Rio and the others came back to the hotel late at night.
As it was already very late, 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 as completed... 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 become 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 outcome 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 incomplete, around the last 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 contemplating his future plans in his mind.
A piece of news on the TV caught his attention.
"According to the reports from our sources, there have been sightings of several strange phenomena occurring in the sea near the south-east area of Oaklum down port..." (Anchor)
"Several witnesses have said that they saw large whirlpools and sea waves raging in the ocean around that area... the matter is being speculated 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 according to the reports of the A-rankers, they didn't find a single sea monster in the area..." (Anchor)
"The experts have speculated 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 collapsed after causing trouble for Zach Senpai, perhaps Aaron is trying to do something about that tree…' (Rio)
Rio's speculations 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 those large-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 becoming 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 welcoming Mr. Jin…" (Anchor)
"It has been confirmed that Mr. Jin will be arriving at the Oaklum Airport in a week's time, later he will stay at the nearby military camp for a year…" (Anchor)
"Several netizens have expressed their opinions on the internet 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 speculated 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 flattery 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)
'Nonetheless, 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 become a genuine SS-
ranker it would be child's play 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 will come 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 to come 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.