bane for those who follow the path of corruption¡­]


    [Talent Effect:


    1. You can see into a person''s mana, soul and fate, which can help you predict two seconds into their future. 2. Thew of the world bestows upon you the ability to foresee certain cmities in advance. (Locked due to the low rank of the user.) 3. You can see the threads of fate. (Locked due to the low rank of the user.)


    ]


    Although she can''t use this talent to its full potential yet, even that ability to predict two seconds into the future is already quite broken.


    The battles between high-ranking awakeners happen at an insanely fast pace.


    A-rank individuals can do hundreds of attacks in a single second, so being able to predict the moves of the opponent is a very broken ability.


    With this broken ability, Lia can finally stand on equal ground with monsters like Link and Rio.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I have been foreshadowing this since the moment I wrote about Lia suffering from darkness.


    Finally, Lia has conquered the darkness in her heart and has achieved the state of absolute precognition!


    Question of the day.


    Were you surprised by Lia''s broken talent?


    1. Yes (The author has cooked quite a lot this time!)


    2. Yeah! (She is awesome!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 268 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-1.

    Chapter 268 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-1.


    ??268 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-1.


    <Status>


    [Name: Lia Silver]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Rank: A-] [Max Rank Potential: SS+]


    [HP: 7200/7200] [MP: 6200/6200]


    [STR: 71/100] [SPE: 82/100] [AGI: 81/ 100] [DEF: 77/100] [INT: 79/100]


    [Talent: Sword Aptitude (S+), Divine Spirit Affinity (SS+), Absolute Precognition (SS++)]


    [Techniques: Advanced Swordsmanship (A-), Silver Lion Swordsmanship (A-)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening (A-), Divine Spirit''s Blessing (A-)] (Daily life skills aren''t mentioned here¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Conqueror of Darkness, Spiritual Ascension]


    [Evaluation: You have braved through the darkness that was corrupting your destiny; your ''path'' is difficult! But you have the courage to brave through it!]


    [Items: Ambient Silver]


    Lia''s sword aptitude was only S rank, and thus her progress was originally much slower whenpared to the likes of Link and Rio.


    But once she awakened Kai, her other talent, ''Divine Spirit''s Blessing'', finally awakened, and her maximum talent potential was also upgraded to SS+.


    In this world, improving your talent is an extremely difficult job. There are only a few methods to achieve something like this.


    You can enhance your talent by achieving ''enlightenment'', as Jin did, or by discovering rare phenomena, as Rio did.


    But the most feasible method is to awaken a new and strong talent.


    As long as you can awaken a new talent that is higher than your rank, your maximum rank potential can improve.


    Awakening a new talent is no small matter; it''s extremely rare and difficult.


    Lia was able to do it twice because she already had those talents; it''s just that her own ''will'' was subconsciously suppressing them.


    It''s extremely difficult to awaken new talents out of nowhere.


    ''I can walk further with more talents¡­''


    Lia was happy to have more talents, as they were necessary for her to stand side by side with Rio.


    What surprised Lia the most were the two passive skills that she got after her ascension.


    ''Conqueror of Darkness'' significantly suppresses demons and other creatures or objects associated with darkness.


    Lia now has insanely high resistance to miasma and corruption.


    It won''t be wrong to say that her resistance to Miasma and corruption is much higher than that of Link and Riobined.


    Andstly, the passive skill ''Spiritual Ascension'', was born from the ''Path'' that Lia chose.


    Lia chose to ept her true self and finally epted the divine spirit''s blessing.


    Thus, her soul was strengthened, and she achieved the state of spiritual ascension.


    This skill represents that state now.


    Moreover, just like how Rio''s ''Sword Intent'' doesn''t have any proper rank of its own as it depends entirely on Rio''s ''will'', ''int'', and spirit,


    ¡­ Lia''s ''Spiritual Ascension'' skill also doesn''t have any ranks, as its power depends fully on her own ''spirit'' and ''soul''.


    [Skill Name: Spiritual Ascension]


    [Skill Type: Passive]


    [Skill Description: A power born from achieving the perfect state of spiritual ascension, only those who have figured out their true selves are worthy to possess this skill.


    A strong mind is the foundation for all things, and the ''will'' to rival the world itself is the cause of all destinies.]


    [Skill Effect:


    Your ''soul'' and ''spirit'' will reach ''perfection'' and will make all your skills significantly stronger¡­ User''s soul is condensed into the ''Promised Soul of Endless Possibilities''.


    ]


    Lia didn''t know what that ''Promised Soul of Endless Possibilities'' actually meant, but she had a subtle feeling that she would be able to figure it out eventually.


    A smile appeared on Lia''s face when she noticed how much she had improved in the past year.


    Now that she has the confidence to stand beside Rio, she has the power to assist him, and she is sure that she won''t drag Rio down with her.


    Lia clenched her fist, and an excited look appeared on her beautiful face.


    At that moment, Lia had finally epted herself, and now she doesn''t need topare herself to others because she has the talent to be proud of herself.


    ''Mother, I have achieved my dreams, but worry not, I will keep progressing.''


    ¡­


    "You created quite the chaos out of nowhere¡­"


    Just when Lia was smiling from ear to ear due to her amazing progress, Rio''s voice sounded from the side.


    Lia was taken aback for a moment when he appeared out of nowhere, so suddenly.


    ''W-what the!? Aren''t we at the same rank? He is still able to sneak around under my detection!?''


    Although Lia was a bit surprised, she didn''t think too much of it.


    She has long been used to Rio''s strange ability topletely disappear while standing in in sight, as if he had no presence at all.


    Lia shook her head and replied in a calm voice.


    "Well, I didn''t expect I would breakthrough so suddenly¡­"


    Lia nced at the flowers and nts that were destroyed by themotion she created, and a look of guilt appeared on her face.


    "Ugh, the staff members are going to give me angry stares in the next few days¡­"


    Rio also nodded his head at Lia''s words.


    "Well, of course they will; elves like nts a lot, and you destroyed so many nts in one go¡­"


    When Lia heard that, a look of panic appeared on her face.


    "W-what do we do now!?"


    Rio smiled slightly and replied in a quiet voice.


    "Let''s run away! No one will know if we slip away!"


    Rio held Lia''s hand and dragged her away with him in an instant.


    When the two of them disappeared, the staff members came running to the garden, and some of them even cried when they saw that hopeless situation.


    But the two culprits who did all this had already sneaked away from the crime scene, so there was nothing they could do.


    ¡­


    Waiting Area, Rooftop.


    "Phew~ we made it here without being caught!"


    With a smile on her face, Lia sat down on the ground and nced at the setting sun on the horizon.


    Rio nodded his head at Lia''s words,


    "Yeah, you need topensate me properly for saving you from this crime¡­"


    Seeing that familiar mischievous look on Rio''s face, Lia rolled her eyes.


    "How about a specialrge lunch box filled with my hand-


    made food..."


    Rio immediately nodded his head at Lia''s words,


    "Deal!! You gotta make it when we go back to the academy!"


    Rio sat beside Lia and stared at the setting sun along with her.


    A peaceful scene appeared as the two of them went silent for a moment.


    Lia then nced at Rio and said,


    "You know, I awakened an amazing talent just now; it can-"


    Before Lia could continue, Rio ced his index finger on her lips and made her stop talking.


    He gave a slight smile before speaking.


    "Don''t forget that we are in a tournament right now; we might have to face each other eventually¡­ Hiding your Trump cards is more beneficial¡­"


    Lia wasn''t going to be outdone by him; she immediately bit his finger in return, and he had to hurriedly retract it.


    "Hmph! Forget it! I will beat you up with my new talent! And then I will make you beg for forgiveness!"


    Rio shrugged his shoulders at those words,


    "Haha, if you can, that is¡­ Who knows, maybe I will end up beating you in one move¡­"


    Lia booed at those arrogant words.


    "Hmph! Just you wait! I will make you acknowledge the strength of my sword!"


    Rio just shook his head and didn''t continue to argue with her.


    ''It''s unfair¡­ How am I supposed to go all out against you if you keep talking so happily with me¡­''


    He nced at Lia and shook his head.


    Meanwhile, Lia mistook it for a sign that Rio was underestimating her.


    She pouted her cheeks and said,


    "Hmph! Just to be sure, I would rather want you to go all out even if the opponent is me!"


    Rio nodded his head at those words and took them seriously.


    He was originally quite conflicted in his mind and didn''t really want to raise his sword against Lia.


    But now that she has be stronger, she has confidence in herself.


    Even if Rio defeats her, her mentality isn''t weak anymore, and she will be able to keep herself together.


    Lia nced at the setting sun and smiled.


    "Well, I want you to treat me as an equal when in battle; don''t hold back on me¡­"


    A look of determination appeared on Lia''s face as she continued,


    "I want to figure out how I will fare against you with my current strength¡­ I want to see the gap between us¡­ If you held back, that would be an insult to my pride as an awakener¡­"


    When Rio saw those determined eyes, he couldn''t help but give in.


    He didn''t want to injure her, but she was dead serious in her pursuit of strength.


    ''I should honor her words; it would be rude to not unsheathe my sword when fighting with an excellent sword master like her¡­''


    Rio grabbed Lia''s soft hand and then said it in a calm voice.


    "Don''t me me if you end up getting injured then¡­"


    Lia tightened her grasp on his hand and replied with a proud look on her face.


    "Hmph! You think you can injure me? I think it''s the opposite~ Don''t me me if you lose a limb or two when my sword attacks rain on you¡­"


    Rio smiled and replied almost immediately in a teasing voice.


    "I won''t mind it, actually¡­ If I lose my right hand, I will ask for your help to do the work of my right hand¡­"


    Hearing those words, Lia''s face turned red in an instant.


    "Perv! Idiot!"


    And with that said, she immediately ran away with a blush on her face.


    Rio smiled a bit at her cute and panicked face,


    ''Sigh~ maybe I teased her too much today¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Rio really has a knack for it, and when ites to teasing Lia, I wonder if she will ever be able to win this teasingpetition against him.


    Question of the day.


    How empty do you feel after reading all of this diabetic stuff?


    1. High (D*mn you author! Stop rubbing salt on the wounds!!)


    2. Infinite (Author purposely wrote this sweet stuff; this is his evil scheme!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 269 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 269 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-2.</h4>


    Lia''s waiting room.


    Lia slept peacefully and woke up early to get ready. Excitement and determination shed in her eyes.


    She wanted to try her new powers right away. Although it will take some time to fully master them, she already has a lot of ideas for them.


    Now that she has already gotten rid of her self-loathing thoughts, she feels much more rxed and happy.


    Currently, it''s the fourth day of the tournament. Lia has won three matches in a row, and there''s only three more left.


    With her newfound powers, Lia was not afraid of losing at all; in fact,?she was thinking that she might have some small chances of winning.


    But that''s just her own spection.


    Just as Lia was happily sipping her juice, the hologram in the center of her room finally moved again.


    [Ding! Congrattions! Your match has been fixed!]


    [Ding! Lia Silver vs. Rio sh]


    [Time: 11:00 A.M.]


    [Make sure to arrive on time!]


    "Ah¡­"


    *crack*


    Seeing the name on the roulette, Lia was so shocked that the juice ss fell from her hand and cracked into pieces after hitting the floor.


    The excitement on Lia''s face disappeared instantly, and a solemn expression appeared on her face.


    "Ugh¡­ We really jinxed it yesterday¡­"


    Just yesterday evening, the two of them were talking about how they would fight each other if they ended up against one another.


    But who could have thought that their words woulde true so fast! They were talking about it yesterday, and now they have to fight today!


    Although Lia did say that she would beat him to a pulp, that was just a joke; she really doesn''t have the courage to injure him!


    Just like Rio, she doesn''t want to unsheathe her sword against him.


    Thinking this far, Lia could only sigh and shake her head,


    "Sigh~, I was the one who said to not hold back on me¡­. Now I can''t back off like this¡­ I must fight him properly now¡­"


    Lia clenched her fists and calmed her mind.


    She had to do a lot of mental preparation; if she messed up things, he would think of her as rude. (She''s thinking too much again¡­)


    [Your luck is really bad sometimes, isn''t it?...]


    Hearing Kai''s words, Lia couldn''t help but shake her head and sigh again,


    "Ugh¡­ yeah"


    Lia knew how bad her luck had always been; she had suffered a lot because of it.


    She has never won any lotteries or other luck-based games.


    If she ever tried to be a gambler, she would end up losing the whole Silver Mansion in one go. That''s why she never takes a gamble and tries to be steady and slow.


    Ignoring the conflicted look on Lia''s face, Kai continued,


    [If you fight him the way you were doing before reaching''spiritual ascension'', then you will lose¡­]


    Lia nodded her head at those words and replied,


    "I know¡­ but now, things are different¡­"


    Kia appeared on Lia''s shoulder and said, in a calm tone,


    "We don''t have the time to train right now, but yeah, I have one technique that can help you immensely¡­"


    Lia''s eyes shined at those words, and she nodded her head.


    "Let''s do it then!"


    ¡­


    Time passed quickly, and the scheduled time arrived.


    Lia entered the stadium grounds and slowly walked to the center.


    Rio was already standing there with his hands crossed, as if he were waiting for her here like he usually does when they go on a date.


    "You are here¡­"


    Lia nodded her head at Rio''s words and stretched out her hand to do thepulsory handshake.


    She smiled a bit and said,


    "Like I said before, don''t hold back on me; I am strong now. You will lose if you underestimate me¡­"


    Rio nodded his head and replied in the usual emotionless tone.


    "I see¡­ I will not let you down then; don''t me meter¡­"


    Seeing that Rio agreed, Lia smiled and said,


    "Of course!"


    Having said that, the two of them leaped back, creating a significant distance between them.


    *Ladies and gentlemen! This is going to be an epic battle! We are already in thete stages of this tournament! All of the remaining students are strong!*


    *Today! Once again, we will get to see Rio sh fight his own teammates! It''s as if he''s hell-bent on beating his whole team! He has eliminated two of his teammates already!*


    *Let''s see what happens today!*


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    Ashtel narrowed his eyes and nced at Ryul, and then asked in a doubtful tone.


    "Did you perhaps tamper with the ''match fixing'' AI? Why is it making Rio fight his teammates again and again?"


    Ryul immediately shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "What are you talking about? If I had tried to do so, wouldn''t you have noticed it? You think I can dodge your detection range so easily?"


    Hearing Ryul''s words, Ashtel nodded his head.


    "Yeah¡­ With your lousy concealment skills, you couldn''t have done so¡­ I guess the AI itself is buggy then¡­"


    Jin also nodded his head and said, in a confused tone,


    "Yeah, this is such a weird coincidence¡­ It wouldn''t have seemed so strange if it happened only once or twice, but now Rio is fighting his teammates for the third time in a row!"


    "This is really strange¡­"


    Even Gradba nodded his head.


    "Yeah, barely any of the other candidates have had to fight their own teammates¡­ Things are strange in Rio''s case¡­"


    Ashtel sighed and shook his head,


    "Forget it; the match is already about to start; there''s no point in trying to stop it now¡­"


    "Moreover, only 8 candidates are left now; tomorrow will be the semifinals, so it''s not that strange anyway¡­"


    Jin sighed at those words.


    "Still¡­ there''s a high chance that the winner of this match will have to fight Link or Liam in the semifinals¡­ There are only a few of them left now after all¡­"


    The group included Link, Liam, Rio, Lia, Vanya, the elven archer from Vanya''s team, and two additional individuals.


    They are the only ones left.


    Furthermore, the next match today, after Rio and Lia, will be between Liam and that Elven Archer girl.


    Things are slowly bing clearer now; only two days remain until this tournament ends.


    ¡­


    On the stadium grounds.


    Rio unsheathed his sword, raised it above his shoulder, and took his stance.


    Lia smirked a bit and immediately took her stance. She was ready to thrust her sword at any time now.


    *And let''s start this battle!.. 3!.. 2!.. 1!.. Fight!!*


    [Darkwing movement art!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire type: descending sun!]


    Rio appeared in front of Lia in an instant, and with his Darkwing movement art, he didn''t even give her the time to blink her eyes.


    His sword swung downward, covered with condensed fire energy.


    That was undoubtedly a fatal strike; if it had been Lia from before, the attack would have instantly injured her.


    But things are different now; Lia has a broken talent.


    She can see two seconds into the future!


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Counter w!]


    Lia thrust her sword before Rio even reached the spot, as she had already predicted where Rio was going to attack.


    Her sword easily deflected the trajectory of Rio''s sword, and she also did a sword swing to counter Rio.


    That attack was totally unexpected; even Rio was surprised by that sudden counterattack.


    He tilted his head a bit, and the sword swing barely grazed past his left ear. Still,a small cut appeared on his left cheek.


    In an instant, Rio jumped back a bit, and his eyes widened in surprise.


    He had clearly dodged that attack, but for some reason, Lia was able to predict Rio''s dodging movement, and she changed her sword trajectory mid-attack.


    If not for the fact that Rio has a crazy fast reaction time, he couldn''t have properly dodged this counterattack and would have lost his left eyeball.


    Seeing the surprised look on Rio''s face, Lia smirked a bit and said,


    "Like I said, don''t underestimate me; I am nning on winning this match!"


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: twelve ws of peace!]


    Liaunched towards Rio and swung her sword.


    She easily predicted the angle Rio was going to use to defend himself, and she bypassed it in an instant.


    Still, Rio was quite fast; even though Lia could predict, she couldn''t move as fast as Rio could.


    Thus, only two of her 12 attacks barely cut the hem of Rio''s shirt when he dodged.


    ''As I thought, he''s fast¡­ I need to improve my speed first¡­''


    Lia wanted to finish this match as fast as possible.


    She knew all too well how amazing Rio''s adapting skills were; if she dragged on too long, Rio would figure out how her talent works, and at that point, it would be much easier for him to slip past her attack range.


    [Are you sure you want to use it so early? It costs a lot of mana, you know¡­]


    [Moreover, you are not skilled enough in it, so I guess you will waste a lot of mana too¡­]


    Lia knew all this, but she didn''t care.


    ''If I don''t hurry and press Rio now when he is surprised, I will not have the chance to win against him again!''


    ''It''s do or die now! Victory or defeat depends on this one decision!''


    [Well, do as you wish, then! Let''s show this guy your true resolve!]


    Lia smiled at Kai''s words and immediately made some distance from Rio.


    She ced her sword''s tip on the ground, and an immense amount of spirit energy started to condense around her.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Spiritual Ascension: Spirit Merge!]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    D*mn, Lia has really be quite strong! She even made Rio feel surprised! Let''s see what more she has in her arsenal.


    Question of the day:.


    Which type of spirit would you like to have?


    1. Lion spirit


    2. Fox spirit


    3. Wolf sprit


    4. Others (tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 270 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-3.

    <h4>Chapter 270 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-3.</h4>


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Spirit Ascension: Spirit Merge!]


    A huge amount of spiritual mana condensed around Lia, and Rio had to jump back a bit to dodge the debris that flew towards him when Lia started to use her skill.


    The spiritual mana condensed into silver armor at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Moreover, the wings of light behind Lia''s back grew much bigger and stronger.


    ''Spirit merge'' is the most versatile of all of the blessings given by a divine spirit.


    Moreover, now that Lia has more control over the spiritual mana after ascending to rank A, her abilities have been enhanced as a whole.


    She will now automatically enhance all of her spirit-type moves with the passive skill ''spirit ascension''.


    Originally, Lia was barely using ten percent of Kai''s spiritual power, but now that she has figured out her true self, she has fully gained control over the spiritual mana.


    Now her output is equal to an early S-ranker after entering this ''spirit merge'' state.


    She has covered her spirit with Kai''s spiritual mana, and her control and efficiency have soared into the sky like a rocket.


    Lia ced her sword beside her waist as she took her stance. A smirk appeared on her face that was now covered under the helmet of the spirit armor.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Arc of Spiritual Distruction!]


    Lia swung her sword in a horizontal manner, and a massive arc made of condensed spiritual mana fired from her sword.


    It was so fast that the air pressure produced by that attack alone caused the ground to crack and a massive amount of debris to fly into the air.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Pure thunder descent!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and swung it down. Condensed thunder appeared on his sword and easily countered Lia''s attack.


    Lia wasn''t surprised by that; it would have been even stranger if Rio had been defeated by that meager attack.


    Once Rio was distracted and defending herself against her attack, Lia spread her wings and flew into the sky.


    She pointed her sword''s tip towards Rio and immediatelyunched another attack on him when he was still distracted.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Spirit Dive!]


    Lia dove down towards Rio at an incredible speed, like a missile about to fall towards its target.


    When she used ''Spirit Merge'', her speed increased to be equal to Rio''s, and now this attack was meant to be lethal.


    When Lia was about to reach Rio, she predicted that he would dodge, so she changed her trajectory ordingly.


    Her lightning-fast speed and her ability to anticipate his movements astounded Ever Rio.


    [Handling!]


    Rio barely seeded in changing Lia''s sword''s trajectory when her thrust attack was about to stab him on the right shoulder.


    The ability to predict his moves was indeed very dangerous, and Lia was making good use of it.


    She pressed Rio step-by-step and used her power very efficiently.


    Seeing that her attack failed, Lia wasn''t too worried; she backed away and flew into the air, and she was ready to do it again.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area


    Ashtel nodded his head in satisfaction when he saw Lia''s progress.


    "She is able to go with Rio toe to toe; this is already quite an amazing feat. She must have awakened some new skills after this ascension, her strength has improved a lot!"


    Ryul nodded his head at Ashtel''s words and smiled a bit.


    "Haha, it seems Rio will finally need to get serious; he defeated his previous three opponents with ease, but even he will need to use some of his cards now!..."


    Indeed, until now, Rio hasn''t even used his ''sword intent'' since the start of the knockout tournament.


    He easily dealt with his opponents without showing too much power.


    But now that Lia has pushed him this far, Rio will have to show some of his cards if he wants to win against her.


    Lia is not like other ordinary A-rankers anymore; she is much stronger than that.


    If Rio underestimates her, he will suffer a lot.


    "But still, Lia really has progressed a lot after her ascension to rank A; she is able to keep up with Rio''s speed¡­"


    Jin was quite surprised when he saw Lia''s amazing feats and expressed his surprise out loud instantly.


    Even Ashtel nodded his head at those words.


    "Indeed¡­ Hmm, I think she has figured out a way to fully control the power of that divine spirit general¡­ Not only speed, her whole physique has been enhanced by that spirit armor that she is using¡­"


    A look of curiosity appeared on Ryul''s face when he saw Lia''s amazing spirit control.


    "This amazing and smooth spirit control, this enhanced output of mana¡­. There is no doubt about it; she''s achieved the state of ''Spiritual Ascension''!"


    Ryul thought about something for a moment and then said,


    "When ites to spirit control, I personally have never seen a person more talented than her¡­ Her future is bright..."


    Ashtel also nodded his head and spoke.


    "I have learned from the history books that Tomar was the most talented spirit master, but now I think that his records will be broken by his own descendant¡­"


    A satisfied smile appeared on Ashtel''s face when he figured out Lia''s amazing achievements; he knew that another monster had appeared in the human race now.


    "I guess we can call her ''Silver Dawn'' from now on; she has earned that title now¡­"


    Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Ashtel''s words.


    For these old fellows, nothing was more interesting than rewarding the talented juniors.


    All of them have the responsibility of a race on their shoulders, and as the people standing at the peak of this world, they are more open-minded.


    They don''t feel jealous of others'' talents, as they have all ovee numerous challenges to reach their current strength; none of them are weaklings.


    And none of them is going to be ungrateful towards the younger generation, either.


    Compared to others, the mentality of those who stand at the peak is always different.


    They have long life spans, and watching their juniors grow is a way to kill time for them.


    (Simply speaking, they are all just too bored andzy to be intimidated by the talent of the younger generation¡­)


    ¡­


    (Back to the battle)


    *bam!*


    Lia pressured Rio more and more; she dove down from the sky and attacked him without giving him any chance to dodge properly.


    But even though she was in a significantly advantageous position, she wasn''t feeling any joy at all.


    Ten minutes had already passed, and she hadn''t been able to deal a single fatal blow yet.


    The audience was cheering loudly for Lia because they could see her advantage. They were already thinking that Lia had beaten Rio into a corner and would win soon.


    But unlike them, Lia wasn''t in the mood to be happy; the more time passed, the more nervous she became.


    In this world, no one knew Rio better than Lia; she knew all too well that Rio wasn''t even serious yet.


    ''He''s observing me... If this goes on, he will figure out everything about my talent soon, I need to finish this match fast!''


    Lia is extremely well versed in figuring out Rio''s expressions.


    His face may seem expressionless, but Lia has been watching him for too long, and she can instinctively sense his thoughts vaguely.


    The more Rio kept holding back, the more Lia was sure that he wasn''t taking her seriously yet.


    Lia gritted her teeth andnded on the ground.


    She bent her knees and took her stance.


    ''This won''t do; I must not give him anymore time¡­''


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Domination Rush!]


    Lia''s speed was now equal to that of Rio; the ground beneath her feet cracked, and sheunched at him like an arrow.


    Her wings pushed her forward and gave her an amazing thrust, thus increasing her stabbing power.


    Right now, her thrust attack is as strong as Link''s punch when he uses ''overload''; if Rio doesn''t dodge this, he is sure to get a fatal injury.


    Lia immediately predicted Rio''s dodging moves and aimed at the spot where Rio was going to jump for her attack.


    Lia was sure that she would hit him this time, but she still failed in her attempt.


    Too much time had passed, and for Rio, this was enough time to adapt to her abilities.


    Lia''s attacknded on empty ground, and a look of surprise appeared on her face under the helmet of that spirit armor.


    ''He didn''t try to dodge!? But I predicted he would dodge and jump here!! This!?''


    Before Lia could figure out what was going on, Rio''s sword swung down at an immense force, and a condensed thunder arc blew her away like a cannonball.


    Lia immediately got up and flew into the sky to avoid further damage.


    "Hoh? A point-nk attack from me didn''t even scratch that armor? That armor is quite strong¡­"


    Because of her enhanced hearing, Lia could hear Rio''s quiet mumbles from far away.


    ''He''s figured out how my talent works¡­ I was toote in dealing the finishing blow¡­''


    A troubled look appeared on Lia''s face when she figured out that Rio could dodge her now.


    [Kiddo, Move!! What you are looking at is an afterimage!!]


    Even with Kai''s warning, Lia was still a bitte to react, Rio appeared in the sky and swung his sword downward.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Wind Type: Wind st!]


    Rio''s swordnded directly on Lia''s shoulder, and the impact of that attack caused Lia to fly down at a rapid pace.


    Lia instantly collided with the earth below, creating a massive crater.


    Rio''s voice again rang out in her ears, but this time he was standing right beside her.


    "Hmm, so even this type of attack won''t work against your armor?"


    Rio rubbed his chin a bit, as if in thought.


    "If it was any other armor, the user''s bones would have broken apart from the wind st directly bypassing the armor¡­"


    "I guess there''s only one way then¡­"


    Finally, a small trace of excitement appeared in Rio''s dead fish-like eyes.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Rio really is a menace; Bro has been holding back the whole time and still didn''t get injured. Lia might be an A-


    ranker now, but she is still new afterall.


    Rio has already reached the peak of A-rank.


    Question of the day.


    Which technique do you think is most feasible to defeat Rio?


    1. Use Dao Rhythm.


    2. Use a huge amount of summoned beasts to slowly exhaust him down.


    3. Compete in tea making skills instead of fighting!


    4. Praise Lia in front of him and make friends with him!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 271 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-4.

    Chapter 271 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-4.


    ??Lia knew all too well what Rio was talking about.


    She immediately got up from the ground and jumped away to make some distance.


    [Uhh¡­ How about you surrender now?... I certainly don''t want to get hit by ''that'' attack¡­]


    ''No¡­ I must fight till the end¡­''


    [He has already figured out how your talent works¡­]


    ''That''s what I am confused about too¡­ it should have been impossible...''


    The Lia talent is based on mana, soul, and fate.


    If she can''t read these three things, then her talent will have no effect on the opponent.


    From the start of the match, Lia wasn''t able to sense Rio''s soul and fate because of ''True Immunity'', and the only thing she was using to predict Rio''s moves was his mana.


    After seeing Lia''s relentless attacks, Rio eventually figured out that she was reading his mana flow.


    And for someone who can use sword intent with extreme precision, controlling his mana flow was obviously quite easy.


    He created feints and sessfully figured out her moves.


    If it were someone else, this situation would not have happened; Lia would have been able to detect mana, soul, and fate.


    With these three factors working together, her predictions would have been extremely urate.


    You can temper with your mana, but not with your soul or fate; only Rio is doing so with the help of ''True Immunity''.


    Seeing that Rio has already figured out all of her tricks, Lia was also surprised.


    ''Even after fighting beside him for so long, I still do not know the depths of his strength; he has so many techniques and skills that I really can''t figure out the end of them.''


    Even Lia didn''t know about ''true immunity'' and ''soul splitting''; these are Rio''s trump cards, and he has never told anyone about them, not even Lia.


    Rio has always had the habit of keeping some hidden cards for himself in case a desperate situation arises.


    ''Now that it hase to this, I am going to go full force on myst attack.''


    Lia still has one more advantage that Rio doesn''t: she has Kai''s massive spiritual mana output.


    As long as she uses a lot of mana in her attack, she can still overpower Rio, like she did to Miki.


    Lia poured all of her mana into her spirit armor and enhanced her speed and agility.


    Her silver wings erged, and particles of silver mana started to condense around them.


    She took her stance and bent her knees a bit.


    ''Now it''s do or die¡­ I will gamble it all on this one attack.''


    [Silver Lion''s swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Maximum output!]


    ...


    Seeing Lia''s determination, Rio nodded his head in satisfaction.


    In the previous attacks, Lia had already pushed him to a corner quite a bit; he even had to purposely create feints with his mana to confuse Lia.


    ''She is preparing to end it with one attack¡­''


    Rio could see what Lia was trying to do; now that he has gotten rid of her advantages, she''s adapting quickly without wasting time.


    ''Very well then¡­''


    Rio ced his sword beside his waist, and a small spark of excitement shed through his eyes.


    ''It''s been a while since I enjoyed battles like this¡­''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Flow of Slithering Waters!]


    ...


    Liaunched at Rio as she thrust her sword forward; the two massive wings gave her enough push to increase her speed multiple times.


    Right now, she was putting a massive amount of mana into her attack, and thus her speed became a bit faster than that of Rio.


    Despite the helmet covering her face, a serious expression lingered on her face.


    ''In a head-on confrontation, I will win!''


    When Lia was about to reach Rio, his sword flowed like a stream of water and hit Lia''s sword from the side.


    ''He''s trying to change the trajectory... but it''s useless!''


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Spiritual Mana Overload!]


    Lia''s output increased even further, and even Rio was surprised by her amazing power.


    Not only had he to constantly guard himself against her prediction abilities, but he also had to face the onught of her insanely strong attacks.


    ''She''s improved a lot¡­''


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s face at that moment.


    ''If it was any otherpletion, I would have already admitted defeat, but¡­ I must win this tournament¡­ So forgive me, Lia, but you must lose today¡­''


    [Concentration]


    [Handling]


    [Lightening Sword]


    Rio hasn''t used his ''lightening sword'' skill for a long time now; that''s because he never needed to use it a lot after he learned sword intent.


    The lightening sword is more of an auxiliary skill; he awakened it when his elemental sword art was improved.


    This skill lightens his sword, making it easy to parry and push away other attacks.


    It is basically a cheap counter to the opponent''s attacks.


    Usually this skill won''t work on strong attacks, but if youbine it with ''handling'' and ''concentration'', then its effectiveness increases by more than a hundred times.


    In other words, when Rio used this skill on Lia''s sword attack, he easily changed the trajectory of her thrust attack by a few angles.


    That small change was enough for Rio.


    He dodged her attack in a time frame thatsted less than a blink of an eye.


    Moreover, before Lia could react to all this, Rio swung his sword in a downward motion towards her right arm from the side.


    [Sword Intent]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Descending Thunder Arc!]


    Sword intent and other legendary ss skills are direct counters to any spirit-rted things.


    Lia''s spirit armor would have been un-destructible if she fought someone else, but for Rio, it was as frail as a sheet of paper.


    *ng!*


    In an instant, the attacknded, severing Lia''s right arm and causing blood to flow out like a fountain.


    Rio himself felt a sudden ache in his heart after injuring her like that, but he had no other choice; she''s too strong now.


    Even Rio can''t win if he doesn''t use ''sword intent'' on her, and he had to win no matter what.


    The reward forpletion is a chance for Fade, and Rio doesn''t want to let go of it.


    He was hoping that he wouldn''t end up fighting Lia, but things turned out like this, so he couldn''t do anything at all.


    Just when Rio was distracted after injuring her, Lia gritted her teeth and raised her left hand towards the sky.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Heavenly Judgment!]


    Spiritual mana formed a massive magic circle that erupted in the sky, unleashing a massive beam of silver light at Rio and Lia.


    [Kiddo, you will get hit too if you use that!]


    ''Who cares! I''m about to lose anyway!''


    Lia hadn''t used these ranged attacks on him in this duel because she knew that Rio could dodge them easily.


    But now that he was distracted while still being in her close proximity, she was certain that this attack wouldnd on him.


    Yet, contrary to what Lia thought, Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and swung it toward the descending beam of light.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Heaven-


    Splitting Thunder!]


    A gigantic arc,posed of condensed thunder and enhanced by sword intent, fired at the beam of silver light, splitting the entire beam and the magic circle in two.


    Rio''s pure disy of overwhelming power shocked the whole audience, and even the SS-rankers couldn''t help but shake their heads.


    Even they were surprised at how one-sided Rio was in ending this match.


    Aside from a few small cuts, Rio didn''t suffer much.


    As Lia had used all of her mana, her armor and wings disappeared, and she copsed on the ground.


    She lost her sword as well as her right hand.


    Rio walked over to Lia''s side, and ignoring her heavy breathing, he ced his sword around her neck. (His hand is trembling at the moment.)


    "You lose¡­ Lia¡­"


    No matter how hard Rio tried to hide it, Lia could see that Rio''s eyes were trembling and looked at her severed hand with concern.


    When she saw this, a smile appeared on her face.


    ''In the end, he still didn''t go all out on me¡­ Perhaps even an emotionless guy like you can hesitate, huh?''


    Lia was right; Rio could have easily aimed his attack at Lia''s stomach, neck, or face, but his hand trembled andnded on her hand.


    If it had been someone else, Rio wouldn''t have hesitated, and his sword would have severely injured the other party.


    However, when he was about to injure Lia, he nearly lost his grip on his sword.


    It took immense determination and willpower for him to do this.


    ''Sigh¡­ and here I thought I would be able to go toe to toe with him after reaching rank A¡­ I need to train more¡­''


    A teleportation circle appeared under Lia as she was thinking all this in her mind.


    "Yeah, I lose¡­ but that was a good match¡­"


    Hearing Lia''s words, Rio nodded his head and sheathed his sword with a slightly trembling hand.


    Rio summoned his courage and spoke before Lia''s teleportation began.


    "You have be strong¡­. I acknowledge that I couldn''t have defeated you without using my sword intent¡­ You are strong, Lia¡­"


    Hearing those words, Lia was taken aback for a moment, but then a smile appeared on her face.


    "Thanks.."


    Lia was pleased that he acknowledged her, even though she didn''t win the match.


    That was all she needed.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Truthfully speaking, guys, even my hands trembled while writing this chapter. Making Rio fight Lia is really a difficult thing¡­


    Question of the day.


    How much willpower and determination do you think it took Rio to attack Lia?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 272 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-1.

    ??Tournament Day 4, right after Rio and Lia''s match.


    Liam''s waiting room.


    "Whoa!This guy really ended up defeating her¡­"


    Liam was quite surprised when he saw Rio defeat Lia, even after she had powered up so much.


    "What do you think, Kazto? How did he do that? Didn''t you say that she was predicting his moves¡­ What happened here then?"


    Liam tilted his head toward the room''s ceiling, and an eerie-looking, chimera-like creature appeared in his vision.


    "Wait, what are you doing there? Get down!"


    The three-foot-tall chimera immediately let go of the ceiling and jumped down.


    The chimera stood on its two horse-like legs and stroked its oversized and deformed octopus head with his gori-like hands.


    The bat-like wings of the creature shrank behind its back as it used telepathy tomunicate. (Kazto looks so horrifying that people might get nightmares just by looking at him...)


    "Hmm,¡­ I think he has some kind of skill that can block prediction¡­ I would need to see it happen with my own eyes to figure things out in more detail though¡­"


    Hearing Kazto''s words, Liam nodded his head. He leaned his back against the couch and mumbled in a quiet voice.


    "Sword intent, super-fast speed and reaction time, amazing swordsmanship skills, and a mysterious skill that can protect him¡­ Moreover, he doesn''t even flinch from pain or anything¡­"


    Kazto, listening to Liam''s mumbles, tilted his deformed and odd-looking head slightly and said,


    "Master¡­ This person is going to be a formidable opponent¡­ Your chances of meeting him in the semi-finals are 1/3¡­"


    Liam also nodded his head at those words.


    "Yeah, his fourth match is already over; next he will fight tomorrow in the semi-finals¡­ And if I win today''s match, I might end up fighting him tomorrow¡­."


    Liam has easily won all of his previous matches, and if he triumphs in today''s match, he will advance to the semi-finals.


    "But seriously¡­. the semi-finals are where things will get the most serious¡­"


    "I am quite sure that Link will win his match too, so he will reach the semi-finals, and then there''s the elven princess Vanya; she isn''t weak either¡­"


    Observing the earnest expression on Liam''s face, Kazto said,


    "Worry not, master, I can formte quite a few ns for you¡­"


    Liam sighed and nodded his head.


    [Tch! Why are you listening to that deformed b*stard¡­ I can make better ns than him, Master!]


    Seeing that Liam was having such a quality time with his other summoned beast, Ellie was irritated.


    Due to the tournament rules, Liam hasn''t summoned Ellie for quite a while now, and she is annoyed by this fact.


    [If I were summoned, I wouldn''t bother using tricks and ns! I will st off your enemies with overwhelming strength!]


    All of Liam''s summoned beasts have connections with him directly; thus, Kazto also heard what Ellie just said, so he couldn''t help but refute.


    "Uh, you shouldn''t rely on brute strength for everything; nning and strategy making can also bring amazing results-"


    Before Kazto could finish his words, Ellie cut him off and said,


    [Hmph! Who cares! I can simply do it with my strength! Also, from now on, call me Senior Ellie! I was summoned first!]


    Just when the two were arguing, Liam rubbed his head.


    ''Ugh, are all my summons defective? Why do they fight among each other like that?''


    In frustration, Liam had no choice but to use his trump card against the two.


    "You two¡­ If you don''t stop fighting, there will be no dinner for you today!" Both Kazto and Ellie were taken aback by Liam''s words, and then they started to throw tantrums.


    "Nooo~~ It was senior Ellie who started it first!!"


    [This shameless, weird octopus! I will throw you in the sewer!!]


    "Noo~~ Master, Liam! Senior Ellie is bullying me!"


    Liam was helpless when he heard the fight escte.


    ''Ugh, my summons are all defective products¡­''


    Liam shook his head and waved his hand to de-summon Kazto.


    "Get ready; it''s our match next¡­ only two hours or so left¡­"


    Kazto is Liam''s fourth-strongest summon now; he summoned Kazto after bing an A-ranker.


    Kazto may be weaker than Ellie, the wyvern, and that mammoth, but he makes up for it with his amazing brain. None of the others summoned are as smart as Kazto.


    Still, Ellie is the only one who can talk to Liam even while in a de-summoned state; others can''t do that.


    She even enhances his magic passively even when she isn''t summoned; that''s why she is the most favored among all other summons. (Also, she was his first summoned beast, so he has a soft spot for her¡­)


    Liam has about twenty-five different summons right now; each one is unique, but one thing ismon for all of them: all of them are ''faulty'' in some way or another.


    (Fun fact: They are all addicted to his hand-made food¡­ Bro literally took professional courses to learn how to make monster food! He spoiled them all rotten with that tasty food¡­.)


    Just when Liam was lying down on the couch to take a short rest, the hologram in the center of his waiting room finally moved.


    The roulette stopped after a few seconds, and Liam''s opponent was determined.


    [Ding! Congrattions! Your next match has been fixed!]


    [Ding! Liam Aldif Vs. Renna Heleren!]


    [Time: 11: 00 A.M.]


    [Make sure to arrive on time!]


    Seeing the name of his opponent, Liam was a bit surprised.


    "Oh, it''s that Elven Archer girl who fought with me in the group battle phase¡­ She''s still in the tournament? She seemed weak when I fought her before¡­"


    What Liam didn''t take into consideration was that he was too strong; that''s why Renna seemed weak to him.


    But for others, Renna is extremely strong; after all,she''s the second-most talented candidate in the Elven Race, right after Vanya.


    Seeing that he had only met her, Liam heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Phew~ It''s a good thing that I don''t have to fight Link right now¡­ I really don''t have any countermeasures for him at the moment¡­"


    Liam can still make strategies to defeat Rio, but when ites to Link, even Liam feels helpless.


    ''That guy even stood unharmed after taking an A-rank archer''s arrow to the eyeball! Aside from Ellie, I don''t think any of my summons can harm him¡­''


    While shaking his head, Liam got up from the couch and started to make appropriate ns for his next fight.


    Renna might be weaker than him, but he wasn''t going to tolerate any mistakes.


    He likes to fight with all of his might to crush his opponents as quickly and effortlessly as possible.


    Unlike Rio and Link, who fight head-on without any worries in the world, Liam''s fighting style revolves around making proper strategies.


    When summoning, he has to make the correct choices; if he summoned a beast that couldn''t fit in a specific situation, things would get difficult for him because summoning consumes quite a lot of mana.


    If not for Ellie, who serves as his external mana storage, Liam really doesn''t dare have 25 summoned beasts with him at rank A.


    Ordinary A-rank summoners usually only have 10 to 15 summoned beasts with them, as the consumption is too huge.


    Furthermore, all of Liam''s summoned beasts are much better than other A-rank summoners, so they consume more mana than usual.


    (Even Neo had to agree to the fact that Liam is the best Summoner in the younger generation, and no onees even close to his level of mastery¡­)


    ...


    Two hourster,.


    A floating orb appeared beside Liam as he walked towards the stadium grounds.


    That is Liam''s strongest weapon, ''Azazel''s dreaming heart''.


    That weapon caused a lot of trouble, even for Rio, during the group survival event. (Go to ch-102, for its detailed information''s¡­)


    [Isn''t it overkill to use that weapon on that weak archer girl?]


    Even Ellie was taken aback after seeing Liam bring out that weapon from his storage ring.


    "Nah¡­ I have a feeling¡­. That Elven archer is not as weak as she pretends to be¡­ My intuition has always been urate¡­"


    Seeing the serious look on Liam''s face, Ellie stopped talking. She knew that once Liam had made his mind, he wouldn''t change his decisions so easily, even if she were the one to persuade him.


    [Sigh~ okay then¡­ Although I can''t assist you in person, I will enhance your magic as usual¡­]


    [Good luck, Liam¡­]


    Hearing Ellie say his name directly, a smile appeared on Liam''s face, and he felt more confident than ever before.


    ''Yeah, let''s do it!''


    Liam walked into the stadium grounds and reached the center, keeping his face calm.


    Renna also arrived at the same time, and she stared at him with a tense look on her face.


    Seeing that tense expression, Liam smiled a bit and said,


    "We met again¡­ Last time, I was rude, didn''t finish the duel between us, and got teleported before it ended¡­ So, let''s finish it properly this time¡­"


    Renna let go of her tense expression after hearing Liam''s words, and nodded her head.


    "Yeah, I nearly beat youst time, but you ran away, so let''s settle the score now¡­"


    ''I was expecting him to be rude, but he''s a decent person, it seems¡­''


    Renna had heard a lot of bad rumors about Liam''s father, and she was thinking that Liam might be as bad a person as his father.


    But after Liam''s greeting, she figured out that she was wrong.


    Her observation skills as an archer told her that Liam isn''t that bad a guy.


    ...


    Fun Fact:


    During the fifty-year orc war, Neo once forced many orcs to be his summoned beasts.


    This was such a great taboo that the whole alliance condemned his actions, and he had to let go of those orcs. (He was using them like Sl*ves¡­)


    Neo''s reputation has consistently been the lowest among all SS-rankers in the world due to his numerous strange actions.


    He has many weird titles like ''Unreasonable beast spammer!'', ''shrewd fox'', ''devil''s toungue'', etc. And the fact is, Neo doesn''t even bother clearing up his reputation; he''s actually quite satisfied with his bad reputation.


    (That''s also why he dares note to the ''meeting of gods'' as he has offended a lot of people¡­ even the peace-


    loving Elven race doesn''t like him at all¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! All of Liam''s summoned beasts adore him, and he thinks that they are faulty¡­ He really is suffering from sess¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think that Liam is quite overpowered too?


    1. Yeah


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 273 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-2.

    ??*And with the handshakes out of the way, the battle between the strongest archer and the strongest summoner in the younger generation starts!*


    (Zach would have been the strongest archer in the younger generation if he was still alive¡­)


    *Let the countdown begin! 3!... 2!... 1!... fight!*


    Renna thought that Liam would jump back and try to summon his familiars, but she was sorely mistaken.


    Unlike ordinary summoners, who can barely use any lethal magic, Liam can use any type of magic because of the blessings of a true dragon.


    Shadow dragons are quite good at supporting, and Ellie is also exceptionally good at enhancing Liam''s magic.


    Thus, when Liam didn''t try to summon, Renna was taken aback for a moment, and that was enough for Liam to cast his magic.


    [Advanced Wind Magic: Wind Tornado Drill!]


    A huge magic circle appeared in front of Liam, and a gigantic, drill-shaped wind tornado fired towards Renna at a speed much faster than sound itself.


    But Renna was determined not to lose this early in the match.


    [Helen style: Repulsion type: Condensed Wind Arrow!]


    As the old saying goes, destroy poison with poison, and Renna did just that.


    She condensed the wind elements to create a wind arrow and fired it at the drill tornado.


    When the wind arrow collided with Liam''s attack, it burst apart and spread around to create repulsion, causing the wind tornado to scatter.


    Although she perfectly countered this attack, she knew that this was merely a show of power by Liam and nothing else.


    He was trying to show that he could use other things besides his familiars.


    ''He''s trying to intimidate me¡­''


    Indeed, if it were an ordinary A-ranker, they would have already been intimidated by Liam.


    Not only can Liam summon powerful beasts, he himself can fight with powerful magic, so the chances of winning against him are very low.


    ''But I won''t back down now; for the sake of the princess, I must fight¡­''


    [Helen Style: Precision Type: Fire Arrow Rain!]


    Renna stretched the bow string, condensed an arrow from fire elementals, and fired it at the sky.


    She repeated this more than a hundred times. (Don''t think it''s slow; she fired those hundred arrows in a matter of three seconds¡­.)


    Furthermore, each of those arrows was of the ''precision type'', which means they will track down Liam through his mana and then pursue him no matter where he goes.


    A smile appeared on Liam''s face when he saw the sky, which was already filled with fire arrows.


    He immediately stomped the ground, and a magic circle appeared below his feet.


    [Summon: Titan Mammoth!]


    A gigantic mammoth emerged from the summoning circle and attempted to block Liam from the arrow rain.


    Seeing this, Renna smirked and said,


    "You think I will make the same mistake again? You used this mammoth to ck my attacks in the groupbat phase; I have already seen this trick once!"


    Renna waved her hand, and those hundreds of arrows fell from the sky at a speed three times faster than sound.


    Moreover, they directly bypassed the mammoth and aimed at Liam instead.


    Despite the approaching arrow rain, Liam remained unfazed and proceeded to order the mammoth.


    [Markom: Charged rush!]


    Summoned beasts have their own set of skills; you need to say their name and then tell them about the skill that they need to use to properly make the summoned beast attack the opponent. Usually summoners need to shout thesemands, but Liam has an amazing connection to his summoned beast, so he can speak to them directly through his mind.


    Thus, hismands are extremely efficient.


    (By the way, Markom is the name of that mammoth¡­)


    Liampletely ignored those arrowsing toward him and instead ordered Markom to attack Renna.


    This unexpected turn of events even surprised Renna.


    She was unaware that a shadow barrier had been protecting Liam all along.


    He can''t use the skills of the other summoned beasts without summoning them first, but that''s not the case with Ellie.


    She can protect him even if she isn''t on the field, and that''s exactly what she did.


    [Shadow Dragon''s Blessing: Shadow Barrier!]


    A shadow barrier covered Liam in its protection.


    All of the fire arrows that fell on it had little to no effect on the shadow barrier, as shadow magic and fire magic are direct counters of each other; whoever is the strong one wins easily.


    Seeing that Liam waspletely safe from her attacks, Renna gritted her teeth and decided to focus on dodging.


    Renna is an archer, and her physique is not strong; moreover, she doesn''t have the barrier protections like Liam, so it''s easier for her to get injured.


    She will lose if she doesn''t avoid this mammoth''s charge attack.


    [Helen Style: Defensive Type: Earth Wall!]


    Renna condensed an arrow made from earth elements and fired it towards the ground.


    After striking the ground, the arrow burst apart, and the earth elements inside it rushed out to form a massive wall ofpressed stones.


    Obviously, that fickle wall wasn''t enough to stop the attack of that gigantic mammoth, but it could buy some time for Renna.


    When Markom hit the wall, his attack got dyed for a few milliseconds, and that was enough for Renna to condense a wind arrow and fire it toward the ground near her feet.


    [Helen Style: Repulsion Type: Condensed Wind Arrow!]


    After hitting the ground, the wind arrow burst apart and spread, causing massive repulsion, which gave Renna a boost in speed as she dodged the mammoth''s attack.


    Markom couldn''t change his trajectory mid-attack, so he bypassed Renna directly after she left his field of view, and he ended up hitting the SS-rank barrier behind instead.


    But Liam wasn''t going to give Renna time to breathe.


    He stomped his leg, and with Ellie''s help, he cast


    [Shadow Dragon''s Blessing: Shadow Field!]


    Now that Liam is an A-ranker, he can bear the excessive load of Ellie''s abilities more easily.


    So when he used the shadow field, it was so big that it covered the whole stadium ground and only stopped after touching the SS-rank barrier.


    (Originally, it was much smaller when he used it against Rio in the group survival test, but now it''s much bigger whenpared to that time¡­)


    Not only did the shadow field ce enormous gravitational pressure on Renna, but it also made it difficult for her to use mana in this field.


    The enormous gravitational pressure made it difficult for Renna to move, so if Markom attacks again, she won''t be able to dodge it the next time.


    Moreover, this shadow field forced the mana in the surroundings to condense near Liam to help him further, which caused the mana to get thinner in the surroundings near Renna.


    Now, neither Renna could move, nor her attacks would have the same lethality as before.


    She was cornered by Liam easily.


    This is the horror of a summoner who has a dragon''s blessing.


    Renna made it to the fourth day of the tournament, which means she has won until now, and that shows her excellence.


    But even such a genius was reduced to a helpless state by Liam in just a few moves, which just shows how insanely strong Liam is when you aren''tparing him to Link and Rio.


    He''s in a league of his own.


    "Surrender now! Or Markom will crush you under his feet!"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Renna sighed and raised her bow with a smile on her face.


    "You are showing your power, so I must now let you down¡­ I will use my strongest attack on you!"


    Renna took an air-tight, perfect stance in an instant.


    Her eyes closed as she moved the mana into her body.


    Seeing Renna take that stance all of a sudden, Liam felt a sudden chill run down his spine.


    ''Not good, something dangerous ising¡­''


    Liam, possessing strong intuition and a tendency to remain vignt, immediately stomped the ground and called out again.


    [Summon: Demonic Chimera!]


    Kazto emerged from the summoning circle and stood in front of Liam.


    At that moment, Renna was also condensing mana to form an arrow.


    [Blessing of the World Tree: Wood Condension!]


    [Helen Style: Secret Art: Unstoppable Heart Piercer!]


    Renna concentrated all of her mana into that single attack, condensing the arrow into a state so solid it resembled a real wood arrow.


    Moreover, that wood form was not simple either; it was enhanced by the world tree''s blessing that Renna can only use once per day.


    *Bam!*


    The arrowunched from Renna''s bow and flew toward Liam at a speed ten times faster than sound itself.


    It was nearly as fast as Rio''s speed when he used his Darkwing movement arts.


    The arrow created a sonic boom in the air, and a shockwave spread from where it wasunched; even the ground cracked due to that shockwave.


    Seeing that arrow, Ellie immediately warned Liam.


    [Master, I can feel it¡­ I can''t stop that arrow with the shadow barrier¡­ It seems to have been temporarily blessed by a w''¡­ like how ''sword intent'' and ''dao rhythm'' works¡­]


    [We can''t stop that arrow!]


    Ellie was worried about Liam''s safety at that moment, but Liam was totally unfazed.


    A smirk appeared on Liam''s face.


    ''Indeed, summoning Kazto was the best choice after all¡­''


    Liam waved his hand and gave an order to Kazto.


    [Kazto: Space warp: Spatial Loop!]


    At Liam''s order, Kazto ced his hand on his head, and the space around Liam warped in an instant.


    When the unstoppable arrow came into contact with that warped space, it got stuck in it and started to spin around Liam in a circle, as Kazto had already trapped it in a spatial loop.


    As long as Liam''s mana doesn''t run out, Kazto can maintain that spatial loop, and that arrow will continue to circle in that warped space, which means it will not be able to hit Liam at all.


    Seeing that her final attack was also countered by Liam, Renna couldn''t help but sigh in helplessness.


    She sat down and stopped resisting the enormous gravitational force.


    "I admit defeat¡­"


    Renna had poured all of her mana into that one attack, and now that it was countered, she already knew that she was defeated thoroughly. There was no point in continuing this fight anymore.


    If she didn''t admitted defeat, that gigantic mammoth would have hit her next, and this time she doesn''t have the mana to dodge it''s attack.


    Thus, she decided to admit defeat.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Every candidate has some kind of hidden trump card here! It''s so amazing!!


    Question of the day.


    Which side character ability did you like the most?


    1. Arner''s unavoidable thunder


    2. Renna''s unstoppable, heart-piercing arrow


    3. Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 274 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-3.

    Chapter 274 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-3.


    ??Liam walked over to Renna''s side and stretched out his hand to help her stand up.


    "It was a good match¡­ It''s been a while since someone forced me to use so many tactics."


    Thest time Liam had to go all out was when he was fighting Rio in the group survival test.


    (Don''t count the battle with Alverto, as that wasn''t even a proper battle; it was a one-sided beating¡­)


    Renna shook her head and sighed at those words.


    "No way... I barely dyed the match for less than ten minutes¡­ Moreover, I wasn''t able tond a single hit on you¡­ I have beenpletely defeated¡­"


    Liam wanted to offer some words offort, but Renna waved her hand and left without waiting too long.


    "No worries, I will keep working hard to improve; you do the same¡­"


    Renna smiled a bit and then slowly left.


    She wasn''t very injured, so there was no need for a teleportation circle to appear.


    Seeing her leave, Liam shook his head.


    He waved his hand at the audience once and then left too.


    ¡­


    While walking back to his room, Liam saw a familiar silhouette standing near the cafeteria''s entrance, so he decided to take a detour and walk over to the cafeteria first.


    "Yo! What are you doing, being so sneaky?"


    Liam suddenly ced his hand on Link''s shoulder, surprising him for a moment.


    He had detected Liam, but he thought that Liam was going to leave to rest in his room. Link didn''t expect Liam toe over towards him.


    "Oh¡­ me¡­ just hanging around, hehe¡­"


    Link scratched the back of his head in embarrassment when he was caught off-guard like that.


    Liam nced inside the cafeteria and understood immediately why Link was sneaking around like that.


    "Riya hasn''te back yet? She''s still in her training?"


    Link was quite embarrassed, as if caught red-handed.


    "Th-that¡­ You know, I was just thinking that if she returns, she might be hungry and wille to the cafeteria first¡­ but it seems her training hasn''t ended yet¡­"


    Then Link immediately tried to change the topic.


    "What about you? Haven''t you just finished your match? You should take some rest¡­"


    Complicated emotions appeared in Liam''s mind seeing that Link was trying to ''shoo'' him away after being caught like that.


    "Forget it¡­ I am a bit hungry; would you like to join?"


    After saying those words, Liam didn''t even bother waiting for the answer and went directly inside.


    Link also didn''t decline Liam''s offer and sat opposite Liam on the same table.


    "Sigh¡­ I wonder how she is doing¡­ She hasn''t been to the cafeteria for four days straight¡­ Is she even eating properly? I have no idea¡­ She''s making me worried sick¡­"


    Upon hearing Link''s sigh, Liam simply shook his head and responded.


    "Isn''t she under the care of that SS-rank healer? What''s there to worry about then¡­ Even if Riya gets bisected in two pieces, the SS-rank healer can quickly stitch her back¡­"


    Link''s face turned even more worried after hearing those words.


    "Bruh¡­ Don''t scare me like that¡­ bisected!? How horrible!!"


    (Says the guy who forcefully ripped apart people''s necks from their bodies with sheer force in the original setting¡­ bro was literally the most sadistic viin himself¡­)


    "Also¡­ I''vetely had a feeling that something''s not right¡­ I feel that she''s in some kind of trouble¡­"


    Liam just shook his head after hearing those words from Link''s mouth.


    "Bruh¡­ You are worrying too much¡­ Wait, don''t tell me you haven''t slept for thest four days and have been staring at the cafeteria door for hours?"


    After hearing those words, Link avoided Liam''s gaze, as if he dared not respond to that question.


    "W-well, you see, we have an engagement ring on our hands, and if she gets hurt, I find out about it via my ring¡­ But for some reason, her ring has stopped responding since day one¡­"


    Syvis took that ring from Riya''s hand and said that she could only get it back if Riya improved; that''s why the ring stopped responding.


    If it really was responding, then Link would have lost half of his weight from seeing that Riya was getting injured again and again during this whole week.


    If he had known about Riya''s hardships, he would have already broken the tournament rules and would have rushed out of the waiting area to question his father about it.


    For him, Riyaes first; tournaments like this are just mere formalities to him. Winning the tournament is just a matter of fact for him; he doesn''t think that anyone can make him lose at all.


    When evaluating the talent of a younger generation genius, people often use terms like,


    [How long can an individual stand against Link?]


    Link is the standard for measuring talent, and he is the ceiling ofbat power for the younger generation.


    His reputation reaches far and wide, and even the demon race knows about him by now.


    Link shines like a torch in the darkness; he is considered the leading force of the next generation.


    But for Link, all this doesn''t matter at all.


    He can throw away his reputation, all for the sake of Riya; if not for her, he would have already walked the path of darkness by now.


    ¡­


    Seeing Link like that, Liam simply sighed and thought to himself.


    ''I remember now¡­ I used to be worried for Kira in the same way as he is for Riya¡­ I can''t me him for pursuing thatforting feeling¡­''


    Liam remembered the days when he used to chase behind Kira like an idiot.


    He was already too deep in that abyss of love, and once that illusion broke, he lost a lot of his feelings.


    Liam has be colder and quieter ever since he moved on from Kira.


    Now he had devoted his care to his summoned beasts, as he knew that they alone wouldn''t betray him in any circumstances.


    Unlike humans, the summoned beasts are bound by magic contracts with him, and they will always think of his well- being.


    So, Liam doesn''t need to worry about getting betrayed anymore; he can just give his feelings to his summoned beasts as if they were his own children.


    Moreover, Ellie has been supporting him since he was a child, so Liam has started to open up to her slowly.


    He had started to ignore her when he fell for Kira, and he rarely ever summoned her during those years.


    But after he moved on from Kira, he finally woke up from illusions and figured out how much Ellie has done for him.


    ''Maybe¡­ if we had met in some other circumstances, maybe if things were a bit different¡­ then¡­''


    Liam knew that Ellie was here with him in just a spiritual form; her real body wasn''t with him.


    All contracted beasts'' true bodies reside in the spirit realm, which exists between the fabric of reality and dreams.


    Ellie, or Elisia, is a true shadow dragon, but she''s also a spirit being; otherwise, she couldn''t have made the contract with him.


    Spirit beings are basically a projection of the ''will'' of a beast that resides in the spirit realm.


    Which means only Ellie''s will is with Liam, but her real form resides in the spirit realm.


    (Kai isn''t just a spirit beast, by the way¡­ his real body manifests in the real world when Lia summons his full form¡­)


    Thinking about all this, Liam couldn''t help but sigh.


    ''If we had met in some other circumstances¡­ I would have never wanted to let go of your hand¡­''


    [What are you talking about, master¡­ How can a contracted beast have that kind of rtionship with their master¡­ I have never heard about it being possible¡­]


    [But yeah¡­ Divine General Kai might know more about this¡­]


    Liam nodded his head at those words and stopped thinking about them.


    He wasn''t sure what he should do in the future.


    If Ellie was not a shadow dragon but some other type of dragon, then she could have existed in the physical world like other dragons.


    But the whole world knows that all shadow dragons reside in the spirit realm, as they were exiled by the dragons from the dragon valley long ago.


    ''Can a human go to the ''spirit world''?''


    At Liam''s question, Ellie replied in a sad tone.


    [No¡­ I have never heard about a living person being able to enter the spirit realm¡­]


    [Only ''heroic spirits'' enter this realm after death¡­ and even then¡­ they dissipate into nothingness after a few days or weeks¡­]


    Entering the spirit realm is near impossible for a living person, and since the shadow dragons were banished to the spirit realm by the other dragons, they can''te out of there unless they get the permission of the dragon king himself.


    Forget about making him agree; the dragon king might not even agree to meet a human, as all dragons consider other races lowly and weak.


    ''Sigh¡­ forget it¡­ There''s no point in thinking about it right now¡­ Let''s finish the food first¡­''


    After having a small talk with Link, Liam ate his food and left the cafeteria.


    He stopped thinking too much about theplicated things, as the current him doesn''t have any proper ideas about what to do about them.


    He went back to his room and slept for the rest of the day.


    He didn''t even bother looking at Link''s match that was scheduled right after his.


    ¡­


    Fifth Day of the tournament.


    Liam woke up and noticed that the hologram in the center of his room had already fixed his match.


    Yesterday, Liam stressed his mind a bit too much while thinking about variousplicated things and ended up getting exhausted before falling asleep.


    Thus, he woke up quitete in the morning.


    The roulette had already rolled on it''s own and he was already about to gette by now.


    [Ding! Congrattions! Your match has been fixed!]


    [Liam Aldif Vs. Rio sh]


    [Time: 9:00 A.M.]


    [Make sure to arrive on time!]


    Only one word came to Liam''s mind when he saw his opponent''s name.


    ''F*ck!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And we finally have some clues on what type of existence Ellie exactly is¡­ let''s see what Liam does in the future to solve these problems¡­


    Question of the day.


    What would your reaction be if you woke up in the morning and the first thing you saw was that you had to fight Rio in two hours?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 275 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-4.

    ??VVIP Area.


    "It''s the fifth day of the tournament, and only four candidates are left from so many of them¡­ Today''s matches are going to be more intense¡­"


    Hearing Jin''s words, Ashtel nodded his head and said,


    "Indeed, the first match is between Rio and Liam, and the second match is between Link and Vanya¡­ All four of them are strong, and it''s difficult to say which of them will make it to the finals."


    Only four topbatants remain in this tournament after four days of matching and screening.


    The whole world is looking forward to this tournament.


    Ryul shook his head and sighed.


    "Sigh~ although I knew that all of the candidates from your team Astra were strong, even I wasn''t expecting that out of four candidates in the semi-finals, three would be from the same team!"


    Other SS-rankers were also feeling the same as Ryul.


    Something like this has never happened before.


    No single team had so many powerful people that they all made it to the semi-finals. For the first time, a single team alone is dominating this tournament.


    Other candidates pray that they don''t end up going against a member of Team Astra, as that would mean immediate defeat.


    "You guys really dug up so many gems at the same time¡­ sigh~ why my elf race''s children''s don''t have so much talent¡­ Only Vanya made it to the semi-finals¡­"


    Hearing Ryul''sints, Ashtel and Jin could only shake their heads.


    Even they were surprised by the abundance of talented young people this year.


    It''s as if the stars and fates have aligned to create this perfect group of people; each one has a unique strength, and each one is more amazing than the other.


    Unlike others, Ashtel wasn''t particrly happy with all this.


    He nced at Liam and Rio, who were entering the stadium grounds, and then said,


    "In the annals of history¡­ strong individuals are born to counter some great cmity¡­ and so many immensely talented children were born in the same year and grew up together¡­"


    "This may seem good from far away, but if you think more about it, the appearance of immense talent is a sign of an uing cmity¡­ as if the world gave birth to these talents to counter this cmity¡­"


    After hearing Ashtel''s words, other SS-rankers couldn''t help but feelplicated in their hearts.


    As the saying goes,


    [Heroes only appear in the face of a cmity¡­ Their appearance is a clear sign of an oing disaster¡­] (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Although it would be wrong to me them for it, their appearance is not a good sign either.


    All SS-rankers have gained a lot of information on this trip, and they will likely take countermeasures once they go back to their respective races.


    At that moment, Ryul cast a quick nce at the stadium grounds and said,


    "It''s starting! This match should be more interesting than others, I think¡­"


    ¡­


    Stadium Ground.


    Rio and Liam stood opposite each other.


    The usual smirk appeared on Liam''s face, while Rio''s face remained as expressionless as ever.


    "So we finally met, Rio¡­ It seems that the candidates you fought weren''t able to keep you down at all¡­"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Rio nodded his head slightly and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Except for Lia¡­ Others didn''t give me much of a challenge... but I think you won''t let me down, ''Dragon Master'' Liam¡­"


    For Rio, this tournament had no real meaning. He couldn''t improve his skills by fighting people who were weaker than him. Only a few people could stand up to him.


    Up until this point of the tournament, Rio hasn''t suffered a single major injury; even Lia was barely able tond a few cuts on him.


    Rio hasn''t even gone all out yet, and he passed all of the previous four matches easily, which only increased his boredom and nothing else.


    Unlike Link and Liam, who truly enjoy battle no matter who the other party is, Rio can''t feel that rush of emotions until things go to the extreme.


    Pursuing that rush of emotions in battles has now be a hobby for him.


    (Simply speaking, he has be a battle junky who wants to feel the rush of adrenaline in extreme situations¡­)


    Seeing Rio''s nonchnt behavior, Liam came to one conclusion.


    ''He will attack with ''sword intent'' in the very first move¡­ Ellie''s barrier can''t stop ''Sword Intent''¡­ I need to dodge it¡­.''


    Liam has excellent intuition and observation capabilities.


    The reason he made Rio talk with him was because he wanted to gauge what mover Rio was likely to use in the first blow.


    Knowing the opponent''s ''first blow'' is always a great advantage.


    Liam could sense Rio''s boredom and enthusiasm for fighting; he figured out that Rio was looking forward to fighting him, and he would likely start the battle with a strong move.


    The reason why Rio didn''t open with strong moves until now was because his opponents were too weak, but that''s not the case with Liam.


    If Rio lets his guard down, Liam can deal massive damage; even Rio dares not take him lightly.


    And unlike other opponents, Liam won''t admit defeat until he is really defeated and has nothing left to fight back; moreover, Rio doesn''t need to hold back too much against Liam either.


    Which means that in this fight, Rio can finally enjoy himself.


    Liam''s weapon, ''Azazel''s dreaming heart, floated beside him, and a smile appeared on his face as he got ready for the battle.


    Rio unsheathed his sword and ced it near his waist as he took his stance.


    The two of them were now ready to fight each other to the end.


    *And now!! The first match of the semi-finals is about to start!! Get ready for an epic duel between two friends!!*


    *3!... 2!... 1!... Fight!*


    When the countdown ended, two things happened at the exact same time.


    First, just like Liam predicted, Rio''s very first move was ''sword intent, as he wasn''t nning to hold back against Liam.


    [Sword Intent]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Condensed Thunder Arc!]


    And the other thing that happened was that Liam was ready for it, and he immediately cast the summoning spell.


    [Summon: Armored Mantis King!]


    A giant mantis, which was nearly three feet tall, appeared from the summoning circle, and Liam directly jumped on its back without hesitation.


    [Barduk: Technique Bypass!]


    The speed of that mantis was extremely fast; it was nearly as fast as ? the speed of Rio when he uses his ''Dark Wing Movement arts''.


    Barduk, the mantis king, is Liam''s fifth strongest summon; he has the ability to bypass techniques.


    If Rio had used only ''Sword Intent'' then he couldn''t have bypassed it, but Rio also used his sword art technique along with sword intent.


    As a result, Barduk bypassed it without harm.


    A w'' enhances sword intent, making it impossible to bypass, but whenbined with other techniques, the effect of that w'' weakens. Liam recognized this minor weakness when he fought alongside Rio.


    Rio''s sword intent produced a powerful shockwave, destroying half of the stadium in one attack.


    This just showed that Rio was really aiming for a powerful attack in the very first move.


    But even he was a bit surprised when Liam bypassed his technique unharmed.


    [Advanced Fire Magic: Maximum condensed st!]


    Liam waved his hand, and a magic circle the size of a two- story building appeared in the sky above Rio, and a massive fireball gotunched out of it.


    [Dark Wing Movement Arts!]


    Rio stepped directly onto the air itself and raised his sword above his shoulder to attack.


    Heunched towards Liam at his full speed,pletely ignoring that massive fireball as if it had nothing to do with him.


    The fireballnded on the ground, triggering a massive st that instantly created a 25-meter-wide and 5-meter-deep crater.


    The st also sent massive amounts of debris into the air, significantly reducing visibility.


    ''I already knew that st wouldn''t do you any harm, but reducing your visibility was also important¡­''


    Liam patted the mantis on the back and gave him another order.


    [Barduk: Silent Movement!]


    Not only did Liam use Barduk''s fast speed to move out of Rio''s attack range, but he also asked Ellie to suppress Liam and Barduk''s mana fluctuations, which, in turn, countered Rio''s amazing detection abilities.


    Moreover, with the debris cover, Liam easily slipped away from Rio''s attack range.


    ''It will take about five seconds for Rio to figure out my position, as I have suppressed my mana fluctuations a lot with Ellie''s help¡­''


    Although five seconds may seem too short, for powerful individuals, this is already a massive advantage.


    Liam immediately waved his hand, and a massive summoning circle appeared on the ground.


    [Summon: Wyvern Lord!]


    Liam''s second-strongest summoned beast, the ''wyvern Lord'', is only weaker than Ellie, but whenpared to his other summoned beasts, he is much stronger.


    Although Rio once severed its wing in one go during the group survival test, Liam had used his mana to help the wyvern recover over time.


    Moreover, now that Liam is an A-ranker, the wyvern has be much stronger than before.


    [Gamel: Instant Flight!]


    Liam''s orders were swift and efficient; he knew that he didn''t have much time, so he immediately ordered Gamel to fly into the air.


    Before Liam could be happy for too long, five seconds passed, and Rio detected Liam''s mana fluctuations.


    [Concentration!]


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Dark Wing Movement Art!]


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio increased his physical capabilities by using ''concentration'' and ''body strengthening'' skills, which he rarely uses. He then used ''dark wing movement art'' to execute swift and fast movements.


    At that point, his speed had already exceeded Mach 15.


    His insanely fast speed created shockwaves and air pressure that swept the debris and dust away in one go.


    *Boom!*


    Liam was prepared for that attack as he knew that Rio will rush straight at Barduk when he detects their presence.


    Thus, Liam instantly gave his order.


    [Ellie: Shadow Escape!]


    Ellie used the wyvern lord''s shadow as a mark and teleported Liam and Barduk right under him, thus saving them from Rio''s insane attack.


    But still, Rio''s attack was too fast; it barely grazed the mantis lord''s arm and destroyed his right hand in one go.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Rio really is a menace¡­ His speed has already exceeded the speed of the fastest fighter nes! He really was holding back when fighting others¡­


    Question of the day:.


    What do you think is the reason that is helping Liam keep up with Rio?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 276 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-5.

    ??The mantis king hissed in pain, but Liam didn''t let it falter.


    He immediately put his hand on Barduk''s back and used his own mana to extinguish the after-effects of Rio''s sword intent.


    Beads of sweat appeared on Liam''s forehead.


    ''Even with Ellie''s help, it''s still really difficult to counter this guy''s speed-''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Horizontal Shift!]


    Rio didn''t give Liam the time to think properly, and he arrived right beside him in the very next second.


    This time, he aimed his sword at Liam.


    ''Sh*t, I will get hit!''


    [Barduk: Perfect Counter!]


    *ng!*


    Rio earlier severed one of the mantis king''s pair of sickle-like hands, but even with just one hand, the mantis king easily countered Rio''s technique without suffering any injuries.


    Even Rio was surprised by how easily his technique was countered.


    [Gamel: Fire breath!]


    The wyvern flying in the air immediately fired a massive fire breath attack at Rio, but Rio didn''t even budge.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Inverted Waterfall!]


    Rio swung his sword upward, and the water elements that condensed around his sword quickly split the whole fire breath in two!


    Rio''s sword swing created air pressure that pushed back even the wyvern.


    But all of that was enough for Liam to make some distance from Rio with Barduk.


    Liam got down from Barduk''s back and ced his hand on the ground.


    [Summon: Demonic Chimera!]


    Rio immediately came rushing towards Liam, but Barduk defended Liam during the summoning process.


    "How many of them can you counter?"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Thousand Thunder Flow!]


    In the span of three seconds, Rio hit Barduk with a thousand attacks that were enhanced by a little bit of ''Sword intent.


    Furthermore, Rio was already using ''concentration'' and other skills to improve himself.


    Therefore, the damage he inflicted with each strike was incredible.


    Even the air pressure created by each swing of his sword made Liam feel tense as he summoned.


    In response to Rio''s attack, Liam also gave the order.


    [Barduk: Max output: perfect counter!]


    But even with the maximum output, the mantis lord simply couldn''t match Rio''s speed.


    Despite perfectly countering all of the thousand attacks, the final one still struck Barduk''s stomach.


    Even that single attack was strong enough to nearly split Barduk''s body into two!


    If not for the fact that Liam had put a binding on his summons that they would automatically get de-summoned when heavily injured, Rio''s attack would have killed Barduk right there!


    Upon witnessing the de-summoning of the mantis lord, Rio gently rubbed his cheek and spoke.


    "I see¡­ I understand it now¡­ That mantis had a skill that could counter any closebat weapon ''technique'' but¡­" "When I infused my technique with 50 percent sword intent''s power, then he couldn''t counter it at all¡­ Thanks a lot, Liam. I have learned something new from you today¡­"


    Using only ''sword intent'' is like swinging a sword in a simple manner; there''s no technique behind it, and it bes easier to dodge.


    Until now, Rio wasn''t able to perfectly bnce his sword intent with his technique''s power, as he didn''t have a proper dummy to test it all.


    But Liam''s summoned beast, Barduk, was the perfect test subject for Rio, and with Rio''s amazing battle IQ, he easily figured out how to defeat that mantis lord.


    Rio figured out the perfect sword intent infusion method mid-attack when he was carrying out those thousand swings.


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam couldn''t help butugh helplessly in his mind.


    ''What kind of joke is that¡­ This guy adapts so fast, it''s like he''s trying to hone his swordsmanship with this battle and isn''t taking this duel into consideration at all.


    Even Liam felt a bit angry when he figured out that Rio was using his summons to hone his own skills.


    He has a deep connection with his summons and can hear their cries of pain, so Rio''s nonchnt act of using them like practice dummies seemed quite infuriating to Liam.


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial Lock!]


    Kazto waved his gori-like hands, and the space around Rio''s feet solidified instantly.


    Causing Rio to be unable to move.


    ''Although it consumes a lot of mana, I have no other choice but to use this spatial technique!''


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial st!]


    Kazto waved its hand, and a shockwave appeared in the space-time fabric, causing a st to ur. (It''s like an extremely weak version of what Ashtel does.)


    Rio immediately swatted down to avoid that attack, and he barely dodged it.


    When he squatted down, that spatial shockwave passed from above his head, but it still caught a few of his hairs.


    "Hoh¡­ That was a killing attack¡­ You are finally getting serious..."


    Indeed, that attack was one of Liam''s killing moves; he uses it to kill monsters that have high defense.


    Rio made Liam angry by using Barduk as a practice dummy, and Liam was now hell-bent on getting revenge for that.


    "Of course¡­ After all, you won''t die to something of this level, right?"


    A smirk appeared on Liam and Rio''s faces at the same time. Both of them felt excited to fight more.


    ''It''s been a while; I nearly forgot this feeling of excitement¡­''


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s face as he got up. He put the tip of his sword on his foot and used the sword intent to destroy the spatial lock that Kazto had ced on him.


    ''All summoned beasts are spiritual beings after all; even their attacks can be easily countered by sword intent¡­''


    Rio''s sword intent isn''t strong enough to cut the space-time fabric yet, but if it''s a spirit being''s skill, Rio can still barely deal with it.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Absolute Precision Arc!]


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial Loop!]


    Rio''s sword, imbued with 50 percent sword intent, instantly descended toward Liam''s.


    However, as if Liam were in sync with Rio, he also gave his order at the exact same time.


    Kazto created a spatial loop that directly trapped Rio''s sword inside.


    ''Sess!''


    Liam was delighted to confirm that the spatial loop was indeed affecting Rio.


    Although Rio''s sword was covered in sword intent, it still needed to ''hit'' the attack to work.


    However, Kazto''s spatial loopcked a ''hit'' because it was merely a space warping technique.


    Rio''s sword intent proved to be ineffective against this.


    [Gamel: Concentrated fire breath!]


    Liam immediately took advantage of this chance and ordered his wyvern tounch a concentrated breath attack on Rio.


    Rio''s sword was stuck in the spatial loop, and he wasn''t able to take it back, which means that Rio had no choice but to abandon his sword and jump back to dodge that attack.


    ''Now, jump back, and I will summon Markom next¡­''


    But before Liam could be happy for too long, Rio did the exact opposite of what Liam had predicted.


    Instead, he stomped on the ground and jumped towards the wyvern.


    ncing at Kazto''s spatial barrier, Liam discovered that Rio''s sword had vanished! He didn''t notice that Rio could also de-


    summon and re-summon his sword; thus, it was impossible for Rio''s sword to get stuck.


    If it had been another swordsman, Liam would have defeated them long ago already.


    But Rio has too many tricks up his sleeve, and even Lia doesn''t know about them all.


    [Sword Intent]


    This time, Rio didn''t use any technique; he imbued his sword with pure sword intent and swung it downward!


    *Kraaaggghhhhh!!*


    The wyvern cried in pain as Rio''s sword instantly hit its neck and injured it heavily.


    Rio''s sudden, unpredictable move shocked Liam, dying him by a few seconds. As a result, he couldn''t deliver his order on time, which led to the wyvern''s injury.


    But Liam wasn''t going to stand there and watch the show.


    He took advantage of the wyvern''s sacrifice and stomped the ground to summon his other beast.


    [Summon: Titan Mammoth!]


    Then he raised his hand and cast magic himself.


    [Advanced Fire Magic: Ray of Ascending Fire!]


    Above Liam''s head, a massive magic circle materialized and shot a massive beam of condensed fire towards Rio.


    Rio stopped looking at Gamel, who was getting de-


    summoned, and he swung his sword in a downward arc to counter Liam''s spell.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Flow of peaceful rivers!]


    Rio''s sword shot out a massive arc of condensed water, directly countering Liam''s magic.


    If not for the fact that Kazto was protecting Liam with the spatial loop, that water arc would have broken the magic circle in two and hit Liam directly in the face!


    After countering Liam''s attack, Rionded on the ground, and before he could rx, Liam ordered Markom to attack him.


    [Markom: Max output: Instant rush!]


    The giant mammoth stomped the ground and rushed towards Rio at an astonishing speed.


    Rio had justnded on the ground, and he was unable to dodge that attack.


    [Handling!]


    Rio swung his sword and forcefully changed the trajectory of the giant mammoth, causing it to go in a different direction.


    That move even surprised Liam.


    He didn''t expect that Rio had so much strength that he could forcefully change the mammoth''s trajectory at its maximum output level!


    ''Concentration'' had increased Rio''s base stats by twice, so he was much stronger.


    However, a person''s strength depends more on their techniques, skills, and other factors.


    Rio''s base stat might be high whenpared to Link after using ''conentration'', but Link isn''t a skill-less person either!


    He has mana-based skills and techniques that improve his base stats.


    This is actually normal for all awakeners.


    Only their base stats determine their physical fitness, but their skills, techniques, and talents truly set them apart!


    Link''s talents make him much stronger than Rio, even after using ''concentration.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    I have finally fixed this plot hole after receiving numerousints. People have been asking, "Why is Rio not stronger than Link after using ''concentration''?"


    The answer is simple:


    Those are just base stats; they get enhanced by skills during battle, and they don''t show everything.


    Never judge an awakener by their base stats alone; talents and other things are equally important.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 277 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-6.

    <h4>Chapter 277 Liam, The Summoner of the Millennia! Part-6.</h4>


    ''This won''t do¡­ If he keeps changing the trajectory of Markom''s attack, I won''t have any way to defeat him¡­''


    With the space loop shielding him, Liam was certain that Rio couldn''t harm him. However, if Liam couldn''t inflict any damage on Rio, the match would likely conclude in a draw. This oue is unfavorable for both Liam and Rio.


    In this tournament, the rules are extremely strict.


    If a match ends with a draw, that means both parties have lost, and both of them will get eliminated from the tournament.


    Liam nced at the timer, noticing that fifteen minutes had already psed, leaving only half the remaining time.


    Even for Rio, this match is the longest. None of his opponents have survived past 15 minutes of fighting against him.


    But Liam is different.


    Even though Rio has used nearly all of his techniques, Liam is still standing unharmed.


    This just shows how much better Liam is whenpared to other candidates.


    If Liam continues to defend himself with that space loop, even Link will find himself in a stalemate-like situation.


    Right now, both Liam and Rio were thinking the same thing.


    ''This guy is strong¡­''


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "Hmm, this match seems to be heading towards a draw¡­"


    Hearing Jin''s words, a solemn look appeared on Ashtel''s face.


    "I was expecting to see an amazing show in the finals¡­ but if the two of them ended in a draw, then the next match, which is between Link and Vanya, would end up bing the finals¡­"


    In response to Ashtel''s words, Ryul scowled slightly and said,


    "Oi, oi, don''t underestimate my daughter! She hasn''t even shown her true powers yet! It''s not set in stone that she will lose."


    All of the other SS-rankers just shook their heads at Ryul''s words.


    Although they didn''t say it, none of them thought that Vanya could really win against Link.


    Instead, Liam seems to have a better chance of winning against Link, as he can use the ''spatial loop'' to negate all of Link''s attacks.


    Gradba nced below, and after seeing that Rio and Liam were still fighting in a stalemate, he shook his head.


    "More than twenty minutes have passed; this match will most likely end in a draw¡­"


    Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads, but they kept silent and didn''t talk much.


    Ashtel nced at the timer and sighed.


    "I sure hope to see a clear winner¡­ Sigh, it seems the two of them are really on equal footings¡­"


    ¡­


    Stadium ground.


    [Time left: 6 min, 43 sec.]


    The giant mammoth copsed on the ground after being hit once more on its head by Rio''s thunder-type sword attacks.


    In the past ten minutes, Markom has rushed towards Rio many times, but Rio has deflected its trajectory again and again.


    Rio''s counterattacks were also powerful, and he slowly chipped away at Markom''s health, causing it to eventually copse and faint.


    Observing Markom''s de-summoning, Liam wiped the sweat from his forehead and pondered.


    ''Markom, Gamel, and Barduk, all three of my strongest summoned beasts, are already defeated¡­ Even if I summon another one, they aren''t strong enough to withstand Rio''s attacks for too long¡­''


    ''If things continue like this, then the match will end in a draw; there''s not much time left¡­ I only have one chance now¡­''


    Liam ced his hand on Kazto''s forearm and embedded all of his mana into him.


    ''I have no other choice now; I would need to bet it all on this one move¡­''


    Liam was already running low on mana after summoning so many powerful beasts, and he poured all of his leftover mana into Kazto; thus, he has already lost the ability to cast any more spells.


    Furthermore, he transferred all the mana from his weapon, ''Azazel''s dreaming heart'', into Kazto. (It can store up to 10,000 mana¡­)


    Kazto''s size increased after receiving so much mana, growing to nearly ten meters tall in a matter of seconds.


    He was already so tall that he was nearly about to touch the SS-rank barrier in the sky.


    Seeing that sudden change in Kazto''s size, all of the people in the audience felt horrified.


    Kazto is a chimera, and his body looks extremely disordered and ugly. Looking at him makes people feel fear, and his presence makes people ufortable.


    Even the space-time fabric started to tremble from Kazto''s mere presence.


    Rio wasn''t a fool either; he immediately figured out that Liam was going all out on this one move.


    ''There''s not much time left; he''s likely trying to end this match at the cost of using all of his mana¡­ But still, I would have to say, this guy really has a lot of mana¡­''


    Even Rio was impressed at how much mana Liam has.


    Not only did he summon powerful beasts one after another, he also cast magic himself from time to time during this battle, and now he still has enough mana left to create such a spectacle.


    ''Liam, you really are ''the summoner of the millennia'', and I think no one canpare to you when ites to summoning¡­ You have my respect¡­''


    While Rio was admiring Liam''s amazing power, Liam was also looking at Rio with admiration in his eyes.


    ''In the current state, Kazto is nearly equal to a pseudo-S-ranker, and you are still able to stand in front of him without feeling even a little bit of tension¡­''


    ''You really are worth defeating, Rio sh¡­''


    Liam smiled at that thought, and then he ryed his order to Kazto.


    [Kazto: Maximum output: Space Type: Spatial destruction!]


    At Liam''s order, Kazto stretched out his hand wide, and the space-time fabric inside the SS-rank barrier started to tremble.


    As if the space-time fabric itself had be chaotic, ss- like cracks started to appear in it.


    All of the SS-rankers were so shocked by this scene that they got up from their seats just to see the situation more clearly with their own eyes.


    Seeing the space-time fabric getting more and more distorted, a rare smile of excitement appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''Yes! This is it! This is the feeling I have been looking for! The feeling of walking on edge¡ªthe rush of adrenaline! The feeling that you could die at any moment!''


    With that rare, excited look on his face, Rio took his stance.


    ''Now that it hase to this, I shouldn''t hold back anymore¡­''


    Rio took his stance, disregarding the wounds on his body caused by the distortion in the space-time fabric.


    He ced his sword above his shoulder and got ready to attack.


    Liam, who was standing on Kazto''s shoulder, also noticed that Rio hadn''t admitted defeat yet.


    Originally, he thought that even Rio would be forced to admit defeat after being affected by the chaos in the space-time fabric, but that didn''t happen, which caused Liam to frown.


    ''As I am not an S-ranker yet, I can''t influence the space-time fabric too much¡­ All I can do is create some small cracks and put massive pressure on the opponent¡­''


    ''But even then, Rio will get fatally injured if he doesn''t admit defeat¡­ What is he trying to do? Doesn''t he know that his ''sword intent'' is useless against Kazto''s space loop?''


    The space loop not only covers Liam, but it also protects Kazto''s body, so there was no way that Rio''s attack could have worked.


    But that''s what Liam miscalcted.


    Up until now, Rio hadn''t even gone all out, and Liam thought that all Rio had was ''sword intent''.


    Rio isn''t a single-trick pony; he doesn''t always rely on sword intent to do his bidding; there are other things in his arsenal that are as lethal as sword intent.


    ''This is the first time I am using it; even I don''t know what will happen next¡­''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Space Type: Space Splitting!]


    Rio swung his sword downwards with immense speed, and this time, his attack directly split the ''spatial loop'' in one go!


    Rio''s attack was directed at the space-time fabric itself.


    Although he can''t really create a massive cut in the space-


    time fabric yet, creating a small cut is not out of his capabilities.


    Rio poured all of his mana into that attack, splitting the spacetime fabric itself.


    That attack not only created a massive and deadly wound on Kazto''s body, it also affected Liam.


    Kazto immediately got despawned, and his skill lost effect; thus, the space in the stadium returned to normal.


    Liam fell down powerlessly, as he was already out of mana, and the huge wound on his chest was bleeding like a fountain.


    If not for Ellie''s timely use of shadow magic to cover his wound, Liam''s internal organs would have spilled out.


    "Ugh¡­"


    Liam groaned in pain, and his eyes trembled; he was barely keeping himself conscious.


    Rio was also out of mana by now; he dragged his tired body and slowly came near Liam.


    "You lost¡­"


    Liam''s eyes were already getting blurry, but a smile appeared on his face.


    "Cough! Cough!"


    While coughing blood from his mouth, Liam said,


    "Yeah¡­ I lost, I never.. cough! expected you to have the power¡­ to split space-time fabric¡­ I miscalcted¡­"


    Rio simply smiled at those words and said,


    "Even then¡­ You are indeed strong; you pushed me to a corner, and you really are the best summoner of this millennia¡­"


    Being praised by Rio, Liam felt happy, and the smile on his face widened.


    The teleportation circle appeared and transported Liam away from the battlefield.


    Rio raised his sword toward the sky to show his victory.


    This is a hard-earned victory; even he felt like celebrating it.


    *And after a long-fought battle, Rio sh has emerged as the victor!*


    After hearing the confirmation of his victory, Rio immediately lost consciousness and fainted on the ground.


    Another teleportation circle appeared and took him to the infirmary.


    He was already out of mana and was bleeding heavily from all of the wounds created by the spatial cracks.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, Rio has secured his seat in the finals. Now only one more hurdle is left on his way to victory¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Liam really is quite overpowered?


    1. Even without using Ellie, he pushed Rio to such limits¡­ Liam is indeed strong¡­


    2. If Rio had used his space-type skills earlier in the match, then things would have ended much more quickly. Rio was ying all along¡­


    3. Rio hasn''t even used his shadow robe until now; moreover, he is likely hiding more of his elemental sword art types¡­


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. with your thoughts about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 278 Link, The Menace... Part-1.

    <h4>Chapter 278 Link, The Menace... Part-1.</h4>


    Waiting area: infirmary.


    Rio slowly sat up, opened his eyes, and noticed Lia dozing off on a chair with her head resting on his bed.


    He sighed as he looked at his hand, which Lia was holding firmly.


    ''Now I feel guilty for making her stay beside me¡­ ugh...''


    As if sensing Rio''s movements, Lia opened her eyes sluggishly and rubbed them a bit.


    *yaaannn~*


    She stretched out her hand and yawned.


    "You are finally awake¡­ You really sleep a lot; even I ended up falling asleep after seeing your sleeping face¡­"


    Lia seemed to be dodging Rio''s eyes, as if she were trying to hide something.


    (She was actually staring at Rio''s face all along and only pretended to sleep after she noticed that he was about to wake up¡­)


    Rio was unconscious, so he didn''t notice anything, and even if he had, he wouldn''t blow Lia''s cover, as he doesn''t want to make her angry.


    Lia brought out a shirt from her space ring and handed it over to Rio.


    "Here, take it¡­ Your shirt got torn during the fight, right?"


    Rio nced down and noticed that he was shirtless and his muscles were on full disy, so he took the shirt and wore it without hesitation.


    A smile appeared on Lia''s face after seeing that Rio epted that gift from her.


    She was having difficulty deciding how to give the gift to him, so this was the golden opportunity that she had been waiting for.


    Although the shirt had many cute bunnies printed on it, Rio didn''t care about that at all; anything from her was good.


    What surprised him more was that the shirt fit him perfectly, as if it were made ording to his size from the start.


    Usually he wears loose clothing because he feelsfortable moving around; he rarely wears clothes that fit him so perfectly.


    ''Huh¡­ how does she know what will fit me? I don''t remember her taking measurements¡­''


    Before Rio could delve further into that topic, Lia spoke.


    "By the way, it''s already afternoon; Link and Vanya''s match will be happening soon!"


    Rio nced at the clock hanging on the nearby wall and noticed that quite a few hours had gone by since his battle with Liam.


    "Yeah¡­ Let''s watch it together while sitting in the cafeteria!"


    Lia seemed quite excited about that match.


    After all, the one who wins this match will fight Rio in the finals tomorrow.


    Although Lia got eliminated from the tournament, she was still concerned about Rio and wanted to see how far Rio would go in this tournament.


    Upon hearing Lia''s enthusiastic voice, Rio nodded his head in agreement.


    "Yeah, let''s move to the cafeteria; I feel hungry too.''


    Before Rio couldplete his sentence, the white curtain that was separating Rio''s patient bed from the bed on the right side was pushed away in a hurry, and a familiar person appeared.


    "I just heard you say about the cafeteria! I want to go too!!"


    Ellie appeared with an excited look on her face. As if stars were shining in her eyes, she seemed to be looking forward to eating a lot of delicious food.


    Before Rio and Lia could say anything else, the patient on the bed sat up and spoke in a grumpy voice.


    "Ugh, why are you guys shouting so much¡­ Let me sleep a bit!"


    Of course, it was none other than Liam who was having difficulty sleeping because of how loudly everyone was talking right beside him.


    Ellie ignored Liam''s words and said it in an excited tone.


    "Master! Let''s go and eat a lot of delicious food! It will cheer you up too!"


    Liam slowly got up from the bed and stretched his body a bit before nodding his head.


    "Well, now that you guys have already caused me to wake up, I can''t sleep again so fast¡­ So let''s go to the cafeteria together¡­"


    Rio and Lia also nodded their heads and agreed to those words.


    Before long, all four of them left the infirmary together.


    While walking, Liam nced at Rio''s shirt and said it in an amused tone.


    "Bruh¡­ I didn''t know you had a thing for cutesy things like that¡­"


    Rio just shook his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Nah, Lia gave it to me; I usually wear random clothes¡­ I have no fashion sense either¡­"


    Liam nodded his head at those words.


    He also agreed; he had seen Rio wear loose clothes with weird colors and designs on them. He already knew that Rio had no fashion sense at all.


    Lia, on the other hand, ispletely different from him; she has a great sense of style, chooses her clothes carefully, and even knows which hairstyle goes best with each outfit.


    ''I have serious doubts about how this in and boring guy rizzed up a girl like Lia¡­''


    Lia has many other talents aside frombat.


    She can cook godly food, and she has amazing fashion sense. Her ability to gather information about others is also insanely good. (She literally stalked Rio for more than six months¡­)


    However, unlike Lia, Riocks proficiency in household tasks. He barely has decent cooking skills, and he has no fashion sense. Hecks the ability to demonstrate proper care and is consistently devoid of emotion.


    He literally seems like the most boring and in guy; he isn''t even half as handsome as Fade. That trash!


    Basically speaking, aside from his fighting talent, Rio seems so ordinary that you can''t find him in a crowd¡­ No, you can''t even find him in broad daylight! He''s skilled at bing invisible!


    Liam couldn''t help but think that Rio and Lia had so many huge differences between them that it was hard to think that the two were still in a happy rtionship and weren''t fighting each other over those differences.


    Usually, couples fight over even the slightest differences.


    If other couples had so many differences in interest and personality, their rtionship wouldn''t havested more than a few months.


    And here, Rio and Lia are already ready to die for each other, as if they have lived a lifetime together.


    Just when Liam was feeling a bit envious of Rio and Lia, Ellie suddenly held his hand and pressed her weapons against him.


    An expectant smile appeared on her face.


    "Master, I want to eat those unique elven dishes!"


    Attacked by those special weapons, Liam couldn''t think straight anymore, and he immediately agreed to her words. (She has really found his weakness! She''s been exploiting this weakness a lottely!)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, near the main gate of the stadium''s waiting area,.


    "Mr. Link, please try to understand; we are bound by duty! We can''t allow you to leave now¡­ Moreover, your match is scheduled for fifteen minutes! You should hurry back!"


    Hearing the guard''s words, Liam gritted his teeth and stomped the ground in sheer anger.


    *boom!*


    The floor cracked in an instant, and even the main gate rumbled a bit from the shockwave of that attack.


    The guards stepped back in fear and dared not approach Link rashly.


    Link was already at his wits'' end; for the past few days, he had been experiencing a strange feeling of constant worry.


    As if he could sense that Riya was in some kind of danger, Link just couldn''t sit still.


    His intuition was screaming wildly at him; it was telling him to just leave this ce and look for Riya at any cost!


    When ites to Riya''s safety, Link''s intuition has always been very urate.


    He wanted to punch the main gate and rush out of the waiting area instantly, but that was against the rules of the tournament.


    Link will get eliminated if he leaves the waiting area without permission from SS-rankers.


    He had tried asking his father for permission via smartphone, but Ashtel denied his request and didn''t even listen to him at all.


    Link has been suppressing his anxiety and anger for five days now! And hearing the guard''s words, Link couldn''t help but look at them in resentment.


    All five of the guards felt their legs go weak in fear under Link''s insane pressure.


    Although they are all A-rankers, none of them is confident that they can withstand a single punch from Link.


    Just standing there quietly, Link was already making them feel intimidated to the point of falling unconscious.


    But the guards didn''t back off either. They had a duty to stop anyone who dared leave the tournament area, and they weren''t going to neglect their duty at any cost.


    Elves are diligent people; they take their duties seriously, and making them back away from their duties is very difficult.


    If Link wanted, none of those five A-rankers could stop him from rushing out, but Link dared not do such a thing.


    First and foremost, his father will scold him if he does such a thing; furthermore, Riya is in training right now, and it would be a bad idea to hinder her training.


    Thus, Link dared not take the next step.


    He only vented his anger a bit and left with an anxious look on his face.


    (That''s how the real Link used to be: insanely strong and uncontroble when he gets angry¡­ worrying about Riya reverted him back to his real form¡­)


    While walking towards the arena, a murderous aura appeared around Link.


    ''I swear¡­ If anything happens to her, I will ughter the entire Elven empire in the future and use the heads of the Elven people as footballs!


    (He''s not even joking, actually; he will do exactly this if something really happens to Riya¡­ don''t forget that even the protagonist only won against Link due to massive plot armor; others don''t stand a chance against him¡­)


    When Link clenched his fist in sheer anger, the space-time fabric trembled like crazy.


    ''Don''t you dare let me find out what you guys did to her in the name of training... otherwise, I won''t stop until I do the same thing to the whole elven race...''


    Link''s eyes were already a bit bloodshot from all that stress.


    Anyone who passed by Link nearly fainted from the insane pressure he was emitting.


    Link''s face looked like he was ready to murder people at any moment.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It''s seems we will be able to see an angry Link soon enough.


    Link hadn''t gotten this angry since the day he started staying with Riya. So, seeing him in his true form is really rare¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Link bes a real menace when he gets angry?


    1. Yeah¡­ (bro nearly beat up those five innocent guards for no reason¡­)


    2. Nope¡­ (I think Rio might be the real menace if he gets angry¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 279 Link, The Menace... Part-2.

    <h4>Chapter 279 Link, The Menace... Part-2.</h4>


    "We finally came face-to-face! This time, I will go all out on you! Link Rex!"


    A smile appeared on Vanya''s beautiful face, causing the whole audience to shout and cheer for her.


    Vanya is famous for her beautiful appearance all over the world, so whenever shees to the stadium grounds for her match, the whole audience cheers for her loudly.


    Today is the same as before, but the only difference is that Link has more supporters than her.


    Although her appearance got her a lot of fan following, she still can''tpete with Link in terms of fan following.


    Not only does Link have a ton of fan girls due to his handsome appearance, he''s also an icon of strength for all martial arts enthusiasts.


    Link has actually been invited for magazine photo shoots before, and he has also been invited to take leading roles in movies. (Yeah, he''s as handsome as a superstar¡­.)


    But today was different.


    Usually Link is calm and collected most of the time, and you would feel that he is an easygoing person, but today the aura that Link was emitting didn''t seem easygoing at all.


    His eyes were half-bloodshot, and the aura around him was so dense that it seemed like he was about to murder people.


    Clearly, Link was in a terrible mood today.


    He nced at Vanya and nodded his head.


    "Yeah, let''s go all out this time¡­ Last time, we didn''t get to finish the fight between us¡­ We can do it now¡­"


    Vanya was excited to meet a strong opponent after so long.


    In all of her previous matches, she had won quite easily, and only now has she met someone strong.


    (By the way, Rio wiped out most of the strongest candidates all by himself¡­ like Arner, Lia, and Liam¡­)


    Link and Vanya shook hands ording to the game rules, then jumped back to make distance for their attacks.


    *After a long wait! We have finally reached a long-awaited battle! On one side is the strongest martial artist of the elven race, Princess Vanya!*


    *And on the other side is the famous martial artist, the one and only Link Rex! This battle will determine who the strongest martial artist is in the whole younger generation!*


    * 3!...2!...1!... Fight!*


    [Dragon Arts: Overload: Dragon m!]


    Before Vanya could even react, Link had already used one of his strongest attacks from the get-go.


    Truthfully speaking, Link is in a hurry right now.


    He wants to end this match early and return to the cafeteria to see if Riya has returned or not.


    During the team battle phase, Link wasn''t worried about Riya''s safety because Lia and others were protecting her, and with them beside her, Link didn''t need to worry about anything.


    He trusted that Lia was capable of protecting Riya, and thus he fully immersed himself inbat.


    But things are different right now; not only is his intuition screaming at him that something is wrong with Riya, he also doesn''t know if there is anyone taking care of her.


    So, he''s in a hurry.


    His very first move carried so much power that the air pressure alone from that attack caused the ground of the whole stadium to crack.


    However, Vanya refused to concede defeat so early in the match.


    [Blessing of the World Tree: Transformation!]


    Vanya''s became extremely muscr and three meters tall in an instant, and she immediately sidestepped to dodge Link''s iing attack.


    But even then, a small wound appeared on her shoulder, as Link''s punch barely scratched her.


    ''This is insane strength¡­ He''s really going all out from the very start¡­ It seems he isn''t going to stall like he did during the team battle phase¡­''


    ''Well, if that''s the case, then I better get serious too!''


    [Blessing of the World Tree: Elemental Enhancement!]


    Mana in the surrounding area slowly whirled around Vanya and blessed her with elemental properties.


    [Vanya style: wind type: hundred wind breeze!]


    The wind element covered Vanya''s body and enhanced her attacks ordingly.


    Not only did her speed increase, but her attack range also improved a lot.


    With each attack, she fired massive wind sts, which were enhanced by her ''unique art''.


    Unlike Miki Kotov, she created her own unique art with the blessing of the world tree.


    Her unique art revolves around using the blessings of the world tree more efficiently.


    She utilized the ''elemental enhancement'' aspect of the world tree''s blessing and then applied her ''unique art'' to incorporate the elemental enhancement into her attacks.


    Her move was extremely creative and lethal.


    If it was Rio or Liam, then they could have faced some difficulties against this, but today she was really low on luck.


    She wasn''t only against Link right now; she was also facing him when he was already in a bad mood.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    Not only Link didn''t dodge any of Vanya''s attacks; he didn''t even bother to hold back anymore.


    All of Vanya''s attacksnded on Link directly, but due to ''Dao Rhythm'', they had minimal effect and only caused small wounds on Link''s body.


    But Link didn''t care about them at all.


    [Dragon Arts: Overload: Maximum output!]


    *Boom!*


    Link''s punch hit Vanya directly in the stomach, and she flew away like a cannonball.


    Her body hit the SS-rank barrier at the edge of the stadium grounds, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood in an instant.


    Before she could collect herself,.


    Link''s next punch arrived near her face in an instant.


    [Vanya Style: Earth Type: Defensive Earthen Core!]


    Vanya raised her hands in front of her face to defend herself; she poured a lot of mana into her hands to do so.


    But it was all futile.


    Enhanced by Dao Rhythm and at his maximum output of ''overload'', Link was already significantly above his peers.


    *crack*


    Link''s attack directly crushed Vanya''s right forearm and then hit the SS-rank barrier.


    A small crack appeared in the barrier, causing even the SS-


    rankers to feel goosebumps. (It''s the effect of ''Dao Rhythm''¡­)


    Link''s intense emotions influenced his ''Dao Rhythm'' and caused the w'' in it to get stronger.


    If not for the fact that Vanya had used her forearm to buy time and then dodged the attack to the side, that punch would havended directly on her face!


    Vanya immediately jumped away to make some distance from Link.


    Although that crack in the barrier was barely the size of a baby''s finger, and it also healed quickly due to the barrier''s repair mechanism, Vanya still felt a chill run down her spine after seeing it.


    To create even that small crack in an SS-rank barrier, you''d need an S-ranker to put his all into attacking.


    But Link did it with ''Dao rhythm'' while still being an A-ranker.


    Even the SS-rankers were speechless at this incredible feat, and the entire VVIP area fell silent thereafter.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    "Uh¡­ what do you feed your son?..."


    Ryul wiped the sweat from his forehead and questioned Ashtel in an awkward tone.


    Hearing those words, ck lines appeared on Ashtel''s face.


    "Uh, well¡­ Even I didn''t know he could do that too¡­ I am just as bewildered as you¡­"


    Ashtel himself didn''t know how much stronger Link had be after getting ''Dao Rhythm''; thus, he was also shocked after seeing Link break a crack in the SS-rank barrier.


    Gradba rubbed his forearm to ease the goosebumps and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "He''s already influenced the ''space-time fabric''¡­ It won''t be long before he can rip apart holes in the space-time fabric¡­ just like you¡­"


    When Gradba spoke, other SS-rankers nodded their heads.


    Ashtel is known for his amazing feats of forcefully ripping apart ''space-time fabric'', but even Ashtel needs to be an SS-ranker to be able to do that.


    However, Link is already starting to show signs of it at rank A.


    This demonstrates the extraordinary capabilities of Link.


    None of the other candidates made the SS-rankers feel threatened, but Link alone made them all feel ufortable.


    They all could feel that it would not be long before Link would rival them all in sheer power.


    Ashtel briefly nced at Link before speaking,


    "Ahem¡­ I am afraid I won''t be able to hold a candle in front of him after he bes an SS-ranker¡­ My days of acting like a superior are numbered¡­."


    Although Ashtel knew that Link would eventually surpass him, he wasn''t worried at all.


    Instead of being happy to see Link''s growth, what actually shocked him was just how fast Link was improving.


    Although Link was already born as an awakener, Ashtel had sealed his powers so that his body could mature and withstand that power.


    Only after Link turned 15 years old did Ashtel remove that seal from him.


    It''s only been one and a half years, and Link is already at the peak of his A rank.


    A thought came to Ashtel''s mind.


    ''At this speed, Link will already reach S-rank around his 18th birthday¡­''


    This growth rate is terrifying, even from Ashtel''s perspective.


    Not only was Link improving at an insane pace, but Rio and the others were also making significant progress. It was as if all of them were getting a boost from each other.


    As soon as one of them achieves a higher level, others follow suit! They arepeting with one another and improving extremely quickly.


    Link felt threatened by Rio''s ''Sword intent'' so he awakened ''Dao Rhythm''. He wasn''t able to catch up to Rio''s speed, so he improved his defense to a ridiculous level so that Rio''s attacks would have a minimum effect on him.


    And now that all this hase into y at once, Link is basically like an unstoppable force when fighting opponents of the same rank.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems being worried about Riya really caused a massive impact on Link¡­ Let''s see what happens next.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 280 Link, The Menace... Part-3.

    Chapter 280 Link, The Menace... Part-3.


    ??[Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Draconic Dive!]


    Link stomped the ground and jumped into the air. He used Dao Rhythm to walk on the air and then dove down towards Vanya at an insanely high speed.


    [Blessing of the World Tree: Maximum Elemental Enhancement!]


    [Vanya Style: Wind Type: Reversal Winds!]


    Condensed wind elements gathered around Vanya''s hands as she punched towards Link, who dived down towards her from the sky.


    Although one of her hands was already broken, she wasn''t going to admit defeat so fast.


    The wind elements in Vanya''s hand spread around instead of confronting Link head-on, pushing him back.


    Link''s attack lost power significantly due to that counterwind.


    But Vanya didn''t stop there.


    [Vanya Style: Fire Type: Wild Fire!]


    Fire elements condensed around Vanya''s hand, and she spread them along with the winds that she had created earlier.


    The strong wind caused the fire to spread fast, and it fell directly on Link, who hadnded on the ground a few meters away.


    But Link was simply unfazed by all that.


    He didn''t even bother dodging that wind and firebo and walked straight towards Vanya with firm and steadfast steps.


    Vanya threw massive fire sts at him, but Link was still unfazed by it all.


    Not only is his own defensive power extremely strong, he also has Dao Rhythm now, which makes it really difficult to harm him.


    His physique has no weaknesses; temperature fluctuations can do nothing to him at this point.


    Even his eyeballs are as strong as his muscles.


    This implies that Link has no weak points in his body; he is a walking tank! Unless you are at Liam or Rio''s level, it''s really difficult to injure the current Link.


    Despite not having Dao Rhythm during the group survival test, Link was still able to tank Rio''s sword intent, indicating that his defense has be even more ridiculous since acquiring Dao Rhythm.


    Vanya was shocked to see Link walk towards her,pletely unfazed by all those attacks.


    But then she gritted her teeth and ced her hand on her chest.


    [Blessing of the World Tree: Self-Heal!]


    In a matter of seconds, the blessing of the world tree covered Vanya''s body and healed her broken arm.


    But before Vanya could even think of her next attack, Link bent his knees a bit and arrived near her in an instant.


    ''So fast!?''


    Vanya had no time to defend herself, as Link''s punch was swift and precise. She was taken aback by his speed, and thus her reaction was dyed.


    [Dragon Arts: Rising Moonlight!]


    Link''s punchnded directly on Vanya''s stomach, and she flew into the air like an arrow.


    "Guh!"


    She coughed a mouthful of blood, as several of her ribs and internal organs had broken from that punch.


    But Link wasn''t even done yet.


    He stomped on the ground and jumped into the air.


    Using Dao Rhythm, he reached the ceiling of the SS-rank barrier at an extremely fast speed.


    He sped his hands together and hit Vanya with them with his full strength!


    [Dragon Arts: Shattered Earth Strikes!]


    "Gah!"


    *Crack!*


    Link''s attack directly hit Vanya on her back and broke her spine in an instant; moreover, the massive impact from that attack caused her to fly towards the ground at an extremely high speed.


    [Dragon Arts: Overload: Heavens Befall!]


    Link directly dove down right after Vanya, and when she fell to the ground, he directly hit her with a massively powerful kick right in the same spot on her back.


    That attack''s massive impact created a massive crater on the ground, and the wind pressure was so intense that it caused the ground to crack in every corner.


    After all that, Link stood beside Vanya to see if she was still conscious.


    It turned out her eyes were still open.


    Link was already feeling impatient, so he asked her to admit defeat.


    "Do you admit defeat now?"


    A smirk appeared on Vanya''s face after hearing those words. She ced her trembling hand on her chest and tried to use her ''self-heal'' ability again, but Link frowned at that and said,


    "Don''t try to be so stubborn..."


    Vanya grinned as she heard those words,


    "N-not yet... I still have-"


    When she tried to stand up, Link hit the back of her head with a light jab, which caused her to faint in an instant.


    Once she went unconscious, the match ended in his victory in an instant.


    *Surprisingly, the most-awaited match ended in a very fast manner! Who could have thought that even the elven princess wouldn''t be able to hold a candle against Link Rex!*


    Link ignored Vanya''s unconscious body that was being teleported to the infirmary and directly started to leave without even bothering to wave at the audience.


    The battle onlysted less than five minutes... No, it can''t even be called a battle at this point; it was just a one-sided beating from Link.


    Vanya is not weak; she''s probably stronger if youpare her to other excellent students like Arner, Miki, Renna, or even Lia, but in front of Link, she didn''t have the chance to stand for even five minutes.


    During the team battle phase, she was able to hold Link in ce because he wanted to have a fair fight, and thus he didn''t use the ''Dao rhythm'' on her.


    But right now, Link is in a hurry.


    He doesn''t have that much time to waste on the match; he still has to go back and see if Riya has returned.


    It''s been nearly a whole week now, and he has been feeling extremely uneasy all along; his restlessness isn''t letting his stay put in one ce.


    He has already searched all of the waiting area just to look for Riya, just in case she was hiding somewhere in the corner to purposely make him worried.


    (Basically, you can say he''s mentally stressed and doesn''t have the energy to waste on other things¡­)


    ¡­


    Cafeteria


    While eating snacks nonchntly, Lia frowned a bit as she saw how Link''s match went.


    She put her smartphone down and nced at Rio.


    "He seems impatient and bothered by something, doesn''t he?"


    Rio nodded his head and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Usually he doesn''t use his ''Dao Rhythm'' so early in a fight, but this time he directly started with that¡­ It''s as if he wanted to finish this match fast¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam frowned a bit as he retracted his hand from Ellie''s mouth. (She asked him to feed her with his own hands¡­)


    "I think I know what''s going on with him¡­"


    Liam told Rio and Lia about how he met Link before his own match with Rio.


    "He was looking much tensed at that time too¡­ as if he hadn''t slept for quite a few days¡­ He even seems to have lost some weight overnight¡­"


    Rio frowned after hearing those words.


    "Wait, did something happen to Riya? Otherwise, why would he be so tense?"


    The first thing Lia and Rio thought about was obviously Riya.


    Apart from her, they can''t really think of any other reason that could cause Link to be so worried.


    At Rio''s question, Liam nodded his head.


    "Yeah, he said that Riya hasn''t returned from her training session for so long now¡­ which is very weird¡­"


    Even Rio nodded his head at those words.


    "Yeah¡­ that girl can''t live without candies and sweets¡­ Howe she didn''te back asionally to get some candies from Link¡­"


    Riya had given her whole stock of candies and sweets to Link before she left for training.


    She didn''t want to get distracted by them, so she said that she woulde back to get some from Link during breaks in the training session.


    But even Riya didn''t know that she would have no breaks at all and wouldn''t get to leave directly for a whole week.


    Not only did this cause a lot of distress to Riya, but it also caused massive chaos in Link''s mind.


    Riya had never gone back on her words like this before; this was very weird, and it was hard to digest for Link.


    Liam nced at his smartphone and frowned when he saw Link leave the stadium ground with that stern expression on his face.


    "He''s really be impatient¡­ This may be bad for you too, Rio¡­ After all, you will be fighting him next¡­"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Rio didn''t say much.


    "I have fought him in his berserk state before¡­ It''s no big deal."


    Liam let out a sigh in response to Rio''s words.


    "Sigh, although you fought him during the New Year festival¡­ Link was not this strong at that time¡­ Right now, I doubt he can already be considered a semi-S ranker when using Dao rhythm to maximum capacity¡­"


    "Even I can''t guarantee that I cannd a proper hit on Link¡­"


    Although Liam has Kazto''s spatial warp techniques, those techniques can''t do much damage to Link''s ''Dao Rhythm''.


    And if Link covers his whole body in Dao Rhythm, then it would be very difficult for Liam tond a proper hit on Link.


    Moreover, unlike Rio, Link has extremely high strength.


    Link''s one punch is capable of directly sting his summoned beasts to smithereens.


    "Also¡­ that fast speed he showed just now¡­ That is definitely a movement art¡­ He won''t be too far behind in speed from now on¡­ He likely learned it to counter you specifically¡­"


    Even Rio couldn''t help but frown at those words.


    Link has always considered Rio his rival, so it wasn''t surprising that he would take some countermeasures against Rio''s insane speed.


    In the first ce, Rio''s movement arts were also given by Link; it won''t be surprising if he had a much better one for himself.


    All in all, this whole situation only made Rio more excited.


    ''As we had promised, both of us really ended up reaching the finals¡­''


    Rio and Link had promised to reach the finals, and now that was already done.


    All that remained was to engage inbat tomorrow.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we will get to see the long-awaited battle between Rio and Link¡­ This will be a sight to behold!


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think has the highest chance of winning in this fight?


    1. Link


    2. Rio


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 281 Rio as a tea shop owner?

    <h4>Chapter 281 Rio as a tea shop owner?</h4>


    Link hurriedly walked over to the cafeteria after changing clothes.


    Vanya''s fire attacks partially burned his clothes, so he had to return and take a shower to cool his head before changing clothes.


    But even then, Link barely took less than ten minutes to do all this, and after getting ready, he directly hurried over to the cafeteria without hesitation.


    When he reached the door of the cafeteria, he noticed several familiar figures sitting inside, so he immediately walked in.


    But then he was disappointed that Riya was still not there.


    "Yo, you are finally here¡­ The food nearly got cold waiting for you¡­"


    Link sat down on a nearby chair, and a confused look appeared on his face after hearing Liam''s words.


    "You guys were waiting for me?"


    At Link''s confused tone, Liam nodded his head and said,


    "Well, we already knew that you would rush here immediately after the match, so we already ordered some food for you too¡­ You can have it; today''s meal is on me¡­"


    Liam rarely shows such thankless kindness to anyone other than his summoned beasts.


    And today he was willing to pay for the meal for everyone, which just showed that he was also concerned about Link''s situation.


    After hearing Liam''s words, Link was on the verge of refuting them, but Rio intervened.


    "Eat properly¡­ You will be fighting me tomorrow if you end up losing¡­ don''t make an excuse that you were fighting with an empty stomach¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Link still wanted to refute them, but then Ellie appeared beside him and handed him a juice ss.


    Then all four of them stared at Link as if they wouldn''t let him go unless he ate something.


    The pressure from all four of them forced Link to eat his fill.


    He could feel it in his bones that if he dared not finish the food, the four of them would bind his legs and arms to forcefully feed him food.


    Link had no other choice.


    He hadn''t eaten anything since Riya had left, as he was feeling anxious and had no appetite at all.


    Despite the fact that Rank A individuals can endure for several months without any sleep, food, or water intake, All this still puts a psychological burden on a person.


    A living being can''t suppress their emotions for too long.


    Too much stress can cause mental health issues, and Link has been under so much stresstely that he has lost quite a bit of weight.


    To solve Link''s stress, the four of them came up with the simple n of forcing him to eat something delicious.


    Eating delicious food can also be considered a way to relieve stress.


    Link had a feeling that Riya wasn''t eating well these days, so he wasn''t in the mood to eat either, but now that everyone was forcing him to eat, there was no other choice.


    Rio poured Link some tea after he finished his meal.


    A puzzled expression appeared on Link''s face at that moment.


    "Who even drinks tea right after eating food?"


    To that question, Rio''s answer was straightforward.


    "Tea is not about drinking it or filling the stomach; it''s about enjoying the taste of this beautiful masterpiece. There''s no drink better than tea in this world¡­"


    "I may only have decent cooking skills, but when ites to making tea, I don''t think I am inferior to anyone!"


    A rare look of pride appeared on Rio''s face, which surprised all of them.


    It was extremely rare to see Rio talk so much about something, and it was even rarer to see him express his emotions that deeply.


    Even Lia was taken aback after hearing Rio''s words.


    Although she already knew that Rio was a big fan of tea and liked to drink it more than ten times a day, she didn''t know that he would feel so proud of it.


    (Fun Fact: Rio got addicted to tea because he didn''t have money to buy food¡­ he used it to skip meals in his past life¡­)


    ¡­


    A bewildered look appeared on Link''s face when he saw Rio smirk like that.


    Aside from Lia, generally no one sees his facial expressions much.


    Link has actually already started to think that Rio''s facial muscles were likely paralyzed or something, as they never seemed to change.


    But seeing it today, it seems that isn''t the case.


    Link immediately sipped the tea that Rio gave him, and his eyes widened in surprise.


    Even as the sole heir to the Rex family, Link had never drunk such amazing tea.


    Link has tried the tea made by national-level award holders that are working for his family, but even they seem to pale against Rio''s skills in this aspect.


    Rio is merely average in every other aspect of life, but when ites to making tea, no one can match him.


    "You really can make some insanely good tea¡­ How about you work as my personal butler? I will pay you handsomely!!"


    Rio shook his head at Link''s words, speaking in his usual emotionless tone.


    "Well... If I didn''t need to be stronger, I would have certainly liked to just open a small tea shop and live the rest of my life in peace; getting hired by a rich young master like you would have been even better¡­."


    Liam was taken aback by Rio''s words and asked withplicated emotions.


    "So... you are saying that, if you were an ordinary person and not an awakener, then you would have opened a tea shop? That would have been such a unique sight to see¡­"


    Rio nodded his head before speaking.


    "Actually¡­ I am nning on opening a tea stall after retiring from the life of an awakener¡­"


    Link and Liam, who bothe from wealthy families, struggle toprehend Rio''s perspective.


    They can''t understand what was so good about living your life in obscurity like that.


    In their opinion, living with hundreds of servants working to meet your needs was obviously better.


    You wouldn''t have to worry about anything, and even your daily needs would be taken care of.


    Rio ignored the two''s bewildered looks and sipped the tea with a slight smile on his face.


    He nced at Lia and then said, in a calm tone,


    "Well, if I had never be a strong awakener, I would not have been able to meet Lia¡­ So I think it''s better that I became an awakener; meeting her was the best thing that happened to me in this life¡­"


    Hearing such tant praise from Rio''s mouth, Lia was taken aback for a second, and then her face became a bit red as she smiled happily at those words.


    "Me too¡­ I think it was a great thing that I met you¡­"


    Lia''s voice was quiet and small, like a mosquito''s, but Rio heard it clearly, and he nodded his head at her words.


    Link gulped down all of the tea in one go and then said it with a rxed look on his face.


    "Well, if you say it like that¡­ Then meeting you was one of the best things that happened to me; after all, a rival like you is extremely rare¡­"


    Seeing that the usual rxed and calm look had returned to Link''s face at this moment, Rio nodded his head.


    ''Good, he''s back to his usual self now¡­''


    While Rio was relieved that Link was back to his usual self, Liam patted Ellie''s head, who was sitting with her head leaning on his shoulder.


    "Well, if you think of it like that¡­ Meeting Ellie was the best thing that happened to me in this life, and getting into this small friend group was the second best thing¡­"


    "I can''t deny that staying with you guys feels quite amazing¡­"


    Hearing Liam''s words of praise for her, Ellie stopped behaving like a mischievous kid and calmed down a bit.


    She was thrilled to hear such high praise.


    Rio put down his empty teacup and nced at Link.


    "As for Riya¡­ You should stop being too overprotective; if you keep things like that, she won''t be able to grow. Overprotectiveness can hinder a person''s progress."


    Hearing Rio''s words, a solemn look appeared on Link''s face.


    He started to think about it deeply, and he came to the conclusion that Rio''s words made some sense.


    Although Link wants to protect her, being too overprotective has bad effects on Riya.


    He might really be a hindrance to her growth.


    Looking at it this way, perhaps Riya''s time away from him served as a valuable training opportunity.


    She needs to learn to be self-sufficient. Link can shelter her from exterior threats, but if she can''t progress because of him, then he will be guiltier than ever.


    Thinking this far, the usual calm look returned to Link''s face.


    He seems to have figured out everything at that moment; he not only got rid of his anger, but his pent-up stress disappeared too.


    Having this simple chat with his friends helped him solve the problem that had been guing him for days.


    ''I just hope Riya returns safely¡­ Now I don''t mind waiting for a longer time¡­ It would be better if she improved a bit from her training...''


    All of them kept chatting for a bit longer, and then they dispersed one by one.


    This small get-together was indeed a good idea, it seems.


    Not only did Link get to calm down a bit, they even got to see Rio talking about his own hobbies today, which was extremely rare.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Link has calmed down a bit, and now he can fight with a calm and cool-headed mind. Let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day:


    Would you have been a regr customer at Rio''s tea shop, if he had one?


    1. Yes


    2. Absolutely yes!!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 282 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-1.

    ??Tournament of Supreme Talents, Final Day.


    The Final Match, 9:00 A.M.


    *Ladies and gentlemen! The long-awaited hour is upon us now!! We have reached the finals of this tournament!*


    Today is special because all of the candidates were now allowed to leave the waiting area freely, and they were all given seats in the stadium to watch the match with their own eyes.


    Now that the final match is here, all candidates are given the opportunity to learn from the fight between the final two candidates.


    Lia, Liam, and others all sat down in their designated seats to watch this match.


    Even the audience is divided into two factions today.


    The majority of the audience members are Link''s supporters or fans; only a small portion of the audience is here to support Rio.


    Link''s fan club is massive; there''s no doubt that he is extremely famous.


    Not to mention his amazing background, his own capabilities and talents are already enough to make people feel awe towards him.


    Moreover, Link is indeed very handsome; girls on the inte fawn over him a lot.


    On the other hand, Rio is the exact opposite; neither is he handsome nor does he have any big backgrounds. All he has is the path he carved out for himself with his own strength.


    The majority of his supporters are those whoe from poor families or have poor talents.


    They see him as a source of motivation and want to be like him.


    They want to climb up to the peak of the world just like Rio has done, even though he came from a humble family.


    Although fans all over the inte are fighting each other and saying that Link is stronger or Rio is better, things are different for Link and Rio.


    Both of them don''t think of the other party as weak or strong; they treat each other as ''Equals''.


    ...


    VVIP Area.


    "What do you think? Who is likely to win this match?"


    Hearing Ryul''s question, Ashtel shook his head and replied in a solemn tone.


    "I don''t know either... It''s impossible to distinguish weak or strong from them two... They are more like ''equals''; one is extremely talented in martial arts and the other is good at swordsmanship..."


    "It''s difficult to assume who will win..."


    Not just Ashtel, but all the other SS rankers were just as clueless as him.


    Although they have seen Link and Rio''sbat capabilities, it''s still very difficult to say who has the upper hand in the fight.


    If it were some other martial artist, then Rio''s speed would have been an advantage, but Link has such an insane defense that Rio''s speed has no proper advantage over Link.


    Furthermore, Link is not in a favorable position as he is unable to deliver a sessful hit against Rio.


    In other words, the situation between them is simr to when two professional gamers engage in a pvp duel; neither of them is able to hit or damage the other party, and it appears as if they are fighting and missing every attack.


    Gradba sighed and said,


    "Well, no matter which one wins, it''s ultimately the victory of your team, Astra, this time... Humans are the winners of this tournament this time, and this is already a solid fact..."


    Other SS rankers also nodded their heads.


    Regardless of who wins between Rio and Link, the victory will belong to the human race.


    Aside from the SS rankers, the whole inte is also boiling over this fight.


    Link is indeed famous, but people have seen Rio''s capabilities too. It''s tough to dere Link a winner so easily when Rio is fighting against him.


    Even the audience sitting in the stadium can''t help but gossip about this match. ...


    Reserved seats.


    Sitting on the seat prepared for her, Lia was feeling quite excited today.


    She has yet to see Rio''s true capabilities, and today is the best opportunity.


    After all, even Rio will have to go all out when fighting someone like Link; thus, she was already ready to analyze their fight and learn a lot from it.


    Ellie, who was sitting right beside her, was already munching on popcorn with stars shining in her eyes.


    Only Liam, who was sitting beside Ellie, was in a solemn mood.


    His whole attention was on the ground at this moment.


    Although he lost to Rio, he hadn''t used Ellie''s true powers in that fight, so he doesn''t think of himself as inferior.


    Today, he is nning to watch Link and Rio''s battle and improve his abilities to counter them both.


    Liam nced at Lia and asked in a calm voice,


    "Which one of them do you think has a higher chance of winning?"


    To Liam''s surprise, Lia shook her head and said,


    "I don''t know... Although I would like it if Rio won, it''s impossible to say who has a higher chance... Both of them are extremely talented in their respective fighting techniques..."


    "It is very difficult to make a proper guess¡­"


    Although Liam was surprised that Lia didn''t take Rio''s side, he also nodded his head after hearing her words.


    "Indeed, this fight can go in any direction¡­ I think the oue will likely depend on the exact conditions of that moment¡­ There''s no solid way to prove that one of them can certainly win."


    "This match might even end up in a draw, in my opinion¡­"


    This match is longer than the others.


    The duels before this match were only half an hour long, but this match is going to have a one-hour time limit, which means Rio and Link will have twice the original time to end this fight.


    If this battle ends in a draw, both of them will end up bing the champions, and both of them will get the rewards equally.


    ¡­


    *And now! Our first contender is entering the battle area! Please wee the ''DarkStar'' who carved his path with his own hands! Rose, from humble origins! The holder of the legendary rank skill ''Sword Intent''! Rio sh!!*


    Rio entered the stadium grounds at the end of that long introduction.


    Although being praised like that in front of the whole world felt quite embarrassing, Rio''s facial expressions didn''t change even a little bit. He remained as expressionless as ever.


    He walked over the middle of the stadium ground with slow and steady steps, waving his hand at the audience without a smile on his face.


    ''Ah, there she is¡­''


    Only when Rio''s eyes met Lia did he smile a bit.


    He saw her wave at him.


    ''Hmm, she''s cheering me up¡­ Well, with her watching me, I better not lose¡­''


    Lia was cheering for him, so Rio didn''t want to lose, and his confidence got a boost after seeing her beautiful smile.


    (Seeing that Lia was there to watch his match, Rio knew it was time to lock in!)


    *And on the other side! We have the one born with talent to rival the whole world!! The only son of the strongest man, Ashtel Rex! the holder of the legendary rank skill ''Dao Rhythm''!*


    *The one who is rumored to be the strongest in the younger generation! The one and Only! Link Rex!*


    Link walked into the stadium, and a smile hung over his face as usual.


    He had already gotten rid of the anger from thest time, and now he was in a normal mood.


    He was looking forward to fighting Rio.


    His every step seems to carry a heavy aura, and his handsome face caused many girls in the audience to scream.


    But Link wasn''t focused on all that; he nced around the stadium, feeling a bit disappointed after not finding that one particr person.


    Although thousands of fangirls were cheering for him, Link''s eyes were only searching for that one na?ve-looking girl who was not even here at the moment.


    ''Sigh, so she didn''te to the final match either¡­ I am going to scold her when she returns; she promised that she woulde to support and cheer me on in the finals¡­''


    Link shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    The massive fan base that was cheering for him didn''t matter to him at all; in his eyes, all those people weren''t even worth mentioning.


    Link walked toward the center and shook hands with Rio.


    "It seems we fulfilled our promise of meeting in the finals. I am looking forward to this battle now¡­"


    Link''s words were calm and carried a hit of excitement.


    He has fought five matches in this tournament, but he wasn''t able to go all out in any of the matches.


    Today, however, is different; he can unleash his full potential against Rio. He doesn''t need to hold anything back; instead, he will lose if he holds himself back.


    Today will be the day when he can fight freely and gain new insights.


    Rio''s thoughts were the same as Link''s; he was also nning on going all out today.


    Of course Rio won''t use soul splitting on Link even if he ends up losing this match; he''s not aiming to kill Link after all, and this is a friendly match between two rivals who are best friends with each other.


    But even without Soul splitting, Rio still has prepared other ways to counter Link, and Link has also prepared ways to counter Rio''s speed.


    Today, both of them are nning on solidifying their own strengths.


    After shaking hands, both of them stepped back a bit and made some distance between each other.


    They were already ready to go at any moment.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And here we go! The fight between ''equals'' has started; let''s see which one of them ends up seizing the title of the winner now¡­


    Question of the day.


    Doesn''t this scene feel like when you have to go against your homie who identally joined another team in a game battle?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 283 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-2.

    ??*The final battle, the battle to decide the supreme talent, the battle to figure out the champion of this tournament, is about to start!*


    *3!... 2!...1!... Fight!*


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s face when he heard the word fight.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Shattered Valley!]


    Rio''s sword touched the ground and split the ground in two in a single attack. The earth valley instantly destroyed the whole stadium ground, and debris flew into the air like crazy.


    If it were someone else, Rio and Link would have used big moves as starting moves, but they both knew about each other, so they didn''t use any big moves from the get-go.


    Even if they use big attacks from the start, neither side will be affected much; instead, it will waste mana too much, thus creating a disadvantage for yourself.


    The ground below Link''s feet copsed, but he didn''t care about it at all.


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Dragon Arts: Shockwave buster!]


    With the help of Dao Rhythm, Link didn''t fall down after the ground copsed; instead, he stood in the air and carried out his attack.


    His punch created massive air pressure and instantly swept away all of the debris that was flying in the air.


    With that shockwave, he forcefully cleared the dust in the air and returned visibility to normal.


    But Rio didn''t care a bit; he already expected that this simple attack wouldn''t do any damage to Link.


    ''Link certainly can use ''Dao Rhythm'' more efficiently now ifpared to the time when he first learned it during the dungeon of maya...''


    ''But he consumes more mana whenpared to me, as I have more mastery over my ''sword intent''... I just need to make him waste his mana.''


    Rio''s control and mastery over his sword intent is very precise and efficient. He''s been training his sword intent longer than Link has trained his dao rhythm.


    Rio can even use sword intent without even the need for a sword. (Like he does when he pranks Lia by making his hand cold...)


    But Link can''t do all of this yet; he hasn''t mastered the dao rhythm to that extent.


    So, if Rio can make Link use the dao rhythm again and again, he will eventually run out of mana.


    Moreover, drinking mana potions is against the rules of the tournament, so Link can''t replenish his mana once he''s out of mana.


    That''s when Rio will be able to do some decent damage.


    ''But still, this strategy has many loopholes... I would rather hope my other strategies work out...''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Ice Type: Absolute Freezing Point!]


    Rio held nothing back in this fight; usually he never uses elements other than fire, wind, and thunder, but today was different, and he didn''t hesitate to show that he can use other elements too.


    He himself doesn''t have aptitude for so many elements; it''s just that his sword art is of high rank and can help turn his mana into different types of elementals, that can be used to fight.


    Rio swung his sword in an upward motion, and the whole valley that he created was covered in thick ice in an instant.


    Moreover, the ice shards were pointed and sharp; if Link hadn''t covered himself with Dao Rhythm, he certainly would have gotten a few small cuts all over his body.


    *Crack!*


    Link shook his hand, and the ice on his hand cracked and broke apart in an instant.


    He''s considerably slower whenpared to Rio, so it''s difficult to properly dodge Rio''s attack.


    [Draconic Movement Art!]


    Link didn''t initially intend to learn this movement art, but Rio''s exceptional speedpelled him to devise countermeasures, necessitating the learning of this movement art in order to keep up with Rio''s pace.


    Even though he was barely able to keep up with Rio''s base speed, Link was already quite happy. (Rio isn''t using ''concentration'' and ''Darkwing movement arts'' yet, thus his base speed is slower...)


    Using the movement art, Link dodged those spear-like ice attacks and made his way towards Rio. But it''s obvious that Rio won''t let him get close so easily.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Overwhelming Tsunami!]


    Rio ced his sword around his waist and swung it in a horizontal manner.


    A massive amount of water elements condensed around his sword, and a tsunami was created out of thin air in an instant.


    Seeing that a tsunami hade his way, Link was totally unbothered; he had already covered himself with Dao Rhythm, and nothing could go past his defense at this point.


    [Dragon Arts: Ice dragon''s breath!]


    Obviously, Link''s dragon art is not inferior to Rio''s sword art.


    When he punched toward the massive tsunami, ice elements condensed around his punch and directly froze the watering his way.


    Moreover, the shockwave produced by his punch even shattered the frozen ice, clearing the view in front of him.


    The water that wasn''t frozen fell on him, but it did no harm as he was covered in Dao rhythm all over his body.


    "You will have to be more aggressive if you want tond a hit on me, Rio!"


    Link stomped the ground, and the whole stadium ground cracked in an instant; even the SS-rank barrier trembled for a millisecond from the might of that stomp.


    [Dragon Arts: Dragon''s Might!]


    Link''s aura condensed and covered the whole area in his draconic might, making the mana sluggish in the area.


    Although this will obviously affect him too, the biggest advantage of this will be that Rio''s long-range elemental attacks won''t be as effective as before.


    When pressured by a dragon''s might, even mana feels sluggish; that''s why Link used this.


    His own mana will not be sluggish because he has used this technique, but Rio will definitely be affected by it.


    His base speed will drastically slow down, and Link will be able to see his attacking.


    This is the solution that Link came up with. (Yeah, this technique wasn''t originally a part of this ''dragon art''; Link personally created this technique to deal with Rio specifically¡­)


    ''And this isn''t all!''


    [Dragon Arts: Dragon''s Domain!]


    Using Link as a center, a massive field unfolded and covered the entire stadium; if not for the SS-rank barrier, it could have spread even further. (It''s simr to Ellie''s shadow field or Arner''s static field¡­)


    Not only did that field give Link a higher sensitivity to Rio''s attack, but it also helped him improve his attack damage in that small range.


    Although this would not have worked on Rio if the battlefield was bigger, right now they are confined inside an SS-rank barrier, so Link can easily force Rio to stay in his field.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wood Type: Wooden Spikes!]


    Rio ced the tip of his sword on the ground, and a massive wooden spike burst out from the ground andunched at Link at an immense speed.


    But due to the effects of the dragon field, Link was able to keep up with Rio''s attack speed; he dodged those wooden spikes and punched quite a few of them head-on.


    He suffered no damage due to Dao Rhythm.


    Although Link seemed to have gained an advantage, he wasn''t pleased at all.


    He had already expended a significant amount of mana by continuously using Dao Rhythm, and his efficiency was low, resulting in significant mana waste.


    The longer this fight drags on, the more things will get difficult for him.


    On the other hand, Rio hasn''t even used his sword intent yet.


    ''He''s dragging the fight on purpose¡­''


    Link also figured out Rio''s n in that moment, but there was no other way.


    He can''t stop his Dragon Field or Dao rhythm now; otherwise, he won''t be able to keep up with Rio''s speed.


    ''Tch, I must settle this battle quickly; the more it drags, the more I will get at a disadvantage!''


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Shockwave!]


    ''I have only recently created it, so I don''t have many techniques in it, but this one should work!''


    Rio''s insane and vast amount of abilities forced Link to create his own technique. He had to create this technique, especially to counter Rio''s insane speed.


    A spatial shockwave travels through the spacetime fabric itself; thus, its speed has no limits at all.


    It''s basically a copy of Ashtel''s world authority. Link was able to create a technique out of an SS-ranker''s world authority¡­ That''s absolutely insane!


    Only someone as insane as Link could attempt to copy a world authority and turn it into a technique of his own.


    (Ashtel was right; Link will surpass him eventually¡­ This guy is insane!!)


    That shockwave attack had a speed that even Rio couldn''t defend against, as it was traveling right through the space-


    time fabric with no restrictions on it.


    That attack forced Rio to bring out his trump cards; the ordinary-looking ring on his finger shone, and the shadow robe instantly covered his whole body.


    That shock wave passed right through Rio and didn''t harm him at all.


    Link''s normal punches are already extremely strong, and right now this attack not only had an insane speed, it was enhanced by ''Dao Rhythm''.


    If Rio had confronted this attack directly, he probably would have fractured all the bones in his arms and upper torso, leaving him with no alternative but to utilize that shadow robe.


    And Link was waiting for this exact moment.


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Rush!]


    ''Dao Rhythm'', ''Draconic movement art'', ''Dragon Field'' and this spatial rush technique, Link used all of them at the same time to give himself a push.


    At this moment, his speed became equal to Rio''s.


    ''I have seen that robe many times; you think I don''t have any countermeasures for it by now?"


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Bypass!]


    Link''s punch bypassed Rio''s shadow robe as he manipted the space-time fabric itself, and for the first time, Linknded a direct hit on Rio with such massive force.


    *Boom!*


    Rio flew away like a cannon ball from the impact of that punch, hitting the SS-rank barrier in an instant.


    That single attack shattered his internal organs and cracked his ribs, causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood.


    Rio wasn''t using his ''DarkWing Movement Art'' at that moment, so he was taken aback by the sudden increase in Link''s speed, and that single millisecond of carelessness cost him a lot.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Link really is a menace, bro; he literally created a new martial art technique out of nowhere, just so he can deal with Rio. That''s insane, bruh. Extremely insane!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Rio will be able to keep up with Link until he runs out of mana?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 284 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-3.

    Chapter 284 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-3.


    ??VVIP Area.


    "d*mn!! He really was holding back against Vanya! This guy is insane! He even copied an SS-rankers ''authority'' and turned it into a new martial arts style!? Monster! Absolute monster!!"


    Ryul was so shocked by Link''s feats that he couldn''t express his surprise in proper words.


    He had never seen an absolute monstrous talent like Link. Link''s talent is basically against the sky.


    Even Ashtel''s eyes widened in sheer shock when Link pulled off that attack so easily.


    "T-this is!?"


    Other SS-rankers were so speechless that they didn''t even bother saying anything and just stood there to watch the show with widened eyes.


    Copying an SS-rankers'' ''world authority'' and turning it into a martial art technique is not as simple as it sounds!


    Vanya and Miki created their ''unique'' styles by taking references from pre-existing martial art techniques, but they didn''t dare make many changes to the technique.


    They only changed it to suit their needs, but Link is different.


    He took no references at all; he likely just saw Ashtel use his ''world authority'' and then figured out how to use that technique.


    He possesses ''Dao Rhythm'', which has the ability to influence thews of the world. Simrly, ''world authority'' grants the user absolute authority over a specific w'' of the world.


    In other words, with the help of ''Dao Rhythm'', Link can use a weaker version of Ashtel''s ''world authority''.


    And as ''World authority'' can influence thews of the world, Link was able to do the same; he directly bypassed Rio''s shadow armor by influencing thew of space-time maniption, and his attacknded urately on Rio.


    There are numerous reasons why Link was able to aplish all of this.


    Not only does he have Dao rhythm and Ashtel''s guidance, but he also saw Alverto ''bypass'' Rio''s shadow armor when they were in Oaklum.


    In that one nce, Link had learned ''Bypass'' from Alverto.


    ...


    Reserved Seats.


    Liam''s eyes widened in shock, and he stood up from his seat to watch it more clearly.


    After witnessing that attack, a single word kept recurring in his mind.


    ''Insanity!!''


    "T-this.... Even if I use Ellie and my other summoned beasts together... I might not be able to beat Link if he uses that attack!"


    Even Ellie, who was stuffing her mouth with popcorn, had a serious look in her eyes at that moment.


    If Link and Liam ended up fighting one day, she might not be able to protect Liam from this attack, so she was already thinking of some kind of countermeasure.


    But no matter what you try toe up with, it pales inparison to Link''s attack.


    Ashtel''s "world authority" directly influenced the space-time fabric, and Link is doing the same, despite not even having reached rank S yet!


    Ordinary awakeners are only able to influence the space-time fabric after they reach rank S.


    But Liam has already started to use it as an attack method without even reaching rank S; even the brightest geniuses in the history of mankind seem pale against his talent.


    Lia was already clenching her fists tightly. She wanted to go and help Rio out, but that''s against the rules, and she can''t even pass that SS-rank barrier, so she was helpless.


    The only thing she can do at this point is believe in Rio.


    ...


    (Important Info dump ahead.)


    Keep in mind that Rio does have ''X'' rank talent, but since ''X'' symbolizes ''Limitless potential'', Rio''s improvement speed is not infinite.


    His improvement speed is still that of a normal SSS ranker''s, because ''infinite'' improvement speed is impossible.


    If he had ''infinite'' improvement speed, he would have already achieved rank SSS; why go through all the trouble at that point, right?


    The world has its own limits too; this world can barely even withstand the existence of an SSS ranker, but it''s not strong enough to withstand anything further than that.


    Thus, the world limits Rio''s improvement speed to rank SSS, as thews of this world can''t withstand anything further than that.


    ...


    Stadium ground.


    If it were someone else, they would have already fainted from the sheer pain, but Rio doesn''t feel anything at all; among all of his emotions, fear, pain, regret, etc. got suppressed the most.


    So he barely even feels anything.


    This is not an advantage, though; without pain, you won''t know if you got injured or something.


    Rio is only fine because he can see his own health bar in the status menu.


    Otherwise, he might not even know if he was bleeding to death.


    Rio slowly got up from the ground; he put some mana into the shadow robe and changed its properties a bit.


    The robe became stronger after getting Rio''s mana, and now it can support Rio''s injured body.


    Even if Rio''s runs around, his damaged organs won''t be much affected, as all of the load will be taken by the shadowrobe.


    For the time being, Link stood there in the distance and didn''t attack; he had a feeling that if he attacked at this moment, Rio would pull out something very dangerous.


    His intuition has always been very urate, so he kept some distance.


    Rio''s eyes stared at Link for a second.


    [Body Strengthening!]


    [Concentration!]


    [Dark Wing Movement Art]


    After buffing himself quite a bit, Rio ced his sword around his waist and took his stance.


    [Sword Intent!]


    "I didn''t want to use this, but¡­ I guess I will lose if I don''t pull out some trump cards¡­"


    Before Link could answer, Rio''s sword turned pitch ck, and a sinister power covered it in an instant.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Miasmic Corruption!]


    Rio shed towards the ground, and a pitch-ck sword mark appeared on the ground.


    The dark mark instantly spread all around and directly corrupted Link''s dragon field in a matter of seconds.


    Even Link was taken aback by that.


    He has seen Rio use many types of elemental attacks, but he has never seen Rio use ''Miasma''.


    A frown appeared on Link''s face as he saw his dragon field copse. He gritted his teeth and spoke:


    "Only demons can use miasma and corruption¡­ How are you using it, Rio!?"


    Rio just shook his head and replied.


    "Don''t assume that you were the only person who learned something new from that demon prince; I obviously learned the usage of miasma from that guy!"


    Rio''s figure blurred in an instant and appeared directly on Link''s right side.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Absolute Corruption!]


    Rio swung his sword in a horizontal motion, and Link immediately covered himself with Dao Rhythm to defend himself from that attack.


    But it was useless.


    Rio''s has enhanced that attack with his own sword intent, and his sword intent is many times stronger and more precise than Link''s Dao Rhythm.


    In that sh of two legendary skills, the one with more mastery and precision got the upper hand.


    The sword strike barely scratched Link before he jumped back to dodge it, but that small scratch was enough.


    Miasma began to spread rapidly throughout his body; the corruption was so strong that it briefly caused his eyes to blur, and he felt as though his head was spinning.


    Enhanced by ''Sword Intent'' Rio''s corruption ability is equivalent to that of an S-rank demon at this point, and Link got a direct hit from it, so he was bound to suffer some damage.


    He had to use a massive amount of mana to increase the output of his Dao Rhythm to get rid of that spreading miasmic corruption; it only took three seconds to do that.


    But for someone as fast as Rio, those three seconds were enough.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Time Type: Curse of Aging!]


    When Link was still focusing more on getting rid of that miasma by focusing his ''Dao Rhythm'', Rio seized the opportunity, and his sword directly struck Link''s right hand.


    Covered with time elements and enhanced with sword intent, when the sword touched Link''s hand, that particr area of Link''s hand started to age wildly.


    And in those three seconds, Link''s hand aged 500 years and was directly cut off by Rio''s sword.


    Blood spurted out of that severed arm like crazy; this was the first time Link had gotten so badly injured.


    Not only was he fighting with miasma, but his whole right arm was also cut off in a matter of seconds.


    (Keep in mind that only the area that was touched by Rio''s sword strike aged, and broke apart, but the rest of the arm didn''t suffer from age¡­ Rio''s time-type attack was extremely precise¡­)


    But to Rio''s surprise, Link didn''t even flinch from that insane wound; after the three seconds passed, he immediately got rid of the miasma and tightened his shoulder muscles to forcefully stop his own bleeding.


    He didn''t waste a single second, directly punching Rio''s face with his other arm.


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Spatial Bypass!]


    Rio barely dodged that attack by tilting his head to the side, but that unexpected punch still grazed him a bit, and it directly shattered Rio''s right eyeball, and even his facial muscles cracked.


    His right ear was destroyed too.


    Link and Rio both jumped back to keep some distance from each other.


    They had traded injuries for injuries.


    Link had ignored his wounds in order tond a decent hit on Rio, but due to the copse of the dragon field, he couldn''t keep up with Rio at all.


    At that point, Link gritted his teeth and shouted,


    "This isn''t the end!"


    He stomped his feet on the ground.


    [Dragon Arts: Dragon''s Domain]


    A new dragon field appeared in an instant, and Link gained his speed once again.


    He has a lot of mana; he can keep spamming it until he takes down Rio.


    Seeing this, a rare solemn look appeared on Rio''s face. Time was running out. He was heavily injured at the moment, and his ''HP'' was dropping fast; he has to settle this match early.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Rio''s elemental sword art is an extremely broken technique?


    1. Yes (It lets him use all elements, which is insane!)


    2. No (Rio added those miasma and time type attacks himself, he learned them from Alverto!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 285 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-4.

    ??VVIP Area.


    "He can use miasma!? What the actual f*CK!?"


    Jin was so bewildered by Rio''s use of miasma that he ended up using swear words and even forgot about the other SS-rankers.


    But no one stopped him from swearing; after all, others were just as shocked as he was.


    Gradba nced at Ashtel and asked,


    "Uh, isn''t the younger generation of the human race too crazy this time? That little guy even copied the abilities of a demon. Only someone insane would dare attempt that..."


    Hearing those words, Ashtel shook his head.


    "I think he has some way to nullify the effects of miasma... Even for me, this is the first time I have seen a human use miasma so effectively... There are no records of people doing that before in the long annals of history..."


    "This little guy is unique..."


    If someone other than Demons tries to use miasma, they end up getting corrupted and demonized.


    However, Rio was clearly fit and fine, and he used miasma as a technique rather than an independent power.


    He''s influencing the elements in his surroundings to condense using his own mana.


    Although it sounds quite easy, only a fearless guy like Rio could attempt to do such a thing.


    Others are hesitant to incorporate miasma-type attacks into their techniques for fear of corruption.


    Rio, however, is unique; he possesses ''true immunity'', meaning that even if you immerse him in the ''sea of endless miasma'' for years, he will remain unaffected.


    So he doesn''t need to worry about getting corrupted, so he can use miasma-type attacks without any worries.


    Only his enemies will suffer, not him.


    Those types of attacks would have severely injured Link if he hadn''t had ''Dao Rhythm'' to resist the effects of miasma.


    When others fight with demons, they usually wear specially made armor that gives them resistance to miasma, or they can cover their bodies with mana to counter the miasma.


    Additionally, you can forcefully expel miasma from your body by concentrating your mana in the affected area.


    However, all of these methods are less effective than using abilities that involve the world''s ws''.


    If you use ''Dao Rhythm'', ''Sword Intent'', etc. to expel the miasma, it would be much more effective.


    And if you need absolute immunity from miasma, then you would need skills like Rio''s ''True Immunity'' or Lia''s ''Conqueror of Darkness'', etc.


    Obviously, these skills are rare and not everyone has them, but that''s where the healerse into y.


    In a battle against demons, healers are an absolute necessity.


    They can give you buffs and increase your resistance; if you get affected by miasma, ''purification-type healing magic'' is very effective to counter it.


    That''s also the reason why the demons always prefer targeting the healers first, even they know that getting rid of the healers is the key to victory.


    ...


    Stadium Ground.


    *Boom!* *Bam!*


    Link and Rio attacked each other endlessly; their attacking and counterattacking speeds were so fast that even the cameras were having difficulty capturing their movements properly.


    The only thing visible was the repeated collision of a sword and a fist.


    In just three seconds, the two of them had attacked each other nearly a thousand times.


    While fighting, theyid waste to the whole battle field, and broken debris was flying in the air like crazy, making it even more difficult to see their moves.


    In the span of ten seconds, Rio destroyed Link''s dragon field five times, and Link continued to deploy them again and again to keep up with Rio''s speed. Both of them refused to let the other party get even a little bit of an advantage.


    Whenever Rio attempted to attack Link after destroying the dragon field, Link would enhance his body with Dao Rhythm, canceling out the attack, and then deploy the dragon field again.


    Rio would then have to use sword intent and miasma to destroy the dragon field again.


    This process of repeatedly countering each othersted for five minutes straight.


    Even the SS-rank barrier got some small cracks in it after getting hit by Link and Rio''s various attacks.


    ''Sword Intent'', ''Dao Rhythm'', ''Space Type Attacks'', and ''Miasma Type'' attacks were all being used again and again; some of them missed, some of themnded, and some of them struck the SS-rank barrier, causing cracks in it.


    Although the SS-rank barrier can heal itself easily, making cracks in it while still at rank A is an insane feat.


    People were watching with shocked looks on their faces as Link and Rio fought each other endlessly.


    Rio raised the sword above his shoulder.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Time Type: elerated Hundred Hours!]


    The ''time type'' technique elerated Rio''s sword strike, causing him to hit Link 100 times in a millisecond.


    Those attacks created air pressure that cracked the ground, sending debris flying in all directions.


    But Link was unfazed; although he only has one hand now, he''s not defenseless.


    [Dragon Arts: Leg Type: Destructive Dragon Kick!]


    All of Rio''s sword attacksnded on Link and created wounds on his body, but he ignored them, and his kick hit Rio''s left shoulder.


    He had used his kick attack in sync with the ''Spatial Bypass'', which means Rio''s was hit on the shoulder and his bones broke in an instant.


    The two of them traded an injury for another; neither of them was backing down at all.


    At this point, both of them are severely injured, but they are still fighting like crazy.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Thousand Miasmic Thrusts!]


    Rio''s thrust attacks oddly resembled Lia''s thrust technique; he had copied her technique, and he was using it in sync with Miasma now.


    Which means the lethality of that attack was increased by a hundred times when in Rio''s hands.


    But Link wasn''t going to be outdone.


    [Link Style Martial Arts: Absolute Deflection!]


    Link concentrated his ''Dao Rhythm'' on his hand, and his hand slithered in the air in a rhythmic manner, easily deflecting most of those thrust attacks.


    That was clearly a copy of Rio''s ''handling'' skill.


    But since Link has only recently created this ''Link style martial art'', he wasn''t able to deflect all of the thousand thrust attacks, and quite a few still hit him.


    He gritted his teeth and jumped back a bit to use ''Dao Rhythm'' to expel the miasma from his body.


    Link had seen all of Rio''s battles beforeing to this one, and he was fully prepared to defeat Rio today.


    However, he was unaware that Rio was also capable of using Miasma and time-type techniques, which is why he hasn''t been able to defeat Rio up to this point.


    Just after Link had made the distance to expel Miasma, Rio also jumped back to take a breather.


    He nced at the timer.


    [Time left: 15 min, 43 sec.]


    Nearly 45 minutes have passed since Rio and Link started fighting; they have been going at each other like crazy.


    Rio has many broken bones and damaged internal organs; by now, his ''HP'' is decreasing extremely fast.


    Link isn''t doing much better either; he''s nearly out of mana, as he''s been using ''Dao Rhythm'' continuously to counter Rio''s thousands upon thousands of attacks.


    In the past 45 minutes, Link has countered nearly 20 thousand attacks from Rio, and yet he got hit by many of them.


    His whole body is covered in cuts, and after being affected by miasma so many times, he has started to feel weak, and his head is spinning like crazy.


    ¡­


    Link got rid of the miasma and stared at Rio with his blurry eyes.


    ''I don''t have much mana left; once I am out of mana, my ''Dao Rhythm'' will be extremely weak, and I won''t be able to counter Rio''s attacks¡­ This is getting difficult¡­''


    Legendary skills such as sword intent and dao rhythm have no ranks; their power depends on the user''s mastery.


