With great reluctance, Rio finally allowed Link to enter his room.
"Hahaha, I knew you would agree you are my best friend! Dahahaha" (Link)
Link laughed at the top of his lungs, his voice was so loud that Rio felt like slapping him on the face, but since he knew that his slap 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]
[Class: 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: Extreme comprehension (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 to complain about those candy companies 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 you complained about it more than a hundred times already! I have been hearing the same complaints 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 glared 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 glare 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 a complicated 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 glanced 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 muscular 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 glared at Rio fiercely while Rio ignored his glaring 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 explain… it's like, Fade is a natural enemy of mine…. It's difficult to explain 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 explain…" (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 become 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 villain 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 accept 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 glanced 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 the comments)
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.