    You can use a legendary skill without the need for mana, but without the support of mana, the effects of the skill would be much weaker.


    If it were someone else, Link wouldn''t have needed to worry about running out of mana, as he could have used his ''Dao Rhythm'' even without mana.


    But Rio is different.


    His mastery over ''Sword Intent'' is much better than Link''s.


    Once Link runs out of mana, Rio''s ''Sword Intent'' will easily dominate his ''Dao Rhythm'', and he will be at a big disadvantage.


    That''s why Link wanted to finish things before he ran out of mana.


    He gritted his teeth and took his stance. He stomped the ground and tightened his muscles.


    ''It''s now or never¡­ I must win this match; I promised Riya that I would be the champion; I must not break it¡­''


    When Rio noticed Link''s serious look, he knew that a big attack wasing, and he also took his stance.


    A solemn look appeared on his face that was hidden under the shadow robe, and he ced his sword beside his waist.


    ''To take that ''hidden chance'', I must win this match; I can''t afford to lose today¡­''


    Rio would have already admitted defeat by now if not for the fact that he really needed to win this tournament to steal Fade''s chance.


    Rio, being a professional thief, never backs down when ites to stealing the protagonist''s chances.


    Link and Rio stared into each other''s eyes and used their powers at the exact same time, as if they were in sync with each other.


    [Sword Intent: Overload!]


    [Dao Rhythm: Overload!]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! D*mn! Rio and Link are really going at each other with full force; no one is backing down at all¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think will win?


    1. Link (I kind of feel that Link is the author''s favorite character¡­)


    2. Rio (As a professional thief, Rio will definitely win this at all costs¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 286 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-5.

    Chapter 286 Link Vs. Rio, The Battle Of Absolute Talents! Part-5.


    ??Using ''Sword Intent'' or ''Dao Rhythm'' in an ''overload'' state means that Rio and Link are going beyond their usual output by pouring an immense amount of mana into their respective skills.


    The user''s control over their skill weakens in the ''overload'' state, but their output significantly increases, allowing them to deal more damage.


    Link and Rio both took their stance and attacked each other with the maximum strength that they could use.


    Link covered his fist with ''Dao Rhythm'' and punched towards Rio; on the other hand, Rio covered his sword with ''Sword intent'' and shed towards Link.


    Their attacks collided, and the ground cracked.


    The collision of two legendary rank skills at such intensity caused even the space-time fabric to tremble and start cracking.


    Even the SS-rank barrier trembled a bit, and the massive air pressure created by their attack destroyed the whole stadium ground.


    Sparks of sword intent and Dao rhythm flew everywhere, and some of them hit Link and Rio too.


    Rio was wearing his shadow robe, so he was rarely injured, but Link was getting hit again and again.


    Rio''s shadow robe can''t defend against a legendary skill if the concentration is too high; thus, he gets hit when an asional spark with greater concentration hits him, but still, he was getting less injured than Link.


    At this moment of final confrontation, the whole audience had their eyes widening in shock.


    Link and Rio have been fighting back and forth for more than fifty minutes without a clear victor. Some people were already thinking that this match might end in a draw, and they might get two champions this time.


    But this onest confrontation has changed everything.


    Up until this point, Rio had been sparingly using his ''Sword Intent'' and conserving his mana.


    Furthermore, he deliberately employed ''Miasma'' type attacks topel Link to repeatedly use ''Dao Rhythm'', thereby wasting his own mana.


    Unlike Rio, Link has been using ''Dao Rhythm'' for nearly the entire fight, and because his mastery over ''Dao Rhythm'' is not as strong as Rio''s mastery over ''Sword Intent'', he wastes more mana whenever he uses ''Dao Rhythm''.


    Link also knew that Rio was purposely making him waste his mana, but Link had no other choice; if he didn''t use ''Dao Rhythm'', Rio would attack him with ''Time Type'' attacks, and he would suffer heavy injuries.


    Rio wasn''t doing much better either; his ''HP'' was clearly lower than Link''s, and he had taken quite a few ''Bypass'' type punches.


    If not for the fact that he can''t feel pain, he wouldn''t even have been able to move, as nearly all his internal organs are already destroyed and his heart has stopped beating.


    He has barely any time left before he faints, and the teleportation circle takes him away.


    If the match is not settled right now, then he can lose too.


    Since Link and Rio are nearly equal, the only way to determine the winner is by, ''Who can keep standing for longer?''


    The one who can keep standing their ground will eventually win.


    The SS rankers, the audience, and everyone else who was looking at this match had gone silent at this moment.


    Everyone''s eyes are focused on this final confrontation.


    Some want Link to win, and some are praying for Rio.


    Just when Rio was about to lose consciousness, he saw the worried look on Lia''s face from the corner of his eyes, and his mind became focused once again.


    In the spur of a moment, Rio deactivated his ''Sword Intent''.


    [Handling!]


    He used all his force to deflect Link''s punch''s trajectory by a centimeter, and then he twisted his wrist to do a sword thrust.


    [Sword Intent!]


    Link was taken aback by that sudden change. He didn''t expect that Rio would pull back at such a critical moment, and that move was totally unexpected.


    He hadn''t been using a Dragon field right now, as it was already shattered by Rio a while ago, so he wasn''t able to predict Rio''s hidden attacking towards him.


    Moreover, he had poured all of his mana into his ''Dao Rhythm'' to enhance his punch; thus, his body was unprotected at this moment.


    *Boom!*


    The sword thrust hit Link directly in the chest, and he flew away like a cannonball from the impact of that attack.


    A massive stab wound appeared on his chest; Rio had clearly pierced his heart in that instant.


    Moreover, Link had already used all of his mana, so he immediately lost consciousness after hitting the SS-rank barrier and falling to the ground.


    The teleportation circle appeared and took him away in an instant.


    Rio raised his sword towards the sky with his trembling hand; his shadow robe got deactivated, and his blood-soaked face appeared in full disy.


    Blood flowed from his mouth, but a smile hung over his face as he knew that he had won at that final moment.


    *Amazingly breathtaking!! Rio sh has emerged as the champion of this tournament and has proved his skills to the whole world!*


    Rio didn''t even have the energy to hear the rest of the announcement; he just fell down and fainted instantly.


    The teleportation circle appeared and took him to the S-rank healers waiting in the infirmary area.


    ¡­


    VVIP Area.


    All SS-rankers stood up from their seats to p for Rio''s victory.


    Although it was not their own candidate that had won, denying the hard work of a junior is not their type of thing.


    As SS-rankers, they represent the acknowledgement of a race.


    By pping for Rio''s victory, they showed that their race has acknowledged Rio as the final victor of this tournament.


    The result was clear to everyone at this moment, so it would be weird if you didn''t p now, as it would be seen by others that you were dissatisfied with the fact that your race didn''t win.


    Since no one wanted to lose face for their race, all of them pped with smiles on their faces, but they also noted Rio''s name.


    They all knew that a new ''monster'' had appeared in this world and that the next era would be dominated by humans.


    All SS-rankers came forward to shake hands with Ashtel and Jin to congratte them on the ultimate victory of the human race in this world-level tournament.


    The whole human race will feel proud when they look back at these tournament videos, as they will feel happy to see that the human race has overshadowed everyone else in this tournament.


    Not only Rio, but the other members of team Astra have also dominated the tournament, and technically all of them only lost to Rio, the tournament''s champion.


    Although it''s quite strange that Rio was the one who eliminated the entire team Astra with his own hands, it''s still a good thing that he won the tournament on their behalf, at least.


    Ashtel wasn''t sad that Link had lost this championship; instead, he was happy.


    This is the first time Link has ever lost to the same person twice, even after exerting maximum effort.


    Not only did Rio defeat him in the New Year festival event, but he also defeated him in this tournament.


    Which means Link has found a great rival now.


    The rivalry with Rio will undoubtedly give Link massive motivation to improve, and he will certainly improve quickly after today.


    [As they say, sometimes taking a step back is the key to progress¡­] (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    In the end, regardless of who emerged victorious between Link and Rio, both parties would gain motivation to advance.


    Today, Rio only won by a small margin; the oue could have been totally different if Rio hadn''t made that final move or Link still had a ''Dragon Field'' deployed.


    But there are no ''ifs'' in a battle; you either win or lose.


    So, this loss will definitely motivate Link to improve his mastery over his ''Dao Rhythm'' ande up with some countermeasures to Rio''s endless arsenal of techniques.


    Thinking about all this, Ashtel felt happy. He shook hands with all the SS-rankers one by one and epted their praises with a rare smile on his usually stern face.


    ¡­


    Reserved Area.


    Lia, Liam, and Ellie all three of them got up from their seats and left immediately in the direction of the infirmary after the match ended.


    To them, it didn''t matter who was the victor; it was more important to check on the health of Rio and Link.


    Liam is not the type of person to feel anxious about any random person, but now that he has considered Link and Rio as his friends, he is worried about them too.


    Furthermore, Rio still has Lia to care for him, but Riya is currently absent, so he would need to visit Link to assess his condition.


    If Riya were still here, he wouldn''t have bothered looking for Link, but if something happened to Link in her absence, then even Liam would feel guilty.


    (In other words, all six of them have be close friends now, so they are worried about each other¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! After a long and dangerous battle, Rio finally emerges as the victor.. phew~


    Question of the day.


    Do you also believe that if Riya had been there to support Link, the oue would have been different?


    1. Yes. (She would have been a great emotional support for him¡­)


    2. No. (Fighting Rio is extremely tricky, the guy has too many techniques up his sleeve¡­ the oue likely won''t change¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 287 Link and Rio, Eternal Rivals... Part-1.

    ??Capital City Astra, Rex Mansion.


    "Ugh¡­ master Link lost¡­ sigh~... It seems he really has found a great rival this time¡­"


    Ste was feeling quite anxious for Link right now. This is the first time she has seen him getting this much injured after all.


    Usually, Link is very tough, and he rarely ever gets heavily injured, but today he was beaten half to death by Rio.


    This tournament really ended in a shocking way. Who could have expected that the rumored ''unbeatable'' Link would end up getting defeated by Rio?


    Although Link didn''t win, Ste didn''t care about that much. She was more worried about his health.


    Rio''sst attack clearly pierced his heart in go with ''Sword Intent'', and that was a devastating blow, which could not be overlooked.


    Even an S-ranker will have difficulty healing a wound created by a legendary rank skill.


    Riya''s healing power will be more effective on him instead, as she has the ''Heart Of Eternal Nirvana'' now.


    But as Riya hasn''t returned yet, thus, it''s going to take some time to heal Link from those injuries.


    "It''s clear that Rio likely didn''t suffer many fatal wounds whenpared to Link¡­ I don''t know how long it will take him to recover now¡­ sigh~"


    The more Ste thought about it, the more worried she became. She doesn''t know how Link is now, thus, it''s causing her a lot of anxiety.


    Hearing Ste''s worried tone, Olin couldn''t help but shake his head.


    "Master Ashtel is there to watch over them. You don''t need to worry about his safety. Nothing will happen to young master Link under his watch¡­"


    Only after hearing Olin''s words did Ste feel a bit relieved.


    She has raised Link like her own grandchild, so she''s always worried about his health.


    She is the one who instilled the idea of being punctual in Link.


    Link used to train day and night like crazy. She had to scold him to make him focus on his health.


    Only then did Link start following a proper schedule. Otherwise, he was just training like crazy all day long.


    "Sigh~... This child is just as stubborn as his father used to be¡­ he never listens. I told him to not push himself too much during fights before he left¡­ and see! He didn''t listen at all!"


    Hearing Ste''s words, Olin smiled a bit and said in a calm voice.


    "Hehe¡­ I think the only reason he was forced to push his limits so much was because of that kid Rio¡­ young master Link likely didn''t want to lose to him¡­"


    Olin''s words made Ste feel distressed.


    Link has never faced such a thorough defeat before. She was worried that this defeat might end up creating a dark shadow in his heart.


    Link has always been unrivalled and unstoppable, his strength has made him shine all over the world.


    But today, he lost to Rio fair and square right in front of the whole world. This might really be a source of great regret for him.


    "Sigh~... I just hope that little girl Riya will cheer him up a bit¡­ this fight might really have dealt a heavy blow to his pride¡­"


    Hearing Ste''s worried voice, Olin shook his head andughed a bit.


    "Haha, you are worrying too much. With youngdy Riya on his side, I don''t think he will be affected much¡­ instead, this might serve as a source of great motivation for him¡­"


    Ste also felt a bit relieved after hearing those words. She nced at the sky through the nearby window and said in a calm voice.


    "I hope so too¡­"


    ¡­


    Rex Mansion, Bodyguard''s changing room.


    "D*mn! Boss has lost!?"


    Several of the bodyguards couldn''t believe what they were seeing. Link losing in a fair and square fight was indeed very difficult to digest. This is the first time they have seen him lose so badly. Even the usually calm and collected butler, Boris, was also feeling nervous at this moment.


    They were all feeling worried about Link''s wellbeing.


    Seeing the worried looks on the guards'' faces, Boris tried to cheer them up a bit.


    "Uh¡­d-don''t worry guys, youngdy Riya is there too, she definitely won''t let anything happen to him¡­"


    Only after hearing her name did the bodyguards heave a sigh of relief.


    (They actually trust Riya''s healing skills more than an S-rank healer''s¡­)


    All of the bodyguards prayed for Link''s swift recovery as they didn''t think that someone like Link would get upset over a small loss like that.


    To them, Link is the most dashing and awe-inspiring idol, who works hard to live up to his father''s expectations.


    (The reason why all of them were ready to give their lives for Link in the original plotline was because they care about him a lot, and those who care about a viin, die in the hand of a protagonist eventually.)


    ¡­


    Eastern area of the Human Empire Underground Tavern, Novo.


    *Crack!*


    A ss of wine fell from Irvin''s hand and the wine sttered all over the ground, but Irvin didn''t even bother looking at that broken ss. He was so shocked from what he saw on the smartphone screen that he didn''t even care about that precious wine anymore.


    "H-he defeated the son of the strongest SS-ranker!? D*mn!"


    Irvin has just seen the video and has found out that Rio had defeated Link after a long one-hour duel. This was so shocking that he couldn''t help but widen his eyes and watch it over and over.


    "Such insane mastery over ''Sword Intent''... this guy is a monster¡­"


    Irvin''s shock is justified. When an individual uses their trump cards, their strongest moves, they are basically using their strongest attacks.


    Usually, it is possible to divert the trajectory of a normal attack or skill mid-way, but it''s very difficult to do so when you release your final attack methods.


    But Rio did the exact opposite, not only did he stop his ''Sword Intent: Overload'' mid-attack, he even changed Link''s attack''s trajectory before activating his ''Sword Intent'' once again.


    This may sound simple, but it''s very difficult to aplish.


    Stopping your own attack mid-way is like making the flow of your mana go in the reverse direction, which can cause internal wounds in your body.


    And final attacks usually consume a lot of mana. If you make all that mana go in the reverse direction at such speed, it will cause damage to your own body.


    (Imagine putting two water pumps on both ends of a water pipe and using them both at the same time¡­ it will obviously cause trouble, no?)


    Irvin nced at the rusty knife on a nearby cab shelf and thought to himself.


    ''Like father like son¡­ a dragon will obviously give birth to a dragon¡­ but it seems that you might get surpassed by your own son, boss¡­''


    Irvin walked over to the knife and stroked it with his old hand.


    ''I am sure you would have made such a funny face after seeing Rio surpass you so fast¡­ it would have been a spectacle to watch¡­''


    A pleasant smile appeared on his face as he remembered a conversation he had with Kevin in the past.


    ¡­


    (Sudden shback)


    They had all worked hard to hunt a wyvern, but there was clearly no sign of worry on their faces. Instead, they were behaving quite nonchntly.


    Irvin wiped the blood from his face and questioned Kevin, who was standing above a wyvern corpse in an amused tone.


    "Hey Boss, how will you feel if your kids surpassed you in the future?"


    Kevin''s dark ck hair waved in the air and a smirk appeared over his face after hearing those words.


    "Hahaha¡­ no, I don''t think my children will be able to surpass me¡­ they can only look up to me in awe for their whole life¡­ I am that amazing after all! Hahaha¡­"


    Irvin shook his head and didn''t think too much about those words at that time.


    He was also not sure if anyone could really reach Kevin''s level of assassination skills at all.


    At that moment, Irvin could only shake his head before going back to work.


    "Well, we will see about it in the future then!"


    ¡­


    (Back to the present.)


    "It seems¡­ your son has totally thrashed your judgment¡­ he will surpass you soon enough¡­"


    Usually, Kevin was always right, and his intuition was very urate. But it seems when it came to his own kid, Kevin was not as perceptive as always.


    He didn''t think that Rio would be so strong in the future that his name would spread far and wide.


    Today, after winning the championship, Rio is bound to get fame from all over the world, which is a great feat in itself.


    Moreover, it is very likely that Rio will go much farther than Kevin ever went in his prime. Rio has that much talent.


    Irvin sighed and nced at the photo of Rio raising his sword towards the sky, and his eyes brightened a bit.


    ''I wonder when I will be able to meet him in the future¡­ also, that sword he''s holding¡­ I must tell him the secrets about it¡­''


    Although Rio knows most of the things about that sword, Irvin still has a few more bits of information about it with him, which he found out from Kevin during some casual talks.


    ¡­


    Elven Capital, Stadium infirmary


    Unaware of all the things happening outside, Link and Rio were both lying on their respective patient beds right beside each other.


    They had both exhausted their mana, so they were sleeping like dead logs and didn''t even know that their patient beds were located right beside each other.


    Lia and two others rushed to the room soon and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing them resting fit and fine.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here, it seems that this battle between Rio and Link really stirred up a lot of people''s hearts.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones.

 Chapter 288 Link and Rio, Eternal Rivals... Part-2.

    ??An unknown location


    When Link opened his eyes, he found himself standing in an endless spatial loop.


    He was standing in arge hall; the floor, the ceiling, and the walls, everything was pure white, and the space was stretched endlessly. Link was sure that if he walked in any of the directions, he would return to the same spot again.


    Seeing that strange scenery, Link was confused.


    He had never heard about such a ce, and he was certain that this wasn''t his own ne of consciousness.


    "This ce is¡­?"


    Just when Link was getting more and more confused, a solemn yet powerful voice rang out in his from the side.


    "It''s my ne of consciousness. I ced it here. Those who can reach a certain mastery over ''Dao Rhythm'' cane here for but a brief moment¡­"


    Hearing that solemn voice, Link immediately looked to his side and took a defensive stance.


    ''What!? I wasn''t able to sense this person standing near me?''


    The person was wearing a white and golden armor.


    His white and silver hair waved in the air, and his golden pupils made Link feel calm andfortable.


    A golden crown rested atop the man''s head, and his face had a gentle smile over it. The person ignored Link''s wary expression and said in a calm tone,


    "Greetings. I am a remnant ''will'' left by a bygone past¡­ would you like to know why you havee here?"


    The person stretched out his hand, and the whole ne of consciousness changed.


    Link let go of his defensive stance and rxed a bit after seeing the person change the whole ne of consciousness so easily.


    ''This ability to change theyout of one''s own ne of consciousness¡­ this guy is definitely a peak SS ranker at the least¡­''


    ''So there''s no point in guarding against him. If he had wanted, he could have already dealt with me¡­''


    Anyway, Link was currently in someone else''s ne of consciousness.


    Even if he gets destroyed, he will only be expelled from this ce at most. A remnant ''will'' can''t harm him at all.


    While Link was busy thinking about the person, the ne of consciousness slowly changed and turned into an endless void where strange lines and threads were flowing endlessly.


    The crowned man smiled a bit and said,


    "This is the ''Law'' of ''Dao Rhythm''¡­ basically, this is its physical form to be exact¡­ whenever someone learns ''Dao Rhythm,'' they are bound by this ''Law,'' and their powers get enhanced¡­"


    Hearing the man''s words, Link was taken aback for a moment.


    He didn''t expect that this person could even interfere with thews of the world.


    ''w-who is this guy!? Even a peak SS ranker can''t interfere with thews of the world in such a manner!!''


    Link has seen his father use his powers, but even Ashtel can only influence the power of thew of the world by using the ''World Authority.'' Even Ashtel can''t see the physical manifestation of thews of the world.


    Just when Link was getting more and more bewildered, the man waved his hand, and thew of ''Dao Rhythm'' started to flow and wrap around Link.


    "I had left this remnant ''will'' near the ''Law of Dao Rhythm'' so that I could see the ''chosen'' of the ''world'' with my own eyes¡­ and it seems I wasn''t wrong. You really are exceptional¡­"


    Seeing the w of dao Rhythm'' was swirling around Link so happily, the crowned man couldn''t help but feel relieved.


    "I have never seen the w of Dao Rhythm'' cherish someone like this¡­ it didn''t favour me much during my time.."


    "but look¡­ it''s dancing around you so happily¡­ this shows that it has truly acknowledged you¡­"


    Link was extremely confused after hearing all this.


    He had no idea what this person was even talking about, but he knew one thing: that this ''Law of Dao Rhythm'' was trying to help him improve.


    Link could feel from his very existence that after the w of dao Rhythm'' wrapped around him, his skill ''Dao Rhythm'' has definitely been strengthened. The crowned man smiled a bit after seeing Link''s happy face and said in a calm voice.


    "With all my power, I had prevented this onew from getting corrupted¡­ so you can be sure that no problems wille in your path¡­ for the time being, you can master thisw to its fullest extent¡­"


    "I have waited for a long time for the appearance of a ''world''s chosen'' like you¡­"


    The crowned man walked over to Link and ced his hand over his shoulder before saying in a solemn tone.


    "You have a great responsibility ced on your shoulders¡­ thews of the world and the will of heavens, everything has been corrupted over time¡­"


    "And that''s just the situation in my time¡­ I assume that by your time, the situation must have worsened even more¡­ the will of heaven has stopped responding to the world, and both of them have fallen into disorder¡­"


    "but fret not¡­ I have already carved out the path for you ahead of time. You can keep following the guidance of the ''Law of Dao Rhythm''..."


    "It shall guide you to your ultimate destiny¡­"


    The huge ne of consciousness slowly started to copse at this moment, and Link''s vision started to get blurry.


    "Looks like we don''t have much time left¡­ years have gone by. The remnant will is not strong enough to maintain this ce much longer¡­"


    A smile appeared on the man''s face as he said hisst few words.


    "I will give you just one advice¡­ never trust the ''will of heavens,'' it''s already been corrupted¡­"


    "Don''t hesitate like I once did¡­ and never try to change the past before you have the-"


    Before the sentence could be finished, the ne of consciousness copsed on itself, and Link was thrown out of that ce back to his own ne of consciousness.


    ¡­


    Infirmary


    Link woke up with a look of shock on his face. He had just experienced a very weird phenomenon.


    He was even more shocked when he tried to sense his ''Dao Rhythm,'' and it had indeed be much stronger than ever before.


    ''No¡­ it''s not that my mastery over it has improved or something¡­ it''s as if the skill ''Dao Rhythm'' itself got upgraded¡­ is this a result of getting the approval of the w of dao Rhythm''?...''


    Link wasn''t sure what to think about all this. He had never heard about a person who could control the ws'' of the world itself with just a wave of their hand.


    Although Ashtel and other SS rankers can use the power of thews of the world, they can''t touch or manipte the physical manifestation of a w.''


    This is just too insane of a feat.


    Just when Link was feeling confused, a familiar emotionless voice rang out in his ears from the side.


    "You really don''t need to show such a shocked look, bruh¡­ I only won by a hair''s breadth¡­"


    Rio misunderstood Link''s look of shock and thought that Link was feeling upset after losing to him.


    Hearing Rio''s words, Link nced at the side, and sure enough, Rio was sitting on the patient bed right beside him.


    Thinking about that weird dream, a smirk appeared on Link''s face.


    "If you fight me now, I likely won''t lose now!"


    Rio rolled his eyes at those words.


    ''This guy really doesn''t know how to admit defeat¡­ well, it''s a good thing that he isn''t feeling down after getting defeated¡­''


    Lia, Ellie, and Liam had just left a few minutes ago when Rio woke up, and Link was still in deep sleep, so they didn''t disturb him.


    They were still worried that Link might feel down after waking up, but things are the exact opposite here.


    ''It''s as if he''s already good enough to go for another duel¡­ what a ridiculous physique. It didn''t take him long to recover all mana and health¡­''


    Even Rio hasn''t recovered back to his peakbat state yet, as it''s only been half a day since the duel ended, but Link is already battle-ready.


    This just shows how insane Link''s physique is.


    ''I am sure that with minimum healing, he can keep fighting forever¡­ ugh, what did that old man Rex feed his son to make him so strong?''


    Ignoring Rio''s ring eyes, Link got up from the bed and opened the nearby window.


    Bright moonlight shined on his face from outside and made him look even more handsome than he already was.


    "Oh, it''s already night? I really slept a lot-"


    *Boom!*


    Just when Link was enjoying the slight wind breezeing through the window, a massive tornado made up of condensed mana appeared in the distance.


    Then, the clouds went dark, and lightning started to bombard.


    "D*mn!¡­ who is making such a massive scene while ascending!? Even thunder is falling down like crazy!?"


    "They are really disturbing the whole popce!"


    A look of annoyance appeared on Link''s face as the moon had been hidden behind the dark clouds, and he couldn''t enjoy the wind breeze anymore.


    Due to the fact that the ce was too far away, Link couldn''t clearly see what was going on around that ce, so he had no idea who was ascending.


    "This aura¡­"


    Rio appeared beside Link and looked towards the tornado with a doubtful look on his face.


    His mana detection skills are extremely good, so he can barely sense who was ascending by sensing the aura.


    "It''s Riya who is ascending to rank A¡­ but how is she creating such a massive scene just by ascending?..."


    Link was taken aback when he heard Rio mention that it was actually Riya who had created such a massive scene out of nowhere.


    The look of annoyance disappeared from Link''s face in an instant, and he said in a happy tone,


    "Hahaha¡­ I knew it! Who else can make such an amazing spectacle aside from her? She''s the best!!"


    Rio rolled his eyes at those words and thought,


    ''He changed faces the very moment he found out that it was Riya who was ascending¡­''


    ''This guy''s skin is as thick as a city wall!''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems some hidden truths are finally starting to reveal themselves.


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think Link behavespletely differently when it''s about Riya?


    1. Yes


    2. Absolutely Yes!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!.

 Chapter 289 Link and Rio, Eternal Rivals... Part-3.

    Chapter 289 Link and Rio, Eternal Rivals... Part-3.


    ??Just when Link was excited to jump out of the window and go towards Riya''s location, he noticed that a frown had appeared on Rio''s face.


    Rio rarely ever shows emotions, and if something can make him frown, then there''s definitely something wrong going on, and Link knew this too.


    So he nced at Rio and asked in confusion,


    "What happened?"


    Rio stared at those bolts of lightning for a moment and said,


    "Someone has blocked the area from prying mana detections from outside, likely the work of that elven queen who was teaching her..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Link smiled a bit and said in a calm tone,


    "Oh, that might be because she must have wanted to stop people from knowing what was happening there, right?"


    Rio nodded his head at Link''s words and said,


    "Such a big scene happened, it''s likely that your father and other SS-rankers might be there too..."


    Rio and Link don''t know about the thunder of heaven''s jealousy, so they both have no idea what''s going on actually.


    Link indeed did survive the heavenly wrath, but he was just a newborn baby at that time, and he has no memories of it.


    Moreover, Ashtel has never told him about it; only the SS-rankers know the true story. Link only knows that natural disasters happened during his birth.


    He doesn''t know that Ashtel has shattered the space-time fabric to save his life.


    Thus he didn''t recognize that lightning, even though it''s visible from so far away.


    And on the other hand, Rio never read about someone below rank SS getting struck by lightning while ascending in the book.


    That only happens when you try to ascend above rank SS.


    Not even Link or Rio attracted the heavenly wrath when they ascended to rank A, even though they have such insane talents.


    But Riya, who is usually not even interested in increasing her rank, actually ended up attracting the heavenly punishment, which is very bizarre.


    This just shows how insane her talent in healing magic actually is.


    She literally forced the world to acknowledge her and made the will of heaven feel jealous of her.


    (By the way, ''The World'' and ''The Heaven''s will'' are both separate things, don''t count them together...)


    ...


    Link nced towards the falling lightning and said in a hesitating voice,


    "Uh, well... if my father and others are there, I think I should wait. They likely won''t let me see her right now as she is ascending..."


    It took immense determination for Link to stop himself from rushing straight towards Riya''s location after finally finding out where she was.


    Although he is excited to see her again, he doesn''t want to hinder her progress either, so he was hesitant to move.


    Seeing that nervous look on Link''s face, Rio shook his head and walked towards his own patient bed.


    He grabbed his space ring and shadow robe''s ring before saying,


    "Let''s go to the rooftop. We can see from there more clearly..."


    Link was a bit reluctant to move his eyes from those bolts of lightning, but at Rio''s words, he decided to move.


    Both of them checked out of the infirmary and then jumped into the air to go directly to the empty rooftop of the infirmary.


    Usually, this ce is locked up, and no onees here, so they both can just sit here without getting discovered by the staff.


    While Link paced back and forth on the rooftop, Rio just sat on the guard-rail and made himself some tea.


    He already has a cup, so he just made water with sword intent and then boiled it with fire-type sword intent and then drank the tea.


    Link was so shocked by all this that he forgot about his anxiety for Riya.


    "W-Wait... did you just use a legendary rank skill as a tea-making equipment!? I-insane... bruh you are insane!!"


    Only then did Link understand why Rio''s control over his ''Sword Intent'' improves so fast.


    This guy is doing delicate household work with a legendary skill!!


    If you use a skill ''24x7'' to do extremely delicate work like using an extremely deadly move to warm water without breaking the frail cup, then obviously your control over that skill will increase like crazy.


    But no sane person would try to use an attack skill that can literally destroy anything in its way as a cooking fuel!


    Link''s eyes widened in shock when he saw Rio do all that.


    He knew all too well how difficult it is to control a legendary rank skill in such a way that it doesn''t harm the cup and only boils the water.


    ''This guy usually looks so nonchnt, but he''s an insane battle junkie!! He trains his skills even while drinking tea!!''


    Yes, all this while, Rio was training his control over sword intent whenever he drank tea.


    (He''s just obsessed with tea, Link is just praising him too much...)


    Rio handed over another cup of tea to Link and said,


    "Hmm, what? You can have another cup, no need to re at my cup like that..."


    Rio mistook Link''s gaze as he was eying his tea, so he just gave him another by making it with the same process again.


    Link epted that cup, but his eyes always stayed on the bottom of the cup.


    Rio had boiled the water without making a single scratch on the cup, which shows how extreme his mastery is.


    ''So this is how he has gained such mastery over sword intent... I really underestimated this guy, he trains even when rxing... a true battle junkie through and through...''


    A look of determination shed by in Link''s eyes.


    Originally, he felt that he might be able to get an upper-hand on Rio after the ''Law of Dao Rhythm'' got strengthened, but now he isn''t sure.


    Just that one cup of tea was enough to convince him that he still needed to work harder.


    Otherwise, he might never be able to catch up to Rio''s level of mastery over his legendary skill at all.


    ''Even when I make some progress, I always feel that Rio is still a bit stronger¡­ this guy, he is¡­''


    Link stared at the falling bolts of thunder and said in a calm voice,


    "You really are my Eternal Rival, Rio sh¡­"


    This time Rio was taken aback by that sudden change of mood, but he didn''t think too much and just replied simply,


    "I think the same about you too¡­ you are a great rival¡­"


    None of them knew when that rivalry turned into a friendship, but first and foremost, the two of them are a source of motivation for each other.


    In the future, people will sing songs to describe the greatness of their rivalry and the journey they took to reach their destinations.


    ¡­


    Just then, Lia and the other two also came to the rooftop.


    "Ugh, it was quite the hassle to guess where you guys might have wandered off to, but it seems my guess turned out correct after all¡­ you really were on the rooftop¡­"


    Liam rubbed his head while saying that as if he had to face a headache to find them both.


    Lia walked over to Rio and asked him in a calm tone,


    "You have fully recovered already from all those injuries?"


    Rio nodded his head at her words.


    Link ignored Liam''sint and his eyes fell on Liam''s hand.


    He was holding a small box filled with snacks. Seeing that Link was eyeing those snacks, Ellie snatched them from Liam''s hand and said,


    "Those are mine-"


    But before she could continue, Liam pinched her cheek and took them back from her while saying,


    "You have been eating them for the whole day, you will be the first oversized dragon if you keep going like this, so you aren''t getting any of them now¡­"


    Ellie pouted and rubbed her reddened cheek while ring at Link angrily.


    Link could only roll his eyes and stop looking at her to avoid trouble.


    Liam handed over some snacks to all of them, and since everyone was getting some, he also gave some to Ellie after seeing that pitiful look on her face.


    While eating, Link asked in a doubtful voice,


    "You guys went to buy these?"


    Liam nodded his head and rubbed his forehead before saying,


    "I only paid for them. Lia was the one who picked them up. She has a lot of knowledge in this field, it seems-"


    Before Liam could continue, someone put their hand on his shoulder and a devilish whisper sounded in his ears.


    "Heh¡­ so you went shopping with Lia? I see, hehe¡­ you wanna die or something¡­"


    Rio''s empty eyes seemed to stare right through Liam''s soul. Seeing that intense re, Liam had to rify.


    "I-i only went with Ellie, she just tagged along, nothing else bruh¡­"


    After getting the rification, Rio went back to his spot to sip tea and eat snacks. Liam heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Damn, I felt like he was ready to stab me in the back... at least a thousand times!!¡­''


    He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and then red at Ellie,


    "Why didn''t you tell me that he was about to sneak behind me?"


    Ellie just pouted at his words and refused to say anything, making him feel even more of a.headache.


    ''Ugh, I might need to carry headache medicine from now on, these guys always make my head throb¡­''


    In the end, Liam could only shake his head in helplessness and stopped talking.


    Riya''s ascension also came to an end at this moment, and things have started to settle down.


    Tomorrow is the day of the award ceremony, and once that ends, they will have no more reason to stay in the Elven empire.


    Their days in this ce are soon going to end.


    They will be going home soon.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems this elven empire event is slowlying to an end...


    Question of the day.


    Which one of them would you like to have if given the chance?


    1. Rio''s hand-made tea.


    2. Liam''s hand-made snacks.


    3. Lia''s hand-made food


    4. Riya''s rare collection of candies

 Chapter 290 The Award Ceremony! Part-1.

    Chapter 290 The Award Ceremony! Part-1.


    ??Next day, Morning.


    8:00 A.M.


    The royal family sent their butlers and maids early in the morning, and they all stormed into Rio''s room outta nowhere.


    That unexpected situation surprised Rio, but he had no other option.


    Before he could even react, they got to work.


    He got the royal prince treatment, and they were even saying that they would help him bathe, but he refused to let anyone other than Lia touch his body, so he just went to take a shower by himself.


    Today marks the culmination of his tireless efforts over the past few days. For this award ceremony, he went through all the trouble of injuring Lia, beating Liam, and then fighting Link.


    Rio wore the clothes given to him by the staff members.


    Pure gold and silver threads create the designs on the clothes, which have a background of ck fiber.


    It even has the rare hand-sewn elven embroidery on it.


    A cape hangs from behind Rio''s back from the shoulder, and a giant world tree is printed on the cape in a light green color, as if it is giving its blessings to all.


    Rio de-summoned his form-changing sword and put the ''Ceremonial Sword'' given to him with these clothes on his waist.


    The maids went out of their way to style Rio''s hair, which increased his charm a bit.


    [As they say, clothes and hair are like makeup for men; if you wear good clothes and have a good enough hairstyle, even a wild pig will look smart and intelligent¡­] (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Those royal maids were really good at their work; they knew what hairstyle would suit better on Rio''s face.


    Thus, after wearing those amazing clothes and getting a new hairstyle, Rio looked like a prince today.


    (Yeah, he looks handsome in this outfit; even this stingy author will have to admit it¡­)


    Looking in the mirror, Rio was so shocked that he thought it was not his reflection in the mirror.


    ''D*mn! I never knew that I could also look this good someday¡­''


    Rio has never cared about his looks before; he has experienced living in the streets and staying covered in dirt and mud.


    Thus, to him, fashion and other things have never made much sense.


    But today, Rio was truly shocked by how much your appearance can change with just a few simple changes.


    ''Um¡­ I kind of like this now¡­''


    And that was the day when Rio figured out the importance of fashion. After getting a taste of these good looks, even Rio was fascinated.


    Thus, he decided to learn a bit about fashion sense from that day on.


    When Rio left his room,.


    A red carpet was ced on the floor, and the maids and butler followed behind him with eyes filled with respect.


    When he finally came out of the waiting area, a luxurious car came into sight, and the bodyguards opened the door for him in a respectful manner.


    All of this seemed so unreal that Rio thought he was dreaming.


    Everyone treated him like a prince today, gazing at him with awe and admiration wherever he went.


    While sitting in the car, Rio leaned his head against the window ss and thought to himself.


    ''I see¡­ so this is how it feels to be born into a rich family and get treated like a young master or something¡­''


    ''It''s quite nice¡­ But I fear that I might get too intoxicated by this feeling if I am not careful¡­''


    Having spent both of his lives as an orphan, he has never experienced the joy of living off of his parents'' wealth or the immediate fulfillment of all his desires.


    But seeing it all today made him feel warm and happy. This is one of the rare asions when even the emotionless Rio might smile happily.


    ''I kind of understand now why the young children of rich families get spoiled... Even I might get obsessed with this if I am not careful¡­ sigh, it must be nice, though¡­''


    Those who have never received love from their parents will always dream of it when they see others get it easily.


    Thus, even Rio felt a bit jealous of others when thinking about this.


    ''I kind of understand why Zach Senpai was always so happy when he was alive¡­ He had a loving family after all; his family gave him plenty of love, and he was a blessed man¡­''


    Even if Rio was feeling a bit sad, as if his eyescked the function called ''Tears'', his eyes remained as empty and devoid of life as always. Rio could never weep, even if he wanted to.


    He had lost the ability to cry and weep long ago.


    ¡­


    Royal Garden, at the foot of the world tree.


    A banquet party was arranged at the foot of the World Tree today.


    Rare flowers were used to decorate the venue, and people were arriving one after another.


    Several cameramen were broadcasting this event live, and the whole world was watching it with great enthusiasm.


    The tournament of supreme talents ended yesterday, and today is the award ceremony.


    All SS rankers and the S rankers representing their respective races arrived by 9:00 a.m., and many high-ranking Elven businessmen and other people were also arriving one by one.


    The scale of this banquet required nearly three thousand maids and butlers to serve the guests.


    The enormous garden at the base of the world tree features arge open field in the center, which serves as the banquet''s main area at the moment.


    But the guests are not restricted to only this venue; they can go and take a stroll all around in the royal garden at their own leisure.


    Only when the award ceremony starts will they need to be present.


    The maids set up chairs and tables in the open field and served everyone drinks and snacks.


    Everything was decorated ording to elven customs and traditions, which made this banquet look even more beautiful than ever before.


    The King even allowed the use of the weather-changing device, and thus a particrly cool and slightly windy climate was created.


    People can feel the cool breeze rush past their faces while carrying the scent of those rare flowers; this made the ce even more amazing.


    And to add even more awesomeness to the banquet, the king hired professional musicians to y instruments, adding even more charm to this already amazing scenery.


    ¡­


    Wearing a reddish-brown suit with golden designs on it, Ashtel sipped wine from his ss and nodded his head at Ryul.


    "Indeed, you have put a lot of effort into this ce; even my Rex family will have difficulty arranging so much in just a day¡­"


    Ryul, who was in the king''s robe now, only shook his head and said in a calm voice,


    "We already had this amazing flower field as a venue; the world tree''s roots bless this ce, so the nts here are all very good; that''s why we conduct all of the great events here¡­"


    "By the way, how did you like the clothes? I specially hired a lot of Elven designers to design clothes for all guests!"


    With a smile on his face, Ashtel nodded his head in satisfaction.


    "They are amazing. I can see that the designers have tried their best to show the finesse of Elven traditions in these clothes¡­ These clothes are much better than those prepared in factories¡­"


    These clothes, unlike those produced by machines in factories, are hand-sewn and created with the hard work of many national-level designers.


    They represent the respect the elven people have for their guests.


    Even Ashtel felt happy after receiving such finely made clothes, and if he hadn''t worn them, then it would have been very disrespectful to the hard work that the Elven people put into making them.


    Although no one dares me an SS ranker, the SS rankers carry the respect of the nation on their shoulders; they can''t bear to disrespect people because they feel guilty for it.


    (SS rankers have an open-minded mentality; they are the pinnacle of power in this world, after all.)


    Ashtel sipped the wine and asked Ryul in a confused tone.


    "By the way, you are a king, right? Why are you wandering around like this? Shouldn''t you sit on a throne or something?"


    Ryul shook his head at Ashtel''s words and replied with a smile on his face.


    "Nope, I used to do that in the past, but now that we are broadcasting all of this live, I can''t show myself being too arrogant in front of the whole world¡­"


    "Moreover, with all these SS rankers gathered here, it would be weird for me to be the only one sitting on a higher seat¡­. I will just sit along with you guys until the ceremony starts¡­"


    Ryul is the king of the Elven Empire and the head of the world alliance; therefore, he will be in charge of awarding the students with his own hands.


    The whole alliance has contributed many rare things to this award ceremony.


    Every candidate who reached this tournament already has supreme talent; thus, it would be rude to let them go back home empty-handed.


    Thus, even the candidates who lost in the tournament will get something.


    The alliance doesn''tck resources; they will reward all children ording to how long they survive the tournament.


    [If they don''tck resources, then why be stingy? Obviously, they must reward all candidates ording to their efforts.]


    This is the mentality of those who stand at the peak of the world; this is the open mindedness of the SS-rankers who rule over the world alliance.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, we can see what Rio will get from this event, Let''s goo!!


    Question of the day.


    Which lifestyle would you prefer more?


    1. Rich lifestyle (Living like a prince of the country, but your freedom will be restricted a lot¡­)


    2. Normal lifestyle (You will be poor but free to do anything in the world exceptmit crimes; you shouldn''t do that¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 291 The Award Ceremony! Part-2.

    Chapter 291 The Award Ceremony! Part-2.


    ??Royal Garden, Front Gate.


    A luxurious car stopped in front of the gate, and a bodyguard rushed to open the door of the car.


    The first one to get off the car was Link.


    And then others got out of the car one after another.


    Link, Lia, Riya, Liam, Ellie, Fade, and Kira--all seven of them were wearing the elven-style dresses given to them by the staff members.


    Unlike Rio, who has no fashion sense at all, the others came here after getting ready and making proper hairstyles. (Yeah, even Riya has more fashion sense than him.)


    Each one of them had a unique design on their clothes that suited them ording to their personalities.


    Link''s clothes were imprinted with the design of a red dragon, while Lia''s clothes bore the design of a silver lion, and the same was true for the others.


    Not only did team Astra receive dresses that reflected something unique about them, but all of the candidates did as well.


    This is the ultimate respect given by the Elven King to all of the future geniuses.


    All candidates who made it to thispetition are geniuses, no matter if they won or lost, so it was important to respect each one of them.


    While walking on the red carpet, Liam smiled awkwardly and asked Lia in confusion.


    "Uh, don''t you think the atmosphere between them two is quite strange today?"


    While saying that, Liam pointed to Link and Riya. And sure enough, the two of them really were avoiding each other.


    Normally, Link and Riya would be walking together, holding each other''s hands, but today, for some reason, they are refusing to even speak to each other, as if they are upset with each other.


    Lia sighed at Liam''s question and replied with aplicated look on her face.


    "Apparently, Link wanted to punish Riya for noting to see his final match, so he went ahead and ate all of the candies that she had given him for safekeeping, and when she returnedst night..."


    "She was so upset that she stopped talking to him, and he was also upset at her, so ultimately it turned into a situation where both of them are not talking to each other and are avoiding each other..."


    Liam was quite surprised by this; he didn''t expect that even this happy-go-lucky pair of lovebirds could end up fighting one day, and the culprit of this fight was ''candies''.


    Liam couldn''t help but say it in aplicated tone.


    "Uh, it seems the matter of candies is indeed quite serious..."


    Just when the two of them were talking, Fade said in a loud voice,


    "Heh! You guys have absolutely no concept of cooperation! Kira and I never fight! We are the best!"


    Kira nodded her head in agreement with Fade''s statement. Although Fade has a weird personality and talks like a mentally ill person who has an eighth grader syndrome, the two of them never fight at all.


    Hearing Fade''s voice, blood veins appeared on Liam''s face in an instant, and he replied in an irritated tone.


    "Who asked? Can''t you shut up sometimes in a while?"


    Obviously, Fade wasn''t going to back down at all, and he immediately replied in a mocking tone.


    "Hmph! You dumb, rich bastards are just so full of bulsh*t! Just wait! I will one day beat you all and pay back this humiliation-"


    Before Fade could evenplete his sentence, Ellie waved her hand and made him shut up by covering her head with her shadow magic.


    "Go away; we have heard that same sentence more than a thousand times; don''t you have some new dialogues?"


    Link scoffed at Fade and shook his head in disappointment.


    Originally, he used to think that there must be something special about Fade, due to which he always hated him.


    But ever since Link has awakened ''Dao Rhythm'', he seems to have eliminated the clutches of that mysterious power that was holding him down, and now he doesn''t even care what Fade does.


    Anyone else other than Rio can''t even hold a candle against him, so Link has stopped bothering with wasting his time on insignificant things.


    Nowadays, all he does is train, mess around all over the ce with Riya, eat, and sleep.


    "By the way, where is Rio? Is he still here?"


    Although Link can use dragon field in sync with spatial bypass to detect Rio, he doesn''t always keep it deployed, which means he can''t detect Rio if he''s wandering around in his shadow robe.


    That''s why he asked Lia if Rio was with them or not.


    "No, I asked the staff members, and they said that he would arrive a bitter than us... He''s today''s star afterall..."


    "They said they would give him a new hairstyle or something to make him look handsome... But he''s already so handsome; what more does he even need?"


    (Keep in mind that her eyes see him through an automatic beauty filter; he looks a hundred times more handsome from her perspective...)


    Link was quite surprised that Lia said that Rio was handsome; he knew that Rio has no fashion sense and looks very ordinary.


    But he didn''t say those words out loud; otherwise, Lia will likely get frustrated and say that she won''t tolerate insults about Rio.


    Although Link didn''t say it, Liam certainly had no qualms about saying that out loud.


    "Rio and handsome... Those two words don''t seem to get along quite well, hehehaha... uh.. ahem! Cough! Forget I said anything..."


    Liam was about to continueughing, but Lia gave him a deadly stare, so he stoppedughing.


    "Hmph! You guys have no idea; when holding a teacup and gazing at the setting sun on the horizon, Rio looks absolutely stunning!"


    No matter what others say, in her opinion, he''s the most handsome.


    Looks are not everything a person has; even Fade has some good looks, but is he a good person? Is he trustworthy? Does he have the power to rival the strongest person in the younger generation?


    Of course not.


    Personality, trust, and a person''s confidence matter more than their looks.


    If you can trust them with your life without any worries, you can rest assured that you won''t suffer any harm when in the care of that person, and he will take good care of you. Is that person not handsome enough then?


    Well, although Link and Liam were saying that Rio wasn''t handsome, they also respected him a lot because of his capabilities.


    They trust him a lot, but as friends, they are just messing around and joking a bit to pass time.


    Rio defeated each of them in a fair and equal battle, so none of them dares to look down on him.


    All seven of them reached the banquet area, grabbed drinks for themselves, and continued to talk.


    "Well, Rio might becking in terms of looks, but that guy is an absolute powerhouse¡­ When fighting against him, you will always feel that all your moves are being seen through right off the bat¡­"


    Link clenched his fist a bit and continued.


    "Also¡­ I have a feeling¡­ He never went all out against me; he was certainly holding back a very crucial attack or something all while fighting me¡­"


    Link has excellent intuition, and his perception has always been quite good. He was able to guess that Rio was definitely not going all out at all.


    He doesn''t know it, but he got that feeling because Rio wasn''t using ''Soul-splitting technique''.


    Rio has yet to master that skill, and he can''t control the damage that attack will do, so he dares not use it on those whom he has recognized as friends.


    He may seem emotionless and carefree, but deep down, he doesn''t want to lose the friendships that he has made with all of them.


    For a loner like Rio, friends are rare, so keeping a firm hold on these rare friendships is very important.


    Riya nced at Link with a slight pout on her cheek.


    "Hmph! Lia, tell that guy that at least Rio''s a trustworthy person; he doesn''t steal candies from poor people like a certain someone, hmph!"


    Riya was furious with Link today after going through all those difficult days in the previous week, only to return and discover that he had devoured her entire stash of candies.


    And nothing was left for her; she was so angry that she didn''t even want to talk to him at all, so she was saying her thoughts to Lia and making sure that Link was hearing them too.


    Link also didn''t back down, though; he nced at Lia and said,


    "Lia, tell her that those who break their promises are bad people; unless she admits her mistake, I am not buying her any more candies!"


    Riya puffed up her cheeks even more and said it angrily.


    "Lia, tell him that I can just go and buy the candies by myself; I don''t need a fatty guy like him to pick them up for me, hmph!"


    Seeing the two of them drag her in their fight, aplicated look appeared on Lia''s face.


    "Er, you two¡­ You should probably make up with each other now; it''s just a matter of saying ''sorry'' no?"


    But Link and Riya were not going to listen to Lia''s words at all.


    "Hmph! The worker bee won''t forgive the big bear who stole all the honey that she worked hard to store in her beehive!"


    Link also said it immediately.


    "The bear was patient, but the worker bee didn''t give him his share of honey as promised before, so he got angry and stole it all!!"


    Riya clenched her teeth and said,


    "That bear is unreasonable! The worker bee had to work so hard to collect the honey from those rare flowers!!"


    Link immediately replied to that with,


    "Hmph! The worker bee didn''t fulfill her promises; obviously, she will have to bear the consequences of it~"


    The two of them red at each other, and Lia could see those imaginary sparks of lightning collide between them.


    At this point, not even Lia knows what these two are talking about.


    ''Ugh¡­ These two are so in sync that I don''t even know what they are arguing about anymore, Where did this honey and beehive evene from¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Link and Riya seem so cute even while arguing; they are using metaphors to describe their situation¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who do you think should apologize first?


    1. The hungry bear (The bear''s actions were too excessive, he shouldn''t have eaten that much¡­)


    2. The worker bee (the bee broke her promise, so she was wrong for it¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment with your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 292 The Award Ceremony! Part-3.

    292 The Award Ceremony! Part-3.


    Royal Garden, 9:30 a.m.


    The Elven King went onto the stage with a microphone in his hand.


    "Everyone, wee to this humble banquet that I have arranged for you all. Today, as the head of the world alliance, I will represent the world alliance as a whole and will reward the candidates one by one¡­"


    "Every candidate who has made it to thispetition has talent in their own league, so we won''t let you go home empty-handed. You all worked hard, so we will not let you guys down¡­."


    Everyone sat down on their respective chairs and enjoyed drinks and snacks, while Ryul worked hard to hand out rewards to the candidates one by one.


    The candidates were called ording to the elimination order.


    From the candidate who got eliminated first to the one who survived the tournament till thest, this is the order in which the candidates will be called to the stage.


    Although it felt quite embarrassing that everyone was able to see who was eliminated first, when the reward given by the Elven King turned out to be good, everything turned out to be worth it.


    All candidates got something that could help in making some meaningful improvements.


    Don''t underestimate the analytical capabilities of an SS-ranker; they were keeping a close eye on every single candidate, no matter whether the candidate was weak or strong.


    They observed their fight and analyzed which reward would be more beneficial for them.


    That''s the horror of SS-rankers detection capabilities; it''s as if they can see right through your soul and thought process.


    Once their eyes are set on you, they will easily be able to analyze any shorings that you might have.


    This is possible because they can literally see the ''Flow of Mana'' and they can see the mana coursing inside your body, and they can analyze if you have any weaknesses in how you utilize your mana.


    Although this ability to observe others'' ''Flow of Mana'' doesn''t work on fellow SS-rankers, it''s still usable against those in the lower ranks.


    Thus, they rewarded the students ording to their needs and the efforts they showed in this tournament.


    Candidates were called to the stage one by one by calling their names, and then they were given their rewards and got a chance to have a photo clicked while getting rewarded by the Elf King himself.


    They can print this phototer and use it to brag in front of their friends.


    Some candidates acquired movement arts, as their slow movements were hindering their performance in the tournament; others acquired powerfulbat arts and other simr skills.


    Some even got rewarded with peak S-rank weapons! This clearly shows that the world alliance really isn''tcking when ites to resources.


    Although the number of candidates was quite high, Ryul is an SS ranker, and he won''t tire of something like this even if you make him do it for years consecutively.


    SS rankers have ''World Authorities''; they can literally replenish their mana in a matter of milliseconds.


    Which means they theoretically have ''infinite mana'' and, with their amazing natural regeneration capabilities, they won''t tire out unless they run out of mana.


    This simply means that unless you kill them with an extremely powerful attack, they can regenerate passively and won''t die at all.


    (They are like literal demi-gods walking on the face of earth; do you really think they are weak?)


    ¡­


    Time passed, and two hours flew by eventually.


    Ryul''s working speed was quite fast, but it still took him some time, as he had to do everything quite slowly so as to show proper appreciation to every candidate.


    Next, Ryul nced at Arner, who was sitting in the back.


    "Next up is Arner Steelminer¡­"


    Arner got up from his seat and walked over to the stage with a beaming smile on his face.


    Although he lost to Rio, that didn''t mean he was weak; at the very least, he is stronger than a certain useless protagonist who lost in less than five minutes and still qualified to get a better reward than Arner.


    Arner was rewarded with a skill book; that skill will improve the lethality of his thunder attacks considerably.


    After taking a photo with Ryul, Arner went back to his own seat.


    A happy smile hung over his face, as he was already excited to go back and try this new skill.


    Next, other candidates who were eliminated in the first round were called and received their rewards.


    Fade and Kira have simrbat capabilities; as a result, they both received skill books that will significantly improve their spell damage and be helpful for their magic attacks.


    Miki received an extremely rare skill book that will help her passively generate shockwave energy for herself.


    Originally, she needed to absorb the shockwave energy from others'' attacks, but now, with this new addition, she can be self-sufficient in this area and improve her strength considerably.


    She even smiled at Lia before going back to her seat, as if she were trying to say that she would improve and would not lose to her again.


    Lia could only shake her head and smile in response.


    After a while, it was finally Lia''s turn to receive her reward. She walked over to the stage immediately after her name was called.


    "During the fight with Rio sh, we noticed that you have awakened a talent rted to the soul and now have a very strong soul, so we have decided to reward you ordingly¡­"


    Ryul handed over a skill book to Lia. That skill book only had two words written on it,


    [Soul Trace]


    "It''s a skill that will help you utilize your immense soul power to improve yourbat capabilities in many ways, and it''s also very beneficial for your ability to summon a divine spirit¡­"


    Lia nodded her head and took the skill book without hesitation.


    She came to this tournament mainly to improve herbat experience and make some advancements in her realm.


    Now that she has already achieved so much by justing to this ce, she was already very happy to receive this extra reward before going back.


    With this skill, she can now not only manipte her soul to enhance her physical capabilities, but she can also do many other auxiliary things with it.


    She can use this skill to track objects by cing a soul mark on them, or she can even enhance the effects of Kai''s blessings.


    In other words, this skill is just tailor-made for her.


    After Lia went back to her seat with a satisfied smile, Renna was called up to the stage.


    She''s currently the strongest archer in the younger generation, and she only lost to someone as ridiculously overpowered as Liam, so she also got rewarded ordingly.


    She already has unique art, so she got rewarded with a peak S-rank bow, which will improve herbat ability by more than ten times.


    After Renna and the other few candidates, it was Liam''s turn.


    Rio defeated him in the semi-finals, so it goes without saying that his reward was also excellent.


    "We noticed that you have an amazing talent formanding your summoned beasts and have amazing control over them, so we have decided to give you this skill book¡­"


    The skill book had an exquisite cover design, and Liam was surprised to see the name of the skill book.


    [Summoner''s Blessing]


    "This skill will let you use mana to heal your summoned beast, and it will also help you use the skills of your own summoned beast. There are also many other hidden mysteries in it that are waiting for you to uncover them¡­"


    The skill ''Summoner''s Blessing'' was first created by an SS-rank summoner during the thousand-year demon extinction war, but after that, not a single summoner was able to master this skill.


    They simplycked the talent toprehend the true potential of this skill, but Ryul and others have full confidence that Liam can achieve what others couldn''t, as his talent is worthy of praise.


    Liam himself didn''t expect that he would be able to receive this secret skill so easily. Thus, when he went back to his seat, he was smiling from ear to ear in excitement.


    After Liam, it was Vanya''s turn, and she got herself an extremely strong movement art as she was unable to keep up with Link''s attacks during their battle.


    With this movement art, she will be able to ovee her weaknesses more easily.


    "And next up is Link Rex!"


    Ryul called Link''s name, and a slight smile spread across his face as he walked up the stage.


    "Your excellent performance has enchanted us all, so we have decided to reward you with the ''Leaf of Enlightenment''!"


    After hearing those words, the entire audience was shocked beyond belief, and even Link was taken aback.


    ''Leaf of Enlightenment'', as the name suggests, is an extremely rare item that can be used to attain instant enlightenment. You can use it to either improve your realm or your skills.


    The only disadvantage that Link had against Rio was that his mastery over ''Dao Rhythm'' is low, but if he used this item to enhance his mastery, he could certainly achieve feats simr to those of Rio in terms of mastery over his own legendary skill.


    This reward is the most beneficial to Link, as he won''t have to waste a lot of time training his skill now.


    This ''Leaf of Enlightenment'' is an extremely rare treasure that the world tree produces once every five hundred years; even the elven race itself has only this one leaf right now.


    But the elf king still didn''t hesitate to give this leaf as a reward to Link because he knew Link''s insane talent and he wanted to make Link own a favor to the Elven race.


    The future will likely be dominated by the human race, so it will be beneficial to use this leaf to earn the goodwill of those who will be at the top of the world soon.


    This leaf will not only improve Link''sbat capabilities; it will also enhance his ''Comprehension'' talent immensely.


    In other words, this reward was truly tailor-made for Link.


    With the box containing the ''Leaf of Enlightenment'' in his hand, Link went back to his seat with a satisfied smile on his face.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Don''t use me of tant favoritism when ites to Link; everyone received rewards based on their abilities.


    Question of the day:


    Which reward do you think you would like to receive if it were tailor-made for you?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 293 The Award Ceremony! Part-4.

    293 The Award Ceremony! Part-4.


    Ryul waved his hand to a nearby butler as soon as he finished awarding all the students, with the exception of the tournament champion.


    The butler nodded his head and ryed hismand to the servants.


    Two rows of knights wearing shining elven-style armor walked in from two different directions, then marched to the red carpet in the middle area.


    Both rows of knights moved in perfect sync, standing on either side of the red carpet.


    The knights drew their swords and aimed them at the ground; their precise movements created a remarkable momentum.


    Musicians started to y an epic heroic theme in an instant when the knights took their positions.


    Even Ashtel and the other SS rankers were surprised by this scene.


    Jin nced at those knights, and a confused look appeared on his face.


    "This is?"


    A smile appeared on Ashtel''s stern face, and he replied in a calm voice.


    "This is the ''Royal Salutation of fifty-one knights''¡­ This ceremony is the symbol of the highest respect given to a particr individual in the whole Elven Empire..."


    "They usually do this when an army general or someone who has achieved great meritses back victorious from war¡­"


    "Twenty-five knights on the right and twenty-five on the left, and the person of merit himself is the 51st Knight¡­"


    "This basically shows that the whole Elven Empire has epted the person as a great knight¡­ to think that Ryul will pull this off now¡­"


    There are only a few people who have ever received this honor throughout the past two millennia. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Not even King Allen was given this honor because he beat up the Elven King of that era; not even Ryul himself has ever received this honor, even though he is the current King of the Elven Empire.


    Only someone who has achieved great merit in the Elven Empire can receive this honor.


    Ryul has been a king for a century, but he never felt that he himself was worthy of receiving this great honor, but today he organized it especially for the champion.


    Rio demonstrated his talent and triumphed over talented individuals from all over the world.


    Technically, he stands as the top powerhouse of the younger generation; he has be a source of motivation and inspiration for the young awakeners.


    He rose from humble origins, reached these heights with his own hard work, and even defeated Link, who was already being considered the strongest in the younger generation.


    Simply put, Rio has earned this honor by defeating all the world''s geniuses while standing on the soil of the Elven Empire, so they must show him the utmost respect.


    If they don''t show this much respect, it would mean that they are belittling the next strongest person.


    The Elves are smart people; they don''t want to get on the wrong side of the one who will dominate the whole era in the next generation.


    It''s better to show some favors when you still have the opportunity.


    Although this show of respect is being organized to gain Rio''s favor, all SS-rankers felt that it was fair. Barely anyone has ever received this honor, after all.


    The first person to receive this honor was ''Astra'' because she once helped the Elven race with her healing magic. Next were ''Aria'' and ''Syvis'' because they healed the world tree.


    And now the fourth is Rio sh.


    He won the championship of supreme talents, and he did so in front of the whole world.


    In past championships, everything was done hidden from the eyes of the world, and even the talents of the champions were not that special.


    They did eventually be strong people, but they weren''t as insanely broken as Rio is.


    Ryul has ruled the Elven Empire for a long time; he has an extraordinary intuition.


    He can feel that giving this honor to Rio was the best choice possible.


    ¡­


    The main gate of the royal garden opened, and a young man wearing a golden crown walked inside.


    The cape on his back swayed with the wind, and the symbol of the world tree on it seemed to be blessing everyone who looked at it.


    With one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other in his pocket, the young man walked with impable form.


    It seemed as if he had practiced the royal manners a lot.


    His face remained as expressionless as ever, and his eyes remained as lifeless as ever, but his aura alone was strong and firm.


    Aside from Link, all candidates could feel the massive momentum generated by his steady footsteps.


    Knights donning silver and greenish armor walked behind him, and with each step, the knights on both sides of the red carpet saluted him and kneeled down on one knee to wee him.


    And an epic, heroic melody was being yed in the background by the musicians, who were weing the young man with great pomp and show.


    Ryul handed over the microphone to the butler, who then made the announcement in a respectful voice.


    [We, as the people of the Elven Empire,


    We, the children of the world tree,


    We, the humble dwellers of the forest,


    Wee thee with utmost respect!


    Thou art who won the supreme honour,


    May the world tree bless thee with absolute grace¡­]


    When the national wee lines ended, Rio arrived on stage.


    He had learned all the royal etiquette in the previous few hours, so he adhered to them.


    He brought out his sword and kneeled on one knee towards the Elven King.


    Then he stretched out his hand in a gesture to hand over the ceremonial sword to Ryul.


    The Elven King nodded his head with a smile, then took the sword and ced it on Rio''s shoulder.


    [Thou art the one who won the true honor,


    May you be recognized as a great knight from this day on''


    And may the world tree bless thee,


    Rio sh, The ''Supreme Sword''.]


    Not only did Ryul bestow knighthood upon Rio, he even gave him a unique title of his own.


    From that day onwards, Rio will be known as the ''Supreme Sword'' in the whole Elven Empire.


    When Ryul finished talking, all of the knights who were kneeling also shouted in sync.


    [May the world tree bless thee! May the ''Supreme Sword'' stay victorious forever!]


    Although Rio''s face remained expressionless, he was feeling quite happy after getting praised so much in just one day.


    Those who rarely ever receivepliments know the true value of apliment; thus, Rio appreciated all thosepliments greatly.


    He epted this great honor ceremony wholeheartedly.


    ''Well, I guess I had paid them back for this honor by saving their prince and their nation altogether¡­''


    Although others don''t know about it, Rio did save the elven nation from demise and helped their prince.


    If he hadn''t interfered, then the elven nation would have been destroyed by Fade, ording to the original storyline.


    This means, technically, that Rio indeed has great merits, and he is worthy of epting this honor. Others just don''t know about it.


    ¡­


    "He looks stunning today¡­"


    Lia''s eyes shone like stars when she saw Rio in that royal dress.


    Not only did he have a unique hairstyle today, he also looked particrly handsome in those tailor-made clothes.


    They suit his emotionless style so perfectly, as if every inch of that dress''s fabric was created just to be worn by Rio one day.


    Even Link and Liam were shocked by this massive scene.


    They didn''t expect that Rio would receive such great honor by winning the championship.


    Although they were a bit jealous in their hearts, they still felt happy for Rio.


    Rio had won fair and square against them, so they readily epted this honor, and since Rio looked quite handsome today, they decided to stop joking about him being ordinary.


    Only one person was unhappy about it all.


    ''Tch! It should have been me to receive the reverence of everyone¡­.''


    Fade felt irritated when he saw that everyone was looking at Rio in awe. He wanted to be the one to receive these looks of awe and respect.


    Although he was feeling unhappy, he dared not say it out loud at this moment for fear of attracting Rio''s gaze.


    ¡­


    Rio stood up and received the ceremonial sword back from Ryul.


    This sword is of no use to Rio, but it''s a symbol of the Elven Empire''s respect for him, so he carefully put it back in his space ring.


    "Now then, let''s move on to your reward, shall we?"


    Rio nodded his head at Ryul''s words.


    Ryul waved his hand, and the two of them flew into the air and went towards the gigantic trunk of the ''World Tree''. Ryul had extended his ''authority'' to help Rio stand in the air.


    While standing just a hand''s distance away from the trunk of the ''World Tree'', Ryul said in a calm voice.


    "The reward for the champion of this tournament is a ''Blessing of the World Tree'' itself¡­ The blessing itself differs from person to person; what Vanya and others received was a blessing given on birth or awakening¡­"


    "But you are different; you have earned the appreciation of the World Tree with your own hard work¡­."


    "This blessing is just a medium; it will help you achieve something that you have always wanted to¡­ It entirely depends on your will and what you want¡­ So don''t worry too much and stay positive¡­"


    "You just need to ce your hand on the trunk and close your eyes to start¡­ Give it a try¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at Ryul''s words and stretched out his hand toward the trunk of the ''World Tree''.


    He ced his palm and closed his eyes.


    Seeing that Rio was about to start, Ryul retreated in the distance to give Rio space, and he cast a barrier to iste Rio from outside.


    Ignoring all those things, a thought came to Rio''s mind.


    ''This is it; I have worked hard just to steal this chance¡­ and I finally got my hands on it¡­ Let''s start now¡­''


    At that moment, Rio said it in a quiet and calm voice.


    "I wish for strength¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Actually, the whole tournament and everything were already part of this stealing session.


    From the moment Rio came to the Elven Empire, his goal was already set. Finally, hepleted all of the necessary procedures for this stealing session.


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also feel that the words Rio said at thest moment were familiar?


    (Tell me where else he used those words¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 294 The Award Ceremony! Part-5.

    Chapter 294 The Award Ceremony! Part-5.


    An awakener''s mentality, ambition, and talent all have a significant impact on their strength and maximum potential.


    A person with low talent will find it difficult to dream too high, and without a big ambition, strength won''t be on your side.


    Without a proper mentality, you won''t be able to find your ''Path'' and may remain stuck without any progress for a long time.


    Every path'' has a destination.


    An individual''s ''Path'' changes directions ording to their skills, mentality, ambition, and talent.


    Usually, it''s nearly impossible to see the end of the ''Path'' too early, but sometimes, when an ''Anomaly'' happens, you can get a glimpse of that certain ''Destination'' before you even reach it.


    In legends and myths, some refer to it as the ultimate ''Destination'' of your ''Path'', and some say that it''s the power to manipte the ''Laws'' of the world at the end of a ''Path''.


    No matter the name, it is spected that once you reach ''Destination'' of your ''Path'', you end up with a power so vast that even the universe itself seems to pale in front of you.


    A power that can make even the demi-gods tremble in fear, a power that can be used to rule over aw of the world, can elevate a being to their supreme form of existence.


    It is said that only one person ever achieved that power in this world, and that was King Allen Von Reinhart.


    In the whole universe, there was no one after him or before him who had ever achieved that level of power.


    The power that is extremely important if you want to ascend past the realm of a demi-god, a power whose absence became the reason why all demi-gods are unable to ascend higher,.


    Only after reaching the end of your ''Path'' and understanding the true ''Nature'' of at least one ''Law'' of the world can you achieve this power.


    That power is called ''Divinity''.


    ¡­


    [Ding! You have used the ''Blessing of the World Tree'' as a medium for enhancement!]


    [Ding! You already have a skill obtained from making a wish to an SS ranker!]


    [Ding! The blessing will enhance the skill ''Concentration'' as this wish ispatible with the previous one!] n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    [Ding! The blessing of two SS-rankers will now be used as a ''Medium''¡­ hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You have already mastered a legendary rank skill to the state of seeing its ''Flow''¡­ hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You have already cast away more than half of your emotions and feelings¡­ Hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Warning! The ''Law'' of the ''Sword'' is too corrupted in this world; it may cause problems if you try to manifest it!]


    [Ding! ''True Immunity'' got triggered! You are unaffected by corruption, and the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' can be manifested without side effects now¡­ hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Warning! You are still too weak to bear the power of the ''Law'' of this world!]


    [Ding! ???? A??m??? has interfered with the strings of destiny!]


    [Ding! As an anomaly, you are immune to the interference of the ''Will of Heavens''!]


    [Ding! All hidden conditions were met!]


    [Ding! Manifesting ''Divinity''¡­. Error! Host is too weak to bear this power!]


    [Ding! Retrying¡­ error!... host has yet to reach the end of his ''Path''¡­.]


    [Ding! Retrying¡­ error!.... host has only fulfilled a hidden condition partially¡­]


    [Ding! Perimeters changed¡­ host will only be able to wield an ''imperfect'' version until all conditions are fulfilled!]


    [Ding! Manifesting the Imperfect Version of ''Divinity''¡­]


    [Ding! Congrattions, You have sessfully formed an imperfect ''Divinity''!]


    [Ding! Congrattions!! You have manifested the w'' of ''sword'' into your body and have upgraded the skill ''Concentration'' into ''Imperfect Sword Heart''!]


    ¡­


    Although many changes had happened inside Rio''s body, there weren''t any big movements this time.


    Unlike when ascending to a higher realm, a mana tornado didn''t appear, nor did any shy things happen.


    Instead, a power fluctuation in the ''Space-time'' fabric was created when Rio manifested his ''Divinity''.


    That powerful spatial fluctuation traveled through the ''space-time'' fabric itself; thus, it had immense speed and traveled far and wide. It will slowly dissipate after traveling for several light years from Earth.


    All SS-rankers in the whole sr system felt that spatial fluctuation, and everyone looked in the direction of the Elven Empire in confusion.


    Not even SS-rankers knew what the meaning of that spatial fluctuation was, and no one knew that this spatial fluctuation marked the beginning of a new era.


    An era where demi-gods will not be the peak powerhouses of the world has begun with the appearance of this spatial fluctuation.


    ¡­


    Near the World Tree, in the air.


    Rio opened his eyes and found that he was still standing in the air, and he had only gone unconscious for a moment, but many things had changed in that small time frame.


    He could feel that he had be much stronger than ever before, and he could feel that his senses had been boosted a lot.


    ''But¡­ I feel more empty than before¡­ Did I lose more of my emotions just now? If this continues¡­ will I end up bing an emotionless robot one day? Sigh¡­''


    Rio couldn''t help but shake his head. He was expecting that he would be strong, but he never expected that his emotions would get further suppressed.


    ''But even if I had known, I would have still done it¡­''


    The boost that this opportunity has brought to Rio is immense.


    Rio nced at the world tree and pondered.


    ''Well¡­ at least I was peaceful enough in grabbing this chance¡­''


    In the original storyline, Fade destroys the Elven Empire. How can he let the world tree survive? Then he went ahead and destroyed the world tree and absorbed its essence.


    He used the essence of the world tree as a medium to upgrade his skill that he obtained from theke of wishes.


    After killing Marik and collecting all the essence from the Lake of Wishes to enhance his abilities, he utilized the essence of the World Tree, which further enhanced his skills.


    Although what Fade did was totally different from Rio''s method, the oue was the same.


    The only difference is that Rio took these chances in a more peaceful manner, while Fade just snatched them forcefully.


    Rio emerged victorious in the tournament, garnered recognition from the world tree, and subsequently received a reward from its essence to utilize it as a conduit for fulfilling a wish.


    The essence provided by the world tree was simr to the essence of thatke of wishes.


    Their function was simr too; they both were acting as a ''medium'' to awaken to something that suited him best.


    Rio already knew the function of this essence and also knew that if he absorbed the essence from the world tree, he would definitely be able to upgrade his skill, ''Concentration''.


    But even Rio hadn''t thought that he would have fulfilled so many hidden conditions by now that he would end up upgrading his ''Concentration'' skill directly to a level that he never even expected.


    ''Been a while since Ist looked at my status panel¡­''


    <Status>


    [Name: Rio sh]


    [ss: Swordsman]


    [Divinity: Imperfect Sword Heart (SSS+)]


    [Rank: A] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)] [HP: 9500/9500] [MP: 6800/6800]


    [STR: 100/100] [SPE: 100/100] [AGI: 100/ 100] [DEF: 100/100] [INT: 100/100]


    [Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X)]


    [Techniques: Advanced Swordsmanship (A), Elemental Sword Art (A)]


    [Skills: Body Strengthening (A), Lightening Sword (A), Handling (A), DarkWing Movement Art (A)]


    [Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent]


    [Evaluation: You are an absolute anomaly, unaffected by fate and destiny. Your growth rate is terrifying; your presence has altered many fates¡­]


    [Items: An Unknown Fragment (???), Formless Weapon (bound to the soul), Lamont''s Robe.]


    ''Sigh¡­ I have improved so much. This panel once belonged to a weak student of the academy, and now¡­ I havee a long way, it seems¡­''


    After shaking his head, Rio nced at the description of his newly acquired ability.


    [Divinity: Imperfect Sword Heart]


    [Description: The final destination of those who follow the way of sword.


    The formation of a ''sword heart'' symbolized that you have be one with the sword and have manifested thew of ''sword'' into your own existence.


    With just another push, this might be your final doorway to the realm of true divinity¡­]


    [Effect 1: Enhances all stats by 2.5 times.]


    [Effect 2: Immune to poison, charm attacks, and illusions.]


    [Effect 3: Passively enhances the body to be more physicallypatible with thew of ''Sword''.]


    [Effect 4: Provides a final gateway to the realm of true divinity.]


    [Effect 5: Helps in manifesting the ''Law'' of the ''Sword''.]


    [Effect 6: Enhances the user''s sword type attacks immensely!]


    [Effect 7: Locked due to the imperfect state of the ''Sword Heart'']


    ''This thing is just too overpowered¡­ How the heck did I end up getting something so broken all of a sudden¡­''


    Rio came here thinking that he might get a strong skill or something, but who could have thought that he would get something so broken that even he would feel speechless.


    Just by looking at the very first effect of this ''Sword Heart'', you can tell that it''s a broken power.


    ''Contentration'' used to give Rio a two times boost in physical capabilities, but now this ''Sword Heart'' that originated from ''Concentration'' being upgraded will give him a 2.5 times boost.


    Moreover, ''Sword Heart'' is not a ''skill'', it''s a manifestation of aw directly into his body, which means he can keep this thing active for an indefinite amount of time without using any mana at all.


    In other words, Rio''s stats are permanently on ''250'' now¡­ Those are the stats of an early SS-ranker.


    This ability is so broken that Rio is already at the level of an early SS-ranker in terms of sheer stats.


    Keep in mind that stats are just the base; genuine SS-rankers have insanely pure mana, and their body-strengthening techniques are hundreds of times better than Rio''s.


    So, if they use mana, their stats will be boosted much higher¡­ which Rio can''t do yet, but still¡­ Rio is slowly catching up to them now; it won''t be long¡­

 Chapter 295 Returning to home... Part-1.

    Chapter 295 Returning to home... Part-1.


    Originally, Rio already had ''true immunity'' to defend against charm attacks, illusions, and other things.


    But he wasn''t immune to poisons and other physical de-buffs like curses, infections, etc.


    Now that he has the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', he doesn''t need to worry about all that; he can drink the most lethal poisons of this world like normal juices.


    But this also has a side effect.


    Rio will never be able to get drunk, even if he wanted to, because alcohol will have no effect on him.


    ''Not like I ever want to get drunk¡­ I like tea more than alcohol anyway..''


    While Rio was busy thinking about his newfound powers, Ryul came back, and a look of surprise hung over his face as he asked,


    "D*mn boy, what did you do? How did you create such a strong spatial fluctuation just now?"


    At Ryul''s words, Rio tilted his head in confusion.


    "Spatial fluctuation?"


    Seeing that Rio was confused, Ryul concluded that he likely didn''t know about it.


    "Well, it''smon to lose consciousness for a while when improving, so you might not have noticed it, but it seems that you awakened a strong power that created the spatial fluctuation¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at Ryul''s words but didn''t say what kind of power he had awakened.


    He has read the novel, and he knows how rare ''Divinity'' is; even Fade needed to go through a lot of troubles to get his own ''Divinity'' before he could ascend to rank SSS.


    ''Divinity'' is the final doorway to the realm above demi-gods; every SS-ranker in the world would want such an amazing thing for themselves.


    Currently, very few people know about what ''Divinity'' actually is, but Rio still doesn''t want to take any risks.


    SS-rankers might have an open-minded personality, and they might like to support the younger generation, but if the treasure you possess in your hand is just too great, then even they will be swayed by it.


    Any peak SS-ranker would like to break the shackles and reach a higher realm; it is their lifelong goal after all.


    So even they will be tempted if they know that Rio possesses what they desperately need.


    Although divinity, once awakened by someone, can''t be extracted, it''s possible toprehend it if they have strongprehension.


    And to do that, they will need to kill Rio and dug his heart out toprehend thew of ''Sword'' that has manifested in his heart.


    In other words, if someone finds out about this power, Rio''s life may be in danger.


    Thus, he didn''t tell Ryul about the power he awakened; he just said that his sword intent has improved, which was not entirely wrong as the ''Sword Heart'' enhanced his sword intent by a lot.


    ''Although this sword heart is still imperfect, it''s already so powerful... I wonder what it will look like in its perfect state...''


    ''But, I guess I need to reach the peak of rank SS for that¡­''


    Rio stopped thinking too much about the peak of rank SS because it was just too far away for him at the moment.


    He needs to do things slowly and steadily; there''s no point in dwelling on a goal that is still extremely far away.


    ''Next, I should aim for rank S¡­ I think in the next year or so, I should be able to reach it¡­''


    It has taken Rio one and a half years to reach rank A, but he''s quite sure that he would need a longer time to reach rank S.


    Rio''s improvement speed is already very fast; it won''t be wrong to say that he can reach the peak of rank SS in the next five or so years if he keeps training like normal and raids more dungeons along the way.


    At that moment, Ryul noticed that Rio was already done thinking everything through, so he decided to go back.


    "Let''s go back now..."


    Rio nodded his head at Ryul''s words, and the two of them flew back to the banquet area.


    ¡­


    Rio and Ryul bothnded on the stage.


    Ryul nced at the audience and said in a calm voice,


    "Everyone! Now that all the candidates have received their rewards, I dere that the tournament is officially over now¡­ We will wait for future generations toe and take part in the next tournament ten yearster!"


    With that said, the cameramen finally stopped filming, and the online broadcasting finally ended.


    The whole world finally went back to their usual working habits after seeing that the special tournament had ended.


    Ryul waved his hand, and all the knights who hade to salute Rio left in an orderly manner. All the cameramen also left with them.


    Only the candidates and representatives of the various races remained at the banquet.


    Ryul nodded his head and said,


    "Now that all the distractions are gone, everyone shall enjoy themselves to their hearts content¡­"


    After Ryul said those words, the maids and other servants immediately started serving delicious food and drinks.


    The amazing smell of the luxurious food filled the air and attracted everyone''s attention.


    Now that the cameramen were gone and the tournament was already concluded, everyone had nothing to worry about anymore; they could eat plenty of food and enjoy the party to their hearts''s content.


    Rio also got down from the stage and walked over to his friend group without hesitation.


    He sat down on the empty chair beside Lia, which was purposely left open by others just for him, and he grabbed the juice ss to take a sip.


    Link grinned at him and said,


    "You are finally back, Prince; your amazing grace has honored us bying here¡­"


    Rio rolled his eyes at those words.


    "Forget it, man; it sounds so weirding from you. I think Liam can do better acting than you¡­"


    Seeing that Rio was unbothered by those cheesy lines, Link was disappointed.


    "Tch! You are just as stone-faced as ever; I thought you might be in a good mood after getting a power-up or something¡­"


    Rio sipped the juice and replied in his usual emotionless voice,


    "I am feeling quite happy, actually; you just don''t see it..."


    Link just shook his head at those words and didn''t say anything, and others did the same, but they could feel that something was amiss with Rio.


    Link grabbed the juice ss, thinking to himself,


    ''Is it just me, or does he seem more¡­. distant than he was before¡­''


    Link was not the only one who felt that; everyone else could feel it, including Lia, of course.


    Lia nced at Rio with a gaze of concern and asked in a quiet voice.


    "Did something bad happen? You seem tensed¡­"


    Usually Lia could read Rio''s emotions much easier, but today, even she was having difficulty doing so, which means something did happen.


    But Rio just shook his head at Lia''s words and didn''t say anything.


    "Nothing; it''s just that I got a strong ability, and I am feeling quite excited¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam sighed and thought to himself.


    ''Excited? Bruh, your face looks like you are half dead from inside, as if you have gone through some really horrible sh*t¡­''


    Seeing that Rio wasn''t going to tell, Lia had no choice but to stop asking; she knew that if Rio wanted to tell about it, he would do so the very first time she asked.


    This is Rio''s old habit; if he doesn''t want to tell you something, no matter what you do, it''s very difficult for you to get to talk to him about that matter.


    So, Lia sighed and stopped asking, and everyone else also just went back to eating like normal. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Link noticed the pile of green vegetables on his te, frowned slightly, and nced to the side where Riya''s te was.


    And sure enough, she had sneakily thrown all of the vegetables from her te to his; she was only interested in eating the tasty stuff, not the veggies.


    But Link was not going to get outdone by her; he immediately grabbed her te and ate everything on it in an instant.


    Before Riya could even say anything, he was already done stuffing all of her favorite food in his mouth.


    "W-what are you doing!?"


    Link ignored the bewildered look on her face and smirked at her to purposely annoy her.


    "Those who don''t eat their veggies end up encountering bad people who grab all of their food¡­"


    Hearing Link''s words, Riya pouted her cheeks and punched Link on the shoulder, but he dodged it immediately.


    "Oi, youngdy, don''t hit me; that''s a crime~ Also, I am strong; if you hit me, you will injure your hand~"


    Riya disregarded his words, puffed up her cheeks even more, and eximed,


    "Hmph, I will tell your father that you were bullying me¡­"


    Hearing that threat, Link felt a chill run down his spine.


    "Er, t-that''s going a bit too far, right? Father will beat the sh*t out of me for that, you know¡­"


    Riya ignored the nervous expression on Link''s face and said,


    "Humph, I don''t care¡­ You bullied me, so I will tell him, of course¡­"


    Link was totally speechless about that.


    ''Er¡­ It seems I went a bit too far in annoying her with this¡­ sigh~ maybe I should buy some rare candies to make up for it¡­''


    Just as Link was contemting how to avoid his father''s beating, he noticed Liam grinning at him.


    ''D*mn bro, you are dead meat now¡­''


    Link could almost see the guyughing at his situation, which made him angry.


    ''Tch! Annoying b*stard¡­.''


    ¡­

 Chapter 296 Returning to Home... Part-2.

    Chapter 296 Returning to Home... Part-2.


    Next day, Morning.


    Rhymel Main Airport.


    "Sigh, I have looked at your spaceship quite a few times in the past few days, and every time I look at it, it still feels amazing¡­ This thing is a gem¡­ a marvel of great engineering¡­"


    Ryul stared at the massive spaceship stationed at the empty airport while saying those words to Ashtel and Jin.


    Ashtel responded to Ryul''s words with a simple shrug.


    "Nah, I have nothing to do with the creation of this thing; I am not well versed in mechanical stuff like that, and all the credit goes to the amazing scientists and engineers we have¡­"


    "Those people seriously work a lot for us¡­ Just the other day, they even proposed an interesting idea of making a custom weapon for me, but I declined¡­ As a martial artist, I don''t use weapons¡­"


    Jin nced towards the airport and inquired in a curious tone.


    "Elves also have their own spaceships, right? How''s you guys progressing?"


    Ryul simply sighed and said,


    "Well, we do have a lot of spaceships, but we haven''t reached the level of this massive war machine yet¡­ Maybe another fifty or sixty years before we can make something like that¡­"


    "Making such massive machines of war is a costly project; the economy has to bear the burden of it after all... Unlike your human race, where the number of awakeners is extremely high, we have a smaller poption¡­"


    Ashtel nodded his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Well, even if you guys are low in poption, every child of your race is born with inherent talent at the very least¡­ We have to take care of a lot of ordinary people, but all of your citizens are awakeners..."


    Ryul immediately scoffed at those words.


    "You know¡­ It''s more of a headache to properly keep a nation functioning when all of the citizens are strong¡­ It''s a lot of work..."


    Jin nodded his head and spoke.


    "The Elven Empire is a beautiful ce, though¡­ I would love toe here some other time and settle down¡­"


    Ryul smiled at those words,


    "hahaha, please don''t; it''s going to be a headache to keep an eye on a foreign SS-ranker¡­ But you cane for some small trips and vacations, I guess¡­"


    Seeing that Ryul agreed, Jin nodded his head and said,


    "Well, the next time I visit, I will be with my children, I guess¡­"


    Ryul was taken aback by those remarks and inquired again.


    "Oh, you are getting married?"


    Jin replied in a confident tone to Ryul''s question.


    "I surely will. I am trying my best to get her approval of me¡­ If luck is on my side, I will bring my kids to see the next tournament of supreme talents¡­."


    To SS-rankers, who have huge lifespans, a mere ten years is nothing; even a small training session canst for months for an SS-ranker.


    And now that the tournament has be a public thing, it would be easier for Jin to bring his family to watch the show next time.


    He wants to show his children all the love he never received.


    "Speaking of the next meeting of gods and tournament¡­ I think next time, my son will be the one arriving as a guest¡­"


    While saying those words, a smile appeared on Ashtel''s face.


    This tournament has already proven Link''s talent, and he knows that the next ten years will be the time in which his son will surpass him.


    As a result, he''s already paving the way for Link ahead of time.


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, Ryul nced at the blue sky and said,


    "Sigh~ time passes so fast¡­ I wonder when we will even see each other next time¡­ Maybe ten years? Fifty years? A century? Sigh~¡­"


    "But I am quite happy for you¡­ You can retire happily once your son takes over¡­ My son is still a bit too immature to take over as the next king; I would need to polish him more for now¡­"


    Jin smiled at those words and said,


    "Haha, you are being too strict on him; he''s just a few years older than Link and others, and he''s already an S-ranker, which is quitemendable¡­"


    Ryul nodded his head at Jin and sighed heavily.


    "Well, I just want to retire soon¡­ been working myself to the bone for a century now¡­ I just want to get some peace now¡­"


    While saying that, Ryul turned back and nced at the children who were making their way here while talking to each other.


    "The next generation is catching up; we old people should make some space for them soon¡­"


    The other two also nodded their heads at Ryul''s words; they also knew that it wouldn''t be long before their long service to the nation finally ended.


    Three of them went silent after that short conversation.


    Only they themselves knew how much they had gone through to get to where they are today.


    Jin, Ashtel, and Ryul¡ªall three of them have survived wars, done many dangerous missions, and fought monsters their whole lives.


    Years upon years of hard work and selfless devotion to the nation have cost them a lot of mental peace, and their only hope of light now is the next generation.


    They are already tired of fighting and killing, and they now want to retire and let the next generation take their ce.


    After all, this is the way of nature; the older generation makes room for the next one, and the cycle continues to maintain a nation''s prosperity. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ...


    Link and others slowly made their way towards the spaceship as they talked with each other.


    "Er, at that time, I was a bit too rude¡­ I should have honored your martial spirit¡­"


    Link felt quite guilty after severely beating Vanya during the fight, and only now has he had the opportunity to meet her again.


    But to Link''s surprise, Vanya was not offended at all.


    She waved her hand and said,


    "No, I got defeated so easily; that just shows I need to train more¡­ I will train harder from now on and will try to be strong so that I can at least take a few full-powered attacks from you¡­"


    "Originally, I was thinking that I was already quite talented and strong, but after fighting you, I have realized that I can''t let myself be arrogant just because of some progress¡­"


    Vanya stretched out her hand and said,


    "Next time I see you, I will definitely be much stronger than now¡­ I look forward to a rematch¡­"


    Link also stretched out his hand and shook her hand while saying, in a calm tone,


    "Indeed, I will be looking forward to it¡­"


    Seeing the two shake hands, Riya, who was walking on the side, pouted her cheeks. Link was trying to get the princess to forgive him, but he hasn''t said ''sorry'' to her yet at all.


    She stomped her feet in anger.


    Then Riya noticed Asthel standing near the spaceship, and an idea shed by in her mind as she narrowed her eyes.


    ''Hmph, Today I will let you know about the consequences of messing with my dear candies! I will get justice for the candies that were murdered mercilessly!''


    Link suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, so he let go of Vanya''s hand immediately.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, Rio and Al were walking at the very back of the whole group.


    Al shook Rio''s hand and said it with a happy smile on his face.


    "It was all thanks to you that I was able to solve my troubles; now I have been acknowledged by the people, and my reputation is also improving¡­ I can''t thank you enough¡­"


    Rio just shook his head at those words and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "I just gave you some tips¡­ Everything else was your own achievement; you should stand proudly and take care of your empire; that would already be a great gift for me¡­"


    Al was perplexed by Rio''s statements, prompting him to inquire.


    "How is taking care of the Elven Empire going to benefit you, though?"


    Rio replied to Al''s question.


    "Well, I want to live a peaceful life¡­ If your elven nation is stable, I won''t have to worry about political tensions in the future¡­ Also, I want to visit all the beautiful ces in the world after I retire, so preserve the scenery of this ce..."


    "I kind of like the amazing scenery of this ce a lot¡­ I would love to visit again someday¡­"


    Al nodded his head and said it with a determined look on his face.


    "Of course, I promise you! I will improve and take good care of this empire in the future, and you are free to visit anytime you want; just give me a phone call and I will arrange everything¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at those words,


    "Well, that''s a good thing, then¡­ Also, one more thing: keep an eye on the movements of the demon prince Alverto; if you find something rted to him in the Elven Empire, message it to me¡­"


    "I have some unsettled business with that demon¡­ But don''t get too involved with him; he''s strong¡­ might even ascend to rank SS soon¡­"


    At Rio''s words, Al nodded his head and agreed.


    "Okay then, I will keep an eye on the local news here and will try to check out for demon rted incidents from time to time¡­"


    Rio patted Al''s shoulder and said,


    "Well then, it''s time to go¡­ Next time we meet, let''s aim to reach rank SS before that¡­"


    Al and Rio looked into each other''s eyes and nodded to each other.


    Although they haven''t talked for too long, they have already be friends, so they promised to improve and be stronger.


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 297 Returning to Home... Part-3.

    Chapter 297 Returning to Home... Part-3.


    "Well then, it''s about time we get going; we have troubled you guys for quite a while¡­"


    Ashtel stretched out his hand to bid farewell. Ryul stretched out his hand in response and said,


    "Haha, it doesn''t bother me at all¡­ If the world may allow it, let''s meet someday again after retirement¡­"


    Ryul and Ashtel nodded at each other and took their hands back.


    Link and others also arrived and stood beside Ashtel and Jin while Ryul backed away a bit.


    Link and others waved their hands to Vanya and Al as Ashtel opened a portal for them to enter the spaceship.


    One by one, they all entered and left. Ashtel gave ast nod to Ryul before finally entering the portal and leaving.


    The spaceship immediately took off, and after gaining a certain height, it immediately flew away at a tremendous speed.


    "Sigh~ they are gone¡­ Forget it... You two, let''s go train to lighten the mood. I will look over your training personally today¡­"


    Hearing Ryul''s words, Vanya and Al''s moods immediately brightened up, and they happily went to train and improve as they promised to.


    Maybe the next time they meet Link and Rio, they will have improved a lot.


    ¡­


    Inside the space ship, main hall.


    "Okay, you guys are free to do whatever until we reach back home. Enjoy your free time¡­"


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, everyone started to disperse, but then Riya raised her hand as if she wanted to say something.


    Ashtel tilted his head in confusion and inquired.


    "Hmm? What''s the matter, Riya? You have something on your mind?"


    Riya immediately nodded her head and red at Link angrily.


    "Link bullied me! He ate all my candies, and then he was flirting with the elf princess right in front of me! I want justice for my candies!"


    Link was taken aback by Riya''s words.


    "W-what the!? I was just having a casual talk with Vanya-"


    But before Link could continue talking, Ashtel''s re made him stop.


    "Hoh¡­ You dare bully the girl who has been recognized by me? It seems that an improvement in strength has made you feel quite arrogant these days. how amusing¡­"


    "Well, let''s see if you can still behave arrogantly in front of someone stronger¡­"


    An insanely strong pressure suddenly appeared, sending a chill down everyone''s spine.


    Even Jin was shocked by the sudden change in the situation, and Link, who was at the center of it, was immediately pushed to the ground with insane force.


    The whole spaceship seemed to have slowed down for a moment under that insane pressure.


    Rio''s eyes narrowed in an instant as his grip on the sword hanging around his waist tightened.


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    [Handling!]


    Rio shot out like a cannonball and barely managed to ck out the punch that was just about to hit Link''s defenseless head.


    *Boom!*


    A massive shockwave was created, which directly caused a massive crack in the spaceship''s floor.


    *Cough!*


    Rio coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his hands trembled like crazy as he barely stopped that punch fromnding on Link. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Hoh? Why are you getting in the way of a father and son''s personal matter?"


    Under Ashtel''s intense re, Rio''s eyes didn''t flinch at all, and he replied in a firm voice,


    "I sensed the killing intent¡­ you were just about to kill your own son?"


    *p!**p!*


    Before Rio even noticed, Ashtel was already walking away while pping his hands.


    "Good! I wanted to test how much you two have improved; Riya gave me a proper reason for it¡­"


    "Don''t mind me, I was just trying to see if you guys will show enough camaraderie while fighting an unbeatable force or not¡­"


    "And you passed with flying colors¡­ Brilliant!"


    After saying that, Ashtel left with a satisfied smile on his face. However, before leaving, he added,


    "Also, don''t you dare bully my soon-to-be daughter-inw next time, or I will really beat the sh*t out of you next time, Link¡­"


    Once Asthel left, Liam and others copsed on their knees as their legs became soft after withstanding that insane pressure.


    "D*mn! What was that about!? I thought I was a goner¡­"


    Liam wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the ce where Ashtel had retreated.


    "That was a test¡­ He was testing my abilities as well as whether I would save Link or not¡­ It was a crafty test¡­"


    Rio''s words made everyone feel quite shocked.


    It seems that even after they all worked hard to be strong, only Rio passed the test, and others weren''t even able to move an inch under that overwhelming pressure.


    Rio nced at the unconscious Link and thought about himself.


    ''Not only that¡­ He warned us all not to be too arrogant after winning thepetition¡­ I guess I now know why Link said that Ashtel''s teaching methods are very strict¡­''


    While the students were in a state of confusion, Jin shook his head and said,


    "Uh, don''t take it to heart, everyone; I will have a word with him about itter¡­"


    After saying that, Jin flew away in the same direction that Ashtel had gone.


    ¡­


    Infirmary.


    "Ugh.. my head hurts¡­"


    Link opened his eyes and sat up on the bed.


    "You are finally awake! I-I am s-sorry, L-link, i-I shoudn''t h-have said t-that.. I d-din''t k-knew.. h-he will d-do that¡­"


    Tears fell from Riya''s eyes continuously. She was thinking that Ashtel would just scold Link a bit, but even in her wildest dream, she never expected this to happen.


    Ashtel was already looking for an opportunity to kick Link''s a*s, and she gave it to him just when he needed it.


    Hearing Riya''s stuttering voice, Link just smiled.


    "No¡­ It''s not your fault; I know why Father did that¡­"


    Rio, who was sitting on the bed right beside Link''s, immediately said it in his usual emotionless tone.


    "He noticed that you lost because you were arrogant during the fight with me¡­ Nothing gets past him¡­"


    Link also nodded his head,


    "Yeah¡­ I created a technique to copy his ''authority'' just to defeat you, but at thest moment of battle, I was overconfident¡­ I thought I could win with just brute force¡­"


    "I neglected the fact that you may pull some other tricks on me¡­ That was my arrogance that stopped me right there¡­ If it was a real battle, I would have died because of that negligence¡­"


    "He sensed that mistake¡­ and Father hates mistakes a lot¡­"


    Link clenched his fist, and a new light of determination appeared in his eyes.


    "Well, his teaching method is kind of¡­ er, unique¡­ I guess I know what I need to do next; he helped me not stray away from my path¡­ Arrogance would have led me astray¡­"


    Then Link nced at Riya and wiped her tears with his hand.


    "Haha, look at you crying like a baby¡­ You know, even if you stabbed me to death, I won''t me you for it¡­"


    Seeing that Link had forgiven her, Riya immediately hugged him and cried her heart out.


    The stress and pain that she had been holding inside since those cruel training days had finally found an outlet.


    She cried her heart out and fell asleep while lying her head on Link''s chest.


    Link rustled her hair with his hand as his eyes looked at her sleeping face with a bit of moisture in them.


    ''Sigh~, at least you are safe¡­ I was worried about you for so many days. I am happy that you are okay¡­''


    *Cough!*


    "Can you guys do your lovey-dovey moments somewhere else?"


    Lia clicked her tongue and stopped looking at Link and Riya. She nced at Rio and asked in a calm tone.


    "Are your hands okay now?"


    Rio nodded his head and spoke with his usual expressionless face.


    "No big deal; he didn''t even use mana in that attack¡­ It was just pure physical strength¡­ Moreover, he likely held back a lot¡­"


    Lia rolled her eyes at those words and said,


    "But still, blocking an attack from an SS ranker... that''s quite insane¡­"


    Rio also nodded his head and said, in his usual emotionless voice,


    "Well, I just moved on pure instinct when I noticed the killing intent¡­ He likely wouldn''t have killed Link, though, in my opinion¡­"


    Rio used every ounce of strength to barely deflect and block that single casual punch from Ashtel, and yet he nearly broke both his arms from that one blow.


    ''Still¡­ SS-rankers are insanely strong; he nearly got sted off of the spaceship; he likely didn''t even use half his strength¡­''


    ''I kind of know why they say that Ashtel Rex is the strongest man in the current era¡­''


    ¡­


    Spaceship, a dark corridor.


    "Are you sure you should be testing them this roughly?"


    Hearing Jin''s voice, Ashtel, who was standing while leaning against the wall, shook his head and said,


    "Well, I was already expecting that Rio will defend Link¡­ It was a test to see how much he had progressed after the award ceremony, and the result is satisfactory¡­"


    "Also, this move from me will not only motivate Link and Rio to improve; it will make their whole team work harder, as they must have already realized how powerless they are¡­"


    "They weren''t even able to move an inch, even though I didn''t even use 1/100th of my full aura¡­"


    Hearing Asthel''s words, Jin scratched the back of his neck and said in a hesitant tone,


    "Well, still¡­ You should try to be a bit more lenient on them; if Rio hadn''t moved, you would have sent Link into aa for days!"


    Ashtel shook his head and said,


    "No, that punch was a mere bluff; I wasn''t really going to hit with that¡­ Moreover, that punch might have seemed grand; I won''t even consider that a casual blow¡­"


    "But¡­ I see your point; I will try to be more patient with them¡­"


    Jin got the answer he wanted, so he left immediately.


    But Ashtel kept standing there with an excited smile on his face.


    ''Not long now¡­ a few more years, and I will have two excellent warriors to fight on equal footing¡­''


    Ashtel is always ready for a battle; he wants Link and Rio to grow up fast and fight him freely.


    ''Well, if they want me to retire, they will have to force me away¡­ I look forward to the day they will surpass me¡­''


    Ashtel, standing at the top of the world, has never met any equals, so he wants to retire after a good and long battle with his students.


    ''Hehe, making your old man retire is going to be a very challenging task for you, Link¡­''


    ¡­

 Chapter 298 Returning to Home... Part-4.

    Chapter 298 Returning to Home... Part-4.


    Lower area of the spaceship, spectator''s room.


    ''From here, I can see the scenery much better, as the floor and walls are all made of ss¡­''


    The lowermost floor of the spaceship is made up of mana-enchanted ss; it won''t break easily, so it''s safe to stand here and enjoy the scenery.


    ''This kind of makes me think of the time when I visited that massive museum during a trip¡­''


    Just when Rio was busy contemting his past life, Jin suddenly appeared beside him.


    "Yo! What''s up?"


    When Rio heard Jin''s words, he simply shook his head and said,


    "Me? Nothing... just hanging around¡­ What about you?"


    Jin also nodded his head in response.


    "Yeah, same¡­ I was also just wandering around¡­ This spaceship is quite slow; I could simply open a portal and teleport directly to the capital... This thing wastes a lot of time¡­"


    Rio tilted his head in confusion and inquired.


    "But I heard that this spaceship can also teleport by opening a portal¡­ Why are we not doing that, though?"


    Hearing Rio''s question, Jin shook his head and said,


    "Nope, they are nning some wee party or something like that for you guys; also, you guys won the championship for the nation, and the media will not let it rest until they take some close-up photos of you guys¡­"


    "So, we willnd the spaceship, and you guys will get to walk on the red carpet, and the reporters will get to click photos. Also,Raji will likely be there to wee you guys¡­"


    Hearing that exnation, Rio nodded his head.


    "I see, at least we don''t have to give those lengthy interviews or something like that."


    Before Rio could finish his words, Jin said,


    "Actually¡­ the others don''t have to give an interview, but as the champion of the tournament, you will have to give an interview¡­ Many newspanies are offering a lot of money to get you on the screen¡­"


    Rio simply waved his hand,


    "Forget it; the academy gives me enough money every month as a schrship, and conquering the dungeon of Maya has also given me a lot of money; I am not interested in it-"


    Just then Jin brought out two golden colored vouchers from his space ring and said in a sad tone,


    "Sigh, what a shame¡­ I was thinking of giving you these two vouchers that can give you a free trip to the famous caf¨¦. I thought maybe you could use this to go on a date with Lia or something."


    "ah~ what a shame~ truly a shame~"


    ck lines appeared all over Rio''s face after hearing Jin''s cheesy tone. He used his amazing speed to snatch those vouchers forcefully, but Jin was too fast, and Rio missed the chance to snatch them.


    "Tch! What did they offer you for convincing me to go to the interview?"


    Seeing that Rio had admitted defeat, Jin smirked a bit and said,


    "Well, it''s the same as you, of course! I have two vouchers for myself and Anna, and there are two for you too¡­ So, what do you say?"


    Seeing that Jin was so persistent, Rio nodded his head.


    "Count me in¡­ but I have a condition¡­"


    Jin tilted his head in confusion at Rio''s words,


    "Condition?"


    Rio looked into Jin''s eyes and said, in his usual emotionless tone,


    "You two should go to that caf¨¦ on a different day than me and Lia¡­ I don''t want disturbances to hang around..."


    Jin smiled at those words and nodded his head.


    "Of course! That goes without saying! I will message you when I and Anna will go, so you can just go after that!... also, it''s kind of rude to say ''disturbance'' to your mentor, you know¡­"


    Rio just rolled his eyes and said, in a meaningful tone,


    "You have put a space-time barrier in the room; obviously, you are causing disturbances in the air¡­"


    Jin''s eyes widened in surprise at those words.


    "Whoa! You were able to sense that I had ced a barrier in the room!? Awesome! You have be strong, Rio!"


    At Jin''s words, Rio replied without changing his expression,


    "So, why did you ce the barrier?"


    Hearing the question, Jin scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "Well, I didn''t want Mr. Ashtel to sense that I was bribing you¡­ He would definitely break my legs if he found out that I was bribing the students¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at those words,


    "Yeah, I can certainly imagine you getting beaten blue and ck by him¡­"


    Rio''s words made Jin frown a bit, as he felt that Rio was making fun of him on purpose, but he didn''t care about it that much.


    He stretched out his hand and handed over the vouchers to Rio without hesitation.


    "Well, that matter aside, I have another thing to talk about with you¡­"


    Rio stuffed the vouchers in his space ring hurriedly for fear that Jin might regret his decision to hand them out and asked in his usual emotionless tone,


    "What is it? I am not attending any other functions or interviews; one is enough-"


    Jin waved his hand and said,


    "No, no, not that. I want to ask if you would like to do a training session with me?"


    "I will get to see sword intent up close, and you will get to see an SS-ranker''s abilities; it''s a win-win situation, so what do you say?"


    Hearing that offer, Rio contemted for a moment and then agreed.


    "I am free anyway; we can train all day long..."


    As Rio is a battle junkie, getting to train with an SS ranker is a golden opportunity for him; he can use moves without holding back, and he can also figure out the effects of the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' more precisely.


    "But why do you want to learn sword intent, though¡­ Don''t get offended, but I don''t think it''s possible for you to learn it¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Jin frowned a bit and asked,


    "Even an SS-ranker will find it difficult to learn sword intent?"


    Rio nodded his head without hesitation,


    "Yes..."


    Although Rio''s words sounded rude, he was telling the truth.


    To awaken sword intent, the first and foremost requirement is to have ''sword aptitude'' of rank SS or higher.


    But Jin only has the sword aptitude of rank S; the only reason he became an SS ranker was because he got ''Enlightenment'' by pure chance.


    At most, he can learn an ''imperfect'' version of Sword Intent, and even that will take decades of hard work.


    It would be more beneficial if he trained his ''World Authority'' more instead of wasting time on something that''s clearly not suitable for him.


    Until now, Rio has only seen one person with enough talent to awaken ''Sword Intent'', and that was Qi Meng, the one who was born with the talent to be a ''Sword King''.


    When he says, ''You can''t learn it'', he isn''t being rude to Jin; he''s just telling the truth.


    Also, he knows the criteria is rank SS-level sword aptitude, but he didn''t say it outright on Jin''s face and only said that you can''t learn it so that it doesn''t hurt Jin''s feelings.


    Rio himself might be emotionless, but he still knows how to take other people''s emotions into consideration.


    But even after Rio''s warning, Jin didn''t agree; he shook his head and said,


    "You see, I have be an SS ranker, and now I have to guard the territory. I have already given my resignation letter to Raji, and I am retiring from my life as a teacher at the academy¡­"


    "So, I will likely not see you again for quite a few months or maybe even years¡­ I want to make full use of this time. I will teach you my sword skills while also trying to improve mine¡­"


    "Once this training session is over, I will leave¡­ Next time we meet, it will likely be at my and Anna''s wedding ceremony¡­"


    Hearing Jin''s words, Rio nodded his head.


    ''Sigh~ Anna was expelled, and now Jin is leaving the academy too. So many things have changed since the day I first came to this world¡­ Time really flies by so fast¡­''


    "Well, okay, then, let''s try our best then¡­"


    Rio shook hands with Jin to finalize the agreement.


    Jin also nodded his head and smiled,


    "Good, you are my seventh disciple from now on! Even if you surpass me one day, I will still care for you as a mentor¡­"


    Jin patted Rio''s shoulder and left with a beaming smile on his face.


    Every swordsman in the world dreams of learning ''Sword Intent''; getting to experience that legendary skill from so close was a golden opportunity.


    Jin is a swordsman too, after all; he wants to achieve this legendary power too, and wasting time for now is not his way of doing things.


    Right now he is idle, so he might as well train and try to learn something new, even if it is next to impossible.


    Jin has already gotten the ability to influence a w'' of the world using his ''world authority'', and ''Sword Intent'' belongs to a different w'' of the world, so it''s going to be a very difficult thing for him to learn ''Sword Intent''.


    But Jin has set his mind on it, so Rio didn''t disagree at all, and if he really learned ''Sword Intent'' then Rio will be happy for him.


    With the sword heart, Rio''s sword intent will always be superior to others; it''s impossible to achieve his level of mastery over it unless the other party also has a sword heart.


    And awakening ''Divinity'' is not a child''s y at all; even Rio was barely able to get its ''imperfect'' version.


    ¡­


    ¡­n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 299 The Interview

    Chapter 299 The Interview


    Human Empire, Capital City Astra.


    National Airport, 9:00 A.M.


    The spaceshipnded on the airport, and a portal opened right in front of it, from which Rio and others walked out one by one.


    A red carpet wasid down for them beforehand, and bodyguards were standing on both sides to keep the cameramen and reporters in check.


    As the champion returned home, Rio led the group and raised his hand in the air to wave at the cameras, which were broadcasting everything live.


    Rio was wearing his shadow robe, which he had modified to look better. He also didn''t cover his face so that the cameras could take his picture.


    ''Hmm, I think the shadow robe is good enough to be a good-looking dress¡­''


    Rio unsheathed his sword and raised it towards the sky, saying,


    "Glory to the human empire!"


    The whole inte went crazy at those words; they knew that Rio was conveying that he had won the championship not for himself but for the whole human race.


    That victory in the tournament of supreme talents belonged to the whole human race, and everyone felt proud of it. They had defeated the whole world and shown their immense strength.


    Seeing that those words had a positive effect, Rio sheathed his sword and left with the others.


    Link and others also waved their hands at the cameras and smiled a bit before following behind Rio to leave.


    All of them are eager to go back home and sleep all day long now, so they wanted to be done with this all and leave early.


    Although the cameramen and the reporters wanted to get closer, the bodyguards stationed around the red carpet stopped them all.


    The others entered the luxurious cars stationed nearby, one by one, except Rio, who stayed behind with Jin and Ashtel.


    Lia looked at him in confusion and asked,


    "You aren''t leaving with us?"


    Rio shook his head and opened the car''s door for her.


    "No, I have to give an interview; no worries, I will be with Mr. Jin and Mr. Ashtel; let''s meet up in the evening; you can go ahead."


    Lia nodded her head at his words and entered the car.


    Rio closed the door for her, and the car left immediately.


    Observing that the others had left, Rio nced at Jin and said,


    "Shall we go to the interview area now?"


    Jin nodded his head and led the way.


    While walking, Rio said,


    "Well, I haven''t really been in interviews before; what should I keep in mind?"


    When he heard Rio''s question, Ashtel, who was walking right beside him, crossed his hands around his chest and said it in his usual calm voice.


    "Hmm, it''s nothing special, actually¡­ They will just ask you some random questions, and you just have to answer them ording to your heart¡­"


    "Even if you mess up something, they will likely filter out the unnecessary parts, so you just need to go through it with a rxed mind¡­"


    Rio frowned a bit at those words and said, in his usual emotionless tone,


    "I don''t like talking about myself that much, though¡­ "It kind of feels weird to be praising yourself¡­"


    Rio is the type of guy who doesn''t brag about what he has achieved.


    For example, imagine if he has won a prize of millions and you have won only a pocket of money, and you are bragging about it in front of him; he won''t even try to stop you.


    Instead, he will cheer you up, saying it''s a very good asion. He''s the type of guy who won''t even tell others about his achievements unless you find them out first.


    Seeing the troubled look on Rio''s face, Jin felt amused.


    "Haha, so going in front of the camera for the first time can make even a calm and collected guy like you get nervous? I am d I asked you toe¡­"


    Rio rolled his eyes and said,


    "It''s not like I am nervous; I am worried that I will say something that will cause problems¡­ The whole nation will be watching the interview after all; you didn''t even give me a chance to prepare¡­"


    Jin shrugged his shoulders at Rio''sints and replied in an amused tone,


    "Hehe, I wonder how your expressionless face will react when the reporters bombard you with questions."


    Before Jin could continue, Ashtel kicked him lightly in the back.


    "Go away; don''t make him more tense than he already is!"


    Jin rubbed his back with a look as if he were wronged,


    "Ugh, that hurt, Mr. Ashtel. You should hold back a little on us weak and fragile people¡­"


    Ashtel red at Jin a bit, and Jin had no choice but to stop speaking.


    "Okay, okay, no need to get so tensed; I was just joking¡­"


    ''D*mn it! I nearly got my spine broken by that kick!... No wonder they say that Ashtel is the strongest¡­''


    Seeing that Jin had stopped talking, Ashtel nced at Rio and said in a calm voice, N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Just think of it as if Lia is asking you questions¡­ I am sure you will be able to talk more easily if you think about it like that¡­"


    ck lines appeared all over Rio''s face after hearing that weird advice from Ashtel.


    ''What do you mean, think about Lia while in the interview!? If that happens, I''ll end up spilling all of my secrets!''


    Rio shook his head and stopped asking for advice from these two guys.


    ''They might be SS-rankers, but sometimes¡­ I feel they are kind of useless¡­''


    Jin and Ashtel are both open-minded people, and they can talk for hours in an interview without any worries because it''s natural for them.


    But Rio is different; he rarely ever talks with anyone, and chatting with random people for apparent reasons feels like a waste of time to him.


    ''Ugh, I already want to go home¡­ If not for the sake of the date with Lia, I would not bother doing all this¡­''


    ¡­


    Airport, VIP hall.


    Rio and the other two entered the hall and walked towards the stage without hesitation.


    All three of them sat on chairs designated for them, and hundreds of reporters and cameramen that were already standing in front of the stage focused their cameras and mic''s at them.


    The interviewer turned out to be a prettydy; she nodded at them all as they sat in their seats.


    She was sitting on a chair right in front of them.


    She nced at the camera and said, with a smile,


    "Hello everyone! Today we are weing the star who won the championship of the supreme talents, and with him are the two SS-rankers of our nation, Jin Walt and Ashtel Rex!"


    "Let us wee them with great apuse!"


    After she was done with the greeting, thedy smiled, nced at Rio, and asked in a gentle voice,


    "So, can you tell us how you feel after winning the biggest tournament in the world?"


    Rio''s face remained just as emotionless as ever as he said,


    "I feel quite lucky, actually; in thest match I would have lost if not for the fact that my luck helped me in thest minute¡­"


    ''I can''t say that I feel ''nothing'' in front of all these cameras¡­ They will think I am mocking the other candidates¡­''


    Since Rio couldn''t say the real truth, he was lying without showing anything amiss on his face.


    He really felt nothing at all about winning the tournament; for him, it was all part of a process to steal the protagonist''s chance, so he didn''t even care about the tournament in itself.


    Only the final result mattered to him.


    "Yeah, but I feel kind of regretful that I had to injure my fellow ssmates and friends in the tournament¡­"


    Rio''s words made the audience appreciate him, and they assumed that Rio was only telling the truth.


    Once Rio was done answering, thedy then asked Ashtel a question:


    "Mr. Ashtel, How do you feel from the perspective of a protector of the human race about this victory that the human empire has secured¡­"


    Ashtel nodded his head and replied in a calm voice,


    "I feel great; although I was expecting my son Link to win, it''s still a good thing that the victory stillnded in the hands of the human empire¡­ Rio has brought a lot of fame to us, and we are grateful for it¡­"


    Jin also nodded his head in response to those words.


    "Yes. Just as Mr. Ashtel said, we are grateful for the fact that Rio has won the tournament and has increased the reputation of the whole human race¡­"


    The reporterdy nodded her head and then asked Rio another question:


    "Which fight did you feel was most difficult for you?"


    Rio pretended to be contemting for a moment and then said,


    "Hmm, actually all fights were difficult as I had to raise my sword against my friends, but if you ask a specific one, then the fight against Link was the most difficult¡­"


    Although Rio said that without changing his expressions, he was already thinking a lot in his mind.


    ''Can''t say that the most difficult was actually the fight against Lia¡­ I didn''t even want to unsheathe my sword in that fight¡­. It took a lot of determination to attack her¡­''


    ''If not for the fact that I couldn''t afford to lose the protagonist''s chance, I would have already surrendered at the start of the fight¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 300 Shes Mine!

    Chapter 300 She''s Mine!


    Academy, Behind the Cafeteria.


    Under the shade of a tree.


    Lia, who was sitting on the bench, nced to the side and smiled at Rio, who had just arrived.


    "I knew you woulde here¡­"


    No one knows Rio better than her; she saw that interview and knew that Rio was really bored, and he will definitelye to this spot to rx.


    Rio nodded his head and sat down beside her.


    "Although it was quite troublesome, it was a decent experience to take that interview¡­ I don''t really want to do it again, though; it''s quite troublesome¡­"


    Lia also nodded her head in agreement with Rio''s words and said,


    "Yeah, you looked like you were having a lot of trouble trying to fabricate lies, haha, that was kind of cute though~"


    Rio shook his head and said,


    "Being called cute doesn''t make me feel good at all, sigh~"


    Lia ignored thoseints and rested her head on his shoulder before speaking.


    "By the way, I didn''t get the chance to tell you this during the award ceremony, so let me say it now¡­ You looked very handsome that day, just like a prince!"


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s expressionless face after hearing that praise from her.


    "Well, if you like it that much, I would have to start focusing on fashion sense then-"


    Before Rio could finish his sentence, Lia directly sealed his lips with hers and stopped him from talking.


    Even Rio was taken aback by her sudden move, as he didn''t expect her to be the one to take the initiative.


    Lia leaned back and said, with a smile,


    "Unfortunately, we were at a public event that day; otherwise, this youngdy would have eaten you alive, hehe~"


    Rio was really surprised at Lia''s assertive tone today. He tilted his head in confusion and asked,


    "Where did you learn these flirting techniques? I don''t remember Lia being this bold¡­"


    A smug look appeared on Lia''s face. She puffed up her chest in pride and said,


    "Of course I learned these from Ellie! She''s done a lot of research on how to flirt with Liam, so I took some tips from her¡­"


    "So, what do you say? Was it effective?"


    Rio nodded his head in response to her question.


    "Yeah¡­ it was perhaps too effective; actually, I nearly got a heart attack from that¡­"


    While saying that, Rio gave an imaginary thumbs-up gesture to Ellie in his mind while saying,


    ''Excellent work, Partner!''


    Just then, Rio remembered something, and he brought out the vouchers from his space ring.


    "By the way, I got these vouchers from Mr. Jin; how about we go on a date this Sunday?"


    Lia hurriedly nodded her head at those words and agreed.


    "Yes! We should go!"


    ¡­


    Liam''s dorm room.


    *achoo!*


    "Er¡­ is someone talking about me behind my back?"


    Ellie narrowed her eyes and pretended to be on guard while looking all around her.


    Liam rolled his eyes at those words.


    "You are thinking too much¡­ Hey! Kazto! I said, Don''t steal those cookies!"


    Wearing an apron with a bunny design on it, Liam was baking cookies for his summoned beasts.


    Although he lost the championship, he is still a part of Team Astra, and Rio''s victory meant that the whole team Astra had won.


    Thus, to celebrate this victory, he baked cookies right after returning home, but Kazto kept sneaking around to steal them before they were fully baked.


    Ellie nced at Liam''s apron and said, with a teasing smile over her face.


    "Master, you look like good husbando material! That is why I like¡­. Your cooking! Haha¡­"


    (She was about to say, ''I like you'' but changed it mid-way¡­)


    Liam didn''t take her words seriously at all and said,


    "No point in trying to tter me, Ellie; I will give equal amounts of cookies to each one of you-"


    *Ding**Dong!* n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Liam nced at the door with a frown on his face,


    ''Hmm, I don''t remember Rio and others saying that they would visit me, so who could it be now?''


    "Ellie, go open the door and see who it is¡­ If it''s Link, then tell him to piss off! I won''t give him any more cookies for Riya!"


    Apart from Rio and the others, Liam doesn''t have any close friends, and aside from Link, no one is rude enough to visit without giving a prior message.


    That''s why Liam''s first guess was that Link must havee to visit.


    Just as Ellie was about to get up, the door opened by itself, and a tall, purple-haired man walked in.


    Ellie immediately moved and defended Liam behind him after catching a single nce at that man.


    Liam frowned and spoke in an irritated tone.


    "What do you need, Old Man? Don''t you know it''s a crime to break into someone''s room without permission?"


    Neo ignored Liam''s question and sat down on the couch nearby while saying,


    "Hoh¡­ You seem quite fascinated with your ''tools''; you are even cooking for them? Such bullsh*t¡­"


    Ellie tried to stop Liam, but he pushed her aside, walked over to Neo''s side, and said with an angry face,


    "Those are not my tools! My summoned beasts are like friends to me! You have no right to judge what I do with my summoned beasts¡­"


    Neo crossed his legs and clicked his tongue before speaking.


    "Look, kiddo, you are wasting your time by staying here; you should live back in the family mansion, and there I can train you personally when you are free from your academy sses¡­"


    Neo cast a chilly nce at Ellie and Kazto before speaking.


    "Tch! If you had trained them more strictly, you wouldn''t have lost to that random kid from the slums¡­"


    The more Neo talked, the more Liam frowned at him.


    "Rio is not from slums; don''t insult him!¡­ also it''s my choice how I train my summoned beasts; you have no say in this matter¡­"


    Neo was irritated by Liam''s tone, and he wanted to reprimand him, but then he remembered Ashtel''s words:


    ''You should talk it out properly with your son; how long are you going to create problems with him?'' (A reference to ch. 212.)


    Neo took a deep breath to calm his mind before he spoke.


    "Look, all I want to say is that you shoulde back home¡­ Your mother has been worried about you for a long time now¡­"


    Neo, being a person who has be used to talking in a twisted manner, can''t express his regrets properly; he can''t talk kindly, and his mentality is just too different from Liam.


    Neo treats his summoned beasts as mere tools, and he never attaches his feelings to them.


    He has permanently lost hundreds of his summoned beasts in battle, endured significant sacrifices, and witnessed the death of his most beloved summoned beasts directly before him.


    He doesn''t want that to happen to Liam; he wants to tell Liam that he shouldn''t attach his feelings to the summoned beasts, otherwise he will regret it when he loses them.


    For a summoner, attaching their feelings to the summoned beasts is very deadly.


    The summoned beasts are bound by contracts, but once they die permanently, they will go back to the spirit realm, and this is inevitable.


    As a result, a summoner should be ready to discard his summoned beasts at any time.


    Although he wants to tell Liam all this, Neo can''t say it because he feels it''s just too awkward to talk his heart out with him.


    He is a prime example of an awkward father who, due to mimunication, ruined his rtionship with his son and now finds himself unsure of how to repair it.


    Liam scowled in response to Neo''s remarks,


    "Look, I will not go back to that house, even if you kill me! As for my mother, I will video call her¡­ or she can juste here to visit me!"


    Liam doesn''t like the atmosphere at his home; all his siblings hate him for his amazing talent, and he doesn''t like living under the constant surveince of those hatred-filled eyes.


    Liam nced at Ellie and said,


    "Ellie, guide the guest to the door; tell him that he is not wee here¡­"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Ellie scratched the back of her neck and didn''t move.


    Although she is Liam''s summoned beast, she doesn''t want to make things worse with an SS-ranker like Neo.


    If Neo gets angry, it will be difficult to protect Liam from him.


    But before Ellie could say anything, Neo got up by himself and said to her,


    "Ellie, I leave the safety of my son in your hands; if you have any need for enhancement items, you can contact me-"


    Liam gripped Ellie''s hand tightly and red at Neo before speaking.


    "Don''t act so familiar with her! She''s mine!"


    Seeing Liam act so protective of her, Neo took ast nce at those two and left while sighing.


    "Kiddo, you are putting your heart in the wrong ce... If you don''t stop now, you will get hurt¡­"


    Neo shook his head before saying those words, and then left quietly.


    Liam kept ring at his back until he left the room.


    "Tch! He ruined the happy mood¡­ sigh~"


    Liam let go of Ellie''s hand and went back to baking cookies with an irritated look on his face.


    Ellie''s face, on the other hand, had turned red for some reason, and Liam''s words, ''She''s mine!'' kept ringing in her mind.


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 301 Future Plans... (End of Volume-3.)

    Chapter 301 Future ns... (End of Volume-3.)


    Sunday, 9:00 A.M.


    Rio and Lia entered a famous caf¨¦ and got to their reserved seats.


    Lia nced at Rio and inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "Why would Mr. Jin give you the vouchers, though? This ce is so good; with his personality, he would have used it to woo Ms. Anna, right?"


    Rio also nodded his head at those words.


    "Likely because he must have been pressured by the mediapanies or others to make me take the interview¡­ Also, he has two more vouchers with him¡­"


    Lia frowned a bit at those words. She ate a spoonful of the ice cream that was served by the waiter and asked,


    "Does that mean they wille to the caf¨¦ at the same time as us? That will feel so awkward¡­"


    Rio shook his head at those words,


    "No, he said he would go some other day; I confirmed it with him on message-"


    Just as Rio was about toplete his sentence, Jin and Anna entered the caf¨¦, dressed in matching outfits.


    Anna was taken aback for a moment after seeing Lia and Rio there, and Jin only scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    Their seats were the same as those of Rio and Lia, so they had no choice but to sit beside them.


    Anna sat beside Lia, and Jin sat beside Rio, smiling awkwardly.


    Rio nced at Jin and said,


    "You said that you weren''ting today?"


    Jin, embarrassed, scratched the back of his neck and spoke.


    "Well, I wasn''t going to, but Anna discovered those vouchers in my coat''s pocket, and it turns out she has always wanted toe here, and she dragged me here right away¡­"


    Hearing those words, Anna said,


    "Er¡­ I didn''t know you two would be here too¡­ Ugh, I ruined your time together?"


    Seeing that guilty expression on Anna''s face, Lia shook her head,


    "No worries; now that you are here, we can hang out together¡­"


    Rio looked at Jin and Anna before posing a question.


    "By the way¡­ isn''t that the ''couple'' outfit that''s been famous all over the inte these days? You two also got one?"


    Jin nodded his head and said, in a proud tone,


    "Of course, I got it custom-made for us! See! Even our names are printed on the shoulders!"


    Ignoring Jin''s smug expression, Lia nced at Anna and asked,


    "It seems you have recovered a lot; you can now walk by yourself¡­ Last time we saw you in Oaklum, and you were still in the wheelchair¡­ Congrattions on your recovery!"


    Anna nodded her head and replied with a smile,


    "A certain someone kept pestering me to recover fast every day, so I had no choice but to recover; now I have recovered to the level of a B-ranker¡­ a month or two, and I will be back to my peak form¡­"


    Lia, taken aback by those words, responded,


    "That''s quite fast; didn''t they say it would take you two to three years to recover?"


    Anna nodded her head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Well, that''s true, but then Jin brought a lot of rare recovery items, so I was able to improve my health much faster¡­"


    Unlike usual wounds, Anna suffered damage to her mana circuit and soul.


    Even with the assistance of S-rank healers, healing the damage to one''s mana circuit and soul takes time.


    Although SS-rank healers can heal them much faster, Jin couldn''t bring Anna to the Elven Empire; otherwise, he would have asked Syvis to heal her.


    Currently, there''s no way to ask Aria to heal someone, and the world only has Syvis as the sole SS-rank healer, so hiring her is a very difficult task.


    Moreover, Riya destroyed her precious herb garden; she will likely be busy rebuilding it and won''te out for years.


    Anna nced at Lia and Rio before she spoke.


    "You two, you both have progressed again, it seems; even Lia has be an A-ranker now. Sigh~ time really passes fast¡­"


    "Come to think of it, there should be only two or three months left before your final exams of the second year, right?"


    Rio nodded his head in response to Anna''s question.


    "Yes, they are actually going to organize the final exams a bit earlier for us who won in the tournament; the rest of the students will continue as usual¡­"


    Rio and others won the tournament, which shows their amazing capabilities, and they have also all reached rank A, which is basically the academy''s graduation criteria.


    In other words, they all have alreadypleted the requirements to graduate; all they need to do is pass the written exams and move on to the next year''s curriculum.


    The Academy doesn''t want to act as a shackle for these talented children, so they are trying to graduate them as fast as possible.


    A-rankers are already very well-known and strong people in the world, and the academy can''t just keep them locked in studies for too long.


    Jin sipped the juice from the ss and then nced at Rio,


    "By the way, what are your ns for the future¡­ I guess Lia will take care of her father''s guild; what about you?"


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and spoke in his usual emotionless tone.


    "I am thinking of opening a tea shop or something; I will go on asional dungeon raids from time to time¡­" N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Anna was really taken aback by Rio''s words; she narrowed her eyes and asked in curiosity,


    "For someone with such amazing talent, that''s quite an ordinary ambition you have¡­"


    Anna has been a professor for many years, so she has seen many students that rose from humble origins and what all of them wanted was the same thing, which was money and fame.


    Rio has already started to get a lot of fame and money as he has won the tournament of supreme talents.


    But it seems that all that didn''t matter much to him; he just wanted to live a peaceful life where he could do things as he pleased.


    He would spend his free time ying games and stuff, and he would go on dungeon raids whenever the mood for them arose.


    Anna suddenly frowned and looked into Rio''s eyes before saying,


    "You know what¡­ My intuition has always been very good; I ignored it once and got myself injured in the dungeon¡­ but I can''t ignore it right now¡­"


    "I have a feeling that you might not be able to stay so peaceful¡­ So keep getting stronger and working hard¡­"


    Rio smiled a bit at those words and said,


    "Well, if the world denies me the peaceful life that I want¡­ I will change the world to my liking¡­"


    Rio''s words seem quite arrogant, but he was actually dead serious about it.


    At that moment, Jin, Anna, and Lia¡ªall three of them¡ªtook Rio''s words as a mere joke; no one knew what the future had in store for them.


    ¡­


    An hourter.


    Jin and Rio sat on a bench under the shade of a tree.


    Rio nced at a nearby clothing store and said,


    "How long do you think they''re going to take?"


    Jin waved his hand and shrugged his shoulders at those words,


    "Who knows¡­ They are likely going to take a few hours at least."


    Jin nced at the horizon and asked,


    "We will start the training by tomorrow; are you ready?"


    Rio nodded his head at those words,


    "I am always ready for a good spar¡­ but I am doubtful if you can really learn ''Sword Intent'' or not¡­"


    "Also, don''t me meter if I end up copying all of your fighting skills¡­ I am good at swordsmanship¡­"


    Jin smirked at Rio''s words,


    "Hah, you underestimate me too much, kiddo! My sword skills are not child''s y; you will need a lot of practice to learn them, and I am quite sure I can grasp at least an imperfect form of sword intent¡­"


    Rio shook his head and stopped mentioning that topic.


    He didn''t want to get Jin''s hopes too high; otherwise, it will hurt more when he finds out that he can''t learn sword intent.


    Jin nced at Rio, who had gone silent, and decided to change the topic,


    "By the way, where are you two going now?"


    After finishing their time at the caf¨¦, Rio and Lia made the decision to separate from Jin and Anna in order to spend their date alone.


    Upon hearing Jin''s question, Rio shook his head,


    "No idea; maybe just wander around the market and enjoy the time¡­ After all, we don''t get many chances to enjoy free time. There is always something going on¡­"


    Jin nodded his head in response to those words.


    "I and Anna will go to visit her parents next¡­ She agreed to the engagement, but we will make our rtionship known to the public right before our wedding date¡­"


    Rio was taken aback for a moment after hearing those words. He looked into Jin''s eyes and asked,


    "So, you seeded in getting her approval? Congrattions¡­ Don''t forget to invite us all to your wedding¡­"


    Jin nodded his head and smiled,


    "Of course, you are all wee¡­ I have been trying to get her approval for so long, and she has finally agreed¡­ I just feel so happy and satisfied that I can''t describe it in words¡­"


    Rio nodded his head at those words,


    "It seems your efforts paid off¡­"


    Jin, embarrassed, scratched the back of his neck and spoke.


    "Well, she likely agreed because I took care of her during her injury¡­ Although that was an underhanded method to impress her, I guess it worked well¡­"


    Rio nodded his head,


    "Well, all that matters is that you both are happy; the methods don''t matter¡­"


    While Rio and Jin were chatting, Lia and Anna came back with plenty of bags in their hands, filled with clothes that they had bought.


    Rio and Jin smiled at the sight and happily carried the bags.


    They waved each other good-bye and then went on their own.


    It was a wonderful day, so it won''t be a beneficial idea to waste it just yet.


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 302 Awakeners Badge.

    Chapter 302 Awakener''s Badge.


    Academy, ceremony hall.


    Students kept entering the ceremony hall one after another, and many of them were already gossiping among each other while sitting on the seats with their friends.


    Today, the students of the whole academy have gathered here in the ceremony hall.


    "Sigh~ they really made us take exams two months earlier than usual, ugh¡­ I had to study so much¡­"


    Hearing theints of his friend, the other student said,


    "Yeah¡­ Thankfully, they still decided to give us a whole month of vacation aspensation¡­ I went to my hometown in the past month and slept all day long¡­"


    The other students were also having simr discussions.


    "You see, they took the exams earlier because ''Team Astra'' that won the tournament of supreme talents had already reached the graduation criteria¡­ They are hurrying because of them¡­"


    "Ugh¡­ Didn''t they say that only their team would have to take exams early? Why did they make the whole academy take exams early?"


    "Who knows, man¡­ They even increased our ss timing for that¡­"


    "I heard all of the students were forced to go through high-intensity training, no matter if they were first, second, or third years¡­ Everyone had to train hard¡­"


    "But that one-month vacation was an amazing idea, though¡­ It seems they took exams early to give us more vacations this time¡­"


    Amidst the endless chatter of the students, the ceremony hall''s door closed as all of the students finally arrived.


    Raji came on the stage, and everyone went quiet in an instant.


    "Greetings everyone, Today is the annual ceremony, and although it''s being conducted two months earlier than usual, the process remains the same¡­"


    Three months have passed since the day Team Astra came back from the Elven Empire.


    In one and a half months time, the academy used its professors to thoroughly train the students, and then they conducted the final exams in the next 15 days or so.


    Lastly, they gave a whole month for vacation, and today is the opening ceremony.


    "The academy wees all the new first-year students and wishes good luck to all the students that have moved to the second year from today onwards¡­"


    In other words, QI Meng and others have now be 2nd year students, while the members of team Astra have be 3rd year students from this day on.


    The third-year students who were studying alongside Zach and Rikopleted their graduation ceremony a few days ago.


    Riko hasn''te back to the academy since the day she left with a determined expression on her face in Oaklum.


    Thus, her graduation certificates and documents are still in the academy; she can im them whenever she wants.


    Zach may have died, but he was already an A-ranker by that time.


    Technically, he had already met the graduation requirements, so his family received his graduation certificate as a memento of him.


    Raji nced at all the students and continued her speech for a few more minutes before she finally came to the next topic.


    "Now, without further ado, let''s move on to the ''Awakener''s Badge'' rewarding ceremony¡­"


    ''Awakener''s Badge'' is given to all third-year students on the first day of the academy, but unlike usual, they are doing it at the opening ceremony this year as they want to reward Team Astra for their efforts.


    It acts as a free pass to enter dungeons across the nation, and it also has the function of receiving missions.


    All veteran awakeners that are affiliated with guilds or not have these ''Awakener''s Badge'', they can project a hologram screen and show you the list of missions that you can ept.


    For veteran awakeners, these missions are like side hustles that they can do besides conquering dungeons.


    With these badges, the academy assigns missions to the third-year students, and a third-year student mustplete at least five missions in a year before they can finally graduate.


    Third-year students don''t need to take sses or anything anymore; they can just train freely and focus onpleting missions.


    Once they have reached rank A andpleted all five rank A missions, they can take the final exam and graduate.


    It''s aplicated and strict process; most third-year students only reach rank A after six months in their third year, so they only have six months toplete five A-rank missions.


    This forces them to improve quickly.


    In the third year, it''s notpulsory to attend any sses, but you still have to study because there is still a written exam as the final test.


    The reputation of the great Freya Academy is no joke; they are serious when they say that the students that graduate from their academy are all pirs of support for the human empire.


    Originally, there were still many students in the second year, but after this final exam, only twenty students are left in the third year.


    This is just how strict the academy is with its students.


    Those who failed the exams either had to retake them a few monthster or, if they were less talented, faced immediate expulsion.


    ¡­


    Raji called the students to the stage ording to the ranks that they got with their grades.


    Riya got rank 7 because she was not very good at studying, and the only reason she hadn''t failed was because Link had forced her to study by saying, "If you do well in exams, I will give you more candies!"


    Also, her healing magic is very good, so she got a lot of marks for that too.


    Kira got Rank 6, as she is excellent at studying but not that strong inbat.


    Fade got rank 5 as he cheated with ''Appraisal'' and used it to score full marks in the written exams, but as hisbat capabilities arecking, his rank was lowered.


    Lia got rank 4, Liam got rank 3, Rio got rank 2, and finally Link got full marks in both written andbat exams, so he maintained position 1 for the third consecutive year.


    Link has been at rank 1 for three consecutive years now, which is a very impressive feat.


    Rio doesn''t have ''appraisal'' like Fade to cheat, so he can only study by himself; thus, he got a few marks less in written examspared to Link.


    Due to this, he got Rank 2, even though Link and he both got full marks inbat.


    But Rio didn''t seem to care much about that.


    Raji put the badges on the student''s shirts with her own hands to show her appreciation for them.


    Fade was so excited that he felt like he was dreaming.


    Once the ceremony was over, everyone left for their ssrooms, and most of the third-year students went to the training grounds.


    ¡­


    Walking slowly, Rio nced at the badge and felt quite happy in his mind.


    ''Nearly two years have gone by since I came to this world¡­ Time sure does move fast¡­''


    Rio nced at Lia and the others who were walking ahead of him with happy smiles on their faces as they talked with each other,


    ''Sigh¡­ The me from the previous life could have never thought that I would one day end up having so many close friends¡­ It seems I am blessed in this life¡­''


    Just when Rio was contemting his life in his mind, Lia held his hand and said, with a smile on her face,


    "Hoho, you seem quite happy today¡­ Did you like the badge that much?"


    Rio nodded his head in response to those words.


    "We earned it with two years of hard work, and of course I like it a lot¡­"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Sigh~, I am not sure if we can call this thing a reward or not¡­ After all, it''s going to give us a lot of work in the form of missions from now on¡­"


    Link also nodded his head and spoke.


    "Yeah, we might even have to go on some solo missions, which means that we won''t be able to work as a team too many times¡­"


    Riya''s eyes widened at those words,


    "Eh!? But I don''t think I can conquer a dungeon alone! What do I do!?"


    Link smiled at Riya''s panicked look and said,


    "Haha, you are a healer; they obviously won''t give you a mission to conquer a dungeon¡­ Everyone receives a mission ording to their skills and capabilities¡­"


    "They will likely only give you a mission to heal someone or do other simr things¡­"


    Hearing Link''s words of assurance, Riya calmed down and went back to her usual activity of nibbling on candies without any care in the world.


    Rio nced at Link and Liam before speaking.


    "Well, if that''s the case, then let''s see who willplete all five missions first¡­ The one who finishes them atst will have to treat the others to a meal¡­"


    Link smiled at those words and spoke in an excited tone.


    "Hoho, it''s quite rare for you to bring a challenge out of nowhere; okay, I am in!"


    Liam also nodded his head at Rio''s words,


    "I am in! Don''t pull back once you have lost, though¡­ With my summoned beasts help, I will be the first to get them done¡­"


    Lia was obviously not going to just watch from the sidelines; she also nodded her head.


    "I am in too! Let''spete fair and square; I won''t lose to Rio this time!"


    Only Riya remained oblivious to the fact that they were allpeting with each other, as she was busy nibbling on her candies.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems new adventures await Team Astra from here onwards. Let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day:


    Whom would you rather want to team up with toplete a mission?


    1. Rio


    23:23


    2. Link


    3. Riya n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    4. Lia


    5. Liam


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 303 Everyone below rank SS is just an Ant...

    Chapter 303 Everyone below rank SS is just an ''Ant''...


    Academy training ground.


    *Boom!*


    Two swords collided with each other and created a massive shockwave. Cracks appeared in the ground from the massive wind pressure, but the two swordsmen remained unaffected by all this.


    "Hoh, in terms of pure physical stats, you are already on the level of an early SS-ranker like me¡­"


    A smile appeared on Jin''s face as he countered a thousand sword attacks in a matter of seconds.


    The wind pressure created by their sword swings was so strong that Meng, who was sitting on a nearby bench, was having great difficulty barely opening his eyes in that massive wind storm.


    From Meng''s perspective, all he could see was two swords shing again and again; he couldn''t follow Rio and Jin''s movements at all, as they were just too out of his league.


    Even Jin himself was amazed at Rio''s amazing abilities.


    Rio clearly does not use mana, yet his physical abilities are on par with an SS ranker due to the ''Imperfect Sword Heart''.


    "You really got a huge boost from the blessing of that world tree, it seems."


    Jin didn''t know the exact details of what Rio got from that world tree, but he could see that Rio''s physical capabilities were definitely enhanced.


    Rio ignored Jin''s word, ced his sword beside his waist, and took his stance.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Time Type: Parallel Strikes!]


    As it swung, Rio''s sword appeared to have created parallel images in the air, and Jin had to parry those multiple parallel sword attacks that came from all directions and angles.


    If not for the fact that he has world authority and can easily move through space, he couldn''t have dodged it at all.


    Seeing that Jin easily used the space-time fabric to dodge the attack, Rio sighed and stopped attacking,


    "It''s really difficult to hit an SS-ranker¡­ Speed doesn''t matter at all¡­"


    Jin nodded in response to Rio''s words and provided an exnation.


    "SS-rankers have the authority to open portals to teleport, or they can easily teleport to any ce that is in their field of vision¡­ Basically, they are not bound by the constraints of speed; they can teleport, so speed doesn''t matter to them¡­"


    Jin took the towel that Meng handed him and wiped the sweat from his face as he spoke.


    "S rankers can stand in void, which means they can fly or stand in air easily without even using mana, but this ability gets even more enhanced when they ascend to rank SS¡­"


    "At rank SS, you can pass through physical objects by manipting the space-time fabric itself¡­ Although this ability doesn''t work against other SS-rankers, It''s still a very strong ability¡­"


    "That''s what I just used to dodge your attack; I directly bypassed your sword attacks by manipting the space-time fabric to my will¡­ This is what it means to be a demi-god¡­"


    "You are unaffected by mortal constraints and can bend even the space-time fabric to your will¡­ This is the path of divine¡­"


    Rio and Meng both took mental notes of Jin''s words andmitted them to their memory.


    They both are aiming to be SS-rankers one day, so this information is beneficial for them both.


    Rio looked at Jin and inquired in an inquisitive manner.


    "Then does that mean the barrier you created back in the spaceship was-"


    Before Rio could finish his question, Jin nodded his head and said, with an excited tone,


    "Yes! I created it by manipting the space-time fabric in a simr way¡­ It''s a very simple but effective barrier technique¡­ Moreover, as this thing is basically an inherent ability of all SS-rankers, it doesn''t cost any mana at all¡­"


    Rio and Meng were both very surprised at Jin''s words.


    "Doesn''t that mean that it''s a very broken and overpowered ability!? It doesn''t even cost mana!?"


    Hearing Meng''s question, Jin nodded his head.


    "Yes, before bing an SS ranker, I also used to think that the difference between an S ranker and an SS ranker should not be that huge¡­"


    "But now¡­ I can easily say that everyone at rank S or below are just ''Ants'' in front of an SS-ranker¡­ No matter how many S rankers try to swarm and attack an SS ranker, it''s futile¡­"


    "We just need to use our ''World Authority'' and we can turn a whole into space debris in a matter of seconds¡­ And the most horrific thing is¡­ ''World Authority'' doesn''t cost you any mana at all¡­"


    Hearing those words, even Rio was taken aback. Rio used to believe that ''World Authority'' would require a significant amount of mana due to its powerful nature.


    However, the notion that ''World Authority'' requires no mana is simply absurd.


    Jin looked up at the sky, sighed, and spoke.


    "The gap between these two ranks is extremely huge¡­ I kind of understand now why they call SS-rankers ''Demi-gods''¡­ The power of an SS ranker is no joke; smashing a is no big deal for us¡­"


    Meng thought for a moment before posing the question.


    "So, what would happen if two SS-rankers'' ''World Authorities'' collide?"


    Jin looked at Meng and said, with a smile on his face,


    "Well, the one with the stronger ''World Authority'' level would win, of course¡­ There are no shortcuts to this; you need to train it slowly¡­"


    "It''s been a year since I became an SS-ranker, and my ''World Authority'' level hasn''t risen even once yet¡­"


    "Increasing the ''World Authority'' level even once is like trying to level up from rank G to rank S all over again¡­ the gap is huge¡­ too huge¡­"


    This is also the reason why all talented people end up getting stuck when they reach rank SS.


    Talented people have fast improvement speed, so they reach rank S in just a few years and then ascend to rank SS easily, but after that, it''s extremely difficult to go further.


    The progression bes as slow as a snail.


    That''s exactly what happened with Raji, Neo, and others. They improved fast until rank S, and their speed slowed down after reaching rank SS.


    Raji has been in rank SS for years now, and she is still at ''World Authority'' level 1, which just shows how difficult things get in the demi-god realm.


    Hearing Jin''s words, Rio asked,


    "If it''s so difficult to train the ''world authority'' level, then what level do you think Mr. Ashtel is at?"


    Jin thought about it for a moment before speaking.


    "Hmm, I haven''t seen him use his full power before, but with his talent, I guess he should be somewhere at level 4 or 5, and the demon king of the current era should be around level 3¡­"


    "As for the dragon king¡­ I guess he should be around level 6 or even 7¡­ But all of this is just my guess; I am not really sure about it either, as I have never seen them in action¡­"


    Meng''s eyes widened in surprise,


    "Just by reaching level 4, Mr. Ashtel became the strongest man on earth¡­ doesn''t that mean if some reached the peak of ''World Authority'' they would be able to shatter the whole sr system!?"


    After hearing Meng''s words, Jin chuckled slightly and remarked,


    "No, no¡­ I think Mr. Ashtel himself can shatter the sr system even now, which means that if someone reached the peak state of ''World Authority'', they would be at multiple sr system level¡­"


    "Haha, but I doubt someone like that even exists in today''s world¡­ In the long Annals of History, there was only one person who had achieved this feat, which was King Allen Von Reinhart¡­"


    "There weren''t any before or after him who had achieved the same level of strength as him¡­ You could think of him as the true peak of this world''s power hierarchy¡­"


    Hearing Jin''s words, Rio suddenly asked,


    "Then what about the realm above rank SS? Do you have any clue about it?"


    Jin suddenly burst intoughter after hearing Rio say those words. Only after a few seconds did he calm down and say,


    "I don''t think there is even a realm above rank SS¡­ It''s likely just a joke made by someone who had too much free time on their hand¡­ Even an SS ranker is already a great burden on thews of this world¡­"


    Jin''s expression turned solemn as he said the next few words.


    "If a being of that level of power existed, the world would not be able to bear the burden of their existence¡­ Such a being would have transcended the veryws of this world¡­. Which is impossible¡­"


    Jin shook his head and said,


    "Forget it, don''t think about all that; you guys have a long road ahead of you; thinking about a goal that is just too far away will do you more harm than good; just take things step by step¡­"


    "Reaching rank S is just taking the first step; only by reaching rank SS can you start to see the real view of this world¡­"


    While saying those words, Jin sighed.


    He waved his hands and decided to leave.


    "Today was the final day of our training together. I have gained a lot of insights, I will leave for Oaklum tomorrow morning, Let''s meet again in the future if there''s a chance for it¡­"


    "Mr. Ashtel went into seclusion training three months ago, as he seemed to have found some insights when he saw the heavenly thunder bombarding Riya. He will likely note out for one or two years."


    "I am going to be in seclusion too¡­ I wish you guys good luck. When Ie out of seclusion, I hope you will have achieved greater heights¡­ Goodbye for now¡­"


    At that moment, Jin opened a portal and went to Oaklum after picking up Anna.


    Rio and Meng sighed while looking at the closing portal. The same thought came to their minds at that moment:


    ''The world really is vast¡­ There''s a long road ahead¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! We finally got to know how strong an SS ranker can be, Let''s hope that Rio and others can reach that level soon¡­


    Question of the day. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    What do you think, What ''World Authority'' will Rio awaken?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 304: A trip to the eastern border... Part-1.

    Chapter 304: A trip to the eastern border... Part-1.


    ?


    Academy training ground.


    "Don''t think of ''sword intent'' as a rigid force that can only be used with a sword... You should think that every single object in this world can be your sword; moreover, your own body is a sword too..."


    Rio flicked his finger slightly, firing a concentrated arc of sword intent that instantly split the practice dummy in two.


    With a simple flick of his finger, Rio split the practice dummy enhanced with rank B magic into two pieces.


    Seeing Rio''s amazing disy of strength, Meng seemed to have stars shining in his eyes.


    "No matter if you have a sword or not, sword intent can''t be restrained... This is the unstoppable ''flow'' of the w of sword''..."


    Rio didn''t even tell Jin about this trick, but now he''s telling it to Meng because, unlike Jin, Meng already has ''Sword Intent'' and it would be impossible to use this trick without having ''Sword Intent'' in the first ce.


    Since it was thest training session today, Rio didn''t mind telling Meng some simple tricks.


    Meng can learn them eventually himself, so it doesn''t matter if Rio tells him about them a bit earlier.


    As long as he can master this trick, he can also fight mid-range battles; he can fire massive sword-intent attacks without even bothering to get close to the enemy.


    This is a must-learn technique.


    Although you can still fire concentrated arcs made of various elements that suit you, they are obviously much weaker whenpared to an arc fired in sync with sword intent.


    Seeing Rio''s skills, Meng instantly became motivated and went over to another practice dummy to work hard and practice his sword skills more.


    He wants to be as strong as Rio one day, so he doesn''t hesitate to work hard.


    Rio nodded his head in satisfaction and walked over to a nearby bench to sit down.


    ''Training others is not really my type of thing... If not for Mr. Jin, who pestered me to teach him about sword intent, I wouldn''t have gone out of my way to do all this...''


    Ever since Rio has awakened the ''Sword Heart'', he feels even more empty than before; getting involved with others feels more boring to him nowadays.


    Moreover, Lia and the others have been concentrating on their training since their loss to Rio, so they rarely visit him nowadays.


    ''It''s been three months since I went on a date with Lia... Thest one was that caf¨¦ date that got nearly wasted by him...''


    As he has only been talking to Lia via messages, he hasn''t gotten to see her recently.


    ''Last time I saw her was at the opening ceremony when we got our ''badges''; it''s already been three days since then...''


    ''My lipium meter is running low... I''ve got to go through all the past pictures of her on my phone...''


    (Lia+Copium= Lipium... Yeah, he is addicted to this ''stuff'' called lipium; it''s super addictive; don''t try it at home... cough!)


    Just when Rio was about to open his smartphone to stare at Lia''s photo, two familiar faces appeared in his field of vision.


    One of them had greenish hair and pupils, while the other one had golden hair and pupils simr to Lia''s.


    Rio immediately nced at the golden-haired guy, and a thought came to his mind:


    ''Wait, does Lia have a brother or something? I don''t remember that, though... Why do this guy''s hair and pupils look so simr to her? Could it be that Lia''s father had a hidden affair or something...''


    If Lia had heard those words, she would have smacked him angrily for thinking like that.


    While Rio was contemting it all in his mind, Ars and Leo came towards him and greeted him politely.


    "Good evening, Senpai! Nice to meet you.... I''m Leo Roserolt."


    "Good evening, Nice to meet you... I am Ars Lothario."


    Leo''s voice seemed more polite and nervous, while Ars talked in a more stern and confident voice. The difference between the two was really vast.


    Rio tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "Yeah, nice to meet you. I am Rio sh. Did you need me for something?"


    Hearing Rio''s question, Leo nodded his head and said in a nervous voice,


    "Uh... W-We know that you are the son of the leader of the assassin organization ''Scourge of


    the Darkest Nights'', uh... we are technically affiliated with that organization-"


    Before Leo could finish his sentence, an immensely strong pressure appeared and pressed him and Ars to the ground in an instant.


    Even the ground started to crack from that massive pressure.


    *Clink*


    The sound of Rio unsheathing his sword made Ars and Leo tremble in fear.


    "Hoh... How do you know about that... Have you been running background checks on me? I kind of don''t like that kind of thing, you know..."


    With the addition of ''Sword Intent'' and ''Sword Heart'', Rio''s aura has be extremely condensed and strong; it won''t be wrong to say that his aura has already be as strong as an S ranker.


    Seeing that Rio was quite unhappy about the news, Ars immediately started to exin everything in great detail.


    Only then did Rio rx his immense aura and stop pressuring them.


    After 15 minutes,


    After a whole fifteen minutes of exnation, Rio finally got the gist of the whole picture. "So, you are saying that there is an old man named Irvin who used to work as my father''s henchman, and now he wants to meet me for something?"


    Leo and Ars both nodded their heads at those words.


    "We used to be orphans; he took us in as his grandchildren and raised us as skilled assassins... Our weapon skills are given by him; he asked us to request that you visit him at least once..."


    Hearing their words, Rio fell into thought,


    ''I never thought that there were still some remnants of the assassination organization that this body''s father disbanded so many years ago... What do I do now... I kind of don''t want to


    go...''


    Rio nced at Ars and Leo, who were staring at him with excited looks in their eyes.


    "Just so you know, I am not nning on bing an assassin; I don''t want anything to do with the kind of work you guys do..."


    "If you are thinking that you can ask me to recreate a new assassination organization just like my father, then you are just dreaming; I have no interest in that..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Ars and Leo were a bit disappointed.


    They wanted to work together with someone as strong and skilled as Rio at least once.


    Staying with him will definitely increase their skills, but if he doesn''t have any interest in creating a new assassination organization, then they will have no reason to stick to his side. "Er... Well, that aside, all we want is for you to pay a small visit to Grandpa Irvin... He has never made any requests to us before; we want to pay him back for all that he has done for us, so can you please at leaste with us?"


    "The travel cost will be on us! No need to worry about that!"


    Hearing those enthusiastic words, Rio fell into a dilemma.


    He also wanted to know what the old man, Irvin, was nning, but he didn''t really have any great motivation to go either.


    Just when Rio was about to deny, Ars and Leo looked into each other''s eyes, and they decided to use their trump cards to sway Rio''s decision.


    "Grandpa Irvin said that he knows a lot about the sword that you are using... He once had a great talk with your father about it; if youe with us, he will tell you everything about it..." Hearing those words, Rio finally felt that it was worth making a trip to this old guy named


    Irvin.


    "Hoh, you have piqued my interest... Very well. Let''s set off tomorrow morning then... I would like to see what secrets your old grandpa is hiding..."


    Ars and Leo nodded their heads at Rio''s words and added their contact information to his


    phone.


    "We will meet at the bus stop outside the main gate of the academy tomorrow morning,


    then..."


    They both waved their hands to say goodbye and left with happy smiles on their faces. Looking at their fading backs, Rio sighed and thought to himself.


    ''Sigh, and here I was thinking that I would rx for a few more days, but now new problems havee up... The life of an ''extra'' is really quite difficult...''


    Rio nced at Meng, who was still training in the distance, totally oblivious to all the things that happened here, and shook his head.


    ''Forget it; I have already taught him enough... He would progress on his own now. I should go


    back and sleep early today...''


    Rio is not sure which rank that old man Irvin is, so he''s going to do things with the utmost


    caution.


    If that old man has the slightest bit of ''killing intent'' for him, Rio will slice him into a million pieces, and if that old man is an S-ranker, then he will just run away at the slightest hint of


    killing intent.


    With the help of ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', Rio has be extremely fast nowadays. Although


    he still can''t fully defeat an S-ranker as of yet, he can at least run away, and the opponent won''t be able to stop him at all.


    ''I just hope he has some valuable information about my sword... Otherwise, this trip will be a


    waste of time...''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Rio is finally going to meet Irvin!


    Question of the day:.


    Who would you like to get trained by?


    1. Rio


    2. Lia


    3. Link


    4. Liam


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 305: A trip to the eastern border... Part-2.

    Chapter 305: A trip to the eastern border... Part-2.


    ?


    Next morning, Outside Academy''s main gate.


    Rio sent a message to Lia saying that he would be going to the Eastern Border for a day or two.


    Lia has been busy training with her father recently and has likely gone to conquer some dungeon, so she hasn''t been reading his messages since yesterday, which made Rio feel a bit sad.


    Aside from Lia, others are also busy training, as they all know that it won''t be long before they might receive their first mission soon, and everyone wants to be as strong as possible for their mission.


    In the past three months, Rio has also trained a lot, and now he has already reached the peak of rank A; moreover, he has enhanced his sword intent even further nowadays.


    ''My progress has been fast... I guess it won''t be long before I ascend to rank S... I guess a year would be enough time...''


    Ascending from Rank A to S is no small matter.


    The peak of rank A means that you have reached the maximum potential of your body. Next, you need to break the limit on your genes and surpass your physical limits to reach the next realm. Only then will you be able to reach rank S.


    ''I guess I will do things slowly and steady... I wouldn''t want to destabilize my own path like Al did due to being too anxious...''


    Just when Rio was contemting his future ns, Leo and Ars arrived.


    They both said it in unison.


    "Good morning, Senpai..."


    Rio nodded his head and said ''Good Morning'' as a reply, and all three of them finally boarded a flying bus to head towards a helipad.


    While sitting on the back seat, Rio nced at Ars and asked,


    "Why are we going to a helipad, though? Do normal buses don''t go to the ce we are supposed to go?"


    Ars nodded his head and said,


    "Well, it''s in the middle of a barren area; there are no bus routes there as no one lives there in hundreds of kilometers of area; there''s only that one hidden tavern, so..."


    Rio was quite surprised at those words and asked curiously,


    "So, what you are trying to say is... Your grandpa lives in a tavern that is located a hundred kilometers deep in a barren area, where even the bus doesn''t go? What is he, ''A Terrorist''? Why is he living in such a shady ce?"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Leo scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment,


    "Er, well, that''s just how it is... He kind of likes staying far away from technology and stuff... He only recently got a smartphone just so he could watch you fight in the tournament of supreme talents..."


    Rio nodded his head and asked,


    "So, what is his evaluation of me then? If he has watched the tournament, then he must know how it ended..."


    Ars contemted for a moment and said,


    "Well, we haven''t been in contact with him too much since the day we started living in the academy''s dorms, but from what I know about him..."


    "He must be shocked by your feats, I think..."


    Hearing those words, Rio wasn''t really sure what to say; he hadn''t met the other party before, and he had no idea what the other party wanted from him.


    Moreover, the meeting ce was located in a very unpopted area, which is very shady too.


    If Rio wasn''t strong enough, he wouldn''t have agreed to meet the other party in such a barren ce where no rescue woulde if something bad happened.


    He would have asked Ars and Leo to convince the other party to visit him in the capital instead.


    But as he is strong enough now, Rio doesn''t think he would need to be that cautious; in fact, that barren area might work on his side.


    No one will know who killed how many people there; Rio can just ughter all of the remnant members of the assassination organization if they dare to have ill intentions for him.


    In other words, Rio would not be the one at a disadvantage; he would be the one with the advantage.


    National Airport, Helipad area.


    Rio and the other two got off the bus and walked over to the helipad area.


    It was Rio''s first time seeing a helipad in person, so he was quite satisfied by this trip. Seeing new things and enjoying the scenery is the main reason why he even agreed to this trip; he isn''t really that interested in knowing what this body''s father used to be like. "There are quite a lot of helipads here... This ce seems like a hub for the helicopters..."


    Ars nodded his head in response to Rio''s words.


    "Yes, they even do maintenance work here; we both have visited this ce a lot of times..."


    "Grandpa has a lot of connections and a lot of money; he bought a helicopter just so we could travel back and forth when we wanted to meet him.."


    Hearing Ars''s words, Rio said,


    "You two aren''t even his real grandkids... and yet he treats you so good... It seems he might not be as shady a person as I originally thought..."


    Rio has been an orphan for two lives now; he knows all too well how the world treats unwanted children like them.


    And as Irvin is treating his adopted grandkids quite well, he has gained quite a few of Rio''s favorability points.


    (By the way, Rio never got adopted because he was too ordinary-lookingpared to other kids who looked cute and adorable...)


    The best way to gain Rio''s favorability points is by praising Lia in front of him or making a


    very good tea for him; j this much is enough for you to gain his favor.


    As for whether he will help you or not, it depends entirely on his mood.


    ...


    The helicopter took off into the sky and headed towards the east.


    The wind breeze ruffled Rio''s hair, and a slight smile appeared on his expressionless face.


    This is the first time he has ever sat in a helicopter, so it was quite a new and amazing


    experience for him.


    ''It''s quite slowpared to when I ride on my sword using ''Sword Intent'' and it''s not asfortable as sitting on Ellie''s back in her dragon form... but... it''s quite a unique experience, so I can''tin...''


    Rio watched the scenery below with enormous interest.


    He saw the capital city from the sky, and it looked really futuristic and beautiful. Then they crossed the forest area below and crossed many cities, rivers, and mountains on their way to


    the east.


    The helicopters in this world are very advanced, and their speed is as fast as a fighter jet; thus, they were able to travel fast and cross hundreds of kilometers of distance in just half an hour. Just then, a thought came to Rio''s mind. He nced at Leo and asked curiously,


    "By the way... your hair and pupils look so simr to Lia; are you perhaps rted to the Silver


    family somehow?"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Leo smiled awkwardly and said,


    "Er... I also had that thought in my mind when I first saw senior Lia during the group survival test... so I asked grandpa about my background..."


    "He conducted a search on it, and it turns out I havemon ancestors with her... You could say I am a distant cousin of Senior Lia if we look at it like that... but I don''t know if we can


    consider it that way..."


    Leo shrugged his shoulders and went on.


    "Even if we havemon ancestors, I don''t consider myself a part of the silver family; I


    consider myself Grandpa Irvin''s grandchild... I have nothing to do with the Silver family..."


    Rio nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well, life is just like that, I guess... Strange things do happen..."


    ''If Lia had a little brother from the start, she might have never walked the path of darkness, as


    she wouldn''t have been so lonely and depressed in the original storyline...''


    ''But would I have still been able to meet her then?''


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking about this. There was no mention of Leo and Ars in


    the original storyline, so he doesn''t know what their future holds for them, and there was no


    point in thinking about it too much.


    Rio nced at Ars and asked,


    "What about you? Have you found out about your past too?"


    Ars nodded his head and said,


    "Well, my parents were criminals; they were executed for murder, bank robbery, and other serious crimes... I feel rather ashamed that I was born to such people..."


    "But I have already epted it... It''s not like I could choose how I was born; I am aiming to


    make a name for myself in the world and help out the people in need... to wash away the sins that my parentsmitted..."


    Hearing Ars''s words filled with determination, Rio nodded his head and thought to himself,


    ''There really are people who had it even worse than me... I hope these two can achieve their goals in the future... It would be better if they didn''t get cursed by Fade''s sinister eyes...'' Getting involved with a protagonist will definitely bring you great misfortune, no matter how


    strong you are.


    It''s better to stay away from that disaster ma called Fade.


    Just when Rio was contemting in his mind, Leo pointed to a dpidated building in the middle of the barren in with a happy smile on his face and said,


    "Oh, there it is! That''s the underground tavern, Novo!"


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day. Which side-characters story do you think was the most painful, in your opinion?


    (Tell me in thements...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 306: A Prophecy?

    Chapter 306: A Prophecy?


    ?


    Underground Tavern, Novo.


    *Knock*


    The sudden knocking sound on the door brought Irvin back to his senses, and he stopped daydreaming.


    The door opened, and Leo and Ars walked in, followed by Rio behind them.


    The moment Irvin saw Rio''s face, he nearly mistook that Kevin himself hase to visit him all of a sudden.


    His eyes widened in shock. Rio looked so simr to Kevin that there wasn''t even any need for a DNA test; it''s very easy to tell if Rio is Kevin''s son or not.


    The most surprising thing about it all was Rio''s amazing aura.


    As a peak ''A'' ranker, Rio was emitting an extremely dense and solid aura, which could be mistaken for an S ranker if not observed attentively.


    Just by entering the tavern, Rio caused the temperature in the surrounding area to get colder, and his dead-fish-like eyes seemed to be able to see through a person''s soul in an instant.


    A thought came to Irvin''s mind at that moment.


    ''This kid... He''s a monster...''


    Irvin has seen many geniuses in his long life, but Rio is the most insane of them all.


    ''He''s not even actively trying to guard... The sword moves seem to be engraved in his body directly! He''s ready to draw his sword at any second... Now I understand why he was able to parry Link''s attacks so easily...''


    Muscle memory is a crazy thing; if you train yourself in something for long enough, your body itself starts to remember that thing, and you don''t even need to actively think about it to do that thing anymore.


    By now, Rio has engraved his sword skills in his body so thoroughly that it can move on its own at the slightest notice of killing intent.


    Rio isn''t even purposely putting up his guard; his body itself is doing it on its own.


    His sword skills are engraved in his every move, and even the most insignificant movements seem to carry the intentions of a sword.


    This state of being in sync with the sword is what they call bing ''one with the sword''. Although Rio hasn''tpleted this ''state'' yet, he''s already progressing fast.


    ...


    While Irvin was evaluating Rio with a shocked look on his face, Rio was also doing the same, except his face remained as expressionless as usual.


    ''As I expected, this old man is an S ranker... But he''s likely not too strong; his aura is in a state of decline; and he likely doesn''t have a lot of years left to live...''


    ''He must have broken through during old age; currently, he can barely be considered an S ranker anymore...''


    From Rio''s perspective, aside from the ability to stand in the air, Irvin likely doesn''t have any other advantages over him.


    ''Okay, we can talk on equal levels then...''


    Although Irvin is in a state of decline, he''s still a genuine S-ranker after all, and as Rio is strong, it won''t be wrong to say that they are both on equal levels and can talk without worry.


    Only when you are on the same level as the other party can you add weight to your words; otherwise, they will likely be ignored.


    This is how the world is.


    ''Let''s see what he wants to say...''


    Rio walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the bar stools ced in the front. Rio''s expression remained emotionless as he spoke.


    "Greetings, I am Rio sh, a swordsman..."


    Irvin snapped out of his daydreaming at Rio''s words and then nodded his head.


    "Wee, I am Irvin Terell, A humble bartender... What would you like to order, young man?"


    Rio nced at the various bottles of wine stacked in the disy cabs and shook his head.


    "I don''t drink; just give me any kind of juice if you have one..."


    At Rio''s words, Irvin smiled happily and said,


    "Haha, as expected... Kevin also never liked to drink wine; good thing I prepared some expensive juice bottles, especially for this asion..."


    Irvin brought out the ''Kar Juice'' that Kevin used to like. (That sh*t is bitter as f*ck!)


    Rio knew all too well about that juice, but this is the first time he has seen it in this world. People in this world don''t seem to like it that muchpared to Rio''s previous world. ''Well, even in my previous world, they didn''t seem to like it much...''


    Rio had damaged taste buds in his previous life, so he couldn''t have tasted its bitterness even if he wanted to. Today is the first time he''s actually going to drink it.


    Irvin served the juice to Rio; he also wanted to give some to Leo and Ars, but the two of them declined immediately as they didn''t want that bitter juice at all.


    To Ars and Leo''s surprise, Rio drank that amazingly bitter juice without even changing expressions on his face.


    Irvin also nodded his head at Rio and said,


    "Yeah, the boss liked this juice a lot, and you seem to appreciate it too; my choice wasn''t wrong, it seems..."


    Rio nodded his head and thought to himself.


    ''Well, it''s okay that I tried it once, but I certainly wouldn''t want to drink it ever again...''


    ''Kar Juice'' is very nutritious and beneficial for health, but that is only if you can bear to drink it while ignoring that bitter taste.


    ...


    Ignoring the fact that Irvin made his guest drink a bitter juice, Ars said,


    "We have brought Rio Senpai here as promised; now don''t waste time; he will leave if you


    keep dragging things..."


    The tavern is empty today; aside from the four of them, there is no one else, so they can talk


    as much as they want.


    Irvin also nodded his head in response to those words.


    "You two, go y outside; let us have a small conversation in private..."


    Ars and Leo nodded their heads and went to the upper floor.


    Seeing that the two had left, Irvin brought out a small diary from one of the cabs and


    ced it in front of Rio.


    "It''s a diary of my adventures with your father; he used to be a kind and caring boss for our organization; we idolized him a lot... I have nothing else to give you but this..."


    Rio nodded his head and flipped through a few pages of the diary.


    Most of the things noted were just information''s about random dungeon raids and others, but there were also some interesting information''s that Rio didn''t know about.


    Like how they used to carry out assassinations or how they used to track down people without


    ever getting caught.


    Basically, the whole secret method of ''Stealth tracking and moving'' was described in the


    diary.


    ''This kind of seems like an overall description of a skill... I think I might be able to recruit this skill if I try it myself...''


    If Rio can learn this skill, then he can improve his stealth abilities even further, so he directly put the diary in his space ring and nodded his head at Irvin,


    "This is good enough. I appreciate the fact that you have recorded so many details about him in this diary. I will be able to know him better with this much information..."


    Irvin sighed at those words and said,


    "Boss was always the type of person who liked to hide his weaknesses; he never told us about your existence, as he might not have wanted for you to get exposed to danger..."


    "But that also worked as a disadvantage; if I had known about you earlier, I could have


    adopted you like Leo and Ars... sigh..."


    Irvin indeed felt guilty that he never came forward to help out Rio when he was living through


    difficult times.


    At the guilty look on Irvin''s face, Rio just shook his head and said,


    "No worries, I don''t me anyone for all that; it was all the plot of that Demon Prince Alverto


    who massacred the whole ''Drift City''..."


    "I will one day settle the score with him..."


    Seeing that Rio had forgiven him, Irvin heaved a sigh of relief. He''s old, and he doesn''t want


    to make an enemy of someone as strong as Rio.


    If Rio med him, he might harm Ars and Leo, so Irvin had to get Rio''s forgiveness.


    Irvin stared into Rio''s eyes and said,


    "Now that the side topics are out of the way, let me tell you the main reason why I asked you


    toe here..."


    Rio nodded his head and listened attentively,


    "Tell me..."


    Irvin nced at Rio''s sword and said,


    "When Boss stole ''that sword'' from the demon king''s treasury, a giant stone tablet was


    located beside it, and the words written on it were..."


    [Forged in the Great Furnace of Cyria!


    Forged for the greatest being!


    This sword marks the beginning,


    And the end of a cosmicw!]


    Rio frowned a bit at those words and said,


    "Great Furnace of Cyria? I have neither heard about such a furnace nor have I heard the name


    Cyria before..."


    Irvin nodded his head and said,


    "Boss looked into this himself for years, and what he gathered was that ''Cyria 229'' was once a where ''Dwarves'' used to live before Mana descended to this world..."


    "They got teleported to this due to the disturbances that urred in the space-time


    fabric as mana descended into this world..."


    "The dwarves might have more information about that... You will need to go to the


    Dwarven Empire if you want to find the origins of this sword..."


    Just when Rio was about to deny it, Irvin said,


    "Boss said that this sword has the ability to reach a new realm, and only the dwarfs know


    about its secrets... This sword is a treasure; you should try to find clues if possible..."


    Rio contemted for a few moments and then nodded his head,


    "Well, I am not sure if they will really have any method to improve it, but I guess I will give it


    a try some day... Thanks for the advice..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Rio has added another new step to his journey...


    Question of the day.


    Have you ever drank that ''Kar Juice'' before? How was it?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 307: Gained an information network...

    Chapter 307: Gained an informationwork...


    ?


    "But if dwarves got teleported like that, does that mean other races also appeared here because of the same spatial fluctuations?"


    "Why is this information not in the history books, by the way? They don''t even talk about this topic in the books..."


    Even in the novel, Rio never read about how the other races appeared on the, as the novel didn''t really focus much on its world-building aspect.


    The main focus of the novel was on ''How to glorify Fade More!'', so it basically ignored every other important fact from the start.


    Today is the first time that Rio has found out about this information.


    "Well, I used to have a lot of connections back in my days... and the boss actually once met an S-rank dwarf; I guess he must have learned about it from that dwarf... but I don''t know his name or anything as I never met him..."


    "Also, they likely hid the information about this massive spatial teleportation..."


    "King Allen wanted to end ''Racial discrimination'' from this world entirely; he created anguage that everyone uses today..."


    "It is highly likely that he might have ordered that the information about this spatial teleportation must remain hidden..."


    Rio also believed that Irvin''s spections had some weight.


    If King Allen wanted to eliminate ''Racial discrimination'', he would have to hide the fact that


    the other races came from others and are not native to this.


    This way, the general popce will ept others more easily.


    Knowing that the other races are just ''aliens'' who suddenly came to their and are using their resources would cause massive chaos.


    King Allen''s ambition was to make a ''discrimination free'', ''miasma free'', ''demon-free'' world in which people would feel like they were living in heaven itself.


    In the history books, King Allen''s famous quote is recorded as:


    {I will create a paradise on earth... I will create a heaven that will ept all lost souls...}


    "Sigh... I was nning on spending the next whole year training, but it seems I will be very busy..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Irvin shrugged his shoulders.


    "Well, to gain something, we have to put in an equivalent amount of effort for it..."


    Rio nodded his head at those words. He knew the importance of hard work; if he hadn''t known about it, he wouldn''t have reached his current level.


    Irvin suddenly opened a hidden drawer in a nearby cab and brought out a silver card with white designs on it.


    He then handed the card over to Rio with a smile on his face.


    "Take it; the assassination organization closed when the boss disbanded it, but I still have my connections... I sometimes work as an informant; if you need some information in the future, you can contact me.."


    "May it be running background checks or any other details that you might want about someone, you can rely on me; my contact information and other details are on that card... Keep it safe..."


    Before Rio had the chance to respond, Irvin said,


    "Ah, but keep in mind that my connections are not free; you will need to pay an equivalent sum to me for each piece of information..."


    Rio sighed at those words.


    "If you are really an informant, then why didn''t you ask for money when you told me so much information about my sword and also gave me the diary that records my father''s personality?"


    Hearing Rio''s words, Irvin shook his head and said,


    "No, that was a personal matter; I only charge money for things that are not personal questions... Rest assured, you may ask me any question about my boss, and I will not charge you any money..."


    Rio nodded his head and put the card in his space ring.


    "By the way, why are you living so far away from society? It''s as if you are a fugitive living underground..."


    Hearing that question, Irvin scratched the back of his neck and said it in embarrassment. "Well, a lot of my friends are shady people who can''te to visit me in normal ces. I created this tavern so that criminals, murderers, etc. these type of people can gather here..." "They are also a great source of information, by the way..."


    At Irvin''s words, Rio frowned a bit and said,


    "You know... No matter how far away this tavern is from the nearest city, the SS-rankers can easily detect whatever you are doing here... or they might already know about it all..."


    "Neo''s summoned beast wanders around the borders... You are likely already on his radar; he might even know that I havee here to visit you..."


    Irvin nodded his head and said,


    "Well, I have a proper license and paperwork... This ce is totally legal; only the visitors thate here are shady people... In other words, even if the SS-rankers know about this ce, they will only catch the criminals, not me..."


    Irvin shrugged his shoulders and said in a confident voice,


    "I am aw-abiding citizen who has nevermitted any crimes; they can''t arrest me even if


    they want to..."


    All criminals are to be judged by thew; not even SS-rankers are above thew.


    Although it''s really impossible to punish an SS ranker as they are just too important for the nation, they are still asked to abide by thew.


    Additionally, the reason that not a single S-ranker or SS-ranker dares to create chaos in the country is due to a single individual, ''Ashtel Rex.''


    Ashtel is a strict person; he doesn''t tolerate people who think that they are above thew just because they are strong.


    The S-rankers and even the SS-rankers fear his power and dare not mess around with themon people under Ashtel''s nose.


    After all, it will only take a flick of his finger to kill them.


    It won''t be wrong to say that: aside from real powerhouses like the dragon king, the elf king,


    or the demon king... Everyone else is just cannon fodder in front of him...


    ...


    Rio and Irvin talked about a few other irrelevant things before Rio decided to get serious.


    He narrowed his eyes and asked,


    "You said you have a lot of connections... Does your informationwork also extend to the ''demon continent''?"


    Irvin was taken aback by Rio''s sudden question, but then he understood what Rio wanted to


    say,


    "If you want to know about that Demon Prince, then I am really helpless... I really don''t have much information about him... All I know is that the current demon king, that is, his father, doesn''t seem to like him much..."


    "That''s all I know for now... If some new informationes up, I will contact you..."


    Rio nodded his head at Irvin''s words and got up from the seat.


    "Well, it was great chatting with you. I will depend on your informationwork someday if the need arises. Don''t end up dying too early... gramps..."


    A happy smile appeared on Irvin''s face after hearing the word ''Gramps''. Now that Rio has said


    it with his own mouth, it means that he has acknowledged Irvin as a grandpa figure.


    Irvin was happy that Rio had forgiven him for not helping out during the time when he was


    alone in the orphanage.


    ''Sigh... I guess now I can just die in peace and I will have regrets in life...''


    Irvin shook his head, nced at Rio''s departing back, and said,


    "You cane to visit me whenever you feel like it. I will be happy to tell you stories about


    my adventures with your father..."


    Rio waved his hand and said,


    "Well, if the opportunityes, I will be back... Next time, keep some good tea ready for


    me..."


    With that said, Rio left the underground tavern.


    He had already gotten all the information he came here for; there was no point in staying here


    for too long. Rio got out of the dpidated building and nced back while thinking,


    ''I have a feeling... I will being here often in the future... What a strange feeling...''


    Rio shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He went over to the helicopter that was


    parked nearby and sat beside Ars and Leo to fly back to the capital.


    While on the way back, Rio kept thinking in his mind, ''Dwarven empire... I guess I will contact Arner when I go there...''


    Rio added Arner''s contact information to his smartphone during the award ceremony


    banquet, so it won''t be a problem to contact him.


    Also, international travel is verymon in today''s world; people can take international flights and go on trips to other nations without any problem.


    Except for the Demons, Dragons, and Fairies, all races are part of the world alliance, so there


    is no need to worry about not being able to go there, as not many nations have enmity with


    each other.


    Orcs and humans once fought a fifty-year-long war, but everything is peaceful between the two races today, and you can go visit the Orc Capital without any problems.


    Every year, millions of touristse to the human empire from all over the world, and it''s


    verymon for humans to travel to other nations too.


    Thinking about all this, Rio felt more confident.


    ''I guess I will go to the Dwarven Empire after I graduate from the academy... Right now, my schedule is just too packed. I might receive my first mission any day now...''


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Which nation would you like to visit if you got the chance?


    Elven Empire Dwarven Empire Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 308: The Heavens chosen... Part-1.

    Chapter 308: The Heaven''s chosen... Part-1.


    ?


    Capital City Astra, Jold District.


    An abandoned factory.


    "Are you sure that you have the mission to conquer this dungeon... From the mana fluctuations, this is an A-rank dungeon... It will be difficult to conquer it with one person..."


    Hearing Fade''s worried voice, Kira nodded her head and said,


    "Well, that''s why I asked you toe with me; if we both work together, we can surely conquer it..."


    Fade hesitated at Kira''s words and said in a nervous voice,


    "You know... We aren''t even at rank A right now... The only reason we got the awakener''s badge was because we were part of Team Astra, which won the tournament..."


    "We don''t need to risk it right now.. h-how about weplete this missionter?"


    Kira pouted her cheeks at those words and said,


    "Only by braving through difficulties will we be able to advance faster; otherwise, we will be left behind in dust by the five of them..."


    Seeing that Fade was still hesitating, Kira added,


    "Well, if we end up finding some strong enemy that we can''t defeat, we will just leave... I have the teleportation scroll; no need to worry too much about it..."


    "If things go south, we will be able to teleport out of the dungeon without any problems... Just likest time..."


    Kira had teleported Fade out of the dungeon during the final exams, when Jiang was hunting him down.


    Hearing about that teleportation scroll, Fade finally calmed down, and the nervousness on his face disappeared.


    Fade nodded his head and took Kira''s hand to enter the dungeon with a smile on his face.


    "Let''s go then! Today we are definitely going to ascend to rank A!!"


    With that said, both Fade and Kira entered the dungeon in an instant.


    ...


    Once inside the dungeon, what came into view was a wide grasnd.


    No matter in which direction you look, all you can see is green, lush grass covering thend until the horizon.


    "Whoa! This ce is quite beautiful; if not for the fact that this is a dungeon, I would have liked to sleep here..."


    Kira nodded her head at Fade''s words. She smiled and said,


    "It''s indeed beautiful, but there might be hidden dangers in the grass. Keep your guard up, or you might get caught in a trap or something..."


    Fade nodded his head and said,


    "Yeah, it would be quite easy to hide traps in this ce; the ground is fully covered in grass after all."


    Just then, Fade noticed a massive steel-fanged bear wandering in the distance, and he said, "Let''s go and fight that bear... We will be able to figure out the difficulty of the dungeon by fighting that bear... If we can defeat it easily, then we won''t need to worry..."


    "And if it''s too strong, then we can just retreat immediately..."


    Kira also nodded her head, and the two of them carefully made their way to the bear.


    They have fought as a team for a long time now, so the cooperation between them is very good.


    [Intermediate water magic: Piercing water beam!]


    [Intermediate water magic: Piercing water beam!]


    Both of them usually train together, so their spells are very simr to each other, and they are both so in sync that they can easily guess what spell the other party would use.


    Thus, they both can fire the same type of spell without needing to evenmunicate with each other.


    But obviously, Kira''s magic is weaker whenpared to Fade, as he can simply use experience points to improve his proficiency, but Kira has to train for a long time to do that.


    Nowadays, Kira is barely even able to keep up with Fade''s improvement speed, as he is improving fast and is leaving her behind in dust.


    If not for the fact that Rio has been stealing and blocking his way, Fade would have already be a peak-A ranker by now, just like Link and Rio.


    *gRRRAAHHH!*


    When the water beams hit the bear, they pierced its skin, and arge wound was created on the side of its stomach. Its internal organs started to spill out of its body due to that.


    The bear roared loudly in pain and copsed on the ground, then Fade immediately fired another water beam and sted its head off.


    Yet, instead of happiness, a look of confusion appeared on Fade''s face.


    "huh? The monsters in this dungeon are surprising weaker than I was expecting... or have I be stronger?"


    Thinking about how he might have be stronger, Fade smiled happily.


    Just when Fade was smiling happily, Kira pointed her finger in a certain direction and said,


    "I am detecting the presence of a lot of steel bearsing closer... They must have been attracted by the painful roars of this bear..."


    A look of worry appeared on Kira''s face as she said,


    "Fade, there are too many of them; let''s retreat for now!"


    Fade ignored Kira''s warning and said, with a smirk on his face,


    "Hmph! No matter how many of them are here, it doesn''t matter! They are all just weak and easy prey! I will kill them all!"


    Just now, Fade got a lot of ''Exp'' by killing that bear. Now that a lot of them areing his way, how can he bear to let those free ''exp'' bags go away so easily.


    He wants to collect enough ''Exp'' today and use it to ascend to rank A at any cost.


    He considers Link and Liam as his greatest enemies whom he must trample under his feet, but


    they both are in rank A now, which is very hard for Fade to bear.


    He wants to be strong and beat the sh*T out of those two rich bast*rds.


    A shrewd smile appeared on Fade''s face,


    ''Once I kill those two rich bast*rds, that dragon girl and that na?ve candy girl both will be


    mine! I will manipte them and add them to my harem!! Hahaha''


    Just when Fade was busy thinking about various things in his mind, the group of bears arrived


    and immediately started attacking Fade and Kira.


    But Fade wasn''t intimidated at all; he raised his staff towards the sky and cast his magic,


    ''I will finish them all in one go!''


    [Intermediate Water Magic: Maximum Output: Water Arrow Bombardment!]


    Fade was nning on leaving this ce with Kira after getting rid of this group of bears, so he poured all of his mana into that one attack.


    Steel-fanged bears are peak B-rank monsters, and there are nearly a hundred of them rushing towards Fade and Kira; thus, Fade used such a powerful spell to wipe them out in one go.


    ''I will kill these bears and then retreat to some safe ce with Kira''s support, then we wille back to the dungeon after recovering mana and resting for a while...''


    ''We can surely conquer the whole dungeon if we keep repeating this process again and again!''


    A massive magic circle appeared in the sky, and gigantic water arrows poured down from it, bombarding the whole group of bears continuously.


    Although Fade had to use all of his mana to cast this magic, he was able to easily get rid of the


    whole group of bears.


    His eyes shone brightly as he saw the amount of ''Exp'' he was getting by ughtering the


    whole group of bears.


    ''Keke... I will definitely ascend to rank A if I can just kill a few hundred more...''


    *ROAR!!**ROOAR!!*


    The bears kept falling one by one as they got hit by the water arrows, and their painful groans


    made the other bears feel intimidated.


    The surviving few of them wanted to run away, but Fade''s magic has auto-tracking ability;


    the water arrows chased them till they got hit and died from the continuous attacks.


    A happy smile appeared on Fade''s face, but as he was out of mana, he was feeling quite weak


    in his body.


    He kept looking at the dying bears and said, in a calm voice, to Kira,


    "Pass me a mana potion; I am out of mana and will need some energy to keep moving..."


    Kira, who was standing behind him and was watching everything, suddenly smiled shrewdly


    and nodded her head.


    "Okay, here, take it..."


    A strange golden-colored knife suddenly pierced Fade''s back as he was about to stretch out his hand to hold the mana potion.


    Blood flowed out of his back like a fountain, and when he nced back, what he saw was the


    creepy smile on Kira''s face.


    Before Fade could think of anything, Kira applied more pressure and thrust the knife into his


    back even deeper.


    Fade fell down on the ground, and blood flowed out of the wound continuously.


    ''I-I can''t feel Mana.''


    That was thest thought in his mind before he fell unconscious...


    Kira ignored the shocked look on his face and brought out a teleportation scroll from her


    space ring.


    This scroll was even stronger and more precious than the previous one that she used in the


    final exams.


    She embedded her mana in the scroll and then teleported herself and Fade''s unconscious body


    in an instant.


    All this while, a creepy and shrewd smile hung over her face, and a demonic crest kept shining with dark light on the back of her hand.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, it''s time to find out what Kira has been up to for so


    long...


    Question of the day.


    Were you surprised by Kira''s sudden change?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 309: The Heavens Chosen... Part-2.

    Chapter 309: The Heaven''s Chosen... Part-2.


    ?


    Location Unknown


    A hidden basement somewhere.


    Fade opened his eyes slowly and found himself hanging. His legs were bound to a metal pipe attached to a ceiling, and he was hanging with his head facing the ground.


    The pain in his back was immense, and he could feel that his wound hadn''t healed yet; moreover, he was still suffering from internal bleeding too.


    He nced at the status panel and saw that his ''HP'' was already halfway down.


    If he continues to bleed like this, he will die from excessive blood loss.


    He may be an awakener, but he''s still human after all; too much blood loss will kill him.


    Moreover, his hands are bound, so he can''t cast any spells either.


    He nced around and found that he was locked up in a giant cage made up of some kind of magically enhanced metal.


    "W-what is this ce!? Kira! Are you there!? Look, t-this joke is not funny! Stop p-ying around like this!"


    Up until now, Fade still thinks that Kira couldn''t possibly have betrayed him.


    She was the one who helped him when he was getting bullied; she stood by his side for two years and helped him grow.


    She went on various dungeon raids with him, saving his life dozens of times in difficult situations.


    They have been dating for two years now, and they have already promised each other that they will marry in the future.


    Fade has already considered Kira his most trusted partner, who knows nearly all of his secrets except for the secret of him having a ''system''.


    ''No, no, she can''t possibly be the one plotting against me... If she wanted, she could have easily killed me when we went on so many dangerous dungeon raids... Why do it now after all this time...''


    ''Yeah, her betraying me doesn''t make any sense...''


    Fade kept repeating these words in his mind over and over as he wanted to believe in Kira; he knew that she had even abandoned her childhood friend Liam just for him.


    She has nearly given all of the secret resources of her family to Fade; if she wanted to betray him, she wouldn''t have done all that.


    ''Yeah, she must be under someone''s control, yes! That''s it! This must be a plot of those two rich bast*rds!


    Even now, Fade was still thinking that the situation was under control and that this was all just a ploy by Link and Liam against him.


    He refused to believe how grave his situation was at the moment.


    But before he could think further, a familiar figure walked over and opened the door of the metal cage.


    It was none other than Kira herself.


    She was holding antern whose dim light was reflecting the darkness in Kira''s eyes.


    Her eyes seemed hollow as she was dead from inside, and Fade could see several other simr cages nearby, and humanoid skeletons were hanging inside them all.


    Seeing that scene, Fade genuinely felt afraid and nervous.


    "K-kira, y-you are finally here; okay, I admit defeat. You win. Now stop this joke, okay... This isn''t funny; I am really bleeding to death here... My back hurts a lot... Let me down, please..."


    Kira totally ignored Fade''s begging.


    She stared at the metal door of the cage from the inside and kowtowed on the ground with a nk expression on her face.


    Fade was taken aback by Kira''s actions, but before he could say anything, the sound of footsteps came from a distance.


    *Step**step*


    From those footsteps, it was clear that someone wearing metallic boots was walking towards them.


    Fade''s heart started to beat loudly, and the look on his face turned from nervousness to fear after he saw the personing.


    "Nice to meet you, Fade Crest... I am Alverto Chronos Perdere, and I am happy to see you here today..."


    Alverto, wearing his usual dark ck armor with golden designs, walked inside the giant metal cage.


    A golden cape with the symbol of a clock printed on it was hanging behind his back and was emitting an intimidating aura.


    "y-You.. w-why are..."


    Fade was so shocked that he had no words to describe the situation.


    He has indeed heard that the others fought Alverto in Oaklum, but he has never seen him in


    person.


    Still, Alverto''s immense aura alone was strong enough to intimidate Fade on the spot.


    Alverto walked over to Kira and ced his foot on her head, which was pressed against the ground.


    "Good work, my pawn! It was worth engraving the crest on you! I had engraved a crest on that golden-haired girl and her mother too, but they both turned out to be useless..."


    "That golden-haired girl was suppressing the crest for a long time, and somehow she destroyed the crest recently... I need to investigate that matter too... but that''s something I will doter..."


    "Right now, you are my most esteemed guest... Fade Crest, or should I say, ''Child of luck and heavens''?"


    Hearing Alverto''s words, Fade''s eyes narrowed, and a shocked look appeared on his face.


    He had never told anyone about his insane luck, but Alverto somehow found it his deepest secret so easily, so Fade was quite shocked.


    Seeing Fade''s shocked reaction, Alverto smiled and said,


    "No need to be so shocked; I had given your little girlfriend an artifact that helped her see the concentration of thew of luck around you..."


    "The very moment you were chosen as the ''child of luck'', she noticed you immediately and contacted me right after... Well, that was her purpose from the start..."


    "I nted the crest on her during the day when I massacred that ''Drift City'' in your nation... ahaha, it was all for the sake of finding the person from the ''prophecy''..."


    Alverto smiled at Fade and said,


    "You see... Once upon a time, I used to be a war-hungry demon too, just like the others... But then I got the cosmic knowledge and heard a prophecy by chance..."


    [The one with the power to change the world,


    Shall be born soon,


    He will be the bane of the demons,


    And all that dwells in miasma.]


    Alverto walked over to Fade''s side and stroked his face with his hand.


    "You know what... I have been trying to find you for two hundred years, you little piece of


    Sh*T!"


    "I worked myself to the brink to find clues about what existence can overwhelm a world... and


    I came to the conclusion that only someone blessed by heavenly luck can change the world so


    thoroughly..."


    Alverto nced at Kira and said,


    "I have been creating spies like her for two hundred years now.... My spies are all over the


    world, but for the past two centuries, I never found what I was looking for..."


    "But just two years ago, I found out about you through this amazing tool of mine...."


    Alverto bent down and grabbed Kira''s head with her hair.


    "You see, she''s always been just an empty husk with no will of her own, ever since the day I


    engraved the crest on her; unlike that golden-haired girl, she was never able to suppress my will and the darkness..."


    "I ordered her to get close to you and win your trust at all costs... All that for the sake of testing the legitimacy of your luck...."


    "I have been using her to figure out whether you are really the one mentioned in the


    prophecies..."


    Alverto abruptly shook his head and spoke.


    "But truthfully speaking, I am very disappointed... I have seen just how pathetic of a being


    you actually are, Fade Crest... You are so pathetic that if not for the luck around you..."


    "I would have mistaken you for a random rat living in the sewers..."


    Alverto has seen amazing people like Rio and Link; of course, he feels that Fade is quite


    pathetic whenpared to them.


    "But forget it; all I need is your luck; I don''t care about your body anyway..."


    Since the day Fade got his system, he has always been under Alverto''s radar, and Alverto has


    seen everything that Fade has done with the eyes of Kira.


    He has already confirmed that Fade is indeed the genuine child of heaven, but he doesn''t seem to have anything else special about him.


    Alverto brought out the golden dagger from his space ring that Kira had used to stab him and


    said,


    "By the way, this golden dagger has the effect of nullifying the victim''s mana for a few hours; that''s the reason why you weren''t able to sense mana when Kira attacked you... Although it only works on people below rank S, it''s quite a useful tool..."


    "Now I will use this thing on you again... Make sure you don''t die. Okay, I still have a lot of work for you... You need to fulfill my dreams! You are an important pawn!" Hearing Alveto''s words, Fade trembled in fear, and his eyes started to shed tears instantly.


    "No! no, don''t! Don''t do that! I will give you whatever you want! Please.." Alverto ignored Fade''s words and stabbed the golden knife in Fade''s abdomen.


    Then he took out a photo of his space ring and showed it to Fade.


    "By the way, have you noticed that your family hasn''t been contacting youtely? I guess you


    must have been too busy ogling the maids in your lovely girlfriend''s house to have ever


    noticed that..."


    "So let me show you this..."


    Alverto showed the photo to Fade; the photo was of a few lowly demons who were eating


    human bodies on a dining table.


    It was Fade''s family that was being eaten by them.


    "AHAHAHAHA, Yes! You didn''t even notice that your family has been dead for a whole year


    now! You are so pathetic! Ahaahaha"


    Tears of blood flowed from Fade''s eyes as he stared at that picture of his dead family


    members, and he started to wail loudly in great sorrow.


    "Yeah! Cry more! AHAHAHAH"


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    I have been cooking for this exact scene for so long, and we are finally here, guys!


    Question of the day.


    Did you expect this plot twist?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 310: The Heavens Chosen... Part-3.

    Chapter 310: The Heaven''s Chosen... Part-3.


    ?


    "You know what... I originally massacred that ''Drift City'' in search of the ''Fragment'', but that attempt failed miserably, so I had to change the n and nt moles in the human empire..."


    Alverto stared into Fade''s frightened eyes and added,


    "Originally, I was thinking that you might be the one who had the fragment, but it seems you don''t really have it... but now it doesn''t matter, actually..."


    "I already have three fragments on me now; it doesn''t matter if there are more than that; my n can still proceed with just three of them..."


    Alverto has been preparing for two hundred years, and finally he has all the things that he needs in his hand.


    "Now I just need to use your luck as the medium, and I will most definitely be able to summon ''It''..."


    Fade''s body trembled as he asked in a frightened voice,


    "W-what do you mean... by u-using me as a medium-"


    Alverto shook his head and said with a smile on his face that was hidden beneath the helmet of his armor.


    "No, no, I have no interest in your pathetic mortal body; the only thing that''s worth noting about you is the concentration of the ''Law of Luck'' on you... I just need to extract that from you..."


    "Oh, don''t worry about whether it''s possible or not; I have been preparing for two hundred years, you know; I have everything nned out already..."


    Alverto brought out a dark red orb from his space ring, and the orb floated towards Fade''s head and started to spin around his head.


    If you look close enough, you can see humanoid faces on the orb, as if they are howling and screaming for help.


    "This is the ''Luck Devouring orb''.... I created it by sacrificing the souls of the million people that were living in the ''Drift City''... Isn''t it quite beautiful?"


    "The power of a million souls that are being tortured continuously is embedded in this orb... These souls have been tortured so much that the only purpose left in their existence is hatred for the world..."


    "This hatred for the world has given birth to the power of devouring the blessings of the heavens itself... Isn''t that quite an interesting ability... It''s a direct counter for heaven''s children like you..."


    Alverto took the golden dagger and stabbed Fade''s abdomen again, which caused Fade to groan in pain, and he started to lose his sanity from all that pain.


    Just when Fade lost a piece of his sanity, a golden mist was absorbed by the luck devouring the orb.


    Alverto nodded his head after seeing that scene and said,


    "Yes, as I spected, the orb can absorb your luck if you lose your sanity in its vicinity... Don''t worry, I have tested this orb on plenty of people and none survived the torture for more than a week..."


    Alverto contemted something in his mind and said,


    "But you are a child of luck after all; the amount of luck you have is very high. I guess it will take at least three months or something until your luck can be fully extracted..."


    "Then I will use your luck as fuel to make ''that'' thing appear... I will fulfill my promise and my ambition no matter what..."


    *p**p*


    Alverto pped his hands as a signal, and a short lizard-type demon came in with a lot of torturing tools in its four hands.


    *Hiss~*


    The lizard demon''s hissing voice caused Fade to tremble in fear.


    But Alverto ignored that and nced at the lizard demon before saying,


    "Torture him thoroughly, but don''t let him die... Torture him to the point he loses his sanity and bes nothing but a living corpse with no will to live..."


    The lizard demon nodded its head and followed the instructions, its eyes turning creepily cruel and excited.


    Alverto then nced at Kira, who was still kowtowing on the ground, and said,


    "Take this photo of his dead family and keep showing it to him whenever he tries to resist; also, take this space ring; it has a lot of healing potion; heal him back to full health when he is one step away from death..."


    "Don''t let him die at any cost; I want all of his luck extracted in three months'' time... Now get to work..."


    Kira got up from the ground, ignored Fade''s loud screams, and did exactly as Alverto had ordered her.


    Her eyes remained lifeless and hollow throughout the whole process.


    Seeing his minions work hard for his sake, Alverto nodded his head and left the metal cage.


    Before leaving, he nced at Fade''s crying face and said,


    "Don''t resist too much, ''Heaven''s Chosen''... The faster you lose your sanity, the faster you can escape this pain. Work hard~"


    After saying that, Alverto waved his hand and left the dark basement with a satisfied smile on his face that was hidden underneath the armor.


    Demon Prince''s Pce.


    Alverto came flying through the sky andnded on the rooftop of the pce.


    He took off his helmet, and his extremely handsome face shone brightly under the moonlight


    as he walked towards a certain corner of the rooftop.


    A woman with long silver hair and wolf-like ears stood on the corner.


    Seeing her stare at the bright moon with a smile on her face, Alverto smiled a bit and stood


    beside her.


    He nced at the sky and said,


    "I have the final piece of the puzzle now... It won''t be long before our dream can be


    realized..."


    The woman nodded her head, but a look of worry appeared on her face,


    "Lately, I feel that something bad is going to happen... Are you sure we will be able to avoid the ''heavenly punishment'' even after doing such things to ''The Heaven''s Chosen''?"


    Alverto shook his head and said it with a smile on his face.


    "No worries... As long as we don''t try to kill him, the heavenly thunder won''t appear; we just


    need to keep extracting his luck by keeping him alive..."


    "When his luck is almost gone, his connection to the heavenly will shall be destroyed..."


    The woman nodded her head at those words and said,


    "Still, you need to be careful... We have no room for mistakes; the future of the whole demon


    race depends on this. Let''s be as cautious as possible..."


    Alverto also nodded his head after hearing the woman''s words.


    "Yeah, I will personally visit him every few days to see the progress... There is no need to


    worry too much about it; you just need to focus on the ''Seed of Altered Fate'' for now..."


    "Don''t overwork yourself by thinking about other things..."


    The wolf demon nodded her head at Alverto''s words of concern, and a smile appeared on her


    beautiful face.


    "It''s been two hundred years... We must seed in this n now... This might be thest


    chance for the demon race..."


    Alverto also nodded his head and agreed with her words.


    "Yeah... The density of ''Miasma'' is increasing day by day... We can''t afford to dy too much...


    This is thest chance for us..."


    The woman contemted for a moment and asked,


    "We have three fragments now... What about the others?"


    Alverto shook his head and said,


    "I have tried my best; we can only get three for now... One is likely in the Dragon Empire, and I


    can''t go there as the Dragon King doesn''t tolerate outsiders barging into the Dragon Valley


    without permission..."


    "Two of them have totally disappeared from existence, and another one is likely not even on this... Also, I don''t know how many of them there actually are..."


    Alverto sighed and said,


    "Well, it doesn''t matter... Even three fragments are enough to form ''that''... We don''t really


    need all of them to get our n working..."


    "If we waste too much time collecting the rest of them, the concentration of ''Mana'' and


    ''Miasma'' in this world will increase by too much, and we won''t have the chance to carry out


    our n..."


    A look of hesitation appeared on the woman''s face as she said,


    "Even if weplete the n... There''s still no guarantee that the increasing amount of


    ''miasma'' will not affect it... but this is our only way..."


    Alverto also nodded his head and said,


    "Yes, this is the only method. I just hope that the luck of the ''Heaven''s Chosen'' will work out


    in our favor once we have it in our hands... Things will get easier that way..."


    The woman also nodded her head and said,


    "If only we had heaven''s blessing on ourselves, we wouldn''t have needed all of this


    roundabout method to aplish our goals..."


    Alverto scoffed at those words and said,


    "No way... The heavenly luck won''t bless ''Invaders'' that are us demons... Unlike the other


    races, we demons don''t belong to this world; we can never enjoy it''s blessing...." "The world sees us as cancer, and it''s not actually wrong either... Not many things in this world are left that haven''t been corrupted by miasma... Obviously, the world will reject us..."


    Alverto sighed and stopped talking. He kept looking at the moon and thought,


    ''This is thest chance for us demons... and I must fulfill my goal...''


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Alverto is finally revealing bits and pieces of


    his grand n...


    Question of the day.


    What do you think Alverto is nning?


    (Tell me in thements...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 311: A Principals Troubles...

    Chapter 311: A Principal''s Troubles...


    ?


    Academy, Principal''s Office


    "What do you mean you can''t find them!? You are all so useless!!"


    Raji threw her smartphone at the floor in anger; her aura made all of the staff members in the building feel nervous.


    But Raji wasn''t in the mood to care about all that.


    She paced back and forth in the office with an annoyed look on her face.


    A week ago, she was informed that Fade and Kira had gone missing after they entered an A- rank dungeon out of their own vition.


    Raji also detected Kira and Fade entering an A-rank dungeon with her mana detection ability, but she didn''t stop them, as they were saying that they would retreat once they encountered danger.


    SS-rankers can detect you with mana and can hear what you are talking about too... A mere distance of a thousand kilometers means nothing to them.


    But even they can''t detect things that are happening in an entirely different space.


    Once Fade and Kira entered the dungeon, their connection to the outside world was cut off, and even an SS-ranker couldn''t detect what was happening inside.


    So, Raji just sent a few of her subordinates to keep an eye on them and rescue them if something bad happened.


    But by the time her subordinates went there, Fade and Kira had disappeared into thin air. Raji even personally went into that dungeon, but she wasn''t able to detect them.


    Then shemissioned a famous detective agency to find their whereabouts, but there were no results.


    A week has passed since the two of them went missing, and there is still no news about them. Although Raji personally doesn''t like Fade, she is the principal of the academy, and she has the duty to keep all the students safe under her watch.


    She can''t let personal feelings get in the way of her work; she has to find where Fade and Kira have disappeared.


    ''Ugh... Did they use some kind of teleportation artifact? But how do they have such a powerful teleportation artifact in the first ce?...''


    To be able to teleport out of the detection range of an SS ranker, you would need an SS-rank teleportation artifact at the very least, and such artifacts are extremely rare. It''s very weird that Fade and Kira had such a rare artifact in their hands.


    ''Something doesn''t add up... Even if they had an artifact like that, where would they go? Aside from the human empire, they will have difficulty settling down in other ces...''


    Raji had already sent Fade and Kira''s details to the alliance, and by now, their pictures have reached all corners of the world.


    Once someone spots them, Raji will get information about their location immediately.


    But even after all that effort, there is still no news.


    It''s as if Fade and Kira have disappeared from the face of Earth.


    At that moment, a thought came to Raji''s mind:


    ''Don''t tell me they went to the demon continent...''


    The Demon continent is one of the few ces in the world that doesn''t fall under the jurisdiction of the World Alliance.


    If Fade and Kira really went there, it would be impossible to find them even with the help of the world alliance.


    ''Could it be that they were kidnapped by a demon?''


    Thinking about these possibilities, Raji''s face turned solemn.


    Even she is afraid to venture to the Demon continent alone, as she knows she won''t have a chance against the Demon King.


    If Fade and Kira have indeed ventured there, only Ashtel himself can save them.


    Only Ashtel dares to barge into the demon continent without any worries, but the problem is that Ashtel is in seclusion right now.


    Jin and Rajick the capability to invade the Demon continent, and Neo is unlikely to venture there due to his ongoing issues with the Demon King.


    If Neo goes there, then things will escte for the worse.


    Raji couldn''t help but feel that there was something weird about this whole scenario.


    Unless a demon has located the coordinates of a dungeon beforehand, they can''t possibly teleport inside it directly.


    And to find the urate coordinates of a dungeon, that demon will have toe to the human empire and measure them from the outside first.


    Which means Raji and other SS rankers would have detected it if the demons hade to the empire.


    ''The only way for them to find out the coordinates of a dungeon without personally visiting the dungeon is if there is some spy hidden in the human empire that is informing the demons about it all...''


    Indeed! Kira was the one who had been giving the coordinates of the dungeons to Alverto all along.


    She gave the coordinates for the ''Lava Lake'' dungeon; only then was Alverto''s clone able toe to that dungeon during the first-year final exams.


    Kira was the one who gave the coordinates of various dungeons to Alverto; that''s why a lot of demons were able toe to the human realm without being noticed by the SS-rankers.


    ...


    Thinking this far, Raji couldn''t help but frown.


    ''If there is someone who''s leaking the coordinates of the dungeons of the human empire to the demons, then I need to take quick action against it...''


    Raji left the office and immediately used the portal to teleport to the Aldif Mansion.


    The moment she arrived at the Aldif Mansion, Neo noticed her presence.


    He has returned to the capital city as Ashtel and Jin are both in seclusion right now, so his real body is at the Aldif Mansion right now.


    He immediately came out to meet Raji with aplicated look on his face.


    "Er, Ms. Raji, what has brought you here to my humble abode today..."


    Raji didn''t bother exining anything; she grabbed his arm, opened a portal, and dragged him with her in an instant.


    She didn''t even give Neo the time to talk, which took him directly to the abandoned factory where the A-rank dungeon was located.


    "Fade and Kira, these two students have disappeared; you know them both well, so I don''t need to say how serious the matter is... I suspect it''s the work of demons..."


    After a brief moment of confusion, Neo spoke,


    "Er... so what am I supposed to do about that-"


    Raji red at him and said,


    "What do you mean, ''What am I supposed to do?'', you favor those two kids, no? Go to the


    demon continent and find them!"


    Neo couldn''t help but say, with aplicated look on his face,


    "What do you mean, ''go to the demon continent!'', do you think I am Ashtel Rex or something


    that I will just go there, take a nice walk, and ask the demon king to return Fade and Kira..."


    "And the Demon King will smile happily and return them to me!?"


    Neo shook his head and said,


    "Do you even know how many racial slurs I threw at his face when I was taunting him during


    that mission where we killed the demon general Azazel!?"


    "If I go there, that guy will definitely think that I am up to something again, and this time he


    will definitely retaliate fiercely!"


    Hearing Neo''s words, Raji couldn''t help but shake her head in annoyance.


    "Tch! You are so f*cking useless! UGH! Why did I ever fall for a useless sh*t like you!"


    Raji stomped her feet in annoyance and flew away in an instant, leaving the bewildered Neo


    on his own.


    Neo shook his head and ordered his summoned beast to do a thorough search of the whole human empire and look for Fade and Kira.


    He can''t go to the demon continent, but he can at least put up a show that he is also trying to


    find Fade and Kira.


    ''Tch! Those two kids are useless! The only reason I was favoring them was because I wanted them to bring some sense in Liam''s mind...''


    Neo supported Fade because he thought that Liam would feel jealous as he was taking Kira from him, and Neo knew that Liam liked Kira.


    But this n flopped, and Liam started to focus more on his summoned beasts, which were the main things that Neo wanted to avoid.


    The only reason he was in favor of Kira was because he wanted her to make Liam distant from his summoned beasts so that Liam wouldn''t suffer when his summoned beasts left.


    But everything has gone haywire now.


    Not only Liam has be obsessed with his summoned beasts, but even Kira and Fade have


    gone missing.


    ''I swear, if I find them two, I will beat the sh*t out of them!''


    Neo was helping Fade and Kira because of his own motives; he has always thought of Fade and


    Kira as pawns that can be discarded whenever the need arose.


    ''Tch! Forget it; I will have to figure out some other way to convince Liam...''


    Neo shook his head and opened the portal to go back.


    He didn''t care one bit about what happened to Fade and Kira, as they were just disposable


    pawns to him; there was no need to expend energy to find them.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Fade and Kira really got themselves into a difficult situation; none wille to


    rescue them now...


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Neo is the most useless SS ranker?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 312: A Demi-Gods wish is a Miracle itself.

    Chapter 312: A Demi-God''s wish is a ''Miracle'' itself.


    ?


    Although SS-rankers don''t physically get exhausted by small everyday matters, the mental burden sure does build up.


    Even though the SS-rankers are referred to as ''Demi-gods'', they still have human emotions, and they even feel stressed at times.


    Moreover, alcohol or any other kind of drug doesn''t even work on SS-rankers, so they can''t get drunk or go high on drugs either, even if they want to.


    Their regeneration ability is off the charts whenpared to that of normal humans.


    The normal entertainment shows that seem interesting and amusing to ordinary people seem very boring and pointless to super-humans like them.


    Their ''Int'' stat is too high, and silly things that entertain ordinary people can''t do the same for them.


    Simply speaking, there are very few ways for people as strong as SS-rankers to relieve their stress.


    Most of the time, they have to bottle up their feelings for a very long time.


    The only reason there aren''t any SS-rankers turning evil is due to the existence of ''Ashtel Rex''.


    In every hundred years, there has been a strong SS-ranker who keeps others in check so that no ''Awakener'' ends up behaving wrongly and bes a ''psycho'' who torments people for entertainment.


    Before Ashtel, it was Nics Arsene who was in charge of this, and the list goes on.


    Even though there are many evil-minded people in this world, there have always been kind- hearted people in every era.


    In simple words, they can''t go crazy, they can''t relieve stress, and they don''t have a way to entertain themselves.


    SS-rankers may appear to be all-powerful people, but they do have their own limitations. Most of them pick up some side hobby or job to keep themselves entertained and busy.


    Raji did the same; she became the principal because she wanted to forget about her past and keep herself focused on work so that she could stop thinking about her boring life.


    SS-rankers are like tactical nukes; most of the small work is taken care of by lower-rank awakeners, and they are only left with high-rank stuff.


    But the thing is, it''s not often that something so devastating appears that you need an SS- ranker to solve it.


    Most of the time, they are just sitting with no work to do, totally empty.


    And that emptiness can have a bad influence on a person''s emotions.


    This is also one of the reasons why the SS-rankers are constantly busy with paper work and other random stuff, but they aren''t able to do what they are actually supposed to do.


    SS-rank dungeons are rare; most of the time, they only appear once every five years or something, and the alliance allocates the responsibility to clear those dungeons equally. In other words, it may take tens of years for your race''s turn toe to get an SS-rank dungeon, and you will have to wait for decades to finally get a chance to do an all-out battle. And all this while, you will just be dealing with ordinary, everyday work like other humans.


    (Imagine a literal demi-god working as a pizza delivery boy... That would be such a weird scenario...)


    ...


    Capital City Astra, Core Area, Croft Mansion.


    A small portal opened in the sky, and Raji flew out of it with an annoyed look on her face.


    Raji has been burdened with a lot of work these days.


    Not only does she have a job as a principal, she also has a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders as an SS-ranker, and now she even has to deal with Fade and Kira''s disappearance case.


    Raji usuallyes home to visit her mother, who''s in aa and is being taken care of by the healers that she hired for a lot of money.


    Raji''s mom actually fell into aa because she overworked herself too much for the sake of their daughters.


    But if it was just as simple as aa, an S-rank healer would have been more than enough to get her back to good health.


    Yet, even after Raji hired S-rank healers quite a lot of times, her mother still hasn''t recovered.


    The healers said, ''They can only save the person who wants to be saved''.


    Apparently, her mother doesn''t want to wake up at all.


    Healers can heal physical or soul-rted injuries, but they can''t heal someone''s ''will'' to live.


    Raji''s mother doesn''t want to ept that her husband has abandoned her, and thus she refuses to wake up and face reality.


    It''s been several years since she fell into aa, and there''s still been no progress.


    ...


    Raji nced at a familiar car parked in the parking area, and a frown appeared on her face. ''Hmm? Link is here too?''


    Raji hasn''t been monitoring the ''Core Area'' of the city as she was focusing on concentrating her mana detection to search for clues about Fade and Kira''s in the outer area of the city.


    Thus, she didn''t know that Link came to visit.


    Raji nced at the sky and thought,


    ''It''s going to be evening soon... Er, don''t tell me Riya invited him for ate-night date... or maybe even ''that''...''


    Raji couldn''t help but hesitate to use her mana detection now.


    She was the one who helped Riya and Link get together; she doesn''t want to disturb their rtionship, and she certainly doesn''t want to peek on them when they are ''busy''.


    ''Ahem... m-maybe I shoulde back some other time...''


    Just when Raji was about to leave, she suddenly saw an unknown bike standing hidden behind Link''s car.


    ''Hmm? Whose car is that? Did they invite someone over... Well, if that''s the case, I can also go


    in...''


    She flew down and opened the door to go inside without hesitation.


    What greeted her was Riya lying down on the couch and nibbling on her favorite candies.


    A man was sitting on the nearby sofa and was talking to Link with a happy look on his face.


    That man was none other than Raji and Riya''s father, Damian.


    When Raji was entered, the three of them also saw her, and the looks on their faces went pale as if they were caught red-handed while doing a bank robbery.


    Riya was the one who was the most bewildered.


    "B-big sis... Uh, weren''t you supposed toe back tomorrow morning?..."


    Raji ignored Riya''s nervous voice and red at Damian with a look of hatred on her face.


    Seeing his face Raji''s anger immediately went through the roof, and a murderous look


    appeared in her eyes.


    "How dare youe here! I told you to never show your face in front of me again-"


    Before Raji could finish saying those words, an extremely beautiful woman with long white hair walked in the living room with snacks and juice in her hand.


    Seeing that woman, Raji''s eyes widened in shock, and she even forgot about her anger.


    "T-this? M-mom? You are a-awake?"


    The woman also noticed Raji at that moment and gave a sweet smile in response while saying,


    "Ah, you are finally back? Wee home, my dear..."


    Hearing those words, Raji couldn''t move. Even though she is an SS-ranker, a literal demi-


    god, she still seems to have lost all her strength at that moment.


    Tears appeared in the eyes of the ''Strongest Frost Mage'' of the human race for the first time in


    ten years.


    At that moment, the warmth of a mother''s smile melted the frozen heart of a Demi-god.


    She mustered her courage and said,


    "Y-yeah.. I am home... Mom..."


    ...


    At the same moment, Capital City.


    People looked at the sky in amazement as pure white clouds appeared in the sky and it started


    to snow all of a sudden.


    That day, pure white snow fell on the whole capital city, as if the sky itself were blessing the


    city or a certain someone.


    There are still a few months before winteres, so the appearance of snow surprised the


    whole capital city.


    All news channels rushed to cover this abnormal yet amazingly beautiful phenomenon. People enjoyed the view of the falling snow with their families; children yed in the snow, and the elderly felt as if they were beingforted by that strange snow. Unlike usual snow, this one seems to carry a hint of fort'' and ''care'' for the people.


    Those who were touched by the snow felt refreshed and relieved.


    Some even said that their stress disappeared after being exposed to that mysterious snow,


    and some even found their old bodies getting a bit younger.


    In the annals of history, these types of events happen when a ''Demi-god''s'' purest and


    greatest wish gets fulfilled.


    The world blesses the people around the Demi-god to show the acknowledgment of the world


    itself.


    It is said that ''only a ''Pure'' and ''untainted'' desire has the power to manifest this type of phenomenon once it gets fulfilled....''


    Maybe, that day, the world was also congratting a certain ''Demi-god'' at thepletion of


    an ''untainted'' wish.


    Even the ''snow'' can provide warmth andfort... How ironic...


    Authors'' notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Demi-gods are favored by the world itself; anything rted to them can affect the world too...


    Today we finally got to see how a simple desire to see her mother recover forced even the


    world to congratte Raji on itspletion.


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you also think that ''SS-rankers'' are super cool?


    1. Yes


    2. Absolutely yes.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 313: Acceptence and forgiveness...

    Chapter 313: eptence and forgiveness...


    ?


    Capital City Astra, Core Area, Croft Mansion.


    ''Er, should I really be here right now? I kind of feel that I came here at the wrong time...''


    Link couldn''t help but scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment when the other''s totally ignored his existence and started to enjoy the family reunion.


    ''I-I guess I should just shut up for now...''


    Link stopped thinking too much and sipped the juice while the Croft family celebrated their reunion.


    ...


    "Mom... I can''t believe you are finally up... I am so happy... I have been waiting for years..." Raji held her mother''s hand tightly in fear that she might leave her again; her eyes remained moist, and the ''Strongest Frost Mage'' of the human race was nowhere to be seen at the moment.


    At that moment, Raji seemed like just any other daughter who had finally met her mother after years.


    Raji refused to use Damian''sst name, so she used her mother''s surname for herself and Riya. That''s why they have ''Croft'' in their surname, not ''Frostke''.


    Farah looked at her daughter with moist eyes and said,


    "You have be so much taller since Ist saw you... You have be one of the strongest people in our empire.... I am proud of you, Raji..."


    Raji couldn''t help but hug her mother at that moment; even Riya was surprised that day.


    She has never seen Raji cry in the past decade.


    Raji has always acted mature and trustworthy in front of Riya, so it was very surprising to see such a defenseless and weak side of her today.


    "Sis, uh... you see... I and Link thought that maybe mom wasn''t waking up because she wanted to meet Father... so uh... we invited her in the morning, and it seems to have worked..."


    When Damian held Farah''s hand and said that he was here to see her, Farah was surprised and woke up at that very moment.


    Even Link and Riya were shocked by that scene.


    This just proved that all this time, their mother was in aa just because she didn''t want to live in a world where Damian wasn''t alive.


    She refused to believe the reality and thus fell into aa.


    Even when her daughters tried to wake her up, she didn''t; only when Damian himself came to her did she finally open her eyes.


    Given the significance of the event, they initially intended to inform Raji as well, but ultimately decided it would be more effective to organize a surprise event for tomorrow.


    But nothing went ording to n; Raji returned home earlier than expected, and she found out everything.


    Although everything doesn''t seem to have gone ording to n, Raji is still calm and not angry, so all is well.


    "I-i..."


    At Riya''s words, Raji was left with no words.


    She hated Damian because his absence caused Farah to fall into aa, but now that he has cured their mother, Raji has no reason to hate him at all.


    He indeed did leave them for ten years, but that wasn''t his fault either. All in all, there were no more reasons to hate Damian, and even Raji couldn''t get angry at him now.


    Raji gripped her mother''s hand tightly and gazed at Damian for a moment before speaking. "T-thank you... for helping her..."


    At those words, Damian nodded his head and gave a dryugh.


    "N-no worries... I just wanted her to be fine..."


    Link and Riya also heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that Raji wasn''t angry at them for letting Damian enter the mansion without her permission.


    Seeing that it was the best chance, Damian said in a nervous tone,


    "Uh... Raji... I am really sorry for what I made you all go through. I-I acknowledge my mistakes... I want to make up for the time that we lost... I would like to make amends..."


    Raji didn''t interrupt Damian at that moment, which clearly showed that she had epted his ''sorry''.


    Seeing that he was sessful, Damian continued...


    "Uh, aside from that... Ever since the day I got out of that dungeon... I wanted to say this to you... As a father, I am very very proud of you, Raji..."


    "Not only did you take care of your family extremely well in my absence, you even became the pir of support for the whole nation..."


    "You know... sometimes I feel that I must have done a lot of good in my past life to have an amazing daughter like you..."


    Farah also sped Raji''s hands in her own and gazed into her eyes before speaking. "Thanks for taking care of Riya when we both weren''t capable of... Damian aside, I also fell into aa and didn''t take care of you two; I am also just as guilty..."


    "So, if possible... forgive us both, Raji, and I am very proud to have a daughter like you..."


    At Farah''s words, Raji nodded her head, and tears ran down from her eyes. A smile appeared on her face as she directly hugged her mother again.


    Raji cried, and her years of stress and suppressed emotions were washed away with the tears in her mother''s embrace.


    Soon after, she fell asleep with her head ced on her mother''sp.


    Farah caressed Raji''s head and smiled happily while looking at her face.


    That night was one of the happiest nights in the lives of the Croft family members.


    Rooftop.


    The cold wind grazed past Link''s face, making his hair sway in the air.


    At that moment, Farah had ced Raji''s head on the pillow, so Riya dragged her to the


    rooftop with her.


    Then Riya immediately grabbed Link''s hand and then shyly said,


    "Mom, I-I wanted to tell you for the whole day that...uh.. Link and I-"


    Before Riya couldplete her sentence, Farah nodded her head and said with a happy smile,


    "I know, you two are a couple, right?"


    Riya was quite surprised that Farah figured it out so easily.


    "Ahem... not just a couple; we are actually engaged. So can I call you mother-inw?"


    Even Farah was shocked at those words; she was expecting that Link was Riya''s boyfriend, but


    she never thought that the two of them were already engaged by now.


    Which means their bond is already stronger than that of a that of a regr couple.


    "S-so you mean?"


    Riya nodded her head shyly and told Farah everything that happened.


    She told her how Raji helped them meet, and then they both grew up as childhood friends.


    Then they got engaged to each other, and now they just need to get to legal age, and they can


    marry at any time.


    Farah was happy to hear all this. She nced at Link and said, in a surprised tone,


    "I was indeed thinking that you must be from some rich family, but I never expected that you


    were Ashtel Rex''s son... This is a very big deal..."


    After a moment of contemtion, Farah said,


    "In my younger days, Ashtel Rex was the star who rose to immense fame after the fifty-year


    war; he was respected greatly by the whole country..."


    "To think that my daughter will one day end up getting engaged to his son... This is quite


    shocking..."


    Farah approached Link, ced her hand on his shoulder, and asked a question.


    "By the way, Link, how much do you love Riya... Uh, as a mother, I am worried she doesn''t end


    up getting hurt by a rich young master of a big family, you see..."


    Link''s eyes turned serious, and he said in a firm voice,


    "I love her more than my life... Without her, Link Rex will not beplete... She''s the one who


    makes me whole..."


    Riya also tightly grasped Link''s hand and spoke.


    "Yes, I love him even more than my candies!... er.. I mean more than those ultra-rare ones


    too!!"


    Farah nodded her head happily.


    Then she suddenly thought of something and asked,


    "By the way, you have already found someone as perfect as Link; then what about your sister?


    Does she also have someone?"


    Riya shook her head at those words and said,


    "No, she uh... kind of had a heartbreak once in college where her boyfriend was deceiving her... After that, she seems to have be immune to the approaches of others..."


    Just when Farah was about to say something, Raji walked over to the rooftop. A rare smile


    hung on her face.


    She walked over to Link''s side, looked into Riya''s eyes with a yful look, and said it with a


    smile.


    "Well, if I were a bit younger, I would have taken Link for myself, you know.... He''s such a fine


    man afterall..."


    Link only gave a dryugh at those words, slowly backing away from Raji.


    Riya pouted her cheeks and tightly hugged Link''s arm before saying,


    "No, he''s mine! I won''t give him to anyone! Not even you!"


    Raji ignored her words and shrugged her shoulders before saying, "Well, what do you say, Link? When you be an adult, you can choose anyone to stay


    with... I am just a few years older than Riya and am better than her in all aspects-" Before Raji couldplete her sentence, Riya chased her with an annoyed pout on her face.


    But Raji also smiled and ran away with a happy look on her face,


    "You can''t catch me with those slow legs-, how about working a bit on stamina!"


    The two sisters caused a lot of chaos by running around in the whole house that night.


    Farah looked at her two daughters, who were messing with each other, and said with a smile


    on her face,


    "I am grateful that things have be better... It seems life has given us a new chance..."


    Link also nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Yeah, I am also grateful that I met wonderful people like you all..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems the Croft family has finally gotten their happy


    ending...


    Question of the day:


    Which Croft sister do you like more?


    1. Raji


    2. Riya


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 314: To the principles office again?

    Chapter 314: To the principle''s office again?


    ?


    Academy, Principal''s Office.


    "Er... why are we all called to the principal''s office? I swear, none of the students in the academy get called here more than us, right?"


    Standing outside Raji''s office, Liam couldn''t help but grumble those words to express his dissatisfaction.


    He was nning on going to a swimming pool and ying around with Ellie and others today, but then suddenly Raji''s message came, and he was forced toe here.


    Hearing Liam''s words, Rio shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well... We are in Link''s group after all, and he''s favored by the principal; every time he gets a mission, we will be dragged into it too..."


    Link shook his head in response to those words.


    "Okay, I wille clean... I literally have nothing to do with this guys; I have no idea why she asked us toe here..."


    Hearing this, Rio rolled his eyes and said,


    "Thest time we came here was when she wanted to tell us more about the Elven Empire..."


    (It was off-screen; she called them and told them general details about what to take care of and what not to...)


    Lia nced around and then asked,


    "By the way... where is Riya? Wasn''t she called?"


    At Lia''s question, Link contemted for a moment and said,


    "She was with the principalst night; they talked a lot about something... what? Don''t look at me like that guy; I just happened to visit their home and saw them chatting..."


    Liam gave Link a thumbs up and said it with a meaningful smile.


    "You already stayed a night at their home... nice move! Now you just need to find the time when Riya is alone at home and you can seize the opportunity!"


    Upon hearing Liam''s words, Link rubbed his temples and said,


    "Tch! We haven''t gone that far yet... You can''t think of anything else other than ''that'' all the time, right?"


    Liam smirked at those words and said,


    "You guys have been together for years, and you still haven''t even done the deed yet? Sigh, I didn''t expect that you were so slow, Link... At this rate, little Riya will be stolen by her candies~"


    Hearing that provocation, Link immediately got angry.


    He took a step forward towards Liam, and the ground cracked just from his aura. Then he cracked his knuckles to intimidate the other party.


    "Hoh! Are you perhaps looking for a beating or something?"


    But obviously Liam wasn''t going to back off from that little provocation; he also took a step forward and refused to bend against Link''s momentum.


    "Heh, thene at me... I will send you to the infirmary..."


    Both of their auras collided, and they both refused to back off even a single inch. The ground cracked from the collision of their auras, and even the building started to tremble.


    All the staff members backed off with frightened expressions on their faces.


    Just when the situation was about to escte, massive pressure came from inside the room and suppressed both of them in an instant.


    Only then did the two of them stop messing around.


    A familiar voice came from inside the principal''s office room.


    "Come in, everyone..."


    ...


    Rio opened the door, and others followed behind him to enter the room.


    As Link had said earlier, Riya was already here and was sitting on a nearby couch, nibbling on her candies just as always.


    Raji, who was sitting on the principal''s chair, nced at Link and Liam before saying,


    "You two... For causing damage to the academy''s property and intimidating the staff member, you will be punished. You two will be on swimming pool cleaning duty for the next three days..."


    Hearing that punishment, Link and Liam both felt that they were being punished too harshly for such a small matter.


    But they dared not say those words out loud for fear that Raji might increase their punishment.


    Then Raji nced at Rio and Lia and said,


    "You two will be in charge of helping out in the garden... This punishment is because you didn''t stop the two from destroying public property and intimidating the staff members..."


    Seeing that even Rio and Lia got punished, Link and Liam couldn''t help but gloat in their hearts.


    But the punishment allocation wasn''t over yet.


    Raji nced at Riya and said,


    "You will be banned from eating candy for a whole day..."


    Hearing those words, Riya''s mouth opened wide in shock. She hurriedly put her candies back


    in the space ring for fear that Raji might snatch them away and said,


    "W-what!? I didn''t even do anything!"


    Raji shook her head and said,


    "You are getting punished because you have thrown so many candy wrappers on the floor here


    that the office looks like a garbage can!"


    Riya nced at the floor, and only then did she notice how many candies she had eaten in one


    sitting.


    "Ugh... That''s so unfair..."


    Raji frowned at Riya''s words ofint and said,


    "What? You want me to increase your punishment to three days, just like the others?"


    Hearing those words, Riya panicked and shook her hands desperately.


    "No no, t-that''s not what I was saying! I-it must have been wind!"


    Raji ignored Riya''s excuse and took out a certain token and ced it on the table.


    "Okay, enough chit-chat... Now let''s talk about the main reason why I have called you all


    here..."


    Hearing Raji''s serious tone, everyone else also got serious and listened to her carefully.


    "This is an invitation token given to Riya; she told me about this token justst night... I have investigated it, and it seems that the original date of invitation was a few weeks ago..."


    "But now the date has changed due to some reasons, and this token can still be used... In one week''s time, you can use this token to go to the ''Dragon Valley''..."


    "And ording to what Riya has been told, all members of Team Astra have been invited to the Dragon Valley by the Dragon King himself..."


    Hearing those words, everyone except Riya was shocked.


    This is the first time they are hearing about it.


    Riya was so busy eating candies that she totally forgot to tell about this thing to Link and others; only yesterday did she tell about it to Raji when she identally remembered about it


    out of nowhere.


    Thankfully, the date on the invitation token has changed, likely because of some kind of dy, but this is good news for team Astra.


    If the token had already expired, they would all have lost the rare opportunity to visit the


    Dragon Valley.


    (Actually, Riya got punished for not telling about this token, not because she made the room dirty...)


    ...


    Riya exined everything that she talked about with Syvis and Aria that day and told them about the token and the invitation in great detail.


    Of course she didn''t mention anything about her training; if she did, then Link and Raji would faint from shock on the spot, as they couldn''t bear to hear how much Riya had suffered in that


    training session.


    From Riya''s words, one thing caught Rio''s attention.


    ''Sword of Promised Destinies... I kind of feel that I have heard that name in the novel


    somewhere... but I can''t remember it properly...''


    ''I will need to look into it...''


    Rio rarely gets interested in finding out about something, and this so-called ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' has piqued his interest today.


    Just when Rio was contemting it in his mind, Raji nced at them all and said, "You all haven''t received your first mission as third-year students until now, right? Good, I will personally assign this visit to the Dragon Valley to you all as your first mission..."


    "You have to go and visit that so-called festival, and you have toe back alive from there; don''t go provoking the dragons..."


    Everyone nodded their heads at Raji''s words, and a smile appeared on their faces.


    Very few people in the world get the chance to visit the Dragon Valley in their lifetime. It''s a great opportunity to get new experiences, so none of them wanted to leave it. "Also... does anyone of you know where Fade and Kira are? They are also part of Team Astra afterall... Both of them have been missing for a week now..."


    Link and others looked at each other with confused looks, but no one had the answer to that


    question.


    "I seriously don''t even care about that guy; I don''t know where he went..."


    Following Link''s lead, Liam also said the same words and admitted that he hasn''t been


    looking at Fade these days.


    Even Rio and Lia shook their heads, saying they haven''t met the two of them for a while now.


    And Riya was just as clueless as always.


    In other words, no one knew where those two had disappeared all of a sudden. "Sigh~ forget it, you guys prepare for the trip. I will try to find them if possible, and if I can''t,


    then you five can go on your own; there is no need to wait for them..." Seeing that none of them knew about Fade and Kira, Raji stopped asking them about it.


    Then she nced at Ellie, who was standing beside Liam, and said,


    "By the way, when going to the dragon valley, always keep her in a de-summoned state... Shadow dragons aren''t wee in the Dragon Valley... If they see her... they will kill her..."


    Hearing Raji''s words, Liam gulped his saliva and nodded his head,


    "Okay, I will keep that in mind..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Okay! We are finally getting to the main point! The next event ising soon, guys! Let''s


    goo!!


    Question of the day:. Which group would you like to join to suffer punishment together?


    1. Swimming pool cleaning group (Your ears will bleed hearing Link and Liam''s endless


    bickering...)


    2. Garden health group (Watch Rio and Lia nt flowers and work like a married couple... as a side wheel... you will get a lot of emotional damage from feeling lonely...)


    3. No candy group (Sit on the couch all day long, watch boring TV shows, and there will be no


    snacks or candies...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 315: Thoughts on Rio...

    Chapter 315: Thoughts on Rio...


    ?


    Academy Swimming pool area.


    "You know what your problem is? You can''t take jokes properly, man... If you had just taken it as a joke, we wouldn''t have to wipe the pool here today..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link clicked his tongue and spoke.


    "Why do you even make jokes like that if you know that I am going to get angry over them?... Why don''t you try your jokes on Rio if you really have the guts..."


    Liam wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and continued cleaning the pool while saying,


    "No way, man... I think if I joked about Lia in front of him, I would be split in two pieces the next moment, so I don''t really take my chances with him..."


    "That guy just looks cool, chill, and ordinary most of the time, but when you are fighting him, he looks like a literal incarnation of ''Death'' walking towards you..."


    "When I was fighting him in the tournament, I was having so much difficulty just restraining his speed that I couldn''tnd a proper blow at all..."


    "And you know what... That guy likely didn''t use his ''Miasma'' type sword attacks on me because he was saving them for you..."


    Liam nced at Link and said in a solemn voice,


    "He was holding back all while fighting against me... Moreover, he never used his shadow robe against me; if he had, he wouldn''t have gotten so injured either..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link smirked a bit and said,


    "You only thought of it now? You know what... Even in the final fight against me... he likely still didn''t use all of his trump cards...."


    Link clenched his fist and said,


    "Rio might seem chill and easygoing usually, but once he unsheathes his sword, believe me, he bes a walking weapon... You know... He gives the feeling that he discards his emotions and, like..."


    "How do I say... Yeah! He kind of suppresses his ''humanity'', once he unsheathes his sword... I wouldn''t want someone like him as an enemy, to be frank..."


    Liam also nodded his head in response to those words.


    "Me neither... Even now, I still have no direct counters for his ''Miasma'' type attacks, and then there''s that inhumane speed... as if his whole body just focuses on speed and nothing else..." Listening to those words, Link said,


    "By the way, that movement art he uses, actually, I was the one who gave it to him... but he really has mastered it perfectly..."


    Liam let out a sigh upon hearing those words,


    "Even without that movement art, he was already fast enough, and with it... he''s just insane... Not only his movement speed, but his reaction speed, response time, counterattacking speed, etc. are all insanely fast..."


    "You wouldn''t know what attack he might use next, as he''s too fast to predict..."


    Link couldn''t help but nod his head solemnly at those words.


    "Yes, that''s the exact reason why I always end up getting hit by most of his attacks... His attacks are unpredictable; sometimes he even goes on to do ten feint attacks before delivering the real blow..."


    "I have suffered a lot from those unpredictable moves... It''s like you are fighting ten people at the same time... Attacks cane from any angle..."


    Liam nced at the sky and said,


    "By the way, what do you think... how strong might he have be after getting that ''Blessing of the World Tree'' as a reward?"


    Link simply shook his head in response to those words.


    "I honestly don''t know... I got that leaf that helped me improve my proficiency in ''Dao Rhythm'', but I am still nowhere near in proficiency whenpared to him..."


    Liam sighed at those words and said,


    "Yeah, I know... That guy actually used my summoned beasts to improve his own proficiency when in midbat... He was just taking me as a good practice target..."


    "From the start of our match... it wasn''t even a battle; it was just a training session for him..."


    Even if Liam had added Ellie to the fight, the oue would have been the same and not too different.


    Unless he uses his whole mana to fully manifest Ellie in her peak S-rank form, Rio won''t have much difficulty against Liam.


    But even Rio will have to step back against a peak S-ranker until he himself bes an S- ranker.


    "You know what... Rio has amazing stealth capabilities... Unless he himself wants to get seen, you won''t notice his standing beside you..."


    "Although I can still sense him if I deploy my dragon field or use my intuition to full capacity, that costs a lot of effort... I will tire out earlier than him..."


    "This is a big disadvantage; I am still working on finding a countermeasure for this,


    actually..."


    The look on Link''s face remained solemn as he said those words.


    Even though he doesn''t want to admit it, it''s impossible to ignore the truth.


    If Rio wants, he can sneak under the noses of S-rankers without getting noticed, which means


    that for Link and the other''s, Rio can be nearly invisible from their detection range.


    "I heard his father was an assassin... I guess being stealthy runs in his blood..."


    Liam smiled a bit while saying that.


    Link shook his head and replied,


    "You know... I actually went and asked my father about it... He said that Rio''s father... uh, Kevin sh, used to possess a sword that could damage ''soul'' of a person; that was why he


    was called Kevin ''The Soul Splitter''..."


    "And now Rio has inherited his sword..."


    Hearing those words, Liam felt a chill run down his spine.


    "Y-you mean to say that.... the Trump card that he wasn''t using on you was actually that ''soul splitting'' attack? Man, that''s insane... an attack that can directly split your soul..."


    Link nodded his head in agreement with Liam''s words.


    "I think I know why he was holding back... that ''Soul Splitting'' is likely a ''sure-kill'' type attack; once itnds, the opponent dies... I myself wouldn''t want to use such an attack on my


    friends either..."


    Liam''s face took on aplex expression as he spoke.


    "Well, although it''s good that he doesn''t want to use it on us, but.... There''s no guarantee


    about future... You know what I am saying, right?"


    Link nodded his head in response to Liam''s words.


    "Yeah... Nothing is eternal, not even the strongest friendships... It''s better if we prepare some


    countermeasures early..."


    "Although I don''t wish such a day came, if it did, I would need some way to protect my loved ones and myself... Better be ready than be sorry..."


    Link and Liam both have people to protect and people they love more than their own lives, so they can''t afford to lose if a decisive battle happens.


    Friendship, loyalty, etc. are strong bonds, but even the strongest and most powerful bonds erode over time, and you can never be sure what might happen in the future.


    It''s always good to prepare for the worst-case scenario.


    "By the way, is he serious about opening a tea shop and living an ordinary life after retirement? That''s such a... you know... small dream that it can''t even be considered a


    dream..."


    "Anyone can do that afterall..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "I don''t know, man... I have no idea what''s so good about living an ordinary life... I feel that living with hundreds of servants and subordinates at your disposal is much better..."


    "Maybe it''s just because he likes to be a loner..."


    Link tilted his head and said in a doubtful tone,


    "Hmm... I think I have seen him get angry only once... It was when he was fighting that demon prince''s clone in the final test of the first year... He said his parents were killed by that demon


    prince..."


    "Aside from that one time, I have yet to see him angry..."


    Liam contemted Link''s words for a moment and then said with a smile,


    "Try messing with Lia; likely it won''t take more than a minute to make him angry..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link looked at Liam with a strange expression,


    "You want me to get killed or something?..."


    Both Link and Liamughed at that for a few seconds before their expressions turned solemn.


    They both looked into each other''s eyes.


    "You can feel it too, right? How Rio bes emotionless when he unsheathes his sword..."


    Liam nodded his head at those words and said in a low voice,


    "Yeah... he bes immune to emotions... In other words... even Lia isn''t an exception..."


    Although the two of them found it hard to believe, their instincts were telling them that Rio had started to reach a state where he could discard his humanity whenever he wanted.


    He can be a ''Monster'' or a ''Human'', whenever he feels like it.


    Link sighed and said,


    "How about we train together sometimes... Maybe we cane up with some counter


    measures..."


    Liam nodded his head and replied,


    "Although I doubt this scenario is going to happen anytime soon but... it''s better to be ready


    for anything that maye..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that Rio''s amazing progress has finally made Link and Liam feel motivated to work


    harder...


    Question of the day:


    Which side of Rio do you like the most?


    1. Chill and carefree side (Making tea and passing time looking at the rising sun...)


    2. W Rizz mode (Flirting and messing around with Lia...)


    3. Professional thief mode (Plotting against Fade and stealing things from him...)


    4. Emotionless Mode (No distracting emotions, no talking, just straight up sword attacks...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 316: What has been lost and what he might lose...

    Chapter 316: What has been lost and what he might lose...


    ?


    "Unexpectedly... You are quite good at gardening and stuff..."


    Lia looked quite impressed watching Rio, who was working in the garden, with a rare serious look on his face.


    "Well, I used to have several flower pots at home; there were roses, sunflowers, and some herbal nts too... I kind of learned it while messing around in dirt..."


    "Hmm,e to think of it, Mom used to scold me for getting my clothes dirty... I was quite the troublesome kid, actually..."


    Rio has mixed-up memories; the part where he used to take care of flowers was from his past life, and the part where he used to get scolded for ying in dirt is from his present life.


    But he''s telling them both at the same time so as to avoid revealing about his previous life.


    "Wow... It''s quite shocking, actually. I didn''t expect someone as cool-minded as you... used to be a total brat in your younger days..."


    Seeing the shocked look on Lia''s face, Rio shook his head and said,


    "I was not always that cool-minded... Your parents grow you up with love and care, so you get spoiled, but when the world shows you reality, you adapt ordingly...."


    "Those who can''t adapt to the fast-changing world can''t live a happy life... That''s the way the world is..."


    Rio gently grasped a flower and spoke.


    "My dream is to live a happy life... To be happy is to adapt to the way of the world and live in coexistence..."


    Lia smiled and said,


    "So... will you be satisfied with the bare minimum and wouldn''t even want money, power, or fame?"


    Rio smiled at that question and replied in a calm voice,


    "As long as you are with me, I don''t care about the world..."


    Lia blushed a bit at those words and nodded her head, "Yeah, me too..."


    ...


    Although Rio did say that he was quite a troublesome kid, Lia refused to believe those words.


    She can instinctively feel that Rio is lying about something, but she didn''t point it out because she thought it would be rude.


    She already knows about Rio''s past and how his parents died and he lived in an orphanage, so she didn''t ask much about those days, so he doesn''t have to remember that time.


    But she couldn''t stop her curiosity either, so she asked,


    "By the way... What kind of person was your mother?... You don''t seem to talk much about your past..."


    Seeing the nervous look on her face, Rio smiled a bit and then said,


    "No need to be that tense... well... It was quite a long time ago, and I was still a kid, so my memories are hazy..."


    "But from what I remember... she was the type to always smile; her smile was like a radiant sun and....... well..."


    ''Hmm?...''


    Suddenly, the look on Rio''s face turned solemn all of a sudden, and sweat started to appear on his forehead.


    ''I-I can''t remember her face.... W-wait....''


    He got up from the ground, and a rare look of panic appeared on his face. He rubbed his temples and tried to remember it again, but there was still nothing.


    Rio couldn''t remember his mother''s voice or her face; he seems to have lost that memory and the emotions that the original Rio felt in those days.


    ''Sigh...''


    When Rio first came to this world, he had the memories and emotions of the original Rio.


    But now, he''s starting to lose them along with his past life emotions.


    Everything has be a lot hazy, and he''s already forgotten his previous life''s name too.


    Rio calmed down his mind and stopped thinking about this matter; the more he thought, the more he would get concerned.


    "What happened?"


    Lia nced at Rio with a confused look on her face as Rio''s stopped talking mid-sentence.


    Rio shook his head and replied,


    "Nothing... forget it... It''s not that big of a deal anyway... I should get back to work..."


    Before Rio could get back to work, Lia caught his hand and asked with a concerned look on her face.


    "You know... Recently, you have be more unexpressive... as if you are suppressing your emotions or something like that..."


    "Tell me the truth. What''s going on? Is something on your mind?"


    "Ever since you got that blessing from the world tree, it''s be more difficult for me to read your emotions... It used to be much easier before... Now it''s difficult..."


    "There''s definitely something going on..."


    Hearing Lia''s words, Rio hesitated a bit, but then, seeing the concerned look on her face, he decided to tell her the truth.


    "Well... it''s quite hard to exin, but.... You see, ever since I have awakened... I have been losing my emotions and feelings..."


    "It''s quite a weird phenomenon... I have no curses on me or anything, but I am just losing my feeling for everything altogether..."


    "I am bing an emotionless existence... and I am afraid that I will lose my love for you, Lia... I certainly don''t want that to happen..."


    "I want to smile but can''t; I want to be happy but can''t; I can''t feel pain, remorse, sympathy,


    or anything at all..."


    Rio looked into Lia''s eyes and said,


    "The truth is, when Zach Senpai died, I felt nothing... I felt nothing for his death; I am


    bing a heartless monster that only knows the cold path of sword..."


    Even while expressing his heartfelt feelings, Rio''s face remained expressionless, and his voice


    remained as emotionless as that of a robot.


    He nced at the evening sky and said,


    "I used to have light in my eyes; now they look simr to dead body... There''s no light, no


    emotion in them..."


    Lia held Rio''s hand tightly and said,


    "Please... Don''t lose feelings for me; i-I can''t lose you..."


    Even Lia was helpless against such a strange phenomenon; she had no idea what''s wrong with


    Rio, but she doesn''t want him to forget about their mutual feelings.


    Then suddenly, an idea came to her mind, and she said,


    "Wait, we will be going to the Dragon Valley soon, so how about you get yourself checked by the SS-rank Healer... She might be able to tell us something about it..."


    Rio nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well... we can give it a try, I guess..."


    ''Although I know it''s useless... But I guess trying is also a way of clinging to hope... and the


    world works on hope...''


    Rio tightly held Lia''s small hand and said it with a smile on his face.


    "Although I may lose my ''self'', I will try my best to be the same Rio for you..."


    Hearing those words, Lia immediately hugged Rio tightly in her arms.


    Her eyes became a bit teary, but she ignored those tears.


    She was afraid that Rio would leave her behind, and she has already set a goal to stand side by


    side with Rio and go on many adventures.


    She doesn''t want to be left behind in dust, and if something happens to Rio, she won''t be able


    to live happily either.


    This is the tragedy of those who love and want to be loved. The one who is the most loyal


    suffers the most.


    After the work in the garden was done, Rio and Lia went home together while holding hands.


    Today, Rio told Lia one of his deepest secrets that he never wanted to mention to anyone.


    Although there are no direct methods to cure it, now that Lia knows about it, things may change for the better.... Perhaps...


    Love may bring happiness, but it is also one of the greatest sources of pain, misery, and regret... It doesn''t take much to change that feeling of happiness into suffering. Holding your love firm is the only way to keep it safe, but would a love ced in a cage still be


    considered ''free''?


    Riya''s room.


    Unlike Rio and the others, who were punished with cleaning the pool or taking care of the


    garden, Riya was banned from eating candy.


    So she has been sitting in front of the TV the entire day, staring at the door with an expectant


    look on her face.


    She asked Link to bring her some, but Raji caught him and kicked him away, so now she''s


    staring at the door, waiting for Raji toe back to return her space ring as the day ends.


    "Ugh... How do normal people live! I can''t live a second without my candies! This is so


    unfair!"


    After not eating candy for nearly a month aftering back from Oaklum, Riya trained and


    became stronger.


    But now that she can eat the candies again, her candy addiction has be even stronger


    than it was before. "Sigh... She really isn''ting... Did she eat my candy herself? Tch! how rude!"


    "I will definitely tell mom about how she bullied me today!! Hmph!" Riya had no choice but to go back to watching boring TV serials with no candies or snacks.


    ''Oh, god of candies... Give me strength to survive this day...''


    Riya prayed to her great god of candies to ask for the endurance to survive a day without


    candies.


    But then her stomach started to grumble, and her expression turned angry.


    ''Stupid sister! Just you wait, I will tell mom that you are a chain smoker, you do weird drugs,


    and you drink 3 tons of alcohol every day!!!


    (She''s exaggerating; Raji doesn''t smoke or use drugs...)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Rio told Lia about his situation! It''s a good thing!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think is the reason for Rio''s loss of emotion?


    (Tell me your theories in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 317: I am proud of you...

    Chapter 317: I am proud of you...


    ?


    Silver Mansion, Lia''s room.


    Mel walked over to Lia''s bed quietly, and after noticing that Lia was still sleeping, she sat beside her and started to whisper in her ears.


    "Mdy, your boyfriend came over to look for you..."


    Lia was still feelingzy, didn''t wake up, andzily said,


    "Let me sleep five more min~"


    The expression on Mel''s face remained as calm as ever after hearing those words, and she said,


    "But Mdy, the other maids are flirting with him; you need to get up, or your little boyfriend will be stolen-"


    Hearing Mel''s words, Lia immediately sat up with a shocked look on her face. Theziness in her eyes disappeared in an instant.


    "What!? That''s impossible!"


    Only after Lia fully woke up did she figure out that Mel was just messing with her.


    "Ugh, what do you need so early in the morning, Mel? Let me sleep peacefully..."


    Mel shook her head and said,


    "It''s already 7 a.m., Mdy. You have to leave for your ''First Mission'' today... You can''t bete..."


    Only then did Lia remember that today was the day when they had to leave for the ''Dragon Valley''.


    "Oh! I kept chatting with Rio tillte at night! Now I amte! I gotta hurry!"


    Seeing the anxious look on Lia''s face, Mel smiled and said,


    "Don''t worry, Mdy, I have already prepared your clothes and other things; you just need to get ready fast, and all should be fine..."


    Lia nodded her head and got up from the bed to get ready fast.


    The gathering time for the group is 8 a.m., and it''s already 7 a.m., which means she will likely bete today.


    Thus, she moved fast and got ready in just half an hour.


    Lia grabbed her space ring and double-checked all the items she might need.


    While walking through a corridor of the mansion, Mel asked Lia in a calm voice,


    "Mdy, your father asked you to have breakfast before leaving..."


    Although Lia wanted to say no to it, she remembered that she might not be able to meet her father for quite some time after today, so it was a good idea to say bye before leaving.


    Moreover, James had been on a dungeon raid for the past few months, so Lia hasn''t seen him since the day she came back from the Elven Empire.


    It''s a good chance to see him today.


    Thinking about all this, she headed to the dining room and sat on a chair beside the dining table.


    James nced at Lia and said it with a smile.


    "You have been working hard to be strong, I see... Hoho~ look at you! You have already reached Rank A! Amazing work!"


    Hearing the praise from her father''s mouth, Lia felt quite happy; it is quite rare for him to praise her that much in one go.


    "Thanks... Actually, the ''Ambient Silver'' is a fantastic sword... It''s been helping me progress much faster..."


    James nodded his head at those words and smiled. The more he looked at Lia, the more proud and happy he felt.


    "You know... Just two years ago, you used to always carry that depressed look... and look at you now; you have be strong and much happier than before..."


    "You have achieved a lot and have found your own ce in the world..."


    Lia sighed at those words and said,


    "But I didn''t even get to the semi-finals of the Supreme Tournament... You are praising me too much..."


    James stretched out his hand and patted Lia''s head with a proud look on his face.


    "No matter what the world says or thinks... No matter where you may go or live, just keep in mind that your father is proud of you, Lia..."


    "You are the gem that I admire with all my heart... I am sure your mother is also smiling at your feats from afterlife..."


    James sipped the wine from the ss and said, in a happy tone,


    "Moreover, you lost to the ''Champion of the Supreme Tournament''; you should take pride in the fact that you were able to force the ''Champion'' into using his strong moves against you..."


    Up until fighting Lia, Rio hadn''t used his ''Sword Intent'' even once; Lia was the one who forced him to get serious for the first time in the tournament.


    In other words, Rio was already so strong by that point that he could eliminate 99 percent of the of the candidates without even getting serious.


    Only a select few people were able to stand against him for more than ten minutes.


    And ultimately, he went and won the title of champion.


    Which means Lia lost to the champion, and there is nothing bad about it.


    ...


    Thinking about that fight, Lia sighed and said,


    "I was expecting it, but... you know, getting hit by ''Sword Intent''.... It feels awful, it''s the worst kind of feeling..."


    The first cut is just the main attack; ''Sword Intent'' causes the mana in your body to go out of control in the area that it hits; moreover, that area feels like it''s getting cut continuously over


    and over.


    "The pain is immense, and the feeling is horrible... You wouldn''t wish something like that on your worst enemies..."


    [Now you understand why I always try to keep my distance from that guy...]


    [His ''Sword Intent'' is insanely strong, even whenpared to other people''s legendary skills...]


    [I have seen ''Sword Intent'' before on someone, but whenpared to the sword intent that Rio has,


    others feel like dog sh*t in front of it...]


    Kai grumbled in Lia''s head, but Lia ignored him.


    On the other hand, James nodded his head at Lia''s words and said,


    "See! You forced him to use that kind of attack on you! That just shows how strong you have


    be!"


    "Unless he really was in a pinch, that kid would not have used such an attack on you..."


    Hearing those words, Lia was taken aback for a second, but then she thought that the words


    actually made some sense.


    Rio loves Lia greatly, and to use such an attack on her took a lot of determination.


    If Lia wasn''t strong enough to push Rio into a corner, he likely wouldn''t have needed to use


    ''Sword Intent'' on her.


    "That... might be true, I guess..."


    Seeing that Lia had finally acknowledged that she''d be strong, James nodded his head in satisfaction and said,


    "Yes, keep your head high and always be confident in your strength; without confidence, you will lose battles that can be won much more easily..."


    Looking at Lia, James smiled and said,


    "With the pace you are advancing, it won''t be long before you advance to rank S... Once you do


    be an S ranker... this old man can finally retire..."


    Lia was surprised by James''s words and asked curiously:


    "You are nning on retiring this early?"


    James nodded his head and said,


    "Well, youngdy, you old man has already had enough of these constant days of endless


    fighting..."


    "Once you reach Rank S, I will retire and give all my properties and everything to you; then you will be the leader of my guild, and I will hand over all my headaches to you..." "Then I will go and enjoy life in a secluded ce somewhere on a private mansion located


    near a beach..."


    Lia rolled her eyes and grumbled.


    "What are you talking about? How will I take care of such a massive guild on my own? I have


    never even done official work or something like that..."


    James shook his head and smiled at Lia before saying,


    "No, no, you won''t be alone... You have the ''Champion'', ''The Supreme Sword'' with you...


    What can obstruct your way when you have the strongest sword creating the path for you?" "Be confident; you have the strongest allies and the strongest people as support... You just need to take up the helm as leader; I will sort out all the inheritance-rted issues..."


    Only after hearing James words did Lia feel more confident.


    "Well... I guess I will try my best... Don''t me me if I mess up..."


    Upon hearing Lia''s words, James burst intoughter and said,


    "You have me and the ''supreme sword'' to clean your mess..."


    Lia nodded her head at James''s words. She finished eating breakfast and got up from the seat


    to finally leave for a new journey.


    James patted her shoulder and said,


    "Keep in mind that there are people who are ready to support you at any moment, so be


    confident..."


    "Go now ande back soon~"


    Lia nodded her head and replied in a happy and confident tone,


    "I will bring souvenirs for you~"


    With that said, Lia left via the main gate and entered her car to head towards the academy.


    James, who came out just to see the car leave, sighed to himself, but at that moment, he felt


    proud to be Lia''s father.


    Mel, who also came out, said,


    "Master... Mdy has be mature; you can''t even see the previous look of depression and


    sadness on her anymore..."


    James nodded his head and said,


    "Well, that''s the power of love, I guess... It helped her get rid of the ws, and now she''s


    be someone that I can always be proud of..."


    "I wish that she could always stay as happy as she is today..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Lia has finally made her father proud; she has shed the darkness in her heart and has


    be a golden light that can brighten up others''s worlds.


    Question of the day:


    Do you guys want a chapter on Mel''s backstory?


    1. Yes.


    2. Indeed yes.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 318: Changed Lives...

    Chapter 318: Changed Lives...


    ?


    Rex Mansion, Living Room.


    "Do you know where Father goes when he enters seclusion training?"


    Hearing Link''s question, Olin shook his head and said, with aplicated look on his face,


    "I never asked him about it, actually; usually those kinds of ces are meant to be kept secret, so I thought it would be better if I didn''t ask about it..."


    "Well... even though I don''t know where it might be.. but I am sure he''s not in the mansion at the least... I know every corner of this mansion, including all the hidden rooms..."


    "He''s likely underground somewhere in the capital..."


    Link nodded his head at those words and didn''t pry further for information on Ashtel.


    Although he wanted to talk to his father before leaving, it wasn''t that urgent of a matter. "Sigh... I wanted to ask him if it was really safe to go to the ''Dragon Valley''... After all, the dragons are known for their arrogant nature..."


    "And it''s their home turf; we will be at a disadvantage if something happens..."


    Hearing Link''s words of worry, Olin shook his head and said,


    "Young master, they have invited you as a ''Guest''... In other words, your safety is their responsibility. If something happens with you guys, then the Dragon King himself will be responsible..."


    "After all, you are his ''Guests''..."


    Link contemted those words and asked,


    "But, can we really trust the dragons? We went to the Elven Empire without any problems because humans and elves are on good terms..."


    "But the Dragon Valley has been cut off from the world since two millennia ago; they rarely have any contact with the outside world... Their opinion of humans may vary..."


    Unlike other races who were coerced into joining the World Alliance by King Allen, Dragons were one of the few races who never joined the World Alliance.


    Moreover, they have established their home in the Dragon Valley, which is located in a sub- space of its own.


    You can''t even go there without a proper invitation.


    Due to this reason, Dragons were totally unaffected by the demon race''s influence, and even if some miasma entered their sub-space, they could easily purify it with their insane power.


    And since they were unaffected by demons, they never participated in the demon extinction war and never felt the need to join the alliance.


    Even King Allen couldn''t force them to enter a war that clearly had nothing to do with them, so they always remained neutral.


    ...


    Seeing the concerned look on Link''s face, Olin smiled a bit and said,


    "Young Master, you are worrying too much... Dragons are not foolish beings; they are wise and thoughtful creatures... Even they wouldn''t want an unnecessary conflict..."


    "If something happens to you and your group, they will be facing the wrath of the whole human empire... They aren''t foolish enough to be too bad to you..."


    Link sighed and said,


    "But their home is located in a different space... I don''t know if they will even be affected much..."


    Olin smiled at Link''s words of concern and said,


    "Young Master... Don''t forget what kind of existence ''Ashtel Rex'' is... He shattered the space- time fabric to nullify the ''Heavenly Punishment'' just to save your life..."


    "Do you really think he can''t shatter the ''Space-Time'' fabric again to invade the Dragon Valley?... As a matter of fact, I don''t think he would be much weaker than the Dragon King himself..."


    "I believe in him.... You shall too..."


    Link sighed after hearing those words and agreed.


    He has never seen a person as strong as his father in his whole life.


    Even Alverto, who was able to manipte time, wasn''t anything much in front of Ashtel.


    ''Sigh... When will I be as strong as him... He''s so far away that I can''t see the end of his power...''


    Link has seen his father use his power on several asions, and even the slightest bit of Ashtel''s power is enough to overpower anyone below rank SS.


    Link has been chasing his father''s back and has been following in his footsteps for years now. But he is still so far away from reaching Ashtel''s level that the distance seems insanely big. Aside from Rio, who is his rival and a big source of motivation, Ashtel is the main source of motivation for Link.


    Not only does he respect him, but he also idolizes him.


    Link nced at his clenched fist and said,


    "Grandpa Olin... Do you think I will ever be able to catch up to my father''s level?... you know... He''s quite strong and all... I sometimes feel very insignificant whenparing myself to


    him..."


    Before Olin could say anything, Link shook his head and got up to leave.


    "Forget it; I am just talking too much... It''s time to leave now. Bye for now... also say ''bye'' to Grandma Ste in my stead..."


    With that said, Link left the room and headed outside to take the car and leave for the


    academy.


    Olin, who was looking at Link''s retreating back, smiled and thought,


    ''Young master... You are worrying too much... If you look from my perspective, you are already catching up to your father, extremely fast, actually...''


    Olin has seen Ashtel grow up from a young snotty brat who liked to beat up all the kids in the neighborhood just for fun into a mature person who now protects the whole human empire and is the literal symbol of protection and power.


    ''Unlike your father... You already have a mature mentality from a young age; moreover, you have the support of amazing friends. My well wishes are with you...''


    Not only does Link have more talent than his father, he also has the mentality to reach the


    peak of this world.


    Unlike Ashtel, Link awakened ''Dao Rhythm''; not even Ashtel has that.


    In other words, Link is already starting to surpass his father in some aspects.


    ...


    Croft Mansion.


    "I amte! I amte! Link will be here to pick me up soon, and I haven''t even gotten ready


    yet!"


    Riya, who just took a shower and changed, was now having a hard time thinking about what to pack and what not to pack.


    She hurriedly ran downstairs to look for her space ring, as she had forgotten it in the living


    room.


    But when she entered the living room, Damian and Farah had already ced everything that she needed for the trip.


    Farah prepared her clothes, ironed them, and got them ready, and Damian took care of


    packing therge boxes of candies in an orderly manner.


    Usually Riya has to pack everything all by herself, so she''s alwayste, as she''s a disaster at


    taking care of the small details.


    But now that her parents are living with her, she has extra helping hands.


    Farah handed over the space ring to her and said, with aplicated look on her face,


    "You really need to learn a thing or two about keeping your things organized... I worry that


    you will cause a lot of headaches for my dear son-inw..."


    Hearing Farah''s words, Damian smiled a bit and said,


    "Haha, I think by now, Link has already gotten used to her clumsy nature... He won''t mind it


    much... just be yourself."


    Farah red at Damian for a second and said,


    "You spoil her too much... Sigh~ I am telling you, you father and daughter pair really cause a


    lot of trouble..."


    That happy and lovely talk between her parents made Riya finally realize that now she also


    has parents like everyone else.


    She can experience the life she always wanted.


    Tears appeared in Riya''s eyes as she hugged her mother tightly and said,


    "Mom.... Thank you for waking up... Thank you for everything... You are the best..."


    Farah was taken aback by Riya''s crying face for a second, but then she patted Riya''s head with


    a guilty look on her face.


    "Forgive me for not being there for you when you needed me the most... I love you, my


    daughter... I promise to always support you from now on..."


    Even Damian''s eyes went moist after seeing Riya cry over such a small matter, it turns out, and Riya was really living a hard life without her parents.


    She wanted the love of her parents, and now that she''s finally got it, she''s so happy that she


    can''t stop crying over it.


    Although everyone else may have forgiven him, Damian himself feels guilty for not being there for his daughters.


    ''I guess I will need to make up for all the time that''s been lost...''


    On that day, Damian promised himself to give all his time to his family. He retired from the


    life of an awakener and decided to spend the rest of the time with his family.


    ...


    After half an hour of talking and chatting, Riya finally got up as she noticed the message from


    Link on her phone.


    "Link is here; I should go now... Mom and Dad, bye, for now..."


    Farah and Damian waved their hands to say bye. Riya smiled happily and entered the car, and she opened the window and waved her hand to say bye before the car left.


    From today onwards, she will always have the support of her parents with her; she won''t have to worry abouting back to a house that is empty and lifeless with no one waiting for her in it.


    Rio changed the lives of all his friends for the better, but his own life remained the same as before. How ironic...


    Fortunately, he got to meet and love a girl like Lia, and that alone is more than enough for


    him.


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day. Which character do you think is living the happiest after being ''saved'' by Rio? (Including all


    side characters too...)


    (Tell me your opinions in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter.


    Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 319: Mimic again?

    Chapter 319: Mimic again?


    ?


    Academy, Teleportation Area.


    Rio and Liam, who both arrived early, were now standing while leaning their backs against the wall.


    Liam nced at Rio and said,


    "Er... Say something, bruh... We have been standing here awkwardly like idiots!"


    Rio tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "Awkwardly? Didn''t we just say good morning to each other, though?"


    Rio, being the type of guy who doesn''t talk much, was fine standing still without talking after just doing a casual greeting, but Liam was dying from awkwardness as he couldn''t stand still without talking.


    The two of them have nothing much inmon, so they don''t have many topics to talk about, and awkward silence happens between them quite often.


    "Ugh... Forget it; I am the one who''s just too self-conscious... There is no point talking to a stone statue..."


    Rio rolled his eyes and said,


    "Not my fault; that''s just how I am. By the way, why are you so early today?"


    Usually it''s Rio who is the only one whoes early, as he has the habit of arriving at least fifteen minutes or even half an hour early.


    And when ites to a date with Lia, he arrives an hour before the agreed-upon time; he has never known what it means to bete.


    But it was quite rare to see Liam arrive early, too.


    "Well, I was nervous and ended up having a lot of anxiety... I have de-summoned Ellie, but I am still not sure about it..."


    Rio nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Yeah... other dragons might not notice, but... the Dragon King will likely notice her..."


    Liam sighed at those words and said,


    "Yeah... and I am worried that he will do something to her... ugh... but I still don''t want to miss this opportunity to go to the Dragon valley... I want to see what dragons usually eat and do in their free time!"


    "I want to know everything about dragons!!"


    Rio, with his usual expressionless face, nced at Liam and spoke.


    "You seem quite interested in dragons..."


    Liam scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "I-it''s nothing much... I just want to know more about dragons and what they like... for research purposes, of course..."


    Rio didn''t pry further into Liam''s business and stopped asking about it.


    "Well, sometimes you need to take risks to gain something... And if the dragon king really did try to attack you... how about I block an attack for you?"


    Liam rolled his eyes at those words and said,


    "What are you talking about, bruh?... That''s the dragon king! Not a random hooligan on the street! You can''t possibly be thinking that you can take an attack from a peak SS-ranker, right?"


    Rio shrugged his shoulders at those words and said,


    "Who knows.... Maybe I can parry it if it''s a random casual move..."


    Although Rio himself knew that he wasn''t a match for the SS ranker as of yet, he has the confidence that he can reach that level one day.


    "Well, I am just joking; I wouldn''t want to anger the dragon king on his home turf..."


    Liam suddenly thought of something and said,


    "Ah, talking about home turf... I just remembered that I actually seeded in improving my field attack type ability that I used on you at thest moment in our match back in the tournament..."


    "Now I am quite sure I will be able to restrain your speed further... You better be ready for it..."


    Upon hearing those words, Rio sighed and spoke.


    "Man... You are such a talented guy; I kind of feel envious of you... You can just order your summoned beasts around to do all the work..."


    "I mean, you wouldn''t even need to get up from the couch to grab the TV remote; you can just ask them to grab it for you..."


    Liam rolled his eyes at those words and said,


    "You are saying it as if grabbing a TV remote is a very overpowered ability or something..."


    "You don''t know; all the summoned beasts have a personality of their own, and not each one of them is as calm-minded as Ellie and Kazto..."


    "Quite a few of them are troublemakers... I have a shark-type summoned beast that destroyed my bathroom... I had to apologize to Principal Raji over and over to finally get it repaired..."


    Liam couldn''t help but shake his head and sigh while saying those words.


    "But well... despite their weaknesses and personalities, each one of them is dear to me... I wouldn''t want to lose any of them-"


    Just when Liam was about to finish his sentence, a certain purple-haired man appeared out of nowhere and said,


    "And that''s what you are wrong about! You shouldn''t attach yourself too much with your tools like that; tools are meant to be used; if you fawn over them too much, those tools will lose their purpose..."


    Liam''s expression immediately turned irritated after hearing Neo''s words.


    "What do you want now?"


    Neo ignored Liam''s irritated tone and said,


    "Of course I came by to say good-bye to my son as he is leaving on an amazing journey..."


    Rio nced at Neo and immediately noticed that what hade was just a mimic beast, not the real body. With the help of his ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' and ''True Immunity'', he could easily see through these small details.


    Even an SS-rank illusion isn''t enough to confuse Rio, as both of these abilities are truly overpowered.


    "Hmm, you say that, but... You didn''t evene here in your real body; can it still be considered a genuine good-bye then?"


    Hearing Rio''s words, both Liam and Neo were shocked.


    This is the first time anyone has figured out Neo''s secret so easily; not even Ashtel can tell the


    real body of him apart from the fake one so easily; even he will need to use some effort.


    But Rio did it effortlessly; he just took a look and figured it out.


    Neo nced at Rio and said in a surprised tone,


    "Hoho, this is the first time someone has caught my trick so easily... You really are an


    interesting kid, Rio sh..."


    Neo nodded his head repeatedly, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face, as if he were


    happy that Rio was able to see through his disguise.


    "You are more impressive than the rumors say about you... I have no doubts about you being


    the ''champion'' of the supreme tournament..."


    Liam ignored Neo''s sweet talk and gritted his teeth before asking,


    "Tell me truthfully, what do you want?"


    Neo shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Nothing; like I said, I am just hanging around..."


    Seeing that Neo still refused to admit his motive, Liam stopped talking to him and started


    ignoring his very existence there.


    "Forget it, I don''t care..."


    Soon, Riya and Link arrived at the scene too.


    Neo nced at the two and said,


    "Ah, nice meeting you two. I came to see Liam off. How''s Ashtel doing these days?"


    Link tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "Hmm, didn''t he tell you that he was going into seclusion... Even I have no idea where he is or


    how he is doing..."


    Neo nodded his head and said,


    "I see... By the way, Riya... Can you show me that token for a moment? I just want to check


    something about it. There have been some incidents in the past, so how about you let me


    check it once..."


    Riya frowned a bit at his words and said,


    "But my sister already checked it, though; she said it was okay..."


    Neo shook his head and said,


    "Haha, Raji is still a bit inexperienced after all; let me check it for you..."


    Although Riya and the other didn''t want to give the token to Neo, they had no other choice


    when pressured by an SS-ranker.


    Raji didn''te to see them off; Jin and Ashtel are not present, so they have no choice but to


    agree to Neo''s coercing words.


    Riya handed over the token to Neo, and he nced at it for a moment. He narrowed his eyes


    and looked at it carefully, then smiled and returned the token to Riya with a look of satisfaction on his face.


    "Okay, this is a genuine item; you can use it safely; there is no need to worry about it..."


    Neo nodded his head repeatedly and then immediately flew away without hesitation.


    Rio and the others looked at this scene with a look of bewilderment.


    "Uh, what did hee here for if he wasn''t interested in taking the token? Also, he said he


    wanted to see Liam off, but he just flew away before even doing that...."


    Hearing Link''s words, Rio shook his head and nced at Liam before saying,


    "Your father is a weird person, isn''t he?"


    ck lines appeared all over Liam''s face as he heard that question,


    "Y-yeah.. kind of... He''s the most weird person I know... He sends his mimics even when they


    are celebrating some great asions at home..."


    "I don''t even know if I have ever met his real body before... I guess his real body onlyes home when he spends time with my mom..."


    Liam noticed that Rio and Link were giving him weird stares, and he said in an annoyed voice,


    "What!? You think I am the son of a mimic, or something!? That''s not possible! I wouldn''t have inherited such amazing talents if I wasn''t his genuine kid..." "Although I don''t want to acknowledge it, Neo is my father, not his mimic beast... So stop giving me those weird stares!"


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    Don''t you think that Neo has been deceiving Liam a bit too much?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 320: The Dragon Valley! Part-1.

    Chapter 320: The Dragon Valley! Part-1.


    ?


    "So, he asked you to show the token? That man really does strange things quite often..."


    Raji shook her head and returned the token back to Riya, as she found that it was fine and Neo hadn''t done anything to it secretly.


    Originally, she wasn''t nning oning here as she wanted to spend more time with her mother, but after sensing the presence of Neo near this ce, she had no choice but toe in person.


    She is very much aware of Neo''s weird thinking process and doesn''t want anything to go wrong with the students.


    As the principal of the academy, it''s her duty to ensure the safety of the students.


    If not for the fact that she can''t go to the Dragon Valley as she isn''t invited, she would have very much liked to follow with the group for safety purposes.


    "Forget it; no one knows what goes on in his mind. You guys, get ready; I will stay here till you leave..."


    Riya nodded her head and then embedded her mana in the token. The token started to glow brightly, and then it shattered on its own.


    Mana in the surroundings became turbulent, and a powerful teleportation spell was activated. A small portal appeared in the ce where the token had shattered.


    Seeing the portal, Raji nodded her head and said,


    "Sure enough, only those who are invited can enter this portal. I have a feeling that if I try to enter the portal, it will automatically not work for me..."


    "This is a powerful magic... There must be a very powerful wizard who created such a strong thing... It can even repel SS-rankers; very interesting indeed..."


    Raji was impressed by the abilities of the dragon race. She patted Riya''s back and said,


    "Last time you said that there''s an SS-rank healer in the dragon race... Make sure you learn a few things from her..."


    Riya nodded her head and waved her hand to say bye before entering the portal. Next Link entered the portal, but before leaving, he nced at Raji and said,


    "Don''t worry, I will keep her safe..."


    Raji nodded her head in satisfaction and didn''t say much in return.


    Rio and Lia also nodded their heads to her and then entered the portal without hesitation, and Liam was thest one to enter.


    With them all gone, Team Astra has started a new journey again.


    Once everyone had entered, the portal closed on its own, and the space returned to normal.


    ''Sigh, this portal can even sense that the rest of the two invited people aren''ting? This thing is surprisingly very urate...''


    The token scans an area of a hundred kilometers, and if the person who is invited to the dragon valley isn''t within a hundred-kilometer radius of it, then the portal will close automatically.


    After Link and others entered the portal, it sent a mana wave to scan the area to figure out if Fade and Kira were nearby or not, but they weren''t, so it closed on its own.


    Raji sensed that mana wave, so she was quite impressed by the awesomeness of this token. ''It seems everything went fine; I should also head back now...''


    ...


    Dragon Valley, Outskirts.


    Outside the Main Gate.


    Rio and others were shocked by the sheer size of that giant gate alone.


    It was so huge that it seemed like a skyscraper on its own; it looked ancient and majestic, giving off a sense of mystery and power.


    The ce the Rio and others were standing was a highway made up of mana-enhanced stones.


    The highway stretched far to the horizon behind them, and a vast in filled with knee-high grass stretched on both sides of the highway.


    It seemed like they had traveled to a medieval world where everything seemed to be brimming with life.


    Giant trees the size of skyscrapers could be seen near the horizon, and just by looking at this amazing scenery, you would feel refreshed.


    "This ce is so beautiful..."


    Stars seemed to be shining in Riya''s eyes while looking at this amazing ce.


    "Mana is denser in this ce, likely due to the effect caused by the presence of many


    dragons..."


    Dragons are legendary beings that can survive by just consuming mana; they don''t need any food or such.


    When these dragons die, the extremely pure mana in their bodies gets released into the atmosphere, and if enough dragons die, it can increase the density of mana in a whole area.


    This is exactly what has happened to this ce: dragons live a long life, but even they have a lifespan after all.


    But most of them die because of conflicts with each other; otherwise, it''s rare for a dragon to die for any other reason.


    Just when the group was looking at the massive city wall and gate, the giant door opened on its own, and two Dragon Men wearing magic armor came out of the door.


    The two of them pointed their swords to the ground and saluted the group before saying,


    "Wee! We wee the invited guests to the Dragon Valley!"


    "The Dragon Throne wees you to the Central City Atheron!"


    Rio and others were a bit surprised to see the two humanoid-looking creatures suddenly


    come out of the city doors.


    Link nced at the two dragonkins and asked in confusion,


    "Uh, you two are?"


    One of the two exined,


    "We are a lower race of the dragons, born from failed and defective dragons; we are called dragon men generally, and as we rarely ever go out of the dragon valley, the outside world is


    unaware of us..."


    Link and the other nodded their heads to express that they understood.


    Seeing that the group still had more questions to ask, the dragonman asked them to follow them to head inside.


    The two dragon men led the way, and the group followed behind with looks of curiosity on


    their faces.


    Once they entered the city through the main gate, a vast city appeared in sight, with thousands upon thousands of houses made in ancient and majestic architectural styles.


    Rio and others could see many dragon men going about their day, doing regr things like


    usual.


    The main gate was located at the entrance of the giant valley, and the whole city was located at a much lower altitude inside the valley, so you can see the whole scenery from this high


    ce.


    Dozens of dragons can be seen flying in the sky, as if they are patrolling the area.


    The whole dragon valley is stretched far and wide and is filled with small houses and other


    things.


    "I am Gulija, a knight working as an envoy in the Dragon pce... That giant pce there in


    the central area of the city is the dragon pce..."


    Hearing Gulija''s words, Liam asked curiously,


    "So the Dragon King lives there?"


    Gulija shook his head and said,


    "No no, why would the Mighty Dragon King live in a city of lowly defective folks, All true


    dragons live in ces of their choice..."


    "Some dragons like to live on mountaintops, some on vast grasnd, and some sleep in giant


    lakes underwater..."


    "This city you are looking at is just the ce where guests are invited; it is the sole ce where defective people live, and the Dragon Pce is located here while the Dragon throne


    overlooks over it all..."


    Link asked in a confused tone after hearing those words,


    "So, the dragon throne is located here so that the Dragon King cane here to meet up with


    guests and all, but he lives somewhere else..."


    Gulija nodded his head, and his two small wings on his back iled as if showing that he was


    feeling happy.


    "Yes! The Dragon King lives in the ancient Dragon Temple... As for the true dragons, they have


    the freedom to choose wherever they want to live..."


    Gulija nced at Link and the others before speaking.


    "This small valley isn''t the real thing... Actually, this whole continent is shaped in such a way that it''s surrounded by giant mountains on both sides and oceans on each side..."


    "In other words, this whole continent is the Dragon Valley itself!"


    Rio and others were amazed at how vast this ce actually is.


    This city, called Atheron itself, is as big as the capital city of Astra back in the human empire.


    There are likely millions of Dragon Men living here.


    While walking and guiding the group through the giant highway, Gulija continued to exin


    crucial details to the group.


    It turns out that when dragons are born from eggs, some of them are defective and aren''t fully mature, and they are all referred to as Dragon Man.


    Aside from being born as defective dragons, they can also be born as the offspring of two


    dragonkin, just like other races.


    The first Dragon Man was born from the defective eggs of the dragons, and now they have expanded their poption on their own.


    Although these dragon men don''t have the same lifespan and powers as the dragons, dragon blood still runs through their veins, so even the most ordinary dragon man can at least reach


    rank B.


    The Dragon Man built the cities, and all the architecture here is their handiwork.


    Even the Ancient Dragon Temple was built by them too.


    In the current Dragon Valley, Dragon man are in the millions, but true dragons are much


    smaller in number.


    Which is quite an ironic thing, as Dragon Men were born from the dragons in the first ce


    but became more sessful in multiplying their numbers whenpared to true dragons.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, we are in the Dragon Valley now! Question of the day:.


    Would you rather be a dragon or a dragonkin?


    1. Dragon (Will get affected by extremeziness and sleep addiction...)


    2. Dragonkin (500 years of life span even without bing an awakener, can fly, and can


    maintain a humanoid form too...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 321: The Dragon Valley! Part-2.

    Chapter 321: The Dragon Valley! Part-2.


    ?


    "Wait, if the ce that''s meant for guests is made in a location where the supposed ''lowly- beings'' are, then doesn''t that mean that the guests are also considered ''lowly beings''..."


    Upon hearing Liam''s words, Gulija smiled slightly and remarked,


    "Haha, you are worrying too much over it... Actually, that''s exactly how it used to be before the time of the current Dragon King..."


    "As the dragon-men are just defective people, dragons didn''t used to like us originally; mass-ughter and other things weremon, and we were being treated like ves..."


    Gulija sighed, looked toward the pce, and then spoke.


    "But ever since the current dragon king took the throne, things have changed. We live a safe and happy life now, and we are free to use the resources here..."


    "The only thing is that we are prohibited from disturbing the resting dragons or trespassing in their nest..."


    "Truthfully speaking, a dragon''s nest is their home; if you trespass that area, it''s your own fault for entering someone else''s property... Aside from that, everything is much more ordinary nowadays..."


    While the group was walking on the main road with Gulija, many dragon men passed by and couldn''t help but stare at the new group of people that came from the outside world.


    Gulija felt slightly embarrassed by their actions, so he quickly provided an exnation.


    "Well, we don''t usually see humans or any other races often, so people are curious and surprised to see you all here..."


    Link nodded his head and said,


    "Yeah, even I would be surprised if I suddenly saw a three-meter-tall dragon man in the human empire."


    Dragon people are gically very tall; even the shortest of them is 3 meters tall.


    They have a stronger physique than an orc, a sharper mind than a human, wings that are faster than the wyverns, and magic that is stronger than the elves.


    Dragon men are only weak whenpared to true dragons; otherwise, they are indeed very strong whenpared to other races.


    "Haha, actually, I am more surprised by how humans have such a small physique yet so much power in their fragile-looking body..."


    "This is the first time I am seeing humans... and believe, I can feel it with my instincts, except for that cheerful girl; all of you seem insanely strong to me..."


    Gulija himself is a peak A ranker, and his physique is much stronger than others; he can easily be considered one of the veterans, yet he feels threatened by Link and others.


    Hearing those words, Liamughed a bit and said,


    "Ah, not all humans are as strong as us... We are just the few most talented of our generation..."


    Gulija nodded his head at those words,


    "Yeah, I can see that..."


    Riya pouted her cheeks a bit and said,


    "I am not weak; I am a healer, you know! It''s unfair to beparing mybat abilities to Link..."


    Gulija was taken aback for a moment and then nodded.


    "Ah, is that so? I was wondering why only you had such weak killing intent... Except for you, all of your group members have insanely dense killing intent, especially..."


    Gulija nced at Rio but didn''t particrly say it out loud.


    As he''s very sensitive to the killing intent and murderous aura of a person, he can feel it in his bones that the moment he tries any moves, Rio''s sword will slice his head off.


    Regardless of whether Gulija has represented himself as a friend or not, Rio has the habit of always keeping his guard up.


    "Uh,... Can you stop ring like that... I will get a heart attack if you keep staring at me like that..."


    Rio simply shook his head in response to Gulija''s words.


    "Don''t mind me, it''s just a habit of mine to observe everything carefully..."


    Gulija nodded his head and stopped talking.


    At that moment, the group reached a location where a lot of tall horses were standing in wait.


    "Everyone, please take the ride. These horses are professionally trained; you won''t need any horse-riding skills to ride on them; they are intelligent creatures and will take you all to the pce on their own..."


    Link grabbed Riya by her waist, jumped on the horse, and made her sit in front of him like a princess.


    "She''s a bit clumsy, so I will just take her with me... There is no need for another horse.." With that said, Link grabbed the reins, and the horse started to walk on its own.


    Riya didn''t have the time to react before she found herself sitting on the horseback. She felt quite embarrassed sitting so close when everyone was watching.


    Ignoring the two lovebirds, the rest of the group also rode their respective horses, and Gulija opened his wings to fly beside the group.


    "Actually, we only keep these horses for the guests; dragon people can fly, so we don''t have any needs for them... You can assume that it''s a way of showing respect..."


    "After all, making the guests walk on foot will be quite disrespectful..."


    Rio nced at Gulija''s wings and inquired.


    "Exactly how fast can you guys fly?"


    Gulija contemted about that question for a moment and then said,


    "Hmm, I guess two times the speed of an adult wyvern... I don''t know the exact numbers, though..."


    Rio nodded his head at those words and thought to himself.


    ''Two times the speed of a Wyvern-type monster... which means they are Mach 1.5... Well, even a casual swing from my sword is faster than that, so I guess I won''t have difficulties catching


    up with them...''


    Rio, being a battle junkie, was already thinking about how much strength he would need to exert to split a dragon man in two with one move.


    When Rio suddenly stopped talking, Gulija felt a bit threatened for some reason, so he chose to speed up and stay beside Liam''s horse instead, as only Liam seemed like the most reasonable guy out of them all.


    ...


    While passing through the main road that led to the pce gate, a small shop on the side of


    the road came into view.


    An olddy noticed Gulija and said,


    "Ah, Gulija! It''s been a while since Ist saw you... Oh my, are these guests from the outside


    world? Wee to the Dragon Valley, young ones.."


    The group nodded their heads to return the greeting.


    Gulija sighed and said,


    "Olddy, I told you that you should retire now and make your son do the work; why are you


    still hanging around here?"


    The olddy smiled and said,


    "No, no, I need to keep doing the work or these old bones will get rusty... Also, that prodigal son is sozy... Sigh, young people these days are all so unwilling to work..."


    "Ah, look at me. I started to ramble about random things again. Age is catching up to me... Here, take this: it''s a unique specialty of the Dragon Valley... You won''t find these sweets in


    the outside world.."


    The olddy handed a box full of sweets to Link, but Riya immediately snatched them from


    his hand for herself.


    Gulija nced at the olddy and said,


    "I have work to do, so you go back and rest, olddy. I wille backter to help you out..."


    The olddy nodded her head and went back into the shop. The group moved forward, and


    then Gulija said,


    "Actually... the truth is... that olddy has a son or even a family; they all died after they idently encountered the ''Cursed death''..."


    A confused look appeared on Link''s face as he said,


    "Hmm? ''Cursed Death''? What'' that? This is the first time I am hearing about something like


    that..."


    At Link''s question, Liam suddenly said,


    "Dragon''s refers to ''Corruption'' and ''Miasma'' as ''cursed death''; I read about it in ancient


    literature on Dragons..."


    Hearing those words, even Rio was curious; he nced toward Gulija and asked,


    "So, even though your Dragon Valley is a separate space of its own, it''s still getting affected


    by demons and miasma?"


    Gulija sighed at those words and said,


    "Actually, things are quite severe; all the dungeons that open in the Dragon Valley are filled with miasma and corruption for some reason... Demons pour out of them too..." "That olddy''s family members used to work in the dungeon, conquering battalion..."


    "Suddenly an SS-rank dungeon opened when they were retreating home, and a giant fire demon walked out of it, and the whole battalion was ughtered on the spot..."


    Gulija nced towards the Dragon Pce and said,


    "Fortunately, the dragon king himself came forward to close the dungeon that was filled with


    miasma..."


    "But it was toote; tens of thousands had died by that time; it was a disaster of massive scale... That dungeon actually opened in a popted area, and it caused massive damage to


    property..."


    Hearing those words, Link and others''s expressions became solemn.


    Currently, it''s recorded that there are only one or two SS-rank Demons on the Demon


    Continent.


    But if what Gulija said is true, then it means that more dungeons filled with demons might have opened in the Demon Empire, and there might be hidden SS-rank demons there now.


    ''If that is true... then it means that the Demon Race is currently not attacking because they are


    still preparing for something big...''


    The same thought came to their minds at that moment.


    Gulija sighed and said,


    "It didn''t used to be like that before... This strange phenomenon of demon-filled dungeons


    opening has only started seven years ago..."


    "As if something has changed with the world itself..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems things have be even more mysterious all of a sudden.


    Question of the day:


    Do you remember what else happened seven years ago?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 322: The Dragon Valley! Part-3.

    Chapter 322: The Dragon Valley! Part-3.


    ?


    "I heard that quite a few wise dragons were sent to investigate this strange phenomenon, but there''s been no result until now..."


    Liam nodded his head and said,


    "Well, scientists have been trying to figure out the mystery of why dungeons are open for two millennia now, but there''s been only theories and no concrete results... I highly doubt if those dragons can find anything..."


    Gulija was taken aback by Liam''s remarks and responded,


    "Oh, I didn''t expect that humans were also capable of investigating such powerful phenomena..."


    Liam gave a slight smile upon hearing those words,


    "You haven''t been to the outside world, so you don''t know what humans are capable of... We already have spaceships that can be used to go to other sr systems and conquer news..."


    "Of course, if not for the insane number of dungeons and monsters in outer space, we would have already started colonizing others..."


    Gulija was taken aback by those words, and although he doesn''t understand what Liam means by a''spaceship'', he can assume that it must be a powerful transport vehicle.


    "Sigh, I have never had the chance to go out; otherwise, I would have liked to visit the outside world and see all the amazing sights for myself..."


    At that moment, Link asked in confusion.


    "So, why are you guys not allowed to go out?"


    Gulija simply shook his head, saying,


    "I don''t know... There''s no proper method to leave this ce to go outside except if the Dragon King himself opens an exit portal for you..."


    "No, I guess only SS-rankers can travel in and out of this ce at will, as they can open portals..."


    "In other words, if I want to go out, either I would need to ask an SS-rank dragon to open a portal or I would have to be an SS-ranker myself..."


    "Which is basically impossible; I don''t have that much talent..."


    Dragon men are indeed strong, but rarely do any of them ever have the talent to be SS rankers, so they don''t have much say in front of the Dragon King.


    While the group kept talking about various things, they finally reached the pce after about half an hour of riding on the horse.


    They were deliberately going slow; otherwise, they could have reached here faster.


    "Oh, by the way, if you meet the princess, it''s better to just, you know... Stay away from her; retreat from the area as fast as possible..."


    "She has a ''unique'' personality... You know what I mean, right?"


    Rio and others were quite confused by those words, but they nodded their heads and agreed.


    "Okay, here we are; from here, I shall refer to you all as honorable Guests..."


    The outer wall''s gate was opened by two dragon men, and the group got down from the horses.


    And another group of Dragon men took the horses away on their own without saying anything.


    Everything was done in an orderly and perfect manner.


    The group walked through the path from the middle of the garden area. Beautiful fountains were ced on both sides of the path, and the fresh breeze blowing carried the amazing scent of the flowers growing in the vast garden.


    Seeing all this amazing scenery, Rio couldn''t help but say,


    "This ce is quite beautiful indeed..."


    Just when Gulija was about to reply, suddenly a girl wearing a red dress with white designs on it appeared out of nowhere beside him and said,


    "Isn''t it? I am d you like the garden; actually, I nted those white flowers myself..."


    Not only Gulija and others, but even Rio was taken aback for a second when that unknown girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    Even Rio didn''t detect hering close, and even his instincts or danger sense didn''t react either.


    It was as if she had appeared from a portal or something, but the strange thing is, no portals had opened at the moment.


    ''An illusion? No, if it were an illusion, true immunity would have been triggered... interesting...''


    Even Rio was quite surprised by that fancy trick; it was actually quite simr to how he likes to sneak around and appear out of nowhere.


    But unlike Rio, who suppresses his presence to the extreme, this girl was doing something totally different.


    ''It''s likely some inherent talent...''


    While Rio was busy thinking about that ability in his mind, Gulija suddenly started to sweat heavily and said,


    "P-princess, uh... y-you shouldn''t be here... People will be punished for letting you sneak out of the Dragon Temple..."


    The girl smiled and said,


    "No, this time, I actually have my father''s permission; he allowed me toe to the pce and pick up the guests and take them with me to the dragon temple after having lunch, of


    course!"


    Suddenly, the girl remembered something and said,


    "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Sindhux Raos De Draconia... You can just call me Princess Sin, though!"


    Sin crossed her arms, and a smug look appeared on her face. She was proud of her lineage and happy to meet new people.


    Sin nced towards Gulija and said,


    "I will take the guests with me; you go and y with the other knights on your own.."


    Gulija nodded his head awkwardly. He still wasn''t sure if the princess was telling the truth


    that the king sent her, but he had no choice but to agree.


    So, he nodded at Link and the others to say farewell and then left on his own.


    Once Gulija was gone, Sin led the way forward.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you atst; I actually watched all of your matches on that device you guys call ''Smartphone''; you really are quite impressive..."


    Link and others thought that Sin was praising them, and they were about to say thanks in return, but she suddenly nced at Rio and said,


    "I am delighted to meet you, ''Champion''..."


    Rio was taken aback for a second when Sin suddenly started talking to him while straight-


    up ignoring the others.


    Usually, whenever their group is out on a mission or anything, Link is the first person everyone unconsciously talks to, and then Liam does all the talking and negotiations.


    Rio''s has such little presence in the group that rarely anyone notices him, and they don''t talk to him unless he himself asks a question.


    But for some reason, Sin ignored all these steps; she didn''t bother talking to the others and directly started a conversation with Rio, who is the most difficult person to talk to.


    "I am honored... So, you watched all of my matches?"


    At Rio''s question, Sin nodded her head and said,


    "Of course! It''s extremely rare to see a swordsman as talented as you; I rarely find anyone who''s as interested as me in sword arts..."


    "Actually, I have been trying to learn ''sword intent'' too, but I have yet to figure it out... But you, on the other hand, already have insane mastery over ''sword intent'', which is an awesome


    feat..."


    Sin couldn''t help but nod her head again and again when talking about Rio.


    "You know, Father originally only wanted to invite ''Link Rex'' for some reason that I don''t know, but I asked him to invite the whole team Astra so that I can meet you!"


    The whole group was shocked by this scene; they never expected that a person would be so interested in Rio, who''s always out of the spotlight most of the time.


    Aside from winning the title of champion, Rio has always avoided the spotlight.


    On the other hand, Lia was already pouting her cheeks after seeing Sin talking to Rio so enthusiastically. From Lia''s perspective, a new rival has been born all of a sudden. "Unlike the brutish way that others fight, I much prefer the elegance of swordsmanship. I have devoted a lot of my time to it, and seeing a fellow swordsman who has better mastery


    over the sword than me is really refreshing..."


    Rio simply shook his head in response to Sin''s words.


    "You are praising me too much, princess; certainly you aren''t that bad yourself, and even I


    couldn''t detect you when you suddenly appeared..."


    Sin simply shook her head, saying,


    "That''s just a simple trick, actually. I think you might figure out the ins and outs of it if you


    see it a few more times... No, I think you have already started to figure it out, right?"


    "The videos don''t do you justice; you are more impressive in person, Rio sh..."


    Sin stretched out her hand and said,


    "How about having a friendly sparter? I am very interested in seeing the ''Sword Intent'' with my own eyes; just by looking at the videos, I can''t grasp its true nature..."


    "I used to feel that I was the strongest when it came to swordsmanship, but after seeing the


    amazingly breathtaking ''Sword Intent'' that you use, I can''t consider myself the strongest sword user anymore..."


    "Your ''Sword Intent'' is just as charming as it is lethal...


    Rio was genuinely surprised by Sin''s word; this is the first time he has seen anyoneprehend his sword intent this much, except for QI Ming.


    ''This girl... She might have the talent to awaken sword intent in the future... But why was such


    a talented character not mentioned in the original novel even once?''


    Rio was very confused at why Sin''s name was never mentioned in the novel when she''s


    clearly one of the most talented sword users in this world.


    In the original novel, Rio would have never be as strong as now, and Qi Meng would have


    died too.


    In other words, Sin should have been the only person with the talent to awaken ''Sword


    Intent'' and yet she never appeared in the novel.


    Which is very strange.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Hoh, it seems even Rio has some charm after all; like-minded people who are obsessed with


    swordsmanship just like him can get interested in him, it seems.


    Question of the day:


    Who seems the most charming, in your opinion?


    1. Link (Handsome, good at housework, strong and perfect husbando material)


    2. Liam (Good at cooking and can do all the housework, it will seem like you getting pampered


    like a kid.)


    3. Rio (Ordinary, No emotions, no emotional support for you, but he can make the best tea in


    the world...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 323: Selain, The princess of Cosmos... Part-1.

    Chapter 323: Sin, The princess of Cosmos... Part-1.


    ?


    "Well, if you are that interested in swordsmanship, maybe you should go to the outside world to hone your skill bypeting with many talented people..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Sin also nodded her head.


    "Yeah, I would like to go and see the outside world too, but only adult dragons are allowed to go out; that''s the rule... Unless I reach rank S, I won''t be allowed to go out..."


    "I still have at least twenty years before I be an adult..."


    Hearing those words, Liam said,


    "Dragons usually be adults at the age of 120 years, which means you are already a hundred years old?"


    Sin immediately red at Liam after hearing him say that,


    "Dragons have different perceptions of time; I am young!! Don''t say it like I am as old as a grandma..."


    Liam shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking about that matter; he didn''t want to offend the princess of a nation for no reason.


    The group walked through therge corridors of the pce and reached the massive dining hall.


    They all sat down on their seats; Lia sat on Rio''s right side, and Sin sat on his left on purpose, which caused Lia to feel even more annoyed at her.


    Ignorant of Lia''s annoyed emotions, Sin nced at everyone and said,


    "I personally don''t know why Father invited you, guys... No, he only invited ''Link Rex''; I was the one who invited the rest..."


    When Liam heard those words, he nced at Link and said,


    "You sure are popr..."


    At those words, Link could only shake his head.


    "I don''t know what he wants from me..."


    Sin nced at the group and said,


    "Well, as you guys don''t have any other ns..."


    "We can enjoy the ''Festival'' together. Also, do tell me more about the outside world; I am more than willing to know more about it..."


    A confused look appeared on Liam''s face as he asked,


    "What exactly do you guys do at this festival actually?"


    At Liam''s question, Sin shook her head and said,


    "Even I don''t know much, this is the first time I will witness it myself. I haven''t seen it before either;st time it was held, I wasn''t even born yet..."


    "But Father did say that all the citizens of the Dragon Valley wille back home from wherever they are on this day, and they will spend time with family together..."


    "Also, all types of dragons will choose a representative who wille to the ancient dragon temple, and they will have a big banquet where all types of dragons wille..."


    Hearing those words, Link immediately said,


    "Oh, so it''s like a New Year celebration or something like that... By the way, do you guys celebrate New Year''s?"


    A confused look appeared on Sin''s face after hearing those words.


    "New Year Celebration? What''s there to celebrate about a new year?"


    "For us dragons, a year or a decade is not much; we can just take a nap, and a decade will pass,


    so I don''t think we will bother celebrating every time we wake from a nap..."


    "That would be so weird..."


    Liam nodded his head and said,


    "Ah, yes... Dragons really do have a very long life span after all; the thinking process of dragons is different than that of humans..."


    Link also nodded his head and said,


    "For dragons, a decade is worth only a simple nap, but in ten years, a human can go on to be an SS-ranker from an ordinary person if they have talent..."


    If humans are like a torch that burns extremely brightly but for a short time, then dragons can


    be considered a torch that burns dimly but for a very long time.


    Usually dragons don''t really practice much; they just be strong by sleeping, but that takes time after all.


    You need to sleep for more than a hundred years to reach rank S; that''s quite a long time if you look at it from a human perspective.


    While the group was talking, food was served on the table, and everyone started to taste the delicacies of the Dragon Valley that you can''t encounter in the outside world.


    "Mmm, tastes good!!"


    Riya put her hand on her cheek and smiled happily, as if she were in bliss after eating such amazing food.


    Sin smiled happily and said,


    "Of course! The mana density in the dragon valley is much higher than in the outside world, which means all the nts and creatures here are rich in mana and quality..."


    "Even the most ordinary grain will taste five times better here whenpared to the outside world..."


    Sin couldn''t help but feel proud when talking about her homnd. Everyone loves their homnd, and it''s obvious that she wants others to appreciate her homnd too.


    Link and the others had no choice but to acknowledge this fact too; the ingredients put in the food here are indeed much better.


    ''Lia''s cooking is a hundred times better, in my opinion...''


    Although Rio thought of that, he didn''t say it out loud. It''s not a good idea to offend the person who''s treating you to food by insulting their efforts.


    Furthermore, since they are here as "guests," it''s best to keep their mouths shut and avoid talking too much to avoid offending the other party and having them kicked out.


    Seeing that the food seemed quite delicious, Link put more on Riya''s te, which made her even more excited. It was as if he was purposely trying to make her eat more.


    Sin also noticed those subtle moves and asked curiously,


    "You two seem quite close..."


    Link nodded his head and said,


    "We are engaged, actually..."


    Hearing those words, Sin was even more confused,


    "Engaged? What does that mean?"


    Liam nced at Link and said,


    "Dragons don''t have the concept of a proper marriage or such; they just verbally promise each


    other and then use a power magic spell to bind themselves together..."


    "It''s called Dragon Rapport... The spell helps them sense each other''s health and general


    well-being..."


    Sin looked at Liam with a surprised expression and said,


    "You really know a lot about the dragon race despite being a human yourself... as if you have


    been living with a dragon yourself and learning from it..."


    Liam never brought out Ellie in the supreme tournament, so Sin doesn''t know about her, so she''s surprised that Liam knows so much about the Dragon Race.


    Liam just shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "I just read a lot of books, that''s all; nothing suspicious about it... By the way, ''Engagement'' means that the two people have promised to marry but haven''t married yet..."


    "That''s basically the summary in short..."


    Hearing that answer, Sin nodded her head and understood what Link had said earlier.


    "Also, there is the rtionship between boyfriend and girlfriend, where you aren''t yet to the stage where you have promised anything but you are in love with each other..."


    After hearing Liam''s statement, Sin wore a peculiar expression and said, "Humans really have it plicated''... In our case, we just straightforwardly confess it if we like someone, and we just get married directly... have children, and then the two stay together for thousands of years..."


    "The bond once promised with the spell of marriage never breaks; a promise is a promise for life... Only death can break such a strong bond; nothing else..."


    Liam asked curiously after hearing those words,


    "Well, what if the other party became a bad personter on... Don''t you guys have a divorce or


    something?"


    Sin shook her head and said,


    "No, we don''t... We just kill the other party if they cheat on you... It''s simple and the most


    effective method..."


    Even Link couldn''t help but say,


    "Dragons really do have a very straightforward mentality... Just kill the other party if they don''t seem pleasing to the eye? That''s so ridiculous... ahem! I mean weird..."


    Sin shrugged her shoulders at those words and said,


    "Well, this exactly is one of the biggest causes of deaths in the dragon race; you end up


    fighting with your partner to death. It''s quite a miserable fate, I would say..."


    "After living together for thousands of years, even the strongest bond of love can slowly fade


    away, so dissatisfaction happens and they end up fighting..."


    "Maybe they really should make ''Divorce'' a thing in Dragon Valley... It can at least prevent


    unnecessary deaths, I guess..."


    At that moment, Lia smirked a bit and said, while looking into Sin''s eyes,


    "By the way, I and Rio are a couple; he''s my boyfriend..."


    Sin was taken aback for a moment, but then she also smiled as if she wasn''t going to back


    off from just that.


    "Just a couple in name, right? You aren''t married yet, which means it isn''t set in stone..."


    Sparks of electricity seem to be flying between Sin and Lia as they both re at each other.


    Rio just found this amusing; this is the first time he is meeting Sin, and she''s already impressed by him.


    ''I never realized it... But do I also have some charm after all? Forget it; Lia is the only one for me; I don''t need any charm...''


    On the other hand, Link and Liam were both quite amused by this scene; this is the first time


    they have seen someone trying to pursue Rio, who is always so distant and expressionless in


    front of everyone except Lia.


    Liam couldn''t help but smile and think.


    ''D*mn! I can smell a great rivalrying...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:. Don''t you also think that Sin is aiming for a target that''s already taken?


    1. Yes (She''s bound to fail...)


    2. Yeah (I am more surprised that some other girl actually showed interest in Rio aside from


    Lia...) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 324: Selain, The Princess of Cosmos... Part-2.

    Chapter 324: Sin, The Princess of Cosmos... Part-2.


    ?


    After the group finished eating, they got up and left the dining hall.


    Sin asked the maids to show them all their respective rooms where they would be staying for the time being.


    Looking at his room, Rio nodded his head in satisfaction.


    ''This ce is indeed quite good... In the Elven Empire, the elves had modernized their houses, but here in the Dragon Valley, things are still more traditional. I can see the more traditional architecture...''


    ''This ce is indeed worthy of being called a pce...''


    Dragons themselves don''t make anything; in fact, the dragon men are responsible for making everything in the dragon valley.


    The dragon men''s technology is far behind that of humans and the elven race.


    ''But at least they have all the necessary things like the inte, smartphones, etc... but they don''t have mana powered cars or any highly advanced technology, I guess...''


    Dragon men have wings that are fast enough to put an airne to shame, so they don''t really have any need for traveling vehicles.


    Unlike the human race, where the vast majority of people are ordinary folk who aren''t even awakeners, dragon men are all people who can use mana inherently, and they are quite good at it.


    Dragon men might be much lower in numbers whenpared to the human race, but they are all strong people with strong physiques.


    ''I am more curious about how they made this separate ''space'' for themselves... I don''t think they have the technology to do it with machines... They likely did it with some magical construct or a powerful spell...''


    Rio walked over to the window, nced at the blue sky, and thought,


    ''To be able to replicate the main world and make this separate space seem so real, they really must have put in a lot of efforts...''


    The Dragon Valley was not really mentioned much in the original novel.


    Fade only met a few dragons in his journey to the peak of the world, and those dragons barely gave any useful information on the dragon valley.


    Fade himself never went to the Dragon Valley person, which is a good thing for the people of the Dragon race as a visit from a guy like him only brings massive bad luck and disasters of unimaginable scale.


    ''But he was invited toe here... So why didn''t hee here with us now? This is strange...''


    Rio and the others don''t know yet that Fade and Kira have gone missing; they only know that the two of them have gone somewhere, and as Fade has missed this event, it means that this Dragon Valley doesn''t hold much importance to the plot.


    ''Even in the novel, the Dragon Valley didn''t seem to have been mentioned much... I guess this ce really doesn''t hold much importance to the main plot of the novel...''


    ''In other words, there are likely no ''chances'' here for me to steal, which is quite an unfortunate thing...''


    Although Rio was a bit disappointed, his expressions didn''t change much, and his face still remained as expressionless as ever.


    "Hoh, so even the ''champion'' gets bothered sometimes?"


    Just when Rio was looking at the setting sun on the horizon while thinking about his next ns, a familiar voice appeared in his ears.


    He tilted his head and found that Sin was sitting on the branch of a giant tree that was growing right beside his room''s window.


    "Well, if suddenly a princess climbs a tree to peek at your room''s window, then anyone will feel concerned..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Sin smirked and said,


    "Hehe, I just wanted to have some talk with you in secret... The back garden is usually empty around this time, so I am sure no one will see me sitting here..."


    Rio shook his head and said,


    "If someone sees you, then they will execute me for messing around with the princess of their nation... That would be such an unfortunate thing. I advise you shall retreat..."


    Sin shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "Heh, I don''t think anyone has the ability to actually execute the ''champion''; I highly doubt even S-rankers will be able to keep up with you anymore..."


    "I have a feeling that you have already walked one step further on the path of ''Perfect Sword Intent''.... As much as I know, none has ever reached ''perfection'' in ''Sword Intent'' ever before..."


    "You may be the first to do it..."


    Rio sighed at those words and said,


    "Praising me won''t earn you any favorability points, princess... You are wasting your efforts trying to impress me..."


    "I don''t have a heart anymore; I already gave it to Lia... and I only had one of it, not two..."


    Sin shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "Well, like I said earlier, nothing is eternal... not even love; when you lose it, maybe that will be my chance... An SS-rank dragon can live for five thousand years..."


    "Don''t underestimate my determination; I may seize your heart after a thousand or maybe two thousand years..."


    Not a single SS-rank dragon has died due to age; either they die in battle or they die when trying to ascend to a higher realm.


    Rio smiled a bit and said,


    "You are more persistent than I expected, princess... But trust me, you can find a much better person than me for you... Don''t waste a thousand years just waiting for a guy who will never


    love anyone else..."


    Sin sighed and said,


    "I am getting more and more curious about what''s so special about that woman, Lia... How did she win the heart of a man who''s as stubborn as you?"


    Hearing those words, Rio just smiled a bit and said,


    "Well, things happened, I guess.... You could say, she saved me...."


    Rio knows by instinct that if he hadn''t met Lia, he would have already be an emotionless personpletely detached from the world; he would have no motivation or reason to live. The only reason Rio is still holding onto hisst bits of emotions is because he doesn''t want to lose the love for Lia, and that is the main reason why he can still ''feel'' the reason to ''live''. Without emotions, a person has no reason to live, no motivation to survive, and no goals to achieve.


    A person who has achieved emotional detachment has achieved total ''calm'' and they won''t need anything from the world anymore.


    That state may be beneficial forbat and other activities, but for individuals seeking a normal life, it can be a hindrance.


    All Rio ever wanted was to live a joyful and ordinary life, but even he isn''t sure if he can achieve that goal if he loses his emotions for Lia.


    In other words, Lia saved him from going into that ''state'' of total detachment; he can''t thank


    her enough for that.


    "Sigh, that''s such a vague answer... I guess I will have to ask her myself then..."


    Sin contemted for a moment and then said,


    "By the way... how about having a duel? If I win, you be mine, and if you win, I won''t


    bother you anymore..."


    "We dragons admire ''strength'' more than anything; this is the best method I can think of to


    solve this trouble..."


    Rio rolled his eyes at Sin''s words and said,


    "You know you will lose, right? I will be more surprised if you can withstand a single full-


    powered blow of my ''Sword Intent''..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Sin wasn''t intimidated in the slightest,


    "Then it''s settled! If you beat me in one attack, I will acknowledge my defeat and won''t


    bother you anymore..."


    At that moment, Rio nced towards the door of his room and said,


    "You should leave now, princess; you will cause misunderstandings for me if you stay here


    any longer... I might have to personally kick you away..."


    Sin smiled slightly upon hearing those words,


    "I know, I know, she''s about toe to your room, right? I guess even the ''Champion'' is


    afraid of being misunderstood by his loved ones..."


    "What a rare sight-, but don''t worry, I will keep this a secret, ''Champion''..."


    With that said, Sin disappeared just as fast as she had appeared out of nowhere.


    ''It''s not a movement technique or even a skill... It''s an inherent talent... such amazing control


    over a tricky talent like that... interesting...''


    It''s rare for Rio to get impressed by someone''s abilities; aside from Link, today is the first time he has seen someone whose abilities can pique his interest this much.


    ''I am certain now... This world is filled with talented ''extra'' characters that never appeared in


    the novel...''


    Sin is basically an ''Extra'' type character, just like him, who never appeared in the novel, but


    she has the talent to awaken ''Sword Intent'' one day.


    ''I guess a few more decades should be enough...''


    Unlike humans, dragons age slower and have a lot of time, so Sin can most certainly


    awaken her ''Sword Intent'' on her own in a decade or two.


    By that time, she can barely be considered an adult ifpared to human age standards.


    ''An interesting person indeed...''


    Rio walked over to the door of his room and opened it before Lia could get the chance to knock


    on it.


    He smiled a bit and said,


    "hoho, were you feeling lonely without me?"


    Lia blushed slightly at those words,


    "T-that''s not it... I just came by randomly..."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well, you are wee to my humble abode then..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    Don''t you think that Sin as a character is quite interesting?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 325: Malfunction?

    Chapter 325: Malfunction?


    ?


    "Good Morning everyone. I am d that you are all on time..."


    "This teleportation altar will take us directly to the ancient dragon temple, and the great dragon festival is also going to start today, so let''s hurry and be done with the meeting!"


    "Once we are back, we can all go and tour the city; it will be so well decorated, and there will be so many amazing stalls and other things to do!!"


    "It''s a festival; we can''t miss this chance!!"


    Sin herself seemed more excited about enjoying the festival than Rio and others who came here exactly for the festival.


    This is the first time she''s going to it too, so she''s also very excited.


    Everyone nodded their heads and stood on the teleportation altar as they headed towards the Ancient Dragon Temple.


    The management staff made some adjustments, and the magic circle on the altar lit up brightly in an instant, teleporting the whole group, including Sin, to their destination.


    ...


    When Lia opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a forest, and gigantic trees that are ten times bigger than normal trees were everywhere in her sight.


    Lia nced around her and found that Sin, who was standing right beside her, was also just as shocked as her.


    "Uh... is this really the Dragon Temple you were talking about?"


    Hearing Lia''s question, Sin couldn''t answer for a few seconds. After much hesitation, she said,


    "Er... I think... There was some error in the teleportation... This isn''t the Dragon Temple... This ce seems more like..."


    Lia nced at Sin''s face and asked in a curious tone,


    "Like?"


    Sin, on the other hand, gulped her saliva in nervousness and said,


    "Like... the forest of chaotic illusions..."


    After saying these words, Sin panicked a bit and said,


    "No, this ce is very dangerous; we should leave this ce as early as possible! I have read about it in books; once you are lost here, you are done for!"


    At that moment, two golden dragon-like wings appeared from Sin''s back, and she flew in the air in an instant. She stretched out her hand and said,


    "Grab onto my hand; let''s leave this ce-"


    But before she couldplete her sentence, two silver wings appeared on Lia''s back, and she also flew in the air.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of Light!]


    "Whoa~ You have such pretty wings... I have never seen such beautiful wings before! How did you do that?"


    Lia shook her head in response to Sin''s words.


    "Those are not real wings; that''s just a skill of mine. Forget about that; I can sense something rushing towards us; let''s leave this area first...''"


    Sin stopped staring at Lia''s wings and nodded her head. The two of them immediately flew away and left the ce together.


    If someone saw them flying like that together, they would have mistaken them for two fairies flying in the sky, one with golden wings and the other with silver wings.


    Indeed, it is a sight to behold.


    ...


    When the bright light disappeared, Riya opened her eyes and found herself standing on a vast in.


    No matter where you look, the knee-high grass stretches to the horizon on this massive grasnd.


    Riya can also see a small river in the distance, and the fresh andfortable breeze made her feel refreshed.


    But a look of confusion appeared in her face after seeing this scene.


    "Eh? Where am I? This ce doesn''t look like a temple... Wait... is it simr to that time when we go teleported to the wrong ce when going to Oaklum?"


    Although Riya doesn''t usually pay much attention to things around her, as Link is always there to do that for her, even she can understand that something is wrong right now.


    She nced around, and the other members of the group were nowhere to be seen.


    "Er... Did I alone get lost? This is so unfair... sigh~"


    Riya brought out a packet full of candies from her space ring, tossed some of them in her mouth, and picked a random direction to walk in.


    ''I guess I will find something if I just keep walking, right? Oh, yeah! I can go towards that river first!''


    With that thought in her mind, Riya immediately headed towards the river to see if there was something that could help her figure out the situation.


    ...


    "This is?"


    A gigantic mountain, which was so tall that its upper area was covered in snow and the peak of


    the mountain was shrouded in clouds, suddenly appeared in front of Liam.


    "Where the f*ck am I!? Don''t tell me I have to climb this mountain if I want to go to the


    Dragon Temple!?"


    Liam nced around and even used his mana detection, but he found not a single member of the team nearby.


    "Ugh, the teleportation circle malfunctioned? No, this seems like someone''s deliberate


    scheme..."


    Liam tried to go in the opposite direction of the giant mountain, but after a few seconds of walking, he found that he was standing on the same spot as he had started.


    "Sure enough, I can''t leave this ce... I need to climb this mountain; this is definitely someone''s ploy... I wonder where Link and others are..."


    "Don''t tell me, only I encountered this teleportation malfunctioning...."


    Liam couldn''t think of any other way out, so he had no choice but to go and try to climb the


    mountain.


    ''Tch, what a pain...''


    ...


    "A teleportation malfunction?"


    Rio was also quite surprised at the moment when he saw that he suddenly appeared in a


    massive desert-like ce.


    Dark clouds obscure the sky here, asionally revealing bluish bolts of thunder.


    Moreover, the whole desert area is filled with gigantic bones.


    No matter in which direction you look, all you can see are gigantic bones that are so huge in


    size that even the eye socket in the skull of these skeletons seems bigger in size than Rio''s


    whole body.


    "These are... dragon''s skeletons? And so many of them?"


    Just by looking at the size and shape of the skulls, you can see that these are the bones of dead


    dragons.


    The most surprising thing is that there are so many here, which means thousands of dragon bodies must have been disposed of in this ce.


    Just when Rio was confused, a hoarse yet majestic voice came into his ears.


    "Well, this is the Ancient Dragon Graveyard; most of the dead bodies of the dragons get sent here to rot... That''s why there are so many skeletons here..."


    Rio looked to his right and saw a man sitting on the skull of a dragon.


    His silver hair waved in the air, and the haggard and torn-up cloak on his body seemed to tell


    that this man had been here for a long time.


    ''I didn''t sense his presence.. An S ranker?... no... This is a genuine SS ranker...''


    Rio tilted his head in confusion and inquired.


    "I am headed towards the Ancient Dragon Temple... Can you tell me the way, old man? I kind


    of lost my way... surely, an SS-ranker like you know the path, right?"


    The silver-haired man smiled a bit and said,


    "Hoh? So you figured out that I am an SS-ranker? An interesting kid..."


    The man''s silver, serpentine-like pupils shone brightly as he nced at Rio with satisfaction.


    "A rare kid you are, I would say..."


    Rio also nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Thanks for thepliment..."


    ...


    "You are finally here... It''s been a while since Ist saw you, Link Rex..."


    Link raised his head and found himself standing in front of a majestic throne.


    A man with dark golden pupils and hair was sitting on the throne with a stern look on his face.


    A silver crown rested atop his head, and his aura alone was enough to tell who this man was.


    Link ignored the fact that he couldn''t sense the presence of his teammates and gave the man a


    respectful salute before saying.


    "Nice to meet you, Dragon King. I appreciate the invitation you sent for me..."


    The Dragon King nodded his head and said,


    "There is no need to be so formal, not like this is the first time we are meeting... You can be at


    ease..."


    A look of confusion appeared on Link''s face as he heard those words.


    "I am afraid I don''t know precisely what your majesty is talking about."


    The Dragon King thought for a moment before speaking.


    "I see, I remember you were still too young... Humans are not like dragons; they haven''t had intelligence or a sense of self since birth... I seemed to have overlooked that fact..."


    "Forget it; just consider this the first meeting if you don''t remember..."


    "I am Idriud Izirzru Raos De Draconia, and I formally wee you to the Dragon Valley as the


    Dragon King myself...."


    The Dragon King unleashed a bit of his aura; the whole throne room seemed to have been brightened up by his majestic presence.


    Link couldn''t help but feel a certain sense of awe towards him after seeing this scene.


    ''So, this is the supreme dragon that the whole dragon race worships as their ''King'', the dragon whose mere existence makes the whole world tremble...''


    People don''t even dare take his true name for fear that they will attract his attention.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems we finally get to see the dragon king in person, and the shocking thing is that he


    seems to already know about Link for some reason.


    Question of the day:


    Why do you think only Link was able to go to the Dragon Temple and the others got teleported


    to random location?


    1. Favoritism (Author is doing tant favoritism again!!)


    2. Plot twist (The dragon king already knows Link for some reason!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 326: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-1.

    Chapter 326: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-1.


    ?


    "Are you sure this is the way out? I am quite certain that I have seen this ce quite a few times now... It''s as if we are circling around the same ce over and over..."


    Hearing Lia''s words of concern, Sin sighed and said,


    "Okay, I wille clean then... We are lost; we are stuck in this ''Forest of Illusions'' and it seems that if we try to go out, we somehow end up where we started..."


    Sin nced at thepass in her hand and sighed.


    Thepass was clearly working just fine, but the problem is that when she tries to go in the direction where the nearest city should be located, they both end up reaching the same ce they started at.


    "The odd thing is that if you try to leave, then the illusion activates, but if you try to go deeper in the forest, then it''s normal as if the illusion doesn''t even exist..."


    "No matter how you look at it, this ce is quite bizzare..."


    Sin and Lia had seen quite a few animals that were walking on two feet when that shouldn''t have been possible for them.


    Then there was a flock of birds that were using their wings to swim in theke instead of flying, and they also saw a crocodile that was somehow flying in the air when it didn''t even have wings or anything.


    It was literally floating in the air.


    They saw carnivorous animals eating grass and herbivorous animals trying to kill each other. Everything in this ce is so bizarre and weird that the whole forest gives off ominous vibes. The two of them dare notnd on the ground, as the moment they try to go down, the trees start attacking them wildly by swinging their branches.


    Lia nced down and saw a tree strangle a group of chimpanzees to death, and then a massive mouth opened on the tree trunk and swallowed the group of chimpanzees.


    "These things aren''t trees... They are sentient creatures..."


    Sin also nodded her head in response to those words.


    "I can sense a strange mana fluctuation from them... It''s likely that the illusion in this forest is because of the existence of these trees..."


    "But I think even if we destroy the whole forest, this illusion will not break, as it''s already quite solid in this whole area itself..."


    Just when Lia was confused about what to do next, Kai appeared on her shoulder and said,


    "Find the core of this illusion; it''s likely that this ce is more of a ''testing ground'' or something like that..."


    "If you can find the core, I think it would be possible to leave this ce..."


    Sin was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a cat on Lia''s shoulder, and her eyes shone with excitement.


    "Whoa- such a cute cat! You have a very adorable, familiar Lia!"


    Sin, being a young dragon, doesn''t know about Kai''s real identity; she has no idea that this small cat has killed dozens of dragons in its time.


    If it were any other older dragon who was knowledgeable enough, they would have been terrified by Kai''s mere appearance.


    Lia, who knew about it all, scratched the back of her neck with an awkward smile on her face and said,


    "Well, let''s try out the solution he told us first... We should look for the core of this illusion... Although I don''t know its authenticity, it''s worth trying..."


    Sin stopped staring at Kai''s fluffy and soft body and became serious again.


    Kai, on the other hand, used Lia''s mana to spread out his mana detection''s range and then tried to figure out the general direction of the so-called ''Core''.


    After a few seconds, Kai shook his head and said,


    "Okay, I have good news, bad news, and very horrible news... Which one do you want to hear first?"


    Hearing Kai''s words, Lia was surprised.


    Kai is a very powerful being; for him to say that he has ''horrible'' news means that something really bad is going on.


    It is quite rare for Kai to be so distressed.


    "Er... l-let''s start with the good news and then go to the others..."


    Hearing Lia''s words, Kai nodded his head, and his cat eyes turned serious as he said,


    "The good news is that I can sense the general direction of the core... It also proves that there indeed is a core here, and we can use it to leave..."


    "The bad news is that the core is located in the deepest area of this forest... which means you would need to fight hordes of monsters to reach that ce... There are even flying monsters in the way..."


    "The distance alone will take at least a week to travel at normal speed... It''s quite a bad news, as the whole forest is filled with weird but strong monsters..."


    At Kai''s words, the expression on both Sin''s and Lia''s faces turned solemn.


    Lia sighed and asked,


    "And what is the ''horrible'' news then?"


    Kai sighed and said,


    "The horrible news is... that the so-called ''Core'' is likely a genuine ''Demi-god''... As a literal


    SS ranker, it''s impossible for the likes of us to use or destroy that ''Core'' as we are too weak for


    that..."


    Aplicated look appeared on Lia''s face as she said,


    "So, what you are saying is that a literal SS-ranker has the free time to be sitting inside a forest for no apparent reason? Why are they even in this ce, in the middle of nowhere?"


    "That''s so weird..."


    Even Sin shook her head and said,


    "Er, I have never heard about an SS-rank dragon that is living in the forest of chaotic


    illusions..."


    Lia suddenly nced at Sin and asked in curiosity,


    "Could it be that it''s a wood type dragon... You know, a ''Green Dragon'' or something like


    that?"


    Sin immediately shook her head at those words and said,


    "It''s impossible; the so-called ''Green Dragons'' don''t exist... There are no dragons who can control ''wood'' or ''nts'' like the Elf''s..."


    "They used to exist, but they went extinct long ago in the first few years of the thousand year demon extinction war... I have read about it in history books... but the reason for their extinction isn''t mentioned..."


    "I specte it was likely rted to demons..."


    Just when Lia and Sin were talking about random things, Kai suddenly interjected and said,


    "Well, if it''s not a dragon, I think I know what it might be... Okay then! Let''s go to the deeper area of the forest then!"


    With that said, Kai disappeared once again, showing that he wasn''t going to help Lia in person to get through this massive forest.


    [Consider this training; maybe you can learn something new after fighting for a whole week


    straight...]


    Lia couldn''t help but sigh at those words.


    ''Ugh, my familiar is so useless... I wish I had summoned a beast like Liam; his summoned


    beasts are so obedient and good to him...''


    ''Forget it; standing here won''t bring any results anyway...''


    Lia nced at Sin and said,


    "Although I don''t want to, let''s cooperate for the time being..."


    Sin also nodded her head and said,


    "Hehe, well, I don''t mind helping you out; just keep in mind that I won''t back off so easily just


    because you consider yourself Rio''s girlfriend..."


    The two of them flew straight towards the deeper area of the forest and brought out their


    respective swords from their sheaths.


    Lia smirked and said,


    "No matter how hard you try, I won''t admit defeat in this matter. Rio saved my life more than


    a dozen times, and I can''t give him up to others... I would rather die than retreat in this


    matter..."


    Sin smiled yfully at those words and said,


    "Oh, you are more determined than I thought... Forget it; I am more curious about the method


    you used to actually charm a guy like him?"


    "Unlike others, he seems so immune to charm and everything; how did you make him fall for


    you, Lia Silver?"


    Lia sighed at those words and replied in an uncertain voice,


    "Actually... I don''t know myself; it just kind of happened, I guess... Although I can read his expressions a bit, even I don''t know what goes in his head most of the time..."


    Lia remembered the time when she used to not like socializing; it was just two years ago, but now it feels like such a distant memory.


    "I used to be such a rude and anti-social person... I wonder why Rio fell in love with someone like me... I guess I was just too lucky at the time..."


    "I must have done many great deeds in my past life that I got to meet someone like him... He seems emotionless but is caring and protective, which kind of makes me think I don''t deserve


    so much love..."


    "A guy with a warm heart indeed..."


    Sin didn''t interrupt Lia''s continuous praises for Rio; she wanted to know more, so she kept


    listening silently.


    ''Sigh... These two are so in sync with each other... I seriously feel like a third-wheel now. I am


    starting to think I have no chance now... It makes me kind of jealous just how much they praise


    each other...''


    Just yesterday, Rio was praising Lia for saving him, and now Lia is praising Rio too. It''s as if both of them are just the perfect match for each other.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    Why do you think Rio fell for Lia?


    (Tell me your opinion in thements...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 327: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-2.

    Chapter 327: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-2.


    ?


    "These things look so strange... How about I just st them all off with a breath attack by turning back into my dragon form..."


    Sin nced at the massive pack of giant flying eagles with a look of caution.


    The eagles looked more like they were some kind of mutated beast or some kind of chimera.


    Snake heads were protruding out of their bodies, which made the mutated eagles look so weird and strange.


    "They are spread over several kilometers; if we take a detour, it will take us a lot of time, and if you use such a massive attack, it will attract the attention of more of them..."


    "It''s better to just power through them in one go..."


    Hearing Lia''s words, Sin nodded her head and said,


    "Well, let''s see who can make it through the siege first... I am sure of my sword skills; don''t underestimate me, okay?"


    Lia also smiled a bit and said,


    "Well, of course! That goes without saying... let''s go!"


    The silver wings behind her back pped, and Liaunched at the pack of mutated eagles like


    an arrow.


    The p of her wings alone created a massive sonic boom in the air, and her flying speed was insanely fast.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration Type: Spiral Rush!]


    Lia raised her sword in front of her and started to spin like a drill machine. She directly pierced through whatever came in her way.


    Her pierce attack was so powerful that she directly sted holes, passed right through the bodies of the giant mutated eagles, and didn''t even sustain a single injury.


    The giant eagles fell to the ground as their internal organs started to spurt out from such a massive hole in their bodies.


    Some died on the spot after being pierced, and the others fell to death.


    Lia had covered herself in the spirit aura, and thus her clothes didn''t even get dirty from the blood as the aura worked like a barrier for her.


    ''This technique seems more optimal for short-range rush... sigh, but I stillck speed whenpared to Rio...''


    While Lia was contemting her technique, Sin raised her sword above her shoulder and swung it downward.


    [Golden petal sword art: Descending Golden Sea!]


    Sin''s mana condensed on the sword and turned into the shape of petals that were golden in color, and thousands of petalsunched at the massive flock of mutated eagles in the form of a sword arc.


    Each of those petals represented a separate strike from the sword.


    When the eagles got hit by it, they split apart into hundreds of pieces and fell down instantly. The other eagles were so frightened that they ran off on their own.


    Seeing that the path was clear, Sin flew over to Lia''s side slowly and said with a smile,


    "It seems I was too slow; you win..."


    Lia shook her head and said,


    "That matter aside, your sword art is quite unique... It''s just as beautiful as it is deadly..." Sin nodded her head and said,


    "Well, it''s a sword art created by the first Dragon King himself and then perfected by several generations of SS-rank Dragons of the Golden Dragon lineage..."


    "This sword art took me a decade to learn... It''splicated and very difficult; I doubt that it''s even suitable for anyone but the golden Dragons..."


    Only Golden Dragons have the right to be the next ''Dragon King'', and in the current century, Sin is the only young Golden Dragon.


    Which means that she is the heir to the whole dragon valley and will likely be the next dragon king; thus, it''s not strange that she''s quite talented and strong.


    Lia and Sin started to fly towards the ''Core'' as they continued to talk.


    "Just from the looks of it, it looks unpredictable and difficult to dodge; it''s like hundreds of attacksbined in one..."


    ''I am sure Rio will be interested in such unique sword art, but still, I doubt she cannd a hit on him with just this...''


    Sin nodded her head at Lia''s words and said,


    "Well, of course! The reason why I dare say that I have never been defeated by my peers in the Dragon Valley is because of my mastery of this sword art; it''s very unpredictable and very difficult to dodge-"


    *krarrrrrrragggg!!*


    Just when the two were still chatting with each other, a gigantic mutated eagle suddenly crawled out of a hidden cave in the forest below.


    Just by looking at it from a distance, you can tell that this thing is more than two hundred meters in size.


    It''s so big that both Lia and Sin were taken aback by it.


    "What is going on with this ce!? Why are there so many mutated creatures here!?"


    The giant mutated eagle has three massive snake heads on its body, and it looks extremely ferocious.


    "It looks like hurting the other eagles caused it to get angry; perhaps this is the mother of the other eagle who got angry after sensing us kill its children-"


    [Golden Petal Sword Art: Triple-Layer Parry!]


    Sin stopped talking and immediately swung her sword in front of her three times to create a field of golden petals to parry the massive w attack that came at her out of nowhere.


    The giant mutated eagle that was so far away on the ground suddenly teleported in front of her and tried to attack her with a w attack; if not for the fact that she was in alert mode, she would have never sensed that surprise attack.


    The golden petals not only parried the w attack; some of them hit the leg of the eagle and caused some minor scratches.


    "It has ''Short-range'' teleportation skill!? This is insane!!"


    Sin was extremely shocked by that Eagle.


    A ''Short-range teleportation'' skill can teleport you to any location that is in your sight, and it''s extremely useful inbat, but this skill is extremely rare.


    Usually only SS-rankers can awaken it after reaching the realm of demi-gods and bing capable of being the space-time fabric.


    But this mutated eagle is clearly just a mere peak. It''s an A-rank beast, so it''s quite shocking that it has such a rare skill.


    ...


    Seeing that its attack had failed, one of the three snake heads on its body nced towards Lia, and the whole body teleported right behind Lia, and two of its snake heads tried to bite and poison Lia in that moment.


    But Lia was prepared for it; she had seen the mutated eagle use this technique on Sin, so she was ready to counter it.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Counter ws!]


    Lia swung her sword in a down to up manner, and her sword hit the teeth of the snake, causing


    a recoil that pushed her back into the air. Thus, she dodged the attack easily, and she pped her wings and did a thrust attack to counter.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Armor-piercing sting!]


    Silver aura covered Lia''s sword, and the sword gave the illusion that it had started to bend and


    blur.


    Lia''s sword immediately pierced the snake head''s eyeball through its armored protective skin, instantly destroying it.


    The other two snake heads tried to sneak attack Lia from the side, but Sin rushed in to help.


    [Golden Petal Sword Art: Obstructive Golden Petal Wall!]


    The snakes got hit by the wall of golden petals and got cut and repelled by the golden petals.


    Her technique is focused on offense, even when trying to defend.


    If an enemy hits those golden petal, they are sure to get hit by a sword cut.


    Seeing that the attack was sessful, Lia and Sin both pped their wings and retreated a


    few meters in the air.


    They avoided the mad frenzy of the eagle, who was now thrashing around madly due to the immense pain of getting an eyeball shattered.


    Lia and Sin both took advantage of the opportunity when the Eagle had its back on them as


    it was groaning in pain and flying around up and down randomly.


    Both of them raised their swords at the same time and attacked at the same time, as if they


    were in perfect sync.


    [Golden Petal Sword Art: Concentrated Petal Strike!]


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Armor-cutting w strike!]


    Both of them hit the neck of the eagle from above at the same time and in the same ce, as if


    they had nned it before.


    Both of their attacks were already very lethal on their own, but whenbined, they became many times more deadly, and the neck of the eagle was split apart in an instant.


    The mutated eagle fell down and died on the spot. Those snake heads are just separated mutated organs; they can work as its brain; only the eagle head had the brain, and thus the eagle died once its head was cut off.


    "Impressive. I am surprised you were able to match my timing so perfectly..."


    Lia shrugged her shoulders at Sin''s words and said,


    "Well, I have fought with a guy whose sword is just too fast to match, thus my senses have


    been enhanced. I can easily match up with others timing now as they are all much slower..."


    Sin sighed at those words and thought to herself,


    ''Sigh, I really need toe up with a proper counter to Rio''s speed; otherwise, I will lose the


    bet against him very easily...''


    "Then, could you tell me what the weakness of the super-fast guy you are referring to is?"


    Lia rolled her eyes at those words and said, "Weakness... hmm... I guess his addiction to ''Tea'' can be considered one, right? If you offer him some good tea, he will be willing to talk to you much longer... W-wait! Why am I telling


    this to my rival!?"


    "Forget I said anything!"


    Sin sighed at those words and said,


    "I was asking about ''weaknesses'' in terms ofbat..."


    At that, Lia just shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "I have yet to find that myself... He has too many tricks up his sleeve..."


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think is Rio''s weakness?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 328: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-3.

    Chapter 328: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-3.


    ?


    After flying over the forest for three days without resting and passing through the ambush of hundreds of monsters, Lia and Sin finally reached a giant cave entrance hidden behind a small hill.


    Both of them looked visibly tired at the moment, as they hadn''t rested for a single second in the past three days.


    If they had just been flying, then they wouldn''t have been as tired, as both of them are A- rankers.


    But they had to fight hordes of monsters and defeat nearly a dozen peak-grade-A monsters before finally making it to this cave.


    "This is the first time since I first started learning my sword art that I have be so tired..." Lia nodded her head at Sin''s words, and the two of themnded on the ground and entered the cave.


    Lia found a big stone and sat down before saying,


    "Let''s rest here for now; it''s getting dark anyway. I will keep watch for half of the night; you can sleep or meditate during that time. Later, you will take the duty to watch after mid- night..."


    Sin also nodded her head.


    She pushed a giant boulder with one hand and ced it near the wall of the cave, then sat on the boulder and leaned her back against the cave''s wall before finally rxing her guard.


    Lia walked out of the cave, waved her sword, and sliced a few branches from the trees outside. Seeing that Lia was trying to make a bonfire, Sin said,


    "Oh, I know a trick to light it up easily; gimme a stick, and I shall do it..."


    Lia gave one of the sticks to Sin with a curious look on her face.


    Sin, on the other hand, held the stick tightly, and golden sparks appeared on her hand. Those sparks suddenly started to heat up the stick, and it immediately started burning.


    "A Golden Thunder? That''s quite interesting..."


    Lia used that burning stick to light up the bonfire. She was quite impressed to see that golden thunder and Sin''s amazing control over it.


    "Yeah, it''s an inherent ability of us golden dragons; we have affinity for this golden thunder; we can just use mana to directly create thunder; there''s no need to use any ''chants'' like mages..."


    "People im that our golden thunder is the most powerful thunder in the world, with the exception of the thunder that urs during ''Heavenly Punishment''".


    While sitting near the bonfire, Lia suddenly had a thought in her mind, prompting her to say,


    "Well... If you want to keep that thunder to yourself, then don''t show it to Rio... He will be able to learn it if he sees it..."


    Lia remembered that Rio learned how to use ''Miasma'' and ''Time'' elementals with the help of ''Sword Intent'' from Alverto after witnessing it only once.


    If he saw Sin using that golden thunder, he could likely steal that technique from her.


    Rio may not be good at other things, but when ites to ''sword aptitude'', no one is better than him in the whole world.


    He can adapt others techniques and turn them into his sword skill.


    And with the help of ''Sword Intent'' and ''Elemental Sword Art'', he can use any and every element that exists in this world.


    "Er... is that even possible? This thing is inherent to only the Golden Dragons... I have never heard about anyone else using ''Golden Thunder''..."


    Sin didn''t believe Lia''s words at all; she thought Lia was just joking, and she refused to believe that Rio could copy them.


    "Well, that matter aside... The main effect of my golden thunder is that it is very good at purifying miasma and corruption; it''s like a direct counter to any and every miasmic ailment..."


    "You need to have insanely high thunder affinity to be able to use this type of thunder. I doubt anyone in the world has such high thunder affinity other than the Golden Dragons..."


    Lia just shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "Do you think a human like Rio has an affinity for ''Miasma''? Yet he still uses it... Do you still think he can''t use things that he has no affinity for?"


    Usually only mages have affinities for certain elements, due to which it''s difficult for warriors and other awakeners to use elemental attacks.


    But there are certain techniques in this world that can be used to manually turn mana into certain elementals and directly bypass the step where you need to have elemental affinity. Rio himself doesn''t have any elemental affinities; the reason he can wield so many elements is because of the Elemental Sword Art and his insane control over ''Sword Intent''.


    And now that Rio has the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', it would be even easier for him to use any and every element that he wants.


    "Er... I guess it''s worth trying then... It would be so interesting to see if a human can use this golden thunder; even my father would be so impressed, I think..."


    Sin suddenly smirked a bit and said,


    "Wait, if Rio really did learn it, doesn''t that mean that he''s as worthy as a golden dragon? Which means Father will approve it if I decide to marry him one day!!"


    Thinking about this, Sin was even more excited to show her Golden Thunder ability to Rio and make him learn it.


    Lia, on the other hand, couldn''t help but feel awkward; she was the one who started this topic and indirectly ended up helping her love rival.


    ''Ugh... why did I say that!? I shouldn''t be helping my enemy!!''


    Lia isn''t as ruthless and emotionless as Rio; if Rio had a love rival, the other party would be dead by now, and his corpse would have been rotting in the sewers somewhere.


    Although she wants to make Sin stop, she doesn''t have the same ruthless attitude that Rio has, and somehow she''s actually indirectly helping Sin without even wanting to.


    This situation is quite distressing for her.


    ''Ugh... I need mine alone!!... er... that sounds so embarrassing to say out loud...''


    get things straight! I need to tell her to stay away from Rio!


    ne, and


    While Lia was still making her mind, Sin fell asleep from exhaustion and drifted off to the dreand, where she dreamt of marrying a certain ck-haired, emotionless guy.


    Lia sighed after seeing that sleeping face and said,


    "Ugh... She fell asleep already..."


    At that moment, Lia just wanted to wake her up, give her two ps on the face, and shout,


    ''Stop Pursuing Rio!''.


    But rationality stopped her from doing so; both of them are exhausted, and Sin also helped in the previous fights, so it would be rude to wake her up now and disturb her rest.


    As night fell, things went silent, and only the crackling noise of the wood burning in the bonfire kept ringing in Lia''s ears.


    At that moment, a thought came to her mind:


    ''I wonder why we ended up in this ce... It''s already been three days now; the dragons should have noticed that their princess has gone missing, and the Dragon King would have personally tried to find us...''


    ''If the Dragon King was looking for us, he could have already found us by now, but there''s still no sight of him until now... which is very odd...''


    ''Unless all that''s happening here is urring with his permission... But why would the dragon king put his own daughter in danger? That''s still a mystery...''


    Up until now, Lia and Sin had been very busy fighting and flying, so they didn''t have much time to think about other things.


    Only now that things have calmed down has Lia started to think about it all. ''Something doesn''t add up... There''s definitely something going on behind the scenes here that we don''t know... Even Sin herself is oblivious about it all, even though she''s a dragon


    herself...''


    Thinking hard and nning isn''t Lia''s way of doing things; usually Liam is the one who makes ns for their team and does all the thinking and strategizing work.


    ''I guess I will have to wait and see what happens next... I just hope that things remain under control... I don''t want to face a situation simr to Oaklum again...''


    The ident that happened in Oaklum has left a deep scar in the minds of the whole team Astra. None of them wants to witness the same thing ever again.


    ''I wonder what Riko Senpai is doing these days... I haven''t heard from her since that day she


    left abruptly...''


    While thinking about random things, Lia passed time until Sin woke up and took the duty


    to keep watch.


    Lia also fell asleep at that moment and started dreaming about a certain thieving cat trying to steal a certain ck-haired, emotionless guy from her.


    It was quite a serious nightmare.


    The cave, Deepest area.


    "These two are failures too... Sigh, it''s been so long since Ist saw a real sess..."


    A woman wearing dark green clothes sighed as she sipped the golden sap filling her ss.


    At that moment, she suddenly sensed something and nced in a certain direction. ''Hmm, two new subjects have appeared, hoh... They seem better than the previous ones... I hope these ones won''t disappoint me; it''s been so long since I saw some really good subjects...''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Lia and Sin will remain rivals for a long time from now on.


    Question of the day:


    Have you ever had an interesting dream like Lia and Sin?


    (Tell me about it inments!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 329: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-4.

    Chapter 329: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-4.


    ?


    The Next Morning.


    Lia and Sin started their journey to reach the ''core'' of the forest''s illusion and headed deeper into the cave after they both had enough rest.


    "This cave seems quite normal, even though it''s the core area of the whole forest of illusion..."


    Sin also nodded her head at Lia''s words and said,


    "Yeah, it''s weirder that this ce is much normal whenpared to the rest of the forest... Unlike the absurd feeling that everything gives out there, it gives a sense of mystery and hidden danger..."


    Lia suddenly thought of something and asked Kai in her mind.


    ''Can you sense the presence of that SS-ranker even now?''


    To that question, Kai replied in a calm voice.


    [I can... Although I am using my mana detection in a much more concealed way so as to avoid the senses of the other party, I can for sure confirm that the other party is indeed an SS-ranker...]


    [The only way to get out of this ce is to deal with this person who is controlling the illusions; otherwise, there''s no way to escape the grasp of this SS-ranker...]


    Lia sighed at those words and stopped thinking about this matter.


    Meeting a random SS-ranker can really be dangerous, but they have no choice right now.


    ''In the first ce, if the other party wanted to do something bad, they wouldn''t have needed to wait for so long...''


    An SS-ranker can easily overpower A-rankers like them, so if the other party wanted, they could have already beaten Lia and Sin from kilometers away without even showing their faces.


    ''The fact that we both are okay until now means that the other party isn''t interested in harming us... which means there is still a small chance to escape this ce...''


    While Lia was busy thinking about what to do next, Sin was keeping an eye on the surroundings as they both headed deeper into the dark cave.


    All of a sudden, she noticed something and unsheathed her sword in an instant.


    [Golden Petal Sword Art: Furious Petal Thrust!]


    Sin swung her sword in a diagonal manner, and the golden sword energy from her sword hit the wall of the cave nearby.


    *bbbbaaaaaaaaahhhhhhrrrrr!!*


    When the sword energy hit the wall, the wall disappeared, and a small nt in the shape of a snake appeared in sight.


    It turns out that the wall was actually an illusion, and the real wall was hidden behind that illusion created by that strange nt.


    "Er, do nts also scream when sliced?"


    Aplicated look appeared on Lia''s face as she frowned at the loud scream of that strange nt.


    Sin''s expression turned solemn as she said,


    "That was perhaps a distress signal... Many monsters scream and send a distress signal to their group when they are on theirst breath... We should leave this ce fast..."


    Lia also nodded her head, and the two of them immediately headed deeper, but before they could go too far, they arrived at an open area.


    There were now dozens of paths in front of the two, but that wasn''t the main problem.


    "Not good! Get ready for battle!"


    Sin suddenly sensed the presence of hundreds of hostile creatures from the dozens of paths in the open area, and her danger senses started to warn her like crazy.


    Before she could tell Lia anything, a huge number of ''Giant Ants'' with ws like mantises appeared and started to rush towards Lia and Sin like crazy.


    Some of them even trampled on their own kin, and the scene became extremely chaotic.


    The ce was already very small, and the appearance of so many ants caused it to be even more crowded.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Spirit Ascension: Spirit Merge!]


    A silver armor made up of spiritual magic appeared on Lia''s body, and four silver wings appeared behind her back.


    Her sword turned silver as she immediately became serious after seeing the huge number of enemies.


    ''It''s perhaps a whole colony of them, and each one is at least at peak rank C, and the stronger ones are at peak rank B...''


    ''Individually, these ants are weak, but the number is just too huge; I can sense hundreds of them stilling from various directions...''


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Hundred ws of Rage!]


    Lia swung her sword and fired massive arcs of silver aura from her sword, which split the ants in two with a single strike, but what surprised Lia was the insane resistance of these ants. ''These ants are weaker in rank than me, but their shells are hard and they are difficult to cut...'' If it were any other B-rank monster, Lia''s sword energy would have directly split it in two and then traveled further to hit the next monster behind it.


    But the physical resistance of these ants is very high; only one can be killed by one attack.


    ''It''s likely because of that bulky armor like exoskeleton....''


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Thousand w Thrusts!]


    Lia twisted her wrist a bit and jumped back a bit to do a thrust attack.


    She directly sted massive holes in the bodies of the ants with her insanely strong thrust


    attacks.


    *Boom!* *Boom!*


    Her thrust attack speed was so fast that every time she moved her sword to do an attack, she created loud sonic booms that created a wind pressure strong enough to repel the ants nearby.


    ''There''s too many of them!''


    Lia used her mana detection and noticed that the number of these ants was increasing even


    more.


    Moreover, Sin was being targeted even more, so she had no choice but to retreat continuously in a different direction.


    [Kiddo, this isn''t the time to be worrying about others; you need to retreat into a narrow pathway...]


    [Once inside a narrower path, the ants won''t be able to attack you from all directions, and you will be able to fight in a more rxed manner...]


    Lia immediately did as Kai suggested; she jumped back, did a backflip in the air, and swung her sword to fire another sword energy to kill the ant that was blocking the path behind her.


    Ignoring the ants that started to pursue her, Lia focused on the ants that were still pouring


    out of that small passage.


    She bent her knees a bit and took her stance.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Domination Rush!]


    Lia thrust her sword forward and rushed in a straight line at an insane speed.


    She directly sted holes in the bodies of the ants that were in her way and forcefully created


    a path for herself to pass through.


    The acidic blood of the ants sttered everywhere and even corroded the walls and the


    ground of the cave.


    Fortunately, Lia was already using her ''Spirit armor'' to boost her basic stats and protect herself, so she was unaffected by it.


    She even used the hard armor on the back of her hand to repel w attacks from ants, proving


    how tough her armor is.


    Not only does her armor provide amazing defense for her, but it also gives a boost to her basic stats, and the four wings behind her back increase her speed and agility even further. Even though it was inside a narrow cave, Lia was still able to dodge and rush forward any attack from the ants while still being able to do counterattacks.


    By the time Lia finally escaped that endless siege of the ants by going deeper into the cave, she had already traveled a distance of nearly fifty kilometers while dodging and counterattacking at the same time.


    She not only had to keep the ants in mind but also had to take many turns to avoid hitting the


    walls of the cave.


    After Lia passed by the path from where all the ants wereing out from, she finally left the


    siege of the ants behind.


    ''Are they still chasing me?''


    [No, it looks like they have stopped chasing... likely because you already got out of their territory...]


    *Huff**Pant*


    Lia deactivated her spirit armor, slumped down on a giant rock, and started to pant heavily.


    Although the enemies were just weak ants, their number was too huge; they seemed endless.


    Even an A-ranker will get exhausted if they have to fight hordes of enemies again and again while still using their power to the maximum.


    The spirit armor costs a lot of mana, and she''s been using it for two hours straight now, due to which she is now running low on mana and exhausted.


    [Ah, I have finally figured it out.... I was feeling quite weird about why there were so many ants...]


    [It turns out they are all partial illusions! Even I needed to analyze them for so long... which means this


    is likely the handiwork of a peak SS ranker...]


    The ants were so tough because they were made up of illusions engraved on stones that were enhanced with the mana of an SS-ranker.


    Which means, what Lia was fighting just now were just a few thousand stones the SS-ranker used to create an army of illusionary ants.


    ''To think that even ordinary stones can be used to create such powerful illusions... SS-rankers


    are really insane powerhouses...''


    Lia fought and killed nearly two thousand ants just now, which means that she smashed two thousand stones to finally escape the siege.


    ''I see, this exins the ridiculous number of those monsters; they are illusions to begin with,


    and obviously their number can be huge...''


    ''The SS-ranker behind all this is indeed a shrewd person...''


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day: What would your reaction be if you found out that the monster you worked so hard to defeat


    was just a mere illusion made out of ordinary stone?


    1. Shocked.


    2. Disappointed.


    3. Others.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 330: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-5.

    Chapter 330: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-5.


    ?


    "Can you sense where she went?"


    At Lia''s question, Kai replied in a calm voice,


    [Yes, she took a different path but is also heading towards the deeper area, just like us...]


    [We will likely meet her in the core area if we keep going...]


    Lia nodded her head in response to those words.


    "Good, thankfully she escaped the siege of those illusionary ants too..."


    Lia and Sin were separated during that sudden siege of the ant colony; both of them were forced to escape on separate paths.


    Thus, Lia was concerned about Sin''s well-being, and she asked Kai to detect her situation. Thankfully, Sin herself is a strong person, so she sessfully made it out of the siege too. "Good, then we should keep heading deeper too-"


    Just when Lia was about to start moving again, a familiar person appeared nearby.


    "Ah, so you were here. I have been looking for you everywhere, Lia."


    All of a sudden, Rio appeared in front of Lia; a rare happy smile hung over his face, and he looked more handsome than usual today.


    "W-what? How is-"


    Lia was confused for a moment, but then suddenly her eyes turned cold, and she swung her sword.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Thousand w Thrusts!]


    Lia twisted her wrist a bit and did a thousand-sword thrust attack on Rio in a matter of a single second.


    "Don''t try to imitate him, you pathetic monster!!"


    When Lia''s sword hit, the illusion broke apart, and a weird nt fell to the ground and turned into ashes.


    Lia calmed her trembling body and organized her thoughts.


    [Kiddo, I am impressed! you figured out that was an illusion much faster than I expected...]


    Kai had already seen through that illusion at the very first moment, but he didn''t tell Lia about it because he wanted to see how Lia would handle it.


    And she handled the situation much better than he expected her to.


    She only hesitated for a moment and then figured out the situation easily.


    "Of course! I can easily see if it''s the real Rio or not... That illusion was very low quality..."


    "It didn''t have that same ''Vibe'' that Rio has-you know, that feeling of being ''Detached'' and ''Indifferent''...."


    "Also... if it were Rio, he could have easily dodged my attack without blinking an eye..."


    Lia shook her head and started to walk deeper in the cave.


    And she actually encountered the same situation quite a few more times; those same weird nts kepting with various illusions of Rio.


    Some were sending flying kisses at her, and some were trying to hug her. Although the scene seemed quite pleasing to the eye, Lia steeled her heart and made through it without batting an eye.


    ''I can just ask the real him to smile at me! I don''t need these fake ones!!''


    Lia kept shouting these words in her mind as she pushed through the area where she was being forced to see Rio again and again.


    It was really a test of will; if it were someone else in her ce, they would have already fallen for this trick after being deceived.


    ...


    "Phew~, I finally made it through that area..."


    Lia heaved a sigh of relief after she finally escaped from the area filled with dozens of illusion-showing nts.


    [A special kind of spell is ced upon that area... it was likely utilizing your own memory to create illusions...]


    [This is one of the most lethal types of illusion... other illusions are made to target people at random...] [But this type of illusion targets everyone on a personal level... If someone has recently lost a loved one and encounters this illusion...]


    [I think this illusion will make them suffer even more in that scenario... a truly terrifying technique.


    Kai rarely talks a lot about anything, but today he couldn''t help but borate further about this illusion technique.


    It''s so unique that even Kai is impressed by it.


    [Well, I am a spirit being... Spirit beings themselves are half real and half illusions... so it doesn''t work on me...]


    Lia sighed at those words and said,


    "I bet it won''t work on Rio either..."


    Kai also agreed to Lia''s words.


    [''Sword Intent'' is a direct counter to ''Illusions''. He can easily counter these things and remain unaffected... same goes for Link; if he keeps his ''Dao Rhythm'' active, he will also remain unaffected...]


    Actually, Kai didn''t know that Riya also awakened a ''Legendary'' ability, which is the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', so she won''t be affected by the illusion either.


    All in all, each and every member of Team Astra is more unique than the others.


    Each one of them has their own strengths and amazing abilities.


    (We aren''t counting Fade and Kira as members of team Astra anymore; they were only part of it until the supreme tournament arc...)


    ...


    Lia walked deeper into the cave, and after another few hours of walking and killing a few more illusion monsters, she finally reached a massive open area.


    ''Is this the deepest area?''


    At Lia''s question, Kai replied,


    [Yep, this is it... that girl, Sin, is also about to arrive; maybe you should wait for her here for a few


    minutes...]


    Lia nodded her head and waited a few minutes.


    She saw many other openings to this massive underground open area, simr to the passage from which she came.


    She nced around and noticed that the whole area was empty; there wasn''t a single soul in


    sight.


    Lia wanted to go and investigate things on her own, but she waited for Sin to arrive after


    hearing Kai''s advice.


    A few minutes passed by, and Sin came out of a nearby passage.


    Her clothes seemed more haggard, and she looked more exhausted than Lia.


    Actually, she was targeted by more ants when Lia and she escaped; moreover, she doesn''t


    have the guidance of a strong person like Kai, so it was more difficult for her. When Sin noticed Lia, she immediately rushed over and started toin in an


    aggrieved tone.


    "Ugh... You know what, I saw illusions of my father! My father is a calm and strict person, but those illusions were actually smiling at me and being all lovey-dovey... I nearly fell for that!!"


    "Agh... I barely escaped from getting pierced by a stone spike that came flying my way when I let my guard down and allowed that illusion to pat my head..."


    "Sigh... and then I actually saw illusions of him again and again... It was pure torture!!"


    "Whoever made this ce is likely a very cunning person!"


    Just when Sin wasining, a sweet and gentle voice rang out in the open area.


    "So you two are finally here? It''s been a while since anyone made it to this stage..."


    A beautifuldy, wearing dark green clothes with mysterious patterns, appeared.


    As if an illusion had been created, Lia and Sin found themselves standing in a gigantic


    fighting ring.


    And the mysterious green-haireddy was sitting on a high throne, overlooking the scene.


    Lia nced at the other party and asked in a calm voice.


    "Uh, who are you? And can you please tell us what''s going on here? We were on our way to a different ce, but our teleportation altar seems to have faced some error..."


    "And we came here by ident-"


    Before Lia could finish her words, the dark green eyes of the mysterious woman shined, and


    she said,


    "ident? Hmm? Did they not tell you about the true nature of the ''Festival of Dragons''?...


    huh? That''s odd..."


    "Forget it; let me tell you about it if they didn''t... By the way, I am A, the protector of this


    forest and the leader of the Tree Men race..."


    Hearing that name, Sin suddenly said,


    "Ah! So, you are the famous tree spirit that has been said to be living in the forest of chaotic


    illusions!!"


    "I remember now! My father once told me about you when I was little! I nearly forgot about


    it!"


    A nodded her head in response to those words.


    "I am surprised that there are young dragons who still know about me..."


    "Well, that matter aside, I have been living in this ce since the time when my race left their home and decided to live under the protection of the dragons..."


    The tree men and tree sprits used to live in the outside world, but their hometown was destroyed by the Demon Race during the thousand-year war, and just like the fairy race, they ended up living under the protection of the Dragons.


    A was just a young kid when they came here, but now it''s been more than a millennia, and


    she''s be the only SS-ranker of her race.


    In other words, she''s more than a thousand years old, even older than the Dragon King


    himself.


    A peak SS-ranker who has been protecting her race for millennia now.


    "Aside from my role as the leader of my race, I am also in charge of helping in conducting the


    ''Great Dragon Festival''..."


    "Truthfully speaking, it''s actually a training session under the disguise of a festival... and I am one of the few SS-rankers who are in charge of conducting this festival..." "Congrattions, you two! You have passed three of the trials out of the four trials I have set


    up... Only a few people have ever made it this far when faced with my tricky illusions..."


    "You two are quite strong... I appreciate your efforts..."


    Although Alya''s voice seems gentle and soothing, the more she talked, the more Lia and Sin frowned; they both kept feeling a strange, ominous sense in their hearts.


    ...


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    What do you think is the main motive of this ''Festival''?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 331: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-6.

    Chapter 331: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-6.


    ?


    "The thing is, the great dragon festival already started the moment you woke up on the day and got ready to meet up with the dragon King..."


    A started to exin everything in great detail from the start.


    "For the normal folk, the dragon festival is just a meeting of dragons that represent their respective ns, but that''s not the case for all..."


    "For the lower race, the ''Dragon Men'' this is a rare festival where they organize various events... they decorate their houses and spend happy times with their families, etc..."


    "For the adult dragons, this is the day when they get to see the representatives of their n talk and debate with each other..."


    At that moment, A nced at Sin and said,


    "And the third thing that happens in this festival is an evaluation conducted for the young talents..."


    A sighed a bit before continuing.


    "It''s been a while since we saw a really talented kid; most are just in disappointments nowadays..."


    "Nheless, all talented kids get teleported to various evaluation sites during this festival... All kids that have the potential to reach rank SS are supposed to take this exam..."


    A nced at Sin and said,


    "As the heir of the Dragon Empire, I have great expectations from you..."


    "Moreover, the humans that you invited are also talented people, so we are including them in the evaluation project to give properpetition to the children of the dragon race..."


    A sighed and said,


    "My race was saved by the dragons, so I now work as a benefactor of the dragons..."


    "I will devote myself to the work thoroughly, and you can rest assured that my judgments will be impartial..."


    She waved her hand, and the scenery changed even further.


    The dark cave walls disappeared, and the whole ce turned into a giant arena.


    Lia and Sin found themselves standing in front of each other.


    "My evaluation includes mainly the dragons that are good at swords and have exceptionally unique powers... I rely on illusions to test the students to see if they are worthy or not..."


    "You two passed three of my trails, first making it out of the outer area of the forest..."


    In the outer area where Sin and Lia were initially teleported, a very strong chimera-type monster roams around, and if you encounter it, you will likely get eliminated if you aren''t strong.


    Lia and Sin sessfully used their mana detection to avoid getting into a confrontation with that strong monster.


    The second trial was making their way through the hordes of monsters in the forest while also avoiding falling into illusion traps within the time limit of a week.


    Lia and Sin cooperated to make their way through the whole forest, and as they were flying high in the sky, they easily avoided a lot of traps with the help of Kai''s mana detection.


    A nced at the two and said,


    "Only twenty participants made it to the third trial out of the original thousands of them..." "Nearly all fell victim to the illusion traps and got eliminated..."


    Lia and Sin were both shocked to hear those words; they didn''t particrly face anything that was so difficult that they got eliminated.


    Thus, it''s surprising to hear that nearly all participants were eliminated in these two trials.


    However, A didn''t stop and continued to speak.


    "Out of thest twenty, only four made it through the third trail, which was to face your inner weakness through a strong illusion..."


    Lia''s inner weakness and most sensitive spot are obviously the memories of Rio.


    Thus, she ended up facing him in the third trial.


    "Only four of thest twenty made it through the third trial; this is already quite a below- average result whenpared to the evaluations I conducted before..."


    "Out of thest four, two have already been eliminated; now the only participants that are left in this whole evaluation conducted by me are you two..."


    "I am quite impressed by you two, actually, so I have prepared this arena made from illusion, just for you two..."


    "Show me your talents to your heart''s content... If you are worthy enough, then you will certainly receive appropriate rewards; otherwise, it would be just another failure..."


    Hearing all that, Lia suddenly asked in confusion.


    "What happens to the participants who get eliminated or are deemed failures?"


    A nced at Lia and said,


    "No need to be concerned about it... As I said, I am the benefactor of the dragon race; I won''t do anything bad to the future pirs of support of the dragon race..."


    "Once eliminated, they get teleported back to the ce from which they originally came from..."


    "It''s just that the ones who are deemed too weak and unworthy end up losing the favor of the higher-ups and receiving less support from here onwards..."


    If a dragon were to be considered a failure in this festival, it would leave a dark mark on their career forever.


    Other dragons will respect them less, and respect, pride, ego, Etc. are the main things that dragons care about the most.


    If you lose that, you lose everything.


    Although the result of this evaluation seems peaceful, it''s a bane for those who ended up getting evaluated as failures.


    Moreover, the biggest problem is that not a single person from the younger generation is ever told about this evaluation beforehand.


    When the timees, they just get teleported to the evaluation area at random, just like how Sin and Lia ended up here.


    This means no one has the time to prepare properly, and if you are caught off guard, you will get eliminated quite quickly.


    ...


    "By the way, you two don''t need to worry; you made it to the final stage of this evaluation, which has already secured an above-average evaluation for you two..."


    "Now you just need to try and show your talent to make me improve my evaluation of you..."


    This seems peaceful enough, but A is literally telling Lia and Sin to have an all-out battle with each other.


    Both of them are extremely strong whenpared to their peers, and if they fight, it will


    cause massive injuries for both of them.


    And they have to do this just to improve their evaluation, which is quite a weird thing in itself.


    "Why did Father not tell me about all this beforehand?"


    At Sin''s question, A just shook her head and said,


    "The whole younger generation is equal in the eyes of the dragon king; he obviously won''t do anything that will give you an unfair advantage over others..."


    "All the participants are supposed to never know about it until the very day of the


    evaluation..."


    "Once you are done with this evaluation, we will ask you to sign a ''Mana Contract'' to not reveal the information rted to this evaluation to the next generation..."


    "This is also the main reason why no parent tells their children about it; they are all bound by


    the contract that they signed in their time..."


    "It''s a mechanic to make the evaluation fair and square for everyone... Of course, this rule doesn''t apply to the few ''Extremely Talented'' that are favored by the Dragon King himself..."


    A sighed and said,


    "That kid... Link Rex, he''s not even a dragon, and yet he was favored by the dragon king


    himself; in other words, he doesn''t even need to give this evaluation test as he has already


    won from the start..."


    "That is the type of talent that we evaluators are looking for... We want to find a hidden gem and give them proper honor... while also condemning the ones that are untalented..."


    "That is our duty..."


    A''s face remained stern from the start to the end.


    She showed no emotions, and she took no one''s side; she remained impartial in her judgment


    even when the heir of the dragon race appeared in front of her.


    "Now that I have exined everything, you two can start now..." When A stopped talking, the atmosphere between Sin and Lia turned serious.


    Both of them were uncertain, and everything happened too fast. The exnations that A


    gave were quitecking in terms of the overall goal of this whole event.


    At that moment, when the whole arena was ready and they were unconsciously being urged to fight, Lia and Sin both nced at each other and nodded their heads.


    Then they looked at A and said, at the same time,


    "No, we refuse to fight..." Hearing their words, A''s eyes narrowed, and s asked a cold tone.


    "I already prepared this arena; why don''t you show me your talents by fighting each other?


    That''s the best option, right?"


    Sin dismissed the question with a shake of her head.


    "You yourself said that you are an illusion user, and this arena and all is just an illusion..."


    Lia also nodded her head and said,


    "In other words, all this is just an illusion to make us both think that the only way to pass this


    evaluation is to have a fight among ourselves!"


    Sin smiled at Lia''s words and continued.


    "But we both went through enough of your illusions; we know that all this is just a fake setup;


    you are just using it to sow discord between us!"


    "We won''t fall for this illusion of yours!"


    Lia and Sin both stretched out their left hands and held each other''s hand tightly while


    aiming their swords at A at the same time.


    They were both ready to fight for each other.


    Although the two started as enemies, after spending several days helping each other, the two


    of them already have a bond, and they won''t let this bond get broken so easily.


    *p* *p!*


    At that moment, the illusion disappeared; even A, who was sitting on the high throne,


    disappeared, and the environment returned to the previous dark cave.


    "Excellent!!"


    An olddy with several scars on her face and wearing a dress resembling the A in the


    illusion walked out of the dark corner of the cave.


    An impressed smile hung over her face as she pped her hands while looking at Lia and


    Sin.


    "Impressive! Ah, it''s been so long! Excellent choice!!"


    ...


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I waste in uploading today as I had a headache, so cut me


    some ck if the chapter seems boring to you.


    Question of the day:


    Did you expect that final part to be an illusion?


    1. No (I thought Lia and Sin were really going to fight...)


    2. Yes (I have been blessed by the sword god Rio''s indifference, I don''t for such cheap illusions


    anymore...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 332: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-7.

    Chapter 332: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-7.


    ?


    "It''s been so long since someone was able to see through my final illusion. Impressive!"


    Unlike A''s other illusions, which were much more focused on affecting you on a physical level, thest one was focused on your subconscious mind.


    All beings have some things that they can just do subconsciously and don''t even need to think about.


    A used that fact to her advantage. Being a great illusion master, she used the surroundings and created the background of an arena to make the participants think that they had no choice but to fight.


    This is a subconscious response.


    A rank SS is encouraging you to showcase your skills, and because you have arge arena and an opponent, you may subconsciously believe that you must fight and win.


    But all of this is a nned illusion created to influence the participants.


    "Once again, it''s a pleasure to meet you two. I am the real A; the previous one was an illusion too..."


    Lia nced at the olddy and asked,


    "You look much olderpared to the version of you in the illusion..."


    A nodded her head and said,


    "Well, I am more than a millennia-old kiddo, which illusion showed how I used to look in my younger days... Moreover, I have fought many battles in my time, which has also affected my life span..."


    "But forget about that; that''s not what the main topic is here; what I want to know... is how you two figured out the perfect solution to this illusion?"


    A look of interest appeared on A''s old face, which was covered in several scars.


    Sin smiled at that question and said,


    "First and foremost, you never said that we need to ''Fight'' to showcase our talents; you only said, ''Show me your talents'', which doesn''t mean that we ''Need'' to fight..."


    "That was already a good enough clue..."


    After Sin finished talking, Lia continued from there,


    "Then the second biggest clue was that you mentioned that two other participants also made it through to the third illusion trail, but they failed thest one..."


    Lia smiled and said,


    "You said both of them failed, which should be impossible; if the two of them had fought, then at least one should be the winner and the other one should be a loser unless they both had a tie and ended up passing together..."


    "That just shows that the two of them lost because they ''fought'' each other and fell for the obvious trap..."


    Sin nodded her head at Lia''s words and said,


    "Moreover, the arena you created also had a more ''unique'' architecture in it... No, that ce can''t even be called an arena; it was more like a stage, which means that it was not really necessary to fight..."


    After analyzing this far, Lia and Sin also mentioned the fact that the two people that A mentioned that came before them might just be a lie too.


    There might not have been any other people before them, and A likely just made up about all that on her own to give hints to the participants.


    In other words, from the start to the end, there were hints all over; only someone with keen observation can figure out all this.


    Lia trained her observation skills enough by trying to observe and figure out Rio''s emotions just by looking at his expressionless face.


    And Sin, on the other hand, has the amazing intuition of a golden dragon; she was already feeling that something was amiss the moment she saw A at the start.


    "Hahahaha! Amazing! This is amazing!!"


    Hearing Lia and Sin''s exnation, Aughed happily, and then she said,


    "Ah, yes, it''s all true; you two are the only ones who have everpleted my four trials... Sigh, it''s been so long since Iughed this much..."


    A happy smile hung over A''s old face as she nodded her head at both Lia and Sin again and again.


    "You two have amazing observation skills, and your mind is firm; indeed, you two are ''Excellent''!"


    "This is the first time I am giving someone an ''Excellent'' evaluation; it''s a great day indeed..."


    Hearing A''s words, Sin frowned a bit and asked,


    "Uh, didn''t you say you were looking for a true ''genius''... Won''t it make sense to give us a higher evaluation now that we have passed your whole trail?"


    At Sin''s words, A sighed.


    The underground cave suddenly disappeared, and the trio suddenly found themselves standing on a giant cloud in the sky, where the golden rays of the sun shone brightly at them. Seeing that sudden change, Lia and Sin were both extremely shocked and lost for words.


    "T-this is!? Don''t tell me-"


    Before they could even ask a question, A said in a calm voice,


    "Actually, the whole ''Forest of Chaotic Illusion'' and all of the creatures in it... it''s all an illusion..."


    "This illusion indeed is the real evaluation ground, but... this ce is not real; it''s just an illusion created by me..."


    "You two actually never took the teleportation altar; you two are still sleeping back in the Dragon Pce, and you are experiencing all this in a dream-like state along with thousands of


    others..."


    After hearing that, Lia suddenly asked,


    "Then what about the rest of my teammates? They are also in an illusion?"


    A shook her head and said,


    "No, they got teleported to their respective evaluation sites in the morning... All evaluators have their own way of doing things; I didn''t need to teleport you... I just created an illusion


    and put you in the dream world..."


    A smiled and nced at the clear blue sky before speaking,


    "The thing is... a true ''Genuis'' would have already realized that this is an illusion the moment they got here, and they would have snapped out of it instantly..."


    "You two are indeed ''Excellent''; you figured out all four trials exceptionally well and became the first to clear all four trials..."


    "But the thing is... the moment you started to head towards the core area, you were already


    lost from the start..."


    At those words, Lia was quite shocked; a confused look appeared on her face as she


    murmured,


    "But Kai suggested that we should go towards the core... wait! Could it be-"


    A nodded her head and said,


    "Ah, yes, I need to thank you for your cooperation, Divine Spirit. General Kai, I appreciate the fact that you didn''t reveal anything to them and went along with their choices..."


    "If you hadn''t cooperated, it would have been impossible..."


    Kai suddenly appeared on Lia''s shoulder, nodded his head at A, and then said,


    "Actually, she contacted me via telepathy and asked me not to tell you about this illusion; I actually already knew it all from the start, but I didn''t tell you because it''s a test for your own


    talent, Lia..."


    "Now that you have finally figured it all out, I believe you understand yourself much better and have a stronger mind. Don''t worry about not being considered a ''genius''..."


    "All that matters is that you learned a lot from this experience..."


    Upon hearing those words, Lia red at Kai and said,


    "Yeah, I learned that even your own familiars can sometimes betray you... Hmph, I am not


    helping you next time Rio threatens you with his ''Sword Intent''..."


    Hearing Lia''sints, Kaiughed awkwardly and didn''t say anything else for fear of


    angering Lia even further.


    Ignoring everything else, Sin nced at A and inquired.


    "So, in other words, only we two are in the dragon pce now, and the rest of the group got


    teleported... But why only us?"


    A sighed at those words and said,


    "Well, I tried this same illusion on the rest of the group too... Link, Rio, and even that weak- looking girl Riya are extremely resistant to illusions; this illusion never worked on them..."


    "As for that kiddo called Liam, he was teleported to his evaluation before I could even use my illusion on him, so he escaped early..."


    "Thus, only you two fell for it... But still, you did quite well in the evaluation; there is no need


    to me yourselves..."


    The reason why Link, Rio, and Riya didn''t get affected by this illusion is obviously because all three of them have a legendary skill that makes them highly resistant to illusions. Moreover, Lia herself has the ''Absolute Precognition'' and she could have avoided this illusion, but she isn''t yet strong enough to keep that power active all day every day. Unlike Rio, Link, and Riya, whose legendary skills dwell within them and are always partially active, Lia only uses her precognition when it''s needed.


    After this incident, Lia figured out that she needs to train her precognition sense more so that she can keep it active for longer and predict if something like today happens in the future. Sin, on the other hand, sighed at all this and decided to train her mind more and try to aim


    and learn ''Sword Intent'' just like Rio.


    Her mind and goals became even more firm after this experience.


    Although Lia and Sin didn''t get the highest possible evaluation, they still learned a lot and figured out their own weaknesses.


    This alone is a great benefit for them.


    Kai didn''t interfere with this, as he wanted Lia to realize her own weaknesses and improve


    further.


    Although it did offend Lia a bit, it''s still more important to improve her abilities than to help


    her out every single time.


    Kai doesn''t want Lia to be overly dependent on his abilities, as that will be


    counterproductive for Lia''s own growth.


    "Well then, now that the evaluation isplete, you can go back; the time in the outside world moves fasterpared to this ce, and you two have been sleeping for a whole week


    now..."


    "It''s time you wake up, or you will miss the rest of Dragon Festival..."


    Lia and Sin nodded their heads and got ready to leave.


    A waved her hand and said, "Let''s meetter in the banquet of admiration... Enjoy the festival, my ''Excellent Disciples''..."


    With that wave of her hand, the illusion broke apart, and Lia and Sin finally woke up and


    found themselves on their beds in their respective rooms.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    Did you expect that the whole ce was an illusion?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 333: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-1.

    Chapter 333: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-1.


    ?


    A Vast Grasnd


    Lush and tall grass, which is full of vitality, is growing around both sides of a giant river in this vast, tnd.


    The warm wind breeze makes this whole area refreshing, and the bright sunlight adds an amazing look this scenery.


    You can also see a giant mountain range in the distance, and the clear blue sky adds another charm to this ce.


    Standing on a hill under a giant tree shade, Riya couldn''t help but smile excitedly.


    "This ce is so beautiful~ If only Link was here to see it with me..."


    Riya can see various herbivorous animals wandering in the grass; she can also see a herd of sheep heading towards the riverbank.


    "Howe there are sheep here!? That''s so strange..."


    Just when Riya was surprised to see a herd of sheep, she suddenly heard an arrogant voice from the sidein loudly,


    "Hmph! We are not ordinary sheep! Instead, you''re the strange one! You two-legged creature!"


    Riya was taken aback by the sudden appearance of that voice, and when she looked to her side, she noticed a giant sheep the size of a truck standing beside her.


    "What!? A sheep that can talk!?"


    A look of frustration appeared in the eyes of the giant sheep as it stomped its legs on the ground and said,


    "I am not a sheep! I belong to the legendary sheep god race!! Don''t mix me with those random sheep you see everywhere else! They are just failed inferior beings!"


    A confused look appeared on Riya''s face as she said,


    "Doesn''t that mean the same thing... You are still a sheep, right?"


    The giant sheep was so frustrated at Riya''s dumb behavior that it simply stopped arguing and said,


    "Forget it; just call me Marco, ''The Sharp Teeth''!... and don''t call me a sheep ever again! I hate being considered the same as those lowly beings! I am a true descendant of the legendary sheep god!!"


    Riya was already quite confused after seeing a sheep the size of a truck talk like a human and praise itself, and after hearing that name, she simply lost track of things.


    ''Forget it; it doesn''t matter...''


    In the end, Riya stopped thinking too much so as not to overwork her brain and decided to go with the flow.


    "So, Marco... Are you the leader of that herd that is approaching the riverbank?"


    Marco nodded his head and said,


    "Yes! Actually, all of them are my wives and children; it''s my very own harem!! I have thirty wives, actually... Well, what can I say, I am just that charming and handsome, sigh~"


    "When I look at my image in the river, I think, How can someone as charming as me exist in this world? Sigh, I truly am unique~"


    Ignoring all that self-praise, Riya asked,


    "By the way, where is this ce? I suddenly appeared to her out of nowhere; I don''t even know where this ce is..."


    Marco raised his head high and said in a proud tone,


    "Hehe, I knew that you two-legged creature is also a lowly being; you don''t even know what this ce is... This is the western in located just a few kilometers away from the frozen mountaintops of the Ice Dragons..."


    Hearing those words, Riya asked,


    "Er... how far away is this ce from the Dragon Pce in the city of those dragon men?"


    The sheep contemted for a moment and then said it in an unsure tone.


    "I-it is far away, likely thousands of kilometers away!"


    Riya tilted her head in confusion and asked,


    "You haven''t been there?"


    Marco hesitated and talked in a panicked voice,


    "O-of course I have been there! I am the legendary Marco! I will one day be a divine sheep! I know everything in the world!"


    Riya nodded her head and stopped talking about that matter.


    ''Sigh, it seems I am really far away from the pce, which means it will take a few days for Link and others to find me...''


    Riya doesn''t know that the others also got teleported like her, so she thinks that only she got teleported to the wrong ce, and the others wille looking for her soon.


    Moreover, as long as she has the engagement ring on her finger, Link can always track her location and see if she''s doing okay, so she wasn''t worried about him not being able to find


    her.


    ''But what do I do now? I guess I will need to sleep on the ground for the next few days... Fortunately, I brought plenty of candies with me in the space ring...''


    ''Perhaps I should wander around and see what''s unique about this ce...''


    While Riya was contemting her next ns in her mind, Marco suddenly said,


    "Ah, my herd went so far away while I was busy talking to you; I need to leave now! My wife


    will get angry if I leave for too long! I am the most handsome after all!"


    Just when Marco was about to leave, Riya suddenly jumped up, sat on his fluffy back, and said, "Good, take me with you too, then. Consider me a guest in your giant family!"


    Marco immediately shouted at Riya and said,


    "Oi! How dare a lowly two-legged creature sit on the back of ''I'' the legendary Marco! Get


    down!"


    Suddenly, Riya pulled out a few candies from her space ring and said,


    "You see these? These are extremely powerful explosives; if you don''t want me to throw them


    on you and your ''Harem''... then be honest and show me around!"


    Riya once saw a movie where the main character bluffed his enemies to do his bidding, and now she''s trying the same thing here.


    The poor sheep guy had no choice after hearing Riya''s words; he gritted his teeth and said,


    "Ugh, to think ''I'' the great Marco will fall for the tricks of the lowly being one day... how


    unfortunate!"


    "Just wait, you two-legged creature! I will never forget this humiliation!"


    Riya, on the other hand, said,


    "Are you moving or not? The explosives seem to be eager to jump on you~"


    Marco sighed at those words and started to head towards the riverbank with Riya on his back.


    Seeing that Marco finally agreed, Riya smirked a bit,id down on Marco''s fluffy back, and started nibbling on her candies in secret.


    The poor sheep guy carried Riya on her back and directly bypassed his herd to head ahead


    alone.


    He didn''t want his beloved family toe into contact with this terrifying two-legged creature that has several explosives in her hand.


    Later, Marco noticed that Riya was eating those explosives and was even more terrified.


    ''T-this creature can eat explosives!? Where did such a monstere from in this isted


    ce!!!


    Marco hurried his steps and reached the riverbank after a few minutes.


    He panted heavily, as he had practically just run here at full speed, as he wanted to get rid of


    this dangerous monster as early as possible.


    "Okay, here is the riverbank; now I am leaving! Don''t you daree any closer to me and my


    herd from now on, okay?"


    Risa shook her head and said,


    "What? Why are you leaving so early? We still have to cross the river, though!"


    Marco panicked at those words and said,


    "N-no, impossible! Are you insane? A group of bloodthirsty crocodiles live in this river; I only


    dare wander around the shore! If I go too deep, they will eat me!"


    Riya tilted her head in confusion and said,


    "But aren''t you the legendary Marco? Even the legendary Marco fears a crocodile?"


    Even after hearing Riya''s words, Marco refused to give in.


    "No! I am strong, but not delusional! I won''t go in the water; that''s not my territory, and it''s


    rude to interfere with others''s territory, okay?"


    Just when Marco and Riya were having a debate, a giant crocodile jumped out of the river and


    tried to attack Riya.


    Riya, unfazed, immediately threw the box of candies she was holding into the crocodile''s open mouth, causing it to choke on the hard box and suffocate to death.


    The dead crocodile''s body started to float on the river, and even the other crocodiles that were


    lurking nearby ran away after seeing theirrade die so miserably.


    Marco was so shocked by everything that his legs started to tremble like crazy.


    ''S-she killed a crocodile so easily!? She''s a terrifying beast! A true monster!!'' Marco dared not dy anymore; he agreed to Riya''s words and jumped on the floating body of


    the dead crocodile, then jumped to the other side of the river.


    He didn''t want to die a miserable death like that poor crocodile, so he had no choice but to carry Riya on his back and do as she said.


    ''Ah, what an unlucky day it is today! I shouldn''t have bothered to go and talk to her! It would have been so much better if I just kept chewing on the juicy grass. Why did I even get involved


    with this monster...''


    Riya smiled happily and patted Marco''s back while saying,


    "Good! Just keep going like this! Go Go Big sheep!"


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems even Riya has learned a few tricks after adventuring with team Astra for so long.


    Question of the day:.


    Which one is more miserable?


    1. Marco who is getting ckmailed with candies.


    2. The poor crocodile who died from choking on candies.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 334: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-2.

    Chapter 334: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-2.


    ?


    "Hehe, your back is so fluffy- it''s kind of making me sleepy..."


    Hearing Riya''s words, Marco sighed and said,


    "Can you get off my back already... We already crossed the river and walked for quite a while...."


    Riyapletely disregarded Marco''s words, saying instead,


    "But you know what? Kai is fluffier than this, but he avoids me a lot..."


    At those words, Marco replied in an annoyed words,


    "Who even is Kai, ugh?"


    Riya responded with a smirk to that question.


    "It''s the pet cat of a friend of mine! It''s a very arrogant cat! It doesn''t let others touch it all... but it seems to like sitting on Lia''s shoulder for some reason..."


    "I once tried to snatch him away to y around with him for a day, but he''s a fast runner, and I didn''t manage to catch him at all... sigh~"


    After hearing those words, Marco just kept silent and didn''t even talk anymore.


    ''This two-legged creature is insane; she''s not even hearing my words anymore. ugh.. she''s just talking to herself at this point...''


    After walking for another hour or so, Marco and Riya arrived near a giant tree located on a small hill.


    Two chairs and a table were ced under the shade of the tree, and the table had several types of sweets and pastries on it.


    But what was most surprising was the woman sitting on one of the chairs.


    The woman nced at Riya and smiled slightly before speaking.


    "We meet again, Riya, ''Pursuer of the Eternal Nirvana''... It''s been a while..."


    Seeing the woman, Riya immediately jumped down from Marco''s back, and a surprised look appeared on her face.


    "Ah, you were here too, Aria Senpai!? Yeah, it''s been a while, hehe~"


    Riya walked over to Aria''s side and sat on the other chair, while Marco just stood there in silence.


    Aria nced over at Marco and said,


    "It''s been a while, Marco. I see that you have grown quite a lotpared to before..."


    Marco sighed at those words and said,


    "A while? It''s been more than a century since youst came here... I thought you would nevere back..."


    A confused look appeared on Riya''s face after hearing Marco and Aria''s conversation. "You two know each other?"


    Aria nodded her head at that question and replied.


    "Actually, Marco belongs to a race that''s already been considered extinct by the outside world; even I thought that this type of sentient sheep''s had gone extinct...."


    "But color me surprised; I found a young cub when I was wandering around at random in the Beastfolk''s Empire..."


    "There are a lot of hidden gems in that ce. Half of the beasts in my garden are from that ce..."


    Riya tilted her head and asked,


    "Your garden?"


    Aria nodded her head and said,


    "Well, we are sitting in my garden right now... This whole in is my garden; actually, the Dragon King gifted me this area..."


    For a dragon, the perception of time and the space they live in are different.


    Humans might think that this whole in is too big to be considered a garden, but for a dragon, this ce is actually quite small.


    All the beasts and monsters living in this ce''s ecosystem are basically Aria''s pets.


    Even Marco himself has met Aria before; she was the one who taught himnguage and how to talk and understand others.


    She was the one who gave him the knowledge of this ce and asked him to lead his herd of sheep.


    Marco has been following her orders for thest hundred years.


    Although he''s not an awakener, he has a lifespan of three hundred years due to his unique bloodline, so he''s still in his prime.


    "Ah, forgive me about that; I was out on a small trip with the Dragon King these past few years..."


    Aria was literally wandering around and ying chess with the dragon king for the wholest century, but a century is really not too long for a dragon.


    For her, a century is simplyparable to a year in terms of human perception of time.


    Marco wanted to reprimand Aria for abandoning him for so many years, but when he finally saw her again, he was at a loss for words.


    "Hundred years is a small trip? You dragons sure are a wilful lot..."


    For Aria, a hundred years meant nothing, but for Marco, a lot of time has passed. He considered Aria his protector and his mother, and he wanted to meet her again one day to thank her for all she did for him.


    But he just kept waiting and waiting, and she never returned.


    And now that she has suddenly returned, Marco has no words to describe his thoughts.


    "Well, how long before you appear again after this time, then?"


    Aria sighed at that question and said,


    "Er... I think I will be staying in the Dragon Valley for a long time this time... After all, things


    are getting more rowdy nowadays..."


    "I want to investigate the strange phenomenon of hundreds of miasma-filled dungeons opening in the Dragon Valley every year..."


    Hearing those words, Marco replied,


    "Ah, about that... When the miasma-filled dungeon opened in this ce for the first time, thousands of your so-called ''Pets'' died... Fortunately, the dragon''s started to clear out the


    dungeon soon after..."


    "Otherwise, this garden of yours would have been done for..."


    "When you didn''t return even when your garden was on the brink of destruction... I thought


    you had died..."


    Aria chuckled slightly upon hearing those words,


    "Haha, you worry too much; there''s no way anything can kill me when I am wandering around with the Dragon King himself... I have yet to see anything that has ever been able to survive


    his anger..."


    At that moment, Riya intervened and spoke,


    "What about Link''s Father?"


    After hearing those words, Aria paused in thought for a moment before speaking.


    "Well, that''s uncertain to say... The outside world thinks that the Dragon King and Ashtel Rex


    might get into conflict if they meet... but the thing is..."


    "The two of them have already met once before... Although they are not friends, you can


    consider them acquaintances at the very least..."


    Riya was really surprised after hearing those words.


    "What!? Is that really true!?"


    Aria nodded her head and said,


    "Yeah, when I was wandering around in the Oort cloud with the Dragon King about sixteen


    years ago, we came across him as he was going back after conquering an SS-rank dungeon..."


    "We actually had a good chat..."


    Riya found all this information extremely shocking. The media in the human empire consistently seeks to garner more views by drawingparisons between powerful


    individuals.


    Thus, it leads people to misunderstand that the strongest individuals are not necessarily on good terms with each other, and they can engage in conflict at any time.


    But this isn''t true.


    Just like Ashtel has a lot to protect, the Dragon King Idri himself has the whole Dragon Valley


    to take care of.


    If they fight, victory and defeat won''t matter; both of them will lose, as their fight will affect things that they want to protect.


    Worldly things seem so fickle in front of powerhouses like ''Demi-gods'', but these worldly things are what bind them too, just like any other normal person.


    "Looking back, Mr. Ashtel is not a bad person either; I would say he''s carrying just as much


    burden on his shoulders as the Dragon King..."


    "In fact, I think all those who lead their races are kind of simr in some ways..."


    Aria nced at Riya and said,


    "I actually met the Demon King himself once... His way of ruling his race is different from us...


    He doesn''t go to great lengths to protect his kin like us..."


    "But as the ruler of the Demon Continent, even he''s trying his best to expand his race and give them a better chance for survival in this world..."


    "Even though the alliance doesn''t like the demon race, if you look from their point of view, demons do what they are meant to do... They don''t spread miasma intentionally..."


    "It''s in their nature to do so... Looking from this angle, you will find that no one is absolutely


    evil and no one is absolutely good..."


    Riya frowned at those words and asked,


    "But demons destroy other people''s homes and kill people for fun, right?"


    Aria nodded her head and smiled.


    "Exactly... And that''s what demons are supposed to do; they live on ''Miasma'', which is an


    extremely toxic thing for any kind of living being, and they are bound to lose their minds if they get corrupted by it..."


    "In other words, demons themselves are victims of miasma if you look at it from a different


    point of view..."


    "And what the alliance does is ''Kill'' these victims to stop this miasma and corruption from spreading... as we don''t have any other way to stop it..."


    At that moment, Aria''s eyes turned serious as she said,


    "What if Link was corrupted by miasma and became a demon? What would you do? Would you


    still be able to think of demons as enemies?"


    "You traverse the path of ''Healing all wounds'', but what about the wounds inflicted on


    entities without their awareness?"


    "If the whole Demon race is just a victim, then wouldn''t that mean you''d have to heal them


    too?"


    "Tell me, Riya, what do you think is the true meaning of your healing magic, then?"


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems we are going really deep into psychological


    thoughts...


    Question of the day:


    What are your thoughts on Aria''s words?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 335: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-3.

    Chapter 335: The True Meaning of Healing Magic! Part-3.


    ?


    From the very moment that Riya awakened and became a healer, she always had doubts in her mind.


    ''All the teachers and all the senior healers say that ''healing'' those in need is the duty of a healer... But how do you ''define'' that person in ''need''..''


    Even when fighting in a dungeon, you are ultimately attacking other creatures home and killing them mercilessly.


    Wounds inflicted on those beasts can also be considered wounds, and they can also be considered someone who needs ''healing'' magic.


    However, no one goes ahead and heals a beast that you need to kill to conquer the dungeon. Because every creature in the world is inherently ''selfish''.


    If it benefits you and you think that it''s morally right, then you would not hesitate to hurt others.


    That''s the way the world works.


    Trying to run away or trying to not acknowledge this fact is pretty useless. You can''t run away from something that is an inherent part of your existence.


    To exist is to be selfish, and to be selfish is to find benefits for yourself.


    Awakeners conquer dungeons by killing all the beasts that live there, and it''s considered morally right to do so.


    This situation always used to cause doubt in Riya''s heart.


    She walked the path of ''healing every wound'', and such a goal would be theoretically impossible to achieve.


    From the very beginning, Riya''s ''Path'' was already one with no real ends in sight. Her ''Path'' itself was already extremely unique and strong from the very start; very few people can walk on such difficult ''Paths''.


    This is also one of the reasons why even the ''World'' itself was forced to acknowledge her and protect her from the ''heavenly punishment'', when she awakened her legendary power.


    But if there''s a ''Path'', there must always be an ''End'' to it.


    The ''Path'' that Riya chose has no ''End'' to it theoretically, but if there''s no ''End'' then you can always create an ''End'' by yourself.


    Creating an ''End'' to an ''Endless Path'' with the help of your own talent and mind is also one of the unique abilities of people who walk on ''Paths'' that have no real ''End'' to them.


    For example, when you know that the road ahead of you is endless, you will go as far as you can and consider it the end point for you, and that''s exactly what it means to be ''Creating'' and ''End'' yourself.


    If the ''Path'' is ''Endless'' then create a boundary and set up the ''End'' point for yourself ording to your abilities.


    "The reason I always wanted to be strong and wanted to heal wounds was because I wanted to protect everyone I can..."


    "I want to be strong enough to protect all those whom I care for and all those whom I can care for... My goal is simple: I will save the lives that I can..."


    "Also, if the life that is in need of saving is trying to hurt others, then I can consider not


    saving that life, as saving it will only harm others..."


    "There is no such thing as endless kindness; I acknowledge my own shorings and my selfishness; that''s the ''End'' of my ''Path''..."


    Riya''s expression turned serious as she said all those words.


    Although it''s the job of a healer to save those in need, the healer itself is a creature with self-


    awareness.


    As all creatures are inherently selfish, the healer can choose who to heal and who not to. Riya acknowledges the fact that she can never be truly ''selfless'', she can never heal someone who tries to hurt those she cares about.


    When conquering a dungeon and when fighting those who want to inflict harm upon you, your fight is always for selfish goals, but that''s the way people are supposed to be.


    And Riya can''t justify this.


    If a healer can simply say that they are truly selfless and will heal even their enemies, then that means the healer is hurting their ownrades.


    You can never truly be selfless and can never truly heal all wounds that exist; thus, the way to put an ''End'' to the ''Path'' is to create boundaries that you will not cross.


    Riya decided that she would heal those in need as long as the other party wasn''t aiming to harm her or those she cared for.


    She basically created a proper boundary for herself and figured out that to prevent as many wounds and heal as many wounds as possible, she would need to have these boundaries.


    While acknowledging herself, Riya''s eyes never flickered, and she looked straight into Aria''s eyes as she answered the question.


    "Healing all wounds that exist is impossible, but all I can do is try my best as a healer who has aimed to be the best... Maybe it''s selfish, but that''s how it is..."


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have found the supposed ''End'' of your ''Path''!]


    [Ding! Congrattions! You have made great progress in mastering the power of the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana''!]


    As if the world itself trembled in acknowledgement at Riya''s words, and the wind in the surroundings sped up for a few seconds and caused Riya''s hair to wave in the air.


    The rare look of seriousness on her face added a unique charm, and Riya seemed to have matured even further now.


    Aria, on the other hand, nodded her head and said, with a smile,


    "As I thought, I didn''t even need to ask you about it; you are indeed the best healer I have ever seen in all my years of experience..."


    Aria sighed and said,


    "I already told the other evaluators that there was no need to even test you, but I guess it''s not bad to hear everything from your mouth either..."


    "As a result of your excellence, I give you ''Excellent'' as my evaluation... I didn''t give the ''Genius'' evaluation because even I don''t have a legendary power like you..."


    "Thus, I myself am not worthy of measuring your potential in just mere words, so the title of ''Genius'' won''t suit you anymore..."


    "You have an ''End'' to your ''Path'', but you have yet to walk to it, so just keep working hard,


    and you may achieve that ''Genius'' status one day..."


    Aria got up from her seat and patted Riya''s shoulder.


    She nced at the horizon and told Riya everything about how she suddenly got teleported


    here and what was actually going on.


    Riya was confused at the beginning but then understood everything eventually.


    "Hehe, I wonder what evaluation others will get; I am certain that Link will get the ''Genius''


    evaluation, though..."


    Aria shook her head after hearing those words and said,


    "No... You can''t even evaluate that guy; the power he holds in terms of physical capabilities alone is enough to make him a genius..."


    "But things are not that simple... Peak SS-rankers have a unique intuition... and my intuition tells me that Link is not that simple... Evaluating him is like evaluating the world itself..."


    "It''s basically impossible... That''s the reason why he wasn''t even teleported; he was sent directly to the dragon temple because there is no one in this world who is worthy enough to evaluate the ''world'' itself..."


    Riya couldn''t understand the big words that Aria was talking about, so she just changed the topic and asked.


    "By the way, Link is not the only one who is strong... There''s also Rio; he even defeated Link


    once, you know..."


    Although Riya felt quite shocked when she found out that Link lost to Rio in the finals, she wasn''t particrly worried about it.


    It''s been nearly two years since the group started to adventure together, and by now, Riya has already considered the members of Team Astra as her friends.


    Thus, she wasn''t unhappy that Rio won, as he is also a friend. She was just worried about


    whether Link would be depressed about itter at that time.


    "Haha, I know what you want to ask... You want to ask, If Link can''t be evaluated, then what


    will we say about someone who defeated even Link?"


    Aria just sighed and said,


    "The thing is, Rio, that kid is a unique case... I had a look at him properly when we were


    teleporting you guys away..."


    "We were able to teleport you all, including even Link, except for Rio... The evaluator literally


    had to carry him on foot..."


    "I don''t know if the ''Sleep'' spell even worked on him. The teleportation spell of an SS ranker


    is already extremely strong, but it didn''t work on Rio at all..."


    "If I have to evaluate him, I would say he''s an ''Anomaly''...."


    Riya tilted her head in confusion and asked,


    "What do you mean by that?"


    Aria just shook her head at that question and replied,


    "The problem is that even I can''t define what I mean by that; an ''Anomaly'' is not something we can predict or define; it happens randomly; sometimes it''s bad and sometimes it''s good..." "Even my intuition is useless on him, and I can''t tell what''s going on with him, so I have no way to describe him..."


    "His existence is as weird as it is fascinating..."


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems we can finally see some deeper details on the secrets behind Rio''s existence. Let''s


    goo!!


    Question of the day:


    What would you like to be if given chance?


    1. A Genius that can''t be evaluated.


    2. An anomaly that can''t be predicted.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 336: Proof of Determination... Part-1.

    Chapter 336: Proof of Determination... Part-1.


    ?


    Dragon Valley, Northern Region


    An Extremely tall mountain.


    "I seriously have no experience in mountain climbing... So I guess I will just have to make do by using some other methods..."


    [Summon: Demon Chimera!]


    ~Swish~ (Cold air noises)


    Nothing happened when Liam tried to summon Kazto, and the scene became kind of embarrassing.


    "Oi oi! It''s illegal to summon help! You can''t be doing that here!"


    Just when Liam was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, a man''s voice entered his ears.


    Liam nced to his left and found a middle-aged man sitting on arge boulder nearby. He was wearing casual clothes and a big hat on his head.


    His one hand was ced on hisp, while the other was holding arge bottle of wine.


    Anyone can tell from the man''s reddened face that the other party is quite drunk at the moment.


    "Huh? I never knew that drunkards also like to wander around in mountains..."


    When the man heard Liam''s words, he red at Liam and said,


    "Idiot! I am not a drunkard! I drink because I want to escape reality! Can''t you tell the difference!"


    "Sigh- young people these days..."


    Liam''s expression turnedplicated as he said,


    "How am I supposed to know the motivations of random drunkard... By the way, if you are looking for people to borrow money from, don''t ask me... Please go away. I am kind of busy right now... shoo~ shoo~"


    Liam waved his hand at the man as if he were trying to ''Shoo'' away a random cat or something that came over to his house to disturb him.


    "I have never seen a kid that has a more annoying face than you; I kind of want to beat you for some reason..."


    Hearing the man''s words, Liam pretended to dial some number on his phone.


    "Hello, child protection services? A suspicious old drunkard is saying that he will beat me-"


    The middle-aged man could not help but shout at that moment.


    "D*mn you punk!"


    Liam stopped pretending after seeing that he had sessfully pissed off the other party without even doing much.


    ''An SS-ranker? What is he doing here? Is he responsible for my being here? I need to stall for more time somehow; maybe someone wille to rescue soon...''


    Liam wasn''t actually messing around on purpose; he was stalling for time in a very hidden way.


    The very moment Liam came here, he already felt that something was wrong with this ce. Thus, he used words to say what he was doing, and then he tried to summon Kazto. He was going to summon Kazto and escape this ce.


    However, his summoning was unsessful for an unknown reason, most likely due to the presence of this SS-ranker.


    Liam immediately decided to buy some time for himself.


    Unlike Rio and the others on his team, who aren''t quite good at making ns, Liam cane up with ns at the spur of a moment.


    He knew from the start that he couldn''t fight an SS-ranker, and he couldn''t even escape from an SS-ranker.


    Even if you have a teleportation scroll on you and try to use it, if the SS-ranker is in close proximity, they can literally interfere with the space-time fabric and stop your teleportation mid-way.


    Thus, as a low-ranking person, if you want to escape the grasp of an SS-ranker, either you teleport away before the other party finds you or you just pray to your ancestors to give you more luck.


    Everyone below rank SS is nothing more than an ant to these demi-god-like beings.


    "Ugh, forget it; wasting time on pointless talks will only make me more sober, and then I will start remembering my sad past again..."


    The middle-aged man drank wine directly from thatrge bottle with an annoyed look on his face while ignoring Liam''s annoying face.


    "Sigh- Wine is still the best way to escape reality, I just love the taste of it..."


    Upon hearing the man''s words, Liam abruptly stated,


    "My father says that ''Wine is like Sh*t, you feel better after discarding it away''..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, aplicated look appeared on the man''s face,


    "Your father sounds like the kind of person that I would hate the most..."


    Liam nodded his head and said,


    "Well, I don''t like him either, but you know, he''s an SS ranker; I can''t really do anything


    against him, and his name is Neo Aldif, by the way-"


    Before Liam could finish his words, the man''s eyes widened, and he said,


    "Ah! It''s that hateful Schemer!! So you are the son of that messed up guy!?"


    The unknown man suddenly appeared beside Liam and patted his shoulder with a look of pity


    on his face.


    "Sigh, it must be hard having a ''psycho'' as your father, right? I was originally quite annoyed by you, but now I feel pity for you..."


    A confused look appeared on Liam''s face after hearing those words.


    "Eh? What do you mean, ''Psycho''? Although he''s quite an annoying man, I don''t think he has


    any mental issues..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, the man sighed and said,


    "Well, if you don''t know... Then it means that he has done good work in hiding all his dark


    past..."


    The man drank a mouthful of wine and then said it with a serious look on his face.


    "Insanity like no other, making tens of thousands of summoned beasts''s rampages on the battlefield, he alone can bring out an army that can put the armies of weaker races and entire nations to shame..."


    "A man who''s so insane that he wasn''t afraid of fighting three SS-rankers at the same time, hemitted so many war crimes and ughtered millions of innocent civilians of the Orc Empire during the fifty-year Orc War..."


    A solemn look appeared on the man''s face as he continued to say,


    "He''s such a psycho that he ughtered a small group of dragons that were living in a secluded area, just because he wanted a dragon as a summon..."


    "That day, he ughtered nearly twenty dragons and took three of them as his f*cking puppets! He even ughtered young and old alike; none were spared..."


    "Don''t go on his face; that guy''s insanity can''t be fathomed... I think the only reason he has be calmer and quieter these days is because he''s been warned by Ashtel Rex to not cross


    the line of morality..."


    Even Liam was shocked after hearing all those things.


    "T-this!? H-how can that be!? He''s always using a mimic to hide and doesn''t even dare show


    up in person; I always used to think that he''s a coward!"


    Upon hearing Liam''s words, the man chuckled slightly and stated,


    "Pffft~~ Coward? The guy who spit on the face of the Demon King and murdered half of the children of the Demon King right in front of him is a Coward?"


    "HAHAH, That''s the biggest joke I have ever heard!"


    Liam''s pupils shrank as he heard those words,


    "W-wait... Wasn''t he only sent to taunt the Demon King and lure him away in that mission of


    assassinating Demon General Azazel?"


    The man nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Of course, he was only asked to taunt the other party, but Neo is an insane guy; the best


    method he came up with to taunt him was to ughter the other party''s children and then spit


    on his face..."


    "The demon king was so angry that he chased Neo in the whole sr system like a mad dog! I


    have never seen a demon be so miserable in my life... That was the first time I ever felt pity for


    a demon..." The more Liam listened, the more he felt that his worldview was being shattered.


    He has always underestimated Neo a lot.


    Neo has always been absent for Liam most of the time, and he usually likes to create troubles


    for Liam that annoy him a lot.


    Therefore, Liam did not take the time to thoroughly investigate Neo''s background.


    Moreover, Neo has done a very good job of hiding information about the things that he did in


    war.


    You will not find any of this information on the inte, even if you hire a hacker to find it. "Why do you think he rarely goes out of the nation? It''s because he was warned by Ashtel not to mess around... I doubt he would be this tamed if not for the existence of Ashtel Rex..." Just by existing, Ashtel influences a lot of things in the world. His existence alone is enough to bring many bad things to a halt.


    "Also, you should be ready, kid... I wouldn''t be surprised if he suddenly had the urge to attack


    you if you started to be his equal..."


    At that moment, Liam frowned and said,


    "Why would I trust your words? What if you are trying to sow discord?"


    The man shrugged his shoulders at Liam''s question and said,


    "Well, it depends on you. Trust my words if you want to, or don''t trust them if you don''t want


    to; no one''s stopping you..."


    The man walked in front of Liam and said it with a serious look while looking into Liam''s


    eyes.


    "But keep one thing in mind: Neo was considered one of the ''Rivals'' of Ashtel Rex in his younger days; don''t underestimate that man..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    I suddenly remembered that I haven''t told much about Neo and his past, so here we are!


    Question of the day:


    Don''t you think that Neo seems like a viin?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 337: Proof of Determination... Part-2.

    Chapter 337: Proof of Determination... Part-2.


    ?


    After a few minutes, the SS-ranker cleared up the misunderstanding and told Liam about the general situation.


    "So, you literally kidnapped me and brought me for an evaluation in this remote ce?"


    Liam gave strange looks to the man standing in front of him.


    "Ahem, it''s not like that. I, the leader of the Ice Dragon n, Themes, am a dragon of my word, and I can assure you that no harm wille to you or your friends..."


    "In the first ce, the only reason you guys are even taking part in this evaluation is because you guys yourself came to take part in the Dragon Festival..."


    "And for the younger general, taking part in the Dragon Festival means that you will have to take this evaluation test..."


    Hearing Themes''s words, Liam couldn''t argue back.


    They agreed to participate in the dragon festival and came to the dragon valley of their own volition.


    Now they can''t me the dragons for doing things ording to their own customs.


    ''Ugh, if I had known that this would happen, I would have prepared a bit more...''


    Liam and the group were under the impression that ''Dragon Festival'' meant there would be a grand celebration and everything would be exciting to look at.


    Although all of this is true, the younger generation still has to pass this evaluation test before they can go back and enjoy the real festival.


    ''Sometimes I feel that the older generation has nothing to do and feels bored, so they like to mess with the young ones on purpose...''


    Liam had no choice but toply with Themes''s words.


    Although he isn''t going topletely trust the guy, he knows that there''s no reason for an SS-ranker to deceive him.


    If Themes was really an enemy, he could have already sted him off the surface of the earth thousands of times by now.


    But he didn''t do so, even after Liam pissed him off earlier.


    In other words, Themes''s words are likely true; there really is an evaluation going on, and he has to pass it.


    Thinking this far, Liam nced at Themes and asked,


    "By the way, what you said about my father is indeed quite shocking, but I will choose to believe it for now; I have always felt an ominous sense from him..."


    "But I will try to look for more evidenceter..."


    Themes shook his head and said,


    "There is no point in that; you can''t possibly find evidence if the guy has already hidden everything..."


    Liam sighed and said,


    "Still, I need to try at least... I can ask Mr. Ashtel or Mr. Jin about it..."


    When Themes heard Liam''s words, he tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "Jin? Who''s that? Isn''t your human race only has two SS rankers? Ashtel and Neo?"


    Liam shook his head and said,


    "You likely haven''t gone to the outside world for a while if you don''t know about it... But the human race now has four SS rankers... Raji Croft and Jin Walt are the new ones..."


    Themes pondered briefly before speaking,


    "Hmm, I have never heard about them; they are likely not as strong and famous as the other two if I haven''t heard about them..."


    Hearing those words, Liam shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well, if youpare others to Mr. Ashtel''s level of power, then everyone else will obviously look weak to you..."


    Themes scratched the back of his neck and said,


    "Haha, yes... Even I can''t shatter the space-time fabric on such a scale as that man did to protect his kid... I was quite shocked when I heard news about that matter..."


    "I don''t think even the Dragon King will go that far just to protect a kid whose mere existence brought great disaster for the entire nation..."


    Liam rolled his eyes and said,


    "Yeah, Link is the type of guy who even made the heavens jealous just by being born in this world... Comparing yourself to the likes of him is straight-up madness..."


    Even Themes shrugged his shoulders in response to those words.


    "Well, he''s the son of the strongest man after all; you can''t possibly expect him to be weak... He didn''t even have to take an evaluation; he was directly sent to the Dragon temple..." "To tell you the truth, even we SS-rank dragons rarely get the chance to go to that ancient temple... but the dragon king didn''t even hesitate to invite him there..."


    "As if he has seen something special in him that we can''t see..."


    Liam didn''t want to continue hearing more praise about Link, so he changed the topic on the spot.


    "Okay, forget about all that... Let''s talk about the more important thing here: What do I need to do to pass your evaluation test..."


    "The thing is, I came to the dragon valley because I wanted to know more about the dragons and what they generally like to eat and do, so I don''t have time to waste with you here..."


    "I will finish this evaluation and go to the festival to figure out what I came here for... So hurry up and tell me what I need to do..."


    Liam can''t use even the slightest bit of Ellie''s power, and he can''t evenmunicate with her as long as he''s in the dragon valley.


    If he tried tomunicate, it''s very likely that the Dragon King would sense her existence. Or other SS-rankers may find something amiss.


    Thus, Liam wanted to hurry up and deal with all the things fast so that he could leave the dragon valley early and finally summon Ellie again.


    Not being able to talk with Ellie for even one day is like a great torture to him, and he has to withstand this torture for several more days toe.


    Which is already a very daunting task that will cost him a lot of patience.


    His situation right now is somewhat simr to Link''s when he was separated from Riya during the tournament of supreme talents.


    ...


    "Tch, no need to be so impatient; we have all the time in the world anyway..."


    "My evaluation test is simple; you just need to climb this mountain, without summoning your summoned beasts... I asked the same of the other kids of the dragon race..."


    After hearing Themes''s words, Liam tilted his head in confusion and asked,


    "The Dragon Race has summoners too? Aren''t dragons themselves quite strong and


    inherently have some mastery over particr elements?"


    Themes nodded his head and said,


    "Obviously, we have summoners! All awakeners are fundamentally the same in the end; we


    dragons are also no different... Also, those dragons who awaken to be summoners are usually


    physically weaker than others most of the time..."


    "Matter of fact, I myself am a summoner; you are literally standing on the back of my


    summoned beast right now..."


    Themes''s words caught Liam off guard.


    Only after Themes pointed it out did he sense that this whole mountain range is actually


    located on the back of a gigantic turtle!


    "Such a big turtle!? And why is it carrying such a big mountain on its back!?"


    Themes frowned a bit and said,


    "What are you talking about? This mountain is barely of average size; I actually use the topmost area of this mountain as a body cooler when I sleep in my dragon form..."


    "The turtle is holding this mountain for my sake, as that snowy area is literally my home!"


    Liam frowned a bit and said,


    "So you kidnapped a kid to your home!? The more you talk, the more you be suspicious!


    What do you want to do with me!?"


    "Stay away, you fiend! I have a girlfriend!"


    Themes rubbed his forehead to stop the headache.


    ''Ugh, as expected of the son of that shrewd guy, he''s just as shrewd and irritating... If not for


    the orders of the Dragon King to not harm the guests, I would have really beat up some sense


    in this kid''s head...''


    The Dragon King himself said that no one''s allowed to harm the guests, so Themes had no choice but to bear with Liam''s annoying face.


    Themes calmed down his anger, took a sip of the wine, and said in a calm voice,


    "I have already exined to you the details of the test; get moving already! Keep in mind that you aren''t allowed to summon your beasts, or you will get eliminated!"


    With that said, Themes flew in the air like a rocket and disappeared somewhere in the sky.


    But in fact, he was standing in the air while hiding his presence and was observing Liam and the other kids who were trying to climb from various directions.


    The main reason why all these kids aren''t able to encounter each other even while in the same location is because there is an illusion spell ced on all participants.


    They won''t be able to see each other even if they are standing side by side, and they will pass right through each other even if they somehow end up hitting each other.


    This is the power of the insanely strong illusions created by A; all evaluators are using this


    power.


    This is also the reason why Lia and Sin never found anyone else other than them. This illusion is so powerful that, due to her low mastery of her legendary power, even Riya was affected by it, and even Link would have been affected if they had cast it on him. Only Rio is the exception, as he has a tripleyered defense mechanism against illusions.


    First, he has amazing mastery over sword intent; second, he has an imperfect sword heart; andstly, he has true immunity.


    It would be more strange if Rio fell for an illusion, even with all these defenses.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    Which test would you rather take?


    1. The illusion forest test, where weird creatures wander.


    2. Wandering in a dangerous garden and then answering Aria''s questions.


    3. Climbing up a massive mountain with no safety equipment, all while being stared at by a


    drunkard.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 338: Proof of Determination... Part-3.

    Chapter 338: Proof of Determination... Part-3.


    ?


    "First things first, you know that summoners aren''t physically strong, right? So, why are you making me climb a mountain when you already know that?"


    While making his way up the mountain, Liam suddenly asked a asked a question loudly, but no answers came back.


    Still, Liam didn''t stop; he kept questioning,


    "Wouldn''t it have been better to just have us summoners fight each other and improve our skills? This mountain climbing is such a waste of time..."


    Currently, Liam is unable to summon, and he can''t even use Ellie''s shadow magic as that will attract Themes''s attention.


    Moreover, the only reason Liam can use various kinds of magic without even being a mage is because he''s been blessed by a dragon.


    It''s Ellie''s powers as a summoned beast that help him use magic on his own, but now he can''t use them, as Themes will again notice the strange fact that Liam can use magic even though he''s not a mage.


    In other words, right now, without his summons and magic skills, Liam is just as weak as Riya. The only thing he has right now is just base stats that are barely at the early levels of an A- ranker and all the mana that he can use to give himself a physical boost.


    Every being in the world knows how to control mana, and they can use it to give themselves a simple physical boost without even needing any skill or talent for that.


    It''s a basic ability that every creature in the world has.


    Right now, Liam can only use that to help him climb the mountain, which is basically not enough.


    ''Themes likely knows that even without my summoned beasts, I can still climb this mountain if given enough time, as I am an A-ranker and physical fitness is not really a problem for me...''


    While trying to walk up the mountain via easier paths, Liam kept thinking about everything over and over.


    ''There is literally no point in making summoners like me use their physical capabilities to solve a problem... This is basically against the fundamental way of how a summoner should be...''


    Liam''s eyes narrowed as he stood on a giant fallen tree''s trunk and stared at the giant mountain in front of him.


    ''A summoner is supposed to use his summoned beast to do everything... If you are relying on your physical capabilities, then that just shows that the summoner himself is not good enough...''


    Being a summoner means that you need to be strong enough inmanding your summons that you don''t need to do anything yourself in battle.


    If you end up having to interfere yourself, then that means you aren''t good enough as a summoner, as you weren''t supposed to do anything from the start.


    ''There''s clearly something that I am missing here... Even Themes is a summoner, and he won''t just arrange a random test for fun; there must be some reason why he banned summons...''


    A summoner without his summons is just a weak target that can be defeated easily, and such a situation is very weird.


    In the first ce, the main point of being a summoner is that you must not let your opponent get too close and must not let your opponent catch you off guard.


    If your opponent is able to attack you (the summoner), that just means that you arecking in yourmanding abilities and aren''t controlling your summoned beasts well enough.


    A summoner isn''t supposed to be at the forefront; they are supposed to be in the background, controlling their beasts that are at the front.


    ''Hmm... without summoning a summon, there''s only one way to deal with all this... and that is to use the power of your primary summoned beast...''


    Liam thought for quite a while, and he came to the conclusion that Themes likely wants the participants to use the power of their ''primary'' summons to climb this mountain.


    A primary summon is basically the very first summon you ever have and you use inbat most of the time.


    ''Ellie is my primary summon; only she''s the one whose power I can always use without even summoning her on the battlefield...''


    A summoner can always use the power of their primary summons without needing to even summon them.


    Although it takes a lot of cooperation between the two parties, it''s a very handy ability that all summoners must learn in their lives.


    ''But the main problem is, I can''t use Ellie''s powers right now... If I did, that would spell disaster for Ellie... d*mn! It seems I am stuck in great trouble now...''


    Liam couldn''t help but feel a bit frustrated now.


    Although he can indeed climb the mountain with just his physical abilities, that will likely not get him a good evaluation in the end.


    Moreover, this evaluation test likely also has a very short time limit. The evaluation test


    might be over in just three days or a week.


    If Liam uses his physical abilities, he''s confident he can climb this mountain in ten days at the


    earliest.


    But he likely doesn''t have that much time.


    ''Ugh... Am I going to fail a test for the first time in my life?...''


    Liam has never failed a test before; he''s always been quite good in all aspects.


    Except for Link and Rio, he doesn''t think anyone else can even rival him in the younger


    generation.


    Forget about failing; Liam has never gotten below 95 percent marks in any of the theory orbat-rted tests.


    But today might be the day when Liam might ''fail'' for the first time in his life.


    Other participants will likely figure out sooner orter that they have to use their primary summoned beast''s power to clear this test.


    And Liam will be left behind in dust by them as he can''t use his primary summoned beast''s


    power.


    ''Think, Liam think... There must be some other way around this problem...''


    Liam stopped staring at the mountain, sat down on the fallen tree''s trunk, and closed his eyes


    to think.


    He refused to believe that there was any other way around this problem.


    ''Every problem in the world has more than just one solution to it... If I can''t use Ellie''s power,


    I need to figure out some other way...''


    Liam couldn''t help but frown at the situation.


    He doesn''t have enough time, and he can''t even take advice from his biggest helper bymunicating with her via telepaths, as Themes will notice it too.


    ''Currently, I feel like a person who is forced tomit a crime while being right under the watch of the police, which is ready to catch me at any time...''


    ''It''s kind of frustrating...''


    The moment Liam dropped his guard and used Ellie''s power, he would not be able to exin


    anything to Themes.


    Moreover, this ce is likely very remote; no one wille to save his life in this ce.


    ''Er... I kind of regreting to the Dragon Valley now... Maybe it would have been better to just stay at home and make cookies...''


    The problem that Liam is facing seems to have no way out of it, and this time, Liam might really fail a test for the first time in his life.


    Meanwhile, at the same time.


    In the sky.


    ''What is this kid even doing? Why is he dying?''


    Themes couldn''t help but frown at Liam''s strange behavior.


    Unlike all the other participants, Liam simply stopped moving and sat down in one ce, as if


    he were already giving up on the test.


    Meanwhile, the other participants have already started to figure out that they need to use the powers of their primary summons to pass this test.


    Only Liam is the one who isn''t using his summoned beast''s power.


    ''Strange... Isn''t it said that he has a dragon as his summon? Why isn''t he using that dragon''s


    powers?''


    Liam became famous the very day he summoned a dragon for the first time.


    The world knows that Liam has summoned a dragon, but as Liam wasn''t allowed to summon Ellie in the supreme tournament, the world doesn''t really know much about Ellie.


    The entire world is aware that Liam owns a dragon, but they are unaware of the type of dragon he possesses or its appearance.


    Even Themes has seen Liam''s battle videos in the Supreme Tournament arc, but he has no


    idea about Ellie either.


    Although Liam did use Ellie''s powers quite often, people misunderstood that his summoned


    beast Kazto is capable of using ''space'' and ''shadow'' type powers, so they don''t think that his


    dragon is a shadow type.


    It''s been centuries since a dragon made a proper contract with a summoner, and there has never been a shadow dragon who made contracts with humans.


    So, even the thought that Liam has a shadow dragon didn''t cross anyone''s mind, including


    Themes.


    ''Forget it; everyone has their own way of doing things. Let''s wait and see; it''s not like you will be able to climb the mountain with just this much...''


    ''I have taken my time to arrange this test; it''s not so simple that you can beat it so easily... I estimate that even the fastest of them will need at least five days toplete this test...''


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that Liam is stuck in quite a difficult situation now...


    Question of the day:


    What are your thoughts on Liam''s situation?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 339: Proof of Determination... Part-4.

    Chapter 339: Proof of Determination... Part-4.


    ?


    All summoners can personally use the power of their primary summon without needing to actually summon the beast on the field. This is basic knowledge.


    This gives a summoner a decent amount of defensive capability.


    Typically, the primary summon for most summoners is the first beast they have ever summoned in their lifetime.


    Some summoners also change their primary summon if the original one somehow ends up breaking the contract and ends up going back to the spirit realm.


    Although it''s rare, it happens sometimes.


    But even in these scenarios, a summoner can still only use the power of one beast without the need for summoning.


    Summoners are weak as individuals; their strength lies in group fights.


    Thus, to make up for their total defenselessness, they use the power of their primary summons when the need arises.


    They generally use this power to stall some time so that they can summon their beasts in the meantime.


    This is also why most summoners maintain their primary summon as a shield- or tank-type beast, which can provide them with high defense and buy them time.


    The same is true for Liam; Ellie not only actively protects him with mana barriers, she even keeps her shadow magic ready at all times.


    When an attack hits Liam, the shadow magic immediately activates, nullifying the attack without Liam having to do anything.


    Unless you are as broken as Rio and Link, it''s really near impossible to breakthrough Ellie''s strong barriers for the lower or same-ranked awakeners.


    But things are different at the moment.


    If Liam had been able to use Ellie''s help, he could have already rushed to the top of the mountain by now.


    As a dragon, the powers brought by Ellie are just too brokenly overpowered. Ellie alone can defeat all of Liam''s summons together without much trouble.


    Fortunately, she is his primary summon; otherwise, just summoning and maintaining her in the field would have consumed insane amounts of mana.


    ''This brings us to a question that has been bugging me all along.... What is the real difference between a primary summon and the others?''


    ''Why is it that you don''t need any mana to maintain your primary summon, but the others need mana just to be present on the field?''


    ''Why is it that you can only use the powers of your primary summons and not the others? What''s so different between them?''


    Sitting on the fallen tree trunk, Liam couldn''t help but think about various questions that have been bugging him for years now.


    Originally, Liam also used to think of his summoned beast as a tool, and even Ellie was nothing more than a close friend.


    However, after he stopped caring for Kira and moved on from her, he started taking better care of his summoned beast.


    He started treating them as if they were his family!


    His real family members already hated him a lot, so Liam started topensate for that aspect with his summoned beasts.


    And ever since then, Liam has been thinking about these few questions in his mind, but he has yet to find an answer.


    But now that he''s stuck in a dilemma where he might fail for the first time in his life, he has no other choice but to think of some way out.


    After thinking a lot, Liam came to one conclusion.


    ''Ellie is my primary summon; I summoned her using thetent mana that I had in my body before I awakened properly...''


    ''All the other summons were summoned by using the mana that I had after awakening... This is one of the biggest differences between them...''


    Thinking about this, Liam frowned a bit and then thought,


    ''No, this isn''t it... Usually, all summoners summon their primary beast after awakening... I only did it early because of that magic circle at home, which was able to draw out mytent mana...''


    ''But this isn''t it... There is no real difference in summoning; mana is just mana. Even if it was justtent mana, it wasn''t much different...''


    Liam couldn''t help but discard this idea.


    If summoning withtent mana was any different than usual, Liam would have had different conditions from other summoners.


    But no matter how you look at it, he''s fundamentally simr to other summoners, no matter if he''s summoned a dragon or not.


    Other summoners can also use the power of their primary summon, and he can too.


    In other words, the only benefit he got from summoning his primary summon earlier than others was that he was able to establish a better friendship with Ellie and learn to control her powers more.


    There is nothing else that is different in a fundamental sense.


    He''s just as much of a summoner as others.


    ''In other words, the problem is not with the summoned beasts; the problem is within me instead!''


    Thinking this far, the light in Liam''s eyes started to return.


    ''Yes! The other summons are not that different from the primary summon; they are all the same! The thing that is holding them back is myself!''


    All summoners in the world end up thinking that the primary summons are fundamentally different from the other summoned beasts.


    It is extremely difficult to realize that the problem is not with the summoned beast, but with the summoner himself.


    The only reason why Liam was even able to realize this truth is because he has faced many ''conditions'' and he himself wasn''t sure that these conditions meant anything much.


    First of all, Liam had insanely hightent mana in his body since birth, and he summoned a dragon on his first try!


    He summoned the legendary level summon on the very first try and shocked the world with his brilliance!


    Just like how all swordsmen dream of achieving ''Sword Intent'', all summoners dream of summoning a ''Legendary'' beast one day, but they can''t do it even in a whole lifetime.


    Being a summoner depends mainly on luck and talent.


    If you can''t summon a strong beast, then no matter how hard you train and how diligently you work, you are going to be weaker than the summoners who have literal dragons in their


    arsenal.


    Liam didn''tck anything; he had perfect conditions. He had an insanely hightent mana, decent luck, and peak SS rank talent.


    He was born to be a dragon master from the very start!


    The second condition that Liam faced was that he started to think of his summons as his


    family.


    Most summoners treat their summons as tools; Liam used to do the same, but he figured things out and turned over a new leaf due to Rio''s indirect interventions.


    And thest condition that Liam fulfilled was that he figured out the fact that all summons are fundamentally the same.


    He was able to do so because, unlike others, he summoned his first summon withtent mana, and yet it was not much different than others.


    Fulfilling all three conditions of having talent, having a good grasp of his summons emotions, and having a realization of the truth, Liam had proved his excellence.


    At that very moment, Liam realized the true fundamentals of being a summoner, and he figured out that, to make all his summons equal, he himself would need to improve. His summons are not the problem; he himself is the one who iscking. Realizing this fundamental truth was as difficult as it could be; no one since the descent of mana in this world has ever realized the real meaning of being a summoner.


    In that brief moment of ''Enlightenment'', Liam touched the power that all awakeners dream


    about.


    Just like Rio, Link, Lia, and Riya... At that moment, the very ''Laws'' of the ''world'' itself blessed


    Liam with a legendary power!


    [Ding! You have achieved ''Enlightenment!'']


    [Ding! All conditions met!]


    [You have fulfilled the conditions and havee into contact with the power of the ''Laws'' of the


    ''World''...]


    [Ding! You have realized the ''Truth'' of being a ''Summoner''!]


    [Ding! You already have a legendary summon... hidden condition full-filled!]


    [Ding! You have awakened the legendary skill, ''Mana Field''!]


    Meanwhile, in the sky,


    Themes suddenly felt a strange fluctuation in the air, and before he could even think about it


    much, he saw dark clouds gather in the sky.


    A massive beam of brilliant light fell on Liam, and Liam started to float in the beam with his


    eyes closed.


    Even the mana in the area trembled and praised Liam for his brilliance.


    Seeing all this, Themes''s eyes widened in shock, and his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. ''E-enlightenment!? What the actual f*ck!? Is getting enlightened so easy nowadays that you just sit on one spot for a few minutes and get enlightened all of a sudden!?''


    ''What the f*ck just happened!?''


    Themes was speechless. He was originally thinking that Liam was perhaps trying to give the


    other participants a head start and would soon start moving too.


    But he had never, in his wildest imaginations, thought that Liam would sit there for a few


    minutes and suddenly get enlightened!


    Getting Enlightenment is an ''extremely'' rare phenomenon; you can consider it a ''Blessing'' given by the ''world'' itself!


    The people who have gotten ''Enlightenment'' in the annals of history can be counted on one hand! They are so rare that you only see them once in a millennium!


    What Themes didn''t know was that just a year ago, Jin also achieved enlightenment; if he had been to the outside world, he would have known about it.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally! After so much foreshadowing and so many


    chapters, we finally reached the level where Liam had awakened his legendary skill.


    I have been foreshadowing his legendary skill since the very first time I mentioned ''Mana Field'' being equal to ''Sword Intent'' and ''Dao Rhythm''!


    Finally, all conditions are met! Liam has attained the status of a true summoner!


    Question of the day:


    Were you able to predict this from all those foreshadowings?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 340: Proof of Determination... Part-5.

    ?


    "I see, so this is the highest area of this mountain..."


    While standing in the air, Liam nced at the snow-covered area with a look of


    contemtion on his face.


    "Yeah, I was thinking that it would take a few days, but you already cleared all the areas in a matter of minutes..."


    Themes appeared beside Liam at that moment and sighed while thinking about Liam''s speed of progress.


    "Well, I can''t possibly let you go back so early; otherwise, the other evaluators willugh at me for being bad at creating evaluation test, so..."


    Themes waved his hand, and a giant summoning circle appeared on the snow.


    A giant python with white scales and red eyes appeared from the summoning circle.


    "Ah, Ardi, sorry to disturb you, but you need to keep this kiddo apanied inbat for a day or two; you gotta dy some time..."


    Liam frowned as he heard those words and nced at the white python with a serious look.


    ''What kind of summoned best is that... This is the first time I''ve seen something that gives off such an ominous aura...''


    Although Liam didn''t want to stay in this ce long, he can''t argue with an SS-ranker over this matter.


    Themes can change the content of the evaluation test ording to his wishes, and thus, Liam has no way ofining about it.


    He has already climbed nearly the whole mountain, but only this small, snowy area is left. ''This snake is going to block my way up, it seems... then I have no choice but to fight it...'' The snake named Ardi nodded his head at Themes in agreement, but then asked,


    "Er, is it really okay to use my powers against such a young kid?"


    Themes shook his head and replied,


    "Don''t underestimate him; he''s a ''Genius''; he cleared the test too fast! That''s why I need to dy him!"


    "Ugh, I was an idiot to underestimate the member of a team that won the supreme tournament... should have made a more difficult test..."


    Themes rubbed his temples and waved his hand at Ardi,


    "Go now; just don''t go all out; control your power, and it should be fine..."


    The snake nodded his head and slithered in front of Liam, blocking the way.


    "Kiddo, don''t me me for blocking the path; it''s just that you are too good, so we gotta make some changes to amodate a genius like you..."


    Liam rolled his eyes at those words and replied,


    "No worries... I also wanted to test out my newly improved strength. I will take you as the test subject; don''t me meter for being too overbearing..."


    Ardiughed a bit at Liam''s words and said,


    "ahaha, you are an amusing kid... to think someone will treat me as a test subject someday. The human race really is quite amusing... Good then, let''s do it..."


    [Serpent re: Petrified Killing Aura!]


    A dense killing intent suddenly appeared and put massive pressure on Liam. Liam''s eyes widened in shock, and his legs sank in the snow from the pressure of that massive aura.


    ''Such insane killing intent, my body feels like it''s been petrified... I see, it''s a debuff type skill, and this snake likely doesn''t have muchbat ability of its own...''


    ''No wonder it felt like I had never seen this type of beast; this beast is an auxiliary type and can put strong debuffs on the enemy just by existing on the battlefield...''


    The very moment Ardi appeared, it already put a ''confusion'' debuff on Liam, causing him to get confused about Ardi''s identity.


    ''This would have worked earlier, but now I have a perfect counter to unusual abilities like these...''


    Instead of getting afraid of the dense killing intent, a smirk appeared on Liam''s face. [Mana Field!]


    Liam has seen Link and Rio use their respective legendary skills inbat, so he knows a little bit about how to use his mana field more effectively.


    He directly condensed his mana field, and instead of expanding it on arger area, he focused it all on his own body.


    This not only formed an extremely strong mana shield on his body, it directly countered the killing intent''s suppression, and Liam broke out of the petrified state.


    "hoh, no wonder Themes dared to say that you are a genius, although I only used half of my power to think you are already able to resist a debuff cast by an S rank summon beast..."


    Even Ardi couldn''t help but look at Liam with shocked eyes.


    As an SS-ranker''s summoned beast, Ardi is smart and can even talk like a normal intelligent creature; thus, he could understand why Themes would choose him to stop Liam.


    Ardi isn''t proficient atbat or barrier techniques.


    The only reason Themes chose to summon him is because he''s adept at casting debuffs.


    "You have found a way to counter my debuffs? How amusing... Let''s see how strong of a


    debuff you can withstand..."


    [Serpent''s bane: Slowness!]


    [Serpent''s bane: Dizzy!]


    This time, Ardi used more power in his debuffs.


    As Liam has just recently awakened ''Mana Field'', his control over it is very poor; it''s so weak that resisting these debuffs alone needs him to use all his mental strength.


    ''Sh*t! My control over this skill is too low; even if I don''t run out of mana, I will definitely get mentally exhausted sooner orter if I try to maintain such a strong skill for long...''


    Using a skill not only needs mana but also good mental control over it; otherwise, its power weakens considerably. This is why all awakeners train hard to improve their control over their


    skills.


    Liam has only just awakened his ''Mana Field'', and this skill has extremely high demands; just using it once or twice will put immense burden on Liam''s mind.


    And now that he has to use it to counter these debuffs, he''s getting exhausted fast.


    ''Now I understand why Link always says that Rio''s control over his ''Sword Intent'' is insanely strong... That guy can even use his ''sword intent'' like a hand warmer!''


    Liam is having difficulty maintaining this skill for a few seconds, and the mental stress is insane, but Rio uses his legendary skill like it''s some kind of random convenience item.


    Only after you have learned a legendary skill yourself can you understand how insane Rio''s ''sword intent'' actually is.


    It''s so strong thatparing it to Liam and Link''s legendary skills is like insulting its power.


    ''Ugh, my head is getting dizzy-''


    Liam was not only affected by the ''dizzy'' debuff; he was already mentally exhausted by the continuous use of ''Mana Field''; thus, he fainted on the spot when he reached his limit.


    Upon witnessing Liam fall onto the snow, Ardi shook his head and said,


    "Er... It seems I used a bit too much strength... But this kid really is strong; he was able to withstand my 80 percent debuff for quite a few seconds... That''s already very impressive..." Ardi was already in shock, and if he had seen Rio, he would have undoubtedly fainted from a


    heart attack.


    Rio is literally immune to debuffs as he has a tripleyered defense that consists of sword intent, an imperfect sword heart, and true immunity.


    Ardi''s worldview would have instantly crumbled if he had witnessed Rio dismiss his debuffs


    as insignificant.


    Fortunately for him, Rio isn''t taking this test.


    ...


    Ardi nced at Themes and said,


    "Isn''t it quite a bad idea to dy a genius like him just for your own face value... Once he


    grows up, he will kick you''re a*s for today..."


    After hearing those words, Themes scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, saying,


    "Er... yeah, I shouldn''t dy him much; I guess I will let him go as soon as he wakes up..."


    Ardi shook his head and said,


    "Idiot, don''t wait for him to wake up; go and send him back from the ce you kidnapped


    him from..."


    Themes red at Ardi and said,


    "I didn''t kidnap him! Don''t make me sound like a criminal! I was taking orders from the king,


    you know!"


    Ardi sighed at those words and said,


    "The dragon king can just shrug his shoulders and say that he didn''t give the order... In the end, you will be considered the culprit because you were the one who did the work..." Themes''s expression turned solemn at those words.


    "Ahem... I-I guess it''s time I return him back to the dragon pce then... It wouldn''t be a


    good idea-"


    Before Themes could finish his words, Liam''s voice sounded in his ears.


    "No! I want to train more with this snake of yours; he seems like the perfect training partner


    to improve my control over the skill..."


    Both Themes and Ardi were shocked by the fact that Liam had suddenly woken up at some point and was now looking at Ardi with an excited look on his face.


    "You see, I am quite behind my two dear friends in terms of skill control, so I will appreciate


    it if you can help me with it..."


    After hearing those words, a smirk appeared on Themes''s face.


    "HEH, I knew it! This kid is a genius!!"


    Liam has already passed the test, so he can now use his summoned beast to heal himself and


    endure Ardi''s debuffs again and again to improve his control over the mana field.


    Ardi''s debuffs kept causing Liam to faint, but he didn''t give up at all.


    He kept persisting for three days straight and eventually ended up copsing from extreme


    mental exhaustion.


    But in this test, Liam proved himself.


    Liam didn''t want to expose Ellie and wanted to protect her.


    The fact that he awakened a legendary skill just to hide Ellie is proof of his determination to


    protect her.


    In this test, not only did he gain a legendary skill, he even improved his control by doing that


    intense training.


    After those three days, he was sent back to the dragon pce to rest.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    How long do you think it will take for Liam to catch up to Rio''s control level?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 341: Proof of Determination... Part-6.

    Chapter 341: Proof of Determination... Part-6.


    ?


    "I see, so this is the highest area of this mountain..."


    While standing in the air, Liam nced at the snow-covered area with a look of


    contemtion on his face.


    "Yeah, I was thinking that it would take a few days, but you already cleared all the areas in a matter of minutes..."


    Themes appeared beside Liam at that moment and sighed while thinking about Liam''s speed of progress.


    "Well, I can''t possibly let you go back so early; otherwise, the other evaluators willugh at me for being bad at creating evaluation test, so..."


    Themes waved his hand, and a giant summoning circle appeared on the snow.


    A giant python with white scales and red eyes appeared from the summoning circle.


    "Ah, Ardi, sorry to disturb you, but you need to keep this kiddo apanied inbat for a day or two; you gotta dy some time..."


    Liam frowned as he heard those words and nced at the white python with a serious look.


    ''What kind of summoned best is that... This is the first time I''ve seen something that gives off such an ominous aura...''


    Although Liam didn''t want to stay in this ce long, he can''t argue with an SS-ranker over this matter.


    Themes can change the content of the evaluation test ording to his wishes, and thus, Liam has no way ofining about it.


    He has already climbed nearly the whole mountain, but only this small, snowy area is left. ''This snake is going to block my way up, it seems... then I have no choice but to fight it...'' The snake named Ardi nodded his head at Themes in agreement, but then asked,


    "Er, is it really okay to use my powers against such a young kid?"


    Themes shook his head and replied,


    "Don''t underestimate him; he''s a ''Genius''; he cleared the test too fast! That''s why I need to dy him!"


    "Ugh, I was an idiot to underestimate the member of a team that won the supreme tournament... should have made a more difficult test..."


    Themes rubbed his temples and waved his hand at Ardi,


    "Go now; just don''t go all out; control your power, and it should be fine..."


    The snake nodded his head and slithered in front of Liam, blocking the way.


    "Kiddo, don''t me me for blocking the path; it''s just that you are too good, so we gotta make some changes to amodate a genius like you..."


    Liam rolled his eyes at those words and replied,


    "No worries... I also wanted to test out my newly improved strength. I will take you as the test subject; don''t me meter for being too overbearing..."


    Ardiughed a bit at Liam''s words and said,


    "ahaha, you are an amusing kid... to think someone will treat me as a test subject someday. The human race really is quite amusing... Good then, let''s do it..."


    [Serpent re: Petrified Killing Aura!]


    A dense killing intent suddenly appeared and put massive pressure on Liam. Liam''s eyes widened in shock, and his legs sank in the snow from the pressure of that massive aura.


    ''Such insane killing intent, my body feels like it''s been petrified... I see, it''s a debuff type skill, and this snake likely doesn''t have muchbat ability of its own...''


    ''No wonder it felt like I had never seen this type of beast; this beast is an auxiliary type and can put strong debuffs on the enemy just by existing on the battlefield...''


    The very moment Ardi appeared, it already put a ''confusion'' debuff on Liam, causing him to get confused about Ardi''s identity.


    ''This would have worked earlier, but now I have a perfect counter to unusual abilities like these...''


    Instead of getting afraid of the dense killing intent, a smirk appeared on Liam''s face. [Mana Field!]


    Liam has seen Link and Rio use their respective legendary skills inbat, so he knows a little bit about how to use his mana field more effectively.


    He directly condensed his mana field, and instead of expanding it on arger area, he focused it all on his own body.


    This not only formed an extremely strong mana shield on his body, it directly countered the killing intent''s suppression, and Liam broke out of the petrified state.


    "hoh, no wonder Themes dared to say that you are a genius, although I only used half of my power to think you are already able to resist a debuff cast by an S rank summon beast..."


    Even Ardi couldn''t help but look at Liam with shocked eyes.


    As an SS-ranker''s summoned beast, Ardi is smart and can even talk like a normal intelligent creature; thus, he could understand why Themes would choose him to stop Liam.


    Ardi isn''t proficient atbat or barrier techniques.


    The only reason Themes chose to summon him is because he''s adept at casting debuffs.


    "You have found a way to counter my debuffs? How amusing... Let''s see how strong of a


    debuff you can withstand..."


    [Serpent''s bane: Slowness!]


    [Serpent''s bane: Dizzy!]


    This time, Ardi used more power in his debuffs.


    As Liam has just recently awakened ''Mana Field'', his control over it is very poor; it''s so weak that resisting these debuffs alone needs him to use all his mental strength.


    ''Sh*t! My control over this skill is too low; even if I don''t run out of mana, I will definitely get mentally exhausted sooner orter if I try to maintain such a strong skill for long...''


    Using a skill not only needs mana but also good mental control over it; otherwise, its power weakens considerably. This is why all awakeners train hard to improve their control over their


    skills.


    Liam has only just awakened his ''Mana Field'', and this skill has extremely high demands; just using it once or twice will put immense burden on Liam''s mind.


    And now that he has to use it to counter these debuffs, he''s getting exhausted fast.


    ''Now I understand why Link always says that Rio''s control over his ''Sword Intent'' is insanely strong... That guy can even use his ''sword intent'' like a hand warmer!''


    Liam is having difficulty maintaining this skill for a few seconds, and the mental stress is insane, but Rio uses his legendary skill like it''s some kind of random convenience item.


    Only after you have learned a legendary skill yourself can you understand how insane Rio''s ''sword intent'' actually is.


    It''s so strong thatparing it to Liam and Link''s legendary skills is like insulting its power.


    ''Ugh, my head is getting dizzy-''


    Liam was not only affected by the ''dizzy'' debuff; he was already mentally exhausted by the continuous use of ''Mana Field''; thus, he fainted on the spot when he reached his limit.


    Upon witnessing Liam fall onto the snow, Ardi shook his head and said,


    "Er... It seems I used a bit too much strength... But this kid really is strong; he was able to withstand my 80 percent debuff for quite a few seconds... That''s already very impressive..." Ardi was already in shock, and if he had seen Rio, he would have undoubtedly fainted from a


    heart attack.


    Rio is literally immune to debuffs as he has a tripleyered defense that consists of sword intent, an imperfect sword heart, and true immunity.


    Ardi''s worldview would have instantly crumbled if he had witnessed Rio dismiss his debuffs


    as insignificant.


    Fortunately for him, Rio isn''t taking this test.


    ...


    Ardi nced at Themes and said,


    "Isn''t it quite a bad idea to dy a genius like him just for your own face value... Once he


    grows up, he will kick you''re a*s for today..."


    After hearing those words, Themes scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, saying,


    "Er... yeah, I shouldn''t dy him much; I guess I will let him go as soon as he wakes up..."


    Ardi shook his head and said,


    "Idiot, don''t wait for him to wake up; go and send him back from the ce you kidnapped


    him from..."


    Themes red at Ardi and said,


    "I didn''t kidnap him! Don''t make me sound like a criminal! I was taking orders from the king,


    you know!"


    Ardi sighed at those words and said,


    "The dragon king can just shrug his shoulders and say that he didn''t give the order... In the end, you will be considered the culprit because you were the one who did the work..." Themes''s expression turned solemn at those words.


    "Ahem... I-I guess it''s time I return him back to the dragon pce then... It wouldn''t be a


    good idea-"


    Before Themes could finish his words, Liam''s voice sounded in his ears.


    "No! I want to train more with this snake of yours; he seems like the perfect training partner


    to improve my control over the skill..."


    Both Themes and Ardi were shocked by the fact that Liam had suddenly woken up at some point and was now looking at Ardi with an excited look on his face.


    "You see, I am quite behind my two dear friends in terms of skill control, so I will appreciate


    it if you can help me with it..."


    After hearing those words, a smirk appeared on Themes''s face.


    "HEH, I knew it! This kid is a genius!!"


    Liam has already passed the test, so he can now use his summoned beast to heal himself and


    endure Ardi''s debuffs again and again to improve his control over the mana field.


    Ardi''s debuffs kept causing Liam to faint, but he didn''t give up at all.


    He kept persisting for three days straight and eventually ended up copsing from extreme


    mental exhaustion.


    But in this test, Liam proved himself.


    Liam didn''t want to expose Ellie and wanted to protect her.


    The fact that he awakened a legendary skill just to hide Ellie is proof of his determination to


    protect her.


    In this test, not only did he gain a legendary skill, he even improved his control by doing that


    intense training.


    After those three days, he was sent back to the dragon pce to rest.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    How long do you think it will take for Liam to catch up to Rio''s control level?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 342: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-1.

    Chapter 342: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-1.


    ?


    "Will you just continue standing there now? Don''t you have any questions for me?"


    "By the way, I am Fenix... a humble servant of the Dragon King, don''t bother asking about my n name or something like that; I don''t have a n or family..."


    Sitting on the skull of a dragon, Fenix''s tattered cape waved in the air and made him look more mysterious.


    Rio tilted his head a bit and asked,


    "The purpose of bringing me here is?"


    The illusion spell of A didn''t work on Rio as it was considered harmful because it could have teleported him to a ce filled with harmful illusions, thus his true immunity got triggered automatically.


    As for the ''sleep'' spell that was likely cast on all participants by Aria, it actually worked on Rio because it wasn''t considered harmful by true immunity.


    Moreover, at that moment, Rio himself wanted to sleep as it was night, so it worked because of his permission.


    But if someone had tried to harm him in sleep or Rio himself had wanted to wake up, then the spell would have broken instantly as true immunity would have been triggered.


    Rio didn''t suffer any harm, so the sleep spell kept him in deep sleep, and Fenix was able to carry him here.


    Due to the sleep spell, now Rio doesn''t know why he was brought here, so he asked this question to Fenix.


    Fenix replied to that question in a stern voice.


    "Hmm... you could say it''s apetition or something like that, an evaluation of sort..." For the next few minutes, Fenix exined the details to Rio in his calm yet stern voice. After the exnation was finished, Rio nodded his head and then asked,


    "For an evaluator, you seem quite unmotivated, though, Fenix, ''The Ruler of Drake Nest''..."


    Fenix''s eyes widened in surprise at Rio''s words,


    "Hoh, I didn''t expect that someone from the outside world would know about me... how interesting..."


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well, a certain talkative princess gave me some basic knowledge of the dragon valley..." (Keep in mind that Rio''s lying skills are top-notch...)


    Fenix smiled in amusement at those words.


    "Hahaha, you are the only person who has dared to say that the princess is a talkative person; everyone else says that she''s cold-hearted and doesn''t even talk with her father much..."


    "I am genuinely surprised that she went out of her way to talk to you... As I said earlier, you are an interesting kid, Rio sh..."


    Rio tilted his head in confusion and thought,


    ''I seriously can''t picture Sin being a cold-hearted person... She seems more like a girl who has too much to talk about... Forget it; everyone has their own circumstances...''


    ''Maybe something happened in the past that caused her to be cold toward the people of the Dragon Valley. I am just an outsider here; there''s no need to get involved in this thing...'' Rio has helped quite a few characters improve their lives, but it was unintentional most of the time, and only a few times it was on purpose, so he isn''t interested in getting involved right


    now.


    ''But seriously, the more I stay in the dragon valley, the more I feel that something is amiss... I have a very strange feeling in my heart; I am missing something crucial right now...''


    Ever since Rio came to the Dragon Valley, he has had a strange feeling in his heart, as if something was calling out to him and trying to attract him towards itself.


    But this feeling is so vague that Rio can''t figure out what''s going on.


    ...


    While Rio was busy thinking about various things in his head, Fenix shook his head and spoke in a tired tone.


    "Truthfully speaking, I didn''t even want to take part in this evaluation, but it was a direct order from the dragon king, so I dared not to deny him..."


    "Moreover, the fact is, you are the only participant I am in charge of evaluating; there isn''t any other participant here aside from you..."


    Fenix seemed really bored with all this evaluation and stuff.


    "The dragon king ims to trust me a lot, but he didn''t even give any other participant to me ¡ªonly you, a human kid, not even a dragon... This just shows theck of trust in me..."


    "Sigh- my sh*tty life..."


    Rio ignored Fenix''s words, which were full of self-hatred, and found a spot to sit down himself.


    ''Seems like we are in for a long and boring talking session here; I better sit down already...''


    Rio nced at Fenix and asked,


    "By the way, I am quite good at making tea; wanna have some?"


    Fenix was taken aback by Rio''s words for a moment, but then he nodded his head


    immediately.


    "But where will we find tea in this barren desert-"


    Before Fenix could finish his words, Rio brought out his whole tea set from the space ring on


    the spot.


    "Don''t worry about that; I carry more tea with me in ce of emergency rations... A cup of tea is equivalent to enough to help you skip a meal..."


    Fenix looked at Rio''s skillful hand movements and said,


    "I did hear once that talented people always have one or two addictions, but this is the first


    time I am seeing it in person... you are addicted to tea?"


    Rio wanted to reply that he was also addicted to the ''stuff'' called ''lipium'' (Lia + copium), but


    he only nodded his head and said,


    "Well, I guess that saying is true then..."


    Rio put his tea set back in the space ring.


    Fenix waved his hand, and the tea cup that Rio had prepared for him teleported into his hand


    instantly.


    "But seriously... using ''Sword Intent'' to make tea... If the world knew about it, many young talents would shed tears of blood... It''s quite extravagant..."


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Extravagant? Nope..."


    Fenix frowned a bit at Rio''s words and asked,


    "Why though?"


    Rio''s expression turned serious at that question. He sipped the tea and then said,


    "The thing is, I don''t consider ''Sword Intent'' to be a ''weapon''; it''s more like an extension of my ''will'' or my ''mind''... like an auxiliary ability or something..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Fenixughed a bit and said,


    "AHAHAHA, you really are an interesting kid; the legendary skill that all swordsmen dream


    about is considered just an ''Auxiliary ability'' by you!"


    "AHAHAHA, I haven''tughed so much in the past five hundred years! Also, I have to


    acknowledge it; you make some really good tea..."


    A smile appeared on Fenix''s face at that moment.


    Rio waved his hand and said,


    "Nah, I am just a humble swordsman who was lucky enough to learn a trick or two..."


    Fenix smiled at those words and said,


    "Then I am just a humble, lowly drake too..."


    Rio shook his head and said,


    "No, no, how can the ruler of all drakes be considered ''lowly''..."


    Rio didn''t know much about the dragon valley or other dragons, but he surely knew a lot


    about Fenix.


    In the novel, Fenix is ate-stage viin.


    You could count the number of viins who posed a threat to Fade throughout the entire


    novel on the fingers of one hand.


    And Fenix is one of them.


    Although Fenix isn''t a true dragon, he''s still extremely strong.


    There are three types of things that can be born from a dragon''s egg.


    One is a total failure caused by imperfect gic merging, known as dragon men.


    The second is a true dragon who has inherited the full inheritance and knowledge of its parents and has been given its own true name from birth.


    Lastly, there are ''Drakes''; they are failed dragons of sorts. They are the kids who failed to inherit their dragon lineage and don''t have true names of their own.


    Although they have a strong physique like dragons and are strong, they aren''t dragons in the truest sense, as they can''t use ''unique'' dragon magic without a true dragon name. Just like dragon men, drakes are also thrown away by the dragon parents on the day of birth.


    Usually most of them die from starvation, but a few survive every now and then.


    Then the group got together to rely on each other to survive.


    It was Fenix who created a safe haven for other drakes in the southern coast area of the dragon


    valley.


    All drakes are wee in that ce, and Fenix rules over that area.


    Fenix has been the only drake in the long annals of history who has reached rank SS; not a


    single drake has been able to reach the realm of demi-gods before him.


    Dragons respect those who are strong, and only after bing an SS-ranker was Fenix truly


    recognized by the Dragon King and other dragons.


    He is the very reason why the other Drakes are able to live in peace nowadays and aren''t


    getting hunted to death by the dragons.


    Even when he died in Fade''s hands, hisst words were filled with worry for the Drakes;


    without him being there, the Drakes would have no one to protect them, and they would lose


    their peace.


    Fenix''s greatest wish is for someone to seed him. The drakes don''t have other SS-rankers;


    he wants a drake to appear who can keep the race safe in case something happens to him.


    Rio can''t disrespect someone like Fenix, who has dedicated his life to creating a safe home for


    his entire race.


    From the perspective of the drakes, Fenix is the real ''Hero''.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Reaching the realm of a demi-god is a long path; each and every demi-god represents a story


    that was filled with difficulties...


    Question of the day:.


    If you get the chance to talk with Rio while sipping tea together, what would you ask him


    about?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 343: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-2.

    Chapter 343: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-2.


    ?


    "Sigh, what does it matter if I am the ruler of the drakes or not... In the end, it''s all just a -constraint..."


    Rio was surprised by Fenix''s words, so he asked,


    "Hmm, why, though? Being revered as a hero by your people... isn''t it already great enough, or do you want to achieve more?"


    Fenix shook his head and said,


    "No, I don''t really have big ambitions... In fact, I never had big ambitions to begin with; I was just some random defective product thrown out of the house like trash..."


    "But I didn''t have hate or the drive for revenge in me... I understood they abandoned me because they wanted a proper, sessful result, not a defective product like me..."


    "The world works like this... From birth, your future is already decided; without talent or the support of allies, you can''t grow up..."


    "But when you do grow up, these same allies and pirs of support end up bing chains that lock you down in a cage made up of your own emotions..."


    Fenix sipped the tea and continued in a tired voice.


    "I had a few friends when I was young; I wanted for them to live safely and happily; that was the reason why I decided to lead them..."


    "One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had already started to create a ce that could amodate my friends and all those who I cared for..."


    "As things went by, more and more drakes gathered under my wing and revered me as their leader... If it were someone else, they would have faltered under so much pressure..."


    "Fortunately, I had talent. I thank my luck that I was born with exceptional talent, and thus I was able to stabilize things by bing an SS-ranker..."


    Fenix nced into Rio''s eyes and said in a solemn tone,


    "I have created a haven for my kin, but now this very haven is a cage for me. I can''t let go of my feelings, and I am bound by my emotions..."


    "I can''t abandon the things that I have created, and I can''t afford to betray the expectations and dreams of all those who trust me now."


    "Being a ruler seems easy, but only when you yourself experience it will you know that it''s nothing but a giant cage that even a demi-god can''t break out of..."


    Fenix sneered and said,


    "In this world, the strongest and most powerful cage is the one created by your own mind and emotions... Nothing can break out of it; if something can, then that ''thing'' can''t even be considered ''living'' anymore..."


    Fenix then pointed his finger at Rio and said something that even Rio wasn''t expecting.


    "You are walking that very path of discarding your status as a ''living'' soul..."


    A rare frown appeared on Rio''s face as he questioned,


    "What do you mean?"


    Fenix sighed and replied in a calm tone,


    "I know it''s quite hard to believe, but the direction you are walking in is directly opposite to your path..."


    "Tell me what your ambition is, and what is your ''path''?"


    At that question, Rio replied without hesitation,


    "My ambition is to just live a normal, happy life and retire early to be as peaceful as possible-


    11


    Before Rio could finish his sentence, Fenix suddenly interrupted him and said,


    "Yes! Right there! You said you want to be ''peaceful'', and do you know what it means to be ''peaceful''? The truest form of ''peace'' is ''Eternal Death''!"


    "Only dead beings have no emotions, no feelings, and true peace! They are unbound by thews and are outside the constraints of the world..."


    "You chose to walk on a ''path'' that would bring you ''peace'' and your ambition was to live a peaceful life... Although death and a peaceful life seem contradictory at first nce..."


    "If you add the power of the ''world''sws'' to thisbination, the result will undoubtedly be something simr to an emotionless machine that is neither dead nor alive."


    Fenix''s expression turned more solemn as he kept talking.


    "And you know what power I am talking about, right? It''s your very own ''Sword Intent"!"


    Fenix has lived his life being a loner while still being with others; he knows about being emotional and emotionless a lot; he has also walked a bit on the ''Path'' that Rio is walking. This is the main reason why Fenix has be the very first person to see through Rio''s deepest secrets.


    Not even Rio himself knew the reason why he was constantly losing his emotions.


    None could have figured out this weird scenario unless the other party has also walked the same ''Path'' as Rio before!


    ...


    "You see, the thing is, I also wanted to pursue what it means to have true peace, but Icked the power of ''Laws'', I didn''t have sword intent, and neither did I truly want to lose my ''self''..."


    "I walked that lonely path till I became an SS-ranker and figured out the dangers of traversing this ''path''; this is a path that will lead you farther and farther away from those who you


    love..."


    "You know what ''Sword Intent'' means?"


    Rio shook his head and asked,


    "Enlighten me..."


    Fenix nodded his head and said,


    "As someone who has done a lot of research in this matter, let me tell you more details about various types of legendary skills..."


    "Dao Rhythm is a w'' that brings prosperity, luck, benevolence, protection, power, and confidence... That is the power suitable for a leader or a being who has made it his ambition to


    be supreme..."


    "No matter how much you delve into this ''Law'', it doesn''t bring any side effects to the user and only improves their standing in the ''world''..."


    Fenix put the empty tea cup aside at that moment and continued.


    "On the other hand, there is ''The Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', and the w'' behind it brings love, care, healing, warmth, and hope... This power not only doesn''t harm the user, but it even helps anyone and everyone..."


    "No matter how much of the power of this w'' manifests on your body, it will do no harm..."


    Finally, Fenix nced at Rio and said,


    "And then there is ''Sword Intent''... In the first ce, a sword is a weapon; the very moment you awakened ''Sword Intent'', you had already manifested a ''weapon'' in your own body..."


    "A sword is only called ''perfect'' when it can cut anything and everything; you will need to walk a difficult path to make your ''sword Intent'' reach perfection..."


    "A perfect sword intent is said to be able to cut ''anything and everything''... It''s a power that can sever even the threads of destiny if it reaches the realm of perfection..." "And only an ''emotionless supreme weapon'' can wield ''Perfect Sword Intent... In other words, if you keep moving forward on this path, you will be a weapon that will have no


    emotions..."


    Rio''s sword intent master improved to the point that the w'' manifested in his body and gave him the ''imperfect sword heart''.


    In other words, Rio has alreadypleted half of the process of bing a true emotionless weapon that can manifest the ''perfect sword intent''.


    The only reason why Rio''s sword heart is still iplete is because he''s too low in rank and hasn''t discarded his humanity yet.


    But if Rio keeps getting stronger and stronger, he will continue losing his emotions, and he will keep moving forward on the path of achieving true peace.


    Thinking about it all, Rio frowned a bit and asked,


    "No, something still doesn''t add up... The thing is, I awakened my sword intent much earlier


    than I realized my ''path''; moreover, I had already started losing my emotions before I even


    had ''sword intent''..."


    "Sword intent might be half the reason why I am losing emotions, but that is not all... There must be something else..."


    Listening to Rio''s words Fenix was also lost for words; he shook his head and said,


    "I don''t know; honestly speaking, all that I have told you was also just my guesswork; I have only walked this ''path'' halfway, then I diverted it and went some other ''path''..."


    "I didn''t had ''sword intent'' so honestly speaking, my words cannot be considered hundred percent urate... But still, what I have said today can be considered a warning..."


    Fenix tone turned serious, and he said,


    "The thing is, the world itself won''t tolerate an existence that has too much power... A


    ''Perfect Sword Intent'' is so strong that it can sever even the very threads of ''fate and


    destiny''..."


    "And interfering with things like that will cause massive chaos in the world; thus, such an existence is really a huge threat to the very existence of this world..."


    "The world aside... Rio, if you once decided to be an existence that can pose a threat to


    the world and the lives of all those who live in it... Do you think others will tolerate you?"


    "Such an existence won''t be tolerated by even its own kin... Sometimes, too much of something can be very bad for yourself..."


    Fenix''s words were likely not hundred percent true, and Rio also didn''t know why he was losing emotions before he even got sword intent, but one thing was sure.


    Rio is stuck in a great dilemma now.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we can start to see little bits and pieces of


    information on why Rio is losing his humanity.


    Question of the day:


    What do you think Rio should do to get out of this dilemma?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 344: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-3.

    Chapter 344: Sword Intent, a blessing or a curse? Part-3.


    ?


    ''Looking at it all over again... Everything started from the day I got transmigrated into this body...''


    Originally, Rio had assumed that he was not able to sense emotions properly because his soul


    hadn''t perfectly merged with this new body and his control over the body wasn''t at its maximum.


    Butter, he discarded this idea when he found that formless sword in the hidden artificial dungeon created by Kevin.


    The only reason why Rio was able to bind this sword is because his soul had properly merged with the original Rio''s.


    You can say that he''s the one who got transmigrated and the original Rio both at the same time.


    Thinking this far, Rio nced at Fenix and asked a question.


    "By the way... is it possible for twopletely unrted souls to merge into each other so perfectly that you can''t tell them apart anymore? Can an SS ranker do something like that?" Hearing Rio''s strange questione out of nowhere, Fenix fell into contemtion.


    However, after pondering for an extended period, Fenix continued to shake his head and stated,


    "No... No matter how I consider it, it''s impossible... I have never heard of such a thing in the past ever... Moreover, even necromancers can''t fuse souls in this world, let alone us, who can''t even see souls..."


    Even SS-rankers can''t see souls, which means that interfering with the soul of someone is beyond their capability.


    There are indeed necromancers in this world, but they have a lot of restrictions ced on them.


    Necromancers are a ss like any other, but the alliance doesn''t support them; additionally, most people don''t view necromancers favorably because they aided the demons during the thousand-year war.


    All people who awaken the necromancer ss have to always report to the alliance branch to register every new undead they take as a subordinate; only when the alliance branch has given an ''ok'' sign can you use that subordinate.


    The reason for this is to stop any necromancer from barging into random cemeteries and digging out people from there. Most of the necromancers in this world use monster corpses to create subordinates.


    But even then, you still need to register that monster corpse and where you got it from.


    Sometimes there are exceptions, though, like if the necromancer is a very talented individual and has graduated from a famous academy like the Great Freya Academy, then they get more freedom in legal matters.


    Nheless, most undead creatures are just soulless puppets with no free will or consciousness.


    Even a necromancer will need to make the soul agree willingly if they want to create an undead that has a soul and mind of its own.


    Necromancers in this world are really at a great disadvantage, as even though they can see souls, they can''t really interact with them on a physical level.


    A strong necromancer once said:


    {A soul can neither be created nor destroyed... It can only be converted into a new life form...) (Note: This is an ''inspiration'' taken from a famous quote from Einstein about energy... This is entirely ''fictional''...)


    Although this quote seems quite solid, the main w is that there''s nothing that can exin where the ''Soul''es from in the first ce if it can''t be created.


    How do you exin the growing poption if there is no way to create a new soul?


    As poption increases, there will be fewer people dying than being born, which means that there is definitely something in this world that ''can'' create new ''souls'' and ''can'' destroy them too.


    But as even SS-rankers can''t do anything about this matter, there is no concrete proof yet that can describe the origin of souls.


    ...


    "In the first ce, even demi-gods and necromancers can''t interact with souls physically; even mana doesn''t work on it..."


    "So, to say that someone can fuse two souls artificially... That''s basically a joke; it isn''t possible...."


    Fenix''s expression turned serious for a moment as he continued.


    "And if such a thing is indeed possible... then it''s definitely not something we canprehend... Such a being would be far beyond the abilities of a demi-god..."


    "If someone could control life, death, the soul, will, and consciousness... wouldn''t that already be an omnipotent force that couldn''t beprehended by mere mortals?..."


    "Such a being can be considered a ''God'' in the truest sense..."


    Although Fenix was talking about hypothetical things, his expression was solemn all along. "For more than two millennia... no, from the day mana first descended in this world, there has never been anyone who has passed the great cmity ced by the world..."


    "Not a single peak SS-ranker has seeded in ascending to a new realm... Those who tried died horrible deaths under the endless bombardment of the ''heavenly punishment''..."


    Rio frowned a bit and asked,


    "Wait, Link''s father was able to shatter the space-time fabric to stop the ''Heavenly Punishment''; doesn''t that mean he has the chance to seed if he tries to ascend?"


    Fenix shook his head and said,


    "Shattering the ''Space-time fabric'' is in itself a very demanding task; to nullify the effects of the heavenly punishment poured on a peak SS ranker during ascension, just shattering it won''t be enough..."


    "You would need to maintain the shattered space-time fabric for a long time... and that heavenly punishment is ''endless''... Even an SS ranker will get tired after exhausting all of their mana..."


    "You may think that the SS-rankers can use their ''Authority'' without using mana, but truth is that they can''t use it endlessly either!"


    "Using ''Authority'' puts a burden on your ''mental fortitude''; use it too much and you will end up mentally exhausted, your brain will fry, and you will end up in a vegetative state, which will take a lot of time to recover..."


    Fenix smiled a bit and said,


    "Why do you think the SS-rankers are called ''Demi-gods'' but not ''Gods''? It''s because we are


    not omnipotent."


    "Even demi-gods have their own limits, constraints, and emotions, which weigh them down and keep them in a ''cage''..."


    "The reason why the world can tolerate the existence of such strong beings as us is because we have ''limits'' and can''t pose a threat to the world in the truest sense..."


    "But anything above the level of a demi-god is apletely different story... The world can''t tolerate something that threatens its very existence..."


    "There have been many SS-rankers who have spected that the ''World'' itself is a kind of ''Living'' entity..."


    Not only does the world have its own rules and functioning patterns, it even has its own ''will''.


    "We refer to the ''will'' of the world as the ''Heavens Will'' or ''Heavenly Luck''... but don''t confuse the two of them together... The heavenly will only represents the ''Will'' of the


    world..."


    "It''s more like the representative of the world; the ''world'' itself is a different entity; it has its


    own ways of doing things..."


    Fenix nced at the sky and said,


    "Usually these two ''entities'' work together in sync, and their decisions are always the same,


    buttely things seem to have changed..."


    "The two of them seem to be in disarray; all peak SS-rankers can feel this fact intuitively, I think... And this is very bad news for the whole world and all those who live in it..."


    "A problem between the ''heavenly will'' and ''the world'' will affect everyone and everything.... even the ws'' of the world..."


    "Perhaps the reason why your ''sword intent'' has been so actively destroying your emotions is also rted to this weird change in the ws'' of the world..."


    The main problem is that even SS-rankers are powerless in front of the vast power of the world and the heavenly will, they can''t change thews of the world and can''t turn things


    around in their favor.


    If they could do such a thing, they wouldn''t be demi-gods anymore after all. Although most of Rio''s doubts were answered, he still has a lot of questions in his mind.


    Originally, he came to the dragon valley just to wander around and enjoy the dragon festival, or maybe go on a date or two with Lia.


    But now Rio feels thating to this dragon festival and meeting Fenix was a very good


    choice.


    Not only does Fenix have a lot of knowledge about things that he wanted to talk about, but Rio can even take a lot of advice from him.


    "Hmm, well... If it''s like this... I guess I will re-direct my path too, just like you... Although it''s


    a slow process and will take a lot of time, I think I can indeed do it..."


    Fenix also nodded his head at those words,


    "Well, the choice is simple: if you want to keep your love for your girlfriend alive, then re-


    direct your path and stop aiming for ''eternal peace''..."


    "And if you want to reach the level where you can ''cut'' anything and everything, then keep


    going on this ''Path''..."


    "The ''Path'' you are walking right now is meant for a killing machine that won''t be bound by


    the constraints of emotions..."


    Fenix smiled and said,


    "After talking to you, I can say that you appear cold from outside, but you have a warm heart. This ''Path'' is not for someone like you, Rio; your wish is to live a happy life...."


    "If you keep following this ''Path'', that wish will eventually be lost somewhere in the depths of darkness, and your warm heart will end up bing freezing cold..."


    Right now, when Rio is standing at the intersection of his ''Path'', he can choose to go in any of


    the two directions.


    One direction leads him to his ''wish'' and the other leads him to ''supreme power'', and he can


    only choose one of the directions.


    Now Rio will have to decide whether sword intent will be a ''Blessing'' for him or a


    ''Curse''.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    The mysteries and secrets of this world are hidden very deeply; perhaps this is the point where


    we have started to finally uncover these hidden secrets...


    Question of the day:. Would you still dare to learn ''Sword Intent'' despite knowing its consequences?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 345: Against a Demi-god! Part-1.

    Chapter 345: Against a Demi-god! Part-1.


    ?


    "Sigh, you have really put me in a great dilemma now..."


    Although he already knows what he will do, this decision has made him feelplicated in his heart.


    ''I can''t abandon my love for Lia, so I will obviously choose to redirect my path... but...''


    The main problem is that ''everything'' that Rio has done until now will be rendered useless if he does that.


    He stole opportunities, worked hard to be strong, went on my dungeon raids, and battled for a long time.


    If he decides to abandon his ''path'' now, then his powers will likely weaken ordingly, and worst-case scenario, he might lose the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' or even ''Sword Intent''.


    Sword intent is Rio''s bread and butter; without it, he can still fight, but his abilities will be reduced to a level that is even lower than Lia''s.


    Rio will not be apetitor for Link, Liam, or even Lia anymore, as the three of them each have amazing abilities of their own.


    The rest of the group has also awakened their own legendary skills by now, but none of their skills are rted to a weapon in particr.


    Dao Rhythm, Mana Field, Divine Ascension, and Heart of Eternal Nirvana-each of them is rted to aw that isn''t focused on weapons.


    Those skills are more focused on versatility, support, and protection for the user.


    Only Rio''s ''Sword Intent'' is more focused on ''Attack'' rather than support.


    Sword intent itself is a very destructive power; its end point is to be so powerful and destructive that it can sever the strings of destiny and even the fabric of reality.


    The same is true for other weapon-type legendary skills. Spear Intent, Bow Flow, etc. There''s a legendary skill for even guns called ''Ranged Flow''.


    All weapon-type legendary skills are ''Destructive'' in nature, but as these skills are already extremely rare to begin with, none have really reached the level of mastery that Rio has now.


    You can say that if you need hundred percent mastery to reach perfection, then Rio has already crossed the fifty percent mark by now, while Link and the others haven''t even crossed the fifteen percent mark.


    Originally, Rio himself didn''t know the reason why his own mastery over ''Sword Intent'' was progressing so fast, but it turns out that the fact that he had been getting more emotionless has been boosting its improvement speed.


    The more emotionless a weapon is, the more perfectly it can wield such a ''destructive'' power in its grasp.


    However, ''Sword Intent'' is not the sole reason.


    Rio has already started to lose his emotions since the very first day he came to this world, which means something else is influencing it from the dark.


    First of all, Rio will have to abandon his imperfect sword heart, then he will need to abandon sword intent, then he will need to redirect his path.


    And finally, he would need to deal with that ''mysterious'' thing that started this strange phenomenon in the first ce.


    If Rio wants to live a happy life, he will basically need to abandon half of his power and throw all of his efforts in the garbage can.


    ''Ugh... No matter how I look at it, this seems so wrong...''


    After thinking for a long time, Rio finally came to a conclusion. He got up from his seat, and a rare, determined look appeared in his eyes as he nced at Fenix.


    "Okay, I have made up my mind; I have something very important to do... I have a goal that I must achieve! And before I achieve that goal, I can''t really go and live a happy life..."


    "So, I will first achieve that goal, and once I have no more need for this power, I will let it go..."


    Rio''s initial motivation to seize the protagonist''s opportunities and strive for strength was his desire to ''Survive'' the impending global cmity.


    Despite the fact that the novel he was reading was nearing its conclusion, it remained unfinished, and Rio never had the opportunity to read its final chapters because they were never written.


    Thus, Rio can''t be sure how the novel ended; I may have ended with a bad ending, and Rio doesn''t want to see that.


    It would be disastrous if that mysterious SSS-rank monster destroyed the entire.


    That monster has various skills that can only be countered by using legendary skills. Although sword intent and other skills are more like a burden to him, Rio has no other choice right now.


    He can''t leave the fate of this world in the hands of people like ''Fade''; if he wants to create a safe ce, he can do so by himself.


    ''I need to be strong... My own emotions won''t matter if I can''t protect her from the cmity... It''s better to be emotionless than to see her die in front of me...''


    Thatst boss was the one who Killed Lia in the original novel, and that being is an SSS ranker, a being that can even ''see'' the strings of destiny and if he figured out some problems.


    He might even target those who were ''saved'' or ''redeemed'' by Rio from their original fate.


    For Rio, the choice is simple: he would rather lose himself and protect Lia than lose her to earn his emotions back.


    If he''s weak, he can''t protect her, so the answer is simple.


    "I will try to keep my ''Sword Intent'' mastery to ''Ny-nine'' percent; that way, it won''t


    reach perfection... This is my solution..."


    Fenix smiled at Rio''s words and got up from his seat, too.


    He nodded his head and said,


    "I have to acknowledge it, Rio; you really have great determination... to think you would not hesitate to even sacrifice your own emotions for your goal, you have earned my respect..."


    "As I thought, there is no one in the world who can reach ''perfect'' sword intent except you... Only someone as determined as you is worthy of reaching it; that is, if you want to, of


    course..."


    Fenix put his hands behind his back and smiled at Rio before saying,


    "It was great talking to you... This is the first time I have had such a long conversation with someone in the past hundred years.


    "But we are pressed on time; this whole graveyard has a massive spell ced on it... To preserve the corpses of the dead dragons for as long as possible, this spell was ced to slow down the time in this ce..."


    "For us, less than an hour has passed, but outside, two days might have passed by now... So let''s not dilly-dally anymore... I only have one participant here to evaluate, so I would like to


    take my time with it..."


    Fenix stretched out his hand and said,


    "Are you ready for the test then?"


    Rio brought out his sword and nodded his head, his expression returned to the usual expressionlessness, and his aura condensed in an instant.


    "I am always ready for a good fight..."


    Fenix flew in the air and waved his hand as he heard Rio''s words.


    [World Authority: Heavens Dome!]


    Fenix raised his right hand and pointed his finger towards the sky.


    As if heaven and earth had changed masters, everything in a hundred kilometers of area


    became Fenix''s ''Territory''.


    The sky turned silver, and everything in the area seemed to be under Fenix control at that


    moment.


    Fenix''s expression turned serious as he nced at Rio and said,


    "My world authority is to create a ''territory'' with various properties andws in it... This one


    in particr lets me control any and every element there is in the world..."


    "I have purposely reduced the size of my ''Territory'' or ''Domain'' to the lowest and weakest; it won''t affect you with any other effects..."


    Fenix waved to his right, and the ground began to rumble. The sand, the stones, and the moisture in the air-Fenix used them all to create a massive golem the size of a ten-story


    building.


    In front of that golem, Rio looked like an ant.


    "All you need to do is defeat this golem, and you can pass the test. The more easily you beat


    it, the higher the evaluation... I have great hopes for you, ''Champion''; do your best."


    Rio remained silent all along, but his eyes were shining in excitement.


    This is the first time he has personally felt the power of an SS-rankers ''Authority''.


    Just by pointing his finger towards the sky, Fenix changed the color of the sky as if he were


    dering to the world that,


    "From now on, this is my territory, and the sky here shall be silver."


    Fenix didn''t say a single word, yet Rio could feel the insane arrogance of a demi-god just by


    his actions.


    Fenix''s actions alone were domineering enough; he raised his finger against the heavens and dered that this small area of a hundred kilometers was ''His'' and the world had to acknowledge it due to his ''World Authority''.


    He basically seized ownership of a small part of the ''world'' itself; if this isn''t arrogant and domineering enough, then what else is?


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, we got to see an SS-ranker use a tiny bit of their true power, and even this much is


    already overwhelming. As stated earlier, SS-rankers are literal ''Demi-gods''...


    Question of the day:.


    What type of ''World Authority'' would you like to have?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 346: Against a Demi-god! Part-2.

    Chapter 346: Against a Demi-god! Part-2.


    ?


    ''Now this is interesting... This golem alone can be considered a semi-S-rank... No, it can be considered a genuine early stage S-rank...''


    Rio felt excited in his mind, but his face remained the same as usual.


    He hasn''t fought a genuine S-ranker since he awakened his sword heart, and this is the moment where he can test out his abilities.


    His sword heart enhanced the power of his sword intent many times over.


    Rio was already strong enough topete with semi-s-grade ever since he reached rank A, and now that he''s at the peak of rank A and has the sword heart


    It''s very much possible to fight an early-stage S-ranker; a peak S-ranker is still out of his capabilities, though.


    Rio twisted his wrist a bit and ced the tip of his sword on the skeleton of the dragon, on which he had been standing all this time.


    ''I haven''t tried this yet, but I guess I should give it a try now that I have the chance to go all out...''


    [Sword Intent!}


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Undead Puppet!]


    Miasma condensed on Rio''s sword and got enhanced by the power of sword intent and the sword heart, then Rio directly embedded that miasma into that skeleton with his sword as a medium.


    His sword is extremely strong, so it can withstand such a strong power of corruption.


    The skeleton bones suddenly started to change color from pure white to pitch ck.


    Miasma flowed through them, corrupting them to the core, and Rio took control of that skeleton.


    He waved his hand, and the giant skeleton of the dragon slowly stood up.


    Many necromancers across the globe dream of obtaining dragon bones to create the highest- grade undead puppet called ''Undead Bone Dragon'', and Rio created it just on whim.


    He pointed his sword at the giant golem and said,


    "It''s Mecha time!"


    Even Fenix was taken aback by Rio''s ability to control ''Miasma''.


    In the whole world, the only beings who can control ''Miasma'' are either demons or those who have gone through demonification.


    ''Miasma'' is extremely lethal for any living being; it can corrupt your body, soul, and even consciousness.


    The souls that get corrupted by miasma don''t even get the chance of being born again and end up bing evil spirits most of the time.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Yet, Rio is able to control this power due to various circumstances.


    First of all, he has ''Elemental Sword Art'', which lets him control any and every type of element; secondly, he has ''Sword Intent'' that can help in enhancing and stabilizing these elements.


    Lastly, he has the sword heart, which further helps in boosting the power of these elements, improving control, and other aspects.


    It would be strange if he couldn''t use various elements, even with the help of these three things.


    The Giant Bone Dragon did a w attack on the golem, and the collision between these two colossal beasts created a massive shockwave.


    Even the clouds in the sky were swept away a bit, and the wind trembled like crazy in the whole area.


    ''This isn''t all! Let''s go straight to the breath attack!''


    Dense miasma condensed around the wing bones of the bone dragon and formed wings made up of miasma.


    The bone dragon immediately jumped into the air and pped its wings to fly. It then grabbed the giant golem with its ws and lifted it into the sky.


    Rio''s face was covered in sweat, but he wasughing out of excitement inside his head at the moment.


    ''Although it consumes a ton of mana, this ability is really cool. I kind of understand now why Liam always dotes on Ellie. A dragon as a summon is really awesome!''


    The giant golem iled its limbs madly to get rid of the bone dragon''s grasp, and it even kicked and punched the dragon, causing many of the bones to fracture.


    Each and every collision between the two giants created massive shockwaves in the air. If there was anyone below A-rank in the vicinity, they wouldn''t even have been able to withstand such strong shockwaves.


    But Rio didn''t care about all that.


    He waved his hand after reaching a certain height, and the bone dragon immediately switched from defense to offense.


    The bone dragon dove down at an insane speed and pushed the giant golem below it.


    The weight of the bone dragon increased the pressure on the golem, and when it fell to the ground, a massive crater was created on the spot.


    The force of that collision with the ground caused gigantic cracks in the ground and created new valleys on the spot.


    Several thousand tons of debris flew in the air and rained down on the whole desert like a rain of burningva rocks.


    Fortunately, no creature lives in this desert, so there were no casualties.


    Just the coteral damage from those collisions alone was enough to destroy many of the skeletons nearby and change the geography of half of the desert.


    Even after all this, the stone golem still didn''t break and only lost one of its arms while also suffering major cracks in its body.


    That attack was extremely reckless; when the golem was about to fall down, several stone spikes fired from its body and attacked Rio.


    Rio was taken aback for a second, and that small dy caused him to get his left shoulder


    injured.


    Yet his expression remained the same as usual; he clenched his sword and covered his whole body in sword intent.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Healing Type: Fully Body Healing!]


    Rio copied Riya''s healing element and used it in a simr manner to heal himself. Originally, his elemental sword art couldn''t use healing elementals as his sword intent wasn''t stable enough, but now that he has the sword heart, using it is no big deal.


    Although he still can''tpete with Riya in terms of real healing capabilities, at least he can do some basic healing on his own now.


    This may seem like a small matter, but it''s so shocking that Fenix''s eyes nearly popped out of


    their sockets.


    Fenix, who was standing in the air and watching everything, had only one thought in his mind


    now.


    ''Insanity... This is insanity!!... even healing magic!? M-monster, this kid is insane!''


    Fenix has never heard of anyone other than healers being able to use healing magic.


    He himself can use healing elements only because of the fact that he has the world authority ''Heaven''s Dome''.


    This authority created a unique domain of his own, and he can use any of the world''s elements inside this specific territory.


    But Rio is able to use healing elementals without even needing the help of a ''World Authority''; he''s the first one to achieve such an insane feat.


    Even if he can''tpete with genuine healers, being able to do basic healing is already a big


    feat.


    ...


    Unaware of Fenix''s shock, Rio waved his sword again and embedded more miasma into the bone dragon, repairing the damage done to its body.


    The bone dragon pinned down the golem firmly, not even allowing it to move in the slightest.


    In the meantime, Rio started to concentrate a massive amount of mana on his sword.


    He used his sword intent to control the wind and stand in the air, then swung his sword


    downward.


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Light Type: Condensed Ray!]


    Rio''s sword glowed brightly as if it were blessed with divine light, and with the swing of his


    sword, a gigantic arc made of condensed ''Light elementals''unched at the two giants below.


    That Arc was so condensed and destructive that it split both the bone dragon and the giant golem into two pieces at the same time.


    This attack was not only enhanced with the power of max output sword intent that has been mastered halfway to perfection, it was also enhanced by the ''sword heart'' too.


    Thus, its power was extremely destructive, and seeing that attack, Fenix understood one


    thing.


    ''I underestimated him... It would have been much better if I had created an intermediate S


    rank golem...''


    Fenix shook his head as he saw the giant golem turn into dust after getting split in two pieces.


    ''As I originally thought, this kid indeed has the power to master the ''perfect'' sword Intent...''


    Fenix waved his hand and deactivated his ''World Authority''. Rio already fulfilled the task, and there was no more need for this gigantic domain.


    He flew down and discovered that Rio was lying on one of the giant skeleton''s broken bones.


    *pant**pant*


    He was panting heavily, and his whole body was covered in sweat.


    Fenix stood beside Rio and smiled,


    "Good news, kiddo, you passed with flying colors... I was expecting you to take a few hours to


    win, but you won so fast that I nearly mistook you for an S-ranker..."


    A rare smile appeared on Rio''s face at the moment,


    "It''s been a long time since I felt so exhausted... Even when fighting Link, I didn''t run out of


    mana, but today I really exhausted it all... I guess my control over light and healing elements


    is still a bit low..."


    "I need to improve my control..."


    Fenix smiled at Rio''s words and said,


    "You are quite the hard worker, I see... By the way, there are no sane beings in the world who


    would dare to use miasma as recklessly as you..."


    "And I am quite sure that none can do self-healing except for healer... You have really done


    something that is totally unheard of..."


    "So, my evaluation of you is that you are an ''Anomaly'', an anomaly that can''t be measured by


    the standards of any evaluation system... You are a ''unique'' existence on your own..."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders upon hearing those words and inquired,


    "So, did I get a good evaluation or a bad one?"


    Fenixughed at those words, "Of course it''s an ''uncertain'' evaluation for an ''uncertain anomaly'' like you... Isn''t'' this quite


    ''unique''?"


    Rio nodded his head and closed his eyes; due to exhaustion, he directly fell asleep on the spot. Fenix sighed and shook his head.


    "Ugh, it seems I will have to carry him to the dragon pce on my own back again... What a troublesome kid, sigh..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day: Don''t you think that Rio''s elemental sword art is kind of overpowered?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 347: Hope of the Universe... Part-1.

    Chapter 347: Hope of the Universe... Part-1.


    ?


    The Ancient Dragon Temple.


    "Well, I have to say, all your friends are quite an interesting bunch... I haven''t seen people as interesting as them in quite a while..."


    Sitting on the throne, the dragon king nced in a certain direction with a look of surprise. He sensed Liam''s ''enlightenment'' from kilometers away. Themes had ced a barrier to hide it so as to prevent unwanted attention, but for the Dragon King, it was easy to see through it.


    Before Link could say anything, he noticed that the surroundings suddenly changed, and now he was standing in a very high ce in a building.


    He noticed the Dragon King standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the horizon. Link walked over to his side and found that he was now standing on the rooftop of a gigantic temple built on a small ind that seemed to be floating in the sky.


    The ce was so high in the sky that Link could see the vague silhouette of the central city from far away.


    "Hmm? When we were in the central city... I didn''t notice this floating ind from there- "


    Before Link could even finish his question, Dragon King Idri shook his head and replied in a calm tone,


    "I have ced a very powerful spatial barrier on the space around this floating ind; not even Peak SS-rankers can sense this temple''s presence from the outside..."


    "It is only natural that you didn''t notice it... But I''m quite sure that you can learn to see through such barriers if you improve your ''legendary'' skill more..."


    "Dao Rhythm is a power that works in ''Harmony'' with the world itself; as long as you can improve your mastery over it, you will find yourself being able to influence many things in the world that you couldn''t before..."


    "With Dao Rhythm, you can borrow the power of the ''world'' itself, which is a very strong ability..."


    The Dragon King nced at Link and said,


    "In the annals of history, only one person has said to have achieved near perfect mastery over Dao Rhythm; that person was King Allen Von Reinhart..."


    Link nodded his head at those words and then asked in a solemn tone.


    "Uh... The princess said that you invited only ''Me'' specifically? So, can you please tell me what you need from me?"


    The Dragon King nodded his head at Link''s words and said,


    "Link... Have you ever had a strange memory before? When mastering ''Dao Rhythm'' or some other time... a vague silhouette of sorts that seems to be guiding you about something?..."


    Link was taken aback by that question for a second, but then he nodded his head and said in a solemn tone,


    "Right after I got defeated by Rio, I entered a strange in of consciousness... it wasn''t mine; it felt like I was traveling in someone else''s dream at that time..."


    "There was a man wearing white clothes and a golden crown; he seemed quite handsome too... He said that he preserved the ''Law'' of ''Dao Rhythm'' from corruption..."


    "But I have no idea about it."


    A rare solemn look appeared on the Dragon King''s face at that moment. He nodded his head and said,


    "Yeah, just as I thought..."


    Link was confused at the dragon king''s behavior, and he asked in curiosity,


    "Uh... Do you have any information about this?"


    The Dragon King came out of his momentary daze after hearing Link''s words and said them in a calm tone.


    "Actually, when I first saw you use Dao Rhythm in the tournament of Supreme Talents... I already had my doubts..."


    "Someone of your caliber is bound to awaken the hidden messages left by him in the w'' of Dao Rhythm after reaching certain levels of mastery..."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Idri sighed and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "That man who wears the golden crown is none other than King Allen himself; my father once told me that King Allen left some of his legacy in the w'' of ''Dao Rhythm'' before he disappeared..."


    "Those who awaken Dao Rhythm can inherit his legacy once they reach certain levels of mastery..."


    "But even I didn''t expect that he had hidden a part of his own consciousness in that legacy..." The more Idri talked, the more confused Link became; he couldn''t make heads or tails of all this.


    Seeing the confused look on Link''s face, the Dragon King started to exin.


    "King Allen left quite a few treasures in this world before he disappeared; one of them was his sword, which is called ''Vinash'', and the other was his words embedded in thew of Dao Rhythm..."


    "There has been no one in the past millennia who has awakened ''Dao Rhythm'', so no one was able to find what the words embedded in the w'' said..."


    "But now that you have learned about those words, I have found one of thest few pieces of this huge puzzle..."


    "Things seem more clear now..."


    Idri nced at the sky and said in a solemn tone,


    "I have long sensed that thews of this world are getting ''corrupted'' to the very core... Everything seems to be changing at a rapid pace; the density of mana and miasma has started to rise suddenly in the past seven years..."


    "This isn''t a good sign..."


    "The increasing density of mana and miasma means that this world is heading for ruin... The more dense the miasma, the lower the defensive capabilities of the ''world..."


    "In other words, there will be a time soon when ascending to the next realm will be possible... The only reason most people fail to ascend is because of the defense mechanisms of the world..."


    "But in the absence of the defense mechanisms, ascending to the realm that is beyond the


    level of a demi-god will be possible..."


    Link frowned at those words and asked,


    "But isn''t that a good thing? The awakeners will have a new path to follow-"


    Before Link could even finish his words, the dragon king shook his head and said in a solemn


    tone,


    "No, this isn''t good; miasma inherently is a very destructive and corrupt power; it is slowly corrupting thews of the world, which is weakening the defense of the world..."


    "But corrupting thews of the world also means that the world itself is getting corrupted... If this continues, then the bnce of mana and miasma in this world will go haywire..." "Miasma will continue to seize more power, and mana will be weaker and weaker even with its increased quantity... Eventually, the w'' of ''Mana'' will also get corrupted..." "All creatures in this world have some amount of mana except for the demons, as they miasma... And if the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' gets corrupted to the point of no return, all creatures that have mana in their bodies will also get corrupted..."


    "That includes all awakeners too..."


    Hearing this, Link felt a chill run down his spine. All this time, he was thinking that the increase in miasma would only result in the demon poption increasing.


    Link can just be strong and kill demons to deal with that, but if everyone in the world became a demon by getting corrupted, then even Link wouldn''t be able to do anything. "This actually exins everything perfectly... The ''Sea of Endless Miasma'' has started to expand at an insane rate recently, and this is likely one of the reasons for it..." "Everything in the world is getting corrupted... except for one ''Law'' that is the ''Law of Dao Rhythm''... King Allen likely said that he preserved this one ''Law'' from corruption..." "That means only this ''Law'' is thest ray of hope for this world..."


    But then Idri''s expression became even more solemn. He nced at Link and said,


    "King Allen left a piece of his own consciousness as a legacy for future generations... This means only one thing: that King Allen has unfortunately met his end..."


    Even for an SS-ranker, their consciousness is a very important aspect of their ''existence''.


    If not for ast-ditch effort, no SS-ranker will dare to separate a piece of their own consciousness from their body.


    If King Allen has done such a thing, that means he already knew that his end was near, and he ced his consciousness as a legacy because he already saw his deathing.


    It was likely ast-ditch effort from him.


    What Link and Idri didn''t know was that not only the legacy in the w'' of ''Dao Rhythm'', King Allen put a second piece of his own consciousness in Rio''s sword, ''Vinash''.


    The person who Rio saw when awakening his formless sword''s true power was also King Allen


    himself.


    This means that King Allen had already seen that he was going to suffer a very terrible fate.


    Thus, he separated two different pieces of his own consciousness, and he even abandoned his sword and used his consciousness to prevent the ''corruption'' in thew of ''Dao Rhythm''.


    All this shows that something terrible must have happened to him in hisst days.


    Idri looked at Link and spoke in a serious tone.


    "Link Rex... Or should I say, ''The World''s Chosen''... It seems you have a very big responsibility on your shoulder; the fate of the whole world rests atop your palm..."


    "Only you have the w'' that has not been tainted by miasma, which means you have the responsibility to save this world from the clutches of miasma..."


    As the saying goes, the more talented and powerful you are, the more responsibility is on your


    shoulders.


    Link was granted insane talent by the world and awakened to the purest ''Law'' that exists in


    this world. He will have the ability to borrow the power of the whole world in the future.


    But all of this didn''te without a price, and in return for all this, Link has the responsibility to ''Save the World''...


    It won''t be wrong to say that Link Rex was born to be the ''hero'' of this world, and that is the


    meaning of his life.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And now we have made it official: Link is the real ''hero'' of


    this world, not that fake guy called ''Fade''.


    Question of the day:.


    Do you now understand why Link possesses so many talents and powers?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 348: Hope of the Universe... Part-2.

    Chapter 348: Hope of the Universe... Part-2.


    ?


    Link never thought of himself as a hero or savior.


    In his opinion, there are no real distinctions between heroes and viins; it''s just a matter of perspective.


    Some people perceive a person as a hero, while others perceive the same person as a viin.


    For example, all the races of the alliance considered King Allen the greatest hero of all time. Not only humans, but all the other races respect him too.


    Even the dragon race teaches their children about his stories, as he was a symbol of absolute power.


    King Allen not only united nearly all of the races of the world; he created anguage to connect everyone and also took a lot of measures to eliminate racial discrimination.


    His name spread all over the world, and he was admired even in the most remote corners of the world.


    He was the reason why the demon race nearly went extinct from this sr system and got confined to a small continent.


    He single-handedly brought a thousand years of peace after ending the demon extinction war. The demon dared not attack the alliance for a thousand years due to his fear.


    For the alliance, King Allen was the brightest hero, but for the demons, he was the greatest viin.


    The number of demons he ughtered was so high that you could cover the whole surface of the with their corpses ten times over.


    There are still S-rank demons''s dead bodies floating in the Oort cloud that were left behind after the war.


    The number of demons that died in that war was so high that it took a hundred years just to clean up the dead bodies of the demon race from the whole sr system.


    King Allen''s existence alone posed a significant threat to the demon race, prompting Azazel to assassinate all of his descendants in order to prevent the appearance of a second Allen von Reinhart.


    And the demon race might have really seeded in stopping a new King Allen from appearing, if not for the interference of a certain ''Anomaly''.


    ...


    "I see... I think...Miasma corrupted allws of the world, due to which you never got the blessing of heavenly luck even while being the world''s chosen..."


    Hearing Idri''s words, Link frowned a bit and asked in a doubtful tone,


    "Uh, how are you so sure that I am that ''World''s Chosen'' or whatever that is... In the first ce, what does it mean to be a ''World''s Chosen''... I really can''t wrap my head around these..."


    The Dragon King nodded his head, his golden hair waved in the air, and he contemted for a while before saying,


    "Hmm, how about we take an example... When we are non-awakeners and don''t have mana, we are nothing but ''ordinary'' creatures..."


    "Our ordinary body is prone to diseases; we catch colds and coughs easily... awakeners usually have high resistance, so they don''t catch diseases as much... but for ordinary people, even the weakest disease can be deadly in extreme cases..."


    "Then the immune system steps in and stops destroying these diseases, causing ''elements'' and eventually restoring us to good health..."


    "Yet! Sometimes we end up catching a disease that''s so strong and dangerous that our immunse system fails against it, and all efforts end up being useless..."


    "That can cause extreme situations, and without proper treatment, we end up dead..."


    Idri nced into Link''s eyes and said,


    "The world works in a simr manner, Link; consider the world a ''living entity'' and things will start making sense..."


    "Demons, miasma, and even mana-all of these are foreign substances to this world; they don''t belong here; they are like ''cancer'' to this world''s existence; the denser they be, the more they harm the ''world''...."


    "Eventually, there wille a day when the ''World'' will not be able to withstand this so- called ''Cancer'' and its end will be inevitable... In fact, I would say that we are already living in a world that has started to head towards ruin..."


    Idri nced at the horizon and said it in a solemn tone.


    "You can consider the appearance of a ''Hero'' or the so-called ''World''s chosen'' to be simr to the ''immune system''... A hero appears to be dealing with the ''cancer'' that is guing this world..."


    "You are not the first one, Link... King Allen was the real ''Immune System'' of this world; he was the one who was blessed with the ''World'' and the ''Heavenly Luck'' both at the same time..."


    "He had the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' in his hand; he had every blessing that the world can give, and he had the greatest amount of heavenly luck supporting his back..."


    "You can say that the world put all its efforts on him; he was like the ''super powered'' immune system of this world... He ughtered demons endlessly and did his best to fulfill his duty..."


    Idri sighed at that moment and said,


    "s, even all that was not enough... I don''t know what happened after that, and no one knows where he suddenly went after the thousand-year war or how he died..."


    "But one thing is sure: even with all those blessings and powers, he lost to this so-called ''Cancer'' of the world, if even he was not able to do anything and ended up dying... I highly doubt anyone else can do much..."


    "His defeat represents that the world has been affected by such strong diseases that even the immune system has been defeated..."


    "After this defeat, thousands of years passed, and the disease that had won against the immune system slowly started to corrupt the world further... Eventually, it must have


    corrupted the heavenly luck too..."


    "This ''Cancer'' likely caused the heavenly luck to lose focus, and when the world tried to do one morest-ditch effort to save itself, the heavenly luck didn''t cooperate due to


    corruption..."


    "Thus, when the world''s chosen was born, it directly sent heavenly punishment to annihte you at birth... Even the world would have been too weak to protect you at that time..."


    "After all, giving birth to a new world''s chosen is a very difficult process; creating a being that can rule the whole universe is no small matter..."


    "You couldn''t have been born so talented if not for the fact that the whole world was blessing your existence..."


    Those words surprised Link, prompting him to inquire.


    "You know about my talent?"


    Link has always known that his talent is much higher than anyone else in the world.


    No one else possesses the talent of rank SSS; only Link was born with such a talent.


    Ashtel himself is the only other person who knows about this matter.


    "Yes, I had a long chat with your father; I guess it was sixteen years ago... You had only just


    turned one year old at the time..."


    "He told me about your talent... Sincerely speaking, I myself am quite envious of you... I consider myself the strongest being in this universe, but even I know that I can''t reach a new realm as I don''t have the talent for it..."


    "The moment I try to ascend, I will be annihted by the heavenly punishment..."


    "But you are different, Link; you are blessed by the world itself; fortunately, you were born as the son of Ashtel Rex; if it were someone else, they could have never been able to save you from the heavenly punishment..."


    "You should thank your father for that... Without him, you wouldn''t have been able to live


    past one or two minutes in this world..."


    Link nodded his head in response to Idri''s words,n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Yes, I am in his debt... I don''t know if I can ever pay him back enough for all he has done for


    me..."


    Not only did Ashtel block the heavenly punishment for Link, he also dered to the world that Link only had peak SS rank talent, so as not to attract too much attention to him.


    Link was already born an awakener and was at rank E from birth. Ashtel had to seal his powers so that Link didn''t end up harming himself as a kid.


    (Keep in mind that ordinary people start at rank G after awakening, and Link was already at rank E


    from birth.)


    Link''s powers were unsealed after he became fifteen years old and took the academy''s


    entrance exam.


    Aside from protection, Ashtel trained Link in martial arts; he also hired a lot of professionals


    to teach Link about various other life skills, like music, singing, etc.


    And Ashtel fixed Link''s engagement with someone who truly cared about him and gave him motivation to improve consistently.


    Link grew up with the utmost support that anyone could get; if the heavenly luck wasn''t corrupted, he would have been a perfect, overpowered being with no equals.


    If Rio had heard all this talk between Link and Idri, he would have realized that in the original novel, Link was likely being targeted again and again by corrupted heavenly luck.


    The main reason why Fade was even able to kill Link was his plot armor; if the heavenly luck was in Link''s favor, then there would have been no way to deal with Link.


    You can say that the corrupted heavely luck chose a ''trash'' like Fade so that Link couldn''t get the blessings of luck, and the luck gets wasted on a person who has no real ambitions.


    The fight between Fade and Link is basically a chess match between the ''Heavenly Luck'' and the Power of the ''World''.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally!! Finally, we know why the heavenly luck chose to bless trash like Fade!! We finally


    have the answer to this!!


    This is the reason why the system said ''Suitable host found'' when it bound itself with a trash


    like Fade.


    Question of the day:.


    What would you do if you found out that your luck was stolen by a scumbag who used it to


    pick up girls?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 349: Hope of the Universe... Part-3.

    Chapter 349: Hope of the Universe... Part-3.


    ?


    "While talking to your father, I felt that his circumstances seemed quite simr to mine... He has the burden of a nation on his shoulders, so it was quite easy for us both to find simr topics to talk about..."


    Idri further exined that Ashtel had told him about all that happened during Link''s birth and also told him that Link seems to have awakened a very powerful talent.


    Idri saw a few pictures of the baby Link on Ashtel''s phone and immediately figured out that Link has the potential to awaken the ''Dragon Physique''.


    Humans don''t have the ability to naturally awaken the dragon physique, but there is a secret art in this world that can help you awaken the ''Dragon Physique'' eventually if you practice it from childhood.


    "The art that can improve physique while also giving amazingbat techniques and power is called ''The Divine Dragon Art''... Truthfully speaking, what you have is the ''Divine Dragon''s Physique''..."


    Link was really taken aback by those words.


    Ever since he started training, he has always thought that his so-called arts were rted to dragons, and it helped him improve his physical capabilities.


    But he never knew that this ''Dragon Art'', which he was considering an ordinary technique, was the reason why he has such a strong physical body.


    It is indeed true that he has insane talent, but his talent has nothing to do with this physique.


    If Link hadn''t had the divine dragon art from the start, he would have never had his insanely strong Divine Dragon Physique.


    "Wait, does that imply that you transferred this dragon art to my father, who subsequently permitted me to train with it?"


    Idri nodded his head at Link''s question.


    "I hadn''t heard of anyone who had survived heavenly punishment beside King Allen... the moment Ashtel Rex said that you were a child who had survived such a big cmity..."


    "I already knew that you were definitely special... Also, you had amazing talent from the start... Your own father''s martial art techniques are very good too, but Ashtel made hisbat techniques on his own..."


    "They suit him and only him... Even if you are his son, you are different from him; his techniques are suited for someone who can reach the peak of rank SS, but you are bound to reach a higher realm than that..."


    Idri smiled and said in a confident voice,


    "But the Divine Dragon Art is extremely suitable for you... All the peak SS-rank dragons that have ever appeared in the dragon race have contributed to making this dragon art..."


    "This Divine Dragon art was born from the efforts of more than a hundred peak SS-rank dragons! The very first criteria to practice this art is that you must have talent that surpasses rank SS+."


    "Up until your appearance, no one was able to properly learn this art, not even me, but you brought the possibility for us to see the results of practicing this art..."


    "Your physique has evolved beyond the limits of a normal human, and your physique is evolving every day to improve!"


    Idri''s eyes shone brightly, and the more he looked at Link, the more pleasing Link seemed in his eyes.


    "We named this dragon art the ''Devine Dragon Art'' as we think that this art has the potential to go beyond the realm of a demi-god and reach a higher divine state..."


    "With the help of hundreds of ''authorities'' of various peak SS rank dragons, we influenced thews of the world..."


    "Link, all peak SS-rankers vaguely know that they need some kind of divine power''s assistance if they want to go beyond the realm of a demi-god, but finding that divine power is near impossible..."


    "Yet, look at you! Your whole body is slowly heading in the direction of divinity itself!! With the help of ''Dao Rhythm, you elerated the process; thews of the world have manifested in your body..."


    "In other words, you will be able to go beyond the scope of demi-god much easier! You have the hope to explore a whole new world!"


    "All you need to do is master your Dao rhythm further and fully awaken your divine dragon physique..."


    Unlike Rio, who had to go through a lot of trouble to find his ''Sword Heart'' divinity, Link already had it from the day he started training his physique with the Divine Dragon Art.


    But the big difference is that Link has yet to awaken his divinity, whereas Rio has already partially mastered it.


    Although Rio''s sword heart is still in an ''Imperfect'' state, he''s already ages ahead of Link in this matter. Link might never be able to catch up to Rio''s mastery level at this speed.


    "Giving the Divine Dragon Art to your father that day was really a good decision, it seems... I am d I took the gamble and gave it to you... I am also thankful that he helped you train with


    it..."


    The more Idri talked, the more excited he became.


    Even as the Dragon King, it was really difficult for him to control his excitement.


    Ever since mana descended in this world, the dragon race has tried its best to reach the realm above demi-god, but as the as the centuries went by, dozens of peak-SS-rank dragons were born over time.


    But none was able to go beyond the scope of a demi-god.


    Eventually, most peak-SS-rank dragons either died fighting each other or due to personal conflicts.


    Alternatively, they met their demise fighting the powerful demons that asionally emerged from the miasma-filled dungeon gates during the thousand-year war.


    Also, there were some who couldn''t sit still and wait for their life span to end, so they left the sr system in search of answers and never came back.


    Most dragons don''t die from age; they either die in search of knowledge or in battle.


    "You have the possibility to one day achieve a real divine dragon physique; at that point, you can also create your own dragon form..."


    "You will be able to get the dragon''s inheritance and will be able to use true dragon magic just


    like other dragons..."


    "It won''t be wrong to say that you are on a path to be a dragon god!"


    Link couldn''t help but feel awkward after hearing those words.


    "Er, does that mean I won''t be a human anymore? T-that might cause problems..."


    Idri dismissed those words with a shake of his head.


    "No, you will neither be a dragon nor a human; you will be a ''God''... a being that would have surpassed its mortality... You would have a unique existence of your own..."


    Link was relieved to hear those words.


    ''That''s good enough, I guess; I don''t want to turn into an ugly-looking dragon man... Riya


    might run away if I became so ugly...''


    What he didn''t know was that, even if he became the ugliest creature in the world, Riya


    wouldn''t abandon him; she seems like she has a weak ''will'' but when ites to Link, it''s


    impossible topete with her.


    While Link was still contemting in his mind, Idri directly ignored the strange look on his


    face and said,


    "It''s a pity that your father didn''t agree to my request at that time... Otherwise, it would have


    been even better..."


    Link was confused by those words and asked curiously,


    "What request did you make?"


    Idri sighed at the question and responded,


    "I wanted to arrange an engagement between you and my daughter Sin; you two are of the


    same age anyway..."


    "With an amazing son-inw like you being here in the dragon valley, I am sure that not only me but the whole dragon race would have agreed to you bing the next Dragon King!"


    "But things are not out of hand; what do you say, Link? Would you like to be the next Dragon King? You have a physique that is even stronger than the Golden Dragons..." "No one will object if you just say yes... Also, don''t worry about anything; you will definitely get much better treatment here than in the human empire..."


    "In the human empire, you will still be considered a ''citizen'' and everyone is more or less


    equal there... but here you will be treated like a ''King''!"


    "You can do whatever you want, so what do you think?"


    Idri''s offer was indeed very great; if it were Fade or anyone else, they would have likely


    epted it instantly.


    But the members of Team Astra are different.


    Link, Liam, Rio... All three of them have their own ambitions and their own paths; none of the


    three will agree even if they are offered this opportunity.


    Link immediately shook his head and said, in a serious tone,


    "Forgive me; I am already engaged, and I love Riya with all my heart. I won''t ept anyone


    else.... Also, I really can''t be the Dragon King; I will take over my father''s duties once hen/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    retires..."


    "I aim to be the next Ashtel Rex, ''The Guardian of Humanity''... so I can''t ept your


    offer..."


    At Link''s words, Idri sighed and shook his head.


    "Sigh, it seems I was toote; I should have made this offer much earlier; now you have already chosen your path, it seems..."


    "Forget it... I am happy as long as you can achieve the ''divine physique'' on behalf of us dragons... It has been the greatest wish of us dragons to see the ''divine dragon physique''..." "Aside from that, you are always wee in the Dragon Valley... Whenever you feel like it, you cane, and I will happily give you the position of Dragon King." Idri''s words were sincere; although Link has declined the offer, the future is always uncertain after all; maybe Link will change his mind one day, so it''s better to make the offer.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    First of all, DON''T YOU DARE SAY I AM DOING FAVORITISM!!


    Link possessed this "Divine Dragon Art" from the very beginning! I had already


    foreshadowed this from the start, so don''t me me for it being sudden!!


    Question of the day:.


    Were you able to see through this foreshadowing?


    (Tell me your opinions in thements) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 350: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-1.

    Chapter 350: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-1.


    ?


    The status panel that every awakener has in the world is a very crude and unreliable thing. Most awakeners don''t even bother looking at it, as it can''t properly show them their truebat capabilities.


    If you think that you are stronger than others just because your stats are higher, you will find that you are sorely mistaken.


    Base stats are not everything; the main aspect is the skill and technique that you have mastered.


    Base stats just show what your body is capable of at its ''maximum'' limits; when your stats increase, you are basically just increasing that maximum limit of your capabilities.


    Usually, you don''t use your full power at all; you only use a part of it.


    The stats in this world work very differently; they are heavily dependent on''skills''''.


    For example, Link''s base stats are around 120 due to his unique Dragon Physique; on the other hand, Rio''s base stats have now be 100.


    However, they have been increased by the Imperfect Sword Heart, so his base stats are always at the level of an SS ranker.


    Yet, why is it that Link''s defensive power is higher than that of Rio? Why is it that Rio''s speed is the only thing that seems to improve, even though his other stats are just as strong as his speed one?


    The answer to it is simple.


    Link''s techniques and nearly all skills focus on the strength and defense stats, while Rio is more inclined towards the speed stats.


    Their own "Mentality," "skill," and "Techniques" have an impact on their statistics.


    Rio wanted more ''Speed'' to improve the attack speed of his sword techniques; thus, nearly all of his stats, may it be strength, agility, etc., focus on improving the ''Speed'' stat.


    Basically, a person''s other stats work as auxiliary and support the main stat ording to their skillset.


    But what if the person has focused his whole stat on strength but still wants to learn speed- type skills?


    Of course, this is also possible. In that scenario, your speed stat will work as an independent stat and won''t be boosted by other stats.


    This is the exact reason why Link couldn''t keep up with Rio''s speed even after learning movement art and deploying a giant dragon field, along with boosting himself with Dao Rhythm.


    Link has focused all his stats on strength and defense, while Rio has focused them on speed and agility.


    The two of them havepletely opposite motives and personalities.


    Link believes in fighting head-on andnding heavy and effective hits, while Rio entersbat with the thought in his mind that he will not get ''hit'' by any of the opponents attacks and willnd all of his own attacks with fast speed instead.


    The factors that influence the base stats of an individual are just too many to count.


    Not only does the person''s physical condition affect their stats, but even the smallest debuffs and buffs can change things on arge scale.


    This world is full of possibilities, so it is a very unwise choice to judge people simply because of their stats.


    A person can be faster than you even if their speed stat is lower than yours just because he has focused all his other stats to support the speed stat and you haven''t.


    This is the beauty of being an ''Awakener''; you have insane control over your body, and you can create your own unique ''Path''.


    Aside from the base stats, the rest of the status panel is also more or less inurate.


    It barely gives you any skill information or description, and if you don''t know about some crucial things, it won''t even show them on it.


    For example, Link didn''t know that his Dragon Arts''s actual name was ''The Divine Dragon Art'' and his physique''s name was ''The Divine Dragon Physique''.


    Thus, his status panel only showed them as ''Dragon Arts'' and ''Dragon Physique''; this just shows how inurate this status panel can be at times.


    Only one person in this world has the ''99.99%'' urate status panel, and that is Fade Crest.


    He has a proper ''System'', a manifestation of thew of ''Luck'' itself; the system gives Fade urate measurement, and he even has the ''Appraisal'' skill that can not only help him see others status panels; it can even help him inbat.


    ''Appraisal'' is basically a skill at the same level of ''True Immunity'' that Rio has.


    It can be used inbat to analyze the moves of the other person and detect ws in their attacks to help the user.


    This skill is so overpowered and broken that if you reach rank SS, it will get so strong that you can just simply copy other people''s skills and techniques by analyzing them with ''Appraisal''.


    In other words, Fade could copy anything that he could analyze with ''Appraisal'' and he could learn any and every skill with this power.


    After reaching the SSS rank, this skill was so broken that Fade even copied the ''World Authority'' of others and integrated it into his own.


    And he was able to achieve these great heights all because he manifested the ''Law of Luck'', the ''System'' in his palm.


    The ''System'' is the manifestation of the ''Law of Absolute Luck and Destiny''; it has the power of heavenly will supporting it, and it can bless the user with things that others can only dream of their whole lives.


    Imagine a situation in which ''Link'' did not lose his luck and possessed the ''System'' himself, rather than Fade Crest.


    Link, who is already so overpowered, if he had the ''System'', the ''True Manifestation of Absolute Luck'' on his side, then he would have been an existence ''Equal'' to King Allen Von Reinhart in the truest sense.


    King Allen was a hero chosen by the world and blessed by heavenly luck; his very existence was supreme in the truest sense, and that is the reason why people use the word ''King'' when


    they refer to him.


    He reached heights that were unattainable by others, and his brilliance was so intense that all races and all beings in the whole sr system were in awe.


    They referred to him as ''King'' not because he was a ruler, but because he was the ''Hope'' and the only true savior chosen by the ''world'' itself.


    He controlled the power ofws and even attained the ''Sword of Promised Destinies''; he was indeed a true ''King''.


    ...


    (Back to present)


    "I can see that you mastered your ''Divine Dragon Art'' amazingly... but there are still a few ws... How about you meditate and use the ''art''? I will help you out by pointing out the


    ws..."


    Link nodded his head at Idri''s word and sat down in a lotus pose. He then started to use his dragon arts to meditate and spread mana all over his body.


    Idri ced his hand on Link''s back and helped him point out the ws with a calm look on his


    face.


    He even went so far as to give his own insights and tips to Link.


    The Dragon King is known for being a very strict and cold type of person by everyone; even towards his own daughter, his feelings remain cold as always.


    Yet, he''s showing a more gentle side to Link today; this just shows how much Idri values Link.


    Link has a boundless future; he can already be considered half the sessor of the whole


    dragon race just because of his physique.


    Even if Link himself disagrees, that doesn''t mean the legacy will be lost.


    Link''s children will inherit his physique ''perfectly'' and Idri is sure that he can wait for a kid to appear among his children who would want to join the Dragon Race.


    Even if Link is in denial, it doesn''t mean that his children will also deny it.


    For Dragons, a decade or two passes by in just a single nap, so Idri is sure he can just sit back


    and wait to watch the show; time is on his side after all.


    Ever Since Idri saw Link''s capabilities, he''s lost interest in any of the other promising talents


    in the Dragon Valley.


    Even his own daughter, whom he used to consider his pride, seems to have been overwhelmedn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    by Link''s bright presence.


    Ever since Sin was young, Idri was never present for her.


    He went to wander around in outer space with Aria when Sin was still just a kid.


    He has only recently returned from his hundred-year-long absence, and Sin and Idri don''t even have much of a father-sister bond between them due to this.


    Sin has tried her best to impress him, but it''s just not enough.


    Ever since Idri found out about Link''s existence sixteen years ago, he has been captivated by


    his talent.


    Comparing others with Link is likeparing fireflies to the sun itself, in Idri''s opinion; thus, even his own daughter seems nothing but an average kid, even though she dominates her


    dragon peers.


    ...


    After about half an hour, Idri stopped pointing out the details and nodded his head. "Good, you already figured out most of the things... You should stay in the dragon temple for


    the next few days and digest all that you have learned today..."


    "Practice your improved dragon arts and be stronger..."


    Idri waved his hand, and a maid appeared on the rooftop.


    "Guide Link to a Training hall..."


    Link also nodded his head and agreed to Idri''s words; what he has learned today is indeed very


    valuable.


    The insights obtained from the Dragon King himself are no joke; from now on, Link''s dragon arts will be at least fifty percent stronger.


    Link left in a hurry with the maid, but Idri remained on the rooftop. The smile on his face


    instantly vanished, and an extremely cold and intimidating look appeared on his face. He nced at the corner of the roof and spoke in a cold tone.


    "How long are you nning on standing there? I don''t remember inviting you to the Dragon


    Valley..."


    At the Dragon King''s words, a man with dark purple hair and pupils appeared on the corner of


    the rooftop.


    A shrewd smile hung over the man''s face as he said in a mocking tone,


    "Hoho... You found me so easily, as expected of the dragon king, I guess..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Were you expecting Neo to appear here all of a sudden?


    (Tell me if you are shocked by his sudden appearance in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 351: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-2.

    Chapter 351: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-2.


    ?


    "I was going to find you eventually anyway; good thing you came to me on your own, Neo Aldif..."


    Idri narrowed his eyes and looked at Neo with a slight smirk on his face.


    Neo, on the other hand, just smiled after hearing those words and brought out a token from his space ring.


    "Well, you should have added more restrictions andws to the token; it was so easy to just directly copy this thing."


    Indeed, when Neo touched the token once before team Astra started their journey, he already analyzed the whole token and used his summoned beast to copy the token.


    Still, it took some time to copy such a token because the Dragon King had ced many security measures on it.


    Moreover, Neo only needs to teleport here once; now that he has the coordinates, he can easilye here again without any problems.


    "I guess even the dragon king is not omnipotent afterall-"


    *Boom!*


    Before Neo could finish his words, Idri directly teleported in front of him and punched him in the stomach causing his body to burst apart in an instant.


    A massive shockwave spread everywhere, and it was so loud that all the servants in the temple were shocked.


    "Tch, a clone..."


    Idri took flight and stood in the sky before uttering the words,


    "Stop ying games. I already know you can use clones, but if that''s all you want to do, don''t waste your time; I can easily destroy all your clones inside the Dragon''s Valley-"


    Before Idri could finish his sentence, a small portal opened, and a nt-type monster came out of the portal. Its giant flower on top pointed at Idri and fired a massive beam of condensed


    mana.


    *Boom!*n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Idri didn''t even bother dodging that attack; he just pped the massive beam with the back of his hand, directly deflecting it to the side.


    The beam flew away and fell on a giant mountain below. The power of that weak-looking beam was so strong that it leveled down the whole mountain range in a single second.


    Debris flew high in the sky, and the ground turned into a moltenke ofva, but the Dragon King remained indifferent to all this.


    "These cheap tricks won''t work on me..."


    An attack that could have instantly killed an S ranker was just a mere cheap trick in front of the Dragon King.


    "Indeed, I was expecting you to be strong, but who could have thought it was such a big gap..."


    Another portal appeared, and Neo walked out of the portal this time.


    Seeing this, Idri''s eyes narrowed a bit.


    "Hoh, so you finally decided to show up in person? I guess you are not that much of a coward after all..."


    Neo didn''t reply to Idri''s words, and the two nced into each other''s eyes for a bit, and they immediately understood what was going to happen next.


    [World Authority: Mana Flow!]


    [World Authority: Absolute Rule!]


    Neo and Idri''s used their respective world authorities on the spot at the same time, as if they were in sync with each other and had already expected the other party would do the same.


    Neo''s world authority is ''Mana Flow''; he can control the flow of the mana, and his world authority gives him power to obstruct and snatch others mana too.


    He has control over mana; no matter if it''s in the surroundings or in the opponent''s body, Neo can control it.


    In other words, anyone who''s below rank SS will directly be mana-less if Neo makes their mana unresponsive to them.


    Neo can even block the mana of the surroundings, thus preventing the formation of magic and even mana recovery.


    His authority is basically a slightly weaker version of a ''Perfected Mana Field''; the mana all around will obey hismand and enhance his own power.


    [Absolute Rule: "My mana will remain under my control!"]


    [Absolute Rule: "Space-time fabric will aid me!"]


    Idri was also not going to be outdone. The very moment when Neo tried to freeze his mana, Idri instantly used his own authority to create new absolute rules for himself.


    Idri''s authority is to create rules that obey hismands; he can create any rule as long as it is permitted by the world and doesn''t defy the ''Laws'' of the world.


    He can even heal someone to full health by just saying, "You are fully healed..."


    Basically, his authority gives him partial ''omnipotence''.


    "hehe, I am impressed, but this isn''t all!"


    [Summon: Endless Death Parade!]


    As if the sky had been split apart in two, a gigantic rift appeared in the void behind Neo, and a huge army of gigantic undead steadily walked out of the spatial rift.


    The same thing was happening on the ground, and several massive armies appeared on the ground below, directly heading towards the central city.


    "Acknowledge defeat Dragon King, or I will open a rift right in the middle of the city; don''t me meter that I didn''t warn you..."


    "This is your territory; you have more to lose than me... hehe.."


    Idri disregarded the warning and lifted his hand to the sky, uttering the words:


    [Absolute Rule: "The Dragon Valley will attack all of Neo''s subordinates!"]


    As if a sleeping giant had been woken up, the ground, the rivers, and the air-everything in


    the whole dragon valley-seemed to have started to tremble in excitement.


    The whole dragon valley is the domain of the Dragon King; he can control it, and the ''Laws'' of the world won''t obstruct him.


    At Idri''smand, several cloud bursts happened at the same time and directly swept away the army of undead on the ground.


    Then the sand and rocks on the ground stuck together, forming a giant golem that trampled the undead army under its feet.


    Even the whole spatial rift started to get flooded by water and sand, making it difficult for the


    undead toe out.


    Idri sneered at Neo and said in a cold tone,


    "What is your purpose foring here, Neo Aldif? Tell me one reason that can make me


    forget about killing you..."


    Neo shrugged his shoulder and said,


    "Why talk so much, Dragon King? Let''s fight and kill each other right here right now!!ahahaha


    come!!"


    A look of utter madness appeared on Neo''s face, and a maniac-like smile appeared on his


    face, making even the dragon King frown.


    "Good, let''s kill each other then!"


    [Golden Dragon True Magic: Atomic Rupture!]


    Idri waved his hand, and the atoms in the air burst apart, and the explosion was so strong as if


    several nuclear bombs had burst apart instantly.


    But Neo didn''t even bother dodging.


    "Yeah! That''s the way!!"


    [Summon: Destruction Sealing Whale!]


    A giant, dark purple-colored whale jumped out of the summoning circle and opened its


    mouth to absorb the nuclear bomb-like attacks.


    The suction power of that whale was so strong that the nuclear attacks were directly absorbed


    in a matter of milliseconds!


    [Subject 890: Power Reversal!]


    The whale''s purple color changed to pitch ck, and it opened its mouth to fire the same


    nuclear attack on Idri.


    Neo never bothered giving his summoned beast a proper name, so he just calls them ''Subject''


    and adds a number ording to the summoned order.


    This whale is his 890th summoned beast, so it''s named just that.


    "Is that all! Dragon King!? Then it''s my turn!"


    [Summon: Immortal Phoenix!]


    A giant magic circle appeared, and a phoenix flew out of it. The mes on its body were so hot


    that even the clouds in the sky dissipated and the moisture in the air evaporated.


    It was as if a new sun had appeared in the sky, and just looking at it once can make people


    below rank s lose their eyesight on the spot.


    The central city is hundreds of kilometers away from this ce, yet thousands of dragonmen who were watching this battle of the absolute powerhouses went blind instantly.


    Perhaps looking at the demi-gods fighting was their biggest sin after all.


    Some dragon men even kneeled down to worship the all-powerful demi-gods fighting in the


    sky, and others were filled with worry in their hearts.


    The effects of this battle were so strong that all SS-rankers in the Dragon Valley could feel it,


    and they were all rushing here to help.


    The Phoenix''s heat was so intense that it raised the temperature throughout the entire


    Dragon Valley; it was like a global catastrophe.


    SS-rankers are literal demi-gods; their battle cany waste to wholes, let alone this dragon valley that is just the size of a single continent on Earth outside.


    But Neo and Idri seemed to have already gone insane, and they were fighting like crazy.


    The Phenix fired massive beams of fire, and several other summoned beasts did the same, but the dragon king just created new absolute rules to nullify them all.


    He enhanced the power of his punches and attacked Neo by teleporting right in front of him.


    But Neo had already summoned spatial-type beasts who swapped his location, and none of


    the attacksnded on his.


    Although both of them were missing the attacks, those attacks were creating massive storms


    and earthquakes in the Dragon Valley.


    "AHAHAHA It''s been a while since I went all out! You are indeed good dragon King!! Come! Let us fight to death!! Ahahahaha!!"


    [Summon: Mutated Spatial Ogre!]


    A giant ogre appeared in the sky; Neo had forcefully added wings to his back so it was able to


    fly on its own.


    It used the power of space and engaged Idri in closebat, but only a single punch from Idri was enough to turn it into meat paste.


    But Neo didn''t care; he summoned more of these ogre; he had nock of them; there were


    hundreds of thousands of them in his arsenal.


    The sky turned crimson and blood kept falling on the ground; the fight between two demi- gods made the whole ce look like hell.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Er.. it seems the two of them are really going at each other''s throat...


    Question of the day:


    Do you also have such friendly negotiations with your friends?


    (Tell me your opinions in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 352: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-3.

    Chapter 352: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-3.


    ?


    [Absolute Rule: "Create a separate space!"]


    Idri used his world authority and created a massive separation barrier in the space-time fabric, thus separating the area within a radius of ten kilometers near the temple.


    This way, the rest of the dragon valley will remain unaffected by the fight between the two giants.


    Moreover, he sent a message using telepathy to the other SS-rankers to create their own barriers; this is the reason why none of the students felt anything strange in the mana during the evaluation test.


    The SS-rankers had already isted everything, and due to that, the students never saw the fight between the two demi-gods.


    Even Link, who was so close in the vicinity, didn''t sense it, as a separate barrier was ced on the temple.


    For SS-rankers, creating barriers that can iste small spaces of the world is a very easy task; they don''t even need mana for it; just use the world authority and create one easily.


    And tobat or counter someone''s world authority, you only have two methods.


    The simplest method is to just deploy your own world authority, which should be at the same ''level'' or higher level than the opponent; if it''s lower, you can only resist the other party''s authority but can''t counter it.


    The other and more effective method is to simply have a ''Legendary Skill'' in your arsenal before fighting a Demi-god.


    But this method is very difficult.


    The number of people who have legendary skills in this world can be counted on the fingers of two hands.


    Just awakening a ''legendary skill'' is already a very challenging matter; not even SS-rankers have a guarantee over it; it usually depends on various conditions and mostly on luck.


    Unlike Rio, who has insanely high sword aptitude, others awaken their legendary skills by fulfilling various conditions. (Rio''s sword aptitude is ''X'' rank after all; it has no limits...)


    Neo''s world authority is a slightly weaker version of a ''Perfect Mana Field''; in other words, it gives him an insane boost in mana.


    His authority can help him do almost everything that the legendary skill ''Mana Field'' can do. [World Authority: Mana Flow: Flow Diversion!]


    Neo once again used his authority to direct all the mana in the separated space time towards himself.


    Idri has separated the space-time and confined them both in this small area, so the mana will eventually run out in the surrounding area, and things may get unfavorable for Neo.


    And as Neo''s world authority level is much lower than Idri''s, he has no choice but to be more tricky.


    He diverted the flow of mana towards himself; this way, no matter if he runs out of mana or not, the flow of mana will be on his side, and he can just absorb the mana from the surroundings.


    In other words, Neo has a massive supply of mana; he can keep summoning like crazy, which is why they say he is a one-man army.


    Don''t underestimate those mutated space ogres he summoned just because they were killed with a single punch from Idri.


    Those are all equal to S-rankers in power! And Neo can summon thousands of them in one go! As they say.


    {Everyone below the demi-god realm is just an ant.}


    All SS-rankers are walking disasters; the gap between an S-ranker and an SS-ranker is just as big as the gap between a newborn baby''s power and a peak S-ranker''s power.


    They are people frompletely different leagues.


    [Golden Dragon Martial Art: Thousand Leaves of Rupture!]


    Idri took his stance in the air and punched a thousand times in empty space. His punches directly cracked the space-time fabric, and the cracks spread everywhere like spider webs.


    Massive shockwaves spread in the space-time fabric itself.


    The spatial cracks directly turned the tens of thousands of monsters in Neo''s army into nothingness in a matter of milliseconds.


    But Neo didn''t care about their lives or deaths, even one bit.


    [Summon: Stabilizing Space Worm!]


    He waved his hand, and thousands of magic circles appeared in the sky and summoned weird- looking worms.


    The moment those worms entered the battle field, the space stabilized extremely fast, and the spatial cracks were forcefully closed instantly.


    These space-stabilizing worms have the function of stabilizing and solidifying the space- time fabric in a specific area.


    Neo keeps a lot of them in his arsenal just in case he has to fight Ashtel someday. After all, Ashtel''s one of the strongest moves is to shatter the space-time fabric or create massively strong shockwaves in the space-time fabric.


    Although shattering the space-time fabric is something only peak SS-rankers use inbat, Neo has always liked to prepare counters for everyone.


    He already has enough counters for even Raji and Jin''s world authorities; that phoenix is one of the main counters for Raji''s frost abilities.


    [Phoenix 451: Self-destruction!]


    No one knows how many beasts Neo keeps in his arsenal or how he is able to feed so many beasts at one time; not a single SS-rank summoner in the world is able to summon such an insane number of beasts except for Neo.


    He has so many of them that he can put several nations'' entire armies to shame.


    [Absolute Rule: "I am immune to heat."]


    The massive phoenix, which was already a pseudo-SS ranker itself, self-destructed, and a gigantic explosion happened in the confined area.


    Even thou the space-time barrier created by Idri trembled from that massive explosion, it was thousands of times more powerful than the strongest mana-powered nuclear bomb ever


    created by humans.


    Even though Idri used his authority to make himself immune, the power from the self- destruction of a pseudo-SS ranker is nothing to joke about; it''s enhanced by a massive life source, and thus it''s as strong as a full power move from a peak SS ranker.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Even Idri got a few scratches from tanking that.


    The explosion created another massive crack in the space-time fabric, and nearly all of Neo''s summoned beasts died in that explosion. The coteral damage was insanely high.


    "All that for just a few scratches? What are you trying to achieve with this Neo-Aldif? You know that you can''t really win this fight, right?"


    [Absolute Rule: "Summon Neutron Star"]


    The space-time fabric trembled like crazy as Idri raised his hand towards the sky and summoned a neutron star the size of a ten-story building.


    The gravity of that thing was so insane that all the spatial worms that Neo had deployed died on the spot trying to stabilize the space, and even Neo could feel the pressure from that thing.


    "Last warning, Neo Aldif, stop messing around in my home or... your friend Ashtel will have to raise your children as you will be erased from this world..."


    The pressure increased to an insane level; if Idri had summoned this neutron star when there was no space-time barrier, then the whole dragon valley would have been destroyed by its


    gravity alone.


    Aside from the SS rankers, none would have survived.


    The alliance forbids SS-rankers from engaging inbat close to Earth due to the potential


    danger they pose to the entire.


    Smashing a to bits is just child''s y for these demi-god-like beings, after all.


    Seeing that massive Neutron Star spinning at an insane speed while rupturing the space-time


    fabric around it from time to time, Neo finally calmed down a bit.


    The battle-crazed look on his face finally disappeared, and he shrugged his shoulders.


    "Well, I haven''t tanked something like that before... but... let''s try it!! COME!!!


    AHAHAHAHA!"


    [Summon: Gluttonous Behemoth!]


    A gigantic abomination with a weird and twisted body was summoned; just looking at its


    body would give people chills.


    A twisted human-like body with thirteen legs, ten hands, and a wide, open mouth. The whole thing looked like an eldritch horror kind of beast, and when Idri finallyunched


    the neutron star at Neo, that eldritch horror rushed ahead with its mouth wide open to eat the


    blue-colored neutron star.


    The result was a massive explosion.


    The moment the neutron star touched the tongue of that beast, it exploded.


    An explosion that ruptured the space-time fabric happened. That explosion not only killed


    the giant beast on the spot, it even injured Neo; one of his arms was directly destroyed while


    trying to cast barriers to defend.


    Bright light spread everywhere, making everything seem white and extremely bright.


    The explosion''s intensity caused Idri to sustain minor injuries and scorch the entire skin on


    his right side.


    It took a few seconds for the two SS-rankers to finallye to their senses after tanking that massive attack.


    [Absolute Rule: "My mana will heal me!"]


    Idri used his mana to heal himself, and Neo also summoned a few healing-type beasts to heal


    his arm, which was bleeding like crazy.


    Neo and Idri both calmed down after getting hit by that massive attack, and the fight finally


    ended.


    Idri deactivated the space-time barriers, and the two of them quietly went back to the rooftop of the dragon temple.


    While getting his arm healed by the summoned beasts, Neo smiled at Idri and said,


    "haha, as expected of you, Dragon King, you are quite strong; I think you are slightly stronger


    than Ashtel in my opinion... I am impressed; this is the first time I have seen someone stronger than Ashtel..."


    "You didn''t even go all out and beat one of my strongest summoned beasts... It seems I lost in


    this game of friendly negotiations..."


    Idri sneered at Neo''s words and replied in a cold voice.


    "Tch, if not for the fact that this is inside ''Dragon Valley'' and I don''t want this ce to get harmed, I would have really killed you right here, Neo Aldif..."


    "No one has ever had the nerve to piss me off as much as you... Consider yourself fortunate


    that the residents of the Dragon Valley have saved your life today..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems the way two SS-rankers negotiate with each other is by smashing the space-time


    fabric, killing thousands of innocent beasts, and breaking each other''s bones.


    Question of the day:.


    Don''t you think that SS-rankers are a bit too overpowered?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 353: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-4.

    Chapter 353: A Friendly Negotiation between Demi-Gods... Part-4.


    ?


    Idri didn''t want to turn this fight into an all-out death battle.


    Although he can certainly win this battle easily if he goes all out, even he can''t guarantee the lives of the ordinary folk in the dragon valley.


    Even the weakest of the attacks from an SS ranker can ughter millions of innocent people, and if Idri really pushed Neo to the point of life and death, Neo might cause a big ruckus that might affect the people.


    This is Idri''s home, and he doesn''t want it to get destroyed from coteral damage; thus, he calmed down his anger and didn''t continue the fight or ask an exnation for Neo''s rude behavior.


    This battle can be considered a casual spar for SS-rankers, as no one suffered any harm. Idri also used his world authority to heal the people who had gone blind from seeing those extremely bright attacks.


    As there were no real casualties, Neo couldn''t be punished for anything at all.


    While Idri was still contemting what to do, Neo was done healing his arm, and he shamelessly introduced himself formally, directly ignoring the fact that he was cursing at Idri just a while ago.


    "Nice to meet you, Dragon King. I am Neo Aldif, a Summoner from the Human Empire..."


    Idri scowled at Neo''s remarks and voiced aint.


    "Now you are introducing yourself? You are just as shameless as the rumors say about you... Forget it; tell me why you are here in the dragon valley?"


    Neo nodded his head at Idri''s words and replied in his usual shrewd tone.


    "Haha, it''s nothing major. In fact, I am not even on an official visit right now; it''s more of a personal one... You see, my son hase here to the dragon valley, and I couldn''t help bute too..."


    "After all, dragons are not really close friends with the human race, so I was worried about my child..."


    Idri frowned at Neo''s words and said in a disapproving tone,


    "The dragon race respects the strong; those kids are all talented and strong; there''s no way we will plot and try to harm them..."


    "Dragons abide by their promises, and the moment those children entered the dragon valley, they became guests of the dragon valley, and I had promised to protect the interests of the dragon valley when I took the throne..."


    "Entertaining and protecting the guests is the duty of the dragon pce, you don''t need to worry about their well-being... so, leave on your own before I kick you out-"


    Before Idri could finish his sentence, Neo smirked and spoke.


    "Well, the dragon king might already know, but let me remind you that I have a lot of clones... When I came to the dragon valley, I scattered them all around the ce..."


    "And I can make them self-destruct and cause massive damage... So please be more patient with me, Dragon King; I will leave with all of my clones once you are done with your Dragon Festival..."


    Idri''s expression turned cold at those words,


    "I can easily expel all of your clones, along with you, out of the dragon valley, and then I will invalidate entry for you in the dragon valley by using my authority..."


    As the dragon king, Idri has the power to choose who can enter or exit the dragon valley.


    He can directly block entry for certain individuals as long as he has felt their ''Aura'' even once.


    And now that he has already sensed the aura of Neo''s real body, it would be easy to block Neo from entering the dragon valley without any problem.


    "Ah, you can certainly do that, but I have already made them very fragile; as long as you try to expel them, even the slightest bit of touch from Mana or any authority will cause them to self-destruct..."


    "You might be able to expel most of them, but some might still cause casualties... Are you prepared to take this risk, Dragon King?"


    Idri frowned at Neo''s words and said with a sneer,


    "Hmph, are you threatening me? Do you really think I will let you go back peacefully if even a single person in the dragon valley was killed because of you..."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Idri narrowed his eyes and spoke in a threatening tone.


    "Fine, you can stay... But keep in mind, if even a single person died due to you, Dragon Valley will be your final resting ground..."


    "Don''t even bother escaping after that; I will chase you down to the depths of hell.... This is a warning."


    Neo nodded his head at Idri, then flew into the sky.


    "I will keep that in mind; don''t worry, I will leave on my own when I am done ying around in the dragon valley..."


    With that said, Neo headed towards the dragon pce without hesitation.


    Idri kept staring at Neo''s fading back, and the frown on his face remained for a long time.


    ''What does this shrewd fox even want to aplish?''


    No sane person will take the huge risk of provoking the dragon king just so they could get permission to wander around in the dragon valley.


    That''s just like trying to put your own hand in the mouth of a lion, continuously provoking the lion to try and kill you.


    Idri has met many weirdos in his long lifespan, and he has seen many people who were not afraid of death.


    But Neo is different; his motives are vague, and the way he does things is also very weird.


    If Neo had peacefully talked things out with Idri, then things wouldn''t have escted to this


    point.


    Idri could have allowed Neo to stay in the dragon valley as a guest, but Neo didn''t even bothered talking, he straight up started fighting him and things kept escting further and further.


    Moreover, now that Idri''s vignce has been increased to the max, a foreign SS-ranker who has ill intentions is roaming in the territory freely, so Idri will have to keep his vignce high


    for a while now.


    ''No matter what, this seems strange...''


    Idri couldn''t understand what Neo wanted to aplish by going to such lengths.


    ''Come to think of it, the informants did say that Ashtel has entered seclusion for the time being... Could it be that he''s going around rampaging because right now there''s no one to stop him in the human empire?''


    Ashtel has the reputation of being an upright person who always stands with justice; just by existing, he stops many crimes from happening.


    Criminals fear his existence and don''t dare go overboard; even SS-rankers dare not go out of line due to his presence.


    Idri is definitely not weaker than Ashtel, but he himself doesn''t get involved with the rest of the world and is always in the dragon valley, so he isn''t as famous as Ashtel is.


    Ashtel is basically the strongest power in the world alliance, and the SS-rankers who dare to create problems for the alliance have to face him.


    Thus, most SS-rankers dare not go overboard.


    Even Neo cleared his past and stopped doing weird things after Ashtel took responsibility to


    protect the empire in his own hands.


    Sometimes people say that the alliance was not made to protect humans from demons but to


    protect demons from Ashtel Rex.


    ''Regrettably, I believe my standing as a formidable individual has diminished in recent times. Perhaps I should invite Ashtel to have spar and establish my reputation back...''


    ''It would be troublesome if every other random guy like Neo forcefully dares to enter the dragon valley without even asking me...''


    The threat a demi-god level individual can possess is just too high; even if the party merely flicked his finger a bit too hard, he could wipe out a city filled with millions of people. ''Forget it... Let''s focus on what''s important right now. I still need to guide Link in his training next...''


    ...


    In the sky, above Dragon Pce.


    ''hmm, this ce seems like a good starting point... The mana density is high, and the


    conditions are just right...''


    Neo, who was standing right above the dragon pce, had no interest in looking for his son.


    He clearly didn''te here for Liam at all; he has other motives.


    He brought out a strange-looking orb from his space ring and embedded some mana into it.


    The orb started to shine with dark purple light, and various strange mana circles and patterns


    appeared on it.


    ''Hmm... it isn''t here... I guess I should follow the mana flow from here then... I will likely be able to find the clues if I find the main mana node...''


    Neo didn''t even bother to stay in the dragon pce to wait for Liam and the others and


    headed in a certain direction to follow the flow of mana as shown by that strange orb.


    The reason he fought with Idri instead of having a peaceful negotiation was because he wanted to have more freedom to wander around.


    If he had peacefully agreed, then the dragon king would have likely put some strong tracking methods on him, but now that he has forced Idri to acknowledge his stay here, he can move


    more freely.


    ''Although I forced him to ept my words, I still need to hurry up... Hmm, I guess I have at least two or three days at most to figure things out...''


    ''If I wander around too much after these three initial days, it will raise his suspicion, and things will get more problematic...''


    ''It would be better if I could find the ''traces'' that I am looking for in this small time... Sigh. I


    can''t use my authority right now, or Idri will get rmed. It would have been so much better if I had the legendary skill...''


    ''Liam, my boy, grow up fast. I will need your efforts to help me out in the future...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    The more time passes, the more suspicious Neo bes; what is he even nning?


    Question of the day:.


    What do you think Neo is looking for?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 354: Overprotective? Me?

    Chapter 354: Overprotective? Me?


    ?


    in of consciousness.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''So, I''m here again? ... no matter how many times Ie here, I never get used to it...''


    Rio''s in of consciousness is a vast and empty ce; there''s nothing in it.


    The in of consciousness is something that every awakener has, and they can ess it either willingly or when they arepletely unconscious.


    Rio fell unconscious after bing exhausted from using too much mana.


    The in of consciousness is basically the reflection of your mentality and insides; it is a representation of the deepest parts of your soul.


    Everyone''s state of consciousness is very different and unique to themselves, as everyone''s own life is vastly different from others.


    A in of consciousness also shows the state of mind a person has; if someone is happy, their in of consciousness is filled with vitality and liveliness, and if the person is in pain, it''s filled with their painful memories.


    But Rio has always been an anomaly, ever since he first came to this world.


    His in of consciousness is ''Empty''. It''s like a giant void of nothingness; there''s basically nothing in it-a perfect depiction of his emotionlessness.


    But even in this vast, empty void, there is still a small source of fire that wards off the cold. Rio waved his hand, and a small bonfire appeared.


    ''I am d this small ray of hope is still alive in me... I am thankful to you, Lia; if not for you, even this small flickering fire in my heart would have already gone...''


    Rio just sat down beside that small bonfire and started to pass time while feeling the warmth.


    The rest of the empty void is cold, lonely, and filled with nothingness-a dead, empty in with no ray of hope.


    This small bonfire, which gives off warmth, care, and a feeling of eptance, represents Rio''s unwavering love for Lia.


    This is thest emotion that has been keeping his world bright for a long time now.


    ''No matter how many times I look at this, it''s still just as bright as it always was... Thankfully, it''s not wavering...''


    Rio''s love for Lia never wavered; that can be easily seen by how this flickering me is still extremely bright and is burning with amazing vitality.


    You can clearly see that it isn''t decreasing at all despite the coldness in the void trying to make it flicker again and again.


    Looking at the bonfire''s warm me, Rio smiled happily.


    "As long as you are here to keep mepany, I don''t think I need anything else here-"


    Before Rio couldplete his sentence, someone''s voice interrupted him.


    "You seem to be having a lot of fun..."


    Rio raised his eyes and discovered an exact copy of himself sitting on the opposite side of him.


    The other party had a strangely wide grin on his face.


    "Well, don''t be surprised; I just woke up recently and hadn''t had the chance to talk to you..."


    Rio looked at the other party, sighed, and said,


    "Ah, so you were there all along? I thought you perished... But you surely arete to the party..."


    The other party''s smile broadened as Rio acknowledged his presence, nodding his head before speaking.


    "Well, your soul is strong; you took over my body, and now that our souls are merged, only the one with the stronger consciousness can rule... Truthfully speaking, I don''t think there is anyone in the world with a stronger consciousness than you..."


    "If not for the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', I would have never had the chance to even awaken; you were firmly suppressing me..."


    "But I don''t me you; I couldn''t have achieved all that with my body even if I wanted to... Not to mention the fact that you got ''us'' such a beautiful girlfriend; you even made ''us'' so strong..."


    "I am in your debt, ''Wandering Soul''..."


    The one who had appeared was the consciousness of the original Rio, and now it was referring to Rio as the ''Wandering Soul'' who took over his body.


    Rio''s face remained as expressionless as always; he shook his head and said,


    "No, I am actually more indebted to you; instead, with this body, I have been able to live such a wonderful life filled with so many adventures..."


    Upon hearing his words, the original Rio also nodded his head and responded in a confident tone.


    "Well, if you are really indebted to me, then give me some chances toe out too, dude; it''s so boring in here..."


    "Your in of consciousness is too d*mn strong; I can''t manifest my own in of consciousness due to its insane strength..."


    "Also... if you let me go out once, I will go and have some fun... By the way, unlike you, I still have my own emotions; if you let me out, I can express ''our'' emotions more perfectly-"


    ck line appeared all over Rio''s face as he red at the original Rio''s consciousness. "You want to die, or something? I won''t allow you to flirt with Lia..."


    The original Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well, to say the truth, we are the same body, same soul, but two consciousnesses; no one will find out anyway."


    Rio immediately shook his head and denied it.


    "No... I learned sword arts and legendary techniques... but I never learned to betray the one whom I care for the most... don''t cross the boundaries."


    "You are only but a remnant consciousness of the original Rio; don''t make me destroy you... I warn you not to mess up..."


    Upon hearing the warning, the original Rio sighed and spoke in a dejected tone.


    "Man, you are such an unfunny guy... I seriously think that making Lia fall for you might have cost an insane amount of luck... How long are you going to remain stubborn?"


    "You know that this bonfire is all you have left... and there''s no guarantee for the future... What will you do if even this me goes out?"


    Rio simply shook his head,


    "You are thinking too much; even if I die, my love will never die; that is the only thing I have going on in me afterall..."


    Rio nced at the original Rio and saw that the other party seemed more alive and lively; his eyes have that ''lively'' glow that he doesn''t have himself.


    "You know... what if I put all of my ''emotionlessness'' on you instead... I am good at stealing; how about I steal your emotions?"


    The original Rio was shocked for a moment, but then he shook his head.


    "You know that you can''t do it... As long as that ''strange Fragment'' exists in ''our'' soul, both of our consciousness will remain intact; it''s influencing us both greatly."


    "At best, you can just suppress me, but that''s all; you can''t destroy me, ''Wandering Soul''..."


    The atmosphere became a bit tense between the two, and they both red at each other for a


    long time.


    "Okay fine! Urgh... Man, you are so hopeless; you really don''t want to let me out as you fear that I might do some weird things, right?"


    "To tell you the truth, all I wanted was to go and have a loooong date with Lia, you know! Who can resist someone as beautiful as her!! You can''t me me for that!"


    Rio''s re intensified even more after hearing those words,


    "Tch, I will never let you out... You are a scumbag; I don''t want Lia to meet someone like


    you..."


    The original Rio shook his head.


    "Bruh, you are literally insulting us both right now; we are both the same soul now... Tch, if I had a stronger consciousness, I would have never let you out to see the day of light, you body


    stealing thief!!"


    "Imagine stealing someone''s body and then calling them a scumbag! Such hypocrisy!! I will


    raise my voice against this!!"


    "Come on man! Let me out for just a few seconds at least! I beg you as the biggest beggar in


    the whole of Begdom Empire!!"


    Rio frowned at the guy''s words and felt pity for him for a second.


    "Forget it; I will let you out every once in a while when I am a few hundred kilometers away


    from society and everyone else..."


    The other Rio rubbed his temples and said in an aggrieved tone,


    "You take me for some kind of eldritch horror or something that you would need to go out in


    the wilds to unleash me... Can''t you figure it out that I want to go out just to flirt with Lia!!"


    Rio nodded his head and said,


    "And that''s exactly why I am not letting you out; because she''s my girlfriend, not yours, I am not giving the right to flirt with her to anyone else! Only I am allowed to tease her... You


    aren''t..."


    The original Rio rolled his eyes in frustration,


    "Sigh, man, you are impossible... ugh... Forget it, I give up..."


    "By the way, it takes a lot of toll on my consciousness to appear in yours as your consciousness is too strong, so I will likely be going back to sleep for a while again; don''t bother me if there''s nothing important..."


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "Well, that''s better... By the way, I have blocked the outside vision for you; I don''t want


    others to interfere when I am spending time with Lia; this way, you can''t peep on us..."


    The original Rio gritted his teeth and left, shouting in frustration.


    "Not like I was going to peep, you overprotective fool!!"


    Author''s Notes!


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Finally, we know where the original Rio is! He finally woke up after so long! We have a new


    interesting person in the picture, it seems!


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also think that Rio is a bit too overprotective?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 355: A smiling Rio!?

    Chapter 355: A smiling Rio!?


    ?


    Dragon Pce, Rio''s room.


    Rio woke up and found himself lying on therge, king-size bed. He grabbed his smartphone from the nearby table and nced at the date.


    ''Indeed, three days have passed; it seems what Fenix said about time being faster in that graveyard was true afterall...''


    Rio sighed and got up from the bed; his clothes were still disheveled and dirty.


    Obviously he was still wearing the same clothes as three days ago; Fenix didn''t help him change, and in fact it would have been creepier if his clothes were not the same.


    ''Er... I wonder how the evaluation test went for the others...''


    Just when Rio was still contemting in his mind, another voice rang out in his mind.


    ''Oi, hurry up, man, get ready! Lia will be here at any time! She''s definitely going to be worried sick after you went missing for three days!''


    Rio rubbed his temples after hearing that voice and remembered that the original Rio''s consciousness has woken up recently.


    ''Ugh, at least Lia''s familiar Kai is a bit of a decent person, but the guy attached to me is even more of an annoyance...''


    Rio shook his head and thought to himself.


    ''Well, I was just in the dilemma about how to deal with my fading emotions... This guy really appeared at the best possible time...''


    Rio has stolen many things before, and he won''t hesitate to steal something as long as it can be of great benefit to himself.


    The original Rio''s consciousness is more or less intact and has been recovered nearly to full health after the formation of the sword heart.


    A sword heart is basically a manifestation of the w'' of ''sword'' in the body; this w'' has enhanced not only Rio''s body but his soul too, which is likely why the other party woke up.


    Originally, Rio was under the impression the original Rio''s consciousness had been destroyed, but it seems he was wrong.


    ''I have already stolen a lot of things; it won''t matter if I steal another one...''


    Rio has already started to make a n on how to steal the other party''s emotions from him. Although it sounds cruel, he has no other choice; sacrifices are needed to gain something.


    Rio shook his head and took a shower first.


    The original Rio''s consciousness seemed to be very happy looking at how big his little brother has be nowadays.


    Rio felt very awkward when the guy in his head kept praising the Excalibur, so he just suppressed the other party''s senses and only let him go after the shower was done.


    [Tch! Man, you are worrying too much. This is our body anyway, what does it matter if I appreciate it a bit more... to tell you the truth, I don''t think anyone can beat us if wepare our ''Excalibur'' to others!!]


    [We are tall, Both vertically and horizontally!! F*ck yeah!!]


    Rio nearly had the urge to punch himself in the face when hearing those words.


    "From the memories of your past, you seemed more of a depressed and quiet type of person,


    but the way you are behaving now ispletely different..."


    "Also, it''s quite difficult to distinguish between us; how about I refer to you as my ''Shadow''?"


    While getting dressed, Rio decided to name the guy ''Shadow'' as it was too cumbersome to refer to him as original Rio again and again.


    Shadow also didn''t refute it and said,


    [Well, it doesn''t matter much; by the way, I also don''t know why I am behaving more childish than usual... Maybe an influence of your sword heart again, I guess...]


    [By the way, can you let me out for a second? I want to try using ''Sword Intent'', and it''s such an amazing power... I want to use it at least once; don''t worry, I will just use it to warm hands just like you...]


    Hearing Shadow''s words, Rio also felt a certain bit of curiosity.


    He also wanted to see if the other party would really be able to use ''Sword Intent.'' If such a thing were possible, Rio would be extremely overpowered.


    He will have ''Two Sword Intents'' on one person.


    Imagine wielding two swords with two different sword intents in both hands, which would be an absolute nightmare for the enemy.


    "Okay, just don''t do anything weird, or I will immediately seize control again..."


    Rio closed his eyes and slowly focused and retracted the power of his in of consciousness, letting go of the control of his body.


    Awakeners who have reached rank A or above levels can put their body into aatose state by making their consciousness lose control of the body.


    It''s a very mysterious and strange ability, but it''s indeed possible.


    Once Rio suppressed his influence, the other weaker consciousness immediately took control of the body, and Rio''s eyes opened.


    Unlike usual, Rio''s eyes were now shining with life, and his face was no longer expressionless; he had an excited smile on it.


    In fact, when he smiles, he looks more handsome.


    Shadow tried to control the body, but he directly stumbled and tripped on his own legs,


    directly falling down.


    "Ugh, as expected, after so long I have even forgotten how to walk properly..."


    Thankfully, the body trained by Rio for so long is extremely strong; there wasn''t even a single


    scratch.


    It took about half an hour for Shadow to get used to the basic movements of the body, and soon he stood in front of the full-body mirror.


    The shirt was still unbuttoned, so all those fine muscles were on full disy.


    "D*mn, I am actually quite muscr and even handsome..."


    Unlike Rio''s usual emotionless and cold voice, the current one was filled with life and was full


    of admiration for himself.


    Shadow sighed and said,


    ''Man, I am really thankful to you; if not for you, I could have never achieved all this, but I am still not sure how you know the exact location of so many precious treasures...''


    ''Are you some god or something?''


    Shadow couldn''t see Rio''s memory as his own consciousness is far weaker than the other party; he could only see the memory of this body, and thus he only saw the various memories


    of Rio easily stealing various precious things.


    But he had no idea how the other party found all this.


    Rio, who was now inside the mind, only said,


    [Don''t ask things that you shouldn''t ask....]


    "You know what? You are the most stubborn guy I have ever seen in my whole life... Not even


    those rumored cold beauties in the novels have as much attitude as you..."


    [Don''t waste time on pointless things; try ''sword intent''...]


    "Ah, yes, I nearly forgot about that..."


    Shadow shook his head and gave up trying to argue with Rio; he knew it was pointless; the


    other party is devoid of emotion; it''s pointless to try to anger him as the other party can''t feel


    it.


    ''Okay, here we go...''


    Shadow raised his hand and imitated Rio''s method of using sword intent.


    "Sword Intent!"


    ~~Cold breeze noises~~


    Nothing happened at all, and a slight blush appeared on Rio''s face due to embarrassment.


    [You don''t need to yell the name of the skill; you just need to think about it in mind and use it... yelling the name of a skill makes it seem so ''cringe''...]


    ''Er, don''t mention it... It makes me more embarrassed the more I think about it...''


    [If you can''t even handle this bit of embarrassment, I seriously doubt you will be able to even control the slightest bit of sword intent''s power... Your mentality is weaker than I expected...] ''D*mn, you are very good at insulting people while still spitting facts... I really can''t argue


    with you...''


    [Forget it, you are useless; I will just think about something else...]


    ''That definitely hurt my feelings...''


    Just when the two ''Rio''s'' were arguing back and forth with each other, the door of the room suddenly opened with a loud bang, and a golden-haired girl burst in with a look of concern on


    her face.


    "Rio! Are you okay?"


    Lia came over to check on Rio just after she woke up from her illusion dream, and as she was in


    a hurry, she directly broke the door to head inside.


    The moment she came in, she found Rio standing near the full-body mirror with an unbuttoned shirt with his arms crossed.


    Before Lia could even ask anything, Rio suddenly nced towards her, and Lia was shocked to


    the core.


    Rio''s eyes were full of life at the moment; a gentle smile appeared on his face, and the wet hair made him look even more handsome.


    With that unbuttoned shirt and the muscles on full disy, he looked more like a model at the


    moment.


    "Ah, you are here. Good morning, my love~"


    The words were not emotionless this time; even his voice seemed so gentle and pleasing to


    the ears that Lia nearly fainted on the spot.


    That sudden change in Rio was a bit too shocking for Lia''s heart, and a look of shock appeared


    on her face.


    "T-that.. w-what.. er...."


    Lia couldn''t find words to exin her thoughts at the moment, but just when she was getting more and more bewildered, Rio''s expression suddenly returned to his usual form. The light in his eyes disappeared, and his face became devoid of emotions in a matter of


    seconds. He buttoned his shirt swiftly, and everything returned to normal.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Oh, don''t worry about that; I just lostposure for a second..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems things are going to be more interesting from now on...


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think that a Rio with two sword intents will be a bit too overpowered?


    (Tell me about your opinions in thements!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 356: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-1.

    Chapter 356: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-1.


    ?


    Although Lia was quite bewildered for a second, she nodded her head and said,


    "Princess Sin said that we shall all meet up for breakfast soon... Shall we go together?"


    She knew that Rio always liked to y tricks on her from time to time, and she was already used to them; this sudden smile was likely one of his tricks too.


    ''T-that was quite dangerous for my heart though... I have be so ustomed to his emotionless face that I get overwhelmed just by seeing him smile...''


    Rio was also standing there with an unbuttoned shirt, so Lia was sure that he was definitely doing it on purpose!


    "By the way, how was your evaluation test?... Mine was a massive illusion. Sigh. Till the end, I never figured out that the whole ce was an illusion, and I was still sleeping in the dragon pce all along..."


    Walking beside Lia, Rio sighed a bit and said,


    "Not much interesting, actually... I just had to beat up a golem, and it was done... I think the evaluatorcked in terms of originality... Your test sounds more interesting, actually..."


    Lia sighed at those words and thought to herself.


    ''Sigh, as expected, these mere evaluation tests are indeed nothing to him...''


    "By the way, I heard that you will have a spar with the princess, and you also made a bet? Is it really okay to beat up the princess of a nation when we are their guests?"


    Lia never even took into consideration that Rio can even lose; the only time she has ever seen Rio lose to someone in a 1v1 battle was against Jin during thebat training and against Alverto in Oaklum.


    Both of them were peak S rankers; otherwise, the oue would have been much different. She has never seen anyone in her life who is as talented as Rio in terms of swordsmanship. Even that junior named Qi Meng, who usually wanders around Rio, isn''t really that big of a deal, in her opinion. (She keeps track of who is in contact with Rio; don''t forget she''s a professional stalker...)n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rio nodded his head at those words and replied with his usual emotionless voice.


    "It''s not that big a deal... She wants to learn ''Sword Intent'' to prove herself worthy..."


    Lia rolled her eyes and asked,


    "So... what do you think? Will she be able to learn it?"


    Rio nodded his head at Lia and said in a calm voice,


    "She''s justcking an opportunity; she has the talent and mentality... I guess she will really be able to learn it in less than five years..."


    Originally, Rio''s estimate was that she would need a decade to learn it, but now it''s different.


    He has found out from Fenix that her rtionship with her father and the others in the dragon valley is not really that good.


    She must undoubtedly exert significant effort to enhance her skills in recent years, as she is rapidly approaching Rank S.


    Moreover, her sword aptitude is likely at the same level as Qi Meng; at least she can definitely be a strong peak powerhouse in the future.


    "It''s quite rare for you to praise someone so much... I guess she really is talented, then if you are praising her so much.."


    Lia pouted her cheeks a bit and red at Rio.


    Although she was a bit jealous, she wasn''t angry anymore.


    She has first-hand seen Sin''s abilities in battle, and she''s indeed quite good. Rio''s wasn''t overly praising her; he was just stating the truth.


    Looking at Rio, Lia could only sigh to herself; his personality has always been like this.


    He praises the talent of others, but when he has to fight the other party inbat, he will be very merciless and will thoroughly destroy the other party as if it were a child''s y to him.


    Rio has a habit of praising and even sweet-talking sometimes no matter who the other person is, but once you meet him in battle, you will understand just how thorough his observation skills are and how insane of a monster he is.


    If the usual Rio is like an emotionless sculpture who is usually harmless and sometimes even praises them, then the Rio duringbat is like an incarnation of death who can see through all your moves.


    There''s no point in arguing with him in that state; he can see through most weaknesses easily; his insane sword aptitude allows him to see any and every w that an opponent swordsman makes.


    There''s a reason why Link and Liam are always on the edge and are trying so hard to train and improve. The pressure that Rio''sbat power brings on the whole team Astra is really high.


    Even Lia fears that she might be left behind by him in dust one day.


    Moreover, his ''Sword Intent'' mastery is nothing to joke about; he can literally use a skill that can ughter thousands of enemies as a hand warmer, and this is already an insane feat. The rapid improvement of all Team Astra members is not due to their exceptional talent.


    The real reason is that they are all under constant pressure due to Rio; thus, they train day and night to catch up to him as fast as possible.


    ...


    Seeing that pout on Lia''s face, Rio pinched her cheeks a bit and said with a smile,


    "You don''t need to be so jealous about her... In my opinion, no one shines brighter than you, my eternal Moonlight..."


    A slight blush appeared on Lia''s face hearing those words of praise.


    If someone else had said that, she would have ignored those words, but as Rio is the one who said them, this is one of the biggestpliments she has ever received.


    Evaluation? Test? Genius or Excellent?


    In her opinion, all of this doesn''t even matter; as long as Rio acknowledges her, she doesn''t need the world''s acknowledgement; without him, the world is meaningless.


    Lia sighed to calm her emotions and inquired in a hesitant tone.


    "Uh... Can you tell me how you became so strong... You know, strong enough to beat even Link


    and be the champion..."


    Hearing that question, the smile over Rio''s face vanished, and he shook his head.


    "You seek power when there is need for it, and without sacrifices, power usually doesn''t bless


    you..."


    "You don''t need to worry too much about it, Lia; you are on the right path; just keep working hard and you will be strong..."


    Unlike Rio, who has lost his emotions in pursuit of power, Lia is on a better path; although her enhancement pace is slower than his, she''s certainly doing better than most people.


    In fact, he''s the one who needs to reflect on himself.


    ''I remember someone saying that those who be too powerful loose emotions and go bald in the process... ugh... don''t tell me I will lose my hair too...''


    Rio already is barely decent-looking; if he lost even his hair, then he seriously will lose a lot


    of confidence in terms of looks and stuff.


    ''I hope such a thing doesn''t happen...''


    Just when Rio was contemting in his mind, Lia grabbed his hand and directly kissed him.


    Even Rio was taken aback by her sudden, bold move.


    "Hmph,plimenting me like that will get you kissed!"


    Rioughed a bit at those words and said,


    "Haha, you are saying it like, as if it''s some kind of punishment..."


    Lia''s face was already quite red; she directly grabbed his hand and dragged him with her.


    "W-whatever! Let''s go! We arete!"


    Seeing that Lia was already quite embarrassed, Rio didn''t pressure her anymore and stayed silent for the next while.


    ...


    By the time the two of them arrived at the dinner table for breakfast, everyone else had


    already arrived.


    They were thest ones.


    Liam, who was in a sour mood for some reason, nced at the two holding hands and sighed


    to himself.


    He then nced at Link, who was personally feeding Riya with his own hands. He was


    spoiling her, treating her like a princess.


    ''Er, everywhere I look, there''s just couples wandering around...''


    Liam nced at Sin, who was also in the same situation as him, and asked,


    "Princess, don''t you think that there''s a lot of merit in being single?"


    Sin, who was in the same boat as Liam, sighed at those words, grabbed the juice, and


    pretended to be drunk while saying,


    "Sigh, this world is cruel for us single folks... We need a great warrior as yourself to burn this


    world..."


    Liam also nodded his head and pretended to be sad before saying,


    "Princess, we need to purge the world of these shameless couples who are purposely messing around in front of us... Please give your orders to the army!"


    Sin also followed along with Liam''s ''y'' and replied in a solemn tone.


    "The enemy is powerful, my general; we will need more powerful warriors in the army..."


    And just like that, the two of them passed time while spitting random bullsh*t at each other and trying to ignore the two couples who were purposely being all lovey-dovey in front of


    them.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It''s been a while since I wrote a chapter solely on Lia and Rio, so let''s make the next few


    chapters that way.


    Question of the day.


    Which couple do you support the most?


    1. Rio and Lia.


    2. Link and Riya.


    3. Others (Burn the world!!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 357: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-2.

    Chapter 357: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-2.


    ?


    After having breakfast, everyone started to talk about the evaluation test.


    Everyone talked about their own experiences, and when they found out that Link was the only one who didn''t have to give the test, they all looked at him with strange eyes.


    But unlike others, Rio was more shocked after hearing Link''s words.


    ''Ah, so that''s how it is!... now everything makes sense... I have had this strange feeling that Fade wasn''t the real protagonist; he always seemed so fake to me...''


    Link''s words directly confirmed Rio''s suspicion.


    ''Oh, wait... If we look at it this way, doesn''t that mean all the chances that I have stolen until now originally belonged to Link!?''


    This meant that Rio wasn''t the real biggest thief; Fade was the biggest thief, it seems! All Rio did was steal the chances from the hands of another thief!


    ''I have to acknowledge... I really wasn''t aware of your game, Fade Crest... You were a splendid thief! You have my respect!''


    The main thing is that if the luck was still on Link''s side, he would have gotten all these broken cheats. Which means he would have been even stronger than he already is.


    ''Really, even after losing all his luck and blessings, Link is still able topete with me toe to toe and is one of the strongest in the younger generation... If he had the chances, he would have been too overpowered...''


    Only now did Rio figure out just how broken that King Allen from the legends must have been. Unlike Link, that man had the blessing of both the world and the heavenly will. Which means he must have been a real menace in his time.


    Although everything could have been very different, Rio doesn''t care much now.


    ''Forget it, it''s not like I need to rely on luck or these bullsh*t to improve... I can carve my own path and can achieve my goal; it doesn''t matter what others achieve...''


    Link has a blessed life that many would envy; even Rio envies the fact that Link can maintain his emotions and love; he doesn''t need to sacrifice anything for power.


    On the other hand, Rio is constantly losing emotions for some mysterious reasons, and his improving strength is elerating this phenomenon.


    The difference between them is too obvious.


    ''I guess this is the difference between an extra and a world''s chosen...''


    Even though Rio now has ess to ''Shadow''s emotions, it is still not feasible.


    Currently he can make a connection to the other party''s consciousness to borrow emotions from him, but if he does that, then the other party''s consciousness might also get affected by the mysterious phenomena.


    ''I should only use him when it''s necessary; if I let out his consciousness too much, he will get affected too... then I really won''t have any hopes left...''


    Originally, Rio was cing all his hopes on thest bit of his emotions to revive all of them againter.


    But now that the original Rio''s consciousness has awakened, he can borrow the other party''s emotions via faint link in their consciousness in the future.


    This process will only be feasible after Rio has sessfully gotten rid of the mysterious phenomena that have been haunting his life.


    ''Still, even this much is better than nothing; at least I will have more time to n things out now...''


    Rio was really hard-pressed on time before; he was losing himself so fast that he was worried that things would escte to the point of no return in just a few more months.


    But now that he has the backup n, the consciousness of the original Rio, he has more time to n and figure things out.


    ...


    "The most surprising is still you, Rio; you actually were able to win a fight with an S-rank golem while in the ''territory'' created by an SS ranker''s authority...."


    "This is beyond impressive..."


    Liam couldn''t help but nod his head at Rio again and again.


    Every time Rioes up with something even more exaggerated than before.


    Originally he was thinking that his awakening ''Mana Field'' was already the highest feat someone could have achieved in this evaluation test, but Rio still beat him to it.


    "ugh, I wanted to fight with an S-rank golem too..."


    Link, who didn''t even get the chance to participate in the test, was already feeling sour; he also wanted to test out his powers on a strong enemy, but Rio beat him to it.


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders at those words of praise and replied in his usual emotionless tone.


    "It just happened by chance... Oh, by the way, Riya, I copied your healing technique; it just seemed good to me, so don''t me me for itter..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Riya, who was originally busy nibbling on the snacks, suddenly asked with a panicked look on her face.


    "Wait, you can also use healing magic now!? Does that mean I will be thrown out of the team!?"


    Riya was really taken aback by Rio''s words.


    She knows that she has no talent forbat and can''t really fight and defend herself


    effectively in battle.


    If Rio, who is good at fighting, learned how to heal everyone, wouldn''t she be an unnecessary drag on the team at that point?


    ''No... t-this... if this happens, where will I go then!?''


    Several wild thoughts came to Riya''s mind.


    She was already imagining herself living in a broken house in a slum, starving as she had no


    job to do.


    All she knows is healing, and she has no other things that she can offer to the team; if that ability of hers was rendered useless, then she really will be in a tough spot.


    Riya could already imagine a future where Link will kick her out of the house and say,


    "Hmph! You are so useless; even Rio can heal better than you; go away! The team has no need


    for you!!"


    Thinking about all this, Riya felt that those pastries and snacks didn''t seem tasty anymore.


    Just when she was about to have a panic attack, Rio''s next words made her relieved.


    "No, no, all I can do is just some basic level healing... It''s just some emergency first aid kind of ability... No one really dares to throw you out of the team. I kind of understand now how difficult it is to be a healer..."


    Rio couldn''t help but nod his head in admiration.


    Killing and hurting others is many times easier than healing and saving others.


    Rio''s sword intent is weapon of destruction; after all, it can''t really cure wounds properly as it


    is meant to inflict wounds.


    To heal someone, not only do you need the skills, you also need insane mastery.


    If you apply healing magic to the wrong cell of the body, the cell will die from overload. In terms of mastery over healing magic, Riya is no less proficient than Rio is in ''Sword Intent''.


    ''If she were a mage or in any other profession, I fear that she would have been a fearsome foe that I would certainly like to avoid...''


    Rio isn''t exaggerating.


    Even Link is having difficulty training and improving his mastery over ''Dao Rhythm''.


    But look at Riya; she just eats candies and ys around all day long, yet her mastery over her


    ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' is already better than Link.


    She''s only behind Rio in terms of mastery over the legendary skills.


    ''Riya is the definition of a sleeper build; everyone seems to not notice it, but she''s alwaysn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    progressing fast, hidden from everyone''s eyes...''


    "Oh, okay, that''s good..."


    While Rio was busy praising her in his mind, Riya heaved arge sigh of relief. She wiped the imaginary sweat from her forehead and thought to herself.


    ''Phew~ I won''t get kicked out of the house, I suppose; I am still useful to the team...''


    What Riya seemed to have ignored is that the members of team Astra didn''t really care much


    about it.


    Even if she stopped progressing and remained weak, Link will never abandon her. For Link, abandoning her will be like cutting arge part of his own soul and throwing it away. Moreover, now that Riya has forced the world to ''acknowledge'' her path and bless her with the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', Link will get retribution instead if he dared to abandon her! You can say that Riya forced the ''World'' to agree with her love for Link; now the world will have to make sure that they never fall apart.


    Her love had transcended the concept of existence and death long ago, when she awakened


    her legendary skill.


    Even if they both died, they will still be lovers in the next life and every other life afterwards; this is one of the powers bestowed upon Riya as the owner of the legendary ability, Heart of


    the Eternal Nirvana.


    "Oh, by the way, can you teach me that handwarming technique of yours that you use so often


    to train your mastery over sword intent..."


    "I think it will be beneficial for me too now that I have a legendary skill of my own..."


    Rio has previously taught this skill to Link and Lia.


    Liam was originally envious of the two of them, but now that he can learn it, he directly asks


    about it.


    Rio also nodded his head at those words and said,


    "I will teach it to you when we go back to the human empire... Now that we are finally done


    with the troublesome event, it''s time we enjoy some free time..."


    Sin nodded her head in response to Rio''s words.


    "Yeah, thankfully we all made it out of the evaluation in just three days; now we still have


    four days left to enjoy the festival..."


    "There will be a fireworks show there at night today; we can go to watch that, and during the


    day, we can do some shopping!"


    Hearing Sin''s words, everyone finished their breakfast and started to prepare to leave.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think Riya has quite a wild imagination?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements) By the way, remember to use those power stones!

 Chapter 358: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-3.

    Chapter 358: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-3.


    ?


    Dragon Pce, Main Gate.


    "Whoa~, everything seems so pretty... They really decorated all the streets and houses..."


    Sin nodded her head at Riya''s words and said in a calm voice,


    "Originally I heard that the dragonmen would decorate the whole city, and I was nning to take you all to see the scenery, but we got teleported to that sudden evaluation test area, and all ns fell apart..."


    "Right now I don''t have any solid ns, so let''s just enjoy the day and try our luck at random ces..."


    The rest of the group also nodded their heads at Sin''s words.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Originally they would have been able to enjoy the festival three days ago, but now that the circumstances are different, they will have to change the ns ordingly.


    At the moment, the group was wearing the traditional Dragonmen-style clothes, and they all looked amazing in them.


    The clothes had dragon insignias imprinted on the light blue fabric made out of a rare material.


    These clothes were a gift from the dragon pce to their guests and represented the hospitality of the dragon empire, so the group wore them to ept the hospitality.


    Looking at the horses that were prepared by the servants for them, Sin suddenly had an idea, and she dered,


    "How about it, guys? Let''spete! The one who will reach the market area first will get to have free drinks!"


    Hearing the word pete'' everyone''s spirit was fired up; pretty much all of them are always looking forward to apetition, so they get excited easily.


    It didn''t matter what the reward was; they were going to do it just for the sake of thepetition.


    Sin saw the enthusiasm in the eyes of everyone, and two golden wings appeared behind her back.


    "Then let''s go!"


    Her wings pped a bit, and sheunched towards the destination like a rocket.


    The others were also just waiting for the word ''start''.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of Light!]


    Lia used the spirit magic and used her silver wings to fly at an amazingly fast speed.


    [Dao Rhythm: Maximum Output!]


    [Draconian Movement Art!]


    Link carried Riya princess style and used his Dao Rhythm to boost the speed of his movement art, and his running speed was even faster than both Sin and Lia.


    [Mana Field!]


    [Spatial Drift!]


    Everyone used their skills to the extreme to enhance their speed and reach the goal faster; those poor horses were totally forgotten, and the servants who prepared them were left in shock.


    Sin nced at Lia, who was keeping up with her speed and used words to distract her. "When I win, I will buy drinks for everyone instead, then I will grab Rio''s drink and drink it! That will be an indirect kiss!! Hehe!"


    Instead of getting bothered, Lia became even faster after hearing those words,


    "Hmph, that is if you can win over me!"


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Wings of Light: Overload!]


    Two extra wings appeared behind Lia''s back, and her speed increased by two times with those four silver wings.


    Even Sin was taken aback for a second, but then she put more mana in her golden wings and became serious.


    Meanwhile, Riya, who was being carried by Link, didn''t even know what happened all of a sudden.


    The group decided on thepetition a bit too fast, and before she could react, Link was already carrying her.


    "Ugh, those two are quite fast!"


    Link hasn''t yet mastered his movement art properly, so he''s not able to keep up with the speed of the two.


    Liam was the one who was falling behind, as he had just recently learned to use mana field and his mastery wasn''t that good yet.


    Amidst theughter and chaos, the group finally reached the market area.


    In the end, Lia barely won over Sin by a hair''s breath.


    She wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled at Sin, saying,


    "Hmph, you are still a few hundred years too early to bepeting with me..."


    Sin pouted her cheeks and then nced around.


    And sure enough, Rio was standing there nearby.


    He was already standing near a tea stall and enjoying tea in peace.


    "Ugh, it seems he was able toe here faster... Seriously, it''s unfair to bepeting with him..."


    Hearing Sin''s words, Lia also sighed and shook her head.


    "Er, I already knew it was pointless to bepeting with him in apetition of speed..."


    Yeah, Rio had already won when the rest of the group was still just halfway to the finish mark; The then went over to the tea stall to wait for the rest of the group toe over. Competing with Rio in apetition about ''speed'' is the most pointless thing indeed.


    Rio nced at the two and waved his hand to invite them over; they shook their heads and walked over to his side.


    "Here, I have already ordered tea for the whole group... I have to say though, the tea made in Dragon Valley is indeed unique..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Sin nodded her head and said,


    "Indeed, the ingredients in Dragon Valley are of better quality; after all, the mana in Dragon Valley is denserpared to the outside world..."


    The tea stall owner was a middle-aged woman; she nced at Rio and said,


    "Young man, I haven''t seen anyone as knowledgeable as you about tea in a long while; this olddy is happy to see the three are still people who can identify all the ingredients just by


    the scent..."


    Indeed, before the group even reached here, Rio already had a small talking session with thedy, and she was impressed by how knowledgeable Rio was in this matter.


    "s, my husband never seems to understand my hobbies..."


    Rio simply shrugged his shoulders and replied in his usual emotionless voice.


    "Well, everyone can''t understand the great art of tea making."


    The olddy also nodded her head and smiled,


    "Indeed... only veterans know the awesomeness!"


    Sin and Lia both were totally forgotten when the two of them talked.


    The two girls couldn''t help but sigh and feel helpless; Rio''s love for tea is something they


    can''tpete with at all.


    Sin even gave Lia a pat on the shoulder and spoke in a supportive tone.


    "Learn how to make tea; that''s the only way to reach the depths of his heart!"


    Lia also nodded her head and sighed, but then gave Sin a suspicious look.


    "Hmm? Why are you helping me? Aren''t we rivals?"


    Sin just shrugged her shoulders and replied in a rather vague tone.


    "Well, we indeed are rivals, but I will feel bad if some other third girl came and won him over


    just because she knew more about tea... It would be much safer to have him with you..."


    Lia narrowed her eyes for a second and then nodded her head.


    "Yeah, I really should learn about it..."


    Just when the three of them were busy drinking tea, the rest of the group also caught up with


    them and arrived.


    "D*mn! I should have known Rio would be here already! Why did I evenpete in this unfair


    competition.. ugh..."


    Link couldn''t help but give a helpless look; he really can''tpete with Rio in terms of speed.


    Making himpete with Rio in terms of speed is like asking a snail to race with a bullet


    train; it''s just pointless.


    ...


    Once the group''spetitive spirit was fired up, they directly startedpeting in all


    aspects.


    There were several minigame stalls arranged by the dragonmen in this festival, so Link and Liam dragged Rio with them topete.


    In the end, the results would be pretty much the same, though you can''tpete with how fast Rio adapts and how fast he learns new things.


    He beat both Link and Liam to the point of no recovery in every game; the two of them would remember that moment as a part of their dark history.


    After that day, they will never dare topete with Rio in games and stuff, as it''s just


    pointless. (Poor guys got ptsd...)


    ...


    Meanwhile, the three girls just shook their heads and went over to enjoy various sweets and


    pastries.


    Sin was sweating buckets when Riya directly emptied the whole stock of candies from a


    shop.


    She nced at Lia and asked in a trembling voice,


    "A-are you sure that thing is a human? Can humans even eat that much candy!?"


    Lia sighed at that question and replied,


    "Er, W-who might you be talking about.. I-I personally don''t know that person..."


    Lia directly refused to acknowledge that she even knew Riya, ''The Candy Destroyer''...


    "Uh... Maybe we should drag her away now..."


    Not only Sin, even the shop owner was begging Riya to leave; he was already praying to his ancestors to save him and chanting loudly,


    "Oh, ancestral spirit, please leave now; this poormb has nothing left to feed you..." Normal people eat candies one at a time, but Riya eats a whole packet of them in a matter of


    seconds.


    If there was apetition where the person who eats more candy faster would win, then even Rio wouldn''t be able to keep up with Riya''s speed.


    In the end, Lia and Sin had to use a lot of strength to drag away Riya from that candy shop.


    No one knew how that weak and frail-looking Riya summoned so much strength that two A- rankers were having difficulty dragging her away.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    If you had the chance, which type of tea would you like Rio to make for you?


    (Tell me about it in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 359: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-4.

    Chapter 359: Ordinary days in the Festival... Part-4.


    ?


    Great Dragon Festival, Central City.


    In an Amusement Park.


    Sitting on a merry-go-round type spinning tea cup ride, Liam was chugging down a can of juice.


    "So what I am trying to say is that with my mana field, I can now deploy a small field where I can use all the mana in the area and replenish my own mana faster..."


    "For now, my mastery over it is too low, so I can''t use much of it, but I guess I will be able to use all types of magic eventually once I have more mastery over it..."


    "It can boost magic, can help me use the powers of my summons without summoning them, and can even help me increase the summoning speed..."


    "Moreover, with mana field, I now have insanely high control over mana; I can replenish my mana faster than I can ever use it, so technically I will never run out of mana anymore..."


    Liam was so excited about his newly learned ability that he was chugging down several cans of juice and praising his skill more and more, while Rio and Link both were silently taking notes on it.


    They both knew that they might have to fight Liam again someday, so it is good to take notes when the other party himself is spilling all the secrets like crazy.


    "I think that once I have perfected my master over the mana field, I will be able to control thew of mana itself! How amazing is that! At that point I can increase and decrease mana in a ce at my will!"


    Liam was already seeing his bright future now; once he perfects his mana field, he can directly control thew of mana and change the mana flow of a whole sr system in a matter of seconds.


    Although he still needs to reach the peak of Rank SS, this legendary skill will undoubtedly make him a formidable powerhouse in the future.


    Originally, Rio defeated him in the tournament due to his slow summoning speed, but now that he has a mana field, he can summon tens of hundreds of beasts in a single breath.


    Moreover, it would be near impossible for him to run out of mana now, so the dying tactics won''t work on him; even the magic he will use will be boosted more than ten times over.


    With the addition of just one legendary skill, Liam became nearly a hundred times stronger than he originally was. The current Liam can beat hundreds of Liam''s from a few days ago, easily.


    ''I am still struggling with my own internal conflicts, and look at this.. These guys are making such rapid progress... Sigh, I guess this is the sad life of an extra...''


    ''Problems arise at every turn and slow down my progress...''


    Fortunately, Rio has now found a ''Backup n'' for himself.


    ''First I will find that ''mysterious'' reason that started my problem of fading emotions... Once I am done dealing with it, I will need to somehow get rid of this fragment..''


    ''Lastly, I will establish a connection with the consciousness of ''shadow'' and then I will be able to borrow emotions from him... That way, I will be able to master my sword intent, and things will remain okay enough for me...''


    There is a lot on Rio''s te right now; he has no idea where to start his n.


    In the first ce, he has no idea what the origin of this strange phenomenon is, and without knowing what it actually is, Rio will have no idea how to solve it.


    ''Aside from all this, I still need to find the origin of my sword... Sigh, there''s just too much to do, and I have a very small amount of time left...''


    The mana density is rising fast every day, which means the day of cmity is getting closer and closer day by day.


    ''It won''t be long before the very first SSS rank dungeon opens... Just two or three years are left...''


    It''s already been more than two years since Rio came into this world, and even with all his efforts and insane talents, he has only reached the peak of rank A by now.


    If he doesn''t reach at least rank SS in the next two or three years, he will really have no way to counter that cmity.


    While Rio was busy contemting various things in his mind, Link couldn''t sit still and also started bragging about his skills to show off in front of Liam.


    "You are still far behind when ites to mastery over a legendary skill. I have been training my Dao Rhythm for nearly a year now; you still have a long way to go, kiddo~"


    Liam also didn''t back down after hearing Link''s words and replied in a mocking tone. "Hehe, unlike you, I have a smart brain; I willprehend and improve much faster than you... You have been training for a year and yet haven''t even mastered it by fifty percent!"


    "That''s such a waste of a legendary skill! Bahahaha!!"


    Link clenched his fist and red at Liam,


    "What did you say? Are you itching for a beating?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Liam also red back and replied without backing down.


    "Now that I also have a legendary skill, I won''t need to be at a disadvantage when fighting you... So it''s not really set in stone who will get a beating from who..."


    Just when the fight was about to escte, Link caught sight of Riya and others who wereing this way after finishing their shopping spree.


    So he calmed his anger and sat down on his seat.


    Liam also stopped bickering, and the ce became awkwardly silent.


    Rio simply shook his head at this scene, musing to himself.


    ''Er... I am not sure if I can really rely on these guys to counter great cmities...''


    [You really have made some amazing friends...e to think of it, you don''t seem the type to get angry at all...]


    Just as Rio thought that things would finally be a bit quiet, the voice of shadow rang out in his head.


    ''You are already awake? Didn''t you expend a lot of energy trying to control the body?''


    ''Also... actually, I used to get angry at a lot of things before... It''s just that I can''t feel anger anymore...''


    The thing is, whenever Shadow uses emotions while in control of his body, he umtes a lot of mental stress and goes into hibernation again.


    After controlling the body for a while and giving Lia a massive smile, he directly went into sleep, and Rio took over the body again.


    Now it seems he''s awake.


    [Ah, I see... No wonder you never bother bickering with anyone and seem so calm all the time...]


    [Even that time when you got angry on that Demon Prince clone... that was likely a response from my hidden consciousness...]


    ''Well... without anger and all... I guess I am on the path of bing an enlightened sage or


    something...''


    [Man, that joke was some...]


    ''My bad, it''s been a while since I spent time watching memes and stuff, so my jokes are now outdated, I guess...''


    Ever since Rio started focusing all his energy on training day and night, he has stopped


    wasting time on entertainment and stuff.


    In the first ce, he doesn''t have emotions anymore; he won''t feel happy or anything else,


    even if he hears genuinely funny jokes.


    Thus, it''s better to just focus on training.


    Nowadays, teasing Lia and messing around with his sword intent are the only sources of


    entertainment he has.


    Aside from that, battle also brings a surge of excitement to him when he''s fighting strong opponents; that''s why Rio has be more of a battle junkie nowadays.


    [By the way, your n of ''borrowing'' emotions is kind of good... I like it; this way, we can both survive;


    you can get emotions, and I can get power...]


    Shadow will also be able to use Rio''s skills once he makes a proper connection with Rio''s


    consciousness.


    At that point, the two of them will really be ''one'' entity.


    Right now, they have the same body and the same merged soul; only their consciousness is


    separated.


    Once they establish a proper connection between their consciousnesses, they will merge into


    a single individual with two distinct sides.


    In the first ce, this process should have already happened long ago; Rio''s consciousness should have merged with the original Rio''s consciousness the very same day when their souls


    merged together.


    But the Original Rio still has a huge ''hatred'' and ''feeling of revenge'' left in his ''will''.


    Unless Rio gets rid of Alverto andpletes the revenge, the other party''s hatred will never disappear, and Rio can never establish a stronger connection.


    ''Well, we still need to do a lot of preparations... Also, there''s Alverto... Without beating him, everything would remain pointless...''


    [Ah yes, that demon prince must die... Perhaps the reason why you came into my body was also because I wished for power that could destroy all demons...]


    [For others, losing their body to some random person might be a curse, but you are more like a


    blessing to me, Wandering soul...]


    [Even if no one in the world respects you one day, I will hold endless gratitude and respect for you; after all, I don''t think I have met someone as amazing as you before...]


    ''Surprisingly, you are quite good at praising... Even an emotionless guy like me got convinces... Good, I will let you out every once in a while; just don''t do anything weird


    though...''


    [Haha, don''t worry, partner, your nature has affected me as much as it has others... I respect boundaries; we shall conquer the world together...]


    ''Well, I guess I can consider you a friend then, partner...''


    That day, Rio gained a friend whom he can trust his life to without worrying about anything.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think Rio has a talent for making amazing friends?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 360: Rio Vs. Selain, An unfair battle... Part-1.

    Chapter 360: Rio Vs. Sin, An unfair battle... Part-1.


    ?


    "I just found out that they have also arranged a massive arena in the great ancient Colosseum during this festival... What do you say, Rio? How about we settle our match today then?"


    Walking down the wide streets decorated by the dragon folk, the group was having an amazing time chatting.


    The group even bought souvenirs to bring back home.


    Rio doesn''t really have anyone to give souvenirs to, so he didn''t bother buying them; just enjoy the festival yourself now, and that''s okay enough.


    Even Liam only bought them for Ellie and his other summoned beasts.


    Hearing Sin''s words, Rio nodded his head and agreed immediately.


    The rest of the group has also found out about this matter already, so they weren''t much surprised either.


    Link and Liam were giving Rio surprised looks when they found out that the princess wanted to be Lia''s love rival.


    In their opinion, it''s already very shocking that Rio, who''s such a boring and emotionless person, was even able to get together with Lia.


    Link and Liam are both handsome guys who will look good in no matter what they wear; moreover, they both have no shortage of money, and both of them are rich.


    Due to this, they have a massive fan club filled with female fans.


    Link''s fan girls are in fact so jealous of Riya that they might scold her endlessly if they met her somewhere.


    Rio also has a fandom, but his fans are mostly those young people with low talent and humble families. He''s more of a motivation source for the young, as he was able to reach such great heights despite being from humble origins.


    And if you take everything into consideration, even Sin got interested in Rio after finding out that he has insane mastery over sword intent.


    Regardless of the situation, Rio isn''t really going to get swayed by any other woman anyway.


    ...


    The group walked to the Colosseum, and Sin went over to register her and Rio''s names in the reception area.


    Link nced at the giant Colosseum made with ancient-looking architecture and spoke in a curious tone.


    "They still have Colosseum''s in this day and age? I wonder if diator battles still happen here?"


    Hearing that question, Liam shook his head and said,


    "Nope, this ancient Colosseum is only used during some events and duels; those kinds of bloody battles don''t happen here anymore..."


    Everyone gave Liam a surprised look after hearing his confident words.


    "Well, don''t give me that look; there were books in my room that described the general history of various important buildings in the central city..."


    "They must have ced those books in your rooms too, but you guys didn''t bother reading them at all..."


    Only after hearing those words did everyone figure out why Liam knew about this ce.


    Rio and Lia were busy texting each other on the phone tillte at night; Link was busy thinking about various things that the dragon king told him, and Riya was sleeping like a dead log.


    None of them had the time to stay up tillte at night and read some random books.


    Even Liam wouldn''t have read those books if not for the fact that he was all alone and had


    nothing better to do as there was no Ellie to mess around with him.


    "By the way, the books also mentioned that the dragons used to force the dragon men to fight in this Colosseum to death for their own entertainment..."


    "But then this practice was banned after the current dragon king ascended to the throne, and this idea was heavily supported by the ruler of drake-nest ''Fenix''..."


    "King Idri and Fenix ''The Wise'' are the ones who contributed the most in shaping today''s peaceful dragon valley... Nearly all dragon folk revere them as ''Heroes'' nowadays..."


    "They are like legendary beings who you rarely get the chance to meet... and I can''t believe I was the only one who didn''t get to meet them, and you two seized the chance... ugh..."


    "I ended up meeting that drunkard instead..."


    Themes is recorded as a heavy drinker in the history books; most of his feats are just how much he can drink and how amazing his summoned beasts are.


    There is nothing else.


    Liam was envious of Rio and Link, who got to meet awesome people, and only he wasn''t able to get that chance.


    ...


    Just when Liam was ring at Rio and Link with envy, Sin came back and led the group inside.


    She handed over a ticket to everyone and said in an excited tone,


    "My and Rio''s match is going to be held in half an hour; as it''s the fourth day of the festival, there aren''t many challengers, so we don''t have to wait much..."


    "If we had arrived here three days ago, we would have had to wait at least six hours to get our turn..."


    "All of you guys take these tickets; they have your seat numbers written on them... You can go there and watch the show while we both go and prepare for battle..."


    After taking the tickets, the group went over towards the corridor that led to the seats in the audience area.


    Rio and Sin, on the other hand, went towards the waiting area.


    Walking beside Rio alone, Sin suddenly asked in a curious tone,


    "Are you really sure that you will win? I may not look that strong, but withstanding one attack


    is still within my abilities, you know..."


    Rio just shook his head and replied in a rather vague tone,


    "Well, if you are that worried, how about I give you three free attacks first... If you beat me in those three attacks, then it''s your win... and I will have only one attack afterwards.. If I didn''t beat you in that one attack, it''s my loss..."


    Sin rolled her eyes at those words.


    "Despite the way you look, you are quite arrogant, you know..."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders at those words,


    "That''s not arrogance; it''s called confidence... Anyway, even if I lose, your father won''t marry you to me... You know that, right?"


    Sin sighed at those words and nodded her head reluctantly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Yeah, even if I win against you... There''s no point in it; my father actually wants me to marry that barbarian Link! Ugh!! What''s so good about him!? I like those who know the elegance of


    swordsmanship!"


    "I really can''t fathom what random thoughts go into the head of my father... He doesn''t care


    about me at all..."


    Sin gritted her teeth and spoke in an angry tone.


    "You know what... Father only invited Link; he didn''t even want to invite the rest of you to the dragon valley. When I asked him why, he said that Link is a talented kid, and he wants me to


    marry him..."


    "I was very angry about that matter... Truthfully speaking, I haven''t talked to my father since that day; he''s always doing whatever he wants to; he never listens to what I want..." Sin has liked swordsmanship since childhood, and she wants to be the one to decide her own life partner. Idri''s ignorant act of randomly choosing her partner really pissed her off. Sin took action on time and asked Aria to modify the invitation token to invite the whole team, Astra; this way she countered Idri''s attempts by brining Riya into the picture.


    She was worried that Link might get swayed if the person he''s engaged to wasn''t around, and thus she invited the rest of the group so that Riya alsoes here and counters this


    possibility.


    As for Rio, she has genuine admiration for him.


    Not only did he win the title of champion, he even proved that the person that her father was


    caring about wasn''t the ''absolute genius'' who couldn''t be defeated.


    "Well, we aren''t really destined for each other... That''s the conclusion I havee to..."


    "But you know, I will not give up; I will find someone whom I can ept; I won''t get ordered


    around by Father, hmph! He can go and cry in the arms of his favored genius, Link!"


    "I do what I want to do!"


    Rio also gave Sin a thumbs up to support her decision.


    He''s not a saint whoes forward to help out any random person. He''s not obliged to


    sacrifice himself to help out Sin in these circumstances.


    All he can do is hope that she will find someone better in the future. Moreover, it''s better that Sin has enough self-knowledge; she knows her circumstances and what she needs to do in


    the future.


    ''All matters aside, she will be a great leader in the future, that''s for sure...''


    Sin is already ying a game of chess against her own father and is countering him quite effectively; there''s no doubt that she will be a great ruler one day.


    ''I guess I wille over to congratte her one day when she seizes the throne for herself... But that day is still too far away-a few centuries, I guess...''


    Rio isn''t interested in getting involved in this family conflict; he came to the Dragon Valley as


    a guest; there''s no point in getting involved in this.


    "Well, my well wishes are with you, princess... May you find someone who genuinely likes


    you..."


    Sin also nodded her head and replied,


    "I originally didn''t know what was so good about Lia, but truthfully speaking, she''s the best person for you... I am just getting in the way... My well wishes are with you two..." Although Rio and Sin didn''t establish a rtionship, they became great friends after wishing a happy life to each other.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Which one would you rather choose to be friends with?


    1. Rio (The Tea Addict)


    2. Link (The Barbarian)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 361: Rio Vs. Selain, An unfair battle... Part-2.

    Chapter 361: Rio Vs. Sin, An unfair battle... Part-2.


    ?


    Ancient Dragon Colosseum, Audience Seats.


    "I wonder what princess Sin has in her arsenal that brings her such amazing confidence..." With a look of curiosity on his face, Link nced at the Colosseum ground.


    Unlike Lia, others haven''t seen Sin''s swordsmanship yet, so they aren''t really sure of her capabilities.


    Link has first-hand witnessed Rio''s strength; he was the one who received the most brutal beating from Rio''s sword.


    He even had to face being corrupted by miasma and being cut by time-elerated sword attacks.


    Rio still held back when fighting Liam and Lia, but Link was the one who faced him at his full strength, so he knows how strong Rio can be.


    Blocking a single full-powered attack from him is like trying to jump in the way of a bullet train as an ordinary person.


    Despite being focused purely on speed, Rio doesn''tck in terms of strength, and his attack power further gets enhanced by ''Sword Intent'' to the extreme.


    "Dealing with Rio''s sword intent alone is a nightmare... ugh, I still remember how awful it feels to get your heart pierced by sword intent..."


    "That was one of the few attacks that I don''t want to face ever again..."


    Just as Rio respects Link''s awesome strength and defensive capabilities, Link also respects how insanely broken Rio is.


    ''Truthfully speaking, I still can''t believe it that Rio''s just a C-rank talent... The person who tested his talent must have been mentally retarded...''


    Link obviously ran a background check on Rio way back when Rio had saved Riya during the New Year festival.


    So, he knew that Rio was tested as a mere C rank talent holder, which can''t be farther from the truth.


    ''In my opinion, Rio''s talent in swordsmanship is likely not lower than my talent in martial arts... which is already quite terrifying...''


    ''But why didn''t heavenly punishment fall on him... Is it because he''s not being targeted by the heavenly luck?''


    Link has a lot of unanswered questions in his head, but there''s no answer to them.


    While Link was contemting this matter, Liam also nodded his head and spoke in a calm voice.


    "I hate to admit it, but... I don''t think I can win against him as of yet..."


    "Originally I didn''t have mana field, so I wasn''t so sure about legendary skills, but now that I can vaguely see his mastery over sword intent... I can see that there''s still a big gap..."


    "But I guess the princess should be able to at least withstand one attack, right?"


    Sin is also a peak A ranker after all; if she can''t even withstand one attack from a fellow A ranker, wouldn''t that mean that she''s too weak?


    However, thatparison is usually only urate against other ordinary A rankers.


    For anomalies like Rio, there''s no point in evenparing.


    Half an hour passed by in a sh.


    Rio and Sin walked out of the two entrances of the Colosseum grounds and stood against each other.


    *Ladies and gentlemen! The next match is a duel between two great talents!!*


    *On one side is the pride of the dragon race, the sole heir to the dragon throne and the princess of the dragon valley, Sindhux Raos De Draconia!*


    *And on the other hand is the champion of the tournament of supreme talents! The one bestowed with the title of a great knight, ''Supreme Sword'', Rio sh!*


    *Let''s not dilly-dally and start the legendary battle!*


    *3....2...1.. FIGHT!!*


    The very moment the announcement was made, people in the audience cheered loudly for Sin while shouting at the top of their lungs.


    Sin is after all their princess; they can''t bear the thought of her losing; her loss would mean that the whole younger generation of the dragon race has been defeated.


    Right now, Rio as the champion of the tournament of supreme tournament represents that he''s the strongest among the whole younger generation.


    If Sin wins, she will win herself the title of the ''Champion'' and will automatically be revered by all dragons.


    If she loses, people won''t be that upset; after all, losing to the world champion is not a shameful thing; in fact, it would already be a great feat if you could actually fight him as an equal.


    Up until now, only Link has managed to fight the Rio at full power, and even that was before Rio got ''Imperfect Sword Heart''.


    "Well then, I will use my all three greatest attacks, champion... Let''s see what you have got..." Hearing Sin''s words, Rio unsheathed his sword and nodded his head; the expression on his face remained as expressionless as ever.


    "Let''s see what the strongest among the younger generation has got in her arsenal..."


    Rio raised one of his hands towards Sin and urged her toe and attack him.


    A smile appeared on Sin''s face after seeing that tant mockery, and she unsheathed her sword.


    ''It''s really annoying how he can mock others with that straight face...''


    Sin bent her knees a bit and put her sword around her waist.


    [Golden Petal Sword Art: Thousand Petal Barrage!]


    As if her mana had condensed into golden flower petals, Sin''s attack was unpredictable and extremely lethal.


    Each of the thousand petals represented an extremely strong sword sh, and due to the flexibility of those petal-like attacks, the area of effect was also extremely wide.


    With that one attack, Sin shattered half of the Colosseum arena.


    The ground cracked and several sword sh marks appeared on it; even the barrier protecting


    the audience was hit by that attack.


    If it was any other person, including Link and the others, even they would not have been able to dodge this attack as the area was too wide.


    [Darkwing movement art!]


    [Handling!]


    Yet, for Rio, dodging that attack was a child''s y.


    In fact, he had already dodged the very moment she was about to attack; what she hit was a


    mere after-image of his.


    "Not bad, I had a hunch that it would be a wide area attack, but even I didn''t expect it would cover such a wide area... As expected of the princess of the dragon valley, I guess, you are


    indeed strong..."


    Rio nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    No matter what others may say, Rio has already seen it all. Sin is definitely not weak; she''s talented enough to be a member of Team Astra easily.


    "W-what the!?"


    Unlike Rio, who had the same expression over his face as usual, Sin was shocked to the core; this is the first time in her life she has seen someone dodge her attack so effortlessly.


    ''H-how did he predict my attack!? We have never fought before, and this is likely the first time he has seen the golden petal sword art!''


    Sin wouldn''t have been so surprised if Rio had known about her techniques for a long time.


    But right now, Rio is facing her for the first time, and he still easily predicted what move she


    will pull out. It''s as if he''s seeing the future!


    Sin gritted her teeth and took her stance again.,


    [Sin Style: Golden Phantom Mirage!]


    As if Sin had created an illusion, hundreds of her clones appeared and surrounded Rio fromN?v(el)B\\jnn


    every angle.


    ''This is the greatest level of optical illusion I have that can confuse the senses of even S


    rankers!''


    Sin created this by using the golden petals and making them extremely reflective, just like


    a mirror.


    This way, her opponent can''t tell which one is the real one, and it would be near impossible to block the next attack.


    [Golden Dragon: True Dragon Magic: Golden Thunder Bombardment!]


    Sin pointed her sword towards Rio and fired an enormous and condensed bolt of golden thunder, which could directly obliterate an A ranker to bits.


    But to her surprise, Rio directly ignored the fake clones and nced in the real Sin''s eyes


    before easily dodging the thunder attack by side-stepping.


    "Ah, I forgot to tell you, but I am immune to illusions actually... Also, that was the third attack, so it''s my turn now, okay, grit your teeth; this one will hurt a bit..."


    The first attack was that wide area one; the second one was the illusion; and the third was the


    golden thunder. (Illusions are also a form of attacking...)


    Seeing Rio stay unharmed, Sin gritted her teeth and immediately used her golden thunder


    to cover her body and protect her from damage.


    Rio waited patiently in the meantime so that she could enhance her defenses.


    Fighting against him is already an unfair thing, so it isn''t a bad thing to give the other party


    some time to prepare.


    "Defend this..."


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Golden Thunder Thousand Mirage!]


    Rio directly copy-pasted Sin''s skill and used it as his own. Matter of fact, all of the illusions he created are actually his afterimages, so he can attack


    from any direction, and thus, his usage of this skill was even better than Sin herself. In other words, Rio learned this skill, added it to his sword technique, and then used it even


    better than the actual owner, and he did all that in a matter of seconds. (That ''X'' level sword aptitude is no joke...)


    The golden thunder enveloped his sword and shed at Sin. The sword''s intent forcefully dissipated the golden thunder around her, shattering the sword she used to defend herself in an instant. Rio''s sword reached her neck and stopped right there.


    If Rio hadn''t stopped there, Sin''s head would have been chopped off by him right there.


    Although healers can save people from any fatal injury, Rio doesn''t want to take a massive risk.


    Chopping the head of a princess while still in her empire would be a great mistake.


    "I-I admit defeat..."


    At that moment, Sin directly admitted her defeat; she was beaten one-sidedly.


    It was a very unfair battle; there was no suspense in it, and the battle didn''t evenst more


    than five minutes.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think Rio''s copying ability is a bit too overpowered?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 362: Hes too OP!

    Chapter 362: He''s too OP!


    ?


    Aside from Sin and the group, the whole audience was also shocked by Rio''s abilities.


    *W-what!? Are my eyes deceiving me!? Did I just see a human use golden thunder that is unique to only golden dragons!?*


    *This is insane!! Rio sh has beaten the genius of the Dragon Valley using her own skills! This is a major wake-up call for all young dragons in the dragon valley!!*


    The battle between Rio and Sin ended too fast... No, it can''t even be called a battle; it was just Rio ying around the whole time.


    As promised, he gave Sin three free attacks before counterattacking.


    Not a single one of Sin''s attacks did any injury to Rio, and he dodged it easily.


    Of course Rio would have dragged this fight for a longer time instead of finishing it in one move if he was still fighting in the tournament of supreme talents.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He would have wanted to see the entire skill set that Sin has mastered, not only to appreciate her abilities but also to give her some recognition.


    But right now, he didn''t have that luxury; he had to end the battle in one move, as he would have lost the bet if he didn''t.


    Rio easily beat the strongest talent of the younger generation in the Dragon Valley, and this will cause a huge sensation in the Dragon Valley.


    All young talent will end up thinking that the human race has be too powerful and dragons have fallen behind due to being isted from the world.


    Thus, they will train harder from now on.


    ''Well, it''s a good thing anyway; the stronger they get, the stronger the chances of them surviving in the future...''


    The increase in miasma will affect everyone, even the dragon valley, so if the younger generation doesn''t actively try to improve, they will not be able to survive the long battles that will happen in the dragon valley in the future.


    ''In the end, I ended up doing good things again, I guess...''


    First Rio indirectly saved the human empire from losing Ashtel Rex and Raji Croft as he saved Link and Riya, then his indirect influence caused the appearance of another new SS ranker, Jin Walt.


    Second, he saved the Elven Empire by helping that depressed prince and stopping the chaos from even starting. The friendship between humans and elves will stay strong as always now.


    And now he has helped out in making the younger generation of the Dragon Valley more desperate for power.


    Rio can already see that his today''s actions will definitely ignite a spark ofpetition. Young dragons will challenge each other for duels more frequently, and the overall strength of the whole younger generation will improve.


    Even Sin will get a lot ofpetitors, and her improvement speed will increase.


    ''If she gets some good rivals, she can awaken her sword intent much faster...''


    Rio stretched out his hand towards Sin, who had copsed on the ground. It seems this was the first time she has felt death so close to herself; thus, her legs gave away and she slumped down on the ground.


    "Princess, I am impressed; if it were some other ordinary person, they would have already fainted when facing death for the first time, and you have a stronger willpower than I thought..."


    Hearing that praise from Rio, Sin smiled dryly and grabbed his hand to stand up.


    "Well, I knew you were strong, but this much... ugh, only now I understand why Lia was giving me that weird stare when I doubted her words that you can''t possibly copy my golden thunder ability..."


    "Ugh, I am such an idiot; I should have believed her words; after all, no one knows better about you than her... Tch, I feel like an idiot now..."


    While walking towards the exit alongside her, Rio sighed and replied,


    "Yeah... You should have believed her; now your golden thunder ability is mine... I will use it from now on, princess; don''t me me for the rudeness..."


    "It''s a strong ability, so it would be a shame not to use it inbat... Well, if one day you are able to defeat me in the future, I will acknowledge my loss and stop using the golden thunder..."


    Hearing those words, Sin cheered up a bit, and a determined look appeared on her face. "Good! I will train and be strong! And then I will challenge you again in the future!" "And if I win, then you will need to take me as your concubine!"


    Seeing that determined look on her face and hearing those words, Rio ended upughing a bit after a very long time.


    "hahaha, seriously... ahaha concubine!? In this day and age!? Hahaha... You seriously are an interesting person, princess; aside from Lia, you are the first to make meugh so much..." Hearing those words, Sin crossed her arms and spoke with a proud look on her face.


    "Well, I am the great princess of the dragon valley after all!"


    Rio was surprised at how fast Sin adapted; just a few minutes ago, she was trembling from


    the death she felt from his de, and now she''s already back to normal.


    ''As I thought, she is indeed talented; I wonder why she wasn''t mentioned in the novel...''


    ...


    In the audience seats.


    Except for Riya, who was too busy nibbling on her candies, the rest of the three had shocked expressions on their faces at this moment.


    Although Lia already expected that Rio might copy Sin''s abilities, she didn''t expect that he could do it to this extent.


    He not only copied it; he even performed that ability better than Sin herself. Saying that Rio''s an insane monster in terms of copying is not an exaggeration.


    ''Wait, does that mean he might be able to copy my spirit magic too in the future!?''


    Aside from Lia, the ones who were the most shocked were Link and Liam.


    "What the f*ck did I just see!? H-his sword intent..."


    Hearing Link''s bewildered voice, Liam also nodded his head, and a wry smile appeared on his face.


    "Yeah, his sword intent has improved again... The speed of his improvement in sword intent is just too exaggerated and too fast..."


    Last time the two of them fought Rio, Rio still didn''t have the sword heart, and his sword intent had yet to cross the 50% mastery level.


    But now, Rio has long crossed the 75% mastery level on sword intent; in other words, he''s not too far away from the ''perfect'' sword intent now.


    The manifestation of the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' gave a huge boost to his mastery over


    sword intent. Looking at that insane speed of improvement, even Link couldn''t help but tremble in desperation.


    ''Sh*t! The moment I think I have barely caught up to him, I end up being left behind in dust


    once again!''


    ''He''s too overpowered!!''


    In the end, the three of them could only shake their heads helplessly, borrow some candies from Riya to cure their depression, and leave the audience seats to head outside.


    Riya was a bit confused at first, but then she patted the backs of each of them to make them cheer up. (Yeah, Riya is the emotional support of the whole team...)


    "Hey, Liam, how about we spar more in the future from now on... If we want to keep up with


    that guy, we will need to ry on each other..."


    Hearing Link''s words, Liam sighed and replied in a solemn tone,


    "Yeah, let''s do that when we go back to the human empire, we would need to train our


    mastery over the legendary skills further, or we will be nothing but random vegetables in front of him, waiting to be chopped off..."


    Link nced at Lia and said in an envious voice,


    "In that aspect, you are luckier, Lia; no matter how strong he gets, he won''t leave you behind... Instead, the rest of us will be left behind if we are too weak...."


    Lia shrugged her shoulders at those words and replied in a rather vague tone,


    "Er... I don''t think he''s the type of person to just forget about his friends after bing stronger than them... But yeah, I can understand your concern... We all need to work harder to


    improve..."


    Just when the three were depressed, Riya spoke with a smile on her face.


    "By the way, I forgot to tell you guys, but I have also reached peak A rank recently; also, Aria


    Senpai taught me a lot of unique skills this time, so my mastery over the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' has reached 40% now..."


    Hearing those words from Riya, the eyes of the three of them twitched like crazy!


    Not even Rio; they were being left behind by Riya in terms of mastery over the legendary skill!


    This is just too insane!


    Riya, who usually stays silent and is always nibbling on candies, is improving faster than


    them! And she has already reached Peak A rank too!


    Liam nced at Link and asked in a sad tone,


    "Er, do you have a handkerchief... i-I kind of feel like crying right now..."


    Link shook his head and replied in simrly sad tone,


    "Ugh, if I had one, I would have used it myself... sigh~"


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think could be the reason why Riya is improving so fast?


    1. Candy power goes brrrr-


    2. Other (tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.


    Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 363: The Fireworks show... Part-1.

    Chapter 363: The Fireworks show... Part-1.


    ?


    Central City, East District.


    While walking on the streets of the central city, the group not only enjoyed the games put up


    by the dragon folk, they also got to see the amazing decorations ced by the people on their homes.


    Every house in the central city has been decorated to at least a minimum level.


    No matter poor or rich, people have done their best to decorate their houses; this is how important the great dragon festival is to the dragon race after all.


    Evening, after the duel.


    Standing near a smartphone cover stall, the three most talented guys of the younger generation were in a great dilemma at the moment.


    "Hmm, which one should I buy... They have the couple ones, but I don''t really know which one Riya will like..."


    Just 30 minutes ago, the group split up once more, with the girls opting to go on a solo shopping spree, leaving the three of them wandering aimlessly through the streets.


    And as Riya isn''t here, Link has no idea what to buy, as he doesn''t know what she would like to buy.


    "Hey, forget it, I will just buy the whole stall!"


    Liam rubbed his temples after hearing those words and spoke in an annoyed tone.


    "Idiot! What are you going to do with so many phone covers!? Just buy any random two and be done with it!"


    Upon hearing those words, Link red back at Liam, saying,


    "Tch! You don''t know anything; Ellie doesn''t use smartphones; otherwise, you would have been stumped by the choices too!"


    While the two were bickering, Rio just went ahead and bought himself a pair without hesitating too much.


    He doesn''t really care how bad his own smartphone cover looks; he just saw that the female counterpart of that pair looked good, and so he bought it for Lia.


    ''After wandering around in such a big festival for so long, if I don''t even buy something for her... wouldn''t I be considered an inconsiderate boyfriend...''


    [You think too much... She''s been with you for two years, and I don''t think she would be fazed by such small things...]


    ''Well, I did hear on the inte that in rtionships, small things are the ones that matter the most...''


    [Like?]


    ''Hmm, for example, you appreciate the other party''s efforts no matter how small and pointless they are... and always say some good words from time to time...''


    ''Seems like small matters, but they do have a lot of effect... Buying something for her is also part of it... I need to keep up with her pace; she''s always ready to make delicious food for me...''


    ''I need to return some favor, or I am too useless as a boyfriend...''


    [Unexpectedly, you can indeed give decent advice on rtionships... I didn''t expect that from you...]


    ''I might not have much emotion left, but I have enoughmon sense...''


    There are two ways people can go when they lose their humanity.


    Either the person goes the path of a monster and bes a total maniac who ughters or torments people so as to feel any sort of remaining emotions in their heart.


    Or the person will go the path that Rio is walking.


    Learn how normal people respond and adapt to situations.


    Even if you lose your emotions, learn how to act like someone who has emotions.


    By this point, Rio has learned so much about emotions and the ways of ''acting like a human'' that he can do it wlessly.


    [By the way, are you going to help out those two or not? They are creating quite the mess there...]


    ''Forget it; I don''t feel like ruining the mood by bickering with them..., I find it quite tiring to argue with people...''


    [Ah, I see, acting that you are offended by their words and then acting to be angry, all that is quite troublesome indeed...]


    ''Yeah, why would I waste my energy on that? I only do that when it''s necessary...''


    Rio has learned how people act under the influence of various emotions, so he can indeed adapt ordingly, but he likes to avoid these situations usually as it''s a waste of time.


    He grabbed a smartphone cover with a candy design on it and threw it at Link''s face, then he grabbed one with the dragon emblem on it and threw it at Liam''s face.


    The two of them were taken aback and caught the covers with a shocked look on their faces.


    "Just take these and be done with it... You two are destroying the image of the human empire in front of so many people on the street..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, the two wanted to say something, but then they noticed Rio''s choices and shut up on the spot.


    They obediently proceeded to purchase both those items and their other half of the pair.


    The stall owner gave Rio a grateful look for solving the issue.


    Rio just shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the next stall, with the other two following behind him, like chicks following the mother hen.


    At the same time.


    "Eh, so you can''t actually change your humanoid form?"


    Hearing Lia''s question, Sin nodded her head.


    "Yeah, although we dragons can take humanoid forms, the form is fixed; it can''t be altered...


    It only changes as you grow up..."


    Riya was about to say that ''Ellie could change her form though!'', but Lia hurriedly grabbed a candy and stuffed it in her mouth to make her shut up and forget about the matter.


    Sin took a moment to look around before speaking quietly.


    "There''s only one type of dragon that can change their form at will; those are ''Shadow Dragons''; they are masters at that thing... But taking their name in the dragon valley is taboo,


    so don''t tell anyone that I told you about it..."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Lia nodded her head at those words and didn''t say much.


    "By the way, I have been meaning to ask... But why are shadow dragons hated so much in the


    dragon valley..."


    Hearing that question, Sin shook her head and replied,


    "I don''t know much personally; all I know is that they once betrayed the whole dragon race about 1500 years ago or something..."


    "They were exiled from the dragon valley for that same reason... There are no written records of it in the grand library or any other books that mention the exact reason..."


    "So, I don''t know much myself, and I highly doubt any of the dragon folk even know about why all dragons hate the shadow dragons..."


    "In my opinion, only those in high positions, like my father, might know the real details..."


    Lia nodded her head, then inquired,


    "Can you, uh... ask your father about it... I am kind of curious to know about this matter..."


    Sin shrugged her shoulders and replied with a big sigh,


    "It''s pointless... Not only will he not talk to me much, I myself don''t want to bother talking


    too much with him..."


    "We have not been on good terms the past few days, so I don''t really think it will work..."


    Lia nodded her head and stopped asking about this matter; it would be too suspicious if


    she kept on being persistent about it.


    "By the way, how was the battle? Are you feeling okay now? Facing Rio''s sword intent head on


    can be a great shock for first-timers."


    Sin sighed at those words and nodded her head.


    "Yeah, I still have some lingering fear of it... A legendary skill is indeed miraculous; thankfully, I gained some insights from Rio''s attack and will be able to improve in the


    future..."


    Lia patted Sin''s shoulder and said with a smile on her face.


    "Well, you are doing better than I expected; when I got hit by sword intent for the first time, I was having nightmares... It''s a very destructive power after all; it affects not only your body but your soul and consciousness too..."


    "Last time I got hit by it was when Rio still hadn''t reached 50% mastery over it, now that he has be even better at it... I really can''t fathom how awful it would feel to get hit by it..."


    Lia gave a slight smile and shook her head before speaking.


    "His hands were trembling like crazy, and his eyes were shaking when he used sword intent on me during the tournament... I guess even someone as indifferent as him gets troubled


    when fighting those who he cares for..."


    Sin sighed at those words, then continued speaking.


    "I think he hesitated only because it was you he was fighting... I don''t think he would be that shaken when fighting anyone else..."


    "You are really lucky, Lia; you got to meet him before me... Otherwise, I would have snatched


    him for myself... I warn you, if one day you end up breaking up with him, I will ept him, so


    make sure you don''t give me the chance..."


    Lia smiled at those words and spoke with confidence.


    "Hmph, who do you think I am! I will never let you have your way with him!"


    Sin shrugged her shoulders at words.


    "We will see, hehe..."


    "Okay, we have spent enough time chit-chatting; it''s about time we head towards the


    fireworks show venue..."


    Lia also nodded her head and grabbed Riya''s hand to drag her along with them.


    Riya, who waspletely oblivious to the world around her, got dragged around by the two


    with no thoughts in her mind.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Which group would you be a part of?


    1. The couples (Praise your partner all day long, like Rio and Lia.)


    2. The singles (re at the couples with hateful eyes, like Liam.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 364: The Fireworks show... Part-2.

    Chapter 364: The Fireworks show... Part-2.


    ?


    Central City, Southern District.


    Near the Aku River.


    Rio and the group met up with each other at the promised location and then made their way


    here.


    The fireworks show will be held on the other side of the river, and the audience can stay on this side and watch.


    Rio and Lia sat on the well-trimmed grass side by side.


    "When was thest time we watched fireworks together?... I think we haven''t..."


    At Rio''s words, Lia also nodded her head and replied with a slight blush on her face.


    "Last time we had the chance to watch them like this was during the first year festival, but I ended up fainting, went home, and missed the chance..."


    "Later you went over to help out Link there and wasn''t able to enjoy the fireworks either..." Rio sighed at those words.


    "Yeah, that was the day when we confessed to each other and officially became a couple; it''s been more than a year since then..."


    "The friendship with Link and Riya also started around that time... That day changed a lot of things in our lives..."


    Although the things that happened that day seemed simple and not of much concern, they literally changed many lives.


    That day was where everything started: Rio and Lia became a couple, Link and Riya were redeemed, and Fade was scared off by Rio.


    If Rio had to pinpoint the beginning of his adventures, it would be that day.


    "You were such a Tsundere back then; you fainted on the spot from a kiss, haha..."


    Thinking about that, Rio smiled a bit, and Lia felt embarrassed.


    "W-well, I have grown up a lot now! T-that was just because it was my first kiss, you know! I was shocked by your sudden move!"


    Rio stopped teasing her and shrugged his shoulders.


    "Well, you get riled up pretty quick even now though..."


    Lia puffed up her cheeks in response to those words.


    "W-well, that''s because you tease me all the time; if it were someone else, I would have kicked them twice by now... s, my kicks won''t even hit you, and you can dodge them easily... ugh..."


    Rio chuckled slightly at those words, pinching her cheeks before spoking.


    "Haha, it''s just too much fun messing around with you... You are the one who has made me addicted to this, so you have no rights toin~"


    Lia pulled her head back to get rid of those hands and rubbed her reddened cheeks before ring at Rio and saying,


    "Hmph, I definitely win one day! And then I willugh at you and tease you continuously!"


    Rio gave her a thumbs up while nodding his head.


    "Ah, yes, yes, you are the best!"


    "ring at me like that, are you tempting me to kiss you? Heh..."


    Seeing that rare mischievous look on Rio''s face, she knew that it was over.


    "W-wait there are people-"


    Rio gently grabbed her chin and sealed her lips just like he did on the very first date of theirs! Lia might have be stronger than that day, but in his eyes, she''s just the same Lia she ever was; for him, she will remain the same girl who he fell in love with no matter what changes may happen.


    And just like that day, Rio whispered in her ears.


    "Delicious-"


    Thankfully, Lia has grown up mentally in the past years or so, so she didn''t faint like she did on the first date.


    Her face became as red as a tomato.


    The fireworks show started at that moment, so Lia was able to hide her embarrassment as Rio''s attention was diverted at the moment.


    ''Idiot... You haven''t changed much though; you are still the same Rio who likes to mess around too much... but I guess I like this side of you too...''


    Lia directly took a bold action and ced her head on hisp to watch the fireworks.


    ''Hmph, this is payment for making me embarrassed!''


    Rio also didn''t stop her and smiled happily; he liked it even more when Lia herself tries to be more open about her feelings.


    ''Just like that first date, this day will be forever etched in my memory now...''


    ...


    Around the same time,


    Link and Riya were also sitting not much far away from Rio and Lia, and the two of them were also lost in their own world, just like Rio and Lia.


    "Riya, I am very grateful to you that you took me to that first-year festival that day... If not for you dragging me along, I would have never had the chance to meet someone as amazing as


    Rio..."


    "I wouldn''t have had been able to make such amazing friends, and I might have been still stuck in my past mentality..."


    "Truthfully speaking, if not for you, so many things could have gone wrong for me... I guess I can say you are my lucky charm; without you, I will always lose my luck..."


    Riya also stopped focusing on her candies at this moment and nced at the sky to watch the fireworks with Link.


    "That day... I was ready to sacrifice myself, actually... That assassin wanted you to kneel and beg for mercy for me... But I didn''t want you to lose your dignity like that..."


    "That''s why I was ready to throw away my life... You are thinking too much, Link... That day I dragged you along with me because I was worried about you hanging around with those shady friends of yours..."


    "They were making you take part in bad things... I just wanted you to stay away from that... And I think I did quite a good job in helping you out of that bad friend group..."


    Link also nodded his head.


    For some weird reason, he was fixated on bullying Fade during the starting days of the academy, and hisckeys were giving him constant advice and motivation to keep bullying


    Fade.


    If Riya hadn''t dragged him away from that bad friend circle, he might have really gone


    haywire.


    If not for that day, he wouldn''t have met an amazing friend like Rio; he wouldn''t have met


    Liam and others.


    One thing would have led to another, and things would have beenpletely different.


    If Rio wasn''t there to save the day, Riya would have lost her life, and he would have gonepletely insane from that massive loss.


    To him, there are only two things that matter the most in life.


    One is getting stronger and surpassing all; the other is to protect Riya and ensure her safety.


    He doesn''t even give a single sh*T about anything else.


    Riya nced at the fireworks in the sky and smiled happily.


    "That day I was quite happy that you agreed to hang out with me instead of those friends of yours... I guess that was a lucky day for us both... Things could have been so much different


    otherwise..."


    Rio''s decision to get involved in that event himself changed everything that day.


    If he hadn''t gotten involved in the event, Riya would have died, Link would have be a total maniac, and Liam and Ellie would have never joined Team Astra.


    Furthermore, Lia would havegged behind in progress.


    At that point, only Rio would have been strong enough to participate in the academy''s three


    trials and win a candidate''s seat.


    Rio would have to deal with Fade and Kira''s bullsh*t all alone at that point. It would have


    been a nightmare for him.


    But that one action changed many things and created better oues. "Originally, I was irritated and frustrated thinking... ''How could Rio keep up with me despite me being so talented!?''... But as time went by, I figured it out..."


    "The world doesn''t revolve around me; there are always people who are better than you at certain things, and you can''t do anything about it... Instead of being angry and frustrated, it''s better to work hard and improve..."


    Link smiled to himself and nced at Rio, who was watching the fireworks with Lia.


    "I guess I can never really keep up with him in terms of mastery over the legendary skills, but


    I will keep trying my best... After all, giving up is not in my dictionary..."


    Riya nodded her head at those words and replied with a smile on her face. "You aren''t alone; I will always support you... Don''t underestimate me; I swear upon my honor as a healer that I will be the best healer in the world, and you will never be disappointed


    by my abilities!"


    Although Riya might be bad at other things, she''s proud of her abilities as a healer.


    In terms of healing magic, buffs, and debuffs, there''s literally no one in the younger generation who can even think aboutpeting with her.


    Just like how Rio can already fight with S rankers despite being at rank A, Riya''s healing abilities can put an S-rank healer''s healing magic to shame.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Heart of Eternal Nirvana is no joke; it''s a genuine legendary power blessed with the power of


    the ''Law'' of ''Healing''.


    Even fairies, the race who first created healing magic, will be in awe if they see Riya''s healing


    magic.


    "Haha, no way, I fear I might disappoint you instead, there''s no way that I will get disappointed in you... As I said, you are my lucky charm, my eternally shining bright star of


    great fortune!"


    Riya sighed at those words and rolled her eyes.


    "Did you learn that line from Rio? Only he knows how to say thoseplex praises..."


    Link scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment after hearing those words.


    "Well, something like that..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Do you also enjoy festivals with your friends?


    (Tell me your opinions in thements) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 365: Prototype S16ir112... Part-1.

    Chapter 365: Prototype S16ir112... Part-1.


    ?


    Located far into the north east of the central city, Aku River Basin is a vast forest where various species that are extinct in the outside world reside.


    The Dragon Race has always been one of the few races that likes to help out weaker races who are on the verge of extinction.


    Although dragons act high and might most of the time and consider themselves above all other creatures, they aren''t pure arrogant and destructive beings like Demons.


    Dragons are wise creatures with amazing power and wisdom; they have always put great efforts into preserving dying races that are on the verge of extinction from time to time.


    Moreover, the Dragon Valley is a very big ce, so there''s no need to worry about overpoption.


    They can even increase the size of this artificially made domain; thus, the dragon has plenty ofnd, and that''s why they are capable of giving it to others for free.


    All they ask in return is that you need to serve them as their master, and your race will be able to live under the protection of the dragons.


    This is a fantastic opportunity for many races.


    In fact, the world alliance outside works in such a manner that no race ends up needing the protection of the dragons; this is to maintain the power bnce with dragons.


    The Dragons alone have half the number of SS rankers that the whole world alliance has.


    It''s not that dragons themselves have so many SS-rankers; it''s that they have quite a few races under them who aid them and increase the count of SS-rankers.


    A is the best example of it; she''s a peak SS-ranker, and as Dragon protects her race, she helps out the dragons in various things too.


    Just like the outside world has the world alliance, the dragons have their own kind of alliance of sorts inside the dragon valley.


    Although they don''t haverge armies with insanely high-tech weapons like humans, they do have high-ranking fighters in their arsenal that are enough to scare off any prying eyes.


    This is also one of the reasons why Demons never dared toy siege to the Dragon Valley even during the thousand-year war.


    Dragons only had to deal with those miasma-filled dungeons at that time, and there wasn''t any other war in the dragon valley.


    The huge lifespan and amazing talent give Dragon an upper hand over other races; moreover, the alliance that they have made ispletely different from the world alliance outside.


    In the World Alliance, all races are of equal status, no matter if they are strong nations or weak. King Allen gave each of them equal status, and they are all ''Partners''.


    Thus, no one is actually ''forced'' to help out the others; it depends on circumstances.


    But in the alliance created by the dragons, the other races are basically ''vassals'' or ''servants'' to the dragons, and it is pulsory'' for them to listen to the orders of the dragon race.


    In other words, Dragon can more easily gather their armies, while the world alliance will need time, agreements, and partnerships for that.


    In the world alliance, all races only look for their own benefits; they won''t fight pointless wars as that will damage their own economies.


    Thankfully, both of these alliances haven''t had any conflict with each other ever before; they have been on neutral terms ever since the start.


    Moreover, the world alliance has its hands full with the demon race; they won''t make enemies out of the dragons anyway, and thus the situation remains neutral.


    ...


    Two Days Ago.


    Dragon Valley, Aku River Basin.


    Standing in the sky above the Aku river basin, Neo nced at the orb that was shining extremely brightly at the moment.


    ''Hmm, so it''s somewhere here...''


    ''It took so long to find it... If I could use my world authority or mana detection freely, it would have been a hundred times easier to find it... but that would definitely alert the SS rankers who are keeping an eye on me...''


    Indeed, Idri did allow Neo to wander around, but he also ordered his subordinates to keep an eye on Neo''s behavior.


    Although they are likely about hundreds of kilometers away from him, they are definitely keeping an eye out for him.


    ''Thankfully no one can detect this orb their mana detection, so unless they see it with their own eyes, they won''t notice it...''


    The reason why no one has noticed anything strange about him yet is because the orb he is using can hide its presence from the detection of even SS-rankers.


    Neo has verified its stealth abilities against Ashtel''s detection ability, and even Ashtel Rex was not able to detect it, which means Neo doesn''t need to worry that others can detect it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Neo has learned one thing from his time with Ashtel Rex, and that is,


    {If there''s something that even Ashtel can''t deal with, then no one in the world can deal with it...} There''s very few things in the world that can hide from the detection of someone like Ashtel. ''I guess I will need to do a visual search if I can''t use mana detection... Also, I need to be quick... The more time I spend wandering around, the more suspicious others will get of me...'' Neo grabbed the orb and boosted his own flying speed.


    He lowered his flying altitude and started to head in the directions where the orb was glowing brighter.


    In the next half an hour, he searched half of the whole river basin and finally stopped at arge pit on the ground that was hidden under the shade of therge trees.


    ''Hmm, this must have appeared after rain caused the ground to sink...''


    Without much hesitation, Neo dove down in the pit and started to look around.


    For SS-rankers, no amount of darkness means anything; they are far from mortal beings, so they have in-built night vision in their eyes, and they can see even in the darkest ces without even needing mana.


    Neo searched the who pit, but he didn''t find a sin espe thing about it.


    ''Sigh, not being able to use mana detection really restricts me a lot... I guess I will have to do it manually...''


    Neo ced his hand on the walls of the pit and embedded small amounts of mana that even SS-rankers couldn''t trace easily.


    After repeating this process over many ces on the walls, finally he got some results after more than fifty tries.


    If he could use mana detection, then it would have only needed him just one try, as he could have directly spread his mana detection in the whole river basin.


    *Bang*


    Neo punched the wall lightly, and it copsed, revealing a cave behind it.


    ''Hmm... As I thought, it''s buried deep underground, and it isn''t even leaking any mana fluctuations... If I didn''t have this orb, even I wouldn''t have found out about it...''


    Something that can avoid even the mana detection of SS-rankers is no ordinary thing; it''s definitely something unique.


    He walked inside without hesitation, looking at the many paths in front of him. He decided to


    rely on his intuition.


    Right now he can''t summon or the other SS-rankers will catch the mana fluctuations, so he can only rely on the unique intuition of an SS-ranker to find his way in this gigantic cave. ''The orb has now be bright, and it isn''t fluctuating, which means I am directly above ''it'' right; all I need to do is find my way down through this cave system...''


    If it were in the human empire, Neo would have directly used his summons to dig and make paths, but right now he''s being monitored, so he has to be as quiet as possible.


    Digging with summoned beasts will bring unnecessary trouble.


    ''It must have taken a lot of efforts to hide such a massive building underground... Or perhaps


    that''s how fate works with these kinds of things...''


    ''The ''world'' itself has tried it''s best to hide it from the public eye...''


    While walking, Neo contemted his next ns in his mind, and a determined look hung on


    his face.


    ''This is where everything will start... If I miss the chance now, I will miss out on a lot of


    things...''


    Neo shook his head, using his intuition to delve deeper.


    As an SS-ranker, his movement speed is fast, and he''s notcking in physical capabilities either, so he traveled about ten kilometers deeper without stopping for a second.


    Along the way, many paths and intersections appeared, but Neo always managed to find the


    right one with his intuition alone.


    This is the horror of the insane intuition ability of an SS-ranker; they can easily find their way


    out from any maze they get thrown into.


    They can do this much without even using mana.


    After ten minutes of a long walk, Neo finally arrived in the deepest part of the cave.


    ''A teleportation circle? Is this its top floor?''


    Neo waved his hand and made the dirt on the floor move away with the air pressure.


    When the dirt was disposed of, a solid floor made up of shiny white stones appeared.


    ''Indeed, this is the right ce...''


    Neo bent down and ced his hand on the magic circle engraved on the floor made up of


    white stones.


    He embedded his mana into the magic circle, and the circle stared to shine brightly. ''hoh? It can even suppress mana fluctuations and spatial distortions caused by teleportation.


    Even the most technologically advanced spaceships in the human empire can''t achieve this


    effect...''


    ''This thing was designed by someone with a genius mind...''


    The teleportation circle activated and teleported Neo instantly. Usually it''s impossible for


    even SS-rank teleportation spells to easily teleport away an SS-ranker, but this teleportation circle seems to be unique.


    It worked on Neo without any problems, which means it has the capability to teleport SS-


    rankers without any side effects.


    Authors Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think this hidden building is for?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 366: Prototype S16ir112... Part-2.

    Chapter 366: Prototype S16ir112... Part-2.


    ?


    "Hmm, so this is the prototype version? No wonder most of it is still undamaged even though this ce is more than two millennia old..."


    Once he opened his eyes, Neo found himself standing in a gigantic hall made up of silver- white marble with various ancient designs made on the floor and the walls in gold.


    ''Pure gold is used to make carvings on the floor and walls; moreover, silver and mithril have been used as materials to create this building...''


    Silver and gold aside, the mithril needed to make all this alone would cost an immense fortune, and that''s not even the most expensive thing.


    Neo nced all around him, and he noticed the presence of an invisible magic circle carved on these walls and the floor.


    This magic circle is not only strengthening them but is also blocking any sort of mana fluctuation.


    In other words, even an SS-rankers mana detection will be ineffective inside this ce, and only a small area can be detected.


    ''Unless someone has perfected ''Mana Field,'' I highly doubt anyone can deal with this magic -circle...''


    ''Which means even the attacks of an SS ranker will have not much effect on the walls and floor of this ce...''


    The more Neo analyzed this ce, the more fascinated he became with it.


    ''There''s no doubt about it now; this is the exact ce I was looking for...''


    With a wide grin on his face, Neo headed into one of the few corridor entrances from the giant hall.


    [Summon: Gluttonous Golden Worm King!]


    A massive golden-colored worm appeared from the summoning circle, and it was so huge that the whole corridor was blocked.


    "Explore ahead and eat anything thates in your way..."


    With his amazing intuition as an SS-ranker, Neo was easily able to pinpoint which corridor was best for him from all those corridor entrances in the giant hall.


    Thus he entered the one that his intuition was telling him to and used his worm-type summon to deal with any defense mechanisms that might be ced ahead.


    ''This ce is specially meant to deal with SS-rankers; I need to keep my guard up...''


    ''In terms of threat level, this ce is likely equal to a peak SS-rank dungeon gate... thankfully


    I have the ''Orb of wayward paths'' or I might get stuck in this ce...''


    That glowing Orb that Neo used to locate this ce is an ''SS++'' rank item, called the Orb of wayward paths.


    As long as you have a selfish and depraved goal in your mind, it can lead you to any destinations that you might want to go to.


    The only requirement to use it is that you must harbor extremely selfish goals in your heart, which others may perceive as evil.


    You don''t even need any mana to use this thing; it can lead you to any destinations as long as you can fulfill the condition to use it first.


    ''As an item from the arsenal of King Allen himself, this orb is indeed mysterious and amazing... Good thing I took my time to find it...''


    During the fifty-year orc war, Neo found an old map that was pointing to a location in the orc nation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Neo went ahead and ughtered thousands of innocent orc civilians to reach that location and finally found this orb hidden by a massive magic circle.


    ''Although I don''t know how it ended up there, it''s a good thing that I found it... Now this orb will help me create a lot of variables for myself...''


    The more Neo looked at that orb, the more pleasing to the eye it seemed.


    ''s, it won''t work inside here; otherwise, I would have used it here too...''


    This orb and this hidden ce are both of the same rank, so it''s not possible for the orb to work here.


    It was already good enough that it worked outside and helped him find this ce without much trouble.


    *Crunch!*


    While Neo was contemting in his mind, the giant worm chewed and broke all the defense mechanisms ahead.


    Even when the worm got injured, Neo just embedded mana into it to forcefully heal it; this way, all the damage was taken by that worm, and Neo remained unharmed.


    He directly ignored most of the intersections and diverging paths and kept heading in the direction that his intuition was pointing to.


    ''Good thing I only found this ce as an SS-ranker; if I was lower in rank, then I would have already gotten lost in this massive maze-like area...''


    Although most of the corridors and everything in this ce are still intact, there are still signs of wear and tear.


    After all, the ce is more than two millennia old, and it''s been abandoned for a long time, so it''s in a more dpidated state.


    ''Hoh, so there are more floors to it?''


    After walking for half an hour, Neo reached the end of the path, and a staircase appeared in front of him that was leading to the lower floor.


    Without hesitation, he descended downward.


    An SS-ranker has nothing to fear after all; he cane and go as he pleases.


    While heading down, Neo sighed and thought,


    ''This isn''t even the real thing; it''s just a prototype, and yet it''s so vast and so brilliant that it


    gives a sense of insignificance to others...''


    This ce is extremely vast, yet everything here is well decorated with gold and silver.


    All walls are made up of rare and precious materials like Mithril and Adamantium.


    Even SS-rankers will have difficulty damaging such objects.


    ''The Mithril and Adamantium used to create the first floor of this ce alone can be said to be a hundred times more than the whole reserves of the world alliance...''


    Mithril and Adamantium are extremely rare items that are used to create ''SS+'' rank weapons and artifacts; there is only a very small reserve of them in the arsenal of the world alliance.


    Which means it''s already extremely rare in the whole world, yet so much of them has been used to just create walls and floors here, which can be said to be a massive waste.


    ''If it bes possible to break these walls and harvest these materials, there would be enough mithril and Adamantium to arm every SS ranker in the world with a full-on armor and weaponry made up of these rare items...''


    ''I am sure that Ashtel would have immediately started to think of methods to harvest these... He would have liked to arm everyone with armor made up of this... That way, the war against demons will go even smoother...''


    Ashtel is the type of person who will help out others if possible, and he doesn''t care whether others get stronger from his help.


    He has the confidence to defeat anyone, no matter who it is; thus, he often helps out others in


    improving.


    But Neo is different.


    Unlike most SS-rankers who have the burden of a race on their shoulders and are working as


    saviors and heroes, Neo has nothing of that sort.


    He has always considered himself free of all constraints and limitations.


    ''Let''s not dilly-dally on this matter; I need to hurry...''


    Neo shook his head and directly ignored the matter of harvesting the rare items.


    Unless there''s someone with perfected ''mana field'' it''s basically impossible to do such a thing


    anyway, so it''s better to focus on your own goal.


    Neo crossed another floor and moved downstairs even further.


    He ignored various hallways and diverging paths and headed towards the ces that his


    intuition was telling him to.


    After repeating this process over and over for thirteen times, Neo finally reached the lowest


    floor and arrived at a gigantic altar-like ce.


    ''No wonder this ce is mentioned as a ''prototype'' by the orb of wayward paths; the altar here is iplete and unusable.''


    Neo shook his head and stopped caring about the altar; he didn''te here for that anyway.


    [Summon: Barrier eating parasite!]


    A small spider-like being was summoned by the summoning circle, and it directlytched itself to the core area of the altar and started to eat away at the barrier of the altar''s core.


    ''The speed is slow...''


    The barrier-destroying speed of the parasite turned out to be slower than Neo was expecting; thus, he summoned a hundred more of those parasites and threw them at the barrier.


    These parasites are extremelypetitive in nature, and if there''s another of their own kind in the vicinity, they speed up and do things faster.


    With so many around the barrier, the eating speed of all those parasites increased immensely, and they broke apart the barrier in just half an hour.


    Neo de-summoned the parasites after the barrier was broken and grabbed the core of the


    altar.


    Then he crushed it with his hand, and a stream of golden energy flew into his head.


    ''Yes! This is the knowledge I was looking for! Good! I knew that there would be a method like


    this!''


    A wide grin appeared on Neo''s face after he absorbed all the knowledge provided by that core. Two portals appeared in front of Neo at that moment.


    One was shining with a bluish tint, and the other one was pitch ck in color. ''Hmm, the blue one will lead outside; that means the other one will likely lead to...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    And here''s yet another mystery now... Question of the day.


    What do you think Neo is trying to aplish? (Tell me your thoughts in thements!!) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 367: Prototype S16ir112... Part-3.

    ?


    (Back to Present Time.)


    Dragon Pce, Night.


    After enjoying the fireworks and all the different aspects of the festival, the group finally came back to the dragon pcete at night to rest.


    Each one of them had bought at least one or two things for themselves or for those they cared for.


    Liam bought things that he could use for his summoned beasts, and Sin bought some parting gifts that she would give to the group when it would be time to leave.


    Link and Rio both bought phone covers for Lia and Riya.


    Lia assisted Riya in choosing a shirt, as she was also buying one for Rio.


    In other words, the whole group enjoyed the festival to the fullest, and after watching the fireworks show, they came back to the dragon pce with smiles on their faces.


    "This was an amazing trip; all the fatigue I built up from those three days of evaluation tests has been washed away~"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link nodded his head.


    "Yeah, the dragon race really does know how to organize amazing festivals; they seem to have taken inspiration from many cultures across the world..."


    To improve their festival''s diversity, they researched how other races enjoy their festival and added a lot of things from them.


    The various games, like shooting toys to win prizes, etc., were actually learned from humans.


    Aside from that, Elf''s have the most environmentally friendly fireworks that don''t cause much pollution at all.


    "The Dragon Valley is a fascinating ce; I would love to visit it again someday..."


    At Rio''s words, Sin sighed.


    "They don''t organize such festivals every day, you know... the next time you will see this festival in hundreds of years!"


    "But well, even if youe at a time when there''s no festivals, the Dragon Valley has a lot of amazing ces to explore and enjoy... I believe you will be delighted to see the scenery here..."


    Rio and the rest of the group knew that the evaluation test must have been the main event for theming here; now that it''s done, it won''t be long before the time to head back home


    comes.


    The Dragon Valley is indeed a fascinating ce, but this isn''t their home after all; they came here because they were given the mission to go and visit the Dragon Valley.


    Now that things are mostly sorted out and they have already enjoyed themselves to the fullest, it would be rude if they stayed here for too long.


    As guests, they should know basic manners and must consider that staying too long in someone else''s ce is not a good thing.


    "Good thing you invited us all, princess; otherwise only Link would have had the opportunity to enjoy all this..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, everyone looked at Link and gave him weird looks, which made Link feel awkward.


    "It''s not like I personally asked him to not invite you; why are you ming me for that... tch! You guys really like to find random reasons to me me for everything..."


    While talking about various things along the way, the group finally entered the pce''s main hall.


    Originally they were nning on separating here to go to their own respective rooms to rest, but when the group reached the main hall, they all stopped talking and stood still on the spot. A man wearing a silver crown and an extremely dense aura was sitting on a chair in the hall. A butler was pouring wine into the ss that he held in his left hand; his luxurious clothes made it obvious that he was no ordinary man.


    "Ah, wee back everyone. I have already introduced myself to Link, but I got dyed by something and didn''te to see the rest of you..."


    "My apologies for that. I am Idriud Izirzru Raos De Draconia, the King of the Dragon Valley... I wee you all in the dragon valley personally..."


    Although the group had heard about Idri from Link, they hadn''t personally seen him themselves.


    Seeing him now, all of them felt an invisible pressure on themselves, Just by sitting there, Idri was causing the space-time fabric to bend and tremble around him.


    His presence alone is terrifying enough to make weak-hearted people faint on the spot.


    Rio and the others wanted to say the greetings while introducing themselves, but Idri waved his hand and stopped.


    "No need, I know all of you, The ''Silver Dawn'' Lia Silver, The ''Dragon Master'' Liam Aldif, The ''Healing Sage'' Riya Croft, andst but not least, The ''Champion'' Rio sh..."


    "It''s nice to meet you all in one ce... It''s not every day that we get to see such talented people in one ce altogether... The human race is indeed blessed to have so many talented children among them..."


    Hearing the dragon king''s words, arge frown appeared on Sin''s face.


    "Father... what brings you here at such ate hour?"


    Sin knows her father quite well; he wouldn''t just randomly appear somewhere out of nowhere; he must have a reason to appear here; otherwise, he wouldn''t havee at night.


    He would have rather invited them over to the throne room if things weren''t urgent, which means something is definitely going on right now.


    Idri ignored Sin''s question and nced at Liam before saying,


    "Boy, do you know that your father... Neo Aldif has alsoe to the Dragon valley? I want to ask how he got his hands on the token..."


    Liam was taken aback for a moment after hearing those words, but then a look of rity appeared in his eyes, and he told Idri everything that Neo did before they came to the dragon


    valley.


    It was Neo who had pressured them to show the token; otherwise, they wouldn''t have given it.


    Hearing Liam''s words, Idri nodded his head and nced at Link before asking.


    "Link... What is Ashtel doing nowadays?"


    Link was a bit confused at that question, but then he replied honestly,


    "Father is currently in seclusion, actually..."


    The dragon king nodded his head, and a look of understanding appeared in his eyes.


    "Ah, I see, no wonder Neo dares to be so reckless... There''s no one keeping an eye on him right now, and he''s free to move around in Ashtel''s absence..."


    Idri got up from his seat and nced at the group before saying.


    "The thing is, Neo Aldif came to the Dragon Valley without permission... then I had a small quarrel with him near the dragon temple... After that, I allowed him to stay in the dragon


    valley for a while..."


    "But the problem is that Neo Aldif went missing two days ago... I had asked a few subordinates to keep an eye on his whereabouts, but since two days ago, there''s been no news


    about him..."


    "It''s as if he disappeared into thin air..."


    Idri knew that Neo came to the Dragon Valley with some ulterior motive, and there''s no way he will leave by himself willingly so early.


    Something must have happened that he disappeared so fast, and Idri wants to find out about


    it.


    "My subordinates are still searching in the ce where his presence wasst sensed; I came here to personally ask for your help, Liam Aldif..."


    "You are his son after all; you know him better than anyone else. So, what do you think?


    Where could he have gone?"


    Liam literally had no idea why Neo woulde to the dragon valley and why he would


    suddenly go missing.


    In the first ce, Liam himself doesn''t know if he has ever met the real Neo in his whole life.


    Most of the time, Neo uses his clones to appear in front of others, so even Liam doesn''t know if he has ever met his real father before.


    Although Liam can now figure out the difference between a clone and the real one as he now has ''Mana Field'', he had no idea about it before.


    "I-I am just as clueless as you, your majesty... I don''t know why he woulde here. I have long known that he''s not a good person, but I don''t have any idea what he could be aiming


    for..."


    Idri still kept pressuring Liam and asked,


    "Are you telling me the whole truth, Liam Aldif... You know, I can see what you have been trying to hide ever since you came to the dragon valley..."


    "I will forgive you for bringing ''that'' here, but you must tell me about all that you knowN?v(el)B\\jnn


    about Neo''s ns..."


    Hearing Idri''s threat, Liam gulped his saliva and started to think hard.


    ''Something that he might be aiming for?...''


    Thinking about this, only one thing came to his mind.


    "Er... The only thing that I can think of is that he always urges me to treat my summoned


    beasts as tools and progress fast... He has tried to make me learn a cold-hearted nature for a


    long time now..."


    "I-I can''t think of anything else for time being-"


    Before Liam could even finish his words, Idri''s eyes widened in surprise, and a look of


    realization appeared on his face.


    "Ah, I see it now! So he''s actually trying to use ''that'' kind of forbidden magic! No wonder he


    appeared here in the dragon valley!"


    Just from a few clues from Liam, Idri understood everything easily.


    Although the group was still confused and didn''t know what Idri could have found out from those few words, they didn''t ask him about it as that might make him angrier. "Sin, get them all ready and bring them to the garden; I will ask Fenix to escort you all..."


    "If what I am thinking is true, then I should bring you all with me too..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think Liam is getting wrongly used here?


    (Tell me your opinions in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 368: Prototype S16ir112... Part-4.

    Chapter 368: Prototype S16ir112... Part-4.


    ?


    "I literally have no idea why he woulde to this ce... He must have taken that token to copy it or something..."


    While walking through the garden, Liam keptining to Rio with an annoyed look on his face.


    "Sigh, if Principal Raji had arrived on time, I wouldn''t have agreed to give that token to him at all; I was already feeling it that he was up to no good..."


    While walking beside Liam, Rio couldn''t think of anything to say.


    Liam was letting out his frustrations, and there was no point in talking to him at the moment, so Rio was just lending his ears to listen to thoseints.


    ''If even Liam doesn''t know what he could be aiming for... then what might Neo be nning?''


    Rio has read through the whole novel, and Neo was always a mysterious type of character who kept supporting Fade for no apparent reason from time to time and never really showed his face in public much.


    ''An SS-ranker with evil schemes in mind can definitely do a lot of harm for the entire world...'' As the plot has nearlypletely deviated from its original path, Rio has no idea what Neo is trying to aplish by illegally trespassing into the dragon valley.


    Illegal trespassing is a crime in every country, and if SS-rankers trespass into your nation, then it can basically be considered that the other party is dering war on you.


    After all, SS-rankers are a country''s trump cards; if they illegally enter a country, that literally means that the other nation has dered war and you need to respond ordingly.


    The only relief is that the dragon race is not part of the world alliance, so they can''t use the whole human empire of illegally letting their SS-rankers enter the dragon valley.


    Still, this is no small matter; if this isn''t solved properly, the dragon king has the right to put them all in jail.


    Then this matter will turn into an international matter, and things will keep escting.


    And once Ashtel Rex leaves seclusion, he will obviouslye over to rescue his son.


    That would create friction between the world''s two strongest people, and that''s not good news for the whole world.


    Just the mistakes of one SS- ranker are enough to cause massive chaos in the world; that''s why there are so many restrictions ced on them by the world alliance.


    ...


    "Yo! We met again, Rio!"


    When the group arrived at the garden, Fenix was already waiting there while leaning his back against a tree.


    He was chewing on the apple he plucked from the apple tree.


    Seeing Rio arrive, he patted him on the shoulder and gave a big smile to the rest of the group.


    Link and the others rolled their eyes at the sight of Rio being so friendly to a random SS- rankers who popped out of nowhere.


    In the first ce, it''s already very rare for Rio to make friends, so the group was quite surprised to see him being so friendly towards Rio.


    "Oh, by the way, I forgot to say it, but I would love to drink some more of your handmade tea if there''s a chance for it in the future..."


    "Also, I found an old artifact I liked to use in my younger days; you can have it; I don''t have much use of it now, but it mighte in handy for you..."


    Fenix handed over a wooden mask to Rio.


    The mask seemed very ordinary, and it didn''t even have a mana stone embedded in it to show that it''s a magical artifact.


    It seemed more like a randomly made mask created out of wood by a novice craftsman.


    But Rio didn''t reject the generosity; he epted the mask with the same expressionless face


    as ever.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Even if the mask is useless, Rio can keep it as a memento of his journey to the Dragon Valley. Maybe he can even show it to his children in the future and brag about it in front of them.


    "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself to the rest of you. I am Fenix, a humble servant of the dragon king... Let''s not dilly-dally now; the dragon king has given urgent orders..."


    "We need to head towards the location where Neo Aldif''s presence wasst sensed..." Fenix opened a portal for the group, and all of them entered it without hesitation.


    ...


    Next, they directly appeared in the forest area of the Aku River basin. The group walked out of the portal and found themselves standing near a giant hole in the ground.


    "Hmm, Dragon King must have headed ahead of us already; let''s go; we will need to explore the area ourselves, it seems..."


    Fenix jumped down, and the rest of the group followed behind him obediently.


    Sin was the only one who immediately recognized the ce just by seeing the type of trees nearby.


    "Hmm, this species of trees... They are unique to Aku River Basin..."


    She nced at Fenix and asked in a confused tone,


    "Is there anything special about this ce? I remember reading somewhere that there aren''t many dragon nests in this ce..."


    Dragons of the Dragon Valley make nest at any random ce of their own choice.


    But most dragons seem to be avoiding this ce for some reason, and you won''t find a single older dragon staying here either.


    "Hmm, how do I say... It''s basically the ''intuition'' of an SS-ranker... Staying in this ce


    makes you feel ufortable, and it doesn''t feel pleasant to stay here..."


    "It''s as if your intuition is telling you to leave fast... And as even SS-rankers don''t stay here, others also avoid it too..."


    Hearing those words, Rio couldn''t help but feel weird in his mind.


    If not for his expressionless face, he would have been frowning deeply right now. ''Something that can make even SS-rankers feel anxious? In the novel, there was only that SSS rank dungeon, which posed the greatest threat to all SS rankers...''


    ''I don''t think anything else of such caliber was ever mentioned in the novel...''


    The group walked inside the hidden cave, and Fenix spread out his mana detection to guide the group through that maze-like underground cave.


    Although he could have easily destroyed the walls and the floor to make his way down even faster, he didn''t do so as he wasn''t sure if that might damage the cave and things might go wrong.


    Using his excellent mana detection ability, Fenix was easily able to determine which path was better and which one was leading to a dead end.


    The group followed him closely, and after walking for about half an hour, they arrived at the deepest part of the cave.


    The Dragon King was standing there; a deep frown hung over his face.


    Fenix nodded his head as a sign of greeting, and Idri also did the same to return the favor.


    In front of the public, they are master and subordinate, but in private, these two arerades who have worked together for a long time; they don''t need to use long and tedious greeting methods to acknowledge each other''s presence.


    Just a simple nod of the head is enough.


    Idri nced at the group and said,


    "No wonder Neo came to this ce... It turns out, the divine prototype is located in this


    ce!"


    Rio and the others had no idea what this so-called divine prototype actually is and why it''s so important. Not even Fenix knew about it, and it seems the only person who knows about it in the whole dragon valley is Idri himself.


    Seeing the confused look on the group''s faces, Idri exined things in short.


    "Once upon a time, my father told me about a legend... He said that when Mana first descended to this world... a strange building also appeared in the world out of nowhere..."


    "Whoever entered that building and came back told stories that it was made up of extremely rare materials and it was named ''Prototype'' of some sort..."


    "My father said that this building used to exist in the Aku River Basin area at that time, and


    it disappeared eventually..."


    "Even I had considered this to be just a mere rumor, but who could have thought that all this


    was actually true..."


    If not for the fact that Neo found this ce by some means, even Idri could have never found


    it, as even the mana detection of an SS ranker wasn''t able to detect this hidden underground


    building.


    "It''s as if this building ispletely immune to detection type skills. I have been to this region many times before, and I never noticed this ce before..."


    No one knows the dragon valley more than the dragon king himself, and if even he doesn''t


    know about something that''s hidden in the dragon valley, then there''s no way others will


    know about it.


    Which brings up the question: how in the world did Neo manage to find this ce without even being a dragon and not even knowing about the local legends.


    "Forget it... Let''s not waste time here; we should head inside..."


    The whole building is buried underground, but this teleportation circle that is located on the rooftop of the building can be used to teleport inside the highest floor of the hidden tower.


    The whole group stood on the magic circle, and Idri embedded his mana into it to activate the magic circle.


    The whole group got teleported instantly as the circle lit up brightly.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think this hidden underground tower is hiding?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 369: The Practice Trial... Part-1.

    Chapter 369: The Practice Trial... Part-1.


    ?


    Inside the prototype, Floor 6.


    When Rio opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside a closed room; the lighting in the ce was rather dim.


    ''There are no artificial lights here... It looks like the material of the wall is glowing by itself and providing this dim lighting...''


    Rio spread out his mana detection and found that no one was present beside him in this small room.


    ''Ugh, it''s this clich¨¦ thing again... Whenever something wrong is about to happen, we always end up getting teleported randomly; it was the same during the Dungeon of Maya too...'' The material used on these walls can easily block the mana detection of even SS-rankers; thus, Rio could only sense the area inside the room, and his mana detection was being blocked by the walls.


    Thus, he couldn''t sense what was located outside of the room.


    ''Sigh, there isn''t even a single door or opening in this room; how are normal people supposed to get out of this ce?''


    While Rio was still contemting the solutions in his mind, the wall suddenly glowed in certain parts, and a text appeared on the wall.


    [The trial of the prototype ''S16ir112'' has been initiated... Please make your way to the lowest floor toplete this ''Practice Trial''...]


    [As it is a ''Practice Trial'' the ''S16ir112'' will not give any punishments to the participants...]


    [The ''Practice Trial'' has no time limits! The ''Law of Mana'' wishes you luck...]


    The more Rio read those few lines, the more confused he felt.


    ''What does this ''S16ir112'' mean? And what is the point of this so-called ''Practice Trial''?''


    ''And if this one is just a ''Practice Trial'', then what about the real ''Trail''? Also, why is the ''Law of Mana'' getting involved in this matter?''


    Rio had all these questions in his mind, but there was nothing that could give him any


    answers.


    The involvement of a ''Law'' of the world in something is a very big matter.


    Whenever a ''Law'' of the world gets involved in something, which would mean that the things that happen in that ce are rted to the whole world.


    The reason why the legendary skills are so exceptional and strong is that the power of the ''Laws'' of the world is involved with them.


    And the Law of Mana is one of the strongest and most powerfulws in the world; if it gets involved in something, then it''s no small matter.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This line, which states that the ''Law of Mana wishes you luck,'' is purposely shown to make the candidate understand that there are many higher powers involved in this trial.


    ''I have a strange feeling about all this...''


    There was no mention in the novel about such a weird ce as this, and there were barely any ces that were being influenced by the power of thews of the world.


    ''Ah, the text disappeared.''


    Once Rio was done reading, the text automatically faded away, and everything in the room became normal again.


    ''I need to leave this ce first...''


    Rio embedded his mana into the ring in his left hand''s index finger. He immediately covered himself in the shadowrobe and tried to pass through the walls.


    However, even with the shadow robe, it was useless.


    The shadow robe itself is an ''S++'' level equipment, and these walls are made from SS rank materials; moreover, a powerful magic is strengthening them.


    ''Er, I think this trial might actually be for peak SS-rankers... After all, only they can break through something as strong as this by force...''


    Unless Rio has ''Perfect'' Sword Intent, Rio can''t cut this wall at his current level; he would need to be an SS-ranker to do that.


    ''Uh... will I have to wait for the others toe and rescue me?''


    Rio imagined a scenario where Lia and others wille with the SS-rankers to rescue him, and then Link and Liam will beughing at him for needing rescue.


    ''Sigh, never thought that a day wille when even I will have to sit in wait like a princess that needs to be rescued... This feels so awkward...''


    ''Let''s give it a try at least...''


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Setting Moon!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and swung it downward while covering it with condensed sword intent and using the precise curved slicing technique of the ''moon type''.


    *Clung!*


    The sword hit the wall and bounced back after producing a loud voice of metal hitting another metal.


    ''As I thought, it had no effect...''


    Not a single scratch had appeared on the wall even after using such a strong attack.


    ''If I am guessing it correct, then the materials used to create these walls are mithril and adamantine... Such legendary metals won''t even decay or get rusty...''


    ''Thus, even if I use my ''time-type'' attacks on them, there won''t be any effects...''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Space Type: Spatial Diversion!]


    *Clung!*


    The result was the same as before; the sword hit the wall and bounced back after producing a few sparks and no results.


    ''Even space-type attacks are useless, it seems... ugh, I didn''t want to do this, but I have no


    other choice left, it seems...''


    Rio donned the shadow robe again.


    [Sword Intent: Max Output!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Miasmic Skin!]


    Rio used sword intent to control the miasma and covered his whole shadowrobe with miasma along with his sword.


    The shadow robe itself is very closely rted to miasma as it uses the power of darkness, and once Rio enhanced its powers with miasma and sword intent, its abilities rose up to the level


    of a peak SS-rank item.


    By covering his whole body with miasma and the shadow robe, Rio seemed more like a demon than a human at that point.


    If someone was nearby, they would have taken a few steps back in shock and would have be suspicious of Rio by now.


    After all, only someone who has gone through demonification can use this much miasma, and such people are already partial demons even in the initial stages.


    No one will trust such beings, as they are always the first to betray you.


    Rio stretched out his hand, and it went right through the wall without any problems.


    Seeing that he had seeded, Rio bypassed the wall and walked out of the room without


    hesitation.


    What appeared in front of him was a long corridor.


    ''This ce seems like a maze...''


    Rio spread out his mana detection... No, it can''t even be called mana detection now; it''s


    miasmic detection.


    He was using miasma to detect things in his surroundings.


    ''Hmm, there doesn''t seem to be any enemies in the vicinity...''


    Although the ce was a trial, Rio was worried that there might be some golems or other


    types of enemies in this ce.


    And if he encounters a peak S-rank golem or even an SS-rank golem, then he will not be able


    to make it out of this ce without losing a limb or two.


    *nk*


    While walking through the corridor, Rio steeped on a random tile of the floor, and it sank


    down and triggered a trap.


    A massive spear came flying from above and directly pierced right through his shoulder and


    got stuck in the ground.


    Fortunately, Rio was wearing the shadow robe and was covered in miasma from head to toe, or this spear would have instantly crushed his organs and killed him on the spot.


    Looking at this spear, Rio was extremely shocked.


    ''T-this force... It''s as if an SS ranker threw this spear...''


    Indeed, Rio was not able to dodge the spear on time despite having the base stats of an early


    SS ranker because the speed of this spear was really too fast for even him.


    It was so fast that even Rio, who has always been training his own reaction time, was not able


    to react to it.


    If not for the shadow robe, he would have died here right now.


    ''This trial is definitely not for people below rank SS... Even a normal trap is already so lethal...''


    To negate the effects of this spear attack, Rio ended up losing nearly one-fifth of his total


    mana.


    Which means he only has four more chances left; more than that, and he''s dead.


    ''Neo is really a daring man; he dared toe in such a dangerous ce, and there must be a


    big reason behind


    this...''


    Rio wasn''t worried about the rest of his group.


    Lia has Kai, who can easily help her detect these traps, and she''spletely safe. Riya is literally protected by the ''World'' itself; the ''World'' won''t let her die.


    And even though Liam has the support of Ellie, as a shadow dragon, she can definitely figure


    out a way for Liam.


    ''I guess the person who is most in danger right now is Link...''


    Even Rio has the shadow robe to defend himself. Link is the only one who doesn''t have any


    dragons or something helping him in the dark.


    ''If Fade has really sucked up all his luck, then Link is only as lucky as an average person, which means the chances of him getting killed in this ce are the highest...''


    For the first time in a while, a look of worry appeared on Rio''s face for someone other than


    Lia.


    ''Although he''s an idiot... it would be too much of a shame if something happened to him


    here...''


    Rio brought out a mana recovery potion from his space ring and drank it on the spot.


    It''s been ages since hest used a mana recovery potion, and there are hundreds of them lying


    around in his space ring.


    ''At least this can help me stay safe for the time being...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Whose safety would you be the most worried about in such a situation?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 370: The Practice Trial... Part-2.

    Chapter 370: The Practice Trial... Part-2.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Stone Type: Stone Deflection!]


    After facing the traps lots of times, Rio slowly got used to the timing of those spear attacks, and with his base stats at the level of an early SS ranker, he was finally able to figure out the perfect reaction time for those traps.


    His adaptability is not weak after all, no matter If they are traps, those spears are also weapons after all; with his sword aptitude, he can figure out their speed, trajectory, and various other things after seeing them so many times.


    Thus, instead of letting the attacks keep falling on him, Rio was now going to use the stone- type technique to deflect the spear.


    But you don''t get good results all the time after all.


    *Crack!*


    Rio''s sword cracked and broke into two when he tried to deflect that spear, and the spear didn''t even change its trajectory in the slightest, directly piercing right through his head. If not for the shadow robe, Rio would have died 37th time just now.


    ''I have the shadow robe, which is enhanced by miasma and sword intent; otherwise, even I wouldn''t have dared to venture in this ce...''


    ''Wandering here is just too risky...''


    The robe can only help Rio ignore a maximum five attacks at a time; if there''s a trap thatunches six or more spears at him all at once, Rio will not be able to rely on the shadow robe to survive.


    The robe consumes his own mana to maintain its functionality after all.


    The same is true with his sword; it''s a formless weapon, and it maintains its form ording to how strong Rio''s own mana control is.


    When the spear hit it, it broke into two, and then Rio had to spend mana to make it take the same form again.


    The spear attacks are too strong; they are at the level of an SS-ranker; there''s no way that this sword can handle such attacks at Rio''s current rank.


    Rio needs to reach at least rank ''S+'' before he can take on such strong attacks, and this on the basis that he is using ''sword intent''.


    If he stops using ''sword intent'', he would need to have mana control of an SS-ranker to make the sword strong enough to contend with the attacks of another SS-ranker.


    Rio has collected quite a few amazingly powerful items, but these items have limits too.


    [Man, you are very courageous... You are taking too big of a risk right now...]


    [If it was me, I would have just sat down in that dark room and would have waited for someone toe and rescue me...]


    [It would have been even better if Lia was the one to rescue me~]


    Hearing Shadow''s words, Rio shook his head.


    ''I have never been so dependent on others, sitting around in wait for someone toe and save me? That''s not my kind of thing...''


    [As I thought, you are just too stubborn... You don''t want to show yourself as weak in front of Lia and the other''s, right?]


    ''You talk too much, don''t you think?''


    [Tch, forget it... just don''t get yourself killed; we haven''t even married yet afterall...]


    Ignoring his words, Rio pointed the tip of his sword on the ground and tried a new technique that he came up with right now.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Empty Stance!]


    [Miasmic Field!]


    Rio enhanced the miasma with his sword intent further and then spread it out in all directions, creating a small miasmic field.


    This is basically a copy of Link''s ''Dragon Field'' that he created to counter Rio''s speed; now Rio has copied it for himself.


    This is the horror of someone with insanely high weapon aptitude.


    Rio can copy even the skills that were specially made to counter himself; he just needs to see the skill once, and he can copy it extremely easily.


    And in some rare cases, he will perform that exact skill even better than the original user of the skill.


    The miasmic field spreads out miasma in all directions, and whatever ites in contact with starts to get corroded by miasma.


    The materials of the walls and the floor are all mithril and adamantine; they won''t get corroded by such a small amount of miasma, but there is one thing that is susceptible to corrosion.


    And those are the trap mechanisms.


    From the previous 37 attempts, Rio has figured out that most of the traps on this floor are those who work when the prey either steps on some specific tiles or is passing by some


    specific ces.


    Those few tiles either have some kind of spring or mechanisms hidden beneath them or they have some kind of mana sensors.


    Miasma can deal with both of these things; not only can it corrode those delicate trap mechanisms that are made out of weaker materials, it can even interrupt the mana sensors. Making springs and other trap materials out of mithril and adamantine is impossible, as they are extremely hard and strong materials; they won''t work properly like a spring should. They are more suited forbat and defense, not for making traps, etc. It took Rio a while to figure all this out, as he has never been in a ce where the traps were made from such luxurious and rare items.


    Most traps in the dungeons outside don''t work on his due to his insanely high reaction speed; if not for the fact that he''s a bit low in rank, Rio wouldn''t have to be so cautious in this ce.


    *sllllrrrrrrr*


    In the corridor, the sound of a sword sliding on the ground began to ring out loudly.


    To keep the miasmic field working, Rio needs to keep pumping miasma into the ground via


    his sword along with sword intent; thus, he had no choice but to slide his sword on the ground


    while walking forward.


    Right now, Rio looks like aplete demon.


    Not only is he covered in miasma, he''s spreading out miasma and corroding everything around him, and he''s also sliding his sword on the ground like a bloodthirsty demon looking


    for its prey.


    All the traps started to get corroded by his miasma field and got disabled on their own without Rio needing to do anything.


    From there onwards, Rio was just walking there in the corridor... menacingly.


    [I have to acknowledge it; you are really something else... You came up with such an amazing solution


    on the spot... If it was me, I would have been-]


    ''I know, I know, you would have been wailing and crying, waiting for Lia to rescue you... You don''t need to tell me about what you would have done all the time...''


    [Hey! I wouldn''t have been crying! You are exaggerating!]


    [Oh wait... Crying in front of Lia will definitely help us get a free hug, though... This is not a bad idea


    either, actually...]


    ''I feel like that you will definitely destroy my reputation if I let you out even once...''


    ''You are making me question my decision of agreeing to let you out from time to time...''


    Seeing that Rio was not in favor of that idea, Shadow immediately decided to change the


    topic.


    [Ah, forget it, let''s hurry and find the others... if something happened to Link, I don''t think that frail girl Riya will be able to handle it-]


    ''Frail girl? Are you sure you are talking about the Riya I know of?''


    [Eh? What do you mean...]


    ''Well, I do agree that she used to seem like a frail and weak person before... but ever since she trained under Syvis back in the Elven Empire... She has a different feeling to her...''


    ''Her eyes have that glow that I used to have when I first came into your body... I can see the thirst for power in her eyes...''


    ''Also don''t forget that she''s a healer; she can heal any injuries that you throw at her... Honestly speaking, I think she''s the only person who I think can withstand all of my skills...''


    ''Not even Link can deal with ''Soul Splitting''... but that''s not the case for Riya... In fact, she might be the only person in the world who is truly immune to ''Soul Splitting''...''


    ''If you want to worry about someone, you should be more worried about Link; in my opinion, Riya can likely survive on her own...''


    Others may not have noticed the subtle changes in Riya, but Rio has an extremely powerful observation ability; he can notice the changes that happen around him very easily.


    If he assumes people as ''weapons'' he can easily see through their changes and ws.


    This is one of the abilities provided by his ''X'' rank Sword Aptitude; he can consider everything in the world as a sword and can use it as a medium for sword intent.


    Right now, Rio knows more about all the members of team Astra than they know about


    themselves.


    He has many advantages over them, not only as a transmigrator but also as a person with


    insanely strong skills.


    While maintaining his miasma field, Rio kept walking and examining all the rooms he came


    across in his path.


    ''I have strange feelings about this ce...''


    Ever since he came to the dragon valley, he was feeling that something was calling to him and attracting him towards itself, but it was very vague at the start.


    But right now, that feeling has be extremely strong, so strong that Rio can in fact


    already feel where he needs to go next.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems like we might know more secrets soon...


    Question of the day.


    Which way would you choose in this situation?


    1. Work smart and make your way out of here like Rio.


    2. Stay in the dark room and wait for the beautiful girlfriend to rescue you.


    3. Others (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 371: The Practice Trial... Part-3.

    Chapter 371: The Practice Trial... Part-3.


    ?


    ''It''s this way...''


    Rio started to follow that strange feeling that was calling him towards itself. It''s as if it had some kind of connection to him.


    Usually such things only happen to ''Protagonist'' type characters; for this to happen with Rio means that this is the result of his own interference with this world.


    It''s the butterfly effect that he created himself.


    ''Well, I kind of already know what it is...''


    Wherever he passed through, the traps got deactivated due to the corruption of miasma, and even the floor and walls became darker than before as the lingering effects of miasmic corruption remained intact even after he left.


    ''I wonder if I can even infiltrate the demon race if I stay in this state... Right now, I don''t look much different than a demon...''


    Rio sighed to himself and took a few turns along the way and while thinking various things in his mind.


    He even searched through all the closed rooms that he came across just in case there were any of the team members stuck there, but all of them were empty, and only one of them had a decayed skeleton sitting inside.


    It likely belonged to someone who identally entered this hidden building and got stuck in the room for a very long time; eventually the other party died fromck of food and stuff.


    Although high-ranking awakeners can survive on mana and don''t need to eat, that closed, small room has a limited amount of mana; once you stay there for too long, you will end up using all of it.


    Then there will be no mana left in the surroundings, and you will eventually starve to death.


    This method is so effective that it can work on everyone at S-rank or below. You just need to confine them in a mana-isted ce for a long time, and the other party will starve to death.


    But you can''t starve SS-rankers; they can draw mana from the void directly, and they also have the ability to open teleportation portals, so it''s pointless to try to confine them in one ce.


    They can easily teleport out of there, and there''s no artifacts or equipment in the current world that are strong enough to block the teleportation ability of SS-rankers.


    Only other SS-rankers can block their fellow SS-rankers teleportation ability.


    ''Fenix and the Dragon King are likely the only two who are able to move freely in this ce without worrying about a single thing...''


    Just when Rio was busy thinking about how amazing it would be to be an SS-ranker, a massive golem appeared in front of him when he turned left on an intersection.


    The golem noticed his presence instantly, and it immediately attacked with its massive right fist.


    ''A golem made out of Adamantine!?''


    Even Rio was shocked to see such a scene. Not to mention the whole building, but even the golems guarding it were built with Adamantine; this situation is simply too absurd.


    Rio didn''t even bother fighting that slow-moving beast; he directly jumped to the side and went inside the hidden room behind the wall.


    The golem''s fist hit ground, and an extremely strong shockwave spread everywhere in the corridor.


    Thankfully, Rio had already dodged the attack, or he would have been smashed into a meat paste by this attack, as even the shadowrobe can''t withstand a full-power attack from a semi- SS rank golem.


    Those spear attacks were targeting only a few specific body parts.


    But the golem''s fist is massive, and if it hits, then Rio''s whole body will get hit by it, and he doesn''t have so much mana to make his whole body immune to that attack.


    Seeing that the attack had failed, the golem started to attack the wall that Rio had passed through to hide, but all it managed to do was create some scratches on the wall and nothing else.


    Rio ignored themotion outside and directly passed through the wall in front of him to go to the next hidden room right ahead of the current one.


    He repeated this process a dozen times and then exited the room and appeared at the end of the same corridor.


    He easily avoided the golem by hopping through the hidden rooms.


    Although this consumed even more mana than he needed to use to dismantle the traps, he had no choice but to resort to this method to avoid that golem.


    ''Is this the first time when I am running away from some enemy? Hmm, maybe I should call it a tactical retreat instead; that sounds much better...''


    Rio shook his head and immediately made his way towards the stairs located at the end of the corridor.


    ''Ah, so this golem was protecting the stairs... No wonder it was located in this ce; it must be the floor guardian or something like that...''


    Rio nced at the number sign hanging on the wall near the stairs and found out that he was on the sixth floor currently.


    He immediately tried to sense the unknown calling again and found that he needed to head to the lower floor to find it.


    Noticing that the golem was running directly towards him from behind, Rio didn''t hesitate much and went downstairs immediately.


    Just when he was half way down, he noticed that another golem was sitting on the lowermost stairs of the staircase, and its back was facing towards Rio right now.


    ''Ugh, so there are two golems protecting the stairs? And why is this golem sitting there like it''s contemting its life choices or something...''


    The golem seemed like a depressed corporate worker who was taking a momentary rest by sitting on a random staircase on his way home.


    ''There''s no going back; it''s do or die now...''


    Rio jumped towards the wall and used his incredible speed to walk on the wall and directly bypassed the golem on the lowest staircase.


    Without him needing to look back, Rio could already feel that the second golem immediately stood up after Rio bypassed it, raised its hand, and was aiming at him.


    ''Don''t tell me this one has ranged attack capabilities-''


    Before Rio could even react, the five fingers of the golem''s hand fired towards him like bullets; expect these bullets were so fast that they distorted the void around them.


    Rio didn''t even bother trying to block them, as he knew it was pointless. He jumped towards the wall to try and enter the hidden room behind it.


    [Darkwing Movement Art!]


    Rio pushed a lot of mana in his legs and tried his best to dodge; thankfully, he barely avoided his head from getting hit by those bullets.


    But just when his whole body was about to pass through the wall, the bullets made a U-turn in the air and hit his right hand that was still out of the wall.


    His right arm was hit by the five bullets in the same ce, and it was forcefully sted off from his elbow along with the sword that he was holding in his hand.


    Blood flowed out of his severed arm like a fountain and painted the floor made up of rare items in dark red.


    Although his arm was bleeding like crazy, Rio''s expression still didn''t change, as he was unable to feel pain in the first ce.


    He de-summoned his sword and re-summoned it so that he wouldn''t need to go outside to grab it, as that would be too dangerous.


    ''Tch, even my healing technique can''t heal such a fatal injury; I need to stop the bleeding... ugh, and it''s been a while since I suffered such a severe injury...''


    Rio sighed to himself and brought out a high-ranking healing potion from his space ring.


    Once he drank the potion, the bleeding stopped, and his severed arm grew back in a matter of


    seconds.


    ''That was very dangerous... If I was even a littlete, those bullet-like fingers would have hit my head instead of my arm... At that point, I would have been dead...''


    Ever since Rio came to this strange ce, he has nearly avoided death so many times that he has even forgotten the count of it.


    This ce is so dangerous that no one at Rank S or below will be able to survive here for long.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Originally, I wasn''t worried about Lia as Kai is with her, but... after seeing these golems... I am not so sure...''


    ''I just hope that she stays put in one ce until I or the SS-rankers find her... that will increase her survival chances more...''


    Aside from her, Link and Sin are the ones who have the lowest chance of survival right now.


    ''Maybe Sin has some lifesaving techniques too, but I am not sure about Link though...'' Right now, Rio is hoping that none of his teammates ends up meeting these golems, or the end result will be very miserable.


    ''Ugh, Fenix and the Dragon King... Both of them are such unreliable people... If it was me who was an SS ranker, I would have already rescued everyone...''


    After shaking his head and calming himself down, Rio chose to follow the same method as


    before.


    He hopped from one hidden room to another to avoid getting attacked by that golem again; this was a much safer method after all.


    In this way, he kept getting more and more closer to his destination, which was calling him towards itself with great enthusiasm now.


    ...


    Author''s Notes!


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    If given the option, whom would you like to stay with during this practice test?


    (You can''t choose Fenix or Idri though...)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 372: The Practice Trial... Part-4.

    Chapter 372: The Practice Trial... Part-4.


    ?


    Prototype S16ir112, Floor-9.


    "So, I just gotta sit here and do nothing then?"


    Hearing Lia''s question, Kai nodded his head and his big cat eyes had a look of concern in them.


    [Yes, don''t move from here, not even a single inch... You are standing on a massive trap right now...]


    [The moment you moved, the tile on the floor will sense it and you are dead...]


    The very moment Lia teleported to this ce, she was already standing in a giant closed


    room.


    Although the room was bright and beautiful looking, it had no exit, moreover she was already standing on a trap.


    Fortunately Kai appeared on time and alerted her of it''s danger or she would have been dead by now.


    "So, how do we escape this now?"


    [We don''t... This is a trap meant to injure SS-rankers... The moment we tried anything, you are as good as dead...]


    [This ce... It''s giving me a very ominous vibe... It''s very dangerous...]


    [The walls of this room are several meters thick and are made up of legendary items like mithril and adamantine...]


    [I have never seen a ce with this insane level of security...Even if I was in my prime... I wouldn''t have been able to do much damage to these walls either...]


    Hearing Kai''s word''s, Lia felt quite helpless, if even Kai is unable to deal with this situation then it means she has really gotten herself in great trouble.


    "Ugh... I don''t wanna die yet, I still wanna go on so many adventures with him... Sigh~"


    Kai shook his head at Lia''s words and replied in a calm voice.


    [Well it''s not really set in stone that you will die here, maybe you can turn into an evil spirit and haunt him forever?]


    "Noo~ Evil spirit''s are very weak to sword intent, he will easily get rid of me..."


    [Well I was just joking, to turn into an evil spirit you would need immense amount of resentment and hatred in your heart... You don''t have that...]


    "Yeah... I can''t resent or hate him... How will I even turn into an evil spirit..."


    [Oh, but you can definitely turn into a divine spirit like me if you get acknowledged by the world...]


    "That sounds shady..."


    [Yeah, once you be a divine spirit you can''t die... And you can''t exist without a mortal master...]


    [It''s a shady deal of course... No one should try to live an eternal life, it''s more of a curse than a blessing...]


    "If I became immortal, i would have to see Rio die from old age... Ugh, I don''t want that either, I wanna get old with him and die together..."


    "I will wish to be buried together with him..."


    [You have quite the strange dream...]


    "Forget it... Enough of the idle chit-chat and tell me seriously if we really have no chance getting out of here..."


    Kai contemted for a bit and then replied in a solemn tone.


    "There are two possible solutions... Either we wait for the two SS-rankers who came with you to find you... Or we do the spirit switch..."


    Lia already knew the chances of the SS-rankers finding her here are very slim as the walls will block even their mana detection abilities.


    They will need to search and destroy the walls of every room on every floor one by one to find her eventually.


    "What is this spirit switch?"


    [It''s a forbidden technique that only Divine Spirit''s like me who has reached rank SS before can use...]


    [I am a spirit beast so I have no actual weight, I will not trigger these traps even if I move around...]


    [Also I can easily pass through the walls as I don''t have a physical body...]


    [Once outside the room, I can switch my position to yours using this forbidden technique called spirit switch...]


    "Oh? This technique sounds quite useful and good, why is it referred to as a forbidden technique then?"


    Hearing Lia''s confused tone, Kai replied in a very serious tone.


    [The thing is that to pull this off... The master of the spirit and the spirit, both needs to establish a momentary soul-link...]


    [In that state, both you and I will not only be able to ess each other''s memories, we will even be able to damage each other''s soul if we want to...]


    [Unless you trust the each other to the extreme level, using this technique is very


    dangerous...]


    [Just one bad move and you will end up getting your soul destroyed on the spot...]


    Not just Lia, even Kai will be in a mortal danger at that moment, if Lia wills it, she can destroy his soul and can kill him permanently.


    Using this technique is a gamble of life, not only are you sharing your memories with the


    other party, you are even putting your life in their palm.


    Right now, Lia has two options and as the first one was quite unreliable, it was easy for Lia to make a decision.


    Lia stared into Kai''s big cat eyes and smirked.


    "So, what do you sayrade? Shall we gamble our life then?"


    During the supreme talentpetition, Lia had alreadypletely epted Kai as a part of


    her own power, now there''s no need to hesitate.


    After Rio, Kai is the one who Lia trusts the most.


    "If I die stuck in this ce then Sin will definitely try to get Rio on her side... I can''t let her


    do that, hehe..."


    Kai also nodded his head and said,


    [I myself don''t want to get stuck in this ce for a long time either... So let''s do this...]


    Kai''s body started to glow brightly with silver light and Lia''s hair and pupils turned Silver as she used her spirit magic.


    The two of them focused on their connection as master and servant and shared a link between each other''s soul using that connection as a medium.


    Strange memories of Kai''s past flowed into Lia''s mind, although most of them were just him fight along side his former master.


    A few were about him spending time in a dark forest as a young lion cub.


    She then saw that Kai established a connection with the world and got acknowledged at the


    verge of his death.


    Lia saw a ton of his memories in that few seconds of time.


    Same was true for Kai.


    He saw how Lia had worked hard to collect a massive forbidden collection of Rio''s images


    that she took secretly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Seeing those memories he couldn''t help but feel awkward.


    In the end he ignored the memories and ran outside the room. He passed through the thick


    wall and arrived at a corridor.


    [Now''s the time kiddo! Use the skill!]


    Lia who was still immersed in seeing those memories immediately came back to her senses


    after hearing Kai''s voice in her head.


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Forbidden technique: Spirit Switch!]


    Lia felt a sensation of weightlessness simr to the sensation you get when you pass through


    a portal or enter a dungeon.


    And after a few milliseconds she found herself standing in a corridor.


    *BOOM*


    When Lia suddenly disappeared, the traps got triggered and massive spears came flying from


    all directions to hit the spot where Lia was standing originally.


    Thankfully, she wasn''t there anymore or she would have been dead.


    Kai also easily avoided the spears as they passed right through his spiritual body and then he


    also came to the corridor and jumped on Lia''s shoulder before saying.


    [Missionplete,rade...]


    A smirk appeared on Lia''s face after hearing those words.


    "Beautifully done!"


    "By the way, why did you terminate the soul link?"


    "I was having a lot of fun watching how you used to y around happily as a silly and young


    lion cub in the vast grasnds..."


    Kai shook his head and replied in an exhausted tone,


    [There''s no need for it anymore, we have already shared the sould link once and we can use


    soul switch without it from now on...]


    [We just need the soul link to activate it for the first time...]


    Kai didn''t say that he was in a hurry to break the soul link because he was being bombarded by


    Lia''s memories of stalking Rio endlessly.


    He was feeling embarrassed in his mind thinking that his master is such a shady person.


    ''This woman is crazy...''


    That day Kai decided to never offend Lia as he knew how crazy she can be at times.


    ''Fortunately the guy she fell in love with is that absurdly powerful guy...''


    ''If it was someone with a weak mind, they would have been creeped out after seeing her


    room''s walls that are filled with the images of him...''


    Kai shook his head and calmed himself before saying, [Let''s go, we can use spirit switch to bypass all traps from here onwards...]


    [Maybe we can even rescue your beloved boyfriend when we are at it...] "Oh? You mean that with spirit switch I can have another person teleport with me too?"


    [Yes... Don''t underestimate me, I am a divine spirit general afterall...]


    "Well then, let''s goo~"


    Lia was already feeling excited thinking how Rio''s expression would be like when she rescues


    him from the various traps.


    He will definitely be fascinated by her abilities and will fall head over heels for her all over


    again.


    ''hehe, this time it''s my turn to tease you next!''


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Question of the day. Would you be able to handle the overwhelming love of a yandere? Or you will get creeped out


    and run away?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones.

 Chapter 373: The Practice Trail... Part-5

    Chapter 373: The Practice Trail... Part-5


    ?


    Prototype S16ir112, Floor 8.


    "Er... can you please stop staring at me like that Princess..."


    Fenix shook his head helplessly while trying to ignore the princess who was ring at him like he has done some huge mistake.


    "Tch... I am asking you to find Rio first but you are not obeying mymand which is already very infuriating..."


    "What I don''t understand is... what''s so special about that guy Link? why are all the SS rankers so obsessed with that guy..."


    Hearing Sin''s words Fenix shrugged his shoulders.


    "Well... what can I say, the Dragon king himself asked me to protect Link in case something wrong happens, I am just following his orders..."


    "I personally don''t have any particr reasons to look for Link I am just following the orders given to me and I don''t favor him either..."


    "I would prefer to look for Rio too... In the first ce it''s not set in stone that we will find Link first, we may end up finding someone else maybe..."


    "Even my Mana detection isn''t working here so we will just have to look through every nook and cranny one by one and if we are fortunate we may find the members of team Astra..."


    "Otherwise we will just be wandering around like headless chickens..."


    Hearing Fenix word''s Sin stopped talking and an annoyed look appeared on her face as she poured her cheeks.


    Fenix couldn''t help but sigh helplessly at that childish behaviour.


    When Fenix got teleported, he found himself standing in a corridor along with Sin.


    Currently Fenix is in a very awkward situation.


    If we consider the dragon King as his boss, then Fenix in a situation where he has to babysit his boss''s grumpy kid who seems to not like him at all.


    Fenix has no experience in baby sitting as he had no kids of his own.


    He had no idea how to keep up a conversation with the princess thus the situation became kind of awkward where he was just walking beside Sin with a troubled look on his face. Fenix also had no idea why''s Sin always so grumpy when around him.


    "Uh... princess, can you atleast tell me why you seems to hate me so much... er... i don''t remember offending you ever before..."


    Hearing Fenix''s words Sin spoke in annoyed tone,


    "Exactly! That''s the problem! You never know what you need to do and you never know what you have done! you arepletely oblivious of your crimes! Tch!"


    "Father is the same he never understands what I prefer and what I don''t..."


    "When father was arguing with me to Marry Link, you were there and you didn''t object to him at all!"


    Sin was just letting out her frustrations on Fenix, she wasn''t particrly angry at him, she was just annoyed at her on father''s decisions.


    Her father wanted her to marry Link and she has a big fight with him over that matter, Fenix was coincidentally there at the time in the throne room.


    Sin was feeling annoyed that he didn''t help her out in that situation.


    "Er.. I can''t possibly go against the words of the Dragon king you are asking too much from me princess..."


    Fenix sighed at Sin''s words and shrugged his shoulders.


    No matter how unfair Sin feels about it, Fenix can''t do anything about that, he''s just a subordinate afterall.


    He has no right to argue with the Dragon King about the family matters of the royal family. He''s just like a corporate worker who only does the work he''s given and doesn''t bother to worry about anything else and then goes home on time.


    He keeps his eyes, ears and mouth close while doing his work, he never even bothers to put his own thoughts forward.


    His rtion with the dragon King is just that of a boss and a subordinate who havepletely nothing to do with each other outside of work.


    The Dragon king allows protection for his kind and in return Fenix works as his subordinate, that''s the kind deal they made when the dragon King allowed safety and a free space for the drakes who were being hunted by other dragons.


    "Sigh... Forget it... it''s just my own wishful thinking that father''s subordinates will dare to go against him... most of them are afraid of his power afterall..."


    Fenix also nodded his head at those words,


    "Indeed... the Dragon King is very powerful... he''s the only person I fear in this world..."


    "Princess, take my advice... unless you reach the realm of Demi-gods and achieves great achievements, no one will support you in your fight against your own father..."


    Sin clenched her first and a look of determination passed through her eyes.


    "Hmph, i will be the next ruler of the dragon valley for sure... I will then punish you for your disobedience all these days..."


    Fenix punched a hole through a golem that came to attack them and thenughed a bit at Sin''s words.


    "Haha, I will take the punishment obediently then if such a dayes..."


    A smirk appeared on Sin''s face after hearing those words.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The two of them then kept looking for Rio and the others while destroying the traps, walls and all the golems that came in their way.


    For Rio and others, the golems are too strong to even fight, but for Fenix, these golems are just children''s toys that can be broken easily without exerting too much strength.


    A single punch from him is enough to st holes in them.


    Although mithril and adamantine are very powerful items, unless they are enhanced with the mana and skills of other SS rankers, peak SS rankers like Fenix can easily destroy them.


    Most SS-rankers indeed use weapon''s made out of mithril and adamantine but they always use them while enhancing them with their own mana otherwise they won''t be able to withstand the attacks of other SS rankers.


    For example, if Idri uses his authority to create a rule that Rio''s sword will lose its shape in front of him then Rio won''t be able to use his formless sword against Idri.


    Infact, if Idri deres the ''rule'' that his soul can''t be split then even the soul splitting skill won''t work on him.


    That''s how overpowered Idri is, he can create his own rules and can make the world obey them using his world authority.


    Of course you can still counter them with either a legendary skill or using an authority of your


    own.


    But even Authorities have levels, the one with the higher level will always win.


    Currently Idri has the highest world authority level in the world.


    This is one of the main reasons why all dragons and other races fear him alike.


    ...


    Floor 10.


    "Uh... I..."


    Before Liam could say anything, Idri cut him off.


    "No need to give me any excuses... your father is a guilty man... he will die if I met him


    today..."


    Hearing those words a helpless look appeared on Liam''s face.


    When he got teleported, he appeared in a massive empty hall on Floor 10 and found himself


    standing beside the dragon King himself.


    He wanted to rify that he has nothing to do with Neo''s n but Idri refused to listen to


    him.


    "Uh... I Just wanted to say that I am not-"


    Idri cut him off again before he could finish his sentence.


    "No need to justify it... be thankful that you are but a kid and I promised someone to not harm


    kids and the elderly..."


    "Otherwise I would have gifted your head as a gift to your father for what he has done..."


    Liam gulped his saliva and shut up on the spot.


    ''Oh thank you whoever you are who made him promise that! you saved my life!!''


    Liam really wanted to just leave now, he was worried that Idri would change his decision if something else came up.


    "By the way, you have quite the nerve to bring a shadow dragon with you in the dragon


    valley..."


    Idri flicked his finger and a magic circle appeared below Liam''s feet.


    Before Liam could even react Ellie got forcefully summoned.


    Idri easily tapped into the boundary of Liam and Ellie, summoning the contract by touching


    Liam''s soul.


    And then he force summoned Ellie without even asking permission from Liam.


    What Idri did was such an unbelievable thing that Liam was shocked to the core.


    Only Idri the king of Dragons has such abilities and no other dragon could have aplished


    such a feat.


    "Oh, If it isn''t the disgrace of the shadow dragons in the flesh herself... it''s been a while, Elisia


    Mistilteinn..."


    Ellie''s eyes shook in fear and she bowed her head as she dared not look Idri in the eyes.


    "I thought you got killed by your older brother a hundred years ago but it seems you are still hanging onto dear life... quite the tenacious one aren''t you?"


    Idri shook his head and waved his head at Liam.


    "And here I was thinking that you were being used by some shrewd shadow dragon but it


    turns out it''s just this half-baked trash..."


    For dragons power and lineage are very important.


    Ellie can''t use true dragon magic, thus she''s more or less not even a proper true dragon.


    Idri nced at Liam and said in an amused tone.


    "You are quite lucky, if it was a true dragon I would have killed her right now... but I don''t


    wanna taint my hands with the blood of a half-baked trash so I will spare her pathetic life..." Idri nced at Ellie and shook his head in disappointment.


    "No wonder they exiled her from the shadow dragon n... Even after living for more than


    three centuries you still haven''t managed to grasp true dragon magic... a shame on the dragon


    kind..."


    Idri didn''t bother staying longer and left the hall by smashing a hole in the wall and leaving


    via a long corridor.


    He had lost all interest in Liam and his summons.

 Chapter 374: A stubborn promise to Elisia...

    Chapter 374: A stubborn promise to Elisia...


    ?


    Prototype S16ir112, Floor 10.


    Liam just leaned his back against the wall and sat down.


    "Aren''t you going to ask about my past?"


    Hearing Ellie''s question, Liam shook his head and spoke in his usual calm tone,


    "I believe that you will tell it to me yourself if the time is right and you arefortable with it... I don''t need to pressure you about it..."


    "Also, don''t take what he said to heart, he was angry at my father and ended up letting out that anger on us both instead..."


    "It''s not like I don''t understand him though... I would have been angry too if some random person barged into my home, started making trouble and even tried to destroy it..."


    Liam has always lived while facing the hatred of his own family members ever since he got Ellie on his side.


    They have tried to insult him and Ellie both many times before.


    The younger him was more impulsive and would have gotten angry about these matters but nowadays he doesn''t care about it much.


    Staying around a certain emotionless guy for so long, Liam has learned that it doesn''t matter what others say about him.


    Only he is the one who will decide his own path, others'' opinion doesn''t matter at all.


    ''Moreover this is not the time or opportunity to be angry... I am too weak whenpared to the Dragon King, arguing with him will not achieve anything...''


    In the first ce, all this started because Neo illegally trespassed in the Dragon Valley.


    If he hadn''t done such a thing, Idri wouldn''t have cared about Liam and Ellie much.


    "Sigh... this kindness of yours is the reason why I ended up with you here..."


    Ellie sighed and sat down beside Liam, the two of them only came here because the rest of the group was asked toe too.


    They have no reason to look for Neo at all and neither of them is motivated enough to take risks for the sake of someone who has created a lot of troubles for them both.


    Ellie stared at the ceiling for long time and sighed continuously before finally saying in a sad tone.


    "Actually... my real body is imprisoned in an underground ce... as an S-rank beast that lives in the spirit realm, my spirit is qualified to be a ''summon''..."


    "My real body is immobilized and in aa, that''s why my Spirit is able to apany you here..."


    "I am an outcast... abandoned by my kin, I wandered the barrennds for years and ended up getting caught in a trap..."


    "Now buried underground, I am just waiting for my death toe and free me from my pointless existence..."


    A dry smile appeared on her face as sheughed at her own pathetess.


    "My story is so pointless and worthless that it''s not even worth telling... it''s just a tale of an unwanted talentless fool wandering without any aim..."


    "In the end only in my half-dead state did I met someone who treated me as a genuine friend for the first time..."


    Liam nodded his head at those words and replied in his usual calm tone.


    "I guess we are both the same then... hated by our own family, but blessed with good friends..."


    A look of determination appeared in Liam''s eyes at that moment.


    "Is there any way to save the real Elisia?"


    Ellie have a wry smile at that question and replied in a sad voice.


    "I knew you would ask that if I told you about my reality... this is why I didn''t want to tell you the truth..."


    "There''s no way to save me Liam... I am afflicted with the curse of miasmic decay... I am bound to die sooner orter..."


    "This is an incurable curse that causes your body to decay slowly when you are still alive... miasma has taken hold of me..."


    "My one feet is already in the grave..."


    Liam sighed at those words and his eyes became moist.


    As a knowledgeable person, Liam knows about the ''curse of miasmic decay'' all too well.


    Even he knows that there is no cure to this curse in the whole world, it''s pointless to even try. Once upon a time, King Allen himself tried to find a cure for it to save his own mother but even after searching all over the world he found no cure for it.


    His journey about exploring the most dangerous dungeons of the world and his feats of destroying the demon race to near extinction were all because he set out to find a cure for his mother.


    The primary goal was to eliminate all who were spreading miasma to eliminate the influence of miasma and thus save his mother.


    Although King Allen never managed to save his mother, he created peace and a safe haeven for the rest of the beings of this world.


    "Sigh... and here I was thinking that you would apany me till my old age... but it seems you are nning on making me sad for the whole life..."


    "Quite the devious one you are... Elisia..."


    Liam''s eyes trembled and his head lowered in hopelessness.


    "Still... atleast let me visit the real you once... someday..."


    Ellie nced at Liam who seemed quite depressed and spoke.


    "You would need to be an S-ranker to even be able to go there... also the spirit realm is filled


    with powerful beings... getting their approval will be a near impossible task..."


    "And if they found out that you came there to visit someone like me... you will be in great


    trouble..."


    Liam shook his head at those words.


    "It doesn''t matter, I will think of something to escape that trouble..."


    The two of them fell silent at the moment and an awkward atmosphere appeared in the giant


    empty hall.


    Ellie nced at Liam before saying.


    "You are very stubborn you know... and stupid too... not a single summoner would risk their life for a summoned beast..."


    "Summoned beasts are usually the one who risk their lives for their master... not the other


    way around..."


    "Maybe Neo Aldif is indeed true to some extent.... you are too attached to your ''tools''..."


    Liam shrugged his shoulders before saying,


    "I have seen even an emotionless guy show emotions for those who he cares for... what else do you expect from me... I was bound to be attached to my friends and my subordinates..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, Ellie replied in a determined tone.


    "I will have to lecture that inspiration sources of yours for making you that way then..."


    "He''s bad influence for you..."


    Liam just shook his head and spoke in a calm voice.


    "It''s not possible... that certain someone can deal with the likes of us both easily... he''s too


    strong for us..."


    Ellie crossed her hands and said,


    "I happen to know a certain golden hair girl who can definitely help me out deal with that


    seemingly strong guy easily..."


    Liam frowned at those words.


    "Using such a move ispletely illegal and against the rules! It''s straight up cheating!"


    After a while the two of them stopped messing around and the atmosphere returned to


    normal making the sad atmosphere disappear.


    Liam stood up at that moment and extended his hand out of Ellie.


    "Let''s do it this way... you help me out for now and when I reach rank S, I will look for your


    real body..."


    "Let''s have a final meeting atleast or I will never be able to move on in life... you wouldn''t


    want that right?"


    Ellie sighed at those words and took the hand too get up.


    "I guess I don''t have any other choice then... I will help you reach rank S and then I will leave immediately so that you won''t be able to find me..."


    "That seems a more usible choice to me... afterall I wouldn''t want the person I favor so


    much to see me in my pathetic state..."


    Liam scoffed at those words and replied,


    "I happen to know someone who has a divine spirit as a friend, do you really think you can


    hide yourself from me?"


    "I will search through the heights of heaven and the depths of hell if I need to... don''t underestimate me Elisia, I am blessed with great friends..."


    The two of them walked towards the hole that Idri created while leaving and started to follow


    in his tracks.


    Idri likely smashed all traps amd dangerous things as he walked down the floors, Liam and Ellie can just follow behind him and travel safely.


    Moreover, Liam has Mana field, he can easily see all traps as their magic circles arepletely


    visible to him.


    Mana Field gives him better control over mana then even early SS rankers, thus avoiding thosen/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    traps is a child''s y for him now.


    Liam took Ellie''s hand and the two of them walked together.


    A thought came in Liam''s mind at that moment.


    ''If your path is tainted with darkness... then I will drag you towards the light myself... Elisia


    Mistilteinn...''


    Maybe Liam and Ellie''s story was meant for ruin in the original novel, but the interference of


    a certain anomaly seemed to have changed their destiny.


    Who knows, maybe this decision of Liam to visit the Spirit Realm will change even the world


    for the better.


    Hope is what the world relies on, even the Prototype of a great reality exists but to grant hope


    to those who seek it.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you have the courage to go to such lengths for a summoned beats, like Liam?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 375: The Astral Form...

    Chapter 375: The Astral Form...


    ?


    Prototype S16ir112, Floor 2.


    "I have a strange feeling about this ce... it feels dangerous..."


    Standing in a long corridor, Link hesitated to move forward.


    Arge frown hung over his face as he stared at the corridor in front of him with caution.


    Dao Rhythm is an ability closely intertwined with the harmony of thews of the world.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Although Link''s mastery over it isn''t really great for now, he can still sense a vague guidance from it.


    Looking at the empty corridor, what Link could feel was his ''Death''.


    He could feel it in his bones that if he dared to move recklessly, he would be dead.


    "Er... Maybe we should stay here for now..."


    Link nced at Riya and decided to not move recklessly.


    If he was alone, he could have gambled it all and tried to make his way forward regardless of how dangerous the path was, but with Riya being on his side, he has to worry about her safety too.


    Thus, he can''t recklessly charge head on into danger right now.


    ''Would have been better if Lia was here to keep an eye on her for me...''


    Link has left Riya''s safety to Lia quite a few times before in battles, it was the same in the dungeon of Maya and the tournament of supreme talents too.


    Lia has managed to keep Riya safe in many circumstances, So Link can always trust her with that now.


    "What? Hehe, you don''t need to worry about my safety..."


    Riya immediately understood what Link was thinking after seeing the worried look on his face and a smirk appeared on her face.


    She put away her candies and a rare serious look appeared on her face. (Grab the popcorn guys!! This is a very rare event!!)


    "Well, seeing is believing, let me show you something amazing today..."


    A confused look appeared on Link''s face after hearing her words.


    But the more confused Link was, the more smug Riya felt.


    [Eternal Nirvana: World''s Protection: Astral Form!]


    As if the world had stretched out its hands to wrap around Riya.


    The elements in the area poured into her body and she seemed to have turned into a partially transparent being with a body made entirely out of mana and the elements of the world. (Her clothes turn into Astral form together with her, don''t assume strange things...)


    Riya floated in the air as if she was free of all mortal constraints in that form.


    "This is the ''Astral Form'' bestowed on those with the heart of eternal nirvana after they master the legendary ability to 50% or more..."


    "And as I said before, I made it past 50% recently..."


    "I trained this ability during my time in the evaluation test..."


    "As for what it does..."


    Riya smiled a bit and floated towards Link, then she hugged him from the back and crossed her arms around his neck.


    All of a sudden, Link felt immense power rushing into his body.


    His body felt very light and powerful, and his senses became sharper than ever before and he felt like he had gotten massive surge in his energy levels.


    Riya giggled after seeing the bewildered look on Link''s face and then whispered into his ear.


    "If I am in close contact with someone in this form, I can lend all of my mana and stats to them and can give massive buffs..."


    "Right now, you have your own base stats and my stats are also stacked on them along with massive buffs..."


    "As long as I am in close contact with you, you will get an infinite supply of healing and any damage you get will be healed mere milliseconds..."


    "In other words.... in this state, we both are Immortal..."


    Link was really taken aback by those words, although he knew that healers can buff others but this is the first time he has heard about such a ridiculous buffing ability.


    Most healers grants buff ording to their own capabilities.


    For example, if a healer has 100 points in strength then they can only grant 25 stat points as buff to others.


    But that rule only applies to ordinary healers.


    Riya cannot be counted in the same group as the other healers, she''s in a league of her own.


    The buff she used to give even without the heart of eternal nirvana was already twice the times stronger than ordinary healers.


    But now, she''s not only giving the base buff, she lending all her stats on top of that. She''s literally ovepping two buffs together without causing them to repel each other.


    The buff Riya is giving right now is nearly a hundred times more efficient and better than what other ordinary healers can give.


    And this is just the base stat buff, she''s lending him near infinite healing so he will heal in mere milliseconds and she is lending him all of her own mana.


    Matter of Fact, aside from Liam who has ''Mana Field'' thus has near infinite mana, Riya has the most amount of mana in the whole team Astra.


    This means she nearly increased Link''s max mana capacity by nearly 2.5 times.


    Right now, Link''s base stats alone have reached the level of an intermediate stage SS-ranker, which is such an fact that even peak SS rankers will be shocked if they knew about this matter. Link was worried about Riya''s safety but things turned out to bepletely different. Riya was never a burden on him, she was his biggest ally and his biggest strength from the very beginning.


    Just one helping hand from her has solved nearly all of Link''s problems easily.


    A wide grin appeared on Link''s face as he felt the warmth of Riya''s arms around his shoulders.


    "You win Riya, this time you have really outdone me... I never expected that you would beat me to such a state that I won''t even be able to react..."


    "But I am d... now I can fight with you supporting my back..."


    "This feels kind of unfair though... you have made me insanely strong, I might end up getting addicted to this..."


    "Sigh... the more I stay with you, the more I fell in love with you... you are really a devious one,


    aren''t you, Riya..."


    Riya chuckled at those words of defeat from Link and replied in a happy tone.


    "Well, what else did you expect? You weren''t the only one who made the promise... I also promised to protect you, and here we are..."


    Although she doesn''t show it on the surface, Riya is alwasy worried that she would be left behind in dust by Link''s immense improvement speed.


    Moreover, after facing the situation that happened in Oaklum, Riya has always been on the


    edge.


    She''s been worried that she will not be able to save Link if something like that happened to


    him.


    After Aria helped her set an ''End'' to her path, Riya''s mastery over her legendary ability skyrocketed and crossed the 50% milestone.


    Finally giving her the Astral Form that could solve all her worries in one go.


    Riya''s hard work has paid off, she can now fight beside Link and can support him without


    making him worry about her safety.


    Her astral form is partially spiritual.


    Thus, magical and physical, all attacks will pass right through her and she won''t sustain any


    damage at all in this form.


    There''s barely a few abilities in the world which can target her in this form.


    Most people won''t even have a counter for her except for a certain anomaly, of course.


    Rio has ''Sword Intent'', ''Soul Splitting'', ''Miasma'', and now even has ''Golden Thunder''. He


    has so many tricks up his sleeve that it''s kind of scary.


    All of these are direct or indirect counters to her Astral Form.


    Although, Soul Splitting won''t work on Riya, it will still be capable enough to separate Link


    and Riya from thatbined state.


    "Well, now that we have such amazing powers... why not explore the area then..."


    With a wide grin on his face, Link stepped forward without hesitation.


    And with the senses of an intermediate SS-ranker, he easily avoided all the traps and made his


    way forward easily.


    He couldn''t have achieved all this alone, but with Riya on his back, he''spletely invincible


    in this ce now.


    "By the way, I am still new at this skill so I can only maintain it for a short time... so let''s hurry


    up and find a way out..."


    Link nodded his head at those words and agreed to her.


    "Er... can you stop whispering like that in my ear..."


    Riya giggled at Link''s words as she noticed the slight blush on his face.


    "No, you need to get used to it... hehe..."


    Hearing those words, Link could only shake his head in defeat.


    Today, he has beenpletely defeated by Riya, he has no way to counter her words today,


    she has shocked him too much with her amazing abilities. "How many minutes exactly do we have before the skill goes into cooldown?"


    Hearing Link''s question, Riya contemted for a few seconds before replying in an unsure


    tone.


    "Hmm, this is the first time I am using it in full power so I don''t exactly know but... I guess I can definitely maintain this state for half an hour at least..."


    An extremely shocked look appeared on Link''s face after hearing those words. "H-half an hour!? D*amn! Doesn''t that mean we can stay in this immortal and all powerful state for long enough to beat thousands of enemies of the same rank at once!?"


    "Riya you are too overpowered!! I don''t remember my candy loving girlfriend being so


    strong! Are you sure you are the same Riya that I know!?"


    Riya chuckled at those words, and replied in an amused voice.


    "Hmm, what? You want me to prove it by eating a whole box of candies right in front of you?"


    Link shook his head at those words.


    "N-no don''t... let''s do thatter, we still need to focus on getting out of here..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Turns out, Riya was also overpowered all along...


    Question of the day.


    What do you think is the purpose of this ''Prototype''?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 376: Battle of supreme swords... Part-1.

    Chapter 376: Battle of supreme swords... Part-1.


    ?


    Prototype, S16ir112.


    Floor 2, Near the Stairs.


    Walking downstairs with the usual expressionless face, Rio was feeling quite confused at the moment.


    ''The golems were situated only near the stairs of Floor 5, and 6?''


    Rio started from floor 6 and has now made his way down to floor 2 from above in just a few hours.


    Although he had a lot of mana potions at the begining to replinish his mana, he''s nearly running out on them now.


    But the most strangest thing is that he didn''t run into a single Golem after meeting those two golems that were guarding the stairs of Floor 5 and 6.


    ''Weird... this whole ce is eeirly quiet and I haven''t run into any golems after those two...''


    A thought came to Rio''s mind while thinking about all this.


    ''This kind of feels more like a test or something...''


    The first test could be said to be having the power to escape the dark room that was enhanced with powerful materials and strong magic.


    Rio passed right through it by using miasma, sword intent and shadow cloak in harmony. The second test could be considered surviving the golems guarding the staircase.


    Rio remembered that before he set off, there was a message on the wall saying that this was a practice trial of some sort.


    ''Am I the only one who got this practice trail?''


    If others had gotten the same trail, Rio would have met atleast one or two people from the group by now.


    ''It''s been quite a few hours since we teleported and I still haven''t met anyone from the group...''


    Idri and Fenix are both peak SS rankers, the two of them can travel great distances in a matter of seconds, so it''s really very strange that they haven''t yet found him.


    If it was normal, the two of them would have already searched through the whole ce by now and the whole group would have been reunited.


    Yet, up until now there''s no sign of them.


    ''There''s two possibilities... either the people inside can''t see other participants like how the illusion was making participants totally invisible from each other in the evaluation test...''


    ''Or... this building... this strange ce is purposely making it so that different group won''t be able to meet each other...''


    That would mean, that this ce can change it''s internal structure when no one''s paying attention.


    ''The strange thing is that I see no residual signs of the structure changing...''


    If the walls were indeed being relocated from time to time, then the magic circle casted on them would have to be activated and deactivated everytime that happens.


    And that will leave massive amounts of mana fluctuations in the area for a long time.


    Rio could have easily sensed these mana fluctuation by now.


    ''I guess the mana fluctuation are so weak that they can''t be traced by my mana detection...''


    Rio''s mana detection ability is top notch and can even rival some S-ranker''s mana detection capabilities.


    But if the fluctuations are too weak andst for a very short time, then it would be difficult for even SS-rankers to detect them easily.


    ''It would have been so much better if Liam was here to help me out in answering this question...''


    Ever since Liam awakened ''Mana Field'', his mana control has reached the level that can put even SS-rankers to shame.


    With the support of ''Mana Field'', Liam''s mana detection skill would be even better than peak SS-rankers and no one can rival him in that matter.


    If he was here, Rio could have just asked him to figure out this question of whether these walls are moving or not.


    *Step* *Step*


    After walking downstairs, Rio reached the corridor of Floor 2 and unlike other floor the ce was pitch dark.


    All the floors before this were well illuminated and had decently good lighting as the mithril embedded in the walls was glowing and making the ce bright.


    But this floor seems different.


    ''There''s no mithril in the walls here, only adamantine?... No, it''s not just that... there''s something else...''


    Rio observed the walls carefully and noticed a familiar sense.


    He nced at his own hand and then at the walls again before confirming one thing.


    ''It''s... corruption!?''


    What Rio uses as an element is ''Miasma'' and ''corruption'' is basically an extremely condensed form of miasma.


    The reason why Rio was so shocked was because the walls, the floor and even the ceiling of this floor are tainted with dense corruption!


    The appearance of miasma already is a matter of great concern and if there''s corruption present in this massive of a scale, then it only means one thing.


    ''There''s an S-rank or above level demon in this floor...''


    Thinking about demons, Rio remebered his past two fights with Alverto.


    Remembering those times, Rio couldn''t help but feel that he barely survived in those moments.


    In the first battle that was with a clone of Alverto, Rio nearly died and in the second battle he survived because Alverto was pressed on time as Jin was making his way to Oaklum.


    [Hey, all demons are not royal blood demons, don''t fret it, you have got this partner!]


    ''I never said I was nervous though...''


    [W-well I am saying that to reassure myself, not you!]


    [Also, just looking at this ce is giving me chills, let''s make it out of here fast...]


    ''By the way, I have been meaning to ask for a while now, can you also sense that strange feeling of something calling us towards itself?''


    [Huh? What feeling?]


    ''Ah, forget it... it''s nothing.''


    Rio didn''t bother exining too much in details after confirming what he wanted to.


    ''As I thought... not even he''s sensing it... that means it''s aimed at me not at anyone else...''


    Although Shadow and his soul havepletely merged, the two of them have separate consciousnesses for now.


    Moreover, Rio''s consciousness is too strong for Shadow, so Rio is the dominant party.


    He can easily block Shadow''s senses and can choose whether to allow Shadow to read his thoughts and see what happening outside or not.


    Whenever Rio thinks about his past life or about the novel, he usually blocks Shadow''s consciouness making him unable to read his thoughts.


    This is the reason why Shadow is still so clueless about Rio and his origins.


    All he knows is that Rio was a wandering soul that happened to take over his body.


    ''Forget it, if it''s targeted at me... I will solve it myself...''


    Rio continued to head towards the direction where the vague feeling was leading him without


    hesitation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He''s already covered head to toe with miasma, so the corruption in the area has no effects on


    him at all.


    Infact the corruption is giving extra boost to his miasma instead.


    ''So this is how demons feel when they are in a ce that ispletely covered in


    corruption...''


    ''This is strangely... warm...''


    Yes! Rio could feel that the miasma and the corruption around him felt warm andfortable


    as if he was being hugged.


    ''No wonder demons are so addicted to this ''stuff''... it''sfortable and soothing once you


    learn to get along with it...''


    For people who have no control over miasma, corruption is a very horrible thing and their bodies get twisted beyond measures if they get corrupted.


    But, for demonized creatures or even demons, Miasma is just like the embrace of a caring


    mother.


    It protects you, gives you power to face the world and embraces you despite your ws. Miasma is the only thing that embraces the demonkind in it''s arms despite them being


    ''Cancer'' to the world itself.


    There''s a saying among the demonkind that it doesn''t matter if they don''t have family or


    someone who cares for them.


    They will always have thepany of the warm embrace of corruption.


    ''To think that something as horrible and twisted as miasma and corruption can also provide ''protection'' and fort''... how ironic...''


    Right now, in the embrace of miasma, Rio was feeling as if he was being hugged by Lia.


    But instead of his face turning to a smile a rare solemn look appeared on his face. ''Even though I am protected by sword intent and my own defensiveyer of miasma... I am still getting affected by corruption?''


    The reason why Rio was feeling solemn was because his ultimate defense ''True Immunity'' only gets triggered when something is trying to actively ''Harm'' him.


    But now that miasma and corruption is being so gentle with him, ''True Immunity'' won''t


    activate at all.


    Rio can deactivate his ''True Immunity'' at will, but he can''t activate it ording to his choices.


    A few conditions must be fulfilled before ''True Immunity'' could be triggered. And the main condition is that it only triggers against things that are harmful for Rio.


    ''My own skill has assumed that miasma and corruption are not harmful for me... how


    laughable...''


    While walking in the dark corridors a thought came to Rio''s mind.


    ''If I didn''t have Lia... would I have had epted this warm embrace of corruption and


    darkness?...''


    Rio couldn''t help but think about this matter. ''Miasma offers power, status, warmth, protection, cure and growth...''


    ''I am not even surprised now why people would actively choose to be demons...''


    ''Maybe if the circumstances of my transmigration were different, I would have chosen this path of darkness too...''


    ''It''s thanks to Lia that I didn''t go astray... sigh, I can''t remember how many favors Lia has


    done for me...''


    ''At this rate I will never be able to pay her back for all that she''s done for me and I will in her constant debt..''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Question of the day.


    What are your thoughts on Miamsa and Corruption?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 377: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-2.

    Chapter 377: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-2.


    ?


    *Ssh* *Ssh*


    ''There''s even water here which is contaminated with miasma... if not for my miasmic control... it is very likely that this miasmic water would have restricted my mobility a lot...''


    While following the guidance of the vague feeling, Rio was now passing through corridors that were filled with water about one feet deep.


    Morever, there was creepy sound of something jumping in water and making sshes ringing out in the dark corridors again and again.


    This ce is definitely something that weak hearted people can''t afford to visit.


    Rio himself has no such emotion called ''fear'' anymore so he wasn''t feeling even the slightest bit of nervousness.


    Moreover, the guidance was also asking him to go in the direction where those sshing sounds wereing from, so Rio had no choice but to go there anyway.


    ''I guess that''s why people say that having ''fear'' is important... if you don''t have it, you will go head first into danger without caring about anything...''


    ''Fear is important to live... those who aspire to live a stable and long lives can only do so if they have fear...''


    ''I wonder when I will be able to feel it again though...''


    As Rio is currently in a state where he''s blessed by the miasma around him, he''s moving in a more stealthy way and he doesn''t even produce any noise when he walks on water.


    Using Sword Intent and assuming his own body as a ''Sword'' Rio can make himself float and so walking on water is not that big a problem for him even if it''s polluted with miasma.


    ''Now that I think about it... there''s no such ce in the world whose environement I can''t withstand... If I can deal with miasma then I can deal with others too...''


    While thinking about various things in his head, Rio hurriedly made his way forward and finally reached the ce where the sshing sounds wereing from.


    And as Rio had expected, the sound was being made by a trap.


    It was a spear that was constantly ramming a broken shield into the water and making loud noises.


    The whole corridor was filled with broken armors and weaponsid out all over in the corridor and most of them were corroded by the miasma in the water.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Hmm, don''t tell me that these are the remains of a whole raid party that came here and died...''


    ''Then their bodies and even bones were melted by miasma so they disappeared without a trace...''


    It''s not too umon to find the remains of people who had died in the dungeons.


    Most dead bodies end up getting eaten by monsters while others get destroyed by the harsh environments.


    Simr things would have likely happened here.


    All the party members died and their bodies got melted by the miasma in the water and all that''s left of them are the corrupted empty armors.


    *clinck*


    Rio swung his sword and broke the shield that was stuck in the spear trap.


    Once the shield broke away, the trap got deactivated and stopped thrusting itself into the water, finally the sshing sounds stopped and the environment became calmer.


    ''Strangely... I seem to have started to like this calm, dark and creepy environment... It''s oddly soothing andforting...''


    Rio shook his head and took a few steps forward to observe the broken equipments around him.


    Most of them were damaged beyond recognition but a few still had the scars of past battles imprinted on them.


    ''Hmm, most of them seem like sword marks... were they killed by something that could use swords?''


    There are barely any monsters in the dungeons who use swords as weapons and most of them are usually just undead or those walking armors with contaminated souls in their body.


    Rio nced forward and noticed that the corridor ends not far away and it opens in a massive wide hall.


    ''This smells of a boss fight...''


    Rio has yed a lot of rpg style games before so he can see a boss fighting when he sees the stage for it.


    ''A secluded dark ce, broken armors and weapons outside, and a massive open arena...''


    ''All these indicate just one thing... I have reached their of a ''hidden'' boss monster somehow...''


    Moreover the vague guidance was strongly asking him to go forth in the hall, which means that this boss fight ispletely unskippable.


    ''The biggest problem is... that this whole building and all these trials are meant for SS- rankers...''


    ''Even the weakest traps here are strong enough to one-shot me instantly...''


    ''Which means that the boss monster here will be something that even SS-rankers will find hard to deal with and I certainly don''t have the ability to defeat a monster that can give SS- rankers a hard time...''


    Although Rio has no fear, he''s not an idiot either, he knows when to fight and when to retreat.


    Even he''s not foolish enough to take on such strong enemies as of yet.


    ''Ugh, It would have been so much better if I had found this ce after bing an S-ranker... and it would have been even better if I was an SS-ranker...''


    Although Rio doesn''t really want to let go of this opportunity, he has no other choice right


    now.


    No matter how amazing that opportunity might be, it''s not worth risking his life over it when doesn''t even have any information on it.


    In the past, no matter which chance Rio stole from Fade, he had knowledge about them beforehand so he s prepared for the I case scenario.


    But right now, he has no information and the enemy has the advantage.


    Rio didn''t stare at the hall for too long and decided to leave early.


    Staying here too long will do him no good anyway.


    *Whoosh!*


    Just when Rio took his first step back, something strange happened.


    As if the space-time fabric had shifted itself, Rio found himself standing in the middle of the


    large hall which he was trying to leave.


    A rare solemn look appeared on Rio''s face as he tightened his grip on his sword.


    ''Sigh, so I will have to fight my way out in the end?''


    Rio had no idea what caused the spatial disturbance and directly made him enter the boss area without asking for his permission.


    But now is not the time to think, an attack cane from any direction so he needs to be


    vignt.


    *Ssh*


    Just when Rio was staring at everything around him with vignce, a blob of meat fell into the water from the ceiling of the hall and made loud ssh noise.


    Rio immediately focused his attention on the other party at that moment.


    But as ifpletely unconcerned about Rio''s presence, the blob of meat started to tremble


    and absorb the miasma in the water.


    Its form started to change and slowly.


    ''You think I will stand here and let you transform?''


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Miasmic Arc!]


    Rio immediately rushed to the other party''s side and swung his sword while coating it with a


    perfect bnce of Sword Intent and Miasma.


    But before the sword could hit the other party, the blob of meat grew an arm and a pitch ck


    sword condensed in its hand.


    *Clink!!*


    For the first time in his life, Rio''s sword was deflected and perfectly countered at the same


    time.


    Rio instantly jumped back and a rare look of shock appeared on his face.


    ''T-this!?''


    Even when Rio fought and trained with Jin or had the fight with other talented sword users,


    Rio''s sword was never perfectly countered like this.


    Even Jin had to use some tricks to see through his moves to block them.


    But right at this moment, the blob of meat used that ck sword to ''Parry'' Rio''s attack and


    completely rendered it useless.


    ''Did that thing just use ''Handling'' !?''


    Only Rio''s own skill, that is Handling, can do such a perfect counter to his attacks. While Rio was shocked for a second the blob of masspleted its transformation after


    absorbing a lot of miasma from the polluted water filled in the arena and finally took a humanoid shape.


    Covered in miasma and with a sword in hand, the enemy looked extremely familiar.


    "Hoh... so it''s a mimic type monster..."


    What was standing in front of Rio was a literal copy of himself.


    ''This also exins how my attack was blocked so easily... If it''s me, obviously I can block my


    own attack easily...''


    Originally Rio thought that the other party must have had some powerful countering skill like


    his ''Handling'' skill, but it turns out that the other party was an exact clone of himself so he obviously has ''Handling'' too.


    ''Well, I didn''t expect this to happen but, if it''s this... I still have a chance to survive...''


    If the boss monster was some extremely powerful SS-rank beast, Rio would have had nearly


    zero chances of survival.


    But as this is a mimic type boss enemy, it means that the other party will mimic your own powers and abilities, the other party will be ''Equal'' to you and not stronger.


    Rio clenched his sword and ced it beside his waist while taking his stance. The mimic did the same thing as if it was able to predict what Rio was going to do next.


    ''Fighting yourself is not something you get to do everyday... I guess I will have to prove it


    here...''


    ''About who is the copy and who is the original...''


    A rare excited smile appeared on Rio''s face hidden by the shadow cloak.


    ''Let''s dance!''


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    D*mn! We will get to see Rio fighting Rio this time!


    Question of the day.


    What would you do if you met a clone of yourself?


    1. Fight him.


    2. Share your pain and suffering with him?


    3. Others (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 378: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-3.

    Chapter 378: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-3.


    ?


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Serpentine Wind!]


    As the mimic type enemy had already absorbed nearly all the miasma from the water and the whole area inside the giant hall, Rio didn''t need to keep his ''Miasma type'' activated at all times now.


    He can use other elements and can fight freely now that that there''s no miamsa in the surroundings.


    *nck!*


    Just like how Rio swung his sword in a serpent''s ''slithering'' like motoin, the mimic did the


    same.


    Both of their swords hit each other at the same time and as the two of them were doing the exact same attack, they cancelled out each other.


    ''Quite a good copy you are... but can you copy this?''


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio covered his sword in sword intent and swung it downwards, and just like he had expected, the other party couldn''t copy ''Sword Intent'' at all.


    The other party used ''DarkWing Movement art'' instead and dodged his attack by making a safe distance.


    ''Legendary'' Skills are unique existence, they are the representation of the acknowledgement of the ''Laws'' of the ''World'', you can''t copy them no matter what.


    Every person''s legendary skill is unique to themselves.


    For example, Although Meng has ''Sword Intent'' but the charactertics, aura and ''flow'' patterns of his ''Sword Intent'' arepletely different than Rio''s.


    It''s as if the two''s ''Sword Intent'' are twopletely different skills that don''t have any simrities except the fundamental uses of them.


    Thus, if this mimic type enemy wants to use Sword Intent, it would need to get the acknowledgement of the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' and even then, it''s sword intent will be unique to itself, it won''t be a copy of Rio''s.


    The reason why Fade, who had the system store couldn''t buy ''Mana Field'' no matter what, was because you can''t ''Buy'' the ''favoribility'' of a ''Law'' of the ''World'', you have to ''Earn'' that ''Acknowledgement'' yourself.


    Even till thest chapters that Rio read, Fade never acquired ''Mana Field'' despite having tons of ''Exp'' on him.


    ''Aside from ''Sword Intent''... you also don''t have the ''Imperfect Sword Heart''... in other words, you are just a weaker copy of me... aren''t you-''


    Just when Rio was about to get disappointed in the other party, the mimic raised the sword towards the ceiling and three more blobs of meat fell down from the ceiling.


    Seeing another three appear out of nowhere, a frown appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''Where are they evening from... I am sure I didn''t sense that there was any of them there before...''


    ''Or is it because i have the unfair advantage so it summoned it''spaninons to even out the advantage?''


    *Whoosh*


    The other three blobs of meat didn''t even take more than a few milliseconds before they attracted miasma from outside and started absorbing it.


    [DarkWing Movement Art!]


    *BOOM*


    Rio bent his knees a bit andunched towards the three newly appeared enemies with a bullet like speed.


    Just by moving he created powerful sonic booms in the air and the water in the area became chaotic.


    A strong shockwave spread in the area which slowed down the speed of the first mimic by a few milliseconds.


    And Rio didn''t miss this small dy, he raised his sword above his shoulder and struck down at one of the blob of meat that had only just started to transform.


    [Unique Skill: Soul-Splitting!]


    Rio''s sword glowed with a sinister dark aura and the moment it hit the blob of meat, it directly sliced it''s whole body in two along with it''s soul, will and consciouness.


    *nk*


    Just when Rio was about to attack the second enemy, the fully transformed mimic appeared on time and used handling to parry his sword and it stopped Rio from going for a double kill.


    Rio then jumped in the air, used air as ground and made a few meteres of distance between him and the enemies.


    *BOOM!!*


    The mimic beast that Rio killed exploded and a massive shockwave spread out


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Stone Barrier!]


    Rio held his sword with his both hands and swung it in an upward motion, the Earth elementals condensed and created a massive wall like like shield in from of him that blocked


    the shockwave, the wind pressure and the residuals of the mimic.


    When the enemy exploded, Rio immediately sensed that it had split into many small knives and was going tounch in all directions.


    ''Altgough it was a risky move, atleast i reduced their number by one...''


    Fighting several clones of himself will not be easy for even him, that''s why he decided to take the risk and reduce their number by even one if possible.


    ''Nowes the difficult part though...''


    One of the three clones jumped into the air and the other two swung their sword to use ''Wind type'' and gave a massive speed boost to the one in the air.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Raging Wild Fire!]


    As the clone in the air used a ''water type'' attack, Rio countered it with a ''Fire type'' one, but the speed boos the other two clones gave him was indeed quite high, So it barely canceled out the power boost of the ''Sword Intent''.


    Still, the clone sustain minor injuries as blocking sword intentpletely was out of it''s


    capabilities.


    Blocking the attack from the mimic, Rio immediately tilted his head to the right and a sword made from condensed miasma barely missed his head.


    ''As expected of my clones, they are fast...''


    A smirk appeared on Rio''s face as he sensed the third clone try to attack him from behind.


    Rio''s attacks are mainlybo and chain type attacks.


    If you got hit by even one, it would be very diffcult to dodge the rest of thebos that will be followingg right after the first attack.


    The three clones swung their sword and attacked Rio from three differnt angle with threepletely different elements.


    ''Water, Fire and thunder all three at once... hehe, do you really think you can use my own


    technique better then me?''


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Sound Type: Cosmic Shockwave!]


    *BOOOOM!!*n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Rio pointed his sword downwards and the tip of his sword touched the ground, an extremely strong shockwave spread out from his body as he was using sword intent on his whole body.


    The shockwave went in all directions and directly cancelled out all three attacks at once!


    ''If I know what technique will be effective in which situation, then I also know which technique will be ineffective against what type of attack...''


    The shockwave not only cancelled the three elemental attacks, it forcefully pushed back the


    three clones which opened a retreat spot for Rio.


    ''I wonder if they can copy my equipment too...''


    Rio was not sure if the three clones could copy his equipment, but he didn''t care.


    Even if they copied his sword and were able to use ''Soul Splitting'', that skill won''t work on him anyway, as ''True Immunity'' will cancel it out.


    ''But the same is true for these guys too... ''Soul Splitting'' won''t work on them either''...''


    The only reason why Rio was able to kill one of the mimics with ''Soul Splitting'' was because


    the other party was still in the middle of his transformation and Rio attacked it before it could


    fully transform.


    If Rio was only a few millisecondste, then ''Soul Splitting'' wouldn''t have worked on it


    either.


    In a battle between awakeners, every millisecond matters, just one wrong decision and you


    are dead.


    Rio knows himself extremely well, if he doesn''t have ''Sword Intent'' and ''Sword Heart'', he will try to keep distance from the enemy and do more sneakier attacks.


    He knew this beforehand, thus he knew that the mimic which was present from the start will definitely be dyed for a few seconds as it was trying to keep a distance from himself.


    Rio made the decision to target the newly summoned mimics in that millisecond worth of time frame and sure enough, that gave him a big advantage.


    He reduced the number of his opponents from four to three before they even properly joined


    the battle.


    This is the advantage knowledge brings, if Rio didn''t know about his own habits, he could have never seized that chance.


    ''As they say, knowing yourself first is very crucial for a battle, even more crucial than knowing


    the enemy...''


    Without dy, Rio kicked one of the clones and made it avoid his kick, but before the clone


    could counterattack, Rio nced in a random direction and shouted.


    "Ah, Lia? What are you doing here!?"


    The clone immediately got distracted and ended up looking in the same direction where Rio


    was looking thus it forgot about attacking.


    ''Idiot, why would Lia be here, you love sick weirdo!''


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Healing Type: Concentrated Heal!]


    Rio''s sword passed right through the body of the clone like butter and he poured tons of


    healing magic in the other party''s chest.


    These mimics are made up of miasma afterall, healing magic is literal poison for them.


    The mimic''s whole upper body exploded.


    ''So, they can''t mimic my equipment... no, they have much weaker versions of it...''


    Rio jumped away to dodge the attacks of the other two clones while contemting in his


    mind.


    These mimics have weaker versions of his equipment, if it had a shadow robe that was powerful enough then this attack wouldn''t havended on it and the healing magic wouldn''t


    have worked.


    But it worked not only because the clone got distracted for a millisecond, it''s robe was weak and it wasn''t enhanced with sword intent or miasma.


    These were the main reasons why that clone died.


    ''Er... this method actually worked on the clone... doesn''t that mean it would work on me too?


    Ugh...''


    Rio couldn''t help but shake his head with a helpless look on his face.


    When ites to Lia he really ends up getting distracted even amidst battle, this can prove


    fatal someday.


    ''Sigh, I guess I need to improve in this aspectter...''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Will you be able to fight your clones and win?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones.

 Chapter 379: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-4.

    Chapter 379: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-4.


    ?


    ''What does usually goes through my mind when the opponent is only one and there''s allies to help me fight?''


    ''Of course my first thought is...''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Diverging tides!]


    Rio swung his sword horizontally and two water tides made up of condensed water


    elementals rushed towards the two clones.


    But the two clones didn''t flinch at all, they immediately used ''Frost Type'' to instantly freeze the water tide.


    *BOOM!*


    Rio broke through the frozen ice and swung his sword at one of the clones.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Concentrated Thunder Arc!]


    He swung his sword in an upside-down motion and the clone barely was able to react on time to bring out ''Earth type'' attack to neutralize his thunder attacks.


    ''Not yet...''


    Seeing that the expected didn''t happen, Rio decided to use ''DarkWing Movement Art'' to dodge sideways to avoid the iing miasmic de swung by the another clone.


    The first clone also took advantage of this opportunity and stopped using Earth type, it used a ''Thrust'' type attack on Rio instead.


    [Handling!]


    *nck!**Clink*


    Rio had to parry those hundred thrust attacks at once to fully avoid taking damage.


    ''Now that I am facing it... I can indeed say it for sure... fighting me is definitely a pain in the A*s...''


    Rio simply has too many tricks up his sleeves.


    Not only is he fast, he hits like truck and if you don''t properly dodge his attacks, you will get hit by ten or more of the simrly powerful attacks and won''t even have the leisure to even breathe.


    Moreover, Rio simply has too many defensive abilities, not only he can parry most weapon type attacks with ''Handling'' he can basically avoid nearly all physical attacks with the shadow robe.


    Lastly, there''s true immunity, which will directly render all tricks useless against him. In other words, if you want to win against Rio, you need overwhelming power, if you can''t overpower him in one go, then it''s going to be very difficult to win.


    Even Rio himself is having a hard time fighting his own clones as he has to guard against many potential fatal attacks.


    But Rio has an advantage right now.


    That is, he knows his own habits and thinking process better than anyone else in the world. He knows what decision he will make in which type of situation.


    That''s why, he''s artificially trying to create situations that would be more beneficial to him as the clones will likely be more vulnerable to making mistakes in those particr situations.


    ''Not yet...''


    Rio used the Darkwing movement Art to enhance his speed again.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Poison type: Swamp of Death!]


    Rio''s sword''s tip touched the ground and the water in the hall turned into lethal poison.


    Rio himself has ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' that makes him immune to poison, but the two clones don''t have it.


    They will have to make a choice in this moment, either use ''Frost Type'' the swamp and eliminate all hidden danger altogether.


    Or use ''Wind type'', take a risk and use the momentary dy of Rio''s sword being towards ground and not in a proper stance, to do a risky attack on him.


    The clones had a mere millisecond of time to make a decision and finally the thing that Rio was waiting for, happened.


    One of the clones used Frost Type, while the other used Wind type to do the risky attack. Although it seemed like the two were now cooperating and had each other''s back, this was exactly the situation Rio wanted.


    ''When there''s only one opponent and there''s one ally on my side, I make two decisions most of the time... either charge head on and do a risky attack while relying on the ally for support or just go with defense and don''t attack...''


    Earlier, Rio tried to create a situation where one clone will go for defense and one will go for a risky offense, but both clones were going for defense and Rio had to try this a few more times before he was able to create a favorable situation.


    Finally, he used the poison swap to narrow the ''elemental types'' that he will use in a situation like that.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rio mostly would go for ''Frost type'' if it''s defense and will use ''Wind type'' if it''s a risky offense.


    ''And whenever I use ''Frost Type'' there''s always a slight dy of a ''millisecond'' as after freezing something with the sword my sword also get stuck in that ice and I have to break it out of the ice... that''s where I get dyed for a ''millisecond''.


    For others, this ''millisecond'' might not be anything much, but for a speed reliant person like him, a mere ''millisecond'' can make a huge difference.


    Rio nced at the clone who used ''Frost type'' andpletely ignored the clone which was


    making a risky move.


    ''Hehe... got you!''


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Space Type: Spatial Bypass Thrust!]


    As a technique copied from Link, Rio modified it to suit himself more.


    He used sword intent to copy the effects and manipted the space elementals to open an extremely small portal that was only enough for his sword to pass through.


    He thrust his sword into the portal and the sword bypassed the shadow robe of the clone that was using ''Frost Type''.


    It directly pierced the heart of the clone making the clone stop in it''s track.


    ''Ah, yes, I know I won''t die so easily even if my heart gets destroyed... just that much isn''t


    enough...''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Spiked explosion!]


    While the sword was still stuck in the body of the clone, Rio used ''Fire Type'' to make a powerful explosion that burst out mes in spike like manner.


    The clones whole upper torso blew apart like a balloon and it''s death was quite tragic.


    ''Ugh... it kind of feels weird seeing something that looks so identical to yourself die such a


    miserable death...''


    [DarkWing Movement Art!]


    Rio didn''t dilly-dally, he immediately used the movement art to dodge and he even left his


    sword behind to dodge the attack faster.


    *Boom*


    Looking back, the spot he was standing on was now trembling like crazy.


    The clone had used ''spatial type'' to try to hit Rio''s hand that was holding the sword.


    If Rio hadn''t moved away on time while abandoning his sword, his forearm would have been sliced off at that moment and even the Shadow robe wouldn''t have been able to protect him.


    ''Of course I knew you will attack...''


    When the allies are in trouble, Rio always uses most lethal attacks to stop the opponent, Rio knew this, thus he was always ready to dodge from the start.


    The real reason why Rio wasn''t worried that the clone would use the same tactic on him and would use space type to directly bypass his shadow robe and pierce his heart is because he already knew that the clone couldn''t do it even if it wanted to.


    ''The only reason I can do all this is because of ''Sword Intent'' and the ''Imperfect Sword Heart''


    afterall...''


    Without the help of these two things, Rio couldn''t have boosted his ''Space type'' technique to the point that it would ignore all defenses and restrictionspletely. Opening even that small portal for his sword to pass through is already a very difficult task.


    Usually only SS-rankers are capable of opening portal and bend the ''Space-time'' fabric to


    such extent.


    Rio was only able to imitate that because he has a legendary skill and an imperfect divinity


    helping him do so.


    If not for them, this trick wouldn''t have been feasible as he couldn''t have opened a portal at


    all.


    ''Well I also have Jin to thank for that...''


    Rio and Jin trained together for a while as Jin wanted to learn sword intent, at that time, Rio


    got to see the portal opening abilities of an SS-ranker from a very close distance for a very


    long time.


    With his insane ''Sword Aptitude'' Rio was easily able to imitate and learn that skill for himself


    even if barely.


    All Rio needed to do was assume the ''Space-time'' fabric itself as his ''sword'' then ''Sword


    Intent'' would apply to it too.


    Although it sound simple, unless you have insanely high ''Sword Aptitude'' you can''t


    aplish this insane feat of copying an SS-rankers unique ability.


    [Vinash: Re-Summon!]


    Rio re-summoned his sword as he had abandoned it to dodge the attack.


    With the sword once again in his hand a rare smirk appeared on Rio''s face.


    ''Now will be the most difficult part...''


    After losing all allies to an opponent, Rio will definitely get a bit angry at the opponent and


    the attacks will be more dangerous.


    ''Here ites...''


    *BOOM!*


    The clone took his stance and ced the sword beside his waist.


    His eyes stared at Rio and it had the same expressionless face as him.


    The clone then used ''Time Type: Thousand Mirages'' to attack. That skill fires thousand condensed time elemental arcs in all directions.


    And If you get touched by it even in the slightest, the body part that got touched by it will


    rapidly age and will turn into dust.


    Moreover, this skill was learned from Alverto and then modified by Rio, it can easily pass


    right through his shadow robe.


    The reason the clones didn''t use it before was because this skill is uncontroble and it will


    target everything in the vicinity.


    It can only be used when you are having a one versus one battle with someone.


    ''I have to acknowledge it... you are quite the high quality copy of me...''


    Rio smiled at the face of danger and was very satisfied with these mimics.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Question of the day.


    What skill do you think will be perfect and most powerful to use against Rio?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 380: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-5.

    Chapter 380: Battle of Supreme Swords... Part-5.


    ?


    *nk* *Clink*


    Rio and the clones'' swords hit each other again and again, making noises that resounded throughout the empty hall.


    The swords that the clone is using is just an extension of its body, and if it were someone else''s clone, Rio could have directly used his ''Soul Splitting'' the moment their swords touched each other.


    However, because this entity is Rio''s clone, it possesses ''True Immunity'', meaning that many of Rio''s potent abilities will not affect it.


    ''Moreover, it''s currentlypletely ignoring defense and is going for full offense...''


    Rio literally killed all of its allies right in front of it after all; the clone is a bit angry over that matter.


    ''I guess I will also be quite a bit angry if my friends get killed right in front of me... Also, I will be as reckless as this clone...''


    ''I wonder if I can actually fill this weakness though...''


    As long as you have even the smallest amount of emotions left, you will still get affected by the demise of your friends and close ones. This is a weakness that all creatures are born with from the very beginning.


    ''I guess the reason why reaching ''Perfection'' of ''Sword Intent'' is a path of elimination of all weaknesses from yourself... and having these emotions is also seen as a weakness, I guess?''


    Let alone Rio; even if it were Ashtel Rex in this situation, even he would have gotten angry if his son got killed in front of him, which means not even SS-rankers, literal demi-gods, are immune to this weakness.


    ''Some say that your emotions are your strength, not your weakness... I wonder which path is correct...''


    Rio shook his head and backstepped a bit to avoid the three continuous sword swings.


    ''It''s starting to use space type and time type more now...''


    Rio has been fighting thest clone for about five minutes now, and the other party''s offensive just doesn''t seem to have an end.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Golden Thunder Coiling Dragon!]


    As if a thunder dragon had manifested on Rio''s sword, it opened its jaws wide as Rio swung his sword to attack the other party.


    But the clone didn''t even flinch; it immediately countered Rio''s attack with another attack made up of golden thunder called ''Redirecting Dragons!''


    ''D*mn! This clone is already using techniques that I only just came up with now...''


    Rio has insanely high sword aptitude; every time he fights and uses his skills, various new ideas and inspirationse to his mind at every moment of the battle.


    New ways to counter the opponents and his own skillse up like a tsunami, and they are unstoppable.


    Just now, when Rio used the coiling dragon skill, he immediately came up with a way to counter it automatically, and the clone literally used that technique to counter the skill.


    ''This means that this clone can still keep upgrading itself along with me... This is getting a bit tedious now...''


    The fight between Rio and his clone is all about who will cause a mistake first.


    As both have pretty much the same skill set, the victory and defeat only depend on a very few things, like the sword intent.


    ''I need to find an opening tond my ''Sword Intent''... Only that can make some difference...'' *Boom!*


    Rio jumped back immediately to avoid the attack.


    The clone turned the sword into a massive ymore and tried to squash Rio with it in an attempt to surprise him.


    ''I already know that my sword can turn into various types of swords... Do you really think I will be surprised by the sword''s length and size increasing all of a sudden?''


    The sword of the clone turned into an excessively long sword; it was so long that the clone looked smaller in heightpared to the sword itself.


    ''Now you are just embarrassing me... I never use that kind of swords!''


    But one thing was sure: the clone was really being too desperate in that situation. As nearly all its attacks were not working and its chances of winning were low, the clone was feeling disappointed in itself.


    Its allies were killed in front of it, and it still couldn''t take revenge for them, which was a great shame that it couldn''t bear.


    ''Ugh... The more I fight this guy, the more awkward I feel... I can see myself in its ce... fighting a strong foe that harmed his friends, sigh... So this is how ''Viins'' feel like?''


    Rio dodged those desperate sword swings that had lost their precision and didn''t counterattack; at that moment, Rio could feel the intense emotions that the clone represented.


    He could see himself in the other party, and he couldn''t stop himself from saying. "Idiot, you won''t be able to avenge anything if you are stuck in so many dilemmas in your own heart... Without a clear heart, your sword will lose its luster..."


    "A sword is an emotionless tool meant for destruction and death... Don''t lose the ''Flow of your sword''s intentions''... That''s what you promised yourself..."


    Although Rio was saying those words in a calm tone, the clone heard them perfectly, and Rio himself felt solemn after saying those words out loud.


    Rio raised his sword and pointed it towards the clone before saying,


    "Let''s end this battle... This battle between supreme swords has taught me a lot. I appreciate your help a lot... But it''s time you get your long-deserved peace..."


    As if the clone could understand Rio''s words, it also raised its sword and pointed it at Rio.


    "Heh, so you are still going to challenge me tillst breath... That''s so like me..."


    Rio took his stance and stopped using his shadow robe to hide himself; the clone did the same; it also stopped using the shadow robe, and both became vulnerable to damage. "Good choice; no need to hide behind tricks; let''s end this farce right here..."


    Rio learned a lot from these clones and figured out a lot of his own habits that could one day cause his demise, so he has some respect for these clones.


    He wants to give the other party a proper end, and for a swordsman aiming for the ''peak'', there''s only one honorable way of dying...


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    ... and that is to die by the sword of someone who has been acknowledged by the very ''Law'' of


    the ''Sword'' and has mastered ''Sword Intent''.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    In this final attack, Rio poured nearly all his remaining mana into ''Sword Intent''.


    The clone doesn''t have ''Sword Intent'' so it''s using ''Space type'' this time.


    Both attacks are lethal, and they both can hurt each other fatally if they manage tond it.


    This was ast attack that will decide who will be the winner and who will be the real


    ''Supreme Sword''.


    ''Farewell, good friend...''


    Rio poured so much mana into his sword intent that if he didn''t have the ''Imperfect Sword


    Heart'' it would have beenpletely impossible to control it.


    The sword swelled in length and width like crazy and became extremely big; it seemed as if it


    wasn''t even fitting in Rio''s hand at that point.


    But Rio didn''t feel much of a burden; the sword''s heart is enough to bear this burden.


    *BOOOM!*


    Rio swung the sword in a downward motion while the clone swung his sword in a horizontal


    motion.


    Both of them carried out the attack at nearly the same time.


    Rio''s immensely powerful ''Sword Intent''pletely overpowered that the clone used and


    then directly headed towards the clone.


    *Crack*


    The clone tried to block it with his sword, but the sword also shattered, and the clone was


    sliced into two pieces by the insanely strong ''Sword Intent''.


    A smile of relief appeared on the face of the clone before it exploded and turned into


    nothingness.


    Seeing that scene, Rio sighed and felt a bit dejected at the clone''s death.


    "Phew... that was a tough battle..."


    Rio used up nearly all his mana in that final attack, and if it hadn''t worked, he would have been in a lot of trouble, as he only has a few more mana recovery potions left in his space ring.


    ''When I go back, I will have to stock up on these potions again...''


    Rio didn''t have many tricks left up his sleeve at the moment that could help him forcibly kill the clone, so he had to resort to the good old ''Talk No J*tsu'' to get his work done. ''Although I ended up manipting the other party in the end... I need to consider that someone can use this tactic on me too, so I need to be prepared about these scenarios...'' Although the battle with the clones was intense, it was worth fighting it; if Rio had just left without the fight, he wouldn''t have gotten the chance to figure out so many weaknesses of his


    own.


    ''Come to think of it... how did I enter this arena in the first ce? I definitely tried to leave and was going to head back, but then there was suddenly a shift in the space-time fabric, and I


    found myself standing here...''


    ''That''s so bizarre... That''s something only SS-rankers can do; these clones likely weren''t the


    ones who teleported me here all of a sudden...''


    Just when Rio was confused, the vague calling that was asking Rio toe towards it


    suddenly appeared in his mind once again.


    Now it was targeted towards the floor of this hall.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Would you be able to figure out your own weaknesses like Rio did?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 381: The Sentient One... Part-1.

    Chapter 381: The Sentient One... Part-1.


    ?


    Rio walked over to the floor tile towards which the vague calling was pointing.


    ''Is there a hidden staircase or something here? That''s so clich¨¦...''


    Rio turned his sword into a thin and long type of sword, then he thrust the sword in between the gap between the floor tiles and used it like a lever to move the floor tile upwards.


    And as Rio had suspected it, the floor tile moved, and removing it revealed a hidden manhole- like structure.


    ''Er... this... Why does this look like a sewer entrance...''


    [Man, you can''t be thinking of going inside that, right? If Lia saw you do that, she would be disappointed, tsk tsk...]


    ''Hey, you have been asking me to switch with you for a while, didn''t you? How about youe out now and help me out a bit... Surely you can do that much, right?''


    [No, no, your useless talk-no-jut*u won''t work on me! Don''t even think about sending me down there!]


    Hearing those words, Rio sighed and shook his head; he was just joking anyway.


    He can''t afford to let the other party out in this dangerous ce. Shadow doesn''t havebat experience like him, and he will definitely mess up and panic if something goes wrong.


    ''Who knows... Maybe there''s another golem guarding the path down there; this one will be yet another gamble...''


    Finding powerful cheats to be stronger is all about gambling with life to obtain those chances.


    ''It better be worth it... If I ended up finding something useless after all these efforts, then it would be such a disappointment...''


    Rio sighed, donned his shadow robe again, and started to descend downwards using those staircases made up of some kind of metal.


    ''There stairs seem so long... Could it be that this is a hidden path that can take you to Floor 1 without needing to use the main stairs?''


    From Floor 6 to Floor 2, Rio used those wide and big staircases to descend deeper; this is the only time he''s using this kind of staircase to descend.


    ''Maybe these stairs lead to some hidden areas of floor 1 that you couldn''t have essed if you used the main staircases instead...''


    While on his way down, various thoughts came into Rio''s mind; although most of them were just his guesses, he felt quite sure that his guesses were mostly correct.


    The deeper Rio went, the darker everything became; at one point it was so dark that even night vision would have be useless.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The only reason why Rio could still see everything perfectly was because he could use miasma.


    Miasma can bless you with the power to see through extreme darkness, and you won''t have to worry about losing your precision in even the darkest ces of the world.


    ''The more I use it, the more I feel that Miasma is kind of very useful... And this intensifies my doubts even more...''


    ''Who in the hell created this ''Elemental Sword Art''!? How is this technique so powerful!?'' Originally, Fade would have discovered this technique and attempted to use it to impress Lia and woo her into his harem.


    However, Liapletely rejected his advances, meaning she never learned this technique. Fade and Kira were both mages, so this sword art waspletely useless for them. Hundreds of chapters will go by, and several volumester, the sword art will finally find an owner. Fade will gift it to another of his harem members; one was a heroine from the beast folk race; she was a cat woman, and the sword art worked wonders for her.


    Although she didn''t have much talent and she never got much screen time, she certainly had this technique.


    The other owner of this sword art was Fade''s younger sister, who, for some reason,ter turned out to be an adopted child, so she also ended up in his harem.


    But even she never mastered the sword art to full potential, as she was still much younger and had barely just be an awakener by the time Fade was fighting with SS-rankers.


    The story was already in itste stages, so her character wasn''t really developed much, and she was mostly only shown as the cute little sister and emotional support for Fade.


    There are no solid exnations about where this sword art exactly came from and who exactly created it.


    ''In the first ce, there are no skills in the technique that could help control Miasma anyway...''


    In the original ''Elemental Sword Art'' that Rio stole at the start, there were only techniques for a few types of elements.


    At that time, Rio could only use thunder type, wind type, water type, etc.


    But then Rio got his hand on ''Sword Intent''.


    That''s where everything changed; the existence of sword intent means that Rio can now convert mana into any type of form and use ''Sword Intent'' to stabilize it.


    Rio figured out the fundamental methods of how the technique was manipting various elements, then he tried to do the same using ''Sword Intent'' to stabilize them.


    After achieving sess, Rio added them to the already existing ''Elemental Sword Art.'' This way, the technique itself kept evolving as Rio kept adding more and more skills and elements


    to it.


    After Rio got ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', it boosted his elemental control and stabilizing


    powers.


    As a result, Rio became capable of literally copying elements that werepletely unique and had many limitations.


    This was the reason why Rio was able to copy ''Healing Type'' despite not being a healer himself; simr is true for the ''Golden Thunder'' too.


    Without ''Sword Intent and the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', it would have been impossible to evolve the ''Elemental Sword Art'' to the current levels.


    In other words, Rio hasn''t been reliant on the chances he stole; he has been actively working to upgrade those chances.


    Stealing chances, talents, and skills can only get you so far; if you don''t put in the hard work, then even ''Limitless'' talent will end up being useless.


    You need to move your hand and ''work'' to even eat food; there''s nothing in the world that you can learn without putting in the effort for it.


    Even if you have heaven-defying talents, you still have to work hard for your powers; there''s no shortcut to the path of bing the strongest.


    *nk*


    Rio finally reached the end and jumped on the floor, which caused a metallic sound to ring out. The floor was made up of metal, and the area that Rio finally arrived at looked like some kind of underground factory spread over dozens of miles.


    ''Don''t tell me...''


    Rio''s worries came true; he was worried that there would be a golem guarding the path, but he never expected that he would literally end up in the factory where those golems are made


    in the first ce.


    Rio could see advanced and gigantic machines; there were hundreds of golems standing on a conveyor belt that was likely used to transport those heavy golems to their next assembly unit


    of the factory.


    The only relief was that all the machines in the factory weren''t working.


    ''I guess there''s no one to operate them?... or maybe the factory ran out of power?... Either


    way, that''s good news for me...''


    If the factory was still in work mode, then there would have been golem guards; that would have caused a lot of trouble for Rio.


    Although there weren''t any working golems in sight, Rio still remained vignt; he used the previous method of donning a shadow robe and using miasma in sync with it.


    This will at the least help him dodge fatal blows once or even twice and will give him time to


    escape in dangerous situations.


    [D*mn! This ce is giving such an ominous vibe... I expected that manhole to bring us into a sewer,


    but this waspletely unexpected...]


    [Is the previous offer still valid? I will take over the body if you want...]


    ''No need, you just stay there and don''t bother me for the time being...''


    Ignoring Shadow''s yapping, Rio decided to keep following the vague calling and started


    moving forward.


    Although the environment was dark, Rio was able to swiftly make his way through it.


    Along the way, he saw many different sections of the factory; most of the machines in this ce seemed to have halted production due to an unexpected power outage. After all, if the production was halted properly, there wouldn''t have been so many half- finished products left behind that are still on the various conveyor belts.


    Most machines still had half-processed material under them; if you put the power in them


    again, the whole factory will have no problem restarting its operation normally as there''s already a lot of materials stocked up to process.


    ''I wonder what caused the power outage... If it was due to depletion of fuels, then it would be less concerning... But if it was caused by someone willingly, then that would be more


    concerning...''


    After all, if someone did it on purpose, then that means there''s definitely another hidden boss


    monster in this ce.


    ''Ugh, just dealing with those mimics was such a pain in the A*s; I really don''t want to


    encounter another SS-rank enemy now of all times...''


    Rio''s current situation is like that of a yer who just beat up an extremely strong opponent


    and found out that the boss monster he beat was just a mere Gatekeeper of a much stronger


    boss monster.


    That would mean that your efforts were all just too insignificant and the real challenge hadn''t


    even appeared yet.


    Author Notes!


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Have you ever been in a simr situation in a game as Rio''s?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 382: The Sentient One... Part-2.

    Chapter 382: The Sentient One... Part-2.


    ?


    [This ce is so awesome... This is my first time visiting a factory of this scale...]


    Hearing Shadow''s words, Rio remembered that this guy never went on trips, never had long- term friends, and didn''t enjoy vacations at all.


    ''This guy is kind of simr to me in this aspect... I was the same in my previous life... Maybe it''s the simrities between us that caused us to end up in the same ce...''


    The only difference between the two now is that the original Rio at least saw his parents face and even got to live happily for the early parts of his childhood.


    As for him... he was just a random kid from the slums wandering the cold streets and never knew who his parents were.


    ''In this life, I must wander around a lot and enjoy life as much as I can when I am free from all the troubles...''


    The main goal Rio has right now is to be strong enough to protect himself and the ones he cares for from the inevitable cmity that wille in the future.


    Once that cmity is sessfully dealt with, Rio will just go on a world tour with Lia in tow, and the two of them will enjoy the amazing scenery of the world.


    Eventually they wille back in a few years, and then he will settle down, open a tea shop, and just enjoy the life of a househusband.


    (He''s already imagining himself making tea for Lia when shees home from herpany work...) ''As for shadow... although I am not sure... But this guy will likely disappear after I deal with Alverto...''


    Rio himself knows that the only reason this guy is still preserving and is able to maintain his consciousness from falling apart is because he has immense hatred for Alverto and his subordinates.


    Hatred is one of the ''Paths'' that is extremely destructive in nature; once you walk the ''Path'' of revenge, it won''t even let you die a peaceful death.


    ''Well, I was going to defeat Alverto regardless anyway; putting his breaking consciousness to rest will just be another side-quest, I guess...''


    While walking through the gigantic factory, a thought came to Rio''s mind.


    ''By the way, do you remember what happened that day when you slept and I came to your body... The memories of that day are kind of fuzzy...''


    [Honestly speaking, I never felt iting... I just went to sleep like normal and ''tadaa!'', then I found myself waking to my body enjoying a banquet...]


    ''Ah, you must be referring to the ''Award Ceremony'' that happened after the tournament of supreme talents...''


    ''That means you nearly slept for two years?... No, it can''t be called a sleep anymore; you went in aa, I guess...''


    ''Maybe when my soul entered your body, the impact was too strong, and when our souls merged, your weak consciousness wasn''t able to withstand the burden...''


    [That... might be true, I guess...]


    Although Shadow felt awkward thinking that someone took over his body and was now even ming it on him for having a ''weak'' consciousness, he didn''t bother arguing with Rio.


    He knew that what had happened couldn''t be changed; in the first ce, he himself could have never achieved what the other party has.


    Now he just wants to see Alverto die a miserable death, and then he will be able to let go of his regrets and hatred.


    As long as the ''Wandering Soul'' fulfills his lifelong wish, he doesn''t have any other


    grievances, and he will hand over the body to him honestly.


    [Right now... I have very little control over the body, but that much is enough...]


    [If you don''t want me to cause problems for you in the future, you better help me out, and I will help you out in return...]


    [I use you, you use me; it''s a win-win situation, partner...]


    ''You don''t want to live a long life or anything else... You always shout about marriage and stuff... What about that then?''


    [No... those are just the regrets that I couldn''t fulfill... They are nothing more than that...]


    [My only wish now is to see Alverto dead... That much is enough for me...]


    If not for Alverto, the original Rio would have lived a happy life, and maybe even Kevin would havee to his senses eventually, and then he would have gotten the love of both parents.


    And even if he hadn''t achieved anything great in life, even if his talent was bad, he had no hope of bing even a B-ranker in his whole life.


    At least he could have lived a decent life that everyone aspires for.


    The destruction of the world, the great cmities, and the increasing density of mana have no bearing on ordinary individuals like him.


    It would have been the responsibility of the SS-rankers and the world''s protagonist to resolve that issue; it would have been of no concern to him.


    ''Well, consider your wish granted then; I will have to deal with Alverto eventually anyway; it doesn''t matter if I help you out along the way...''


    [... You are... a kind person, aren''t you, Wandering Soul? I am certain that you likely aren''t one of those evil spirits that possess your body and make you evil...]


    [No... I feel like you are actually too kind... Tell me the truth. Have you ever killed anything before you entered my body...]


    ''Haha, you think too highly of me... I am but a very evil criminal...''


    [No way, I refuse to believe it! You don''t have that ruthlessness in you...]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [If not for your fading emotions, I think you must have been a gentle soul... someone like Riya, I


    guess...]


    ''Seriously? I and Riya have nothing in simr, you know...''


    [No, she''s obsessed with her candies, and you are obsessed with tea! Quite simr, right?]


    ''That doesn''t imply anything; don''t go for the looks; if the worst-case scenario happens, Riya can definitely evenmit genocide for Link''s sake...''


    ''As for me... I already left my kindness behind long ago... Only selfishness can keep you alive in


    a cruel world...''


    In his past life, if Rio wasn''t selfish enough and wasn''t working hard for his own sake, he would have died on the streets from starvation when he was still a beggar.


    ''Forget it... I havee a long way since then; there''s no point in mentioning that matter


    now...''


    Not to mention the past life; Rio has already forgotten his past life''s name long ago; he has no attachments to his previous world, and he has no regrets left for that past life.


    What he needs to focus on is his current self; his current life matters the most.


    ''Although there''s been ups and downs along the way, I can''t hope for a better life than this


    one...''


    ''Friends, love, teachers, supporters, etc. I have been blessed with everything... Maybe I


    consumed all my luck to get this much for myself...''


    [Well, you certainly seized my body for it, but I don''t resent you either... Just make sure you live a good


    life for my sake too, and we will be even...]


    ''I sure will...''


    [That''s the spirit! Now let''s go andplete this so-called ''Practice trial''!]


    ''Yeah, enough chit-chat... We should hurry...''


    Rio rarely gets to talk so much with anyone as he has too many secrets and he can''t reveal them to anyone at all, but Shadow is the only one who can share his burdens to this extent. After Lia, Shadow might be the only person who knows the most about him.


    Once he ended the inner monologue with Shadow, Rio sped up his walking speed and finally reached the deepest chamber of the factory.


    The following words were written on a sign board hanging above the door:


    [Here resides the ''Sentient One'', Don''t barge in without permission...]


    Looking at that sign board, Rio hesitated a bit.


    ''Er... is this someone''s house? I don''t think it''s a good idea to barge in randomly in someone''s


    house...''


    *Knock* *Knock*


    Rio knocked on the door politely so as not to cause trouble.


    If there really is an SS-ranker here, he wants to solve the problem without having to resort to


    violence, as that would put him at a disadvantage.


    If you can solve something without needing to unsheathe your sword, why not do it


    peacefully, right?


    When Rio knocked on the door, a surprised voice came from the inside.


    "Huh? Was that a knock on the door!! Does that mean someone finally came to this ce after


    so many centuries!?"


    The voice seemed hoarse and rough, and it had a peculiar aura to it.


    The very moment Rio sensed that aura, he immediately became vignt.


    ''Sh*t! It''s indeed an SS ranker! Sometimes I wonder why my guesses always end uping to


    reality!''


    Rio shook his head in helplessness and waited for the door to open.


    When the door finally opened, a small floating golem, the size of a palm appeared in front of


    him.


    "Oh!! So there really was someone!! Wow!! You are covered in miasma from head to toe! Are you a demon? I have never actually seen one myself, but you sure look like one..."


    Seeing that the other party couldn''t see through him, Rio breathed a sigh of relief and decided


    to go with the flow.


    "I am actually a half demon; do you not like demons?" (That was a dumb question; nobody in


    this world likes demons at all...)


    At Rio''s question, the small golem shook its head.


    "Eh, no, I haven''t met a living being for a very long time now; I don''t hate anyone, and I am


    just happy to see someone after so long!"


    Fortunately, the golem seemed to have a calm personality.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Why do you think Rio introduced himself as a half-demon?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 383: The Sentient One... Part-3.

    Chapter 383: The Sentient One... Part-3.


    ?


    Rio chose not to reveal his identity because he didn''t want to deactivate his shadowrobe just yet.


    He might still have a chance to withstand the attack if he has the shadow robe on, but without it, he will be totally on the mercy of this unknown SS-ranker.


    ''Let''s just hope I can solve this without a battle...''


    If it were an S-ranker, Rio wouldn''t have hesitated this much; he would have fought the other party head-on, but things are not in his favor right now, so he has to use other tricks to get his work done.


    *Step* *Step*


    The small golem invited Rio inside the chamber, so he stepped on the wooden floor and walked behind the golem without hesitation.


    "This ce is different from the outside... Unlike the outside, it''s made out of wood, and it''s fragile."


    At Rio''s words, the small golem nodded its head in agreement.


    "Yes! I made it myself! I had to scourge through all ten floors of the building to look for pieces of wood to make this small cabin... This is my home, actually..."


    Rio nced at the small body of the golem and had serious doubts in his mind.


    ''This likely isn''t the real body, as it''s too weak...''


    The small golem is crudely made, and the materials used to make it were just iron and some ordinary metals that were being used to create vulnerable parts of the traps on the above floors.


    Rio can easily corrode this small golem as it''s not made out of adamantine and mithril.


    Although the small golem was giving off a few traces of the aura of an SS-ranker, it doesn''t seem strong.


    "I waited and waited for a very long time; I waited for a living one toe and help me figure out what''s wrong with my father!"


    "Now that you are here! Everything will be okay! Hehe..."


    The small golem hopped on the ground like a small, cute rabbit; its giggles seemed like those of a child, pure and without any hidden intentions.


    Rio nced around everywhere and noticed that there were various crudely made pieces of furniture ced inside.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''This whole ce doesn''t match the theme of the factory outside... Everything outside is advanced and shows signs of amazing technology...''


    ''And here... these things seem like they have been made by someone who clearly didn''t know how to create furniture and stuff...''


    One thing is for sure though: Rio is definitely on the first floor of the hidden building.


    He can tell that because he saw a signboard hanging somewhere in the factory that had ''Floor 1'' written on it.


    ''The strangest thing is that all the texts written in this ce are written in ''Ezkina''...''


    The dragon king said that this hidden building appeared around the time when Mana first descended in this world, and if that''s true, then at that time thenguage ''EzKina'' shouldn''t have existed at all.


    King Allen was the one who gathered the people to create this unifiednguage, but around the time this building came to be, King Allen wasn''t even born yet.


    ''So, howe thisnguage is being used to depict the floor numbers... very strange indeed...''


    While mulling over these doubts in his mind, Rio followed the small golem and arrived at the innermost area of the chamber.


    The innermost area was much bigger than the outside, and there was a massive magic circleid out on the floor. The most shocking thing was that someone had carved this magic circle out of blood!


    Rio could sense immense life force and vital energy from that dried-up magic circle.


    ''This is!? A forbidden magic!?''


    Only when you use forbidden magic do you need to use blood to create the magic circle; otherwise, you can just use condensed mana and the powder made from the magic stones to create a magic circle.


    Most forbidden magics are extremely twisted and evil spells that cause immense suffering, not only to the victim but also to the user of the spell.


    Rio nced around and noticed a human skeleton sitting in a lotus pose near the wall.


    There were ashes scattered around it as if the person''s whole body had been burned to ashes and only the skeleton was left of them.


    Finally, there was another big golem, which looked simr to the two golems who were guarding the stairs of floor 5 and floor 6.


    Only this golem''s body parts were broken and had massive cracks on them; even its energy core was missing from its chest.


    ''Phew, good thing it doesn''t have an energy core; without an energy core it won''t move...'' Ignoring Rio, who was standing in one spot due to the sheer shock, the small golem jumped towards the skeleton and then waved its small hands at Rio before saying.


    "This! This is my father! I don''t know what happened, but when I opened my eyes, he had turned into this statue-like state... Can you help him perhaps... I don''t know how living beings work... Is he in some kind of ''Evolution'' state?"


    Rio waspletely lost for words after hearing the question of the small golem.


    He was originally thinking that there would be a boss fight soon, but he never expected to see this weird scenario.


    "Uh... little Golem, can you tell me what you saw when you first woke up?"


    The small golem ced a hand on its cheek as if it were thinking hard; it seemed very cute while doing that action.


    "Hmm, when I opened my eyes, I felt a lot of memories rushing inside my mind; they were foreign memories... I just couldn''tprehend them... They were too vast and jumbled up..." "But I did understand one thing: that this being was the one who created me... He''s my father..."


    Rio suddenly pointed to the magic circle on the ground and asked,


    "Were you sitting in the middle of this magic circle when you woke up?"


    The small golem nodded its head without hesitation.


    Then Rio asked another question.


    "Did your father''s body turn into this state when you woke up..."


    The small golem nodded its head once again.


    After hearing the story of this small golem and looking at the clues in the surroundings, Rio more or less already figured out what had happened here.


    ''This skeleton likely belongs to an SS-ranker who came to this hidden building to explore this ce, but then for some reason either he didn''t go out or he gotpletely stuck in this


    ce...''


    ''He was then either suffering from boredom or was either corrupted by miasma...''


    Rio could sense the traces of miasma from the skeleton, so that might be the right answer.


    ''Then this unknown SS-ranker, who had already gone partially insane, started to experiment on the golems that were wandering inside this building...''


    When affected by miasma, a person can do any kind of random maniac-like thing without a


    solid reason for it.


    ''Maybe the reason why there were only two remaining golems left to guard the stairs is because this SS-ranker caught them all and ran so many experiments that most of them got


    destroyed...''


    For weaker individuals like Rio and the others, these golems might be too powerful and unbreakable, but for SS-rankers, they are just mere toys that can be shattered with a mere


    flick of a finger.


    Rio nced at the small golem, and a thought came to his mind.


    ''Maybe the reason why the SS-ranker did so was because he wanted to create a sentient


    golem, a golem that will have its own thinking process and a life of its own...''


    ''That SS-ranker wanted to create genuine ''life'' with their own hands...'' Looking at the magic circle, Rio noticed the strange pattern of thousand moons and stars on


    the outer circle, and the final piece of the puzzle fell into ce.


    ''No wonder this magic circle felt familiar... This is the forbidden magic circle called ''Soul


    "Transnt''...''


    Although manipting the ''Soul'' is a very difficult thing, if it''s your own soul, then it bes easier.


    The SS-ranker used his own blood and vitality to create this magic circle; that''s likely the reason why Rio can sense such immense aura and vitality just from the dried blood of this


    magic circle.


    Using the forbidden magic, the SS-ranker tried to put his own soul and consciousness inside


    this small golem.


    Although the small golem''s body is weak, Rio can sense that there''s a very powerful energy


    core inside its body.


    ''Ah, I see, so that''s how it is...''


    A look of realization appeared in Rio''s eyes that was hidden under the helmet of the shadow


    robe.


    ''No wonder the factory outside seems to have run out of energy; no wonder there isn''t any energy core inside this broken golem...''


    The SS-ranker likely used the whole fuel energy of the factory outside and also the cores of many golems to create a single extremely powerful core that had immense energy in it.


    It has so much energy that if detonated, it can cause a literal ''Supernova'' that will st the whole sr system to pieces.


    ''In other words, this little golem, which looks harmless and cute, is carrying a literal miniature ''Sun'' inside its body... No wonder I felt the aura of a Peak SS ranker from this little


    guy...''


    The SS-ranker likely tried to imnt his own memories along with his own soul into the body


    of the small golem, but it failed, and his memories weren''t transnted; only his soul barely made it to the body of the small golem.


    ''In other words, this unknown SS-ranker was sessfully able to create the very first ''Sentient'' golem in this world...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you dare to pat the small golem despite knowing that it can st you off along with


    the whole sr system?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 384: The Practice Trial Ends...

    Chapter 384: The Practice Trial Ends...


    ?


    Rio nced at the small golem and replied in a calm voice.


    "Your father has transformed into a higher state of life... We living beings first grow up from newborns, then be adults, and finally turn into ''energy'' as our mortal coils start to wither away..."


    The small golem couldn''tprehend theplex words that Rio threw at it out of nowhere.


    Rio has never experienced what it''s like to have parents, which leaves himcking in many emotional aspects.


    He doesn''t know how to properly console someone and help them in times of sadness and stuff, as he never had anyone to console and care for his feelings either.


    But he did see on the inte that you shouldn''t be too straightforward in these kinds of matters.


    When telling a child about their parent''s death, it''s better to hide the truth behind a wall ofplex words that they will slowlyprehend themselves as they grow up.


    Although he never had others teach him how to take other people''s feelings into consideration, he learned all that from the inte.


    After all, if you don''t have the real ''emotions'' you can at least ''Act'' like you do have them. Rio learned how to do that just in case all his future ns fail and he ends up bing a total war machine with no emotions.


    In case he really did end up as a killing machine, at least he will remember how to ''Act'' like a normal human with emotions; that way he will have a solid moralpass and he won''t need emotions.


    {When a person loses their emotions and their humanity, they have two ''paths'' ahead to choose from.


    Either the person chooses to keep their morals intact and remains their true self, just like they were before.


    Or the person bes an emotionless killing machine that will not care about life and deaths anymore.


    Maybe, these two are the fundamental differences between a Kind Hero and An Evil Viin.}


    But of course, this is just the backup n; after all, Rio is trying his best to ensure that this worst-case scenario doesn''t happen.


    In any case, Rio is quite sure that he won''t end up as a ''viin'' at the very least.


    ...


    The small golem tilted its head in confusion and asked,


    "So, how do I meet Father now?"


    Rio bent down and gently patted the little guy''s head before speaking in a rare and gentle tone.


    "Energy has no solid form; your father has be so great that he has be one with the world itself; he''s now everywhere; he''s in your heart, and he''s in the air thatforts you..."


    "He''s in the warm sunshine that consoles you, and he''s in the refreshing water that washes away all your sins..."


    Hearing such amazing praise from Rio''s mouth, the little golem started to jump around in happiness like a little rabbit.


    Rio stood up and spoke calmly.


    "If you want to be as great as your father, you should also work hard; you mustn''t cry and you mustn''t feel lonely... Your father left you on your own because he deemed that you are strong..."


    "You are strong enough to live on your own..."


    The small golem clenched his small fists tightly and nodded his head. There''s a microphone fitted inside its mouth, and it used that to speak.


    "Yes! I am strong!"


    Rio nodded his head at those words.


    "Good, that''s the spirit..." (I have a feeling... I think Rio maybe will be a very reliable and good father for his children... right?)


    ''If... if possible... I would have liked to tell all these words to my own younger self... maybe... maybe that would have changed my life a lot...''


    Although there was no one to pat Rio''s head and tell him these words when he needed to hear them the most, he can now tell these words to someone else who''s in a simr situation as him.


    A rare smile appeared on Rio''s face while looking at that little golem.


    ''Well, maybe I also grew up after all...''


    The guy who used to be socially awkward andpletely oblivious to the world has figured out what it means to ''live'', for himself and for others.


    Creating paths in circumstances where there are no possibilities and adapting to the changes in the strings of destiny-maybe that''s what it means to be an ''Anomaly''.


    ...


    "Oh, I suddenly remembered that I heard a voice in my head tell me that once I meet someone worthy, I must guide them towards the hidden treasure!!"


    The small golem jumped up in excitement and hurriedly pushed away a small cupboard


    nearby.


    Once the cupboard was pushed to the side, a hidden lever appeared in Rio''s view.


    The vague calling in his head became even stronger once heid his eyes on that lever.


    Without waiting for Rio to ask, the small golem immediately operated the lever, and the floor beneath Rio''s feet started to move.


    Rio jumped to the side and waited to see what would happen.


    ''Eh, another hidden staircase? Just how many hidden stairs are in this ce?''


    Rio shook his head and nced at the small golem.


    As if sensing his gaze, the small golem jumped twice to show its excitement and said,


    "Come! Follow me! Let''s go and find the treasure!! Hehe!"


    With that said, the small golem jumped and started to descend downstairs; seeing that there


    was no other choice, Rio also decided to follow behind.


    He''s still wearing his shadow robe along with Miasma just in case some other trap gets


    triggered.


    But his worries werepletely pointless; there were no more traps along the way, and there was no other golem in sight either.


    When the two finally descended, they found themselves standing in a brightly lit hidden room with variousplex magic circles and diagrams engraved on the walls.


    Just by taking a single nce, Rio figured out that those were likely the research-rted


    notes of the SS-ranker who created this sentient golem.


    If Rio can copy all this down and master it, he can also create a sentient golem one day.


    But those were not the things that stood out the most.


    The thing that stood out the most in the hidden room was a strange, torn-up piece of paper kind of thing that was floating in the center of the room.


    That strange-looking paper seemed ''Aura-less'', ''Mana-less'', and ''existence-less'' at one nce, and at another it seemed to be radiating with immense power.


    As if all the ''Laws'' of the world have manifested their powers in that small ''shard'' like thing, even the void around seemed to be bending and trembling uncontrobly.


    ''This is!?''


    Before Rio had the time to even react, the shard-like thing instantly turned into a ray of light


    and entered his body without any resistance.


    [Ding! You have received an ''Unknown Fragment''!]


    [Ding! Warning! This item can''t be discarded, traded, or consumed. It can only be transferred to others


    either willingly or via death.]


    [Ding! The ''Imperfect Sword Heart'' received a considerable boost!]


    [Ding! ''Sword Intent'' mastery has been increased considerably!]


    [Ding! The ''A??m???'' has partially manifested; the manifestation speed has been increased


    considerably!]


    For a second, Rio''s head cked out, and he seemed to have seen a vast amount of gxies


    and sr systems in that instant.


    He felt as if he had traveled all over the cosmos in that mere millisecond without even moving from his original spot, even a single inch.


    It was bizarre; it was an indescribable feeling; he felt as if he had be detached from the world and the ''Laws'' and was floating in the cosmos like a free entity.


    It felt as if nothing was binding him and he could do whatever he wanted.


    At that moment, Rio snapped out of that weird state and came back to his senses.


    ''W-what the!? What just happened!?''


    Before Rio could collect himself and calm down, a massive announcement rang out in the


    whole factory.


    [Side quest of the sentientpleted!]


    [Main quest of conquering all floorspleted!]


    [Defeating an SS-rank enemypleted!]


    [All conditions Full-filled!]


    [Congrattions! The Practice trail has beenpleted!]


    [Starting ejecting all participants now...]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rio felt the gravity around him disappear, and along with the small golem, he found himself


    falling inside a portal that appeared out of nowhere!


    Before he even had the time to react, Rio was thrown out by the portal, and he directlynded


    in a familiar soft embrace.


    Indeed, Lia caught him mid-air before he could fall down on the ground! As his head was a bit


    of a mess at the moment, it was difficult for him to find bnce.


    Lia came at the right moment to support him, or he would have had to kiss the ground like


    Fade does all the time!


    Rio''s shadowrobe had already deactivated the moment he lost his consciousness for a second,


    so Lia could see the surprise on his face. A mischievous smile appeared on her face at that


    moment.


    "Yo! Handsome! How about this youngdy helps you out if you have had a few too many


    drinks today..."


    Rio gave a wry smile at those words.


    "Stop acting like an evil old uncle who''s trying to woo a helpless drunk girl and put me


    down..."


    It was embarrassing to be carried princess style, even for Rio, who has an expressionless face.


    Lia nodded her head and put him down, but Rio''s feet staggered again, and he nearly fell


    down, so Lia had to grab his arm to keep him standing.


    "Er... I am not feeling quite good right now... everything''s spinning..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Lia nodded her head and replied,


    "No worries! You can rely on me!"


    It seems Lia finally got to exact a tiny bit of revenge out of him from all those times he teased her; after all, his defense was very low at the moment.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Every new Fragment adds and Auxiliary chapter, don''t forget to read the new one in the


    auxiliary volume.


    Question of the day.


    What are your thoughts on this very peculiar turn of events?


    (Tell me in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 385: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-1.

    Chapter 385: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-1.


    ?


    A few minutes ago, Floor 1.


    "Tch, was I toote after all..."


    Standing at the same altar-like ce where Neo once came, Idri clicked his tongue, and a deep frown appeared on his face.


    Idri could see that the altar has long been destroyed, and whatever knowledge was stored inside of it has already been plundered.


    ''What are you trying to ''create'' with that kind of ''Forbidden Magic'' Neo Aldif... You of all people should know that crossing certain boundaries will earn you the hatred of certain ''Laws'' of the world...''


    The ''Laws'' of the world can be considered partially conscious existence; just like how they can favor someone and grant them ''Legendary Skills'', they can also hate someone and can even bestow immensely powerful curses too.


    Just as they have the power to bless anyone at random, they also have the power to curse anyone at random; provoking their hatred is one of the surefire ways to do so.


    One of the easiest methods to get cursed by the ws'' of the world is to use powerful forbidden magic that would interfere with the ws'' themselves; this will incur their wrath very easily.


    SS-rankers are the people who are most sensitive to the changes in the ''Laws'' of the world, and they know how vast the power of a ''Law'' can be; thus, even they dare not cross certain boundaries.


    Even SS-rankers will find themselves helpless if a curse of that magnitude is ced upon them.


    In fact, there are even some urrences of people being born with those types of curses from the very start.


    Legend has it that once you get cursed by the ''Laws'' of the world, that curse will directly affect your soul; in other words, even if you die and get born again, you will still be afflicted with it!


    Such types of curses are permanent! There''s no remedy for them!


    This is the reason why Idri is feeling very confused at this moment.


    ''If my guess is correct... then this altar likely had a forbidden magic rted to some kind of summoned beast mutation and evolution... I can''t think of anything that might motivate him to do all this...''


    Neo came all the way to the ''Dragon Valley'', and there''s obviously a very big reason behind it; no sane person will anger the dragon king for no apparent reason.


    ''I am more surprised that he even knew that there''s a hidden ce like this in the dragon valley, when even I myself didn''t know about it...''


    Dragon have lived in istion for a long time, and they didn''t even take part in the demon extinction war, which means there are only a few limited ways the information could have leaked outside.


    Idri will need to track down these leaks, and he will be able to figure out what Neo is actually aiming for.


    [Ding! All Conditions met!]


    [Ding! The practice trial has ended!]


    [Ding! Starting ejecting all participants...]


    ''Hmm? Practice Trial? What is that?''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Just like Rio had assumed earlier, aside from him, no one received that practice trial, and no one even knew about it; even Idri was oblivious to its existence.


    ''So it''s time to leave... Forget it; I have found nearly all pieces of the puzzle by now anyway...''


    Idri shook his head and stopped worrying over this matter too much.


    The teleportation portal appeared below his feet and teleported him outside.


    ...


    The rest of the group also got teleported, and all of them were spewed out by the portal like a cannon firing cannonball.


    All of them were in high spirits, so theynded without falling.


    Riya was clinging to Link''s neck in her ''Astral Form'' so this time she didn''t mess up thending either.


    Only Rio was the one who found himself staggering today, as his head seemed like it was spinning all around.


    Lia put his hand over her shoulder and supported him; the small golem sat on his shoulder and looked at everything with great curiosity.


    Although Rio''s eyes blurry at the moment, he noticed Link standing nearby.


    "Oh, so you were fine, Link? I thought you would get turned into a sieve by those spear traps... How did you dodge them, by the way?"


    Liam was also curious how Link dodged those spears; he only dodged them because he could detect them with the help of his ''Mana Field''; if not for that, he couldn''t have done so.


    Upon hearing that question, Link scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.


    Riya deactivated her astral form and jumped down from his back.


    "Er... uh... That''s a long story... Let''s talk about itter..."


    Link was feeling embarrassed that Rio and Liam survived with their own powers, and he used Riya''s help to survive, which was external help.


    For a proud warrior like him, getting helped by someone else is not really something he can be proud of, so he can''t boast about it either.


    ''I can''t possibly say that I hid behind the warm embrace of my girlfriend and she protected me


    all along!''


    Link can already see that the two of them willugh mockingly at him if they know about this. Link can''t afford to reveal this embarrassing story to his rivals!


    While Link was hesitating, Fenix and Sin also came out of the portal.


    Sin nced at Rio and Lia; seeing them so close, she misunderstood that they were already being lovey-dovey in broad daylight; thus, she only nodded her head at them and didn''t


    bother talking.


    In the end, it turned out that everyone made it alive out of that dangerous ce.


    Idri waved his hand and opened a portal before saying,


    "Everyone, follow me... I have important things to discuss... Fenix, you carry Rio sh back to the dragon pce and ask Aria to have a look at him; we can''t afford to have our guests suffer any injury when they are in the dragon valley."


    Although Idri doesn''t really like the rest of the bunch aside from Link, they are still ''Guests'' after all; it would ruin his reputation if something happened to them.


    Fenix nodded his head and followed the orders; by now he has already carried Rio two times, so he was already experienced at this.


    Lia had a look of concern on her face, but she had no choice but to follow the rest of the group.


    As Fenix left via another portal, Idri took the rest of the group to apletely different ce


    with him.


    ...


    Dragon Valley, Southern Area,


    Draconic divine tower of prophecies.


    The Divine Tower of Prophecies is a peak SS-grade auxiliary type artifact that the dragon race


    once won from conquering a dangerous SS-rank dungeon.


    As it is too big to keep in a space ring all the time, they ced it on a secluded ind two hundred kilometers from the maind in the middle of the ocean.


    Here the water dragons guard this ce with utmost caution; this is one of the areas of the dragon valley that no one can enter without the dragon king''s permission.


    A portal appeared on the rooftop of the divine tower. Idri and the rest of the group walked out of the portal and were momentarily stunned after seeing the amazing scenery of the ce. You could see the vast ocean from here, and the setting sun has turned the water surface slightly red along with the sky.


    It looked amazing; if Rio was here, he would have been mesmerized by it.


    Idri ignored the group and walked over to a strange pir located at the center with various mysterious magic circles engraved on it.


    He ced his hand at the pir and then nced at Link before saying, "Embedding your mana in this pir can give you prophecies about the future; ask your pathetic friend to cut his finger a bit and drop his blood on this pir..."


    "We will need his blood to see Neo''s Aldif''s future; after all, he''s Neo''s legitimate son..."


    An awkward atmosphere appeared; the group was stunned that Idri referred to Liam as


    ''Pathetic''.


    Link himself has never dared to disrespect Liam like that.


    Although he always bickers with Liam from time to time, he has genuine respect for Liam''s


    strength.


    Aside from Rio, only Liam can go toe to toe with him.


    Before Link could argue with Idri, Liam shook his head and walked over to the pir himself.


    He brought out a knife from his space ring and cut his finger a bit to drop the blood on the


    pir. He''s already used to insults; there''s no point if Idri throws more at him, and he doesn''t want the rest of the group to get involved in this matter. (Good thing Rio isn''t here; he would have unsheathed his sword by now...)


    Idri didn''t care about the small things and embedded his mana in the pir; the magic circles


    on the pir lit up brightly.


    "If my guess is correct, then this pir will not be able to give us any prophecies at all..."


    The group was a bit confused at Idri''s words, but before they could ask, the magic circles on


    the pir dimmed and fell inactive again.


    Idri''s words turned out to be true; there were no prophecies in the end.


    Sin, who was the most knowledgeable about the divine tower, frowned deeply and asked,


    "But how can this be... I have never heard about the divine tower ever failing like this, W- what''s going on, Father?"


    Hearing that question, Idri sighed and stared at the setting sun for a moment before


    speaking.


    "The divine tower only fails to deliver prophecies in two conditions: either that the person we


    are trying to look for is ''dead'' in the present or in the future..."


    "Or the power of a ''Law'' of the ''World'' has interfered with the working mechanism of the


    tower..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you fight an SS-ranker if they insulted your friend?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 386: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-2.

    Chapter 386: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-2.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Staring at the setting sun, Idri continued in a solemn voice.


    "In that strange underground building, I found a familiar type of altar on Floor 1, which is the lowest floor..."


    "There are old records of the previous Dragon King finding various simr altars in that time when Mana first descended in this world..."


    "The previous Dragon King spected that those Altars all had a forbidden magic tainted with miasma and corruption hidden inside them... The previous dragon king destroyed all of those altars himself..."


    "This prevented the forbidden magic from spreading into our world; if not for his that action, there would have been a lot of people in this world who would have mastered horrible and cruel magic forms by now..."


    Forbidden magic mostly refers to those practices or spells that use life force, souls, and corruption as their power source.


    The process of extracting life force and soul from an individual is extremely cruel, as most of the time you need a corrupted evil soul in these types of magic.


    Thus, you would need to torture the victim immensely to the point that their soul gets corrupted with hatred and miasma.


    There have been no reports of people doing these practices because they arepletely illegal all over the world.


    The world alliance has strict rules, and unless you want an SS-ranker to pay you a visit personally, you wouldn''t want to break those rules no matter what.


    Given the existence of SS-rankers like Ashtel, who prioritize the safety of the people above all else, it is impossible that they will allow such evil practices to continue.


    The whole is always under the watch of the alliance except for the Demon Continent; thus, even if someone wants to use forbidden magic on a vast scale, they can''t unless they themselves are in the Demon Continent.


    "The situation has changed now... Neo Aldif likely found the altar intact and then broke it to loot the forbidden magic inside..."


    "ording to the inscriptions on the altar, the forbidden magic that was stored in that hidden altar is likely rted to summoned beast evolution and human body possession or something like that..."


    "The previous king figured out how to decode those inscriptions and taught it to me just in case..."


    "I think that Neo wants to enhance and evolve his summoned beasts using this forbidden magic..."


    At that moment, Idri nced at Link and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "And we can all imagine what his goal could be..."


    At that moment, a look of realization came upon the whole group, including Link.


    "T-this!? B-but is it really possible!?"


    Link was the one who was most shocked by this situation.


    "Yes... his primary goal is Ashtel Rex..."


    In the whole world alliance, Ashtel Rex is the strongest SS-ranker; he can go toe to toe with Idri if the worst-case scenario happens. That''s why Idri respects him and has never tried to fight him.


    Even Idri tried to woo Ashtel Rex; he even tried to offer his own daughter as a bargaining chip; he offered his daughter''s hand for marriage with Link, just so he could get the talented Link and the strong Ashtel Rex on his side.


    Ashtel''s existence alone is enough to decrease the crime rate in the whole human empire and remain below 0.3% at all times.


    Due to Ashtel Rex, the police in the human empire have be a joke; they literally beg the government to give them work, as they don''t have any cases to investigate all year long.


    This decreases their sry, and people have even started to say that they don''t even need police anymore.


    Criminals consider their life choices a hundred times as the fear of Ashtel Rex is just too big. "In your human empire and even in the alliance, Ashtel Rex is the reason why everything is so stable; his existence is the reason why the other SS-rankers dare not raise a finger towards the human race..."


    Idri clenched his fist a bit and smiled.


    "I dare say that even if I send Fenix and the other SS-rankers under mymand to fight him altogether, the final victor will still be Ashtel Rex in the end..."


    "I never underestimate the power of my opponents, Link; your father is the only person I


    think can rival me and can keep me at bay when I go all out..."


    "But this is also the reason why your father is the biggest thorn in the eyes of a lot of people..."


    Ashtel Rex is a benevolent and kind hero and the symbol of hope for the people of the human empire, but for many people, he''s the biggest obstacle and the most annoying thorn stuck in their flesh that refuses toe out.


    "As long as he is standing proud and strong, as long as your father''s fist is still supporting the sky for you, not a single evil-minded person will dare to even breathe too loudly in his


    presence..."


    "But... what if that ''Symbol of Hope'' doesn''t exist anymore?... What if the person keeping everything stable suddenly disappears?"


    "Then everything will change; the power dynamics of the whole world will change... In fact,


    even the demons will start moving more arrogantly if he disappears..."


    Hearing those words, Link frowned deeply and asked in a solemn tone,


    "B-but... I-I really can''t see Father losing to some random evil magic like that-"


    Idriughed a bit at those words and interjected.


    "It''s not about defeating or losing; maybe Neo has some other ns; he might be aiming to only weaken Ashtel to some extent..."


    "Actually, I refuse to believe that Neo is working alone in this matter; he might have someone else working with him..."


    The solemn look on Idri''s face deepened.


    "If he''s resorting to forbidden magic, I won''t be surprised if Neo has already coborated with the demons..."


    "The world has many tricks and techniques hidden in it''s secret hiding ces; among those infinite possibilities, I won''t be surprised if someone finds the ''Perfect'' counter for Ashtel


    too..."


    Liam frowned at that moment and asked,


    "But what would he gain from defeating Link''s father? Wouldn''t that just weaken humanity and, in turn, harm him too?"


    Idri frowned at Liam but still answered in a calm voice.


    "There can be any kind of reason... Maybe his real goal isn''t even Ashtel at all... Maybe he wants to achieve something that is just too evil, and Ashtel might be the one blocking his path


    forward...."


    "There are just too many possibilities; only he might know about it all..."


    Idri shook his head, looked at Link once more, and then spoke.


    "Link, a fine warrior must be ready for all circumstances; you should do the same. Although I can''t see Ashtel losing to anyone, you should still be ready for the worst-case scenario..."


    "If for some reason Ashtel Rex goes out ofmission, then the next person everyone will ce their hopes on will be you..."


    "You will have to withstand the pressure from all over the world; everyone will hope for you to grow up fast and stabilize the situation in Ashtel''s stead..."


    Idri sighed at those words.


    "Raji and Jin are just kiddos with not much talent and power; they alone can''t stabilize the entire human race and the position of humanity in the world alliance..."


    Jin has no hope of going further than he already has; thus, he will likely not even reach Neo''s level for hundreds of years.


    On the other hand, Raji worked hard to grow up to the level where she could exact a bit of revenge from Neo for what he did, but even her improvement speed slowed down


    considerably after reaching rank SS.


    Forget about Ashtel; she will need decades to even reach Neo''s level of strength. (Neo let her


    beat him on purpose; she couldn''t have done it otherwise...)


    In other words, Link has more hope for reaching Ashtel''s level than nearly all the current SS- rankers, including those from the alliance.


    "Just pray that nothing happens to Ashtel or get ready to bear immense pressure; you only have these two choices... After all, you are still too weak to even beat Neo''s mimic beasts, let


    alone his real body..."


    Although Idri doesn''t like Neo, he has fought the guy once, and it can be said that Neo can hold his own for a few hours even in front of the strongest person in the world, which is already an amazing feat.


    Raji and Jin wouldn''t havested that long if they were the ones fighting with Idri at that


    moment.


    In fact, Neo forced Idri to allow him to stay; other weaker SS-rankers couldn''t have even dreamed of forcing his hand like that, as they would have been dead by that point. Although Idri doesn''t know what Neo is actually aiming for, he knows one thing for sure: Neo


    is definitely not a small fry who can be ignored.


    "Well, that''s it... Let''s go back to the dragon pce now..."


    A confused look appeared on Sin''s face as she asked,


    "Uh, you already know about it all; then why aren''t we taking any action against him?"


    Idriughed a bit at those words and patted Sin''s head as if he were pitying a kid who


    lacked insight.


    "Sin, these things are but the concern of the human empire and the alliance; it has nothing


    to do with us; we dragons are a neutral party..."


    "Neo tried to harm the dragon valley, so I will definitely punish him for that, but everything


    else has nothing to do with us..."


    "And I am sure that Ashtel Rex can handle these small waves; in fact, I am kind of curious how


    things will turn out..."


    A look of amusement appeared on Idri''s face as he opened a portal for the group.


    "Follow me..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What do you think? What might be Neo''s ultimate n?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 387: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-3.

    Chapter 387: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-3.


    ?


    The group had no choice but to follow Idri back to the dragon pce; no one had a solid idea about what Neo was actually nning, and everything was but spection in the end.


    Once they passed through the portal, the group arrived at the throne room, and Idri spoke in a calm voice.


    "I will see to it if Neo has left any hidden troubles behind in the dragon valley in the next few days, so I shall not apany you next; you can spend the time at your own leisure..."


    Idri nced at Liam before looking at the others.


    "I am not obliged to worry about what Neo will do in the outside world; as long as he doesn''t bother me and the dragon valley, I won''t bother dealing with him either..."


    "So, when you guys are back, make sure you tell Ashtel and the others; they are the ones you will need to rely on... Don''t expect me toe for your help..."


    Idri and the Dragon Valley has nothing to do with what chaos Neo wants to cause; in fact, it was even better that Neo got rid of that forbidden magic for the Dragon Valley.


    Now the dragon valley will be safer; in the end, Neo''s actions indirectly benefited the dragon valley, so Idri wasn''t really going to pursue the guy and look for revenge anymore.


    Neo has already atoned for his sins of angering him earlier by getting rid of that forbidden magic in his stead; thus, Idri lost his interest in this matter altogether.


    Hearing Idri''s nonchnt tone, Sin clicked her tongue and didn''t stay longer; she turned toward the door and started to leave.


    The rest of the group also nodded their heads at Idri as a sign of farewell greeting and then left along with Sin.


    Only Sin is bold enough to disy her anger so openly in front of Idri after all; the rest of them still have to follow proper manners as they are in the other party''s home right now and are but guests to the Dragon Valley.


    Idri also ignored Sin''s irritated look on her face and sat on his throne before ordering the maids to bring some wine for him to enjoy.


    ...


    Dragon Pce, A long corridor.


    While walking through the corridor, Sin sighed heavily and nced at Liam,


    "Liam, I apologize in his stead; my father has always been that kind of person; he doesn''t really respect people much who are too weak for him... Just ignore whatever he said to you; he talks too much..."


    Liam shrugged his shoulders at those words and replied in a calm voice,


    "No worries, I have had my fair share of days when I have faced insults and curses; these small matters don''t bother me anymore...''


    Right now, the only thing in Liam''s mind is that he must find some way to help Ellie out of her situation.


    He doesn''t care about anything else much.


    "Sigh, I kind of regret inviting you guys here now... I didn''t expect your supposed fun times would be ruined like this..."


    Sin invited the group out of her own interest, and she was nning on hanging out with team Astra and learning a few tricks from them each, as all of them are the strongest in their


    own sense.


    But nothing went ording to what she had in her mind.


    First that sudden evaluation test came, and her n of enjoying the dragon festival wentpletely haywire. Then the incident with Neo happened, and they got stuck in that mysterious building.


    By the time the group finally made it outside the building, two days had already passed.


    In other words, the Dragon Festival is already over in the central city and all other ces in the Dragon Valley.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Thus, the group has lost their chance of enjoying all the awesome things that they could have seen in the Dragon Festival.


    "Well, I guess all that''s left is for us to see some local scenery at most..."


    Dragons don''t build skyscrapers like humans, and they don''t like living in closed spaces like humans do; they are always closer to nature and prefer living in the wild.


    So, for them, the wild is their home, and thus they don''t focus too much on caring about maintaining tourist spots either, as for them, the beautiful scenery is something they see every day.


    In the whole Dragon Valley, there are definitely amazing spots and ces to enjoy, but they are not properly developed, so you won''t even find a chair to sit there; you will need to sit on stone or the ground if you want to.


    Thus, Sin was having trouble thinking where she should take her friends to have fun, as the Dragon Valley doesn''t usually have these kinds of things; only the Dragon Festival was an exception, but that chance is gone now.


    ''Ugh, if I don''te up with something, they will go home early!!!


    Sin is the most talented in the younger generation of the dragons, so most of her peers are either jealous of her or just want to take advantage of her talent.


    Thus, she doesn''t have friends at all, as she can see through their fa?ade of treating her with fake emotions.


    It''s rare for her to meet people like the members of Team Astra.


    Each and every member of team Astra is a great talent who is a master of their own field, so Sin doesn''t have to worry about them being envious of her status.


    This was also the reason why she was able to easily get along with the group without any problems.


    Once the group reached the end of the corridor, Sin nced at the others and said,


    "It''s gettingte; let''s all disperse now and take some rest. Good night to you all..."


    Sin waved her hand and left in a hurry, as she had to make ns for tonight about where they should go to have fun tomorrow morning.


    Link and the rest also nodded their heads at her and left for their own rooms; only Lia went towards Rio''s room as she wanted to figure out if he was fine.


    Although ain had asked everyone to take rest, none of the members of group peaceful sleep that night as each of them had their own concerns and thoughts bothering


    them today.


    Throne Room.


    "How long are you going to stand there like a statue, speak something, will you?"


    Idri nced at Fenix, who was standing nearby with a grim look on his face.


    Just now Idri told him about the whole story once he came back to report to Idri that Rio was


    doing fine.


    All this left himpletely speechless, and a deep frown appeared on his face.


    "Stealing forbidden magic, and then his future also became mysterious and hidden... This


    doesn''t seem like a good omen..."


    Idri nodded his head at Fenix''s words.


    "Indeed, the guy is likely trying to use some evil means to improve himself... I think he''s working in sync with demons... After all, without the aid of a powerful demon..."


    "That kind of spell won''t work at all..."


    Fenix eyes widened in surprise at those words.


    "Wait! Could it be that you have already figured out which type of forbidden spell Neo got


    from that altar!?"


    Idri nodded his head and said in an amused tone,


    "Although I am not hundred percent sure... but if my interpretations of the broken inscription on the altar are correct... then Neo likely got his hands on something very questionable..."


    Idri sipped the wine and then said in a solemn voice,


    "It''s the kind of forbidden magic that is hated byws of the world to the extreme... It''s so extreme that I can''t even spell out its name; otherwise, I will be cursed by the ''Laws'' too..." Even Idri dared not say the name of the spell out loud for fear of attracting the ''Heavenly Punishment'' out of nowhere on himself.


    Fenix''s mouth widened in shock at those words, but he dared not ask too much about the


    spell.


    After all, these kinds of things are better left unknown; sometimes knowing too much can do you more harm than good.


    "This spell is one of the few that the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' has corrupted the extreme... Its very


    existence is a curse in itself, and just having it in your possession will make the ''Laws'' of the


    ''World'' your enemy..."


    "Neo has gotten his hand on such an evil thing... I don''t want the dragon valley to get in touch


    with such an evil object..."


    Idri got up from his throne and said in a stern voice,


    "Once the guests leave the Dragon Valley, we will seal the Dragon Valleypletely from the outside world for the next few years..."


    "Whatever happens outside has nothing to do with us... Tell all of the SS-rankers to keep their


    guard up too..."


    "The moment Neo tries to do any harm to the dragon valley, surround him together and


    destroy his very existence!"


    Fenix nodded his head and left the throne room hurriedly to convey Idri''s words to the other


    SS rankers of the dragon valley.


    Idri nced at the rising moon from the window, and a look of contemtion appeared on


    his face.


    ''The world is changing; this turn of events seems like they have started somethingpletely


    new..."


    From Idri''s perspective, Neo''s actions have likely stirred a wave in the strings of destiny; now the fates of various people will start to move after this event, and various factors wille


    into y.


    Neo was likely thest cog in the machine; now that he''s set in the ce, the machine will start moving and the strings of destiny will start to show their true powers.


    ''I can feel that a new era is about to arrive... The problem is that this puzzle iscking too many pieces, and I can''t figure out the whole picture because of it...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day. What are your thoughts on the current situation? Can you also feel some mysterious n


    brewing in the dark?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 388: The Gentle Sword Intent! (Rio X Lia)

    Chapter 388: The Gentle Sword Intent! (Rio X Lia)


    (Warning: Prepare for Diabetes...)


    ...


    Lia opened the door and went inside Rio''s room without hesitation.


    Rio seemed to be in some kind of daze at the moment and was lying on the bed without moving an inch. Aria was still using her healing magic to do a checkup.


    Lia walked over to bed and sat on the edge before asking Aria in a concerned voice,


    "Uh, what''s going on with him? Is he okay?"


    Aria smiled at that question and replied in a gentle tone,


    "He''s okay; it''s likely that he suffered some kind of sudden mental shock and is taking his time to recover¡­ Maybe he received some kind of hidden skill or knowledge when he was there in that mysterious ce you guys went to¡­"


    Hearing those words, Lia breathed a sigh of relief.


    Aria is a peak SS-rank healer; currently, there''s no healer in the world who has more experience in healing magic than her in the whole world.


    Even Riya will need a long time to reach her level and be equal to her.


    Thus, Lia has no doubts about her capabilities; if she has dered that Rio is fine, then he''s definitely okay.


    "By the way, I ran a quick checkup on him just now, I have to admit¡­ If I was not an SS ranker, it would have been really difficult for me to heal him when he''s unconscious¡­"


    "I have never seen a person who''s so resistant to my magic this much¡­ Not even the great world tree has as high resistances as him¡­"


    Rio''s ''Sword Intent'' mastery is off the charts from other''s perspectives, and now that he has the ''Imperfect Sword Heart'', his body is always in a constant ''Defensive'' state.


    When he''s unconscious, his sword heart automatically activates his ''Sword Intent'' to protect him from external threats.


    This may be good for bat''-rted situations, but this will also hinder various things too.


    Unless the healer who''s buffing and healing him has the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', they will need at least an SS-rank healer to heal him when he''s unconscious.


    Or you will need to feed him several high-grade healing potions so that his body doesn''t reject the healing.


    "Hmm¡­ how do I describe it¡­ His body is kind of like a living ''weapon''; it rejects everything from outside and remains true to its own self only¡­"


    "I have never seen a situation like this in my whole life¡­"


    Even Aria was speechless in this situation. Her intuition is telling her that if she tried to use any malicious healing method on him, his sword intent would react very violently towards her and block her on the spot!


    "His ''Sword Intent''¡­ It''s very strong; when I was healing him, it was as if it were observing my healing magic closely; the moment I tried to do anything bad, it would have used my healing magic as a medium to attack me instantly!"


    Although Aria was surprised, she was also quite excited. She has lived for a long time, and seeing new things is what brings the most joy to her nowadays.


    Aria got up from her seat and started to leave, but she stopped for a brief moment and spoke,


    "One advice, Lia: you must always keep other healers away from him if he needs healing in the future; only Riya or an SS-rank healer can heal him now¡­"


    "If others tried it¡­ the healer''s life will be in danger as his sword intent will destroy the healer from inside out using the healing magic as a medium¡­"


    "But of course it will be fine if they heal him when he''s conscious; after all, in his conscious state, he can keep his sword intent in check¡­"


    Lia nodded her head at Aria''s words and thanked her for the hard work; Aria just gave a gentle smile and left the room.


    Lia nced at Rio and spoke in a quiet voice,


    "Are you awake yet?"


    Rio, still in a daze, didn''t respond to her question and remained as listless as before.


    "Er¡­ I was going to tease you, but seeing the situation, I guess I shouldn''t¡­"


    Lia grabbed Rio''s hand and noticed that his palm was very rough and much bigger in size than hers.


    When Lia touched his hand, she sensed his sword intent reacting to her mana. However, unlike Aria''s description, Lia felt that his sword intent was not hostile towards her.


    Rio''s sword intent only warmed his hand so that Lia''s hand could feel his warmth; it wasforting and very gentle in nature.


    Seeing that situation, Lia smirked to herself.


    ''Am I the only exception for you then? Hehe¡­''


    Lia was pleased that Rio''s sword intent didn''t consider her an enemy at all; in fact, it was protecting her as if it had a mind of its own and could recognize Lia''s mana fluctuations.


    ''Well, it''s a good thing, I guess¡­ In the future, I won''t suddenly get hit by sword intent when I am sleeping beside him; that''s a relief¡­''


    Lia has only been hit by Rio''s sword intent once, which was during the supreme tournament, and she can never forget that horrible feeling.


    Getting hit by ''Sword Intent'' is no joke; it literally feels like you have lost a part of your ''soul'' or something, and it hurts like hell.


    In fact, Lia is more surprised by the fact that Link can tank Rio''s sword intent with his bare arms! Which is simply insane! No sane person will attempt to do that, even if they have a legendary skill protecting them.


    Thus, Lia felt pleased after finding out that Rio''s sword intent wasn''t rejecting him at all.


    This means even if Rio is injured someday and is unconscious, she can make him drink a healing potion herself, and the sword intent will not reject it.


    ''But still, you are quite the selfish guy, aren''t you? You are making me more and more obsessed with you every day, yet you yourself seem so detached from everything¡­''


    ''I guess you must have been a yboy in your previous life, hehe¡­''


    Lia doesn''t know about Rio''s transmigration and other things, but the way he''s so good at flirting and stuff, she sometimes feels that he has years of experience in dating someone.


    It kind of feels weird that this is his first time dating someone, and he''s still so nonchnt about it and can even mess with her easily without getting embarrassed at anything.


    ''Maybe he''s naturally talented in this matter?''


    Lia has her doubts about it, but there''s no way to confirm them. She nced at the clock hanging on the wall nearby and noticed it was gettingte, and it was time for her to go back to her room to sleep.


    "I guess I should go now; rest well-"


    At that moment, in his daze, Rio''s hand moved on its own, and he grabbed Lia''s arm and made hery down beside him. Lia was taken aback by that sudden move and didn''t even have the time to react.


    "W-what!?... sigh, now I am stuck¡­"


    Lia tried to get up, but his hand was firmly wrapped around her waist, making it impossible to escape his grasp.


    Because of his sword heart, Rio literally has the strength of an early SS ranker, so it''s wishful thinking if you want to escape his grasp without using violent means.


    And Lia obviously couldn''t use violent means against him at all; her mind went nk the moment her face was pressed against his muscr chest, and she just lost all thoughts in her mind.


    ''T-this¡­ Being hugged like this is kinda¡­ embarrassing, but it feelsfortable¡­''


    And just like that, Lia fell asleep in his arms, as she was not able to escape in the end and had to ept her fate.


    ¡­


    A few hourster, past mid-night.


    "hmm?"


    Rio finally snapped out of his daze and felt a bit stuffy.


    The moment he nced around, he found Lia''s head resting on his arm and her arm ced over him.


    ''What the actual f*ck!?!?!?!''


    Rio''s brain nearly short-circuited at that moment when he saw that beautiful face so close to him; he remembered finding another ''unknown fragment,'' but he doesn''t remember what happened after that.


    So, when he suddenly saw Lia clinging to him like that, he was so shocked that he nearly screamed out loud in surprise.


    Rio slowly sat up so as not to startle Lia and wake her from sleep; he also got to hear her murmuring to herself in sleep.


    "Rio¡­ you big meanie¡­."


    Rio felt quite awkward hearing those words.


    ''D*mn¡­ This was a good tactic, Lia! I never knew you were so capable!''


    Rio misunderstood that Lia slept beside him on purpose to imitate what he did to her during that trip to Roult Inds via the ship stormwalker.


    She was likely nning on teasing him when they wake up!


    ''I nearly fell for the trap... But I have to admit, this one really made my heart beat like crazy¡­''


    Rio shook his head and got up from the bed. He walked over to the window and opened it to let the moonlight fall over him.


    Staring at two bright moons shining in the sky, Rio calmed himself down. What he saw when he got the fragment was really something unique, and it was hard to digest.


    ''And now I have this new strange ability¡­ I see¡­ everything seems to make sense now¡­''


    After Rio got the second fragment, a lot of unknown information appeared in his head; although it took a while to digest it, it was worth the effort.


    ¡­


    ¡­

 Chapter 389: Realization...

    Chapter 389: Realization...


    ?


    Ever since the very first time Rio encountered Alverto''s clone, he''s always had a question in his mind.


    Why did Alverto send his clone to that dungeon during the final exams, and what was his actual purpose for doing so?


    Rio was unaware of Alverto''s purpose, and he had never once seen the character''s name appear in the novel he had read.


    Someone as significant as Alverto wasn''t mentioned in the novel, which is very strange.


    If Alverto truly existed in the original novel''s timeline, he should have appeared when Fade was executing Demons during the ''Second Demon Extinction War''.


    A genius spear master like Alverto, who can use the power of time element to utmost levels, could not have been an ordinary person who was ignored at random.


    Up until now, Rio had no idea what was causing this strange change in the timeline.


    Although Rio indeed messed up the original plot a lot by stealing various chances and opportunities, he never went to the Demon Continent after all.


    Which means he never really caused changes in the plotlines rted to the demons.


    Right now, there are two possibilities: either Alverto is an ''Anomaly'' like Rio, or the problem lies with Rio from the start altogether.


    ''I kind of have a feeling... I don''t know how to describe it, but I feel I have felt that unique aura of Alverto before...''


    Originally, Rio thought that this body might have sensed Alverto during the Drift City


    Massacre, which happened before his transmigration, but now that Shadow has awakened, his memories of the past have be clearer.


    The original Rio never knew Alverto, and he didn''t even see that guy during the drift city massacre as he was running away with his mother and had no time for anything else.


    In other words, the one who sensed Alverto''s aura wasn''t Rio but the original him, the him before transmigration.


    ''But the biggest problem is... I have forgotten a lot of my memories...''


    Rio can''t even remember his past life''s name. Apart from numerous personal memories, Rio has also forgotten the appearance of the friend who initially gave him this book to read.


    Rio has forgotten all these important things.


    ''Wait, have I met Alverto in my past life?... No, that''s not it...''


    Although Rio''s memories are partially gone, he is sure he never senses that unique aura that Alverto has.


    ''There is something moreplicated going on in the background that I don''t know about... Something that likely happened in the time gap when my soul traveled from the previous world to this one...''


    Rio''sst memories of his past life end where he slept after reading the book; he doesn''t know what happened afterwards, and next he found himself in Rio''s body.


    ''All things aside, the biggest confusing factor was how Alverto was tracking those fragments.'' After Alverto appeared in Oaklum to kill Zach and snatch the fragment away, Rio figured out one key thing, and that was that Alverto can track these ''fragments''; he definitely has the way to track them.


    After all, the moment Zach got that fragment from the tree of blood, Alverto immediately came right after to snatch it.


    As the fragment''s description says, you can''t take this fragment from someone by force; you must either get it from the other party by either getting their approval or by killing the other partypletely.


    But until now, Rio wasn''t sure what method Alverto was using as a tracking target.


    Now that he has two fragments in his possession, he has a deeper understanding of the situation.


    Right now, Rio can feel a new vague sensation in his mind; he has a newfound tracking ability


    now.


    It feels as if he can see through the space-time fabric itself and can sense things happening in great detail.


    ''No wonder Alverto was able to detect it both times...''


    Right now, Rio is sure that wherever those fragments are in this world, as long as they appear in the open, Rio can easily sense them while directly ignoring the distance.


    As long as those fragments are within ten light-years of him, Rio can easily sense their presence if they appear in the open.


    (1 light year = distance traveled by light in a year in the vacuum of space. It''s around 5.88 trillion miles.)


    But of course, if those fragments are in someone''s body, Rio can''t sense them at all; only if the fragment''s user dies or passes it to a new owner can Rio sense its presence.


    ''This means, when that octopus died and transferred the fragment to me, Alverto sensed that instantly andunched an investigation...''


    ''He then likely figured out that around that particr date and time, only the ship of the academy students had passed by that area of the sea, and thus he waited for the perfect opportunity...''


    ''When the opportunity finally arrived, he sent his clone and his subordinates into the dungeon, where he wanted to likely find the person who had taken the fragment for himself...''


    ''In other words, that clone''s main motive was me all along...''


    If that day, Alverto''s clone had killed Rio, then Alverto''s n really would have seeded


    right there, and he would have gotten the fragment easily.


    But Rio tricked the other party and won the battle, thus Alverto''s n failed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''The same must have happened in Zach Senpai''s case too...''


    Alverto likely sensed it when the tree of blood transferred the fragment to Zach; thus, he went


    to Aaron''s hidden cave, killed Aaron, and did soul-search on him to find out about Zach and


    the others.


    Then heid out the n to beat them while taking into consideration that Jin might be on his


    way.


    That day, Alverto was pressed on time; otherwise, he would have definitely wiped out the whole team, Astra, and by killing Rio, he have gotten another extra fragment that day.


    ''In other words, Alverto already had two fragments from the start, and now that he has Zach Senpai''s fragment, he has three of them in his possession...''


    But one thing that Rio has yet to figure out is,


    ''What actually are these fragments for? Why is that Demon Prince so obsessed with them, and why is he looking for them in the first ce?''


    Although Rio got answers for his question, new questions popped out again, and now he has even more questions than he already had.


    Not only is he missing key information about what happened during the time when his soul came to this world, he''s also missing information on what Alverto might be nning. ''Right now... I can''t sense the presence of a single fragment in my whole ten light-years big detection range...''


    The main effect of having two fragments on you is that you gain this detection range, but this detection ability will only work for the fragments; it''spletely useless for other things. Rio can''t use it like ''Mana Detection'' that is used for tracking enemies and other stuff; this detection range is solely focused on the fragments alone.


    ''Maybe... the reason why Alverto massacred the whole Drift City was because he had sensed the presence of a fragment there too? Maybe that was his real purpose for destroying so many


    lives...''


    After all, you can''t sense who got the fragment in such a big city, so Alverto chose the easy method; he likely thought that killing everyone would eventually reveal the fragment


    automatically.


    At that time, there were only Ashtel and Neo who were the sole SS-rankers; Raji was still


    young.


    Neo probably didn''t even bother saving the people, and Ashtel was raiding an SS-rank dungeon; thankfully, James and the other S-rankers arrived on time; otherwise, Rio would


    have died that day already.


    ''Thinking about this now; this body has escaped death so many times now, it kind of feels like the ''Law'' of ''Death'' itself doesn''t have a hold on this body...''


    ''Maybe this is also another side-effect of being an ''Anomaly'' perhaps?''


    Ever since Rio mastered the sword intent and came into contact with the ''Law'' of ''Sword'', he has sensed that various ws'' of the ''world'' actively avoid him.


    Although he can''t really see the ws'' with naked eyes, he can sense their presence faintly


    with his sword heart''s help.


    ''It''s like I am some kind of glitch in the software of aputer that the software actively avoids in fear of getting affected... This is quite the strange feeling...''


    This world doesn''t reject his existence, but it doesn''t seem to ept itpletely either; there''s a gap between him and the ''world'' that can''t be crossed.


    ''Just getting this second fragment has given me so much new information that it''s hard to digest everything at once...''


    Rio saw strange memories; he saw a certain ''creator'' go against the flow of the ''Primordial Chaos'' to create life in a newly formed world; he saw the birth of the ws''.


    ''Even now, these memories seem vague and bizarre that they don''t seem real at all... The


    same thing happened when I got that first fragment; those memories I received were also very


    vague...'' Rio''s mind ispletely jumbled up; right now, not only he has his own memories in his mind, he has original Rio''s memories, and then there are these two vague, unknown


    memories.


    ''If this goes on, my mind will bepletely jumbled up, and I will have difficulties finding what is the real and worst-case scenario... I might even forget my own identity too...'' There''s only one thing that''s keeping Rio sane and is forcing him to never forget his existence, and that is his ''Love''. That is the only emotion keeping him intact.


    ''Yet again.... I have be indebted to you, Lia...''


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    What are your thoughts on this situation? What is Alverto nning?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 390: A healer who gives candy as medicine...

    Chapter 390: A healer who gives candy as medicine...


    ?


    Standing on the balcony of his room, Liam was staring at the starry sky when he noticed some movement on the balcony of the room right beside his own.


    Liam nced to his side and noticed that Riya hade out in the balcony of her room at some point; she was now staring at Link''s room as if she was going to jump into his balcony and enter his room secretly.


    But she stopped in her tracks as she noticed Liam standing nearby.


    "Er... Don''t mind me, please continue..."


    Seeing that Riya was a bit embarrassed that her n of sneaking into Link''s room was found out, Liam waved his hand and said that he didn''t see anything at all.


    But Riya felt kind of awkward, so she decided not to go to Link''s room today.


    "What are you doing here in the balcony sote at night anyway?"


    Instead, she pouted her cheeks and questioned Liam.


    Liam shook his head and gave a wry smile.


    "Er... I was just looking at the scenery; who could have thought that I would end up witnessing


    a young maiden hopping through balconies sote at night..."


    Riya sighed at those words and stopped questioning him; she knew she was caught red- handed, so there was no point in justifying anything now.


    She was nning on pranking Link, but her n failed as Liam saw her sneaking around.


    Riya nced at the sky and spoke in a calm voice.


    "The scenery is good, but why does it seem like you are not feeling good? Is something bothering you?"


    Riya being a healer and the possessor of the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', easily noticed that Liam was in a depressed mood, and something was definitely bothering him.


    She might be slow and clumsy in other aspects, but when ites to her skills as a healer, she''s more skilled than an S-ranker.


    Her question stunned even Liam, leaving him speechless for a considerable amount of time. "Er... I didn''t expect you to be the one to see through me out of the rest of the group..."


    ''It wouldn''t have been so surprising if it was Rio who saw through me, but to think even Riya has such capabilities...''


    Riya brought out a candy from her space ring and threw it in her mouth. She leaned her back against the wall and said in a smug voice,


    "Hmph, who do you think I am? I am the best healer you can find in the entire younger generation!"


    Liam smiled at those words and nced at the stars twinkling in the sky.


    A look of hesitation appeared on his face, but he still asked a question that he had always been wanting to ask recently,


    "Riya, can you heal someone affected by extreme corruption?... I know that you weren''t able to save Zach Senpai, but now you have a legendary skill... So can you heal someone who''s in an even worse situation than Zach Senpai was?"


    Liam''s question carried a hint of sadness; he seemed reluctant to talk more about it; he could feel himself beingpletely powerless in this situation.


    [This is the reason why I didn''t want to tell you... You worry too much about your summons; this is not a good thing...]


    Now that Liam has a little bit of mastery over ''Mana Field'', he can talk to Ellie without alerting the senses of the SS-rankers in the vicinity.


    He can now hide the mana fluctuation when Ellie talks to him, as he has absolute control over his mana now.


    Thus, not even Idri will notice him talking to Ellie now unless he deploys his ''World Authority'' to counter his ''Mana Field''.


    Before Liam could refute Ellie''s words, Riya spoke first.


    "Yes! Of course I can! All this while my main goal has been to be strong enough to heal someone who is affected by abnormal status effects!"


    "I was not able to save Zach Senpai, and that taught me the way for improvement..."


    Riya clenched her small fists and spoke with a determined look on her face.


    "As long as the other party has even one breath left in them, I can heal them! And if I can''t do so, then I am not worthy of having the heart of eternal Nirvana!"


    Riya is dead serious right now. For her, her skills as a healer are her pride.


    She can''t fight enemies with such indomitable confidence like Link; she can''t face enemies with such insane speed and capabilities as Rio; and she can''t strategize and make ns like Liam.


    Moreover, she doesn''t have a super strong familiar like Lia either, and she can''tpete with Ellie in terms of how good she is at protecting the person she cares for.


    But she''s sure of one thing: just like how she can''t imitate others, they can''t imitate her either.


    The reason why Riya got the legendary ability in the first ce was because she promised that she would be capable of healing every wound that existed or may exist in the future. "Well, if you say so, I guess I will believe you... I will ask for a favor then; you gotta help me out soon; I guess you really are ''The Walker of the Path of Eternal Nirvana''..."


    "It was rude of me to doubt your determination and skills..."


    Liam was surprised after seeing such a serious expression on Riya''s face.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Such a serious expression doesn''t suit her at all; she''s always happy and smiling, so Liam sometimes forgets that she''s actually a peak A-ranker now, just like the rest of them.


    It''s rude to doubt her capabilities just because she seems so oblivious about the world most of


    the time.


    "Well, I will try my best! Hehe... Here have this!"


    Riya tossed a candy to Liam and spoke in a calm voice.


    "Candies are the best remedy when you are having a lot in your mind; they replenish sugar; they are the ultimate cure to depression! I have used them to cure many patients before..."


    "You can have one of the rare ones from my collection!"


    Riya waved her hand at Liam and went back to her room. After saying those words, a happy smile hung over her face.


    Although she didn''t get to prank Link today, she at least got to show off her abilities as apetent healer; that is good enough for her today.


    Liam smiled and shook his head while looking at that candy in his hand.


    ''If only I could be as happy-go-lucky as you, that would have solved a lot of problems for me...''


    [Master, hide that candy or eat it, if Link sees that on you, he will definitely cause massive chaos!] Liam nodded his head at those words and tossed the candy in his mouth. He rarely eats such sweet things, but perhaps Riya''s choice was indeed very good. Liam didn''t feel that the taste


    was too sweet.


    It was good enough for him.


    ''She saw through me... She knew that I wouldn''t like it if it was too sweet; it''s quite hard to ept that someone who looks as nonchnt as her can be so good at seeing through


    people''s minds...''


    Heart of Eternal Nirvana is one of the most broken powers out there; if conditions are right, it can even help the user to see through the thoughts and emotions of a target.


    If not for the fact that this legendary skill is solely focused on helping and healing, it would


    have been one of the most lethal weapons, even more lethal than the destructive power of


    ''Sword Intent''.


    ''Come to think of it, I have never seen Riya get angry at anything... Is she a saint or something who can breeze through any situation without worries?''


    Liam sighed and shook his head.


    [But are you sure you should ask her to go to the spirit realm? It''s a dangerous ce, you know...]


    [In fact, I don''t want you to go there either... That ce is filled with millions of evil spirits too... They will attack you on sight...]


    The spirit realm not only has good spirits living in it; it''s a home for evil spirits too; that ce is not something you can go to at random.


    It''s the second most dangerous ce in this world, right after the ''Endless Sea of Miasma''.


    It is said that even SS-rankers are not safe when traveling in such dangerous ces, and even they avoid these two ces as much as they can.


    After all, no one knows how many strong enemies reside in these two ces; the information avable on them is very small.


    Liam himself is not sure if she should really head into the spirit realm or not; after all, it''s a


    gamble of life and death.


    ''I


    guess I should go there after reaching rank S first... and I will also have to have that expressionless guy on my side... But how do I get him to agree...''


    ''Should I bribe Lia and ask her to make him agree?''


    ''Wait, what would be suitable enough to be given as a bribe to her though?''


    [Er... I think we can capture a few pictures of Rio secretly, they should be enough for a bribe...]


    ''What? Howe? Why would she be happy with just some random pictures, though?''


    [Er...y-you won''t understand, it''s a secret between us girls...]


    ''Eh? Well, if you say so...''


    Ellie has wandered around with Lia a lot, and she was the one who taught Lia how to be more ''bold'' and more honest with her desires, so she has a good grasp of what Lia likes and what


    shady things she has done before.


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day. What do you think would be the best thing that can be used to bribe Rio?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 391: A Picnic of great memories... Part-1.

    Chapter 391: A Pic of great memories... Part-1.


    ?


    ''As I thought, finding the second fragment has improved my sword intent and sword heart''spletion... Originally, they were both stuck at 85%; now I have gone beyond...''


    Walking in the corridor of the dragon pce, Rio was now contemting what he had gained from his visit to that mysterious building.


    Although it wasn''t an overpowered cheat this time, he still gained a lot; not only did he figure out how Alverto is able to track everything, he also figured out a lot of other mysteries.


    ''The mysterious building likely has an istion effect; thus, even though I grabbed that fragment, Alverto can''t sense it at all...''


    Now that Rio has this mysterious and vast detection ability, he can tell what Alverto can sense or what he can''t.


    Up until now, Rio had no advantage or solid information that could be used against Alverto, but now he has it.


    ''Next time I meet that guy, it will be a death match.''


    Rio''s intuition is already telling him a very long battle is ahead; there''s definitely some conspiracy brewing in the dark.


    ''The current calm is likely the calm before the storm... Once I go back from the dragon valley, I must train a lot more...''


    While thinking about his training ns, Rio reached an open area in the pce.


    Standing at the rooftop area, Rio could now see the clear blue sky and feel the warm sunshine.


    The slight wind breeze made it even more refreshing, adding another charm.


    Rio moved to the side, leaned his back against a wall, and then spoke.


    "Trying to be stealthy with me is useless; you are a hundred years too young to trick me..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Sin and Link deactivated the artifact that they were using to hide their presence.


    "Like I said! He will easily see through it; you just don''t believe my words! Tch!"


    Link grumbled at Sin, and a look of helplessness appeared on his face.


    Sin and Link were the two who had reached the rooftop area the first, and the rest of the group was a bitte; thus, Sin decided to do a prank and used an artifact to make themselves invisible.


    Link already knew that this cheap method would not work on Rio at all!


    In fact, this method will not work on any member of the team astra now.


    Rio can see through it because of ''True Immunity'', and Lia can easily predict it from the start if she has her ''Absolute Precognition'' active at the moment.


    Liam can easily sense the artifact''s mana, and even Riya can detect Sin and Link''s life force, so these cheap tricks are pretty useless against Team Astra nowadays.


    Sin sighed at those words,


    "Well, as expected of Rio, I guess, I am not surprised he''s excellent!"


    Then Sin red at Link and said,


    "In fact, I think you are the one who doesn''t fit with the rest of the team Astra; all the members are so elegant and hardworking; you, on the other hand, are a total barbarian!"


    Link was taken aback by those words,


    "What!? What are you talking about! I indeed train and work hard, you know! You seem to have had some kind of misunderstanding! I am actually the strongest in this group, you know!"


    Sin nced at Link with a look of pity and said,


    "Ah, sorry, I didn''t know that you were having a misunderstanding; I ended up telling the truth... strongest? My foot! Rio is the strongest!!!"


    Link also didn''t back down at all.


    "What!? From which angle does thatidback guy look strong!"


    Link pointed at Rio, who was standing beside the wall, and said,


    "See, his face looks like he''s suffering from extreme level depression! I can defeat him in one punch!"


    Rio kicked Link away to the side at that moment,


    "Shut up man, stop yelling so early in the morning..."


    Link didn''t mind it at all; that light kick had no effect on his thick skin at all.


    "Ugh, forget it, I admit defeat... By the way, I recently used that ''using the legendary skill to


    make tea'' method of training, but it''s really quite difficult, you know..."


    Link stopped messing around after getting hit by a kick, and seeing that the rest of the group still hadn''t arrived, he started asking random questions.


    Rio simply shook his head.


    "I don''t know... I was able to make tea with sword intent from the very first moment I got it... Maybe because I didn''t want to waste the tea, so my sword intent mastery improved ordingly..."


    Rio then gave Link a side-eye and said,


    "Or maybe you are too busy picking up candies for Riyately, so you haven''t practiced much..."


    Link shook his head and replied,


    "Nah, I only do that on Sundays; the rest of the days I train properly, you know; Sunday is the only day when I go on the quest of looking for ultra rare candies with her!"


    Hearing Link''s words, Sin shook her head.


    ''Is this really the guy my father was going to get me engaged to? What does Father actually see in him!? Don''t tell me that Father has be old and has gone... uh... senile perhaps?''


    Ignoring the peculiar expression on Sin''s face, Link inquired,


    "By the way, didn''t you bring a small golem with you when you came out of that mysterious building? Where did it go?"


    At Link''s question, Rio just replied nonchntly,


    "I didn''t actually bring it; that guy just came along with me as it caught the hem of my shirt when I was exiting..."


    "Nheless, it''s now in Lia''s possession; Kai''s taking care of that little guy now..."


    Kai can work as a storage ring for Lia; he can store anything inside his spiritual body as long as


    it''s not alive.


    And that golem is considered only partially alive, so Kai can keep him in his storage space.


    ''I can''t take good care of that little guy; those dwarves can...''


    Rio is nning on going to the dwarf empire after the dragon valley, as he wants to figure out the truth behind his sword.


    Thus, he can just bring the little golem with him at that time, and he will hand it over to a ''certain'' character who will definitely take great care of the little golem for sure.


    ''In the first ce, if this little guy fell into the hands of some mad scientist, it would be broken apart for study; it''s better if I give him to someone who can cherish his life.''


    Riocks knowledge about the construction of golems and the minute magic inscriptions that keep them functioning, which means that if the little guy sustains damage in the future, Rio won''t be able to repair it.


    Thus, it''s better to not keep the golem with him, as Rio won''t be able to guarantee its safety.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ...


    After a while, the rest of the group also arrived, and everyone finally gathered.


    Sin then brought out a giant carpet-like thing from her space ring and spoke in an excited


    tone.


    "Everyone! Although we weren''t able to enjoy the dragon festival to our hearts''s content, we still have time!"


    "This is an S-rank artifact, a flying carpet. I looked through the treasury in the pcest


    night and found this for us; we can use it to visit various different scenic spots!"


    Sin threw the carpet on the ground, and the carpet started floating on its own.


    Liam squatted down to observe the carpet more closely.


    "Hmm, these mana inscriptions made on this thing are so detailed and exquisite... I think this


    was made by an SS ranker perhaps..."


    As Liam has his ''Mana Field'' active at nearly all times, he can sense the mana in those surroundings with extreme precision.


    In fact, he can already see the working mechanism of this carpet, and he was able to figure out


    its blueprint in just a single nce.


    Although he didn''t say it out loud, Liam is sure he can make another simr flying carpet by himself now that he has seen one in person.


    The group didn''t dy much, and all of them got on the carpet.


    Although all of them can fly, it''s not fun to do the hard work yourself; the flying carpet will do


    the work for them, and they will enjoy it.


    Link wanted to sit on the front seat, but Sin red at him and said,


    "Go away! You stink!"


    Link was very depressed after hearing those words, and he had no other choice but to go back


    and sit beside Riya obediently.


    Riya gave him some mood-enhancing candies, so he cheered up soon after though.


    By now, the whole group has epted the fact that Sin indeed has a very ''unique''


    personality.


    Her father had once asked her to be engaged to Link, and that''s why she''s always so annoyed whenever she sees Link''s face.


    Ignoring the sulking Link, the group enjoyed the scenery as they flew over the central city, crossing vast distances, and they got to see a lot of different, unique scenery along the way.


    Flying on a floating carpet is definitely a unique experience that they will never forget, and this memory will stay in their minds for a long time.


    Although they didn''t get any major improvements in this trip to the Dragon Valley, like how they all improved fast during the Supreme Tournament event, they definitely enjoyed


    everything.


    The Dragon Valley is a unique ce in its own.


    Although they can''t visit several of the forbidden areas located here, they can surely tell that


    the Dragon Valley definitely doesn''tck in terms of scenery and natural beauty.


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to experience what it feels like to fly on a flying carpet?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 392: A Picnic of great memories... Part-2.

    Chapter 392: A Pic of great memories... Part-2.


    ?


    Dragon Valley, Western Area.


    Near the ocean.


    The floating carpetnded on a giant hill located near the beach.


    The group got down and nced at the amazing scenery with a look of excitement on their faces.


    Link nced at the ocean with a smile and immediately ran off to swim.


    "hoho! It''s the ocean! Here Ie!!"


    Sin wanted to stop him because she wanted everyone to help inying out the camp, but Liam also ran after Link, and seeing that the two of them went over, Rio didn''t stay either.


    All the three guys went over to mess around in the sea.


    As if noticing the helpless look on Sin''s face, Lia patted her shoulder and said,


    "Forget about the boys; we can do it on our own..."


    Sin sighed. She brought out a chair from her space ring, ced it near the sole tree located on the top of the giant hill, and asked Riya to sit there quietly.


    Riya was confused that she didn''t get to help out, but she didn''t think too much about it.


    In the past few days, Sin has figured out that it''s really a bad idea to ask Riya to do this work; she even made aplete mess of the room she was given in the pce.


    Which caused a lot of headaches for Sin as she had to order the maids again and again to organize the room.


    Thus, she knew that Riya is a very clumsy type of person; it''s better not to ask her to do any difficult work; otherwise, it would be just you hitting your own foot with a hammer, and the result would beplete chaos.


    In the end, Sin and Lia were the ones whoid the carpet and ced the chairs, then organized the food in ce for everyone.


    Lia herself is a disciple of a national-level chef, and Sin, on the other hand, has taken nearly all types of education sses as she is the sole heir of the dragon throne.


    She has learned music, singing, cooking, negotiation skills, politics, etc., literally everything that Link has learned.


    As the next person in line for the Dragon Throne, she''s well versed in literally everything. But of course, she can''tpete with naturally talented people like Link, who has mastered every skill he was taught, and Lia, who has had talent for cooking from the start.


    Nevertheless, she possesses sufficient knowledge to qualify as a veteran in most areas.


    Looking at it from this perspective, the only people who have very low real-life skills are only Rio and Riya.


    Both are extremely good at their own specialties, but both are not good at other things.


    ...


    Near the beach.


    Rio and others always have a change of clothes in their space, and even if they get wet, they can just use the legendary skills to dry their clothes in an instant, so there was no need to worry about not having swimsuits.


    "D*mn! You are really proficient in walking on water..."


    Link stared at Rio with an envious look as he noticed that Rio can walk on water with extreme precision.


    Link and Liam have both learned how to use the legendary skills to buff their own bodies from Rio, but they are far behind him in terms of proficiency.


    When they walk on water, it makes big ripples, and it''s difficult to control the skill at such minute levels, so they waste a ton of mana.


    But Rio barely wastes any mana when using ''Sword Intent''; his control over it is so high that even when he walks on water, no ripples are made on it in the slightest.


    Although this looks simple, it''s extremely difficult.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Competing with Rio in terms of legendary skill mastery is likepeting with a world-ss artist while being aplete novice yourself.


    Standing on the calm ocean and looking at the birds flying in the peaceful blue sky, Rio''s face remained expressionless as ever.


    ''This beach, this moment of joy... this kind of makes me remember that day when we went on the beach with Zach senpai... sigh...''


    Rio didn''t say it out loud because he didn''t want to make others remember the sad past and ruin the fun; he just kept it in his mind.


    Those memories are very precious and dear to him, so he will keep them in his mind forever.


    ''I wonder what Riko Senpai is doing nowadays; it''s been a while since she left... I wonder if we will even be able to see her again someday...''


    Rio nced at Link and Liam, who wereparing their mastery of legendary skills and ying around in the water with happy smiles on their faces.


    ''Sigh, if only I could be as carefree as them...''


    Rio shook his head and stooped thinking about the sad things. It''s better not to ruin the fun for others; he has learned how to consider others feelings and how to adapt ording to the


    situation.


    It''s not a good idea to think about these things right now.


    Rio waved his feet a bit and used a minimal amount of sword intent to stir the water.


    "Using the power of a legendary skill, you can control the natural elements of the world to the extreme levels... Try defending against this..."


    Before Link and Liam could defend, a massive tsunami was created by Rio, and the two of them lost their bnce as their mastery over their skills was not high.


    The sudden disturbance in the water easily made them lose their footing.


    Link and Liam both got submerged in water and then red at Rio with resentment.


    But Rio didn''t care; he started to create more tsunamis on purpose to annoy them further. "Improve your mastery right here, right now, or you will never be able to reach me..."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders at their death stares, refusing to stop.


    The two of them werepletely helpless and had to focus on improving their proficiency to


    escape.


    Rio wasn''t letting them get off the hook so easily, though he was purposely messing with them; the moment they got close to the beach, he made the sand slippery using the sand


    elements.


    Thus, the two had no choice but to grit their teeth and curse at Rio!


    ''Hehe, bullying others is also kind of fun, actually...''


    Rio nced at Link and purposely said in a mocking tone,


    "If you don''t make it out of here, Riya will be stolen away by those candies, you know! Are you


    sure you should be wasting your time here?"


    "Your girlfriend''s being taken away over there!"


    Link clenched his fist and punched the tsunami that wasing his way, but Rio easily saw through it. The water waves avoided his punch and struck his face, causing him to lose his


    bnce again.


    "D*mn you-"


    ...


    Meanwhile, on the hill.


    Lying on the chair beside Lia, Sin looked down with a look of concern.


    "Er... Why does it seem like Rio is drowning them?... uh, should we be worried about it?"


    Lia took a nce and then closed her eyes to bask in the sun again.


    "Nah, forget it; they are just messing around with each other; ignore them..."


    Sin took another nce at Link and Liam, who looked quite miserable at the moment, and


    thought,


    ''Why does it seem like Rio is doing that on purpose?...''


    Sin shook her head and stopped thinking too much about it.


    Riya herself has already fallen asleep under the warm sunlight; if even she''s not worried, then


    there''s no need for her to worry either.


    Even Kai appeared andid down on the ground beside Lia''s chair to bask in the sun.


    The sound of the serene waves crashing against the shore and the cool wind caressing your


    face while you bask in the sun, perfect!


    Everything was perfect! This is one of the best ces to enjoy a vacation and free yourself of


    all the burden!


    "Dragon Valley really is amazing; we visited the Elven Empire before, and that ce was also good, but the Dragon Valley has its own unique charm to it..."


    Hearing Lia''s words, Sin nodded her head and smiled,


    "Well, I''m happy to hear that you like it; it feels good when someone praises your


    hometown..."


    Lia nced at the blue sky and spoke,


    "Sin... Maybe you shoulde to visit the human empire too someday; just contact me


    anytime; I will definitely bring you to see the best tourist spots..."


    "Although the human empire doesn''t have such vast open and free of poption types of


    ces, there are definitely many good scenic spots there..."


    Sin was surprised a bit and asked back,


    "Heh? Are you perhaps implying that I am free to visit Rio whenever I want?"


    Hearing those words, Lia shook her head.


    "No! He''s mine!"


    Sin giggled at those words,


    "Haha, that was quite the fierce reaction; I like it..."


    "Well, when I be an S-ranker, I will like to visit the human empire someday, but I guess


    by that time you two would have already married, I think..."


    Lia blushed a bit at those words.


    "W-who will marry that stinky guy! Hmph!"


    Sinughed at those words and spoke,


    "Well, I will tell your children that I am their best aunt! I will spoil them rotten! Hehe!"


    Sin is already nning on bing that ''Cool'' aunt.


    Lia sighed at those words and spoke in an awkward tone,


    "You have quite the wild dreams..."


    Sin shrugged her shoulder and replied with a smile,


    "Well, I am not really that interested in ruling the nation all the time like my father; I wanna


    enjoy my life like a normal person from time to time..."


    "After all, there''s only one life; it would be such a waste to not enjoy it..."


    Lia also nodded her head at those words.


    "Yeah..."


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day!


    Don''t you think Sin is quite a rtable character? (Tell me your thoughts in thements) By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 393: A Picnic of great memories... Part-3.

    Chapter 393: A Pic of great memories... Part-3.


    ?


    "If you guys have yed in the water enough, it''s time toe back and enjoy the food!" Hearing Lia''s shout from afar, Rio nced towards the hill and nodded his head.


    "Okay..."


    He stopped creating tsunamis to drown the two pitiful guys in front of him.


    Link and Liam finally got to heave a sigh of relief; they copsed in the water and started to float like a dead body.


    "Ugh, if only Lia had said that a bit earlier... I am totally exhausted now..."


    Both of them ended up fainting from exhaustion.


    Rio''s eyes twitched seeing the two pretending to faint like that; in the end, he grabbed one of their legs each and dragged them to the hill as if he were dragging a sandbag!


    "Er, are they okay?"


    Lia nced at the two guys who Rio was dragging all over the ground and asked Riya in a voice of concern.


    Riya, who was still busy nibbling on candies and enjoying the warm sunlight, finally noticed that Rio had brought Link and Liam to her side to heal them back to consciousness.


    Many people have a misconception that healing magic can''t actually heal someone who''s at full HP.


    But that''s not true.


    A healer can do much more than that; they can cause a healing magic overload in the body of a person, and the excessive healing will cause the body of the person to st like a balloon!


    Alternatively, a healer can utilize healing magic to restore a person''s lost energy or mana by infusing them with their own energy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Before Riya could get up to heal the two, Rio brought out his sword and put its tip on Link''s back.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Healing Type: Mana Distribution!]


    Rio tried to imitate Riya''s method of mana distribution, but it was very weak, and his proficiency was very low.


    Riya, who saw that, shook her head and squatted down beside Link before saying,


    "No, no, you are wasting too much excessive mana; that''s not the way... Let me show you..."


    Riya ced her hand on Link''s back as Rio withdrew his sword.


    Then she showed how to do it more precisely and without losing excessive mana.


    Her control over the skill was so insanely precise that a rare look of shock appeared on Rio''s expressionless face.


    "You are indeed quite good at this, Riya Sensei..."


    Rio also squatted down and observed her skill more carefully.


    [Sword Intent!]


    Rio covered his finger with sword intent by assuming his own finger as a sword and then used ''healing type'' just like Riya exined.


    Seeing that drastic improvement, Riya nodded with a smile over her face,


    "Yes! That''s the way, and now concentrate the mana on the tip of the finger and then spread it all over the nervous system while maintaining minimal touch with the skin!"


    The moment Rio made a mistake due to being less proficient, Riya easily solved it, and her healing magic was so strong that it easily overpowered Rio''s.


    ''This is just insane... Her healing magic is so d*mn strong, it''s like my healing magic is like a worm and hers is like the gigantic mountain supporting the dome of heavens!''


    As long as it''s about healing magic, Rio can''t beat Riya at all; even if he made a horrible mistake while trying to heal, Riya can solve it in a matter of milliseconds.


    ''No wonder she forced the ''world'' itself to bow in front of ''Will''; the w'' of ''healing'' didn''t choose her... She forced it to acknowledge her!''


    There are always exceptions to everything in the world.


    It doesn''t matter if your talent is too low and weak to aplish anything. It doesn''t matter if the ws'' of the ''world'' don''t want to favor you.


    With your determination and ''will,'' you can indeed bend even the ws'' of the ''world'' and force them to ''acknowledge'' your brilliance.


    Riya would have never received the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' under normal circumstances. But the fact that Zach died under her care and the fear that she might not be able to save Link if something simr happened to him one day pushed her to work hard.


    That fear of losing Link pushed her to improve, and with her ''will'' she forced the ''Law'' of ''Healing'' to acknowledge her! This is how she got the legendary ability she now has.


    In other words, even without the legendary ability, Riya was already overpowered in terms of healing skills, and now that she has it, it''s impossible topete with her in this field. Rio''s healing skills are like those of a novice in front of her ''World-ss'' level skills.


    "I admit defeat; you are the best Riya sensei; I can''t defeat you..."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders and stoppedpeting with her as it was pointless; it''s like trying to break a diamond with a fragile egg.


    A happy smile appeared on Riya''s face after hearing those words.


    "Hehe, you are a hundred years too early to bepeting with me, dear disciple!"


    Seeing that thepetition was over, Link, who had already woken up, grumbled in an


    annoyed tone,


    "Will you two stop treating me like ab rat now? Just heal me already! Or are you two making fun of me on purpose!"


    Link red at Rio and gave him death stares, but Rio just shrugged his shoulders.


    Riya hurriedly healed Link and Liam both back to full consciousness after that while saying,


    "Actually, you have quite the resilient and strong body, Link; if they had such a strong practice dummy back at the training center''s, the newbies would have had less trouble practicing their skills..."


    Link didn''t know what to say to those words; sometimes Riya is so overprotective of him that he feels embarrassed, and sometimes she''s so nonchnt that he feels that she loves her candies more than him.


    He''s just too confused about her mood swings and has already given up on understanding


    them.


    "By the way, what do you use for practicing your skills normally, then in those training grounds specially made for healers?"


    Liam was quite curious about it, so he asked with a look of curiosity on his face.


    Hearing his words, Riya tilted her head and said,


    "Of course, we use dead bodies! Well, newbies mostly use monster corpses, but then they slowly shift over to human bodies eventually!"


    After saying that, Riya hurriedly put a hand on her mouth as if she just realized what she said.


    "Ah! It was supposed to be a secret, but I identally leaked it! Forget I said anything!"


    Link and the others felt so awkward after that they dared not ask any further about this


    matter.


    Only now do they understand why the academy trains healers in separate, specially made


    training halls.


    They are literally dealing with human corpses there; such things can''t be shown to every random person.


    Such bodies are willingly donated by all types of people for the sake of ''Humanity'', so it''s not


    illegal.


    You sign a contract before death, whether you want to donate your body or not after your death. Your family gets a ton of money in return, so many people actually do it for the sake of


    their family.


    Moreover, the healers are asked to never talk about this matter to others, and they are asked


    to sign a contract to never reveal about this.


    Riya has the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'' and protection of the ''world'' itself; thus, any binding contract on her ispletely ''void'' and ''ineffective'' on her.


    She''s free of any constraints ced by the ws'' or the ''contracts''; that''s why she was able to say it out loud without any restriction.


    If she was bound by a contract, she wouldn''t have been able to say this information out loud, as the contract would have prevented her from saying it.


    In fact, she''s so ''Free'' that she herself doesn''t know she was supposed to be restricted by the


    contract.


    "Er.. well, it may seem shady, but everything about it ispletely legal; this kind of thing is regted by the top healer''s guilds, and they have to make reports to the SS-rankers so they


    can''t do bad things..."


    "And by coincidence, Link''s father is in charge of keeping these guilds in check, so there''s no


    way they can do anything bad..."


    Only after hearing those words did everyone feel a bit relieved.


    After all, if it''s Ashtel Rex who''s in charge of it, there''s no need to worry about anything going


    wrong; everyone knows he''s good at dealing with stuff like this.


    ...


    After a while, the group calmed down and stopped worrying too much about this matter.


    In the end, it''s all for the sake of training new healers who will ultimately go on to save more


    lives anyway, so it''s fine.


    The group sat down together to enjoy the food they brought with them.


    Link was sulking from all that beating he received, so Riya fed him with her clumsy hands and


    made a mess out of everything.


    Nheless, the time spent on this peaceful pic was something that the group will always


    remember.


    The joy of sharing meals with therades who fight alongside you through all types of difficulties-this is truly a unique experience.


    After the pic, the group went on to visit more ces in the Dragon Valley in the next week


    or so.


    Sin''s n of enjoying fun times with friends finally came true, and she also got herself a


    ton of memories of times spent with friends who epted her for herself, not for her status as


    a princess.


    Time passed in that peaceful bliss, and days went by in a sh just like that.


    Finally, it was time to go home.


    {After all, a journey is not all about destinations; it''s always about returning home safely at the end of


    it.} (Source: Trust me bro...)


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Well, it was a wonderful trip, but nothing''s better than your own home.


    Question of the day.


    Will you miss the Dragon Valley once this arc is over?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 394: Farewell for now... (End of Volume-4.)

    Chapter 394: Farewell for now... (End of Volume-4.)


    ?


    Dragon Valley Central City.


    Two weeks after the pic.


    "Thank you, Princess Sin! Because of you, we got to wander around all over the Dragon Valley and enjoyed thesest few days greatly..."


    Standing near the teleportation altar located in the garden of the Dragon Pce, Link stretched out his hand for a handshake.


    Sin nced at Link''s hand before stomping on his foot.


    "Ow!! What the hell?! What was that for?!"


    Sin ignored Link''s loud wailing noises and shook hands with the rest of the group instead.


    "I am d I met you all. In these past few days, we have made a lot of great memories together. I will never forget about you all. Thanks for teaching me what it means to have real friends..."


    Sin nced at Rio, who was leaning his back on a nearby tree and standing with a calm look on his face,


    "It was nice to meet you too, Rio; if opportunityes, do visit the Dragon Valley again someday! Also, I wille to challenge you again soon; don''t forget that either!"


    Rio nodded his head at those words and spoke in his usual emotionless tone.


    "You are wee toe any day, but keep in mind that I will defeat you in a duel any day and any time; just try to be stronger the next time youe to challenge me..."


    Sin smiled at those words and nodded her head.


    "Yes, the next time you see me, I will be so strong that you will be shocked! Hehe..."


    Then she nced at Lia and stretched and patted her on the shoulder.


    "Don''t think you have won just yet, my dear rival; our battle is long... It will be a battle that will be recorded in the history books! It will be a thousand-year-long battle, Lia!"


    "Make sure you are always a step ahead of me, or you might lose!"


    Lia shook her head and sighed at those words.


    "We are still doing this? Sigh, you are really persistent... Why not find someone else for yourself? You are a princess after all; you can find the best of the best talented people for yourself..."


    Sin crossed her arms and shook her head with a smile.


    "Tell me, can someone else imitate his ''Sword Intent? No, right... That''s why I can''t make do with some cheap imitation either, but well, I will ept my defeat for now, Lia..."


    "Make sure you don''t let me win though... hehe..."


    Sin is the type of person to never give up.


    After all, she has a life span of thousands of years, and she can live as long as SS-rankers without even needing to reach the SS-rank herself.


    If she keeps working hard, there''s nothing in the world that she can''t achieve after centuries of hard work and training!


    Time is on her side; that''s why she thinks that there''s no need to rush anything.


    "Sigh, you really are persistent..."


    Lia shook her head in defeat; it''s pointless to argue with her as she''s not going to listen anyway.


    Lia grabbed Rio''s arm tightly and dered her sovereignty.


    "Hmph, no matter what you say, he''s mine and mine alone! I am not letting you take him away at all!"


    Although she felt very embarrassed saying those words, she had to make it clear to Sin, so she had to do this!


    "Tch! You the upper hand for now, Lia! But don''t be so happy! I will beat you someday!"


    Sparks of lightning seem to have collided between Lia and Sin''s eyes as they red at each other.


    The rest of the group shook their heads at this and didn''t bother to stop themotion.


    In the past few days, they had all but gotten used to this kind of thing now. Even Link shook his head, saying,


    "Man, Rio really is popr with the dragon... the other day that SS ranker was also talking with him with smiles all over his face... I wonder if it''s because all dragons respect ''Sword Intent''?"


    Hearing those words, Liam shook his head and said,


    "No, I think it''s more like they consider him the strongest person in our group... The dragon king favored you because he considers your talent to be the strongest..."


    "And that other SS-ranker, Fenix, favored Rio because he has seen Rio inbat and thinks highly of him... I guess that''s how dragons are inherently; they respect the strong..."


    "I highly doubt that the dragon king himself will start respecting Rio if he sees him inbat..."


    As a person with great perception abilities and a lot of research in this matter, Liam has figured out a lot of things recently.


    ''It was a good idea toe to the dragon valley; not only I awakened my very own legendary skill, I even got a ton of information about dragons...''


    Just when Liam was contemting in his mind, Sin finally came over to shake hands with him too after finishing her ring contest with Lia.


    "Oh! I nearly forgot, here! These are the details you asked; I have prepared all that I could


    find..."


    Sin brought out a small dairy from her space ring and handed it over to Liam.


    "There''s very little knowledge avable in the library on Shadow Dragons; this is all I could find for you... I have written all that I could find in this diary; you can have it..."


    Ever since Ellie told Liam about her condition, Liam has been trying his best to research more about shadow dragons. That''s why he took a risk and asked Sin to get some important information for him.


    Liam took the diary and put it in his own space ring before nodding his head to thank Sin.


    "Thank you, princess; although it was a short stay, I greatly appreciate your friendship and your help. Consider it that I owe you a favor..."


    "If a dayes when you need the help of ''Mana Field'', you can contact me without a moment''s hesitation; I will be there to help you out..."


    Sin nodded her head and acknowledged the matter.


    "Well, if not for the fact that there are SS-rankers keeping eyes on everything, I surely would have liked to see you summon too... But I guess that''s impossible for now..."


    Liam was a bit surprised that in the end Sin ended up noticing what he was trying to hide, but he nodded his head to ept it.


    "Sigh, you figured it out in the end? Okay, when you visit Rio for the second duel, I will bring her with me for sure; you can meet her then..."


    Liam asked for such crucial information on Shadow Dragons, and Sin already knows that Liam''s title is ''Dragon Master'', so it''s not difficult to guess which type of dragon Liam


    actually has.


    Sin was also curious to meet a Shadow Dragon herself, as she has never seen one in her whole life, but right now is not the appropriate time.


    Liam can''t put Ellie''s safety in danger right now, so he has no choice but to keep this matter


    hidden for now.


    "Well, I am the next Dragon King after all; I can definitely figure out such small matters


    easily!"


    Sin crossed her arm and then said in a calm voice,


    "One piece of advice though, Liam Aldif: Shadow Dragons are said to be masters of deception


    and betrayal... Are you sure ''she'' is not lying to you?"


    Liam shook his head at those words.


    "I-I don''t know b-but..."


    Sin patted Liam''s shoulder at that moment and said with a smile,


    "No need to think too much of it; I just stated what my father has always taught me about, but


    you must keep these words in your mind too..."


    "After all, dying from betrayal is the worst possible oue one''s life can have..."


    Liam had no words to refute those words, and he had more questions in his mind now than he


    had before he came to the Dragon Valley.


    Maybe he will need to find the answers to these questions on his own after all.


    "Ah, the teleportation altar is ready! It''s time to say good-bye, I guess..." Sin nced at the teleportation altar that the maintenance staff had already fine-tuned.


    She led the group to the teleportation altar, and atst it was time to bid farewell. "Farewell, everyone! Let''s meet again someday!"


    Sin waved her hand at the group, and the group also nodded their hands and smiled at her.


    The teleportation circle lit up brightly, and the whole group got teleported away instantly!


    Looking at the empty teleportation altar, Sin sighed to herself.


    ''In the end, I am alone all over again?''


    Just when Sin was feeling a bit lonely, a hand was ced on her head.


    "No need to be so down;rades, friends, and everything else are but temporary, Sin...


    You need to get used to parting ways with others and saying goodbyes..."


    Sin sighed at those words.


    "You seem more concerned than me though, father..."


    Idri shook his head at Sin''s words and said in a solemn tone,


    "I have a bad feeling... My intuition is telling me that there''s something really sinister


    brewing in the dark... Work hard, Sin, and get stronger; being sad doesn''t suit the face of


    the future Dragon King!"


    Sin was a bit puzzled at Idri''s sudden supportive behavior.


    "Hmm, why are you being so supportive all of a sudden though?"


    Idri sighed deeply at that question and replied,


    "I was hoping that Link would ept my offer, but now that he has rejected it, I can only ce


    my hopes of seeding me on you...''


    "Although I can''t guarantee everything, let me be clear: from now on I will personally train


    you and support you, Sin..."


    Sin started to walk back to her room while saying,


    "So, after you got rejected, now you have woken up and chose to finally care for me..."


    Idri followed her back to the pce.


    "Well, things change in this ever-changing world..."


    Sin sighed at those words, and forgave her clueless father as he was never good at grasping


    other''s emotions anyway.


    "Well, at least you came to your senses in the end, that''s all that matters..."


    ''I hope I will get to meet them all soon... Let''s work hard and be strong so I can face


    them with confidence!''


    After that day, Idri will cherish his only daughter more from then on and will not force her to


    marry any random guy without her permission.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Turns out, even a stern-faced guy like him still has some love for his only child after all.


    Author''s Note!


    And finally! Volume 4 hase to an end!


    This is it for the Dragon Valley guys; it was one heck of a journey though! I enjoyed writing it a


    lot, and I hope you enjoyed reading it too.


    I never expected I would be able to write this story for so long and in such detail; it''s all


    thanks to the support of you all that I can continue writing it.


    Originally I was nning on ending the whole story by Vol. 4, but due to your constant


    motivation, I have been able to get new inspirations, and we still have a long journey ahead. Thanks for everything, guys.


    Now that we are finally done with the Dragon Valley, it''s time to move on to the next part of


    the story!


    Next will be the volume that many have been anticipating for a long time-a volume filled


    with battles!


    The moment when SS-rankers will enter the arena hase!


    Now the ''Ascension Spire Arc'' shall start from here on!

 Chapter 395: Back to home... Part-1.

    Chapter 395: Back to home... Part-1.


    ?


    Academy, Teleportation Altar Area.


    The magic circle of the teleportation altar lit up, and the group finally made it back home.


    Looking at the familiar scenery around, a sigh of relief appeared on everyone''s face.


    Thest time they used a teleportation altar, everyone ended up traveling to the wrong location, which caused chaos.


    Thankfully, such a thing didn''t happen this time.


    "Wee Back, Everyone..."


    A portal appeared nearby, and Raji walked out of the portal with the usual cold look on her face.


    She leaned her back against a nearby tree and sipped the wine from the ss she was holding in her hand.


    "It''s been quite some... I thought you guys woulde back in just a month, but you took nearly half a month extra..."


    "Well, all''s good as long as you are back in one piece..."


    Another portal appeared nearby, and Ashtel walked out of the portal.


    "Ah! Father! Are you already out of seclusion!? I thought it would take you more time!"


    Hearing Link''s words, Ashtel frowned a bit and said in an amused tone,


    "What? Don''t tell me you wanted to get married with Riya behind my back and surprise me when Ie back? Did I ruin the surprise perhaps?"


    Even Riya blushed after hearing those words, and Link was left speechless.


    "No! I was just surprised that your seclusion ended so fast, that''s all... Don''t SS-rankers usually take years of seclusion most of the time?"


    Ashtel nodded his head at those words and replied in a calm voice,


    "Yeah, they do, but that''s only when you are trying to advance but don''t have any general direction and inspirations..."


    "But it was different for me this time; when I saw Riya get protected by the ''world'' in the elven empire, I got some instant ''realization'' and ''inspiration'' from it..."


    "These past few months I have been focusing on it... And the result is in front of you; I ended my seclusion fast and became stronger again..."


    "Ah, but that means the gap between us has be wider once again. Link, if you don''t progress fast, you might never be able to beat your old man at this rate..."


    Ashtel shrugged his shoulders and casually called the supposed most talented person of the younger generation a slowpoke!


    He''s literally saying, ''You are too weak and slow!'' to the guy who literally mastered a legendary skill and has the supposed highest possible talent in the annals of history!


    "Ah, talking about improvement speeds.... I see you have be much stronger than thest time I saw you, Rio..."


    Before Rio could even notice, Ashtel was standing beside him and had ced his hand on his head.


    He patted Rio''s head and smiled like a proud old guy who''s happy to see the young generation improve.


    "Nice! I guess you mighte to challenge me first instead of Link, hahaha... Don''t underestimate me though; I will not let you kids beat me so easily!"


    Even Raji was a bit shocked at Ashtel''s speed, but she just shook her head and didn''t say much.


    She already has epted the fact that she can never surpass Ashtel in her whole life, so there''s no point in bothering over this matter.


    He''s just too insanely powerful for her.


    Link, on the other hand, gritted his teeth when he saw that Ashtel was being so nice to Rio.


    ''Ugh! Why is heplimenting Rio more than me!!''


    Ashtel also patted Riya on the head and even gave her a full box of candies on the spot; she was so happy that she was jumping around like a rabbit.


    Raji sighed and shook her head when she saw Riya behaving like a kid.


    ''Ugh, when will my younger sister grow up? She always makes me worried...''


    At that moment, another portal opened, and Jin walked out of the portal. Unlike usual, today he''s wearing more casual clothes.


    Usually, he''s always in that battle uniform of his, but today he''s wearing a T-shirt and shorts.


    ''Waifu is Laifu'' are literally the words written on his t-shirt!


    Ashtel was a bit taken aback when he saw Jin.


    "Oh? Isn''t that ''couples'' T-shirt? Jin, did you manage to convince Anna to agree after all?"


    Jin, who had just woken up when he got the message and came over, yawned loudly and then nodded his head while rubbing his eyes.


    "Ah, yeah, I forgot to tell you? She agreed to marry me... We will announce it soon; we are actually living together already, you know..."


    A crazy smile appeared on Ashtel''s face after hearing that.


    "Amazing! This is quite the good news; as a reward, I will allow you to have spar with me! Here, take this punch!"


    Before Jin could react, Ashtel punched him in the stomach, and he flew away into the sky like a rocket!


    *BOOM!!!*


    The ground cracked and the void trembled like crazy, but Ashtel just waved his hand, and everything fell silent again.


    Not even the space-time fabric dared to tremble when he asked it to stop.


    An awkward look appeared on his face when he saw that Jin was directly sted off out of Earth''s gravitational pull.


    "Er... I guess I punched a bit too hard... I forgot I have be stronger recently..."


    Hearing those words, Raji had nothing to say, and the rest of the group was even more speechless than her.


    Even Rio felt a bit weird seeing this scene.


    ''Is this how SS-rankers usually greet each other? That punch would have killed an S-ranker


    ten times over... but I am quite sure Jin barely got a scratch from that...''


    A portal opened nearby, and Jin came out of it. He patted his clothes and heaved a sigh of


    relief.


    "Phew... Thankfully the T-shirt didn''t tear apart; Anna would have killed me if I ruined something that she gifted me..."


    "You are kind of crazy; a little bit more of the strength, and I would have hit the moon casing


    major global issues!"


    Ashtel patted Jin''s back and smiled,


    "Hahaha, now worries; I already knew you could teleport back before you could collide with


    the moon; you have be better in the past few months since I was gone... nice."


    "By the way, where is Neo? I haven''t seen him yet... I just expanded my mana detection range and scanned the entire empire, but he''s not in the empire..."


    Hearing those words, Raji and Jin both panicked a bit and hurriedly exined.


    "Uh, we haven''t seen him recently... h-he disappeared around the time when Link and the


    others went to the dragon valley..."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Link and the others were quite confused why Raji and Jin were panicking all of a sudden when


    Ashtel asked that question.


    After all, only SS-rankers know about the affairs between them four.


    Ashtel and Neo had once signed a peace treaty.


    After the fifty-year Orc war, Ashtel freed all the captured victims that Neo had in his grasp,


    and he also restricted Neo to the empire.


    Neo isn''t allowed to leave the empire unless Ashtel has given him permission; in return for all


    this, Ashtel spared Neo''s ''life'' in that peace treaty.


    If not for that, Neo would have been dead long ago, and there would have been only one SS- ranker in the human empire for several years toe.


    ...


    Author''s Note.


    The questions have been shifted below in the author''s thoughts.

 Chapter 396: Back to home... Part-2.

    Chapter 396: Back to home... Part-2.


    ?


    The reason for sparing Neo''s life was quite simple, actually.


    In case of a two-sided attack, the entire nation''s safety would have been at risk, and


    coincidentally, Neo is good at safeguarding the borders of the entire nation all at once with his immense army.


    Therefore, Ashtel spared his life in exchange for him ceasing his questionable actions and transforming into a civilized individual with sound moral principles.


    And in case he doesn''t obey this treaty, Ashtel will kill him.


    Although Raji and Jin don''t know where Neo went, they for sure know that he definitely has broken the treaty now.


    This implies that Neo is openly mocking Ashtel''s authority; his actions are akin to pping Ashtel in the face.


    And no one in the entire world alliance is daring enough to face an angry Ashtel Rex; that''s why they are both panicking at this moment.


    Just as Ashtel was on the verge of getting angry, the atmosphere was growing chilly, and everyone was silent. A single voice broke the silence.


    "uh... The atmosphere is getting quite cold for some reason... I feel cold..."


    Hearing Riya''s voice, Ashtel withdrew his aura that was just about to leak out, and a smile returned to his face that was just about to get serious.


    "Ah, my bad, I nearly lost face in front of the kids..."


    Riya tilted her head in confusion as everyone gave her a happy nce and a collective thumbs up.


    She was unaware that she had just prevented Ashtel''s aura from leveling down the entire academy.


    "Uh, I have something to talk about his disappearance..."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Summoning his courage, Liam stepped forward to face Ashtel.


    Although he felt a bit intimidated while standing in front of the strongest man alive, he knew he had to face this situation head-on.


    Liam clenched his fists and told everything that happened in the dragon valley to Ashtel and the other two.


    Obviously, he omitted a few things, like how he awakened his mana field and what talks he had with Ellie.


    But he told everything rted to Neo.


    Hearing all this, a look of contemtion appeared on Ashtel''s face. He waved his hand at Liam and the others while saying it with a smile.


    "You guys just came back from a long journey; go home and take some rest; leave this matter to us; you guys don''t need to worry yourself about it..."


    "It''s a matter involving the SS-rankers, so we will deal with..."


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, the group nodded their heads and started to leave.


    Although they also want to stay and hear more about it, Ashtel has clearly asked them to leave.


    So they dared not stay any longer and left immediately.


    The group left, and all of them gave Riya a candy each to thank her for her saving grace.


    Up until the end, Riya had no idea why everyone was being so nice all of a sudden; after a while, she just forgot about it too.


    ...


    Once the group left, Ashtel waved his hand and used his mana to iste the three of them; now no one can hear what they are talking about.


    Raji stopped drinking and threw away the ss, while Jin crossed his arms, and a serious look appeared on his face.


    Ashtel contemted Liam''s words for a while and then spoke in a confused tone,


    "We are missing some key information on this matter... We need more information if we want to figure out what Neo is actually nning..."


    Raji frowned a bit and spoke in a hesitant tone.


    "Uh... how about you ask the Dragon King about this matter... From what Liam said, it seems he has more information about it, and he''s a friend of yours-"


    Ashtel shook his head at those words.


    "No, Idri is not my friend at all... You can actually never be friends with dragons; it''s impossible..."


    "Just like demons arepletely ipatible with the world and are the enemy of the entire world, dragons are also ipatible with other beings..."


    "Although they are not a ''cancer'' to the world like demons, which is a good thing... they are very prideful and arrogant creatures..."


    "Dragons don''t even make friends with their own kin; it''s impossible for them to truly be close to anyone but themselves..."


    "Dragon are the type of creatures who can never trust others fully from the bottom of their hearts, and they prefer being alone rather than being with others..."


    Ashtel nced towards the sky and said in a vague tone,


    "When Ist met him, he extended his arm out to show friendship, and I epted it, that''s all..."


    "Moreover, I can already see that the entrances to the dragon valley have been sealed..."


    With Ashtel''s capabilities, it''s no surprise that he can sense the Dragon Valley while still being in the human empire.


    "I guess he already thinks that there''s going to be a lot of chaos, and he doesn''t want anything to do with it at all..."


    "And it''s not my style to barge into other people''s houses by force like that..."


    Ashtel is not like Neo; he won''t go to the dragon valley without being invited, except if it concerns the nation itself.


    In Ashtel''s opinion, Neo has long bepletely useless ever since such talented kids appeared in the younger generation.


    Sooner orter, Liam will rece Neo, Link will rece him, Rio will rece Jin, and there will be no need to worry even if Neo doesn''t ''exist'' anymore.


    In other words, Ashtel is now free to deal with Neo at any moment.


    ''Perhaps he sensed that he can never do wrong things again as long as I am keeping an eye on him... and if the next generation takes over, things will be worse for him...''


    ''Even Neo knows that Liam is more talented than him, and he will be left behind in dust


    eventually...''


    Ashtel sighed at that moment and spoke in a calm tone,


    "Send this information to the alliance, ask Ryul for assistance, and tell them to use the power


    of the world tree to find Neo..."


    "The world tree can detect any living beings existing in this sr system; unless Neo has left this entire sr system altogether, we will eventually find him no matter what..."


    Raji and Jin nodded their heads at those words and hurriedly left as if they were running away. Standing alone, Ashtel shook his head and sighed heavily.


    ''Even after bing the strongest, even after reaching such heights... my fate still remains


    the same; I guess I was never really blessed with friends...''


    Ashtel gave a dryugh and thought about Link and his group.


    ''Although I was cursed, I am d you were blessed with such great friends, Link. I am d I raised you with the utmost care...''


    ''Before I retire, I will clean up all the mess for you; you just need to take over and everything will be fine... After all, I promised to your mother, I can never forget that even if I want to...''


    With a smile on his face, Ashtel nced in the direction of Link''s room in the dorms and then left the academy to go andplete the unfinished work.

 Chapter 397: The opportunity... Part-1.

    Chapter 397: The opportunity... Part-1.


    ?


    Next Morning,


    Outside the academy, A nearby abandoned factory.


    "I already know that Fade and Kira disappeared here, but why are we here anyway? Does it even have anything to do with us?"


    Liamined loudly while sitting on an old chair with a look of confusion on his face.


    Hearing his question, Rio, who was standing just nearby while leaning his back against the wall, replied in a calm voice,


    "We are here because a ''certain someone'' asked us toe here... Don''t ask too many questions; I don''t know the answers myself..."


    Liam sighed at those words and stopped questioning.


    Just when he was on a peaceful morning walk today, Rio dragged him to this abandoned factory with him without giving any apparent reasons.


    Liam wouldn''t have just tagged along with anyone; if it was someone else, he wouldn''t have agreed.


    But he trusts Rio a lot; that''s why he didn''t disagree too much and came along in the end.


    "Still, I guess this is the first time we both are the only ones who are on some kind of unknown mission together... Usually it is the whole group."


    Rio shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "It''s not a mission; actually, we are just here to meet someone and get some crucial information from them."


    "And if possible, we will convince her toe back to the academy."


    As if a sudden realization came upon Liam, his eyes shined brightly.


    "Wait, don''t tell me-"


    Before Liam could finish his words, a familiar person entered the dpidated factory hall.


    Looking at familiar armor and that familiar stern look on her face, Liam was quite shocked. "It''s been a while... Rio, Liam..."


    It was none other than Riko Embeth herself.


    Rio was not much surprised after seeing her, as he already knew she woulde, so he just nodded his head and then nced at Liam.


    "I dragged you along today because I once took her contact info and asked her to send me a message when she haspleted her quest of gathering information on Alverto."


    "And apparently this matter involves you deeply, so she asked me to bring you along."


    Liam was quite shocked at the sudden revtion, as he had no idea that he would even get to meet Riko again one day.


    He had thought that Riko dropped out of the academy and would eventually settle down and move on in life.


    He had no idea she was on a quest for revenge all along.


    Riko nced at Rio for a while and spoke in a calm tone.


    "You seem much stronger than thest time, and Liam too... I see, you guys have been making a lot of progress."


    "Me, on the other hand... s, I am still stuck at the peak of A-rank like before."


    Riko shook her head and sighed deeply.


    She herself chose the ''path'' of revenge; obviously, it will be more difficult for her to break through fast as her mind is already corrupted with revenge.


    Moreover, she isn''t really much talented either; her max talent potential itself is just S-rank, so she will not progress too fast, and the members of team Astra will surpass her easily.


    But she doesn''t care about it anymore.


    For her, revenge is the only motive of her life now, and there''s nothing else she wants.


    "Where have you been this past year though, Riko Senpai?"


    Hearing Liam''s question, Riko sighed and replied in a solemn voice,


    "A lot has happened... Let me tell you in brief."


    First of all, Riko went on to look for that person who sold her and her younger brother and was the owner of their orphanage.


    And it turns out that person was already dead.


    He died from a heart attack when Ashtel Rex suddenly appeared on his door to arrest him for doing illegal things.


    Opening your door and suddenly seeing a literal demi-god standing out there to arrest you is something that can indeed cause a shock, and the man died from that.


    He was just as pathetic in death as he was in life; Riko stopped bothering herself with investigating him after she found out everything about him.


    "I have gotten in touch with a few powerful intelligence agencies and have also joined one of them to find out a lot of information that I wanted."


    "All information has a price though; I have done a lot of secret missionstely to buy those secret information''s."


    How do you think the human nation remains so peaceful all the time? It''s because the troublemakers get assassinated overnight without anyone knowing at all.


    The information gathering agencies are not just mere unofficial organizations; a lot of them are officially recognized by the SS rankers themselves.


    Riko worked in these information agencies and took a lot of missions to assassinate influential people who were creating chaos purposely and had criminal records.


    Those who hold too much influence and can''t be legally dealt with despite being an issue for the empire, the SS rankers deal with them in a more covert manner by using these


    assassinations.


    Rio''s father, Kevin, also used to work in this field in his younger days.


    "Here, take this."


    Riko brought out a strange coin from her space ring and tossed it towards Liam.


    Liam caught the coin and looked at that ancient-looking coin with a confused expression on


    his face.


    "Hmm? I have never seen this kind of currency in any of the history books. what''s this?"


    Hearing that question, Riko exined,


    "This is called ''Soul Stone,'' a kind of currency that higher-ranking demons use; it''s literallyn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    made out of metal and has a soul embedded in it."


    Liam''s eyes widened in shock after hearing those words.


    "What!? Isn''t it impossible to manipte souls, though!? Even SS rankers are said to be


    powerless in this matter! Then how is this possible!?"


    Riko nodded her head and replied in a solemn tone,


    "I also used to believe that it was impossible, but apparently this currency only came into


    being two hundred years ago."


    "And you know what? That so-called Prince Alverto also was born around that time."


    "Rumors are that he was the one who introduced the use of currency to the barbaric demons."


    Rio''s eyes narrowed at these words.


    "So, you mean to say that... Alverto actually has some kind of power that involves


    manipting souls?"


    Riko nodded her head at that question.


    "Yes! Aside from his extremely powerful Chronos ''Time'' rted power, he definitely has


    something that can temper with souls."


    "Aside from that, on one of my previous missions I also found a very peculiar thing."


    Riko brought out her smartphone and showed a photo of the back of someone''s hand; there


    was a weird demonic crest imprinted on the hand.


    "This weird demonic crest has appeared on the hands of quite a few people in the human empire ever since seven years ago. That was the day when Alverto carried out the Drift City


    massacre."


    "Although I don''t know what this crest''s purpose is, there are nearly a thousand people who were recorded to have this crest by the secret agencies."


    "Most of them died a slow, irreversible sign of decline in health, and then it ultimately leads


    to death... And it turns out, Lia''s mother had died that exact same way.


    Rio''s eyes widened in surprise after hearing those words.


    "But Lia''s mother died around the same time when that incident happened... Could it be that


    Alverto was nting these crests even before that?"


    Riko nodded her head,


    "Yes, it is very likely... In fact, I dare to assume that he''s been nning something grand since


    the past two hundred years.


    "From the very moment he introduced that ''soul stone'' into the demon continent, he was


    already nning something."


    Hearing all this, Liam tilted his head in confusion.


    "But what does all this have to do with me, though?"


    Riko nced at him and spoke in a calm tone.


    "In that mission of assassinating the demon general Azazel, your father was involved too;


    how do you think a mere S-rank demon like Alverto escaped that day from right under the


    nose of Ashtel Rex?"


    Liam''s eyes widened in shock after hearing those words; he stood up, and his voice stuttered.


    "Wait, don''t tell me that-"


    Riko nodded her head, "Yeah, I suspect that Neo Aldif is working together with Alverto for some reason."


    Riko nced at Rio and said,


    "Rio told me about what Neo did in the Dragon Valley today on the phone, and from all this, I


    am already 80 percent sure that they both are working together."


    "After all, Alverto is likely the only person who knows about locations of forbidden magics...


    He was likely the one who told Neo about it and made some kind of deal with him.


    Riko sighed to herself.


    "I have been working on this matter for a long time; I have already submitted my report, and


    all this information will be avable to the SS-rankers by evening today."


    "I am just informing the two of you about it early because it involves the two of you the


    most." "Rio survived the drift city massacre, so you have some personal score to settle with Alverto, and Liam, on the other hand, has to figure out what his father is nning."


    "If you two don''t handle this matter properly, you will never be able to find your answers."


    "I myself, on the other hand, have been preparing for an opportunity for a long while now."


    "Although I was not able to kill the person who murdered my brother, I will definitely take revenge for Zach no matter what."


    Riko smirked at that moment and spoke in a vague tone. "And apparently, the opportunity is not too far away now..."

 Chapter 398: The Opportunity... Part-2.

    Chapter 398: The Opportunity... Part-2.


    ?


    "Recently, a lot of nations have noticed demon-rted activities in their territories... Our empire alone has faced the threat of a lot of demons infiltrating ittely..."


    "All this seems to be connected to a sole demon, that is the demon prince Alverto; he''s pulling the strings behind the scenes, and he''s been investigating nearly all nations in the dark..."


    "I assume he was looking for something... But recently, the activities have suddenly stopped; they stopped around the same time when Fade and Kira went missing!"


    "It''s as if Alverto has found what he was looking for! And I suspect it''s about time he starts showing his true colors to the world..."


    Hearing Riko mention Fade and connect it to Alverto, a thought came to Rio''s mind,


    ''Er... don''t tell me that due to my continuous stealing activities, the heavenly luck has decided to separate Fade from the human empire and bring him to the demon camp, where he might get more chances instead...''


    Although something like this is very unlikely to happen, there''s always a possibility at the very least.


    ording to what Idri told Link that day, the ''Laws'' of this world are getting corrupted, and the ''Law'' of ''Luck'' itself might be corrupted too, so it won''t be surprising that Fade ends up getting corrupted and bes a demon.


    This way, he will directly switch camps and be more efficient at destroying humanity.


    In the first ce, the heavenly luck was already against the human race when it made a trash like Fade get it''s blessing; it wouldn''t be surprising if the heavily corrupted heavenly luck made Fade be a demon.


    ''Well, I will leave dealing with Fade to Link; the two blessed people can figure out everything between them on their own; I have nothing to do with it...''


    ''The person I need to deal with is Alverto...''


    Dealing with Alverto will solve the problem with ''shadow'' and the other party''s


    consciousness will finally be able to rest in peace.


    And he will be able to avenge this body''s parents and Zach too.


    Although all these are just his selfish goals, Rio has always been a selfish person, so it doesn''t matter to him much.


    This is something he must do for his own sake, not for others.


    Liam clenched his fist after hearing all this and spoke in a determined tone.


    "If my father is indeed involved in all this... then I will take responsibility... I will kill him myself!"


    Liam has never liked Neo from the start, and if Neo is indeed involved with demons, then he has already betrayed humanity anyway.


    Either Ashtel will kill Neo on his own, or Liam will have to deal with him in the future some way or other.


    "Well, I have already told you most of the things that I knew; I have more information, which I can''t disclose to anyone as of yet..."


    "If my investigation results turn out to be true... I will tell you guys more about it... Or perhaps the SS-rankers will figure out the rest on their own as they are not to be underestimated..."


    Riko has been investigating for nearly a year; although she didn''t get much key information, she at least has figured out a tip of the iceberg.


    "I wasn''t ready to face him a year ago, but now I surely am..."


    Rio couldn''t understand where this huge confidence wasing from, but Riko''s eyes lookedpletely different than thest time.


    Thest time, she was helpless, her spirit was weak, her eyes were trembling, and she had no proper goals.


    But now, her eyes are firm and burning with determination, her fighting spirit is condensed to the extreme, and she seems ready for a ''death match'' with her enemy.


    ''She''s really a weird kind of person... The more she hates someone, the stronger she gets, and the more twisted her mentality gets...''


    ''I suspect that she''s burning her own lifespan to get stronger and stronger for the sake of revenge... She kind of seems simr to Lia from the original timeline...''


    In the original timeline, Riko let go of her revenge and entered Fade''s harem and became one of the many decoration-type heroines who''s just there for the sake of it.


    But now she''spletely different.


    Although she''s sacrificing her own life for revenge, at least she has a meaning to her life.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''I don''t know if my interference really changed her future for the better or not like the others,


    but I guess she at least has some goals and ambitions in life at least...''


    Rio was hoping that Zach and Riko would end up together and their future would be bright, but not everything goes ording to your will after all.


    He sessfully changed the futures of a lot of people, but he can''t do it for everyone; he''s not


    a ''Hero'' or a ''Savior'' after all; he''s an ''Anomaly''.


    For some people, an ''Anomaly'' can be a good thing, but that''s not the case for everyone.


    Riko brought out her helmet and spoke in a calm voice,


    "It''s about time I leave now... I still need to do more investigations; maybe I will get my hands on more information recently..."


    Just as Riko was about to leave, Rio asked in a calm voice,


    "How about staying a few days? I am sure Lia and the others will be happy to see you... It''s not always that we get to meet oldrades after all..."


    Riko shook her head at those words,


    "No, my fate is to pursue revenge my whole life; me staying near them will only bring them more harm than good... I would rather not taint them with my ''path'' of revenge..."


    "Let me be the only one to carry this burden alone..."


    Zach''s final words ring in her head all the time; in his final moments, he confessed his love for


    her that she had always been unable to see before.


    Now she has nothing but regret and hatred left in her mind.


    "When will we get neet you aga


    then?"


    Liam was also a bit anxious that she would leave, but he dared not use force to stop her, as


    that would be too rude.


    Riko sighed at those words and replied in a calm voice before disappearing in the distance.


    "When the wind leads me to your side, I shalle back again..."


    "But I have a feeling we will be working together soon..."


    She didn''t give any set time or date; she just left after saying those few words.


    ...


    Capital City Astra, Core Area.


    A certain skyscraper, Rooftop.


    "I see, so Riko was able to get all this information? She''s quite a talented child..."


    Hearing Ashtel''s words, Raji nodded her head and sighed,


    "Yeah... s, she refuses to return; I have even prepared the graduation degree for her despite her notpleting the third-year missions... yet she has refused to take it..."


    Jin also sighed heavily at those words,


    "It was my mistake that day... I am the one who''s responsible for this; if only I had arrived on


    time... sigh..."


    Ashtel shook his head at that moment,


    "What happened in the past can''t be changed; there''s no point in thinking about it for too


    long..."


    "What was Ryul''s reply to our request?"


    At Ashtel''s question, Raji nodded her head and replied in a solemn voice,


    "He has alerted all the members of the alliance; the world tree has its roots all over the


    net, so it has noticed that arge number of demons have been teleported to the ''Maya


    Continent'' over the past month..."


    Ashtel frowned at those words.


    "Maya continent? What do they want to do in that barrennd where no one lives anymore? Also, howe no one noticed when they teleported so many demons over to that


    continent?"


    Hearing those questions, Raji answered one by one,


    "Even the world tree of the alliance has no idea what the demons are trying to do by going to the Maya continent, but the alliance has issued a level-3 alert for all of the members..."


    "As for the teleportation... it''s suspected they used some kind of ancient mechanism or some mysterious unknown artifact to hide the miasmic fluctuations created by the mass teleportation..."


    "This matter is further confirmed by the fact that the world tree can''t detect Alverto or Neo''s


    presence at all..."


    "It''s suspected they are using a simr method to the demon general Azazel to hide their


    presence..."


    "We will need to do a more thorough investigation of this matter if we want to find out more


    about it..."


    Ashtel suddenly smirked at those words and spoke in an amused tone.


    "How about I just go there myself? I will smash that entire continent to bits along with them


    altogether..."


    "This may seem like a crisis, but it''s actually an opportunity-an opportunity to kill a lot of demons all at once without having to worry about internationalws and alliance rules..."


    "They are likely trying to use those demons as cannon fodder for whatever they are


    nning..."


    Usually, high-ranking demons use lower-ranked demons as cannon fodder in wars or when they are about to conduct some kind of dark ritual.


    They are likely going to sacrifice thousands of weak demons''s souls and life spans and then


    use them in some kind of forbidden magic to achieve their evil goals.


    This is amon practice among the demon race; they do this all the time, and it''s somon that during wars, this is the biggest headache for the opponent armies. Dealing with these forbidden rituals can help you win wars if you do it on time; otherwise, you will lose horribly if it''s toote.

 Chapter 399: The Path to Ascension appears... Part-1.

    Chapter 399: The Path to Ascension appears... Part-1.


    ?


    Maya Continent.


    Central ins, Center of the Chaotic Mana.


    Standing in the sky, Alverto could see all the weak demons squirm around on the ground like


    worms.


    Hundreds and thousands of lower-rank demons can be seen standing on the central ins.


    There are demons everywhere, as far as the eye can see.


    "You are finally here..."


    Alverto nced to the side, and a purple-haired man walked out of a portal.


    "Well, the ns are in their final stages; it''s about time Ie here personally..."


    Neo shrugged his shoulders and nced at the sky.


    "Is it time yet?"


    Alverto nodded his head at that question.


    "Yeah, I am waiting for the moons to appear. It is said that if you something under the presence of moonlight, it brings luck."


    Neo sneered at those words and spoke in an amused tone.


    "I didn''t except even demons believe in things like these... That''s something quite shocking..."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Alverto shook his head and replied in a calm voice,


    "Well, I also didn''t use to believe in these things before, but a certain exception appeared in our kind... I guess even demons can change under particr circumstances..."


    Alverto shrugged his shoulders and nced at Neo before asking,


    "By the way, it''s been quite a few decades since we started working together; finally we will have our goals aplished..."


    Neoughed a bit at those words and shook his head,


    "Forget about cooperation; the moment the n finishes and I am free, the first thing I will do is kill you and obliterate you into nothingness, Demon Prince..."


    Hearing Neo''s threats, Alverto justughed a bit and replied in a calm voice,


    "Well, we will see who will kill who; what I am doing is for the sake of the world anyway; it won''t matter if I die afterpleting my goals; as for you... I think you should be more worried about how you will survive..."


    "After all, the moment you go back to the human empire, you will be hunted down by Ashtel Rex..."


    "Although I also have a score to be settled with him, I am not really 100 percent sure I can spare the time to deal with him right now... You, on the other hand, arepletely helpless in front of him..."


    At those words, Neoughed coldly, and a wide grin appeared on his face.


    "Hehe, unlike you, I have only been nning for a few decades, but I am not sloppy either, demon prince..."


    "I already have the n and the assets to finally get rid of that thorn called Ashtel Rex that''s been poking my neck again and again!"


    "That guy''s been restricting my movements for decades now, and he bosses me around like I am his subordinate or something... Hmph, I have been waiting for this day for so long..."


    "Now''s the time; I will deal with him once and for all..."


    Hearing Neo''s words of determination, Alverto smiled happily.


    "Yes! Ahaha, that''s the reason why I decided to team up with you; you have the cunningness to be considered my partner..."


    "It was a good thing I teamed up with you; it would have been such a waste if we hadn''t started working together..."


    "The offer still stands the same. Neo Aldif, ept Demonification, be my subordinate... You will achieve a lot if you be my subordinate..."


    Neo waved his hand at those words and directly rejected that offer.


    "No, as I said, we are just partners, and I am not nning on bing a demon at all; once I deal with Ashtel and my nes to an end, the next thing I will do is deal with you..."


    "Make sure you are ready; after all, by that time I will be so strong that even the dragon king will have to lick my boots... hehe..."


    Alverto shook his head at those words.


    "Your dreams are quite big; I wonder if you really have the capability to support those dreams though..."


    "I haven''t met someone like you ever before who is able to go to such great lengths to the point of colliding with demons just to deal with their nemesis..."


    "I guess you are one of a kind, Neo Aldif... I have to praise you for your persistence, I guess..." Neo smirked at Alverto''s words of praise and replied in a confident tone,


    "Well, those who are born with nothing and are forced to see others remain happy, learn to snatch that happiness by force from others''s hands and make it their own..."


    "Ever since the start, ever since the very beginning, I have done anything and everything to reach my level today; you can say that my journey to rank SS was one of the most eventful among all..."


    "Unlike Ashtel, who rose like a rocket and never struggled at anything, I have faced more difficulties in life... And to tell you the truth, I envy him a lot..."


    "I envy how he''s so upright and so strong, yet is able to remain so disciplined and is respected all over the world... He''s the exact opposite of me..."


    Neo crossed his arms and gritted his teeth before continuing speaking.


    "I will rip apart that fa?ade of benevolence from his face and break that pride of his to bits!"


    "Although my ''original n'' didn''t seed, now I am quite sure that this will end it all atst..."


    Alverto brought out two sses of wine from his space ring, handed one to both of them, and poured some wine for both of them.


    "Well, this is thest wine we are having together; let''s enjoy ourselves; after this, we will be mortal enemies of each other..."


    Neo grabbed the wine and used an artifact to scan it for any kind of poison or curse and only drank it after confirming that it wasn''t tempered in any way.


    Alverto sighed at that and spoke in an amused tone,


    "Haha, no need to be so suspicious; we are stillrades in arms right now..."


    "I am not like other demons; I have been enlightened two times; I have enough dignity to not


    do sneak attacks at the least..."


    Neo sneered at those words,


    "Hmph, just like how a dog wearing clothes would still remain a dog, a demon will still remain a demon even if they got the heavenly blessings and got immense wisdom..." "All demons are the same; drop the fa?ade of being a gentleman; it doesn''t suit you at all, demon prince... Perhaps you should try it on someone else... It won''t work on me..." Although Alverto and Neo are working together, they are in it for their own personal benefits. Both of them made deals that benefitted them both on equal terms; the two of them are in a win-win situation; that''s why their cooperation is still working fine.


    Once they both get what they want to achieve, they will be enemies that very instant. That is the kind of partnership the two of them have between them.


    Alverto and Neo are both the same kind of people in a sense; they both like to scheme behind the scenes and work while hiding themselves in the shadows.


    Even when they have both shown a few points of their ns to the world with their actions, the world still can''t figure out what they are nning to do and is still in the dark after everything they have done.


    This simply shows how good both of them are atying out long-term ns, which even the strongest people in the world will find difficult to decipher.


    In fact, the two themselves don''t know what the other party is actually nning at the end.


    The two are only working with each other for specific gains, but both of them didn''t tell each other about their full ns and what they are going to achieve with them.


    In other words, only they themselves know about the full extent of their ns, and the rest of the world ispletely oblivious about it all.


    Just like nobody knows why Alverto is collecting those fragments, nobody knows what Neo is trying to achieve with forbidden magic.


    Not even Alverto knows what kind of forbidden magic has Neo stolen for himself and what its


    effects will be.


    While the two sipped the wine, the two moons finally appeared in the sky, and the moonlight illuminated the entire area with its brightness.


    "It''s time..." Alverto nced at the sky and smiled to himself; his two-hundred-year n has finally


    started to show its results.


    "What are you going to do with that kid, by the way? Is he already useless?"


    Hearing Neo''s question, Alverto smirked a bit,


    "No, there''s still onest purpose for him; even after extracting all that luck, there''s still the


    last few strands left. I will extract everything dry out of him, even thest few bits..."


    "I have no personal grudges against him; it''s just that for my n to seed, I must get that luck out of him; he''s just an unfortunate victim, I guess..."


    Alverto nced at the sky and looked at the two moons with a smile on his face.


    "The time hase, now the moment when those fragments will show their true purpose..."


    "You have been asking me for quite some time why I have been collecting those fragments,


    right?" "Actually, there are only three purposes these fragments can serve... I only know one purpose out of the three..."


    "In fact, even I don''t know what these fragments actually are, but I was fortunate enough to know what I can achieve with their blessings..."


    "I will change the world forever with this power; rejoice! You will be the first toy your eyes


    on it, Neo..."

 Chapter 400: The Path to Ascension appears... Part-2.

    Chapter 400: The Path to Ascension appears... Part-2.


    ?


    Alverto waved his hand, and his subordinates immediately understood the signal.


    They immediately started to ughter those hundreds of thousands of demons without hesitation.


    Blood sttered all over the ground, and hundreds of demons wailed in panic and fear. The crowd started to try and flee in all directions, but Alverto''s subordinates didn''t let them leave. Hundreds of low-ranked demons got crushed under the feet of the massive crowd and died on the spot.


    The atmosphere became chaotic and gore; if it were someone weak-hearted who had seen this scene, they would have fainted from such a massive-scale massacre.


    Thousands of lower-ranked demons were killed, and not a single one was allowed to escape.


    Alverto smirked at this horrific scenery and then brought out the orb that had devoured nearly all the ''Luck'' out of Fade Crest.


    The orb started to float in the air, and the broken organs and innards on the ground started to tremble, and the blood started to float towards the orb.


    At that moment, Alverto brought out a small knife, cut his finger a bit, and mixed his own blood along with the rest.


    The orb started to rotate at an increasing speed, and the blood, will, soul, lifespan, miasma, chaotic mana-everything started to float toward the orb at an extremely fast speed.


    Three glowing orbs of light came out of Alverto''s head and merged into that massive vortex of blood and gore.


    A gigantic tornado made up of blood and the power of souls started to form, and even the clouds were swept away.


    The entire sky turned scarlet red, and the chaotic mana started to get repelled like crazy. Neo frowned at this scene.


    ''Mana is being repelled away from here, and Miasma has started to take hold?''


    It ismon knowledge that Mana and Miasma can''t stand each other at all; they repel each other like crazy and try to eliminate each other''s presence as much as possible.


    The Maya continent is filled with massive amounts of chaotic mana.


    It''s impossible for miasma to take hold of this ce unless several SS-rankers work hard to straighten out the mana flow and then repel it with world authorities to purposely let the miasma take hold.


    But now, everything''s happening on its own without the need for any SS-rankers and without the support of any world authorities.


    As if the mana of the world is distancing itself from this ce out of its own free will.


    The sky couldn''t hold it any longer, and a rain of dark red water started to pour all over the area as if the world itself was bleeding at the moment.


    Everything became dark and depressing, and even the void started to tremble like crazy. The gigantic vortex moved at a terrifying speed, and massive cracks started to appear that were so big that the entire Maya continent started to break apart into pieces.


    Themotions caused by all this were so huge that the entire world was alerted, and the world alliance became active in an instant.


    SS-rankers from all over the world gazed in the direction of the Maya Continent at the same time and frowned deeply.


    Peak SS-rankers immediately noticed the trembling in the space-time fabric and noticed the chaos in thews of the world.


    They immediately headed in the direction of the Maya Continent at the fastest speed possible. SS-rankers all over the world are not old; they are all below the age of five hundred. The Maya continent incident happened a millennia ago, thus none of them has visited the Maya continent personally.


    It will take them a matter of a few seconds to reach the Maya continent, and even the fastest person will need a few milliseconds to react and reach the ce.


    Alverto had calcted everything from the beginning; he knew that there would be dozens of SS-rankers arriving the moment he started the final stage of his n.


    But instead of getting worried, a wide grin appeared on his face when he sensed so many SS- rankers slowly arriving nearby.


    "This is the moment I have been waiting for!! I have waited for this moment for two hundred years!!"


    The gigantic vortex stopped rotating abruptly, and the crimson-red color disappeared from it altogether.


    A massive key the size of a skyscraper appeared as the giant vortex stopped moving.


    All the SS-rankers, along with Ashtel and the other, were shocked when they saw that massive ''Key''.


    The Dark Red Key seemed like it was hanging in the sky itself, and its aura alone seemed extremely vast and dense.


    Without a doubt, this thing is an artifact that is far stronger than the SS-rank.


    This artifact is in its own league altogether; its massive aura suppressed even the SS-rankers, making them stop in their ce, and none of them dared to move in front of it.


    The grin over Alverto''s face widened even further as the key started to rotate and the space- time fabric started to get torn apart by its movements.


    Just as the SS-rankers were trying to move forward and stop that unknown thing to make more chaos, a powerful spatial fluctuation spread out in all directions with a massive force.


    *BOOM*


    The space-time fabric was forcefully torn apart, and a gigantic hole was opened by the rotating key.


    As if it were trying to open a door right the concept of existence and null, the key embedded itself into the hole of absolute nothingness and rotated on its own as if it were opening some


    kind of ''Lock''.


    Even Peak SS-rankers were powerless to do anything against it and stop it on time.


    Everything happened so fast and with such momentum that no one had the time to stop it or deploy any countermeasures against it.


    Massive amounts of miasma started to spread in all directions, and the sky started to weep tears of blood even faster than before!


    Bolts of purple thunder lingered in the sky but dared note close and stayed away in fright of what had appeared in this ce.


    The dark red key slowly disappeared into nothingness, and the hole in the space-time fabric widened even further.


    Everyone distanced themselves from it for fear of falling into it and getting torn apart into nothingness by the absolute null.


    "AHAHAHAH!! YES!!! THIS IS IT!!! IT''S COMING!! THE RED KEY OF FATE HAS WORKED!!"


    Alvertoughed like a maniac, and his voice resounded throughout the entire area; it was pointless to reason with him in this state.


    Even if you kill him now, it''s all toote; he''s already under the protection of that floating red key, and it''s impossible for even SS-rankers to go near him at this moment.


    Only he''s the one who stands so close to that expanding hole in the space-time fabric and is


    still unaffected by it.


    The moment he added his own blood to this, along with three fragments, the ''Key of Fate and Destiny'' recognized Alverto as its master.


    Alverto nced at Neo and spoke with a crazy smile on his face.


    "One of the three main uses of these fragments is to make the ''Key of Fate and Destiny'' appear and make it recognize you as the owner; then you can use the ''Key'' to make your own ''Path to Ascension'' appear in reality!!"


    The moment Alverto said those words, a gigantic tower covered in ancient and mysterious ruin started to appear out of that gigantic hole in the space-time fabric.


    "The Key of Fate and Destiny has the power to turn anything into reality and make it easier for a person to ascend beyond the limits of thews of this world!!" "Ahahaha! I have won! The ''Spire of Absolute Ascension'' has appeared!! No one can stop it


    now!!"


    The Spire of Absolute Ascension is the mysterious-looking tower that appeared out of the hole in the space-time fabric by using the Key of Fate and Destiny as the medium.


    Alverto has used millions of souls, massive life spans, and the power of luck that was


    extracted from Fade to make it all work by force; otherwise, such a thing would have been


    near impossible to aplish.


    Alverto turned null into existence and created a ''Pathway to Ascension'' out of absolute


    nothingness!


    This is something even the so-called ''Demi-Gods'', the SS-rankers, can''t do; even they don''t have this power as they are restricted by thews of this world.


    Only something that ispletely out of the restrictions of this world''sws can achieve such


    an insane feat!


    The gigantic towernded itself on the ground, and the spatial fluctuations repelled everyone


    away from it.


    All the SS-rankers who came to see the situation were forcefully teleported away back to their homnds and weren''t even allowed a chance to resist that forced teleportation.


    "s, I can only send them back and can''t use this method to cause harm; otherwise, I would


    have thrown them all far away from this sr system from where they could have never


    returned..."


    Alverto shook his head, and the gigantic tower suddenly glowed with a dark red color.


    Alverto and Neo both got teleported inside the tower at that instant.


    The thread of destiny trebled as a gigantic eye like that of a demon appeared on the tower and started to observe those threads of fate carefully.


    As if it had noticed something, the eye nced at a few threads and then nced in a certain


    direction before using forced teleportation on the people who those strings of fate weren/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    connected to.


    The Spire of Absolute Ascension looked extremely hideous and ominous.


    As it got drenched in the dark red rain of blood and under the crackling noises of the purple


    thunder.


    It seemed even more dangerous than the demon continent, which is known for its harsh


    environment.

 Chapter 401: The Chronos Incident Begins...

    Chapter 401: The Chronos Incident Begins...


    ?


    Academy, Rio''s Room.


    [Is there really any purpose in staring at the sun like that?]


    ''It makes you feel ''cool'' though... I just do it for the sake of it sometimes...''


    Standing near his room''s window, Rio was sipping tea in a leisurely manner while watching the sun rise with the same expressionless look on his face.


    [I don''t get you... You sometimes behave like an old man; how about going to some clubs and partying and stuff?]


    ''Going to clubs won''t change anything; I will still look as dead as I was looking before... I might even ruin the fun for others...''


    [But I heard that going to clubs increases your chances of a girl flirting with you!]


    Rio sighed at those words and shook his head.


    ''Do I even need any other girl to flirt with me... I already have one that has a lot of interesting reactions when you tease her... Oh, but you aren''t allowed to tease her though...''


    [Yeah, yeah, I know, You and your Ms. Golden Tsundere... It''s like she''s the sole star shining in the pitch ck and empty night sky that is you...]


    While Rio was arguing with Shadow in his mind, he noticed a strange sensation in the air all of a sudden.


    ''Hmm... The sky in the distance... seems kind of more redder than before?...''


    Before Rio could react, the entire sky went dark red, and a rain of blood started to pour from the sky.


    Even Rio was shocked after seeing such a scene.


    ''Tears of the world!? What the!? Why is this phenomenon happening now!?''


    ''Tears of the World'' is a phenomenon in which the world itself rains blood from through the space-time fabric to show that it''s deeply saddened or hurt by something.


    In the novel, this phenomenon only appeared once, and that was when Link was killed off by Fade.


    As Link is the chosen of the world, his death made the world itself quite sad, and the world bled in the form of the rain of blood.


    This kind of rain doesn''t have much effect even if you touch it and ispletely harmless to even ordinary people, but its main effect is the impact it leaves on the mind of those who see


    it.


    Rio quickly put away the tea, grabbed his coat and space ring from the couch, and quickly put them on.


    ''Something''s not right; this isn''t supposed to be happening at all!''


    Link ispletely fine now, and there''s nothing that should have triggered this phenomenon, as Rio already interfered with a lot of things and many things have changed.


    At that moment, Rio could feel that the rain of blood bore no good for him, it definitely will bring some harm.


    His intuitions immediately started to warn him that something''s definitely not right; thus, Rio immediately gotbat ready as he took his equipment.


    [Ding! Strings of destiny have been tempered!]


    [Ding! The Spire of Ascension has gazed upon your existence and has tried to draw you inside!]


    [Ding! True Immunity triggered! ERROR.... ERROR!!]


    [Warning! ''A??m???'' has taken effect! Your skill ''True Immunity'' has been forcefully suppressed!]


    [The Gaze of the Spire of Ascension has taken effect!]


    Before Rio had the time to even react, a massive dark red portal appeared below his feet, and he felt inside the portal.


    Even when he tried to use his skills to jump out of the portal and stop himself from falling, Rio was still forcefully dragged into it as the space-time fabric itself was pushing him into it.


    This is the first time he has ever seen his ''True Immunity'' not work; at that moment, Rio had realized that he had gotten himself in some big trouble this time.


    Capital City Astra, In the sky above.


    "It forcefully teleported us away!?"


    A look of shock appeared on Raji''s face.


    Just now, all the SS-rankers from all over the world had gathered in the same ce at once, as they had all noticed a massive source of disturbance in the space-time fabric.


    All SS-rankers do this kind of thing when they sense that someone powerful is trying to mess with the and they deal with such threats together.


    Right now, there''s only this one that''s so suitable to live on, and most people live on this, and if someone does something to it, it will take a lot of efforts to terraform a new from scratch.


    The SS-rankers will have to work like crazy to solve such a crisis, and as of yet they haven''t yet seeded in venturing into outer space and finding new habitables, so it''s important to protect this.


    All of them gathered in one ce today to stop Alverto, but to their shock, all of them were forcefully teleported away by that tower-like thing after that strange eye appeared on it.


    Just when Ashtel was about to open a portal to go there once again, suddenly a massive dark red portal appeared below his and Jin''s feet.


    The two of them couldn''t even react on time, and they were dragged inside the portals without having any chance to resist!


    And just like it happened with Rio, the portal closed once the two of them were teleported


    away by force.


    Only Raji was left standing in the sky with a bewildered look on her face.


    "Uh, W-what''s happening today!?"


    She had no idea what just happened and why she was left behind and not teleported. ''T-those portals were so powerful that they dragged even Ashtel into them!? This is insane...'' Today, Raji has been shocked too much, and she''s going numb by it all over.


    Not only that shocking mysterious tower appeared out of nowhere, but now for the first time something in the world has appeared that rendered even Ashtel Rex helpless.


    Even he was not able to resist its power!


    Just when Raji was feeling more and more confused, she noticed that some of the familiar presences had suddenly disappeared from the academy.


    Rio, Lia, and the rest of the team, Astra, all disappeared, and their presence vanished all of a


    sudden.


    ''Did the portals swallow them too!? But why only them!?''


    Raji had no idea why only a few selected individuals were teleported; she scanned the entire capital city with her mana detection, and there was not a single other person who had


    disappeared out of nowhere.


    Only the members of Team Astra had disappeared.


    ''Wait! There one more... this presence, Riko!?''


    Riko''s presence has also disappeared; up until a few moments ago, Raji could detect her, but


    now she''s gone all of a sudden.


    ''I must figure out something; Riya has also disappeared...''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She''s not worried about the safety of others as much, but Riya is the only one who''s the weakest out of them all, and if she encounters some trouble, she will not be able to survive.


    Thus, Raji was worried about her safety a lot.


    Just when Raji was trying to think what to do about this situation, her phone started to ring


    like crazy.


    She hurriedly brought it out to see who it was, and it turned out it was a call from a military


    general.


    "Ms. Raji! The other SS-rankers are not picking up their phone; thankfully you picked it up!"


    "I have grave news to tell you! A massive demon army has attacked the southern coastline of the nation! There are hundreds of S-rankers among them!"


    "We require immediate assistance!"


    Raji''s eyes widened in shock when she heard those words,


    "What!? Where did so many demons suddenlye from!? Why didn''t the alliance warn us that so many demons were heading in our direction!?"


    It is nearly impossible to reach their nation''s border in in sight so easily; their high-tech detection equipment can even keep eyes on S-rankers in case they suddenly appear nearby. There''s simply no way so many demons entered the border of the human empire without noticing, and all this happened at such a convenient time, just when Ashtel and Jin had


    disappeared.


    It''s too much of a coincidence that it seems like a well-nned conspiracy!


    Raji immediately contacted the World Alliance, and what she found out was even more


    shocking.


    It turned out once the SS-rankers were teleported away by that mysterious building, all of their nations were attacked by demons all at once!


    Now, they are all upied withbating the demon attacks and have no time to worry


    about others.


    "What are the demons trying to do!? This is but aplete all-out war! They are literally attacking the entire world at once!"


    Nobody had any idea why the demon armies suddenlyunched such massive-scale wars and


    attacked every nation that they could!


    Moreover, people only noticed the demons when they had already entered their nation''s


    borders! Which is simply too bizarre!


    ''Don''t tell me that the force that forcefully teleported us sent these demons to keep us busy


    so that we won''t be able to interfere with it!?''


    Raji gritted her teeth and opened a portal to go to the southern coastline of the nation.


    Now that Ashtel and Jin are not present, the responsibility to keep the nation safe has fallen


    on her shoulders; she can''t dodge this responsibility.


    Thus, she had no choice but to go and help out in defending the borders and keeping the


    demons at bay.


    If they make it to the cities, thousands of innocent people will die, and Raji will be responsible for their deaths.


    When Ashteles back, he will me her for negligence, so she dared not dy. ''Link, I will leave the safety of my sister to you once again; please keep her safe...''

 Chapter 402: Moments before disaster... (Skippable)

    Chapter 402: Moments before disaster... (Skippable)


    ?


    Lia''s dorm room.


    "Phew... Okay, I covered this wall with our pictures together that we took in the Dragon


    Valley; that one on the left is covered in the pictures from our adventure in the Elven Empire."


    "As for the rest of the two walls, I have put the other pictures from the academy and other ces that we took at random..."


    "Seriously, it takes so much effort to manage such a big collection..."


    Lia wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled to herself as if she had aplished something really good today.


    She spent the past whole night managing her collection of her pictures with Rio and the other ones that she secretly took whenever he was sleeping or had his guard down.


    "Er... What will you do if he somedayes to your room, though? How will you hide all these?"


    Kai, who waszing around on the ground in his small cat form, couldn''t help but roll his eyes when he saw this.


    "You seriously wasted the entire night just looking at them for hours and putting them here and there... You know, you can actually go and hug the real him; it''s weird how you are so obsessed with his pictures..."


    "Don''t tell me... Were you born with a hidden talent for being a stalker!?"


    Lia pouted her cheeks after hearing those words and spoke in an annoyed tone.


    "No! This is solely for the purpose of research, nothing else! You are misunderstanding something! I just like capturing these because I want to remember these memories forever!!" "I am totally innocent!"


    Lia said those words with such confidence that Kai had serious doubts about whether this girl even knows if stalking someone is illegal or not.


    Lia nced at the small golem that was rolling on the ground and was ying with a ball that she gave it and said,


    "You know, you should be more like RJ; he''s always so well behaved and never annoys me like you; maybe you should start behaving like a proper cat from now on..."


    Kai rolled his eyes at those words,


    "Are you seriouslyparing me to that happy-go-lucky little golem who has the mentality of a kid and is always busy in his own world?"


    "And in the first ce, when did you name it ''RJ''?"


    Lia puffed up her chest in pride at that question and replied with great confidence,


    "I named it just now... You see, he was given to me by Rio, so I named him ''Rio Junior.'' That is what ''RJ'' stands for!"


    "As I thought, my naming sense is the best!"


    Kai put his small cat paw on his head and shook his head like a mother who ispletely disappointed at her child''s ipetence.


    "The next time I meet that stone-faced kid, I must tell him that he mustn''t let you name his kids at all costs; your naming sense is really quite unreliable!"


    Lia felt a bit embarrassed that her naming sense was considered so bad, so she tried to suggest some other name,


    "Er... t-then how about ''Sweet Pie''-"


    Kai felt a bit annoyed, so he immediately denied it.


    "THAT little fe has a literal miniature SUN inside it''s small body; it can wipe out the entire sr system in ONE GO!!"


    "Are you sure that something that dangerous should be given such a casual and sweet name!?"


    "It would be more believable if we gave him some demon''s name, something like Astaroth, Baal!, Etc..."


    Lia nced at the harmless-looking small golem who was ying around on the ground with a stic ball and was giggling like a kid and had serious doubts whether such a name would really suit it at all.


    Just when Lia was busy thinking about a name for the little golem, a small dark red portal opened below her feet, and she got teleported in an instant!


    "W-what the!?"


    Kai was the first one to react; he immediately grabbed the small golem with its paws, and in a matter of milliseconds he jumped on Lia''s shoulder before she fell in the portal.


    Thus, the three of them fell into the portal all at once.


    ...


    Riya''s dorm room.


    Riya, who was sleeping on the edge of the bed, slipped and woke up in fright.


    "Ow... I fell again?..."


    Riya is a restless type of sleeper; she twists and turns in bed like crazy when sleeping; even Raji or Riya''s mom dares not sleep with her as she will kick them down and will never let them sleep in peace.


    Although she fell down, she didn''t suffer much pain as she subconsciously used her healing magic to instantly deal with the pain.


    "Yawn... It''s morning already... I ended up watching those drama shows the whole night and didn''t get much sleep... yawn... I feel so sleepy..."


    Riya ignored the immense mess that she has caused in her room and slumped down on the bed toy down andze.


    Whilezing around on the bed, she saw the candy packet ced on the nearby table, but she was toozy to get up and grab it.


    "Ugh... I want telekinesis or something like that... That will make things so much easier for me to grab candies from far away..."


    "Hmm, I will ask Big Sis to teach me about it... then I canze around all day without needing to get up to grab candies..."


    After Link, the only motivation that makes her train is candy; to make it easier to grab candies from far away, she would need telekinesis.


    "Er... but I remember she said that only when I reach S-rank can I have telekinesis..."


    Telekinesis is basically the power to use mind waves to control the things around you, like wind and anything else.


    It''s not exclusive to any particr ss type; any awakener can learn this ability once they


    reach rank S.


    At rank S, you would have already surpassed your racial limits and would be a superhuman of sorts.


    At that point, your mind power will be immense, and you can just use mana to boost your


    mind waves further; that way, you can technically use telekinesis.


    The stronger a person''s mana control and mind power, the stronger their telekinesis.


    "I guess I have to reach S-rank fast then!!"


    Riya immediately got up from her bed, and all theziness and sleepiness disappeared from


    her face in an instant!


    A look of rare determination appeared on her face.


    "For the sake of candies, I need to reach rank S! I guess I will go train today for the wholen/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    day!"


    Just when Riya took the first step, a portal opened below her feet, and she immediately fell in


    it.


    "Wha!? I am getting teleporting!? Oh no!! I forgot my candies!!"


    Riya''s whole space ring is always filled with huge amounts of candy, and there is barely anything else in it except a change of clothes and a few other important stuffs.


    She ate all the candies and emptied the entire space ringst night. Right now, the ring only


    has a few changes of clothes in it and some potions and stuff.


    There''s not a single candy left! Getting teleported somewhere with no candies to survive!


    This is a great tragedy!


    ...


    Link''s Dorm Room.


    "Phew.... Lying down in the bathtub and enjoying the warm water is the best thing..."


    As Link is training most of the time of the day, he always likes toy down in the bathtub for a long time to rx his muscles.


    "But seriously, controlling a legendary skill to make it work like a harmless handwarming auxiliary skill... I used to think it would be easy, but now that I am personally trying it..."


    "It''s so f*cking impossible!!"


    Link''s legendary skill ''Dao Rhythm'' represents harmony with nature and the ''self'', in other words, it should be much easier for him to do something like warming hands with the skill.


    But the facts prove him wrong.


    His skill is not even ''destructive'' in nature; it''s a hundred times more gentle than ''Sword


    Intent'', yet controlling it to just warm the hands to some specific mild temperature is already


    a very difficult feat.


    "It''s not a problem when I try to put as much power to attack, but when trying to hold back


    and make it more harmless... it bes difficult..."


    Link nced at his own two hands and sighed.


    ''My hands blow apart like a balloon being burst whenever I try to do it... I always end up needing a healing potion afterwards to heal myself...''


    ''And to think that Rio was already doing it a year ago... His mastery over ''sword intent'' is


    immense...''


    Although Link never says words of appreciation on Rio''s face, he does respect his rival from


    the bottom of his heart.


    He has already considered Rio his eternal rival. But seeing Rio pull off such insane feats so easily makes him wonder whether he himself is worthy of rivaling Rio in the first ce.


    ''I clearly have higher talent potential than anyone else, but perhaps Rio has some talent that increases his prehension'' to the extreme or something...''


    No one in the team Astra knows why Rio is able to advance so fast despite the fact that the test results at his awakening showed that he only had C rank talent potential.


    Link himself faced the ''heavenly punishment'' when he was born; if Rio really had as much talent as him, he should have faced the ''heavenly punishment'' too.


    The conclusion that everyone came to is that Rio likely has some kind of talent that increases


    hisprehension to the extreme and lets him bypass the talent limits by ''forcefully


    breaking'' them.


    ''I guess I will have to train harder to catch up or he will really leave me behind in dust...''


    Just as Link was thinking all this while lying naked in the bathtub, a dark red portal suddenly opened below him, and he fell inside instantly.


    He didn''t even have the time to grab a set of clothes for himself.

 Chapter 403: Riya!? What are you doing!? Part-1.

    Chapter 403: Riya!? What are you doing!? Part-1.


    ?


    Spire of Ascension, Floor 78.


    "These familiar corridors... these familiar walls made out of mithril and adamantine..."


    Looking around him, Rio could already sense significant simrities.


    [Ding! You have entered the Spire of Ascension!]


    [Ding! Your destiny intertwines with the summoner of the Spire of Ascension!]


    [Ding! You must reach Floor o to leave!]


    ''My destiny intersects with someone? No... It''s perhaps the strings of destiny attached to this body and the original Rio, not the actual me...''


    Although his soul has entered this world, it doesn''t belong here and is a foreign object after all; the rules of this world and the strings of destiny in this world can''t govern over it.


    For them, he''spletely nonexistent.


    ''The biggest problem is... that my ''True Immunity'' skill failed to stop this from happening... Something interfered with it, and I was forcefully teleported here...''


    Rio ced his hand on the wall and sighed.


    ''The structure, the magic circles, everything is the same... This ce is literally the exact copy of that ''prototype S16ir112'' ce...''


    ''No... In fact, the ce I visited before was named ''prototype'' because it was the copy of this ''Spire of Ascension'' instead! This one is the real deal!''


    Rio contemted in his mind for a while, and a thought came to his mind,


    ''Wait! The number 16 refers to ''P'' in alphabets 1 is for ''A'' and 12 is for ''L''... If I put them in ''S16ir112'' the word bes ''Spiral''!''


    ''In other words, that prototype ''Spiral'' was basically a practice ground for this actual Spire or Spiral of Ascension!... the clues were in front of me all along!''


    Rio rubbed his temples and felt a bit idiotic thinking about it.


    The clues were in front of him all along, but he never saw them and never thought deeply about them.


    That ce they visited before clearly had ''Prototype'' in its name as stated by that ''Practice Trail'', which means there will definitely be the real thing out there if there''s a prototype.


    ''But how did I end up here? How did that portal suddenly open below my feet? Everything is still mystery... And what exactly is the purpose of this thing?''


    ''The name of this ce is ''Spire of Ascension''; don''t tell me that it helps people ascend to higher realms when you reach floor o or something...''


    Rio has a vague feeling; this ce is definitely much worse than that mere prototype.


    ''To get the answers for questions, I will need to descend deeper...''


    Although Rio doesn''t know which floor he is on right now, he can find out about it after reaching the stairs of this floor.


    ''Let''s follow the same method I did before...''


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Miasma Type: Empty Stance!]


    Rio donned the shadow robe again and covered himself in miasma to follow the same method that he did before in the prototype version!


    ''This time I have more proficiency, and I also replenished my mana potion reserves yesterday...''


    Rio always likes to bebat-ready at every moment; thus, the first thing he did aftering back home was replenish his mana potion reserves.


    ''Moreover, now I have thought of a method to counter...''


    After Rio got that ''second fragment'', he felt that his ''Will'' had be stronger and his control over ''sword intent'' finally reached 90%; thus, now he has more abilities in his arsenal.


    Rio purposely embedded his sword intent in the floor and the air through this body and used it to sense the area around.


    Sword Intent is extremely destructive in nature, so using it to do the tracking and detection work is very difficult.


    You need an insane amount of mastery to send out sword intent waves in the area around without destroying anything at all.


    Right now, Rio has such mastery over his sword intent that he can use it as a detection-type skill, and even if it encounters a living creature, the sword intent will not harm anything or anyone in this state.


    ''It takes immense control, but now that I have mastered it, I can avoid any traps easily, and even if I still get hit, I will ignore the damage with the shadow robe enhanced with miasma...'' Rio bent his knees slightly and thenunched forward like a rocket. Now that he has such a powerful and fast detection ability, he doesn''t need to worry about the traps.


    [Dark Wing Movement Art!]


    Thus, he can move at his usual speed now without worrying about anything! (The maximum speed of the fastest fighter jet is the average speed for Rio...)


    ...


    Floor 77.


    A massive empty hall.


    "Ah, wee! I have been wanting to meet a powerful opponent... er... are you really strong? You seem so weak to me..."


    A demon with three heads and a body that was ten meters tall stared at a young human girl in front of him with a look of doubt.


    The girl pouted her cheeks at those words from the demon.


    "Who said that!? I am quite strong, you know!"


    Riya, who was already feeling quite frustrated that she had no candy to eat right now, felt even more angry when that overgrown demon suddenly appeared in front of her and insulted


    her like that.


    She was watching shows the whole night and ate all the candy, and now there''s none left.


    She didn''t even have the time to replenish them when she was sucked in by that giant portal and then found herself standing in this big empty hall.


    This giant demon appeared after that and started insulting her.


    Riya nced at the demon with a frustrated look.


    "In fact, you look much weaker to me... Are you perhaps a defective product or something like


    that?"


    It''s not that Riya was purposely insulting the other party; it''s just that the demon in front of her has the aura of an S-ranker, but it doesn''t have that feeling of danger a genuine S-ranker


    gives.


    ''This demon''s likely been forcefully raised to rank S using some forbidden magic; it''s not a genuine S-ranker... Hmm, a pseudo-S ranker, I assume...''


    Although Riya was not insulting him and was just stating the truth, the demon definitely didn''t like those words and instantly became angry at her.


    "YOU PUNY HUMAN! HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!!!"


    Hearing that loud voice, Riya wasn''t scared at all; instead, she felt even more irritated.


    ''There''s no sight of Link, and there''s no candies to keep my mood calm... I feel like I am going


    to go crazy now...''


    [Heart of Eternal Nirvana: Maximum Output!]


    [Advance Healing Magic: Domain Type: My territory, My rules!]


    A massive field of healing magic spread in all directions, and in a matter of milliseconds, the entire hall was covered in it.


    The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling-Riya covered it all with her healing magic''s circle


    and started to pour massive amounts of healing elements inside the hall.


    A look of panic appeared in the eyes of the demon after seeing such a scene.


    "This!? Wha!? Such insane concentration of healing magic!? How is this possible?!!"


    For humans and other creatures, healing magic is gentle and warm; it heals them, buffs them, and protects them, but for demons, healing magic is a literal poison!!


    Unless a healer purposely makes their healing magic enter a neutral state, making it harmless for demons, pumping healing magic in demons is simr to pumping massive doses of poison into someone''s body!


    Riya''s strategy might not be effective on other creatures, but it''s super effective on demons. Looking at the panicked look on the demon''s face, Riya smirked a bit and spoke in an amused


    tone.


    "Thirty seconds! You have thirty seconds at max; after thirty seconds, this entire hall will be filled with such an immense amount of healing magic that even SS-rank demons will have difficulty breathing in here..."


    "Usually, it would have taken three minutes, but I am in a bad mood right now, so I am using my maximum output right now... The strategy is kind of inefficient, but it''s good enough forN?v(el)B\\jnn


    you at least..."


    A look of fear appeared on the three faces of the demon, and Riya seemed more like a demon


    to him instead!


    Her amused smile seemed like that of a real demon instead.


    ''She''s mocking me! She''s purposely trying to torture me to death!! I must escape!! This girl is


    a monster in human skin!''


    Demons have no dignity or honor; they run at a moment''s notice when the situation seems


    unfavorable.


    The demon pped its wings and flew towards the exit like a rocket, but to his surprise, the


    magic circle immediately became even stronger in the ce where he was trying to escape. The moment his hand touched the door, massive amounts of healing magic poured into his


    body, and his entire hand burst apart like a balloon!!


    "Twenty Seconds..."


    The demon nced to his side with a look of horror and found Riya sitting on his left shoulder


    with a massive smile on his face.


    "Ah, I forgot to tell you, this is ''My Territory'', so it follows ''My Rules''; I can teleport here..."


    Riya patted the other party''s head with her hand gently and poured a massive amount of


    healing magic into the other party''s head.


    *BOOM!!*


    Its entire upper body blew apart like a watermelon being hit with a bullet. Blood sttered everywhere on the ground, and Riya withdrew the massive healing field.


    She waved her hand, and the body of the demon started topress; itpressed in a small


    bead.


    She used her healing magic to purify it and turned the demon''s corpse into a purified healing potion, made up of immense life force and healing powers.


    "Hmm... this potion looks a bit paler... I guess I purified it a bit too much, perhaps..."


    "Next time a demon appears, I will throw this at them; that would be more effective..."

 Chapter 404: Riya!? What are you doing!? Part-2.

    Chapter 404: Riya!? What are you doing!? Part-2.


    ?


    ''It''s surprisingly empty; there aren''t even any traps here... strange...''


    After running through several dozens of corridors and hidden rooms, Rio still didn''t encounter a single trap in the area, which was extremely strange.


    ''That so-called prototype had more traps instead... Is this really the genuine ce?''


    Not seeing literally anything for so long, Rio was having serious doubts about what''s going on in this ce.


    ''Why is it so empty?''


    *AAARRRRRHHHHHH!*


    Just when Rio had reached the stairs leading downwards, an extremely loud voice resounded in his ears.


    It was as if someone was screaming in fear at the top of his lungs.


    *ARRRRRHHGGGGHHH STOPP!! AARRRHHH*


    Hearing those wails of pain and fearing from the lower floor, Rio hesitated from moving forward a little bit.


    ''Er... What''s going on here? Was someone else also teleported here beside me and got stuck in some trap or something?''


    ''The voice is a bit hoarse; otherwise, I would have mistaken that it was Link screaming like a maniac...''


    Rio has seen Link scream at the top of his lungs like a maniac forpletely random reasons, and only his screams are quite annoying.


    Thest time he was screaming was when Liam refused to give him those hand-made cookies as he wanted to gift them to Riya, saying he made them himself.


    In the end, Liam had to give him a few as his shouts were attracting a bit too much attention from everywhere.


    ''I wonder what''s going on down here though...''


    Rio tightened his grip on his sword and slowly moved downstairs one step at a time.


    This ce is simr to that prototype, so there might be golems here, which will cause trouble for him if he gets noticed by one.


    But to Rio''s surprise, there was not a single golem guarding the stairs, and the shouts wereing from quite far away.


    ''How loud is this person shouting that I can hear them from so far away?''


    Rio leaned his back against the wall and started to move at a steady and slow pace.


    The walls here are made up of mithril and adamantine, so unless it''s an SS-ranker, it''s impossible to break them and go past them.


    Rio is using the same method that militarymandos use in covert missions.


    Leaning your back against the wall means that no one can attack you from behind unless it''s an SS-ranker, this way he can move with great stealth.


    And in case something extremely strong shows up, Rio can just jump back and enter the hidden rooms behind the walls by directly bypassing the walls with his shadow robe.


    ''Hmm... this feeling... it''s miasma!!''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Rio has dealt with miasma a lot, so he''s very sensitive to it nowadays; he can sense it from afar without any mistakes.


    Thus, the more he moved forward, the surer he became that there''s either a demon in front of him or there''s some other source of miasma there.


    ''Why is it that only I encounter miasma all the time?...''


    When they were enjoying the pic in Dragon Valley, Rio had asked the others whether they had encountered Miasma like him, but they all denied it almost immediately.


    None of them had to face miasma, and none of them got any so-called ''practice trials''; only he had received it for some reason.


    Later, Rio concluded that it was all set up by the ''Fragment'' from the start; that fragment was the one that was vaguely calling him from the very beginning.


    It must have been the reason why Rio had toplete that so-called practice trail. ''Thinking about it, that trial was named ''practice trial''... It''s almost as if that building knew I would end up going to the actual ''Spire of Ascension'' soon, and I needed a practice trial beforehand...''


    ''I guess all of this is because this body is still connected to the strings of destiny that the original Rio had...''


    Rio himself has no rtion to this world, so the strings of destiny can''t govern his path and can''t predict what he might do in the future, but this body originally belonged to this world after all.


    Moreover, there''s still a remnant consciousness left of the original Rio inside him; the strings of destiny can predict his future through this method, or they might even control him.


    ''I wonder if these so-called strings of destiny stop working on me after the original Rio''s consciousnesspletely disappears and he seizes to exist...''


    Looking at it from this perspective, Rio isn''t a full-fledged ''Anomaly'' yet.


    An ''Anomaly'' is something that can''t be predicted and controlled by fate and the rules of the world.


    ''Hmm, somethinging this way...''


    Suddenly Rio snapped out of his thoughts that had wandered off to random ces as he sensed something with his detection ability.


    *ARRRRHHHHH*


    Rio stopped moving, and a demon crawled out from the corner where the corridor ends.


    It''s entire lower body was missing; its guts were spilling out everywhere, and a look of absolute horror was stered all over it''s face.


    The demon was trying its best to crawl with it''s hands and run from something with all it''s might.


    Seeing Rio the demon misunderstood him for a demon as Rio was covered in miasma from


    head to toe and spoke,


    "R-run.... D...don''t.... coe....he-"


    Before the demon could finish his sentence, a strange liquid came flying and fell on it''s body.


    *AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!*


    The liquid worked like an extremely potent acid! The demon''s entire body started to melt like crazy and turned into a pool of blood and flesh in a matter of seconds.


    ''What the...''


    [Er... I think we should listen to him; l-let''s leave this ce fast... I-I have a bad feeling about it...


    Even Rio felt a bit hesitant after hearing Shadow''s words.


    The demon crawling on the ground was likely a pseudo S-ranker, and for it to be reduced to such a state in a matter of seconds, that''s not something someone ordinary can do.


    ''Is there an SS-rank monster wandering around here? Maybe I should retreat after all...''


    ''No! If it were an SS-ranker, they would have already noticed my presence by now! If they have already noticed my presence then, there''s no point in running away now...''


    ''I need to figure out some method to trick the other party and escape in one piece...''


    Rio clenched his sword tightly and slowly moved forward.


    *Shiirrrr*


    The moment Rio reached the corner, a magic circle lit up on the ground.


    ''Hmm? Healing magic?''


    Rio has seen Riya use healing magic from very close range, so he can distinguish between the


    magic circles of other types of magic and healing magic at a single nce.


    The moment that magic circle activated, an immense amount of healing magic started to


    pour into his body.


    [Ding! True Immunity triggered! You are immune to healing overdose!]


    ''What? Someone''s using healing magic to deal with demons?''


    Rio entered the next corridor vigntly, and a shocking scene appeared in front of him.


    Corpse upon corpse piled everywhere.


    Hundreds of demon corpses were piled upon each other in the entire corridor!


    Some of them had their lower half destroyed, some were missing their heads, and some had


    massive holes in their chest.


    Demon innards and limbs were scattered all over the ground, and some were even melting into liquid as the healing magic on the ground was purifying everything around.


    A young girl with white hair stood on the piled-up corpses, a demon''s head in her hand.


    Her white hair had turned bright red as they were covered in blood all over, and a cold expression hung over her face.


    "If you are going to scream, why evene here? There''s no end to them; where are so many demons evening from!"


    Only now did Rio understand why the upper floor where he started was so empty.


    And why he was hearing so many loud shouts and wails while walking around the corridors.


    "Uh? Riya!? What are you doing!?"


    Rio just couldn''t believe his eyes. Riya seemed like a goddess of death at the moment; she was


    covered in blood all over, and none of it was her own; it was all from the demons she


    ughtered.


    In the past half an hour, she has ughtered enough demons that the upper floor''s demons


    had toe down to deal with her after she emptied her own floor!


    "HAAH? Another one?"


    Her ears had lost hearing already as demons were shouting at her face like crazy, so her


    eardrums burst apart, thus she didn''t hear Rio at all.


    The moment she noticed him, she also misunderstood him for a demon as he was covered in


    miasma from head to toe.


    [Advanced Healing Magic: Tide Type: Overflowing Healing Tide!]


    "I am sick of you guys; just disappear from my sight!"


    Riya pointed her palm towards Rio, and a gigantic circle appeared in front of her.


    A gigantic tide made up of condensed healing elements rushed out.


    Healing magic poured out of the magic circle as if it were water and spread all over the


    corridor, flooding everything.


    All the demon corpses were melted away in an instant, and even the blood on her body was


    melted away.


    Rio immediately deactivated his miasma and didn''t bother dodging at all.


    Healing magic is harmful for demons, and excessive healing magic overload can kill others


    too, but Rio doesn''t have to worry about all this.


    The tide of healing elements hit him and did not damage; he stood there just like before.


    Then he deactivated his shadow robe to reveal his face too.


    "Er... I didn''t expect you could also look so scary; I guess you learn something new every


    day..."

 Chapter 405: Shockwaves of the declaration of war...

    Chapter 405: Shockwaves of the deration of war...


    ?


    Even after seeing Rio''s true face, Riya''s expression remained unchanged.


    ''She likely thinks I am a demon trying to imitate the real Rio... What a headache...''


    [Sword Intent]


    Rio made his sword vibrate with sword intent and showed it to Riya.


    "See, I can use sword intent; it''s the real me..."


    Riya narrowed her eyes and asked a question to confirm,


    "Who''s the weirdest person in team Astra?"


    "Link!!"


    Rio replied to that question without hesitation, and Riya nodded her head at that answer.


    "It''s the real you! Nice! I was getting sick of seeing more and more demons; they just have no end to them!"


    Rio couldn''t help but shrug his shoulders at those words.


    "Well, you kept killing so many that they likely kept sending more to reinforce the area."


    Rio has never seen Riya dobat-rted things before; usually she''s always on the sidelines, always buffing the team and doing the healing work.


    It''s quite shocking that she suddenly woke up and chose violence, directly ughtering dozens of demons by forcefully injecting healing magic in their bodies.


    "During the evaluation test in the Dragon Valley, I learned thesebat methods from Aria Senpai... Before that, I didn''t know about using healing magic in such a way either..."


    Unlike Rio and others who were giving trials and trying to get evaluated for three days, Riya''s trial had ended in a single day.


    For the rest of the two days, Aria was teaching her methods that can help her in emergency situations.


    Aria only taught her a few things though; the rest was all Riya''s own work.


    If she didn''t have the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', she couldn''t have created a whole territory that slowly gets filled with healing magic over time and lets her do whatever she wants.


    A healer needs to hurry up to the side of their patient, so Riya can teleport in this territory to reach her patients faster to heal them without dy.


    If used by someone with a pure heart and good personality, this skill is a blessing for all living creatures except the demons, and if used by someone with an evil personality, it can create chaos of unimaginable levels.


    "So, you were also teleported here? I thought it was only me... Wait, could it be that all of us ended up getting teleported here?"


    The two of them ignored the melting corpse of the demons and started walking forward together.


    "I don''t know... The engagement ring isn''t showing any sign of his presence... Either Link didn''t get teleported or he isn''t wearing his ring right now; both scenarios are quite bad..."


    "Also, there were trapsst time in this ce; I am worried that Link will get stuck in them..." Hearing those words, Rio just shook his head.


    "No need to worry about it... Actually, I was teleported to the upper floor, but all the way down here, I didn''t notice a single trap..."


    Rio rarely ever talks with Riya, so the atmosphere around them became kind of awkward quite fast now that Link isn''t in the area.


    The two of them consider each other friends but have rarely ever talked to each other alone before, and most of the time they talk when the whole group is present.


    Moreover, due to some reason, Riya is in quite the bad mood right now, so the conversations didn''tst long, and both of them became quiet for the rest of the journey.


    ''Ugh, Lia, where are you? Save me from the awkwardness!!''


    ...


    Floor 36.


    *Achoo!*


    [What? Caught cold?]


    "No, perhaps someone''s talking about me behind my back..."


    [You still believe in superstitions in this day and age?]


    "Forget about that... We need to figure out why we are here again..."


    Lia rubbed her temples in irritation; just now she was praising her massive collection and enjoying herself happily, then suddenly the portal opened and teleported her here.


    Thankfully she stores her sword in the hidden spirit space inside Kai''s in of consciousness, so she has her weapon; otherwise she would have had a hard time.


    "But seriously, this ce gives apletely different vibe than the one we visited before... There are so many demons in this ce..."


    As Lia walked through the corridors, dozens of demon corpses were left behind in her path. All of them had massive holes in their bodies, as if something hit them at an insanely high speed and turned their body parts into literal powder in an instant.


    Although Lia can''t im that she canpete with Rio in terms ofbat, she''s not a weak and helpless girl either; she''s strong enough that Rio doesn''t have to worry about her safety in any circumstances.


    ''In fact, I am more worried about him... He suffered that strangeatose state aftering out of that ''prototype''... If others have been teleported like me, then he might be in trouble


    too...''


    [I think you are worrying too much... That guy is like a d*mn cockroach! I think he can make it out alive from any kind of situation!]


    ''Don''t call him a cockroach, or I will kill you first! Only I am allowed to give him random


    names!!!


    [Okay, okay, my bad...]


    [By the way, what are we going to do with this little guy?]


    ''Just keep him in your in of consciousness for now...''


    [But he''s messing around too much!! He''s like a kid ying around with toys!!]


    Ignoring Kai''s wails, Lia closed her eyes for a bit and then channeled her mana into her eyes.


    She then activated her ''Foresight'' ability.


    ''It''s been a while since Ist used it; it still puts a massive burden on my mind... but I guess I have no choice right now...''


    If not targeting certain people, Lia''s foresight ability can now predict ten seconds into the


    future!


    Traps? Ambush? Demon attacks? Lia can see them all happening beforehand.


    "No."


    [How about we go to the left path-]


    [Er, I can never get used to that....]


    While at the end of the corridor, the path split in two directions, and Kai was using his


    intuition to tell her to go the left path.


    But Lia already predicted he would say that and denied it before he could even say it out loud.


    Even Kai is always taken aback when she uses this ability, and he can''t get used to how she answers his questions before he even asks them.


    [But why not the left path?]


    ''No, I was just messing with you on purpose to try to see if the skill is working properly... We


    are going the left path, of course...''


    [I think that guy''s yful nature has affected you too... he''s the one who messes with others on


    purpose all the time...]


    ''I Guess...''


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Stone piercer!]


    Without saying anything, Lia raised her sword and thrust her sword in a certain ce with


    immense force.


    *AAARRHHHH*


    A loud shout resounded throughout the corridor, and a corpse fell down on the floor.


    [A technique that lets you be invisible?]


    ''Yeah, it was going to stab me in the back using its invisibility as an advantage...''


    Lia already saw this oue, so she easily determined the other party''s position instantly


    and attacked the demon before it could even take action.


    Her attack was so powerful that it caused a sonic boom in the air, and a one-meter hole appeared in the chest of the demon as it fell down on the ground lifelessly.


    ''Still quite slow... Rio''s faster than this...''


    Although Rio rarely ever uses thrust attacks and isn''t as skilled at them as her, he''s still quite


    fast in general.


    Lia wants to attain that speed too.


    Just when Lia was walking through the corridors and trying to make her way to floor o, a


    massive earthquake happened.


    *Tremble!**Crack*


    As if the entire ''Spire of Ascension'' was trembling from an extremely powerful ''Shockwave'',


    several cracks appeared in the floor and the walls of the corridor due to that massive


    earthquake.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [D*mn... such a powerful shockwave... I just felt an insanely powerful mana fluctuation...]


    [There''s no doubt about it; several SS-rankers are fighting somewhere in the above floors!]


    A solemn look appeared on Lia''s face after hearing those words.


    Even a single SS ranker is enough to cause massive scale destruction; several of them fighting


    in one ce will cause massive scale damage.


    ''I literally have no idea what''s going on right now... there are just too many questions in my mind, but there''s no one to answer them...''


    Lia sighed and started to move forward with utmost caution.


    Although her foresight ability can indeed predict in the future and help her survive, if she suddenly encountered an SS-ranker, that ten seconds of time gap won''t matter at all


    anymore.


    "The trembling in the wall''s is getting more fierce... ''shockwave'', I wonder if Link''s father is


    here in the spire of ascension too?..."


    [Now that I think about it, only he can create such a massive scene... Even in my prime, I don''t think I


    could have beaten him at all...]


    [He''s likely several dozen floors above us, yet the attack''s power is still so strong even after being


    weakened by tens of thousands ofyers of mithril and adamantine...]


    [This is pure insanity...]


    *BOOOOM!!* The ground below Lia''s feet trembled even more fiercely as time passed.


    "Another one?"


    [No! This one came from below!! There are SS-rankers fighting in the lower floors too!!]


    At that moment, Lia jumped to the side with all her might and ran forward without looking


    back with all her strength.


    *BOOM!!*


    A massive beam made up of miasma broke through the floor, and she barely dodged that


    attack.


    Even though she reacted ten seconds beforehand, she still barely dodged the attack by a


    hairsbreadth.


    The beam of miasma was so massive and so dense that it melted and corrupted even mithril


    and adamantine in a mere millisecond!


    ''T-that was close...''

 Chapter 406: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-1.

    Chapter 406: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-1.


    ?


    The Spire of Ascension.


    Floor 100.


    Not all floors of the Spire of Ascension are made like mazes, where the walls are made up of mithril and adamantine.


    Floor 100, which is the topmost floor of the Spire of Ascension, is a vast sr system in itself.


    There is a sun, moon, nts, etc... just that there''s no life in this sr system; it''spletely empty.


    This is a perfect ce for not only one, but several SS-rankers to go wild without caring about anything at all.


    "I take it that you havepletely betrayed humanity then..."


    Sitting on a small boulder, Ashtel sighed while saying those words. After getting sucked into the portal, he found himself standing on this empty and barren.


    Neo was standing opposite him, not far away, and it is clearly the real body this time.


    "Where is this ce?"


    Ashtel nced around him, and with his mana detection and amazing eyesight, he noticed that there''s no living beings on this entire except for the two of them.


    Neo smirked at that question and spoke in a smug tone.


    "This is inside the spire of Ascension; we are currently at the very top floor..."


    Ashtel smirked at those words.


    "This ce ispletely empty; there''s no hostages or anything at all; how are you going to make me hold back if you don''t have some hostages?"


    Neo and Ashtel suddenlyughed out loud at each other together.


    "You really know me quite well, don''t you, Ashtel! I always make thorough ns, so obviously I won''t do things so sloppily..."


    "Usually, I would need hostages to ckmail my enemies, but that won''t work on you, so I don''t think it''s necessary..."


    Neo has fought many battles together with Ashtel; he''spletely aware that Ashtel is not a kindhearted person either; he is capable of being cold-hearted when the need arises.


    If the threat of the enemy exceeds certain limits, Ashtel can afford to sacrifice the hostages to deal with the enemy first.


    "What I don''t understand is, why not take my son Link or someone else close to me as hostage? That would have been more effective, right?"


    "Have you lost your mind now that you have joined the side of demons?"


    Just like Neo knows all about Ashtel, the same is true for Ashtel too; he knows that Neo is the type of person who can go to any lengths to get his goals aplished.


    Neo sighed at that question, leaned his back against a giant boulder, and spoke in a calm tone.


    "I would have also liked to do so actually, but you see, this Spire of Ascension doesn''t belong to me... It won''t obey mymands; it belongs to the demon I am partnering with..."


    "His name is Alverto, a demon prince who''s first in line for the demon throne..."


    Ashtel frowned at those words and asked in a curious tone,


    "You keep mentioning this ''Spire of Ascension,'' but what exactly is this thing?"


    Neo sighed at that question and replied immediately,


    "Normally I wouldn''t have told you about it, but my ne is already 99 percentpleted; the only part that''s left is that I need to stall you here for the next three hours..."


    "I was originally thinking it would be quite the hassle, but you are just making my work easier by doing this pointless talk... so let''s keep going..."


    Ashtel just shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "Indeed, normally I would have shattered your skull by now, but I am quite curious right now about what''s giving you such confidence, so I am going to wait and see..."


    Neo smirked at those words of Ashtel,


    "Your arrogance will be your demise. Ashtel Rex, you are too overconfident in your abilities, it seems..."


    "Forget it... Let''s continue where we left off..."


    "The Spire of Ascension is basically a giant ''Medium''; it''s a medium to get in touch with the ''core'' of the world..."


    "The power that sustains the world, the power that from which everything came to exist... The Spire of Ascension is a medium to get in touch with the power of ''Origin''!"


    Neo stared into Ashtel''s eyes and continued,


    "I believe even you know that the power of ''Origin'' is the supreme power in this world... There''s nothing that can defy it in this entire universe..."


    "Mana, miasma,ws of the world, the living, the dead, etc.-everything came to exist from the ''Origin'', its power is so immense that it''s immeasurable!"


    Neo shook his head at that moment.


    "That''s all I know about the Spire of Ascension; Alverto only gave me these few clues; he said whomever can sessfully gain the favor of the ''Origin'', can rule the world easily!"


    "Alverto is a cautious man; I couldn''t get anymore information out of him-"


    At that moment, Ashtel interjected suddenly,


    "And you don''t believe anything of this bullsh*t at all, right?"


    Neo and Ashtel''s eyes met, and the two of themughed out loud once again.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You really know me well... Yeah, I don''t believe any of this bullsh*t either; there''s no such thing called ''origin'' it''s just a myth made up by that vile demon..."


    "The fact is that if there really was an ''Origin'', this world wouldn''t have been such a sh*tty state as it is right now!"


    "Anyway, Alverto''s n is to use the spire of ascension to get in touch with the ''Origin''..."


    Ashtel was a bit disappointed after hearing that.


    "It''s just that simple? It''s kind of disappointing... I thought it was some grandiose n or something..."


    Neo shrugged his shoulders and replied in a calm tone,


    "Well, I don''t know the full extent of his ns, and I don''t know more than what he has told me through random conversation... But yeah, that''s the gist of it..."


    "He''s just a fool who''s trying to achieve something that pointless from the start. I always knew demons were delusional sh*ts, but their prince is even more of a weirdo..."


    "I only joined that guy''s side because of my own benefits; once I am done with you, the next thing I will do is go and kill Alverto, Jin, and all the other SS-rankers in the world..." "While I am at it, I will also kill every single being who has the potential to be SS-ranker in the future just to be sure..."


    The more Neo talked, the more amused Ashtel became.


    "I think you really have gone insane or something; you are saying that not only will you kill me but all of the SS-rankers in the entire world? Are you out of your mind or what?" "Even if you target the SS-rankers one by one, the alliance will eventually notice that several SS-rankers have gone missing, and then all of them will unite to fight you together..."


    "I am confident that I can deal with the entire alliance alone, but can you do that too?"


    Neo nodded his head with a smile on his face.


    "Think about it, Ashtel. If I can kill you here who can beat the entire alliance alone, can''t I just defeat the alliance too? You are just wasting time on purpose now by asking random


    questions, aren''t you?..."


    "This is the exact reason I hate you so much; you are overconfident, you are brash, you don''t care about others thoughts, and you make others obey you without giving anything in


    return!"


    "You are a selfish, piece of sh*t Ashtel Rex! The only reason why you are so strong is because you were blessed with great talents!! Without them, you are nothing! Nothing at all!"


    Ashtel got up from his seat andughed in amusement.


    "It''s been a while since someonest cursed at me so much... I think thest time someone did


    such a thing was during the fifty-year Orc..."


    "I made a sculpture out of the other party''s corpse afterwards, you know..."


    Ashtel sighed to himself and spoke in calm tone.


    "Talented? Blessed? Hahaha, you think I was born blessed hahaha, seriously... You im that


    I know you well, but it seems you don''t know me at all, Neo, not even the tiniest bit..." "Well, I don''t me you; people only look at results after all; they don''t look at how much hard work you have done to reach those results..."


    "Forget it; I don''t care what your or that demon prince''s n is; either stop me here, or I will destroy it all along with this so-called ''Spire of Ascension'' that the two of you have worked so hard to summon..."


    "I don''t like the look of it anyway; it seems more like some kind of demonic and cursed entity instead of an instrument that can contact the true ''Origin''..."


    Neo also nodded his head at that moment.


    "Yes, that''s what I was aiming for too... There isn''t really any need for us to talk about each


    other anymore; we are mortal enemies; we will kill each other just for the sake of it..."


    "There''s no other deeper meaning to it... Just like you can''t allow others to go rouge and always try to make others stay disciplined and morally good..."


    "I can''t allow you to manipte me to do as you tell me; I will do whatever the f*ck I want to!


    If I want to force others to be my summons, I will do it without hesitation, and it has nothing to do with you!"


    "You have been suppressing me and have been meddling in my business for too long now, Ashtel Rex! It''s time we settle it all for once and all!"


    As Neo waved his hand, twelve more portals opened in the sky nearby, and twelve more SS- rank auras pressured on Ashtel all at once along with Neo.

 Chapter 407: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-2.

    Chapter 407: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-2.


    ?


    "Surprised that I have so many supporters at my side? Are you confused where so many SS- rankers suddenlye from?"


    "The answer is simple: we are inside the spire of Ascension; here Alverto has the power to turn his strongest subordinates that were already at peak S rank into genuine SS-rankers!" "Quite the convenient ability, right?"


    All twelve SS-rankers that appeared were forcefully ascended to rank SS, but unlike normal, these twelve have ''World Authority'', thus they are all genuine SS-rankers right now.


    "I see... This Alverto guy, he''s really got some tricks up his sleeves; are you really sure you will be able to defeat him though?"


    Hearing that question, Neo smirked,


    "Don''t worry, after dealing with you, I will use the forbidden magic and be powerful enough to deal with the entire world, let alone him..."


    Although those twelve were Alverto''s subordinates, excessive forbidden magic usage and forceful ascension still caused some side effects; all of them have lost their mind, will, and consciousness.


    They are more like living corpses; Neo is the one who''s using them, just like how he uses summoned beasts!


    That''s why, even if Neo insults Alverto right in front of them, they can''t do anything, and they can''t disobey him as they don''t have a free will of their own.


    They are just puppets created to fight and can be disposed of at any moment.


    Still, puppet or not, they don''tck in terms of power.


    [World Authority: Bane of Light!]


    One of the SS-ranker puppets aimed its finger at Ashtel, and three others ced their hands on his back.


    The three others not only used their own mana to enhance the world authority of the ''Light'' one in front, they also used their own world authority to enhance the damage.


    [World Authority: Flowing Space!]


    Flowing space is a weaker version for a space-type world authority, but for support-type, this one''s very effective.


    When used in sync with an attack, it grants the attack the power to ''ignore'' the shackles of the space-time fabric.


    In other words, when blessed with this world authority, ''Bane of Light'' can surpass its limits and go beyond the ''Speed of Light'' itself!


    [World Authority: Wind Embrace!]


    Wind Embrace seems like a useless authority in empty space where there''s no wind, but keep in mind that ''wind'' itself is nothing but the movement of particles in the surroundings.


    When blessed with this authority''s support, the attack is granted support of the atoms, molecules, and all elementals present in the surroundings!


    In theory, this world authority literally grants you the supporting hand of the ''world'' itself! [World Authority: Radiation of Rot!]


    Usually, most people awaken world authorities''s that are rted to their elements, but some are unique, so people end up awakening world authorities that arepletely bizarre!


    ''Radiation of Rot'' grants a massive debuff effect to the attack if an attack blessed by this world authority hits someone.


    They will lose ''80%'' of their ''Mental'' capabilities, and nearly ''95%'' skills will instantly enter an ''indefinite'' cooldown period.


    In other words, if you get hit by this even once, you lose nearly all of your skills for good until either the user consciously deactivates the debuff or the user is killed off, thus destroying the effects of the world authority.


    "This is a test shot, Ashtel; let''s see if you are still confident enough after this one..."


    A smirk appeared on Neo''s face as he used four ''world authorities'' tobine into one powerful attack.


    ''World Authorities'' are the skills that define the existence of a ''Demi-god'', and four of thembined tounch a single attack is enough to shatter the space-time fabric and bypass any defensive attack.


    "Here, take this and tell me how it feels!"


    Neo waved his finger, and thatbination of world authority was fired at Ashtel.


    *BOOOM!*


    An extremely thin beam of light, the size of a needle, wasunched at Ashtel.


    It''s not that itcked power; it''s just that it was concentrated to the point that it wasted nearly no amount of energy, thus it didn''t even disturb the atmosphere around it.


    But its mere presence caused the space-time fabric to bend forcefully.


    *CRACK!* *SHATTER!*


    Wherever that beam of light passed by, it shattered the space-time fabric like ss and surpassed the speed of light in an instant.


    It was so fast that it was impossible to even see it, as even the photons that make up light are slower than it.


    *BOOOM!*


    Unlike what Neo was expecting, Ashtel didn''t dodge at all; he just stood there and waited.


    The attack hit him in an instant, and space-time fabric copsed.


    But something even more shocking happened: when the beam of light was only a few centimeters away from Ashtel, it burst apart and flew away in several different directions.


    *BOOOOM!*


    The entire split apart in five pieces as one of the broken beam particles hit the ground and shattered the core of the in a mere nanosecond.


    The broken pieces of the flew away in all directions and at immense speed, and the moon of the also lost its orbit and flew away at an insanely high speed like a ball thrown by a professional bowler!


    All this happened, but Ashtel just stood there silently as if that had nothing to do with him at


    all.


    "Yan... hmm? A test shot? Where is it? It seems like it didn''t reach me; I don''t actually feel anything... Have you even attacked yet?"


    Ashtel smirked and pretended to be yawning on purpose.


    His nonchnt behavior caused blood veins to appear on Neo''s face.


    "You have be stronger again?"


    The battle of ''World Authorities'' is actually much simpler than any other kind of battle.


    {The ''World Authority'' with more ''Authority'' over the ''World'' wins...}


    This is the simple rule that every ''World Authority'' follows in this world.


    No matter how heaven defying and how much of a big shot you are, if your world authority is


    of ''low level'', then you can never win against an SS-ranker who has a higher world authority


    level.


    Neo is not an idiot; he knew this from the start, but he also knew that this thing can be


    countered.


    You can theoretically bend this ''rule'' to your favor without going against it.


    If youbine several world authorities together, it makes them stronger, and if you attack


    in that state, then the ''world'' registers that attack as something that was fired by a ''high level'' world authority.


    This is the reason why no one in the world alliance dares to say that they can ''solo'' the entire


    world alliance.


    If youbine the might of dozens of SS-rankers, theoretically the attack fired from thatbination will be something so strong that even the Dragon King Idri might not be able to


    withstand it.


    This is the reason why Neo brought twelve extra SS-rankers with him, despite them being only at the level of early SS-rankers.


    Although they can''t fight Ashtel in terms of skills and mastery overbat, they can at least pressure Ashtel with theirbined might!


    Neo had originally spected that four world authorities should be able to deal with Ashtel, but that spection has beenpletely shattered now.


    "Well, I have a cute little daughter-inw; she is quite the troublemaker, but I can''tin; she''s just that good... even I am in her debt now, no wonder that Kid Link is so


    obsessed with her nowadays..."


    "That sight of the ''World'' protecting her with its own hands was something truly ''transcendent''... It would have been stranger if I didn''t improve even a little bit after seeing


    such a sight..."


    SS-rankers don''t believe in ''Gods'', ''origins'' and stuff that has no real presence in the world.


    Instead, they believe that the ''world'' itself is the only thing that''s above them, and no one else is worthy enough.


    From Ashtel''s point of view, the ''world'', which is basically the ''god'', the ''reality'' and the ''truth of existence'' of this cosmos, was right in front of him at that brief moment.


    Just seeing that sight was enough to enlighten him about the ''workings'' of the world and its


    laws.


    "Tch, it doesn''t matter; I will just add more firepower!"


    Neo waved his hand. All of the twelve SS-rankers used their world authority at the same time,


    and just for assurance, Neo also added his own world authority in the mix.


    [World Authority: Mana Flow!]


    Seeing so many world authorities aimed at him, Ashtel smiled in amusement.


    "Quite the impatient one, aren''t you? I thought you would use thebination of 8 first and


    then go to full powerter..."


    "Well whatever, I also want to see how much I have improved... Here, fire it right here at my shoulders; they have been a bit stifftely..."


    Neo was trying to pressure and intimidate him, but Ashtel refused to give a single sh*t about


    that!


    The more Ashtel talked, the more irritated Neo got from that nonchnt behavior.


    "Laugh as much as you can now, Ashtel; soon your entire upper body will be turned intoN?v(el)B\\jnn


    nothingness and you will be unable tough!"


    [World Authority Combination: 13 Nodes: Quasar of Cmity!]


    *BOOOM!*


    With the help of the power of thirteen world authorities, Neo literally had enough power to


    put a ck hole to shame; he fired a gigantic ''Quasar'' at Ashtel.


    The immense concentration of mana was so strong that the quasar literally ''dug a hole'' in the space-time fabric, opened a ''wormhole'' by force, and traveled forward in ''Time'' to attack Ashtel before he could even see the attack move!


    To all this, Ashtel''s reaction was simple, [World Authority: Shockwave]

 Chapter 408: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-3.

    Chapter 408: An Extremely Unfair Battle... Part-3.


    ?


    [World Authority: Shockwave]


    [Sage Art: Repulsion: Broken Vessel!]


    Ashtel stood there without moving a single finger, yet when the quasar was just a few


    centimeters away from him, it got scattered in different directions and never actually reached Ashtel.


    *BOOOM*


    The massive energy of that quasar was enough to shatter all thes in this fake sr system.


    It was like a scene straight out of a cmity.


    That mana-enhanced quasar was so dense and hot that the space-time fabric itself became hotter, and immense amounts of radiation were generated from that quasar attack.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That attack was one hit-kill move; any SS-ranker would have been dead if hit by something like that.


    But Ashtel was still standing therepletely unharmed; in fact, that attack never ever reached him; it collided with something invisible before it could reach Ashtel and got scattered in all directions.


    Seeing this scene, Neo was too shocked to even speak.


    "T-this..."


    Ashtel patted his clothes, and then he spoke with a smirk on his face.


    "Hmm, that was a strong move; if it was me fromst year, I would have definitely gotten injured by that, but now it''s not enough..."


    Neo made his n ording to Ashtel''s power level, but who could have thought that Ashtel would end up making such insane progress in just a matter of a few months.


    Neo is quite sure that Ashtel''s World Authority was only at level 4st years! Increasing world authority level is not a child''s y; it takes decades or even centuries to increase just a single level.


    It''s extremely difficult!


    That''s why Neo made his n to contend with Ashtel by assuming that the other party has level 4 world authority, and worst-case scenario, he might have level 5, which he might be hiding from everyone.


    Neo had already overestimated enough from the start, and yet his estimations fell short; he didn''t take into consideration how much of an effect Riya''s ascension will have on Ashtel.


    In the first ce, Riya was never supposed to have gotten that ''world''s protection'', but Rio''s ''The Anomaly'' changed the entire course of the plotline, and things went a different path.


    Due to Rio''s intervention, Ashtel got to witness that brilliant sight of the world''s power in person and got inspiration.


    Right now, Ashtel is not at level 4 world authority anymore.


    "Level 7..."


    The moment Neo spoke those words, everything in the area went silent; even those braindead puppets instinctively backed off from Ashtel, and the world seemed to havee to a standstill in that moment.


    "Hahaha, you finally figured it out, nice!"


    Hearing Ashtel''sugh, Neo sighed,


    "You are a monster... Just how talented can someone be so blessed by the world!? You d*mned monstrosity!!"


    Neo''s expression turned hideous at that moment.


    He had already overestimated significantly, but he hadn''t anticipated that Ashtel would surpass even those overestimations by a significant margin.


    The Dragon King Idri has World Authority Level 7, but that was only possible because the other party has put a lot of efforts into training and he''s more than 1000 years old!


    Ashtel, on the other hand, is not even 100 years old yet, and he''s already at a level that''s equal to the dragon king!


    "This is pure insanity... This is unbelievable... Why, why only you have such great luck, such great talent? I loathe you from the very bottom of my heart, Ashtel Rex!"


    Hearing all those words of insults, Ashtel just shook his head, and the same calm smile remained on his face all along.


    "Whining like that will get you nowhere... I already gave you two chances to attack me, and you failed in both..."


    Saying that, Ashtel finally clenched his fist and spoke in a calm voice.


    "It''s my turn now... I want to enjoy this battle, so let''s do it this way. I will only use my defensive skills and about 5% of my power... to deal with all 13 of you..."


    "Otherwise, it would be over too quick, right..."


    In that moment, Neo had realized that this battle that he was thinking was in his favor was actually an extremely unfair battle.


    This battle where Ashtel has to fight the thirteen of them is actually too unfair for them thirteen instead!!


    Ashtel is beyond their levels! They need another few dozen SS-rankers to actually stop Ashtel


    now.


    Before Neo coulde up with a counter to this sudden turn of events, Ashtel''s silhouette disappeared from his sight.


    ''Sh*t!''


    [World Authority: Mana Flow!]


    Neo used his mana flow to detect Ashtel, but as if Ashtel had gonepletely invisible, Neo


    couldn''t sense him at all!


    At that moment, his intuition was his only reliable ally.


    ''hmm! Sh*t he''s going to hit that one!''


    Although Neo realized it, it was just toote.


    In that mere nanosecond, Ashtel appeared near an SS-rank puppet.


    The puppet reacted by instinct and used its world authority to defend itself.


    [World Authority. Bane of Light!]


    The other party tried to turn his body into the photons of light to escape, but it was toote.


    The other party''s world authority was barely at level 1, it''s currently even weaker than Jin''s, thus it operates slowly and wastes a lot of mental energy.


    Ashtel punch was faster.


    [Sage Art: Shattered Fabric: Broken Cosmic Null!]


    *BOOOM!**CRACK!!*


    Just one punch from Ashtel was enough to directly smash a hole in the space-time fabric


    itself!


    The power in that punch was enhanced by a level 7 world authority!


    The difference between each level of authority is extremely vast!! With each level, the efforts needed to improve be 10 times higher!


    The gap between an individual with a level-1 authority and a level-7 authority is as big as the gap between a newborn child and a level-6 authority holder, SS Ranker!!


    *BOOOM!*


    A crack in the spacetime fabric spread out, and that SS-ranker died right there on the spot


    from just one punch!


    And this wasn''t even the end-an extremely powerful gravitational wave, a shockwave that traveled through the space-time fabric itself, spread out in all directions!!


    It was so fast and so powerful that the entire spire of Ascension started to tremble and show a


    sign of cracking!


    All the puppets nearby were pushed away by extreme gravitational waves; the crack in the


    space-time fabric just kept spreading wide and wide!


    "W-what did you do!! Why is that crack still expanding!?"


    Neo was shocked beyond belief. Looking at that crack in the void, Ashtel shattered the space-


    time fabric as if it were some fragile ss!


    Usually, such cracks start healing and closing on their own, and it barely takes a few seconds.


    But the crack that Ashtel created just kept expanding!


    "Oh, this... I am actually doing it on purpose; I will use it to smash this entire ''Spire of


    Ascension'' to bits! Quite neat, isn''t it?"


    Neo gritted his teeth when he heard those words.


    Just when he was about to say something else, a robotic voice was resounded in the entire


    floor 100.


    [ERROR! You are too big of a threat to the Spire of Ascension!]


    [ERROR! The Spire of Ascension has been damaged!!]


    [Ejecting the powerful threat!]


    "Hoho, so now you want to eject me out after finding that I am too much for you?"


    A gigantic portal opened below Ashtel''s feet and tried to suck him inside; the portal looked


    simr to the one that had brought him here in the first ce.


    "You want to eject me? But did I give you permission for it? Just shut up for a while..."


    [World Authority: Shockwave!]


    [Sage Art: Shattered Gap: Broken Order!]


    Ashtel raised his fist and punched the space-time fabric around the portal!


    *CRACK!!!*


    With that attack, Ashtel shattered the portal into pieces and forcefully stopped it from


    teleporting him.


    In fact, that punch created another shockwave that damaged the Spire of Ascension even


    more! "Yeah, not stay silent like a good kid... I will leave on my own when I am done with my work; don''t order me around..."


    After bing an SS-ranker, Ashtel has ever taken orders from only two people in the entire


    human empire. The first was his wife; she asked him to protect Link and raise him well, and he agreed to it without daring to talk back.


    The second person who dared to order him around was Riya; she was the only one who dared


    toe forward to save Link when he was going too strict on training him and beating the


    living day lights out of him.


    Ashtel had already acknowledged Riya''s courage when she tried to protect Link with her fragile body from a literal SS ranker!


    Aside from these two people, Ashtel has never even thought about taking orders from others.


    Ashtel doesn''t believe in gods and origins; he doesn''t care whether the spire of ascension gets


    destroyed or not.


    "Let''s start, shall we?"


    After shattering the portal and creating another massive crack in the spire of ascension,


    Ashtel cracked his knuckles and nced at the rest of the puppets with a smirk on his face.


    "It''s not every day I get to flex my powers so much; let me enjoy this a bit more... Try to survive as long as you can, for my entertainment, that is..."


    If not for the fact that Neo was controlling their mind, those remaining eleven puppets would


    have already started running with all their might after seeing that terrifying look on Ashtel''s


    face.


    This battle that was supposed to be one-sided and extremely unfair for Ashtel becamepletely opposite.


    This matchup of thirteen demigods against one was in fact still unfair for those thirteen


    instead!!


    Neo gritted his teeth but still didn''t retreat though.


    ''I just need to hold him here for two more hours; one hour has already passed... Once two more


    hours pass, my n will seed!''

 Chapter 409: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-1.

    Chapter 409: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-1.


    ?


    [World Authority: Stretched Void!]


    One of the puppets flew at an extremely high speed and swung its sword at Ashtel.


    As he swung his sword, he used the world authority to stretch the void and move himself faster from one distance to another by stretching the void towards himself.


    The sword attack was extremely fast and precise; it had enough power to shatter an entire small moon in two with just one swing.


    *BOOOM!*


    Yet, when that sword swing was just a few centimeters away from Ashtel, it hit some kind of invisible barrier and couldn''t move further anymore.


    Ashtel nced at the other party and shook his head in disappointment.


    "You don''t even have ''Sword Intent'', yet you still think you will be able to do some damage to me? Go away, learn a legendary skill in the next life before thinking about fighting me..."


    [Sage Art: Shattered Light: Broken Moon!]


    Ashtel ignored the other party''s sword swings and punched with extreme momentum.


    His punch was so strong that other SS-rankers in the vicinity couldn''t react in time to save their friend, and itnded before they could even react.


    *BOOOM!*


    The entire upper torse of the SS-ranker burst apart, and even his sword got shattered to pieces in a matter of seconds.


    "Yeah, if had sword intent, you could have at least passed through my defense... But well, if you really had a legendary skill, then you wouldn''t have been others''s puppets, I guess..."


    "Quite the dilemma, right?"


    Seeing Ashtel so rxed andid back, Neo gritted his teeth in irritation.


    ''He''s ying around on purpose! In fact, he''s already sensed that I am nning something bigger, but he doesn''t care! He''s waiting for the real show!''


    ''This guy... He''s too arrogant!''


    [World Authority: Mana Flow!]


    Using his world authority, Neo increased the mana flow towards himself in the area and then waved his hand and started to summon.


    [Summon: Death Parade!]


    Just like Neo had done with Idri, he summoned an insane number of beasts, gigantic bone titans, and huge demonized whalelike creatures that could float in the space.


    He could have summoned more, but there''s no solid ground here right now, unlike in the Dragon Valley, so the weaker summons won''t do; only the highest-level summons that can fly in space will work here.


    [World Authority: Buffed Arcane!]


    One of the puppet SS-rankers used their world authority ''Buffed Arcane'' to enhance all types of skills and techniques effects used by the summons of Neo.


    This world authority is one of the greatest boosts that a summoner can get.


    Just with this, even the weakest summon can fight a summon that''s a hundred times stronger than its original version!


    [World Authority: Vital Rush!]


    Another SS-ranker enhanced the maximum vitality of all the summons so as to improve their tenacity.


    Moreover, the world authority burned a small amount of vitality to give more boosts to the physical stats of the summons.


    If it were against an army of a nation, this death parade of Neo would have been extremely devastating.


    It would have been such a powerful army that it could put even the armies of powerful nations to shame with its sheer size and power.


    However, the battle they are currently engaged in is not against feeble armies, but against Ashtel Rex!


    "Are you serious right now... Do you really think summoning thousands of insects will harm me in any way?"


    Ashtel couldn''t help but rub his temples at this scene.


    "Even thebined attack of 13 SS-rankers didn''t do much, and you still dare summon these bulsh*t''s in front of me..."


    "Is this all you have left in your arsenal, Neo? What about your n ofpletely defeating me?"


    "Man, I am getting bored now... Forget it; I don''t feel like ying with you..."


    When you are in a hurry and want to destroy an entire army without putting much effort into dealing with each and every enemy soldier, what would be the most effective method?


    To this question, Ashtel''s answer was extremely simple: ''Shatter the entire cosmos around the army! Shatter everything till there''s none left!''


    [World Authority: Shockwave!]


    [Sage Art: Shockwave Maniption: Shattered Cosmos!]


    The remaining 10 SS-rank puppets moved away fast after following Neo orders, yet a few of them were still caught up in the attack.


    Ashtel raised his fist, and as if he were breaking a fragile piece of ss, he punched the void and shattered the space-time fabric.


    *BOOOM!**CRACK!*


    An extremely powerful gravitational shockwave spread out using the space-time fabric as a medium, and the cracks in the void widened in a matter of nanoseconds!


    Ashtel didn''t only hit the enemy; he directly shattered the void that the enemies were in and reduced them all to ''Null'' in a mere nanosecond.


    With a single punch, he created such a massive hole in the space that it was enough to fit a as big as Jupiter easily!


    Neo''s summoned armies didn''t even have the time to react before they killed and got reduced


    to absolute nothingness.


    It was pure horror.


    Ashtel not only killed an army of millions in a matter of nanoseconds; he even killed three SS- rankers nearby who weren''t able to escape on time and reduced them to nothingness along with those summoned beasts.


    For allies, Ashtel is the savior god, but right now, for his enemies, Ashtel looks nothing but a terror incarnate!


    Originally there were 13 of them, but now only 8 are left, including Neo, and Ashtel hasn''t even suffered a single scratch on his skin yet.


    "Bah, you guys are so weak and fragile! I thought you would rush out and survive this attack


    at the least!"


    Ashtel nced at the group of surviving SS-rankers with his arms crossed and shook his head in great disappointment.


    "What? Do you guys have nothing else left to show me... Come on, I am waiting; show me your most powerful attacks. After I am done with you guys, I still have to go back and do some


    paperwork..."


    As if Ashtel''s words were the very words of the devil himself, those puppets gained their


    minds back in that moment of life and death, under extreme fear, and broke away from Neo''s


    mind control!


    "NOO! I-I DON''T want to die here!! I am leaving!"


    "R-run!! This guy is a monster!!"


    "I-I DON''T care about fighting anymore! It''s pointless!!"


    All the remaining seven puppets immediately started to open portals to run away.


    They knew that if they stayed here, they would definitely die a pointless death like the rest, who were reduced to nothingness in a matter of nanoseconds!!


    Ashtel has many titles to his name; one of them is ''Horror incarnate''... It''s because even demons run away in fear-that is how much of a horror his existence brings!


    He''s a walking ck hole; nothing that opposes him can live and escape from his grasp, an unbeatable entity that maintains thew and order in the world while being impartial with


    everyone!


    For evil, he''s the symbol of fear; for the weak, he''s the pir of light and symbol of hope and


    justice.


    "Well, you finally figured out why they call me Ashtel ''The Dominator''? It''s because I rule over fear and kindness both... quite a bnced concept, right?"


    At that moment, the smile on Ashtel''s face turned stiff, and a look of seriousness appeared in


    his eyes.


    "But, did I allow you guys to run?"


    [World Authority: Shockwave!] [Sage Art: Repulsion Type: Matter]


    [Fool Art: eptance Type: Anti-Matter]


    At that moment, as if the world had gone still, everything lost its will to move; even then/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    portals opened by the SS-rankers to escape stopped working, and a sense of extreme dread


    spread in the entire sr system.


    It was pure insanity; it was pure chaos; it was extreme horror.


    [Cosmic Martial Law: Gentle Death: ck Hole!] Ashtel pointed his finger toward above and summoned absolute destruction.


    The space-time fabric was bent to the point it broke apart, and the gravity was increased to


    the point that it pierced a permanent hole in the fabric of reality.


    This insane dread, this feeling of being extremely powerless-this is the existence of a ''ck


    hole''.


    There''s nothing back and front; it''s just absolute null.


    The SS-rankers tried to use their world authorities, but to their horror, it was pointless. With


    looks of extreme horror, their bodies were stretched out like spaghetti and merged with the


    ck hole.


    In just one attack, Ashtel killed off all seven remaining SS-rankers like he was swatting some flies with the back of his hand.


    Only at that moment did Neo realize what kind of horror he was fighting against.


    Up until now, Ashtel wasn''t using his real martial art; from the start, he was only using a


    small ''part'' of his martial technique.


    His martial technique is ''Cosmic Martial Law'', yet he was only using ''Sage Art'' until now; that was just a small part of the entire martial art.


    Yet this small part was enough to show absolute dread to them all and push them all to the


    point ofplete loss.


    Only when he showed his true martial art did Neo realize how big the gap between them was.


    "It''s beautiful..."


    Those were the only words Neo could think of in that moment.


    A massive ck hole rotating above his head, justice on his right and death on his left arm,


    stars shining in the back, focusing and increasing his beauty.


    From Neo''s point of view, that existence in front of him seemed the real embodiment of


    Divinity.


    Just looking at him gives you the feeling of wanting to worship him.


    With that shine in his eyes, Neo''s ''body'' was also absorbed by the ck hole and ''erased'' from


    existence in that small timeframe.


    ''Hmm... His soul escaped from his body? Forbidden magic?''

 Chapter 410: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-2.

    Chapter 410: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-2.


    ?


    Contrary to popr belief, Ashtel''s reputation of being extremely powerful doesn''t rely solely on his ''World Authority''.


    His world authority, ''Shockwave'', certainly isn''t something to be scoffed at, but it isn''t one of the most powerful out there.


    There are world authorities like Idri''s ''Absolute Rule'' that can make anything possible, and there are world authorities like Fenix''s that can make a certain territorypletely under his control.


    There are people who have world authorities that can do fancy stuff like heal others or even control vitality, etc.


    But all of this doesn''t matter.


    In the world, no ''World Authority'' is actually weak; all ''World Authorities'' are supposed to be equal from the start; the difference originates from the user itself.


    The world Authority ''Shockwave'', is the perfect one for Ashtel.


    It grants him the power to control the shockwaves, vibrations, and even subtle movements of cosmic forces.


    Ashtel can use it to create gravitational waves; he can create immensely powerful shockwaves that can travel right through the space-time fabric and ignore every other obstacle.


    He can increase the power of his shockwaves to easily shatter the space-time fabric, or he can change the frequencies to make the space-time fabric change its properties by force.


    Everything in the world is made up of only four things: matter, anti-matter, dark energy, and mana, or miasma.


    And using shockwaves to control the structure of the atoms, Ashtel can create various things out of nowhere.


    Ashtel''s martial technique is something that he made for himself with his own efforts.


    The ''Sage Art'' is something that is meant to deal with ''Matter'' and various different forces of nature that can beprehended and evaluated.


    The ''Fool Art'' is meant to deal with ''Anti-Matter'' and the forces that can''t be evaluated andprehended with simple means.


    The sage art symbolizes''reality'' and the fool art symbolizes ''virtuality'', mixing reality and virtuality, mixing matter and anti-matter, will cause conflict to the point that it''s unimaginable.


    Up until hister years, Ashtel was never able to mix and stabilize his two techniques.


    But then he awakened the world authority ''Shockwave''.


    This became the perfect power to stabilize the pr opposites of nature, and he finally learned to bnce out his two arts.


    That''s where the ''Cosmic Martial Law'' was born.


    Mixing ''Reality'' with ''Virtuality'' in such a way that it stabilizes and doesn''t copse-that''s the power to create a gap in the world, a literal permanent hole in the space-time fabric- that''s called a ''ck Hole''.


    Being able to use powers that govern the most powerful concepts of the world is not something everyone can do.


    Ashtel once thought about teaching this technique to Link, but this technique only suits himself; not even Link was able to learn it; it is tailor-made just for him; others can''t learn it that easily.


    His world authority isn''t the sole reason why he''s called the strongest; there are powerful skills in his arsenal, and the most important of all, he carries the burden of an entire nation on his shoulders.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Obviously, his punches will be much stronger.


    "Beautiful, you say? Well, when an entire race is supporting your back, the power it grants is indeed beautiful, I guess...."


    "All that big talk, and in the end, it was all but a bluff..."


    Standing in empty space, Ashtel sighed to himself.


    He warned Neo many times before; this isn''t the first time they have had this conflict, but none of them were as big as this one.


    From the start, Ashtel knew that Neo was the type of person who doesn''t like to follow the rules and likes to go his own way.


    But being free and breaking the rules is not always a good thing.


    This kind of mentality only seems good in fiction or in times when you actually are under the oppression of someone.


    Otherwise, this kind of person will only create chaos that will cause problems for others.


    Neo is basically just an example of a person who doesn''t want to let go of the past.


    He was born in time for war, and his mentality growing up was molded by the mes of war.


    At that time, hatred and rebellion again among the Orcs weremon things, and no one felt anything amiss about trying to deal with the enemy.


    It was war after all; everything was allowed in those dire circumstances.


    But just like nothing is eternal in the world, the war also ended after lots of sacrifices and


    losses.


    Peace finally came, and maintaining this peace became a big responsibility that fell on Ashtel''s shoulders.


    Now that peace hade, all powerful people like Ashtel and Neo had to now calm down and blend into society like normal people.


    They had to stop showcasing their powers and causing problems here and there.


    People tolerated them during the war, but now that peace hade, still causing trouble here and there would have created another conflict.


    Neo, who was always the type to never sit in one ce calmly, couldn''t take the slow and boringness of peace; he wanted more from life.


    For him, Ashtel, who was now upholding peace and keeping chaos at bay, became a massive


    obstacle.


    Ashtel could see all this; he knew that Neo is also nothing but a victim of his mentality.


    ''Well, I not much different either... From the start, I hoped for peace... Now that finally have it, I just don''t want to let go of it...''


    Troubled times give birth to strong people; if Link and others want to reach his levels, they need to face tough times too.


    But Ashtel himself doesn''t want to let go of that peace, which he has earned with his decades


    of efforts.


    ''Sometimes I wonder if I am bing an obstacle for the younger generation?''


    Being strong is good, but if you keep handling all the things yourself and others keep relying on you, then the next generation will never get the chance to rise up.


    As long as the old don''t move on from their positions of power, how will the younger ones get


    to progress?


    ''Sigh... I guess this is also one of the dilemmas that the person standing at the peak must face. Being the strongest is not the kind of blessing I thought it was...''


    ''It''s just a path of loneliness and chaos...''


    Ashtel shook his head at that moment, deactivated his techniques, and made the ck hole


    disappear.


    Time seems to have started moving once again, and the broken debris of thes and the sun of this sr system could now be seen floating everywhere.


    ''Well, this is the exact reason I don''t like going all out... just a small fraction of power, and


    things go to sh*t...''


    ''Sometimes everything in the world seems so fragile...''


    At that moment, Ashtel suddenly remembered a memory from the past.


    ...


    (A forgotten memory)


    "Fragile, you say! Hmph, you have quite the nerve to be saying that to me!"


    An extremely beautiful woman pouted her cheeks while ring at Ashtel angrily.


    "You see this fist of mine; I can beat ten of you with this in one attack, you know!"


    Ashtel was shocked by that woman''s attitude towards him.


    Despite him being so much stronger than her, she waspletely unafraid of him; she was the most daring woman he had ever met in his life.


    "W-what!? Why are you staring at me with a racoon-like face like that!? I am telling you, if you dared to call me fragile again, I am gonna throw this pepper spray at you!"


    (Back to present)


    "Er... thinking about that time makes me feel kind of weird now..."


    Ashtel scratched the back of this neck with a look of awkwardness on his face.


    ''I guess... I would have gone the same path of being a chaos bringer if not for her...''


    "Thinking back, it was quite an enjoyable time..."


    That weak, fragile woman made the strongest person of the entire human race bow his head


    to her; she swayed him with her words alone.


    Despite being a demi-god, even Ashtel has a human heart after all; even he has his emotions.


    Being the strongest is not his entire personality; aside from all of his power and strength, he still has a human life; he had his own family and has a story of his own.


    He loved, he dreamed, and he cared about a lot of things; that''s just what it means to be a


    human.


    ''Sigh... I guess I should forgive Neo too; he''s also on a misguided path, that''s all. I have already shattered his power and his entire body...''


    ''Even if he starts from all over again with an artificial body, it will teach him about the world.''


    Not everyone is as fortunate as him to have met someone brilliant enough to change their


    thought processes.


    ''He likely had prepared some artificial body, and he likely is going to use that forbidden technique to get inside it and then fight me again...''


    ''Sigh, this guy... He really is just as stubborn as I was before... blindly pursuing the peak of the


    world...''


    Ashtel''s wife was not a powerful person; she was just an ordinary awakener with just a little


    bit of talent.


    But her personality and values were truly much more brilliant than gold and diamond. She


    was a unique existence.


    She died giving birth to Link as she was too weak to withstand the process. Giving birth to a


    child that was too heaven-defying is not an ordinary process; it''s a tribtion of its own. It was too much for her fragile self in the end.


    Still, her existence was always unique; she gave birth to the ''Hope of the Universe'' after all. She was never ordinary.

 Chapter 411: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-3.

    Chapter 411: The Supreme Legendary Technique... Part-3.


    ?


    Just when Ashtel was about to dive down and find his way to descend to the lower floors of the Spire of Ascension, an extremely powerful mana fluctuation spread in all directions.


    ''Tch, he already activated the forbidden magic...''


    *BOOOM*


    The void located below where thes were originally rotating started to copse and the lower floor became visible.


    An immensely powerful and dense wave of mana spread in all directions and entered the 100th floor from that copsed void.


    Ashtel immediately flew into that gigantic hole and tried to enter the 99th floor to see what Neo was doing, but the mana flow became even stronger than before and pushed him back forcefully.


    ''Such a powerful mana flow... This is even more powerful than someone using a ''World Authority'' rted to mana control or something like that...''


    ''What''s going on... What kind of forbidden magic is he even using...''


    [Sage Art: Broken Vessel: Smooth Manadynamics]


    Just like aerodynamics is a method to move objects more smoothly by reducing the friction with air, manadynamics does the exact same thing, only that it''s made purposely for chaotic mana currents.


    As a person who has fought in wars for decades, Ashtel learned to adapt to various environments, and one such environment was the environment filled with chaotic mana.


    On the battlefield, hundreds of thousands of awakeners battle each other, and thus the mana in the environment gets quite chaotic as thousands of people are forcefully trying to control


    it.


    It''s not much of a problem to deal with such a situation for a short time, but Ashtel was one of the elite soldiers; he had to go on missions nearly every day, so he was more vulnerable to mana deviation caused by chaotic mana.


    To resolve this matter, he created the ''Manadynamics'' technique as a part of his ''Sage Art''.


    It simply uses his own mana at a minimal and extremely efficient amount to smoothen the mana flow around him, thus rendering the chaotic manapletely ineffective on him.


    The moment Ashtel used that skill, the mana pressure on his got immediately reduced, and he started moving forward once again.


    He flew into the gigantic hole,pletely ignoring the repulsion of the insanely dense mana; the closer he got, the denser mana became.


    The 99th floor turned out to be a gigantic barren emptynd; no matter how far you look, there was just endless barrennd.


    ''A looped space-time area...''


    But that wasn''t the thing that caught his eyes; the most eye-catching thing in this entire empty barrennd was a gigantic magic circle drawn on the ground.


    The magic circle was so big that you could cover the entire Earth with this magic circle two times over!


    The word small doesn''t even begin to exin it; it was bigger than an entire!


    ''And it''s all made up of blood...''


    To make a magic circle that is even bigger than a entirely out of blood, the number of corpses and sacrifices that are needed is simply too huge; it''s such a huge number that it''s unthinkable.


    "This!?"


    Even Ashtel was shocked at such a sight; even he couldn''t help but feel shocked at the number of creatures that Neo must have murdered to create something like this.


    ''Insanity, absolute insanity...''


    If Neo had killed this many creatures in the outside world, the world alliance would have definitely noticed it, but there''s no such record of so many creatures going missing.


    Moreover, Neo couldn''t have collected this many corpses right under Ashtel''s nose either. There''s only one way he could have collected such a massive pool of blood and corpses. ''He killed his own summoned beasts!''


    Yes! The only way to collect this much blood without making others wary is by slowly summoning beasts over the years and killing them and storing away their blood in a space ring.


    The space ring in this world is quite advanced; no matter how long you store things inside it, time barely even moves, so it''s possible to preserve things like blood inside it for a very long time.


    Although you can''t store living beings in a space ring, it''s possible to store tons and tons of blood sucked out of the corpses.


    ''Monster...''


    Even Ashtel was shocked at how cruel a person can be.


    Neo literally summoned beasts for decades upon decades and one by one killed them and stored their blood for several decades in his space ring.


    He kept repeating this process till he had enough blood to create a magic circle of this scale.


    ''No wonder he seemed so calm and happy after the war, even though I forced him to stop his crazy things...''


    ''He had found a new way to enjoy himself...''


    Neo first summoned weak beasts and then tortured them and used them to get as much blood as possible.


    A summoned beast is generally just made-up condensed mana; they don''t actually have a real body, but when they sign contract with someone, they be partially real; their bodies then have blood like any other creature.


    In other words, over the past decades, Neo signed contracts of friendship with millions of beasts and then tortured them and used them to collect blood.


    ''No wonder he always used to send clones to do his bidding; no wonder he was always making more and more clones of himself...''


    At that moment, after seeing that gigantic magic circle, Ashtel had figured out everything.


    The reason why Neo was always making clones was because the main body was busy concentrating on dodging Ashtel''s detection and killing as many beasts as possible.


    The clones were also helping him in the process.


    Although Ashtel can indeed detect Neo if he''s doing massively bad things, he can''t do it if Neo is doing it on extremely small scales.


    Neo likely used his world authority to cover the mana flow and then killed extremely weak summoned beasts; this way he was able to hide the mana fluctuations!


    ''Moreover, he must have made some hidden ce that he filled with mana detection slowing


    artifacts...''


    All in all, Neo was able to keep his evil ns hidden from Ashtel for several decades, which is a feat that takes massive patience!


    If his ns had been leaked to Ashtel even in the slightest, it would have been the end of him right then and there! But he was so good at hiding it, no one found out about it for decades!


    ''No wonder he hated his son when he saw that Liam was taking such good care of them.... His mentality has be twisted over the years from torturing millions of summoned beasts to


    death!''


    At that moment, a serious look appeared on Ashtel''s face, and he immediately mobilized his


    own mana.


    ''I must not let this n seed! I will crush this fiend''s soul before he can even seize control over the artificial body!''


    Ashtel flew down, and as the dense mana was just too dense around the center, he wasn''t able to see the identity of the artificial body before, but as he got closer and closer.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The body started to look more and more familiar.


    "T-this can''t be!? Neo!! How can you be so cruel! YOU ARE A BEAST IN HUMAN FORM!"


    "INSANITY!"


    When Ashtel finally saw the face of the artificial body at the center of the enormous magic


    circle, his eyes widened in sheer shock.


    It was none other than Neo''s youngest son, ''Liam Aldif'' himself!


    At that moment, Ashtel had realized almost everything!


    ''In that moment when I was getting teleported by that portal, the team Astra must have been teleported too! Neo asked Alverto to purposely teleport his son Liam here!"


    "The reason why he was trying to dy me was because he wanted toplete this magic


    circle!!"


    "From the very beginning! He was going to seize his son''s body! He knew that Liam is much more talented than him!!"


    As realization dawned on Ashtel, he gritted his teeth and he clenched his fists. Liam has a bright future ahead; if such a great talent gets taken over by an evil sh*t like Neo, that will


    spell doom for the entire human empire!


    "I won''t let you do it! I will shatter this magic circle-"


    Before Ashtel could even do anything, the magic circle suddenly stopped working, and the


    powerful mana flow stopped repelling Ashtel.


    Everything became so silent for a second, as if time had stopped itself from moving.


    A look of disgust appeared on Ashtel''s face.


    "Y-you piece of sh*t! How can you do this to your own son?!"


    Ashtel was toote; Neo forcefully stopped the magic circle mid-operation with his soul''s


    power.


    Neo had already prepared for this circumstance beforehand.


    In case he isn''t able to keep Ashtel in check for three hours, he will use the halfpleted magic circle and then force stop it.


    Although this will cause his soul to have some ws when entering Liam''s body, it will at


    least be sessful!


    At that moment, the eyes of the unconscious Liam opened, and the young boy slowly got up


    from the ground.


    The usual calm and wise look from his eyes was already gone at this moment; instead, his eyes carried the look of immense hatred and insanity now.


    A massive demonlike grin hung over his face as he suddenly started tough out loud like a


    manic!


    "BAHAHAHAHAHAAH... AHHAHAHAHAH...HAHAHAAHAHA... I DID IT!!!!!.... I HAVE SEIZED THE SUPREME LEGENDARY TECHNIQUE!!!!...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA"


    "YOU LOST ASHTEL!!! YOU LOST!! AHAHAHAHAH.... MY DECADES LONG PLAN HAS SUCCEDED....


    THIS IS SO DELIGHTFUL....HAHAHAHAHAH..."


    Liam''s body started to float in the air on its own at that moment.


    [Ding! Error! Your world authority has merged with the legendary technique ''Mana Field!'']


    [Ding! Your world authority has been erased; your legendary technique has be your ''World


    Authority''!]


    [Congrattions! You have learned a Supreme Legendary Technique!]

 Chapter 412: For my Freedom... Part-1.

    Chapter 412: For my ''Freedom''... Part-1.


    ?


    Several decades ago.


    During the first decade of the fifty-year Orc War, there were many small towns near the border of the empire, and in one shabby house lived a poor kid with his drunkard father.


    "Idiot!! I told you to steal more money! What is this!? Just some pocket change!? How will I buy anything from this you God d*mn piece of sh*t!"


    The drunk father shouted at his useless son and kicked him heavily in the stomach as he gobbled down more wine from the bottle!


    "Don''t you know how great I am! I was a soldier before! I had fought in the army! If not for those d*mned Orcs! I wouldn''t have lost my job!!"


    Neo''s father was a terrible man; he was an abusive father, a drunkard to boot, and a deserter from the army.


    Although he seemed to show himself as a glorious person, he was nothing but utter garbage as a parent.


    He ran away during the war and became a deserter. He got court martialled and ended up getting kicked out of the army with all his weapons and money stripped off!


    That garbage person went ahead, borrowed money from random people, and had fun in a nightclub.


    Neo was born from a random one-night stand; he was but an unwanted child whose mother ran away after giving birth to him and never came back to show her face.


    His father, though he never cared about his kid, raised Neo for a few years with borrowed money, but then he lost interest and started to drink even more heavily than before.


    The man had lost his wits; he sumbed to the embrace of alcohol and became a heavy drinker.


    Borrowed money alwayses to bite you back, and that''s what happened to him too. Neo had to change houses every few months with his father as the two of them kept running from ces to ces to hide from the people they had borrowed money from.


    Neo''s life was chaos from the very start.


    During the day, he would go to steal and work as a thief to steal money from people on the streets, and then during the night he would get beaten by his father and abused to the point of being nearly starved to death.


    That was the kind of life Neo had known from the start.


    ''People are garbage... Money, power, and strength are everything...''


    The five-year-old Neo already had figured out the truth of the cruel world! He had already figured out that only those with money and power can survive in this cruel world!


    ...


    It was a winter night.


    A dark night where the sky was empty; there were no stars or moons to be seen; it was pitch dark.


    *puchi*


    A young kid stabbed his father in the eyeball in the dead of the night and killed him in sleep. The child''s face seemed immature, but his eyes already had enough wisdom in them. *BOOOM!*


    A massive explosion sounded outside the shabby house just when the young kid had gotten rid of the biggest problem of his life.


    *piiiiiiiiiii!*


    Extremely loud sirens went off in the entire town; this was a signal of an attack from the enemy armies!


    Upon hearing the explosions outside, the young Neo nced out the window and observed hundreds of orcs marching inside the city, equipped with gigantic rocketunchers and various other weapons.


    That day, Neo made his first n.


    A young, weak kid can''t survive disasters of that level, and that day was supposed to be his death date, but Neo was no ordinary young kid. He had already figured out the truth of the world at this young age!


    He was a genius at nning and strategy-making.


    He had purposely mixed his father''s alcohol with sleeping pills that he bought with the money stolen from others!


    That wasn''t a n but a survival method for him; he murdered his father to survive; only those who have a strong will can survive; that''s what Neo had learned from his father.


    His father was utter garbage for a human being, but Neo was a genius; he found meaning in that and learned to use it to his advantage.


    He used the knife to make more wounds on his father''s corpse and then covered himself in his own father''s blood.


    He lied down on the ground and ced his own father''s corpse above himself to hide.


    *BOOM!*


    A bomb smashed into the shabby house and broke its ceiling.


    An adult orc is about 3 meters in size! The Orc that had attacked their house was even taller than their shabby house!


    It smashed right through the walls easily and found the dead body buried under the rubble easily with his excellent sense of smell!


    Neo, who had been a thief his all life, had already learned a few things from the chatter of the people on the streets; he already knew that an orc has good senses!


    And this information worked in his favor!


    The orc didn''t find Neo buried right beside in the rubble and only found the corpse of the father because Neo was fully covered in the blood of his own father.


    *Crunch!**Crunch!*


    The orc chewed on the dead body and slowly walked away.


    Neo, who was buried under the rubble nearby, heaved a sigh of relief and then fell unconscious as the tension finally loosened and fatigue took hold of him.


    Although it was a close call, Neo felt thankful for that Orc attack.


    If he had only murdered his own father, it would have been difficult to get rid of the dead


    body, but now that the Orc has eaten it, there''s no evidence against him.


    No one can me him even if they find out anything about this matter; that was Neo''s first ever murder; that was the day when he first started his journey of being ''Free''.


    Neo wanted freedom from his father''s clutches, and he got it by getting rid of him; that''s how Neo was from the start.


    ...


    The next time Neo woke up, he was in a military shelter where military healers were treating


    the refugees.


    Neo wasn''t injured, but they still tend to him with care.


    Seeing those healers use mana to heal people in a matter of seconds, Neo''s eyes widened in


    shock.


    In his curious eyes, magic appeared as a manifestation of a miracle; it was both beautiful and


    fascinating.


    As the old healerdy smiled at his face, Neo fell in love with magic at that moment.


    He had decided he would be good at using magic; he had already earned his freedom


    from his abusive father; now it was time to aim and be ''free'' from society too!


    It was a time of war; the military weed new recruits with open arms, no matter if they were kids or adults!


    Neo chose to sign up for the military and learn about magic from there.


    The military had massive funding at that time; they were in need of great young talent after all. They weed Neo with open arms, and he got free education and training in exchange for promising to work as a soldier in the future.


    ...


    A weekter.


    Neo was picked up by a huge flying bus filled with people that had been selected as new recruits, and he was getting transported to a military base that day.


    That was the day when he first met his lifelong enemy, although he hadn''t realized it yet, but that was the day he met the person he woulde to hate with his entire being.


    It was a young boy in torn-apart clothes sitting near the corner and crying to himself.


    The young boy was of simr age as him, but he was immature, weak, and pathetic.


    His entire face was covered in his own tears and snot as he was crying and sobbing quietly in


    the corner.


    That day Neo made the biggest mistake of his life; he became curious and went over to talk to


    that young kid.


    "Hey, you... What''s your name? Will you stop crying? You are seriously annoying me... If you don''t stop crying, I will punch you!"


    Neo stood in front of the crying kid; his voice carried a hint of irritation.


    *sob* *sob*


    That crying kid, that snot-covered brat-that was none other than Ashtel Rex, the future


    strongest man on Earth.


    "I-I am just sad..."


    *Bam*


    Neo punched the annoying guy in the face for irritating him with his crybaby face and pathetic


    voice.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The young, red-haired kid cowered in fear and stopped himself from crying; his body


    trembled all over, and he made distance from Neo to hide.


    "Stop crying! Or I will hit you again!"


    Just when Neo was about to hit Ashtel again, his hand was caught by an older boy who was just


    a few years older than the two of them.


    "Stop! We are all friends here now! We have been chosen to enter the military; don''t fight


    among each other!"


    That kid was none other than Nics Arsene! The hero who would go on to sacrifice himself to


    end the fifty-year-long Orc war atst by killing the Orc King and sacrificing himself in the


    process.


    On that fateful day, all three future SS-rankers of the human empire were gathered in the same ce at the same time.


    Perhaps it was just a mere coincidence, or perhaps it was something the strings of destiny had decided for them, but all three of them had already be acquaintances from the very start! It was all connected. The fate of them three was connected from the very start!

 Chapter 413: For my Freedom... Part-2.

    Chapter 413: For my ''Freedom''... Part-2.


    ?


    Ten years after,


    Orc war, western front, Fort Moljo.


    "Pant... pant... phew... We survived... We made it back to the fortress..."


    Just when Ashtel was panting heavily, a punch hit him in the face, and he flew away and hit the wall.


    "You piece of dog sh*T! I already told you to let them be! Why did you go to help! See what happened! You attracted that massive group of wolf monsters upon us instead!"


    Just a while ago, when Ashtel, Neo, and Nics were on their usual patrol duty, they discovered another squad that was being attacked by wolf-type monsters.


    There were just too many; it was a better choice to call reinforcements ande back to deal with themter.


    But Ashtel, being a crybaby and idiot, couldn''t digest the fact that they had to abandon those people who were being attacked by the wolves!


    He charged head first into the monster horde and attracted the attention of the monster upon the two of them!


    They barely managed to survive and escape back to the fortress, or they were dead today! "I am done being in the same group as you! You always do reckless things like this!"


    "Can''t you understand others''s opinions! To live is to be free! And in an all-out war kind of time like this, you got to work less to preserve energy so that you can save your own life!" "War is not about victory or defeat; it''s about the one who survives till the end!"


    "Staying with you always puts my freedom to do things and handle situations calmly at aplete disadvantage!"


    "Moreover, we are still a few months away from awakening! We are just ordinary humans right now! Can''t you understand that we can''t survive like this!"


    "You need to think about only yourself, and that''s the only way to live in this selfish world!" Neo''s mentality was always different from the likes of Ashtel and Nics.


    His ultimate goal in life was to be ''free'' from the constraints of the world and every other rule.


    But ever since the day Neo entered the military and ended up in the same group as Ashtel and Nics, his freedom was greatly reduced.


    The two of them were both honest and idiotic kinds of people.


    Unlike Neo, who had already matured at a young age and had high goals from the start, the other two were still mentally just kids; they hadn''t even learned too ''selfish'' yet.


    They were just honest kids who used to think that the world was all flowers and happiness.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Neo''s childhood was stolen away from him by his father; thus, he never experiences what it means to be truly happy and honest like a child.


    From the start, he had learned to be a liar to survive the world.


    Neo''s situation in this squad was like that of an adult being ced in a team with little children who didn''t know how to do anything.


    Nics was still a bit better as he was older than them both and was already an awakener, but Ashtel was the worst!


    He was so weak that it was pathetic! His mental state was that of an idiot, and he didn''t know the first thing about nning either.


    All in all, he was aplete burden, and thus, he was an obstacle and a shackle for Neo in his path for freedom.


    Neo''s goal was to be strong, so strong that no one could be an obstacle for him and no one would be able to stop him from doing whatever he wanted.


    Being able to do as your heart pleases and no one being able to stop you and shackle you- that was Neo''s true definition of being ''Free''.


    A few monthster.


    In the next few months, Neo and Ashtel both became 15 years old and finally became awakeners!


    In this world, if you have even the lowest level of talent to be an awakener, you will easily and automatically awaken after reaching the age of 15, and if you don''t awaken, then it means you don''t have any talent for it.


    From the start, Neo believed in himself; he knew that he would definitely have high talent. Although there''s no way to find the talent before awakening, it was a hunch that Neo had in his mind.


    ''I am meant to reach the peak of the world; I am meant to achieve true freedom! Obviously, I will have high talent!''


    Neo''s ''ambitions'' and ''dreams'', were already quite big from the start, and he had immense ''faith'' in himself; Neo had already found his ''Path'' before even bing an awakener!


    When Neo finally became an awakener and saw that his talent was ''SS'' rank, he knew he had already achieved half of his goal.


    Now he just needed to be stronger and then do whatever he liked.


    Neo had great hopes in his mind for himself.


    But.


    Not everything goes as you n; to Neo''s surprise, Ashtel, whom he had always neglected and had always belittled, also turned out to be an SS rank talent!


    It waspletely unbelievable!


    A meek and pathetic-looking guy like him awakening to such high talent potential is like a person from slums finding a diamond!


    That day, everything changed.


    Neo had thought that he was ''free'', but the moment Ashtel became an awakener, the entire world had lost its ''freedom''.


    From that moment onwards, all the criminals, all the rebels, and all those who didn''t used to follow the rules had lost their ''freedom''.


    Ashtel went on to be stronger and stronger after that day; if others''s talent was like a smallmp in darkness, Ashtel could be considered a literal sunpletely destroying the


    darkness!


    Ashtel went on to break every record possible!


    He rose in military ranking so fast that it was like a rocket rising in the sky and going against gravity by pure force.


    Ashtel went on to create his own martial techniques by merging hundreds of techniques that he learned from military veterans and libraries.


    He even got inspiration from powerful Orc warriors and became stronger and stronger with


    each passing day!


    Neo was left behind in dust by him!


    Even though the two should have had simr levels of talent potential, even though Neo was also working smarter, he couldn''t keep up with Ashtel''s growth speed at all!


    Ashtel went on to learn military tactics; he fought and kept winning; by the time the two of them reached their early twenties, Ashtel had already reached S rank!


    He had risen extremely high in military rankings and had already be an influential and


    famous person!


    Aside from working as a military officer, Ashtel even worked with various guilds and secret organizations of the government to control crime and reduce the crime rate even more!


    It was utter suppression.


    Time went by and years went by in a blink of an eye; countless battles were fought and thousands of lives were lost in the war.


    Just when Neo had thought that things would calm down for a while, Asthel became an SS- ranker and awakened his ''World Authority''.


    The era of criminals and those who used to do as they pleased wasing to an end.


    Ashtel''s ascension to rank SS put an end to the chaos brimming in the empire; just his presence alone was enough to shut up all the people and keep them all in check.


    The war ended, Nics died after sacrificing himself to end the war, and Neo also became an


    SS-ranker, but nothing changed.


    Neo had lost his freedom by now. Every time he tried to do something that he wanted, Ashtel got in his way.


    He tried to capture orcs to make them pay for their sins and use them as his own summoned beasts, but Ashtel got in the way of his ns.


    He tried to use monsters and dungeons for his own entertainment, but Ashtel got in his way


    again.


    He tried to make the people respect the SS-rankers more and make them give exclusive tax to SS-rankers, but Ashtel got in the way again.


    Neo''s dream of being ''Free'' waspletely shattered when he was forced to sign the treaty to stay in the country obediently and not do as his heart wanted to.


    For others, it might be a moral and good life to live that way, but for Neo, it was tragedy.


    He was stripped of his ''freedom'' and he wasn''t allowed to do as he wanted to! This wasn''t the dream he had hoped for; this wasn''t what he fought for all those years.


    Even after reaching the peak of the world, he still couldn''t do whatever he wanted; Ashtel


    always got in his way!


    This was uneptable!


    ...


    (Back to present) Liam''s face twitched, and a maniac-like smile appeared on it as Neo seized full control over


    the body.


    "FINALLY!!! I AM FREEE!!!"


    "ALL THESE YEARS!! I HAD TO TOLERATE YOUR ORDERS!!!!"


    "All this while I was nning! I had already figured out that as long as you live, you will


    always get in my way! As long as you are alive, you will always be an obstacle for me!" "You are a shackle ced by the world upon me! Perhaps this is also fate, I guess..."


    "BUT THERE''S NOTHING TO WORRY ANYMORE!!! NOW NOTHING CAN GET IN MY WAY!!! AHAHAHAHAH...."


    "I HAVE SURPASSED THE FATE ITSELF!!! ALL THESE YEARS, ALL THAT SUFFERING... It was


    all for ''MY FREEDOM''!!!"


    Ashtel is the biggest obstacle in Neo''s path to being free; as long as he can get rid of him, he


    can do whatever he pleases.


    "From the very start, it was all about myself, Ashtel Rex! It was all for my own sake!!


    Ahahahahah..."

 Chapter 414: Battle of Supreme beings... Part-1.

    Chapter 414: Battle of Supreme beings... Part-1.


    ?


    "You know, by the end of the Orc war, I had already realized that I couldn''t beat you with my own power..."


    "I knew that; that''s why I agreed to sign the treaty and stayed quiet all those years to buy time and make a n that can get rid of you!"


    "I needed overwhelming strength; I needed enough power that can deal with not only you but the entire world alliance too!!"


    "And by pure luck, I found it! I found the ''Orb of Wayward Paths'' in an ancient ruin during the war!"


    During the orc war, Neo used those orcs as his own summoned beasts and made them dig up the ruins to look for rare artifacts for his own entertainment.


    On one fateful day, Neo got his hands on the ''Orb of Wayward Paths''; it not only worked as a guide, but it also had hidden information stored inside.


    From the orb, Neo found out about the existence of a forbidden magic spell that can help him seize a person''s body ''Perfectly'' whilepletely ignoring the restrictions of the ''World''.


    "The forbidden spell that I used was capable of ignoring the ws'' of the world!!"


    "Thews of the world favor only a selected few people; I knew from the start that they would never favor me!"


    "But then I got an idea: how about I create a kid that has immense talent and will be favored by the ws'' of the world..."


    Neo''s n was vague and unfinished at the start, but it all changed when Liam was born!


    Liam had an immensetent mana from birth; although Neo was unaware of this, he could already sense that his youngest son, Liam, was the child he had been waiting for all along.


    His perception of an SS-ranker told him that much.


    Neo bet it all on Liam.


    He raised Liam in a controlled environment; he was quite good at knowing the heart of a human, so he gave Liam a good childhood so that his personality would grow up to be something that the ''Laws'' of the world would favor.


    Of course this was just one of the many ns Neo hadid out; there were other ns too.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I had already teamed up with Alverto the moment you started that mission to eliminate the demon general!"


    "I was the one who helped Alverto escape from your sight! I was the one who helped Alverto organize that Drift City Massacre incident!!"


    "I was the one who pulled all the strings behind the scenes, Ashtel... You know that kid, Fade Crest?"


    "Alverto had a way to figure out that he was blessed with heavenly luck... I was the one who supported him all the time... why?"


    "I was going to use Fade as a way to get rid of you and your son Link both without needing to do anything myself..."


    Neo was showing kindness to Fade on purpose from the very start; it was all to win the favor of the protagonist and then use him like a weapon to first deal with Link and then Ashtel.


    Neo had no doubts that Fade can aplish such a feat; after all, those blessed with heavenly luck can achieve anything and everything!


    In fact, Neo would have indeed seeded in his n.


    In the original timeline, Fade indeed killed off both Link and Ashtel one after another and helped Neo several times throughout the story.


    Neo and Fade had a positive rtionship.


    If not for a certain ''Anomaly,'' everything would have gone ording to n.


    "That assassination attempt on Riya during the first-year festival, that way my n! Kehehehe, I was going to tarnish the name of your son with it!"


    "But it turned out I underestimated him a bit; he defeated all the assassins and saved Riya... That was surprising, but then again, I had more ns anyway..."


    All the events where Fade needed help, Neo came forward to help because it was all for his own benefits.


    He even made Liam go against Fade so that Liam could improve and awaken ''Mana Field'' for him!


    Liam''s whole purpose was to awaken ''Mana Field.'' If he awakens it, that will be good for Neo, and if he dies fighting Fade and doesn''t awaken it, that means the n was wed.


    At that point, he just needed to start all over again.


    In the original story, Liam died to Fade and never awakened the mana field; from the start till the end, he was just a failed experiment from Neo''s point of view.


    He was never actually considered a son by Neo; he was just a test subject, that''s all. Liam never figured it out; he fell for Neo''s trick.


    "How did I take over Liam''s body without him being able to resist?"


    "AHAHAHA! I am his father after all! I had already nted a ''fragment'' of my own soul in his body from the very moment he was born!!"


    "That way, my soul slowly got recognized by his body without him ever even noticing it, and then when my actual soul finally entered his body, I wasn''t rejected at all! I was able to seize control in an instant!"


    "Moreover, the forbidden magic lets the user carry their memories, skills, summoned beast contracts, and their ''World Authority'' along with the soul!"


    "In other words, despite me being in this body, I am still able to use all of my summons and all of my powers!! This is pure art! This is what we call achieving true transcendence!!"


    Neo floated in the air and looked right in Ashtel''s eyes before speaking.


    "Are you still confused about why I went that far and why I did all this?"


    A grin appeared on Liam''s face at that moment as he continued speaking.


    "Well, I had already lost all hope when Fade had disappeared suddenly, but then Alverto contacted me and told me that it was him who had kidnapped Fade, and the time for his n to seed was near..."


    "Right at that moment, the dragon kind invited these little rascals in the dragon valley... I wasn''t powerful enough to barge inside before, but after copying that invitation, I was finally


    able to get inside..."


    "At that moment, I risked my own life to go against the dragon king and make my n seed; I found the prototype version of the spire of ascension and finally got my hands on


    the forbidden magic!"


    "Right around that time, Liam awakened ''Mana Field''!"


    "All the things that I was waiting for! All came in ce all by themselves!! It was as if the ''heavens'' were assisting me themselves!!"


    "It was the heavenly will helping me itself!! With all the pieces in ce, the puzzle was finallypleted, and I finally seized the extremely talented body.


    "The forbidden magic ignored the w'' of mana and directly gave me the ability to use ''Mana


    Field''..."


    Usually the mana field and the world authority wouldn''t have merged, but due to the forbidden magic and the forced soul suppression of Neo.


    The mana field merged with world authority and produced the ''Supreme Legendary


    technique''.


    "It was all for ''Divinity''!! Ashtel Rex! When a legendary technique is merged with a world authority, it creates ''Divinity''!!! Usually it shouldn''t be possible! But I made it possible!"


    "In this entire world, now I am the only person who has the immense power of ''Divinity''!!"


    Neo raised his finger towards the ceiling.


    An immense pressure rushed out of his body; that pressure was so strong that it pushed away even Ashtel from this ce.


    Mana started to condense around Neo at an extremely high speed.


    [Perfect Divinity: Ascended Mana''s enlightenment!]


    Immense amount of mana gathered in the surrounding area; the mana in the area became so


    dense that it literally started to turn into liquid!


    Ashtel was forcefully pushed back into the upper floor through the hole, and the immense amount of mana started to enter Liam''s body at an extremely fast speed.


    [Ding! You have reached Rank S!


    [Ding! You have reached Rank SS!]


    In just a few seconds, Neo forcefully raced the Liam''s rank and made his new body that of a


    genuine SS ranker''s.


    Looking at that scene, Ashtel was powerless to do anything; the immense amount of mana forcefully pushed him away, and his mana stopped working in his favor.


    He couldn''t attack Neo even if he wanted to.


    ''Insanity... pure insanity...''


    Even the weakest SS-rankers know that offending the ws'' of the world is a very dangerous


    thing, and Neo has now done it three times!


    First, he used some kind of forbidden magic to make a small fragment of his own soul and


    transnted it in Liam''s body.


    Second, he seized control over Mana Field despite the fact that the ''Law'' of Mana only favors the real Liam, not him who''s seized the body of Liam.


    And now he''s forcefully ascending the body to the next rank by using the ''Divinity'' that he has just awakened; by now, Neo has already offended the ''Laws'' of the world many times over and


    over.


    ''The moment he goes out of the ''Spire of Ascension'', the ws'' of the world will immediately


    curse him.''


    Ashtel can already see that Neo will die a horrible death; he''s offended things that he shouldn''t have.


    ''But still, I would have preferred it if Liam could have lived a better life, though...''


    By forcefully ascending his body to higher levels, Neo has already sealed this body''s fate; even if Neo leaves the body now, Liam''s body will st like a balloon filled with too much


    mana.


    In other words, there''s no way to save Liam anymore; either he will die by the curse of the world with Neo, or Neo will escape the body and Liam will die from mana overdose. ''Just to deal with me... you went as far as destroying the life of your own kid... Just how much lower will you fall, Neo Aldif...''

 Chapter 415: Battle of Supreme Beings... Part-2.

    Chapter 415: Battle of Supreme Beings... Part-2.


    ?


    The immense amount of mana pushed Ashtel away and caused his mana control to malfunction.


    This is the power of a divinity based on a legendary skill that deals with mana.


    It gives the user perfect control over mana... No, it can''t even be called control anymore; it''s basically a manamand!


    At this point, Neo can use the divinity to directly skip using world authority and can mand'' the mana immediately.


    "By merging perfect divinity with a world authority, you can effectively bypass the levels of world authority in a single step!"


    "You don''t need to train world authority anymore! You are already at max world authority level!"


    "Up until now, Ashtel Rex, you held a higher world authority level than me, but now, all of that is irrelevant!" Ahahahah..."


    [Perfect divinity: Mana Command: Mana Block!]


    As Neo appeared in front of Ashtel, the mana in the entire floor became rock solid; it stopped flowing and moving.


    Usually, mana never stops in one ce; it keeps moving like air particles that move around everywhere.


    But at Neo''smand, it became rock solid at that moment!


    Ashtel nced at his arm and noticed that he couldn''t use mana anymore! The mana in the surroundings and even inside his body waspletely immobilized.


    A massive demon-like grin appeared on Liam''s face while looking at Ashtel, who seemed so helpless.


    "This is it, Ashtel; this is it... Now the mana willpletely obey mymand; not only you; no one can use man in front of anyone anymore!"


    "This is the end for you; without mana, even you are nothing, Ashtel Rex..."


    Ashtel sighed at those words.


    "You realize that what you are doing is basicallypletely against the ''Laws'' of the world; at this point, you have made several ''Laws'' of the world your enemy..."


    "The moment you get out of the spire of ascension, you are dead... Well, putting that aside, even this body that you are being so happy about is wed..."


    "Don''t forget you had to stop the forbidden magic midway; it wasn''t even properlypleted; you are still in a state of being wed..."


    Neo shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "It doesn''t matter anymore... I have divinity now, ws'' of the world? ws? Limits? All of that doesn''t matter to me anymore.


    "I am now capable of forcefully getting rid of the influence of the ws'' of the world on me! I am now ''Free''!!"


    "After I deal with you, I will fix the ''ws'' and cool down this body overtime; eventually it will be perfect too..."


    "With divinity, it''s easy to heal... And after some time passes... ahahaha, I will go beyond rank SS!!"


    "Divinity is the doorway to ascending beyond the realm of Demi-gods!! Now I have it! I can go beyond the constraints of a Demi-god now!!"


    "At that point, not even the ''world'' will be able to stop me anymore!!"


    Ashtel sighed at that moment.


    "Sigh, I guess talking to you is pointless now... I will need to beat some sense into you before we continue further..."


    Neo burst intoughter after hearing those arrogant remarks.


    "AHAHAHAHAH! Beat some sense? Into me!? AHAHAHAA! That was quite the good joke there, Ashtel..."


    "Right now, you can''t even move anymore, and you think you can eveny a finger on me!? Don''t overestimate yourself, Ashtel; I have nned this for decades!"


    "You are a pathetic fool who can''t even make ns! You always charge into things head on! That method won''t work on me anymore!"


    Ignoring those words, Ashtel grinned at Neo.


    "Don''t be in such a hurry, the fun''s just getting started!"


    [Fool''s Art: Pursuit of Unknown: World''s Barrier!]


    Two gigantic pals stretched out from the void and slowly wrapped themselves around


    Ashtel''s body and turned into an invisible shield.


    "That is!? ''Protection of the world''!? Impossible!? How can you use that at will!?"


    Neo was shocked to the core after seeing that scene.


    Ashtel broke out of that state of immobilization easily by using the ''protection of the world'' that Riya once used to withstand the bombardment of heavenly punishment!


    "Ah, well, my little daughter-inw showed me the way; as I said, she''s quite the talented one..."


    Just like Link and Rio, Ashtel copied that power!


    In that moment, Ashtel was the closest to Riya and that power of absolute protection.


    He got ''realization'' in that instant and figured out how to use it for himself.


    In that brief interaction, Ashtel hade into contact with the true meaning of the ''Laws'' of


    the world, and thus he was able to imitate that power.


    Asthel''s ''Fool Art'' is exclusively meant for skills and abilities that can''t be exined andprehended bymon sense.


    The protection of the world is one such ability.


    At this point, Ashtel can use the protection of the world by simply his mental power; he doesn''t even need ''Mana'' for it; it doesn''t consume mana at all.


    The world itself protects him in this state; that''s why he''s immune to the effects of the ''divinity'' that Neo is using to block his mana and skills.


    Ashtel was lucky in that moment that he got toprehend such power; if not for Riya, he would have never been able to make such immense progress in such a short time.


    "You might have more mana control now, but does that matter? Right now, the situation is equal; let''s settle this now for all time..."


    Ashtel cracked his knuckles, and Neo smirked too. At this point, it doesn''t matter what the other party has learned and has achieved; it was all pointless.


    Talking and discussing was now pointless.


    Only a battle can decide the oue now; the person who''s stronger will have the final say


    now.


    [World Authority: Shockwave!]


    [Cosmic Law: Shattered Star: Sage''s touch!]


    Ashtel punched right through the void, forcefully opening a wormhole, and his fist appeared


    right in front of Liam''s face and hit him directly!


    *BOOOM!*


    The power of the fist was so strong that the void itself trembled and powerful spatial


    fluctuations spread everywhere!


    [Divinity: Cosmic Fa?ade: Mana Enchantment!]


    Neomanded the mana to cover his entire body and give him immensely powerful


    protection; the power of that protection was so huge that even Ashtel''s punch couldn''t go


    through it!


    The mana dispersed the punch''s power in all directions, preventing it from ever reaching his


    face.


    But Ashtel didn''t care.


    [Sage Art: Flowing Void: Fist of the Blessed Void!]


    Ashtel directly teleported in front of Neo and punched with all his strength; he directly


    bypassed the restriction of the void, imbued the punch with the blessing of the world, and


    directly hit Neo in the face again!


    *BOOM!*


    This time the mana wasn''t able to scatter the power of the fist, as it was blessed with the


    power of the world that Ashtel had summoned with his fool''s art before.


    It bypassed the mana mobilized by the divinity and hit Neo in the face.


    *Crack!**SHATTER!*


    Neo flew away like a rocket, and the void cracked and shattered like ss!


    Even the Spire of Ascension couldn''t properly bear all this damage, and its entire floor


    hundred started to crack down and copse!


    But Neo and Ashtel didn''t care about all that.


    At this point they both had lost their reasoning; it was just do or die now.


    [Cosmic Law: Martial Supremacy: Blessed Rhythm of Death Barrage!] Ashtel immediately used that momentary opportunity to his advantage; he aimed in the direction and punched into the void to create powerful shockwaves blessed with the world''s


    favor!


    The powerful shockwaves traveled right through the space-time fabric and headed towards


    Neo in distance.


    But Neo was ready this time.


    [Divinity: Cosmic stretch: Slingshot beam!]


    Neo pointed his finger toward Ashtel''s attack, and an extremely powerful beam made of


    dense pure mana was fired.


    *BOOOM*


    The mana beam was so powerful that it ruptured the space-time fabric and forcefully dispersed the powerful fluctuationsing his way in all directions! Easily neutralizing its


    power.


    [Divinity: Cosmic Stretch: Carpet Flip!]


    Neo grabbed the hole that the previous mana beam made with his hand and imbued it with mana and flipped it like he was flipping an ordinary carpet in his house!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The space-time fabric was flipped, and the attack traveled faster than light; in a normal circumstance, it would have been impossible to avoid for even Ashtel.


    But right now, he is blessed by the world itself!


    [Cosmic Law: Shattered Cosmos: Mirror Hit!]


    Ashtel waved the back of his hand and imbued the flipped space-time fabric, directly making


    the attack deflect and go in some other direction!


    The flipped space-time fabric attack hit, and that attack shattered the three floors below


    them intoplete oblivion.


    All the mithril and adamantium were reduced to powder in a mere instant! If not for the Spire


    of Ascension to interfere with its own power, it would have damaged more floors! Although it was for only a split second, that attack smashed arge hole in the wall of the


    spire of ascension, which Neo and Ashtel could have used to go outside.


    But the two of them didn''t care about it!


    The hole healed in a matter of an instant, and the two SS-rankers continued fighting!


    [Fool''s Art: Cosmic Death: Cosmic Decay!]


    Ashtel punched the void, and the entire space-time fabric started to shatter.


    In response to that attack, Neo immediately mobilized his divinity.


    [Divinity: Cosmic Patch: Void Solidification!]


    Neo forcefully solidified the broken space-time fabric and healed it back to as it was before,


    thus easily nullifying Ashtel''s attack.


    But that wasn''t the end of it; he even increased the solidification of the void so that Ashtel would need more mana to shatter another hole in it.

 Chapter 416: Battle of Supreme Beings... Part-3.

    Chapter 416: Battle of Supreme Beings... Part-3.


    ?


    ''Strange... very strange...''


    Ashtel narrowed his eyes as he parried another powerful mana beaming his way.


    A look of doubt appeared on his face.


    ''Neo and Liam both are ''summoners'', they aren''t supposed to be fighting head-on in closebat... yet he''s doing it...''


    ''He''s not summoning a single summoned beast at all... This is strange...''


    Although Ashtel doesn''t know about the whole arsenal of Neo and how many summoned beasts he has, he for sure knows that there definitely are a lot.


    Now that he possesses ''divinity'', his summoned beasts will be significantly more powerful than those in the same realm.


    Summoning his most powerful beast will put Neo in a great advantageous position right now, but for some reason he isn''t doing it.


    A smart person like Neo won''t make such a mistake; there are only two possibilities right now.


    ''Either he has lost the ability to summon permanently or it''s just temporary... likely because of the ''ws''...''


    Ashtel pushed Neo to the corner and killed his real body before three hours could pass; thus, Neo was forced to enter Liam''s body beforehand, and the forbidden magic circle wasn''tpleted yet.


    He had to stop the ritual midway to deal with Ashtel, who came down to the lower floor before time.


    This caused major ws in the body-seizing process.


    ''I don''t think someone like Neo will permanently lose his ability to summon; he must have some ns to avoid that... He likely can''t use them right now because the body is wed...''


    ''Once he deals with those ws, he can start summoning again, I guess...''


    Ashtel figured out these few things from the earlier battle and made a n in his mind to deal with Neo.


    ''If I keep fighting with this guy, I will be the one who runs out of mana first; he took over ''mana field'' and now has ''divinity,'' so it''s safe to assume that his mana replenishment speed is off the charts!''


    ''He will not run out of mana any time soon... I need to deal with him before I run out of mana and end up mentally exhausted...''


    Using the blessing of the ''world'' doesn''t cost any mana, but maintaining it puts a burden on the mind; if Ashtel keeps doing it, the stress will umte and he will end up mentally exhausted.


    Eventually he will lose control, and a single sign of mistake is enough for Neo to do fatal damage to him.


    In a battle of peak powerhouses, even a mere millisecond can change everything; just the dy of a millisecond is enough to dere victory and defeat.


    And in a battle like Ashtel and Neo''s where the attacks can directly influence the space-time fabric and can travel faster than light itself, time seems to lose its meaning.


    If you are even a little slow to react, you will be dead the very next moment. That''s the kind of battle this is.


    ...


    "This isn''t the end of it, Ashtel Rex!!"


    [Divinity: Mana Command: Elemental Control!]


    [Pure me Elemental: Phoenix of the End!]


    Neo used divinity to give anothermand to the mana, and he increased his elemental control by force. He used immense mana to forcefully control the elements of the world!


    At this point, Neo is beyond the level of ordinary wizards; he can control the elements of the world by force, so he didn''t need to use any magic circles or chants at all.


    He could use pinnacle-grade magic by just manipting the elements to do his bidding.


    Using the ''pure me elemental'', he summoned a gigantic phoenix; the mes on the phoenix are said to be the ''True mes'' that can burn anything and everything!


    Just by existing, the phoenix can burn the space-time fabric around it and can use the power of ''nothingness'' to keep its mes burning forever.


    That''s why it''s called an ''Immortal'' existence, as it doesn''t die as long as nothing else kills it with overwhelming power.


    *KRRAAAAAA!!*


    The gigantic phoenix itself seemed bigger than an entire; its war cry made the void tremble, and it flew towards Ashtel at an extremely fast speed.


    It was so fast that it seemed like it was teleporting!


    ''This phoenix... It seems more like something created out of a ''World Authority'' than just from controlling elementals... It''s so powerful...''


    ''World Authority'' are pinnacle-level attacks; they are beyond the power of normal skills and everything else.


    In fact, you can consider them as ''equals'' to legendary skills in terms of raw power. Legendary skills eventually go beyond the powers of the ws'' of the ''world'' when ''perfected'', so they are much stronger, but everyone can''t have those skills.


    Thus, ''World Authority'' is the best option for everyone else who can''t awaken a legendary skill.


    Its power can''t go beyond the ws'' of the world, but it''s still extremely powerful despite being below the ws'' of the world.


    The phoenix that Neo fired at Ashtel was forcefully created out of me elementals, yet it had the powerparable to a ''world authority''.


    It seemed as if someone with ''fire'' -rted world authority had created it.


    This is the horror of a perfect ''Divinity'' that was created from merging ''Mana Field''!


    Just a normal elemental attack from Neo right now is as strong as using a ''world authority''!


    And this wasn''t even the end of it!


    [Ice elementals: Frozen Void Serpent!]


    [Earth elementals: spear fish!]


    [Thunder elementals: Cosmic thunder bird!]


    Using ice elementals, Neo created a gigantic serpent made out of condensed ice elementals; that ice was so powerful that the serpent literally froze the void itself as it moved in space.


    Using earth elementals, Neo created a gigantic fish with a spear on its head; it had the power


    of earth elementals, so it was extremely tough and strong!


    Using thunder elementals, Neo created a bird made out of pure condensed thunder


    elementals; just by moving its thunder, it could cause cracks in the void!


    Each and every attack from Neo was as strong as using a ''world authority''!N?v(el)B\\jnn


    With this divinity, he could use every single type of element to aid him in battle! Moreover, there''s no end to his mana capacity!


    He can replenish mana at a speed that''s so fast that he will never run out of mana! In simple terms, he has nearly infinite mana now!


    If not for the blessing of the world, Ashtel couldn''t have even been able to move freely in front of Neo and would have been just a weak chicken waiting to be ughtered.


    [World Authority: Shockwave]


    [Cosmic Law: Broken Vessel: Wind Sage''s temperance!]


    Ashtel didn''t care how many types of elements Neo was using and how strong they all were;


    he could beat several SS-rankers, and their world authorities fired at him together. There''s no need to panic even if Neo fires dozens of world-authority-level attacks at him all


    at once.


    "You are not the only one who can use elemental prowess..."


    Using the ''cosmicw'' martial art, Ashtel treated the ''nothingness'' as a vessel of his own


    power and created wind elementals to cover and boost his punch.


    He then punched with all his might, and a gigantic vortex made out of condensed wind


    elementals burst out from his punch!


    *BOOM!*


    The void itself started to twist and turn due to the sheer power of those wind elementals, and


    all of the attacks fired by Neo just collided with the twisting void and shattered before


    dissipating into nothingness!


    "This isn''t enough to deal with me! Try a bit harder!"


    ''I said that, but that attack consumed a ton of my mana. Right now, Neo has control over all


    the mana in the surrounding area, so I can''t even replenish it...''


    ''Even if I try to use mana potions, Neo will not let it happen... I need to think out a n or I will fall into a more disadvantageous position...''


    Ashtel isn''t the type of person to makeplicated ns and seriously abide by them.


    He prefers rushing into battle head-on, and with his immense strength, he never actually needed to n out things in aplicated manner.


    Neo is one of the very few people who has forced Ashtel into a corner, and now he needs a n


    to deal with this situation.


    This in itself is an insane feat; if not for Neo to achieve divinity, he could have never forced Ashtel to this point even with dozens of SS-rankers on his side.


    No matter how many SS-rankers work together to fight him, it''s useless if they can''t even do


    enough output to do some decent damage to him.


    This is the reason for Ashtel''s confidence.


    While dodging and canceling the next few attacks, Ashtel suddenly noticed something that


    could work in his favor.


    From the corner of his eyes, he noticed one of the cracks in the void and saw a strange phenomenon that shouldn''t have existed in the outside world but was present in this spire of


    Ascension.


    ''A cosmic mana shock? Hoh... this can work in my favour...''


    [Fool Art: Dark Matter: Rain of Anti-matter!]


    Ashtel waved his hand, and hundreds of thousands of wormholes opened in the void around him, and gigantic spears made out of ''Anti-matter'' flew out from the wormholes!


    If it were any other SS ranker, just being touched by these spears made out of ''Anti-matter''


    would mean instant death for them, as they are also enhanced with Ashtel''s mana and


    technique.


    But for Neo, they weren''t anything special, and he could easily deflect and destroy them using ''Earth elementals'' and using them as ''Matter'' to cancel out ''Anti-matter''.

 Chapter 417: My dream was to... Part-1.

    Chapter 417: My dream was to... Part-1.


    ?


    Ten hours after the battle started at Floor 100.


    Ashtel and Neo kept fighting continuously for several hours without rest, all along Ashtel. ''I guess he hasn''t noticed it after all...''


    For a while, Ashtel had been scattering broken shards of his shield made out of world''s blessing with a bit of his own mana inside them; Neo didn''t notice them at all.


    The two of them kept throwing immensely powerful attacks at each other for several hours straight, and Floors 100 to 90 were all destroyed by the two of them in the battle.


    "Will you stop iling around like an idiot already! This is why I have always hated you, Ashtel Rex!"


    "You always get in my way; no matter what I do, I just can''t get rid of you! You are seriously very annoying and a very big obstacle in my way!"


    [Divinity: Broken Mana Currents!]


    Neo waved his arm, and the mana in the surroundings became chaotic; this caused the mana in the area to be difficult to use!


    "That shield of yours! It''s working by using mana in the void! Do you think I won''t notice it after so long!? I am literally in contact with thew of mana right now!!"


    "I can see the ''flow'' of mana itself! I can even see your mana''s movements too! Your mana will never reach me! You arepletely powerless and a piece of garbage in front of me, Ashtel Rex!"


    Hearing the insults from Neo, a smirk appeared on Ashtel''s face.


    ''Well, I guess you know that much about me at least...''


    Learning one technique about the world was enough for Ashtel to figure out more of them on his own.


    He used the ''Fool Art'' of his ''Cosmic Law Martial Art'' to achieve a state of near-perfectpatibility with the world.


    In his current state, Ashtel has already earned himself more than half the qualifications to be considered a ''Chosen of the World''.


    But that is his limit; he can only reach halfpatibility with the powers of the world.


    Still, this much is enough; he earned it with his own hard work after all.


    [Cosmic Law: Fool''s Dream: World''s Assistance!]


    The chaotic mana created by Neo immediately solidified, as if the world itself had ordered the mana to lose the chaotic state and be calm.


    From the perspective of an ordinary person, controlling the world''s power to this degree would have been the work of a ''God'' itself.


    The empty void seemed to have brightened up with the glowing mana and various elements.


    Looking at the mana and all the elements assisting him, Ashtel couldn''t help but smile to himself.


    ''I am useless?... sigh, I guess you aren''t wrong either; after all, I am always chasing a dream that''s too much for me...''


    [Divinity: Cosmic Stretch: Mana Rampage!]


    A single nanosecond of dy is fatal inbat between demi-gods; in the instant when Ashtel tried to use the world''s blessing for the second time, his previous blessing weakened for a mere nanosecond.


    In ordinary battles, that small timeframe wouldn''t have mattered much, but Neo, who''s insanely sensitive to the changes in the mana ''Flow'' right now, easily sensed the weakened state.


    He raised his palm towards Ashtel and fired a gigantic beam of mana; the beam of mana was so huge and so fast that it surpassed the speed of light itself.


    The power in that mana beam was enough to destroy a star and reduce it to space debris.


    It was a fatal mistake.


    *BOOOM*


    The mana beam hit the shield of blessing around Ashtel''s, and the shield was shattered in an instant as if it were made of paper!


    It couldn''t resist such a powerful attack in that weakened state!


    "AHAHAHAHA! SEE!! This is what you get for not obeying mymands!!"


    The mana beam sted off the entire arm off of Ashtel''s body, and his entire left side of the body was burned to the point that it seemed like it had turned into charcoal!


    The shield of blessing immediately covered him again to protect him, but it was toote. In a battle between peak powerhouses, a single attack can decide victory and defeat.


    In most scenarios, the person who makes a mistake first tends to lose, and in this particr scenario, Ashtel''s inability to control the ''world''s blessing'' was the reason for his defeat.


    He had only recently learned ''world''s blessing'' and controlling one of them at a time was already a great problem.


    Even using one of them puts an immense mental burden on him; the moment Ashtel used a second one, the mental burden that appeared on him was so immense that he nearly lost


    control for a second.


    That''s why he got hit.


    His body flew away like a cannonball and hit hundreds of pieces of broken space debris before finally stopping and falling on a gigantic broken part of an entire.


    "Cough! Urk...Cough!"


    Looking at the distant figure of Neo standing with immense mana blessing him from everywhere, Ashtel''s eyes became a bit moist.


    ''Ah... I feel it again... the taste of defeat, how long has it been? Years? Decades?...''


    ''It''s been so long that I had nearly forgotten this sensation... this sensation of being in a near- death state, the feeling of internal organs broken to bits... difficulty in breathing and blurry


    eyes...''


    ''Been so long since I had the taste of such a thorough defeat...''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    *BOOM*


    Neo flew over towards Ashtel and nce at him with a look of disgust from high above.


    "Strongest in the world? Unbeatable? You see it now, Ashtel!? I worked myself to the bone to achieve today''s results!"


    "While you were busy ying house and protecting those worthless vermins everywhere, I was working hard on my n to finally deal with you!!"


    "And see!! I have seeded!! JUST ONE ATTACK, ALL I NEEDED TO DEFEAT THE STRONGEST


    OF THE WORLD WAS JUST ONE ATTACK!!!"


    "I am now beyond everyone from this world; I am beyond the realm of you pathetic creatures!! I am on the ''Path'' to be a ''True God'' now!!"


    "Thews of this world will bow in front of me; the power of fate and destiny will be mine to


    control; everything in this world will belong to me and me alone!!"


    "Only when everything in the world is mine can I be free!! I will finally be FREE!!"


    "And a pathetic useless person like you will be nothing in front of me!!!"


    Ignoring all the nonsense spouted by Neo, Ashtel slowly sat up. He leaned his back against a


    boulder nearby and nced at Neo with a smile on his face.


    Despite such a fatal injury, he wasn''t bothered by the pain or anything else; in that near-death state, what Ashtel saw was much more precious than any other treasure in the world.


    ''Ah, it''s alling back... all the memories that I had forgotten long ago... those days of


    dreaming and happiness...''


    ...


    (A Forgotten Memory)


    Military fortress Shaya.


    Night, rooftop.


    "Oi, Neo! I was looking for you all over the ce; where were you the whole day? After we got posted to this new ce and became fully fledged awakeners, you have been avoiding me a lot


    lately!"


    He nced at young Neo, who was standing on the rooftop and watching the night sky, and asked with concern.


    "Idiot, why would I ignore you? It''s just that I am shocked that someone as useless as you awakened the talent potential to be a ''demi-god''..."


    "I just can''t believe it''s true... you? A demi-god? Such ame joke, it''s not even funny..." The young Ashtel gritted his teeth at those words and denied them with his whole might.


    "What are you saying! I am going to be strong! I will always stand shoulder to shoulder with you! We both can now be as strong as Nics, and we can go on great adventures!!" Hearing Ashtel''s words, Neo became angry for some reason and immediately shouted back at Ashtel in a loud voice.


    "Idiot! You can be my equal!? Your useless piece of garbage! You arepletely


    useless!!"


    "You lose your wits the moment you see a monster! You charge head-on into battles like an idiot and don''t even follow proper ns!!"


    "Do you really think an idiot like you, a weirdo like you, can be strong enough to beat


    me!?"


    That day, Ashtel and Neo had a big fight; the two of them beat up each other with fists and kicks to the point that they both lost consciousness.


    This was the first time Ashtel fought for his ''Dream''.


    Before that, he was just a random fool with a little bit more talent than others, but the


    moment he finally learned to fight for his dreams was the moment when he finally started to


    walk on the ''Path'' to be the strongest.


    No matter how strong or weak an awakener is, an ''Awakener'' without a ''dream'', an


    ''Ambition'', and a ''Path'' is nothing but an empty shell.


    Without these few important things, no matter how talented and how hardworking a person


    might be, it''s all just a waste.


    Neo''s dream and ambition was to achieveplete freedom.


    Although he was an arrogant and bad-tempered guy, he was always very earnest when it came


    to achieving his dreams. Ashtel and Neo were basically the two sides of the same coin from the very start.


    Ashtel worked to protect the peaceful lives of the people he swore to protect; he created a


    peaceful utopia for his country and his nation.


    His very existence brought a sense of protection andfort to the innocent and brought absolute dread to those who were tainted with ''Sin''.


    Neo, on the other hand, had apletely opposite mentality from the start; he never cared about anyone else, and his opinions werepletely opposite of Ashtel''s.


    He wanted happiness and peace for only himself and himself alone.


    He wanted freedom and wanted to break away from the ties of the world that were shackles


    for him.


    He never cared about how many lives he destroyed and how many people''s freedoms he took away when pursuing his own freedom.


    There were no heroes or viins at all; it was all but a difference in ''ideologies'' and ''beliefs''.

 Chapter 418: My dream was to... Part-2.

    Chapter 418: My dream was to... Part-2.


    ?


    A stormy night.


    "Hey, where is Neo? There''s a massive storm going on outside the fortress, and he isn''t in the fortress..."


    With a worried look on his face, Ashtel questioned the fellow soldiers, but none of them knew where Neo was.


    In search of Neo, Ashtel reached the rooftop again, but Neo was nowhere to be found.


    "Where the heck did he go? tch such a pain in the a*s, our squad will have to go on patrol early in the morning tomorrow, and he''s gone missing-"


    "Hmm? What''s that..."


    Suddenly Ashtel noticed a familiar figure on the training grounds.


    "D-don''t tell me, he''s training sote in night?"


    Ashtel rushed down to the training ground, and sure enough, Neo was there; he was training.


    "Oi! Neo! We have to get up early in the morning! Why are you still here in the training grounds?"


    Neo gritted his teeth after hearing Ashtel''s voice and replied in an irritated tone,


    "It has nothing to do with you! I am training! I am training to be stronger! I won''t be outdone by the likes of you, Ashtel!"


    Lately, Ashtel had started to show his talents; after just a few months of bing an awakener, Ashtel won people''s admiration with his strength.


    Although he was still an idiot who never knew how to make proper ns forbat and always liked to charge head-on into enemy groups, he was still winning various battles.


    Ashtel had already started to be better than Neo.


    Neo''s intuition told him that if he doesn''t work hard now, Ashtel will leave him behind in dust, and his dream of bingpletely free from the shackles of the world will note true.


    "Oh! So you are training to be better no matter if there''s a storm or rain? Y-you are quite the hard worker, Neo..."


    Neo got irritated by those words and shouted at Ashtel,


    "If you are done staring, then p*ss off from here!"


    Ashtel did leave the training grounds at those words, but at some point, a look of


    determination had appeared in his eyes.


    ''Neo is training sote in the night; he''s working so hard to achieve his dreams; he wants to be strong, end the battles, and make everyone free from this pointless war...''


    ''I should also try my best...''


    Neo wanted to be better than Ashtel; thus, he was training day and night for it, but he didn''t know that his actions had aplete opposite effect.


    Ashtel used to admire Neo from the very start.


    Ashtel liked the fact that Neo was such a confident and smart person; he liked the fact that Neo could stand up to others for his dreams and how he works hard to achieve his dreams.


    In truth, Neo was the biggest source of inspiration for the future strongest man.


    Neo and Ashtel were in the same squad, and Neo was working super hard to be strong; thus, Ashtel didn''t ck off either.


    He learned to be confident from Neo; he learned to fight for his dreams and his existence from Neo.


    In truth, it had all started with Neo.


    Neo was indeed a selfish and arrogant person, but his never-wavering thirst to achieve his dream was a great source of motivation for those around him.


    Nics Arsene went on to sacrifice himself to end the war because he saw how his juniors were training so hard and he wanted to do something in return for his junior''s favors.


    Neo''s pursuit for freedom might have be twisted and tainted with darkness as it continued, but it sure changed the fates of many people around him.


    ...


    (Day of the treaty after the war)


    "Neo! Stop doing all those ridiculous things you have been doing up until now!"


    "We are friends; that''s why I have been overlooking your actions up until now, but you are being too reckless now!"


    "The war has already ended; free all the orcs that you are forcefully using as your summoned beasts! They are also living beings, you know!"


    "They have families; they have children waiting for them back at home... Sign this treat, Neo; the war is over; there is no need to hold grudges anymore!"


    "Both sides have suffered immense loss; if you don''t stop now, things will just worsen! Don''t tarnish Nics''s sacrifice!"


    That day, Ashtel came to meet Neo with good intentions.


    It was to end the pointless acts of violence that Neo was carrying out, and it was to protect


    their friendship.


    "Friend!? Me and you were never friends!! Don''t say things that will cause misunderstandings! We are enemies, Ashtel!!"


    "You are the biggest obstacle in my way of freedom!!"


    That day, Ashtel and Neo fought once again, but this time there was no one to stop them.


    Ashtel brutally beat Neo with only his fists, to the point where Neo could no longer even sit


    up.


    The two of them didn''t use mana at all; they both were SS-rankers by that point; using mana would have caused immense destruction.


    Both of them had something to protect, so they fought like barbarians till the end. "You lose Neo... Ifmitting atrocious crimes is how you are going to achieve your so- called dream of ''freedom'', then yeah, I am the biggest obstacle in your path, Neo..."


    "As long as I am there, I will never let you run wild like a beast; if you want to stay in the human empire, you have to forget about that twisted dream of yours..."


    Neo gritted his teeth and shouted at the top of his lungs!


    "Ashtel Rex! I will definitely defeat you one day!! My dream will definitelye true!! I am not the type of person to give up just like that!"


    "A useless piece of sh*t can never stop me, Ashtel!!"


    Ignoring those insults, Ashtel walked away and never looked back, although now he stood at the pinnacle of the world, the only person who he considered his friend had be twisted


    now.


    Parents that got executed for being frauds and murderers, a family that went bankrupt, a life of solitude, and being insulted by everyone.


    Friends who all either ended up dying or became twisted, the sole person he loved, his wife,


    also died.


    From the start to the end, Ashtel''s life was a tragedy. Ashtel was cursed with betrayal and loneliness from the day he was born.


    But even he had a dream.


    A dream that his closest friend had shown him.


    ...


    (Back to present)


    ''Sigh... I remember it all... From the start, my dream was to be like you, Neo Aldif...''


    The smile on Ashtel''s face was filled with sadness.


    Neo was the person who taught Ashtel how important a dream is in your life. He was the person who taught Ashtel that he needed to fight for his dreams.


    ''My dream was to create peace for humanity; I wanted to free everyone from wars...''


    ''So that no other children will have to be separated from his parents and no other innocent kid will have to sacrifice their youth like us anymore for the sake of war...''


    ''I know, I know, I was na?ve... I am still so useless and such an idiot... Even with all that power, what have I ever achieved in life, I have no friends; I couldn''t protect my wife either...''


    ''Demi-god? I am just a pathetic useless sh*t, just like you said, Neo...''


    Ashtel nced at Neo, who wasughing like a manic.


    "You have noticed it, right, Neo? For the past few hours, I was already running out of mana...


    And with you keeping an eye, I can''t use a mana recovery potion either..."


    "So yeah... I had to make a n in the end... Thank you, Neo Aldif... You have taught me a lot of things in life, and at the end of it all, you also taught me how to make ns too..."


    "You really are my greatest benefactor..."


    From the start of the battle to now, Neo hadplete control over mana, so it was impossible


    that any of Ashtel''s attacks could evernd on him.


    Moreover, even if any of the attacksnded, Neo was blessed with immense amounts of mana; he can easily use the ''Healing Element'' and heal himself to full health again. Ashtel, on the other hand, was under several disadvantages; not only was he was running out


    of mana at an extremely fast speed.


    Using the blessing of the world and the world authority both at the same time again and again was putting immense burden on his mind.


    Although he''s indeed strong, he doesn''t have a legendary technique after all. There were just too many odds stacked against him.


    But Ashtel isn''t called the strongest just because of his techniques and world authorities.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He''s be the strongest because he kept charging head-on into battles that were disadvantageous for him and still made it out alive as a victor by adapting to every n the


    enemy used against him.


    Oveing hurdles that seem impossible from others''s perspectives, shining a torch of light


    in darkness, and creating hope for others when everything''s in despair.


    That''s what it means to be the ''Strongest''.


    Ashtel raised his finger and pointed it towards the sky. A smirk appeared on his face as all the shards of his world''s blessing''s shiel started to shine at his words.


    As if time had stopped in that instant, everything becamepletely still.


    A sensation of absolute dread and terror spread in every direction, and even the void started


    to tremble as if it were also in fear of what was about to happen.


    [Strings of Life and Strings of Fatality!]


    [Null, Vold, and beyond Totality!] [Beyond the realm of Existence and Reality!]


    With a look of sadness on his face, Ashtel did what no one had done before; with his final


    attack, he achieved the pinnacle and proved his existence as the greatest and strongest.


    "Farewell, my friend... and my dream..." [Ultimate Technique: Absolute Singrity!]

 Chapter 419: Absolute Singularity, A World-ending Disaster...

    Chapter 419: ''Absolute Singrity'', A World-ending Disaster...


    ?


    When Ashtel came into contact with the power of the world, he got immense amounts of realization.


    If not for the fact that ws'' of the world didn''t take any liking to him, he would have awakened a legendary skill right there.


    Aside from having talent and all, the favorability of a w'' of the world also matters in gaining a legendary skill; otherwise, you can''t have it.


    Regardless, Ashtel had improved significantly in the past few months.


    Before seeing that phenomenon, his ''World Authority'' was stuck at the peak of level 4 and was showing no signs of improvement at all.


    Thus, he couldn''t use a certain technique that only those with level-5 or above-level authority holders could aplish.


    The technique of merging twopletely different and opposite martial arts into one perfect art is something you can only aplish with immense power and intelligence.


    Ashtelcked enough authority over ''shockwave'' to fully merge his two ''arts'' into one to create an extremely powerful attack.


    But once he reached beyond level-5, he became capable of using an attack so strong that even himself couldn''t stop anymore once unleashed.


    Neo was in control of all the mana in the area, and Ashtel needed to ce his own mana in the area at different set locations to fully activate this technique.


    By the seventh hour of the battle, Ashtel had realized that he couldn''t win this battle if he runs out of mana and keeps going like this.


    Thus, he figured out a n.


    He continuously used his shield made out of the world''s blessing at full capacity and created small bubbles that contained his mana imprints, then he ced them in certain locations during the battle.


    Neo obviously noticed it all; he could sense the gaps in the mana flow created by those small bubbles, but he couldn''t do anything about them.


    As long as Ashtel''s maintaining them with his mind, Neo couldn''t destroy them, as they were all small-sized shields made out world''s blessing.


    Ashtel, who always used to charge head-on into battle, finally learned to use ns to his advantage.


    The reason why Ashtel had activated that gigantic field of the world''s blessing despite knowing that his own shield might copse as the burden on his mind was already too high was because that was the final step in the n.


    Ashtel tanked the powerful attack fired by Neo and survived through it; at that moment, his n had already seeded.


    His mental power finally ran out; all the shields he had ced in the form of bubbles copsed, and the world''s blessing field he hadid out connected them all in an instant.


    Even Neo couldn''t mobilize his mana fast enough to react to it all.


    The past memories shed by in Ashtel''s mind as he was only a step away from death; it seemed like a lot of time had passed but only a mere nanosecond had passed.


    In a battle between peak powerhouses, even a single nanosecond can be fatal. Neo was so distracted by his victory that he lost his mind to ''power'', thereby missing that nanosecond timeframe.


    Neo had taken over Liam''s body by force, and Ashtel had stopped it midway, thus it was wed.


    He couldn''t summon any of his or Liam''s summoned beasts in that state, nor could he use any other skills.


    That''s why he was only using divinity throughout the battle, and Ashtel had noticed it beforehand.


    He had noticed that after gaining such immense powers in such a short timeframe, Neo''s soul was likely ''corrupted'' by power.


    Neo definitely achieved such immense power, but he took it all too fast, and his soul couldn''t adapt so fast; that''s why he was ''wed''.


    If it were anyone else, they wouldn''t have noticed this hidden ''w'', but Ashtel is different;


    he has insane battle experience; he has fought thousands of battles and has adapted to disadvantageous situations many times.


    He easily figured out this ''w'' in those ten hours of battle.


    Using the ''level-7'' world authority, he atst merged the twopletely opposite techniques


    in a ''perfect'' state.


    Thus, ''Absolute Singrity'' was born.


    Elven Empire Borders.


    In the sky.


    "Hmm?..."


    Ryul nced in a certain direction, and a deep frown appeared on his face.


    "What happened?"


    Syvis, who was standing beside him, asked in confusion. It''s very rare for Ryul to show such an expression, so she was also taken aback for a moment.


    Ryul directly ignored her question and nced towards the world tree.


    [Secret Art: Call of the Saint!]


    [World Tree''s Movement: Protection of the Sacrifice!]


    Ryul is the king of elves; he''s the closest person to the world tree, and the world tree has its roots spread over the entire.


    If anything that can put the entire in danger appears, Ryul is the first person who will notice it, as the world tree will inform him directly.


    "Something that shouldn''t exist has appeared! Syvis! Use maximum output to heal the world tree!!"


    Syvis was a bit confused at those words, but she didn''t question much and hurried towards the world tree with Ryul.


    [World Authority: Blessing of Life!]


    Ryul''s world authority ''Blessing of Life'' is strong enough that it can give an insanely powerful boost to the world tree; the earlier secret technique he had used was also to awaken the roots


    of the world tree.


    The world tree is not only a tree that creates fruits and powerful items; it''s also a guardian deity for the entire!


    In a scenario when a-destroying attack is unleashed, the world tree is the one who''s responsible to defend and stop it from being destroyed!


    Maya Continent, Outside the Spire of Ascension.


    *BOOOM!!!*


    Just a few nanoseconds before ''Absolute Singrity'' was unleashed, gigantic roots of the


    world tree burst out from the ground.


    A massive crack appeared in the tectonic te of the continent, and roots the width of fifty- story buildings burst out from the ground one after another.


    The roots immediately surrounded the entire spire of ascensions from all directions, including under the ground too, and formed a bubble-like shield around it.


    *CRACK!!**SHATTER!!*


    *BOOOM!!*


    Just as the world tree''s roots hadpleted forming a protective shield, gigantic cracks appeared in the upper floors of the spire of Ascension, and it started to shack violently.


    The power of ''Absolute Singrity'' was too immense; even with the automatic repair mechanism working at full capacity, the damage was too much to repair.


    In that instant, the fifty upper floors of the Spire of Ascension were instantly reduced to powder in an instant.


    Everything in sight was destroyed and reduced to nothingness; a massive hole was opened in the void, and the space-time fabric was horribly ripped apart to the point that it couldn''t evenn/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    repair itself anymore.


    Ashtel''s attack created a permanent hole in the space-time fabric.


    The power of that attack was beyondprehension; it was so immense that the lower floors were also affected, and gigantic permanent cracks appeared in the entire Spire of Ascension. Fortunately, everyone had already evacuated to the lower floors at some point in the past ten hours, so they were empty.


    Neo''s soul was shattered to bits, and everything was reduced to ''Null''; even Liam''s body was reduced to powder in an instant!


    The upper floors of the spire of ascension significantly suppressed the power of the attack as they got destroyed, thus itcked more lethality.


    The attack spread outside and hit the roots of the world tree.


    Thousands ofyers of the world tree''s roots were smashed to bits in an instant and reduced


    to powder.


    Thankfully, the world tree was being enhanced by Ryul''s world authority and Syvis''s healing magic; thus, it regenerated fast and kept suppressing the power of the attack further! Ryul and Syvis had to use the whole of their mana in this process before the attack was finally suppressed to the point that it was no longer harmful for the entire.


    Still, the attack broke out of the shield of roots and spread in all directions.


    *CRACK!*


    The entire Maya continent was shattered and the tectonic tes were broken apart; a massive global earthquake and tsunami was formed that caused immense destruction worldwide. Thankfully, only a few million casualties urred from this attack as the natural disasters


    were created.


    Ryul was fast enough to react on time; otherwise, this attack had the power to shatter the entire into bits and kill billions of people in an instant!


    ...


    Human empire''s southern border.


    [World Authority: Frozen World!]


    After ten hours of struggle, Raji had ended the demon attacks without much casualties.


    Just a few seconds ago, a message from the world alliance leader Ryul came, and she immediately got ready to suppress the impact.


    She used her world authority to freeze the space-time fabric around the borders and created a temporary shield so that the human empire wouldn''t get hit by massive waves of tsunami.


    It caused a massive mental burden on her, but she was determined to follow her duty till the


    end.


    After taking measures for the tsunami, she immediately sent messages to the army to help people who ended up getting hit by the earthquake!


    Millions of people died, and this was just the start; this event will go down in the annals of history as the ''Chronos Incident.''.


    And this day will be remembered as one of great misfortune.


    The countries that had no SS-rankers to protect them were even more unfortunate, and the


    death count caused by natural disasters reached ever higher in those ces.


    The power of ''Absolute Singrity'' was simply too immense.

 Chapter 420: The War has started... Part-1.

    Chapter 420: The War has started... Part-1.


    ?


    Spire of Ascension, Floor 50.


    One hour after forced teleportation.


    ''Uh... will you let me fight too? You are killing them all before I can unsheathe my sword...''


    Rio couldn''t help butin in his mind while walking through the empty corridor.


    "Ugh... I feel so sick now that I haven''t eaten a single candy for the past whole hour; looking at these demons makes me so mad for some reason..."


    "Also Link''s ring isn''t giving off any signals either... Ugh, this is the worst day of my life..."


    Riya couldn''t help butin with a dejected look on her face.


    She was pretending to feel sick and was walking with difficulty, relying on the wall for support.


    She seemed like a weak, helpless girl lost in a maze, but the gigantic healing field surrounding her proved that it was all just a fa?ade.


    This enormous healing field violently overheals a monster or demon as soon as ites into contact, causing their body to explode like a balloon!


    Her healing field is nearly three kilometers wide; she ughters demons and monsters alike before Rio can even notice their presence with his mana detection.


    This healing field is basically an automatic missileuncher; it attacks enemies automatically without even needing a signal or anything.


    Moreover, once she casts it, she doesn''t even need to cast it again when moving; the entire healing field follows her as she advances.


    ''The most terrifying part is that her healing magic is going right through these walls made of mithril and adamantine!''


    ''That means even if a monster is hiding behind these walls in the hidden room, she can still heal it by force!''


    As a friend, she''s a very reliablepanion that everyone can depend on, but as an enemy, she''s truly a fearsome foe.


    ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana is really a broken ability... this thing giving her insane powers...''


    "By the way, Riya Sensei... Won''t you run out of mana if you keep using such a powerful healing field continuously?"


    Hearing Rio''s question, Riya stopped pretending to be a sick and weak girl. A smug look returned to her face. She crossed her arms and spoke in a proud tone.


    "Well, well, well, my little disciple, you still have a lot to learn..."


    "You don''t know how amazing this Riya Sensei of yours actually is... you know what? I have 8,000 healers working under me! Don''t you underestimate me..."


    *HAHAHHA!* (Fake evilugh...)


    "You see those dead bodies there, right? Yeah, those are my mana source... Theye and offer their life force in my healing field; I then purify their corpses, absorb their mana and healing magic, and then put it all in the healing field again!"


    "And the cycle continues... a very self-sufficient ecosystem, isn''t it?"


    *HAHAHAHA* (Another Fake evilugh...)


    After hearing those words, Rio nodded his head in surprise.


    "Hoh, you have really be strong, haven''t you, Riya Sensei? With this power, you can protect yourself even in that musclehead''s absence..."


    "Eh, no, maybe it''s the other way around... He''s the one who''s getting protected by you, actually..."


    Riya nodded her head with a smug look on her face.


    "Oh, talking about that muscle-head... I am seriously going to punch him in the face the next time I see him!"


    Rio was taken aback by the abrupt statement and inquired with curiosity.


    "Did he steal your secret stash of candies or what? That''s indeed a big crime, actually..."


    Riya shook her head at that question and spoke in an angry tone.


    "He''s done something even worse! His ring isn''t giving off any signal; that means he isn''t wearing it!! He must have lost it definitely!!"


    "That''s such a mean thing to do!"


    Rio also nodded his head and went with the flow of the conversation.


    "Indeed! That''s a very mean thing to do! Give your order sensei! Let''s hire Detective Lia! She''s good at finding out information on others! She can definitely figure out why he did such a


    thing!"


    As it turns out, Rio is indeed aware of Lia''s stalking activities. (Lia seriously thought she could sneak up on a master of stealth so easily... how foolish...)


    "Well, jokes aside, this ce is really filled up with monsters to the brim; you have killed more than a thousand monsters with your healing field along the way, and they still keeping..."


    Hearing Rio''s words, Riya also nodded her head, and a serious look appeared on her face.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The main problem is... where are so many of them evening from? So many monsters must need something to eat at the least; how are they even surviving in this empty maze-like ce..."


    "Moreover, their life energy is very strange; it''s much more chaotic and fragile than a strong monster''s should be..."


    "In fact... their life energy seems simr to that of a newborn baby! Only a newborn baby will have such weak and chaotic life energy..."


    "And despite having such weak life energy, they still have such ridiculous strength... This is extremely unusual; in my whole life as a healer, I have never seen such a situation..."


    Riya squatted down and began to carefully examine one of the corpses of the monsters she had killed with a healing overdose.


    ''D*mn!? Is this really the Riya I know!? Isn''t Riya supposed to be an airhead who''s always in a world of her own and doesn''t even bother caring about what''s going on around her...''


    ''Such clear observations, such detailed information... This definitely doesn''t suit her nature...'' Rio was actually the one who was more confused and surprised at the moment actually.


    ''Her being able to kill monsters and protect herself can be exined by her increased proficiency with the Heart of Eternal Nirvana... But what''s going on with this extraordinary intelligence!?''


    Right now, Rio can sense it with his perception that the current Riya isn''t just a normal healer; she''s actually capable of bat'' right now.


    ''Ah! Don''t tell me that when she''s not eating candy, her ''IQ'' actually increases!?''


    Even back in the Elven empire, Riya trained with an SS-rank healer for a while, and she didn''t


    eat candy for a long while, and the result of that was that she actually awakened a ''legendary skill'' for herself.


    Awakening a legendary skill isn''t a simple matter; you need a very clear state of mind and immense concentration.


    ''Wait, is this even possible!? Don''t tell me that eating candy actually dulls her mind, and she bes an airhead... but when she stops eating them, she actually bes more


    intelligent!?''


    ''What kind of weird phenomenon is this!? Does the candy she consumes function as an ''IQ'' suppressant or something like that?''


    *BOOOM!!* *Crack!*


    Just when Rio was getting more and more confused over Riya ''The Candy Destroyer''s


    mysteries'', the floor started to tremble like crazy.


    "An earthquake?"


    ''Isn''t the spire of ascension supposed to be a very powerful existence... it can''t even suppress


    an earthquake?''


    What Rio didn''t know was that this wasn''t just a simple earthquake; this was the result of


    Ashtel going on a rampage in the upper-most floor.


    *CRACK!*


    The ceiling suddenly cracked and fell apart; even the floor started to crack like crazy.


    "It must be a very strong earthquake; this ce seems like it''s going to copse... Riya Sensei, let''s go; we can''t stay here for long or we might get buried under the debris-" Before Rio finished his words, the floor directly broke apart as the trembling became even


    more intense.


    Both Rio and Riya fell down along with the broken floor''s debris, and just when Rio was about


    to grab her and jump away, the lower floor also broke apart and an extremely deep hole


    appeared.


    A huge amount of debris fell from even higher floors and blocked Rio''s sight.


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Serpent''s Coil!]


    Rio waved his sword in a circle, and all the debris was cleared away with a gust of rotating


    wind in an instant!


    Each strand of that rotating was like a sharp de; the debris was broken to bits and reduced


    to powder in an instant, thus clearing the area.


    ''Sh*t, I got dyed by that massive amount of debris; she fell in the hole...''


    Rio can stand in the air as his sword intent mastery is truly very high, but Riya can''t do that


    yet; thus, she fell into the deep hole in the floor and disappeared from sight.


    ''Gotta catch her... hmm?''


    Just when Rio was about to follow her into that deep hole, Rio''s danger senses suddenly


    tingled, and he moved his head to the side.


    A pointed sword came flying at an insanely high speed, and Rio barely dodged the attack by a


    hair''s breadth.


    ''An S ranker...''


    *Step* *Step*


    Ignoring the falling debris, a man wearing pitch ck armor appeared in Rio''s sight.


    He was walking on air, and the sound of his footsteps rang in the entire empty corridor.


    ''No... It''s a peak S-ranker...''


    Both of them were standing in mid-air and were looking at each other as if they were both evaluating each other''s strength.


    Rio clenched his sword''s hilt, and the other party also unsheathed the sword hanging on his


    waist.


    The moment the other party unsheathed his sword, Rio''s eyes narrowed.


    ''Skilled... This guy''s extremely skilled, such immense pressure... Just by unsheathing his


    sword, his aura became so condensed...''


    ''This isn''t about talent anymore... This is someone who''s trained in swordsmanship for


    several decades! The sword aura is condensed to perfection...''


    ''This person''s extremely close to attaining true ''sword intent''... What is such a strong person


    doing in this ce!?''


    Rio had many questions in his mind, but he ignored them for the time being.


    He gave up on going behind Riya, as he could feel that if he showed a single moment of


    mistake, not only would he end up dead, but this person would pursue Riya after killing him. ''It seems I have encountered a troublesome foe...''

 Chapter 421: The War has started... Part-2.

    Chapter 421: The War has started... Part-2.


    ?


    Spire of Ascension, Floor 30.


    [Why have you stopped in this ce? Weren''t we supposed to go more deeper?]


    Lia shook her head at that question and spoke in a calm tone.


    "My foresight''s telling me to stay here for a while..."


    Lia can see a few seconds into the future, but sometimes when her foresight isn''t locked on a specific target, it can give hints and warnings about events that might happen.


    The future is ever-changing; the slightest change in circumstances can change the course of destiny; moreover, she has never been able to predict Rio''s future, so her skill isn''t capable of calcting an anomaly.


    Nheless, it''s still a very overpowered ability.


    Lia has absolute faith in her skill; thus, she chose to believe the hints and warning given by the foresight.


    [Hmm? Is something dangerous happening on the lower floor? The entire spire of ascension is riddled with holes...]


    [Some strange attacks are being fired from lower floors that seem to involve the time elementals...] "Yeah, likely some time magic or other rted type skill user is fighting in the lower floors... As for above... the battle above seems even more intense..."


    "Hmm?"


    All of a sudden, a look of confusion appeared on Lia''s face as she got another hint from her foresight.


    ''Stretch out my hand? For what?''


    Although Lia didn''t know what this hint meant, she did so without hesitating much. *BOOOM!* *CRACK!*


    Just as she extended her hand, the ceiling began to crack and copse, causing a massive amount of debris to fall through it with immense momentum.


    Lia was standing out of the range so she didn''t get hit by it; instead, a very familiar person came flying, and the hand she had stretched out caught the person who fell from above. "Oh, Riya!? You were also here?"


    It was none other than Riya, who fell from above and got caught by Lia.


    Riya immediately hugged Lia with a thankful look on her face.


    "Ah! I thought I was gonna die today! Thankfully, you saved me!"


    Lia felt a bit awkward, but she epted those words of thanks.


    "What were you doing that you broke through the ground and fell down like that? You really do some crazy stuff sometimes..."


    Hearing that question, Riya pointed towards the gigantic hole in the ceiling and spoke in a serious tone.


    "I was actually walking with Rio and looking for you guys everywhere, but then suddenly an earthquake came and the floor copsed..."


    "But just when I fell down, I noticed an extremely powerful auraing closer... I think Rio is likely fighting an S-ranker right now! We need to go up and provide support!"


    "That S-ranker had immense vitality!! It seemed much stronger than any other S-ranker, even stronger than that demon prince we saw in Oaklum!!"


    Hearing those words, a look of worry appeared on Lia''s face.


    She has great belief in Rio''sbat skills, but even Rio can''t possibly fight a peak S-ranker on equal terms as of yet.


    Lia wanted to go help Rio in the battle, but then her foresight got triggered once again and urged her not to go above.


    Instead of going above, her foresight was asking her to get to the lower floor with Riya instead.


    ''This is the exact reason why I don''t like using this ability... It always creates such a dilemma for me and always interferes with my judgment abilities...''


    Lia deliberated for a considerable amount of time and ultimately arrived at a decision with significant difficulty.


    "Riya, leave that battle to Rio; we are going to the lower floors! Rio can definitely hold his ground for the time being!"


    A look of shock appeared on Riya''s face as Lia didn''t go to help Rio and instead chose to go downstairs.


    "T-this!? Wait, I am not joking, Lia, I am speaking the truth; there really is an S-ranker above; if we don''t do anything, Rio''s going to be in trouble..."


    Lia gritted her teeth at those words and grabbed her hand to drag her away.


    "Hurry up, we don''t have time. I will exin these things to youter... It''s just that I can predict a few things from the future with a skill of mine..."


    "Believe in my skill... Let''s go down..."


    Riya sighed at those words and followed Lia.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Although she didn''t know about the whole picture, she knows that Lia definitely isn''t the type


    of person to abandon Rio; she must have something in her mind.


    Floor 27.


    "Phew... I finally have clothes to wear..."


    Link breathed a long sigh of relief as he finally covered himself.


    He got teleported when he was in the middle of a bath, and he wasn''t even wearing his space ring or engagement ring at that moment, thus he didn''t even have a change of clothes. Just as he stood there,pletely naked, a demon approached to attack him.


    Link sted off the entire upper torso of the other party, then stole the other party''s robe to cover his own lower body.


    ''I stillck something to cover my upper torso... I need to start moving; there''s too many monsters in this ce...''


    Although Link''s been sting monsters and demons alike to bits in the past hour, they just keeping, and there''s no sign of stopping at all.


    That''s also why he hasn''t been able to leave this floor up until now.


    For some reason, there are just too many demons and monsters attacking him right now.


    *BOOOM!*


    Just as Link was struggling to decide which direction to go, the ceiling copsed, causing a massive amount of debris to fall directly on him!


    The debris had pierced through several floors by now; thus, it lost momentum and finally stopped falling at this floor.


    But just when Link was about to stand up, a massive beam of condensed time elements came flying from below and pierced right through the debris.


    Even Link''s hand got caught up in the beam as he tried to dodge.


    His entire arm turned to dust in an instant, as if it had ages hundreds of years in an instant!


    "Ugh, this sensation!?"


    Link''s eyes widened in shock when he got hit by that attack; he wasn''t worried about the pain;


    he was more shocked by the aura that the attack carried.


    "Alverto!?"


    Link is extremely familiar with Alverto''s aura, as he has met the other party two times


    already.


    The first was when Rio was fighting the clone of Alverto, and the second time in Oaklum.


    Without any hesitation, Link immediately jumped into the massive hole created by that beam


    of time elementals.


    He gritted his teeth and a look of extreme anger appeared on his face.


    ''This time, I will not let you go, Alverto! I will definitely avenge Zach senpai!''


    *BOOOM!*


    Just when Link was falling down through the hole.


    A gigantic fist came flying at him, and he had to stop in mid-air to dodge the attack!


    [Dao Rhythm!]


    [Divine Dragon Arts: Defiant Type: Air Walk!]


    Link stomped his feet as if he were hitting the ground and used the air itself to move away


    from the attack''s range; the gigantic fist hit the walls and stopped.


    Linknded on the ground and found himself standing in a massive hall.


    A giant demon appeared in front of him and started tough like a maniac at the top of his


    lungs!


    "BAHAHAHAHA, I heard from master that you are the best ''warrior'' Link Rex! Come!! Fight me!! I will show you hell!!! BAHAHAHAHA!"


    Hearing the other party''s words, Link immediately took his stance and got ready for battle.


    "Hoh, you are challenging me for a warrior''s duel? Well fine, I will deal with you first before


    going further down..."


    Although Link''s left arm has been destroyed, hisbat effectiveness hasn''t been lost.


    He can still fight at full power even without an arm.


    ''Still... this guy''s a peak S-ranker... Where did such a strong demon evene from!?''


    ''Wasn''t Alverto also just an S-ranker? Then why are other peak S-rank demons working for


    him...''


    Demons are very arrogant types of creatures that have no such concept as loyalty.


    They won''t work for other demons unless the other party is overwhelmingly stronger than


    them.


    ''Has that guy broken through to SS rank? Sh*t, that''s very bad news...''


    Link clenched his fist and asked with a calm look on his face,


    "Oi, fat potato! Is your master an SS-ranker?"


    The demon looked oval-like and round like a potato in body shape, thus Link instantly gave it


    a nickname.


    But that nickname indeed worked wonders; the demon immediately got angered by Link''s


    mocking words.


    ''Hmph, idiot, losing your calm over such a small thing, you are like a total amateur... If it was Liam in my ce, this fat potato would have died from insults alone...''


    Liam is the smartest guy in their group, and he''s the only one who likes to use enemies''


    emotions against their own strength.


    Link also learned this ability from Liam''s fighting methods.


    ''I wonder if the rest of the group is also here... ugh... If Riya''s here, she''s gonna beat me up for


    not wearing the engagement ring...''


    [Dao Rhythm!] Link covered himself in dao rhythm and smirked at the demon as if mocking him toe and


    try attacking


    him.


    The demon''s face visibly went red from anger, and its eyes went bloodshot in an instant!


    "I WILL KILL YOU!! YOU PEST!!"


    Link immediately jumped away to dodge the mad rampage of the demon with a mocking grin


    on his face.


    "Yeah, yeah, try to hit me; you will never reach me, you overgrown potato!"

 Chapter 422: The War has started... Part-3.

    Chapter 422: The War has started... Part-3.


    ?


    Spire of Ascension, Floor 7.


    Right after Forced Teleportation.


    Standing on the water surface, Jin crossed his arms and nced at the setting sun with a look of confusion on his face.


    "What the heck is this ce? Even the sun is stuck in the same spot... it seems like this ce is forever stuck in ''Evening''... I can sense a lot of time elementals in the area too...."


    As someone with a world authority rted to ''time'', Jin is very sensitive to the time elementals, even a little bit of disturbance in the ''flow'' of ''time'' can easily be sensed by him.


    "So? How long will you continue to stare at me like that? I am not a hot chick or anything, you know..."


    Jin didn''t even need to look; just by sensing the disturbance in the ''flow'' of ''time elementals'', he could easily sense an individual hiding himself in the currents of the flow of ''time''.


    Hearing Jin''s words, the other party stopped trying to and became visible.


    "Nice to meet you, Jin Walt ''Zeit Instante'', there''s been a lot of talk about youtely... And that day in Oaklum, you nearly killed me..."


    Alverto put down his helmet and gave a gentle smile, and as his face was quite handsome, that smile alone was enough to charm most people in the world.


    He brought out his spear and walked towards Jin, then stood eye to eye against Jin just a few meters away.


    Putting his spear in the ocean as if he were burying its tip in solid ground and hanging his armor''s helment over the spear''s other end.


    Mysteriously enough, the spear got stuck in that position and didn''t sink in the ocean; it was as if Alverto had stuck it in the ground, not water.


    "You are in such great contrast with how demons usually are that I am really lost for words..."


    Jin shook his head and brought out his giant sword from his space ring while doing the exact same thing as Alverto did.


    He used the time elementals to freeze the weapon in one ce so that it wouldn''t sink in the ocean, and from the surface it would seem as though the weapon was stuck in the ocean surface.


    Both Jin and Alverto sat down on the ocean surface at that moment, right beside their weapons.


    "Hoh? So you knew about this ceremony?"


    Alverto was also a bit surprised when Jin easily followed along with him without looking confused.


    "Ah, well, once upon a time I tried to research through history books and stuff because I wanted to take inspirations from history and figure out a ''unique'' method to propose to someone..."


    "That''s how I found out about this ''ritual'' of ''Clear Heart Duel''... The moment you put your helmet on the spear, I already knew about it..."


    Jin crossed his arms and smirked a bit before continuing.


    "But seriously, I didn''t expect a demon to actually know about ''honor'', ''glory'' and ''rituals'' of a ''sacred duel''... I was expecting you to be more cunning and violent type..."


    Alverto sighed at those words as he brought out two empty sses from his space ring and tossed them both to Jin.


    "Well, I am more of an exception actually; most demons are indeed cunning and violent... I am just a bit better at taking things more patiently..."


    "Anyway, I am fighting this battle to ''Protect'' something important after all; doing these rituals will also be in my favor too..."


    Jin brought out a sealed bottle of wine from his space ring and poured wine into the two sses, then gave one of the sses back to Alverto.


    "Aren''t you worried I will poison it or something else?"


    At Jin''s words, Alverto sipped the wine and shook his head.


    "You already know the rules of the ''Clear Heart Ritual'' of the ''Sacred Duel'', so I don''t really need to worry about poisons... Putting poison in it will only bring shame upon your own existence anyway..."


    Jin nodded his head at those words.


    "Well, it''s not like poison will work on you demons anyway; miasma itself is one of the highest grade ''poisons'', yet you demons are able to endure it easily... So what can any other measly poison even do..."


    Jin sipped the wine with a smile on his face after saying those words.


    "Hahaha, yeah right...AHAHAHA"


    Seeing Jinugh happily, Alverto smiled too.


    If someone hadn''t known about the situation, they would have mistaken the two of them to be old friends meeting after a long time.


    This is the ''Sacred Duel'', this is the great ritual called the ''Clear Heart Ritual''.


    Created by King Allen Von Reinhart himself, this ritual involves the ws'' of ''blessing'', ''luck'', ''honor'', ''pride'', and ''Protection''.


    When two demi-gods with simr types of powers and world authorities are about to battle and, in a duel, they are supposed to conduct this ritual before it all begins.


    By now, all records of this ritual are mostly lost and forgotten; barely anyone even knows about it, let alone do it.


    But this ritual was once used by nearly all-powerful people when fighting against each other. During the thousand-year demon extinction war, warriors of the alliance were in scarcity and demons were endless; thus, losing a single powerful warrior could increase the pressure on the entire alliance.


    However, internal strife is inevitable when numerous races and powerful warriors engage in simultaneousbat on a chaotic battlefield.


    To solve this problem, King Allen created the ''Clear Heart Ritual''.


    The warriors would end their fight with the demons first, and if they had grudges against each other, they would fight a duel on ater date.


    In this ritual, the detail that is of greatest importance, both parties must state the thing they are fighting for and must relieve their hearts of the burden before fighting.


    Telling your opponent what you are protecting and fighting for, embodies the essence of having a clear heart, hence the name ''Clear Heart Ritual''.


    This is a sacred ritual that once started instantly attracts the attention of the ''Laws'' of the ''world'' itself, and the ''Laws'' of the ''world'' then blessed both parties with their blessings. These blessings are not stat boosts or buffs or anything; they are genuine blessings, like how an elder of the family gives blessings to his children and prays for their safety.


    The ritual states that even if you don''t have parents, family, or any loved one, the world itself will bear witness to your glory and will act as your guardian in this moment.


    To die in this ritual means that you will be able toy in the arms of your guardian (The World) in your final moments.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I have a wife waiting for me at home, and I have to fight for my pride as a swordsman too... Moreover, I can''t let a demon who killed a talented student of the human empire escape


    either..."


    "I was the one who waste, and my mistake caused Zachary Hunt to die an untimely death... I will fight so that I can be forgiven by that young soul..."


    While telling his intentions and clearing his heart of the things he wants to achieve and why he wants to fight, Jin gulped down the entire wine from the ss in one go!


    Alverto followed through the ritual faithfully too at the same moment.


    "To create a ''New Order'' for the sake of my fellow ''Demons'' and for the sake of my ambition


    and goals, I must fight and win this battle..."


    "I want to destroy all the possibilities of my failure, and I want to achieve salvation for my race... Thus I will fight!"


    With their motives and reason stated, the two of them attracted the attention of the ''Laws'' of the ''World,'' and as if the ''World'' itself had noticed this battle, the sky became scarlet red.


    Jin and Alverto put away the wine sses at that point and got up at the same time.


    "You made me get involved in the ''Clear Heart Ritual'', but wouldn''t that be just more disadvantageous for you, Demon Prince Alverto?"


    "Cunningness, schemes, and plotting are the main weapons of a demon; by entering the ''Clear Heart Ritual,'' you have made a vow to not disgrace your honor..."


    "But that''s basically a shackle for a demon; how will you fight like that? You are just throwing away your advantages and your identity as a demon at this point, you know..." Alverto nodded his head at those words and smiled with a proud smile on his face.


    "The Spire of Ascension has already been summoned, and I have alreadypleted all of the


    necessary steps."


    "All that''s left is for me to destroy the ''variables'' that can cause my failure, that is, you, Ashtel Rex, and those kids from your academy..."


    "Now there''s no need for any schemes or trickery anymore; the only thing that''s left to do is defeat you all; the pawn manipted by me is already dealing with Ashtel Rex..." "And I have sent a few lovely gifts in the direction of those little kids too... All that''s left is you... you are the most troublesome of them all; I must deal with you myself..."


    "I seriously never expected that someone would end up awakening an authority rted to


    time when I was so close to the end of my n... I must eliminate you for my dreams, Jin


    Walt..." Having said that, Alverto took his helmet and ced it back over his head.


    Both Alverto and Jin took their weapons back at the same time and pointed them towards each


    other.


    "I wish you luck, Jin Walt..."


    Jin also nodded his head at those words and replied with a smile on his face.


    "I wish you luck too, Demon Prince Alverto..."

 Chapter 423: Rio Vs. Seven, A Duel between Master Swordmen... Part-1.

    Chapter 423: Rio Vs. Seven, A Duel between Master Swordmen... Part-1.


    ?


    ''Where did this peak S ranker evene from? Even my mana detection didn''t see iting...''


    Despite him being at A rank, Rio''s mana detection skill is nearly as powerful as a peak S ranker, so it shouldn''t be that easy topletely ignore the detection range of his skills. Yet that person in the dark ck armor walked over in front of him slowly, and Rio only noticed the other party when the other party had already appeared in front of his eyes.


    ''There was no mention of Alverto in the original novel, and now anotherpletely unknown S ranker has appeared in front of me again...''


    While Rio was still thinking about who the other party was, the figure of the other party moved and disappeared among the falling debris.


    ''What the!? I lost track of him again!?''


    Seeing that the other party was able to erase his presence to this extent and fight in stealth mode, Rio immediately activated his shadow robe and covered himself with it from head to toe.


    [Handling!]


    *BOOOM!*


    As Rio suddenly moved to the left and used ''handling'' to parry an iing attack by pure instinct, a sonic boom rang out in the air, and the other party''s de missed the attack.


    Yet the power of the other party''s de was so strong that all the falling debris was sliced in half and the dust was blown away in an instant!


    ''Twin swords?''


    In that moment when Rio parried the other party''s attack, he saw the other party holding a sword in each hand.


    ''What unbelievable speed...''


    Rio has always focused on training his speed and agility, and it turns out that this time he has really met an opponent who can keep up with his insane speed.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Thousand Defensive Stones!]


    Rio made his sword strikes as powerful and steady as a stone and parried the hundreds of sh attacks that came at him with just pure instinct!


    The attacks were extremely fast, and as the other party could use stealth, most of them came out of nowhere.


    A few of them even hit him directly, but as he was covered with the shadow robe, it didn''t affect him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    *Step*


    As the other party had noticed that all the attacks hadn''t worked on Rio, the other party stopped the continuous attack barrage and stood in front of him with an intimidation aura surrounding him.


    "Hoh? You are quite the slippery one, aren''t you? If it were anyone else, they would have already been hit nearly a hundred times by sh attacks with such speed..."


    "You are only an A-ranker... Yet, you have such speed and agility, how odd..."


    The person in the armor couldn''t help but be shocked at Rio''s skills; thus, he ended up praising him in his weirdly hoarse voice that seemedpletely different from what a human can make.


    Rio easily figured out that the other party was likely not a human; it''s either a demon or some other monster inside that strong-looking armor.


    ''He has that same quality armor as Alverto... Is he perhaps Alverto''s right-hand man or something like that?''


    ''He can even use a movement art technique...''


    "Well, there are all types of oddities in the world; I am just one of them..."


    [DarkWing Movement Art!]


    [Sword Intent!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Rushing Thunder Dragon!]


    As if a massive thunder dragon had manifested on Rio''s sword, his movement speed increased further, and he rushed toward the person, the opponent, like an arrow with extreme


    momentum!


    *BOOOM!*


    His speed was so fast that he easily broke through the sound barrier, and a powerful shockwave passed through wherever he passed by.


    Seeing Rio rush towards him at full speed, the armored man became even more excited.


    "No wonder he sent me to deal with you specifically! You are indeed very fast and powerful! You even have sword intent! A single touch of it is enough to render most people useless!"


    "But this won''t work on me, kiddo!"


    [Fading Cloud movement art!]


    [Sky Splitter Sword Art: Broken momentum thrust!]


    The armored man thrust his sword forward at an insane speed, and both of his sword''s tips urately hit Rio''s sword and stopped Rio''s attack by sheer force!


    *BOOOM!*


    The power of Rio''s attack was so strong that even the air and the elements in the surrounding area trembled like crazy.


    A powerful shockwave spread in all directions, and the broken debris flew away in all


    directions.


    ''I-insanity...''


    Rio''s eyes widened in shock for the first time in a long while; he had put not only ''sword intent'' but the 2.5 times stat boost provided by the sword heart in that attack.


    Yet, the attack was forcefully stopped midway by the other party''s swords.


    Not only Rio couldn''t move forward a single inch, his momentum waspletely broken.


    ''He saw through my technique in a single nce!?''


    Rio jumped away and made some distance from the other party in a hurry.


    Ever since the start, when Rio got this elemental sword art from his stealing sessions, no one


    has been able to see through his sword technique to such a degree.


    This sword art''s main ability is that it has hundreds of varieties of techniques and attacks; even if you see through one of them, you can''t see through the entire technique.


    But this is the first time Rio''s attack was seen through to this degree.


    ''Extremely highbat experience... The other party has been fighting for decades upon decades and has insanely hightbat experience...''


    The only usible answer Rio coulde up with at the moment was that the other party has insanely highbat experience in swordsmanship.


    ''Even when I was training with Jin, I never felt that he saw through my technique to this


    degree... but this person did it...''


    "Who are you? State your name; a person as skilled as you definitely must be famous..."


    Rio raised his sword and pointed it toward the other party.


    Today he has met a truly powerful sword master; he must ask the other party''s name or this battle will lose its meaning.


    The armored person took his stance, and the aura around him condensed to the extreme.


    "My name?... I forgot... I have no memories of what I am and who I am... I only know one thing: my current master is Demon Prince Alverto, and he has granted me the code name


    ''Seven''..."


    Rio nodded his head and took his stance.


    "I am Rio sh, A humble swordsman, I look forward to fighting you, Mr. Seven..."


    [Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: ming Beam of Death!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder, and me elementals condensed on his sword as he


    swung his sword in downward motions.


    He fired a gigantic arc made of me elementals at Seven without and then dodged to the side


    in an instant.


    [Sky Splitter Sword Art: Cannon Thrust!]


    Sevenpletely ignored that me arc attack and directly came rushing behind Rio to attack


    him with a thrust attack, but Rio had already seen thating, so he jumped to the side and


    dodged the attack.


    *BOOOM!*


    The thrust attack missed the target and hit the ground instead, which caused Seven''s sword to


    hit the floor made up of mithril and adamantine.


    The floor was too strong for an SS ranker to break, and thus his attack bounced off.


    This momentarily broke Seven''s stance.


    That momentary dy was what Rio was aiming for from the very start.


    He already knew that slow me attack wouldn''t hit the other party, but he used it so the


    other party woulde running to attack him.


    When ites to battles, Rio isn''tcking inbat IQ either; he''s a battle junkie through


    and through who can adapt to any situation!


    [Elemental Sword Art: Time Type: Hundred Years eleration!]


    Taking full advantage of that small dy in Seven''s movements, Rio used the time


    elementals to increase his sword''s speed by a hundred times.


    *BOOOM*


    *nk!*


    Seven wasn''t going to get hit so easily either; he immediately twisted his body to the side and


    barely dodged the attack by rolling to the side.


    Yet Rio''s sword''s tip barely grazed his armor on the waist, and the entire armor around his


    waist broke apart and turned into powder in an instant!


    ''Hmm? I am sure that should have hit him in the waist, but it didn''t affect him?... What''s


    going on?''


    Rio''s sword was covered with time elementals, thus getting hit by it would instantly elerate time for whatever it hits.


    This is the reason why that armor broke apart and turned into powder in an instant as Rio forcefully elerated time for it, and it became 100 years older in an instant, thus it rusted away to the point that it turned into powder.


    "You aren''t a demon... No, you aren''t even a living creature, it seems... What are you?"


    Rio''s attack should have hit the other party in the waist, and the other party should have suffered a little bit of bleeding at the very least, but it seemed the other party waspletely


    fine!


    Which is simply too weird.


    "Try and find it yourself if you really want to know about it that much!"


    [Sky Splitter Sword Art: Wind Dragon''s Chokehold!]


    Seven waved his two swords and made the wind move in such a way with his miasma that it


    seemed as if a dragon made out of wind elements had manifested.


    ''Wind attack? That isn''t going to work on me!''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Coiling Serpent Wind!]


    To deal with those dragon winds, Rio condensed a serpent wind and deflected the wind attack


    to the side easily.


    ''Things are getting interesting...''


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