Aside from Rio, Raji, and Ashtel, no one had taken part in the counterattack to the conspiracy.
Gradba’s plan was to injure or even kill Raji before others could intervene, and then he would have likely used some method to make his way to the defenseless Rex Mansion.
Unfortunately for him, an ’anomaly’ like Rio just had to appear and make his plans go down the drain.
In fact, this ’conspiracy’ became the final push for ’progress’ that had been stuck for a long while.
Not only did Ashtel wake up, but Riya and Link also managed to surpass their final limits.
By the time Rio and Ashtel returned to the capital city and finished handing over the task of transporting people, Link and Riya were already in the middle of ascending to S-rank!
Link broke through as his control over his ’Dao Rhythm’ deepened when he vowed to never feel that sense of helplessness and shame ever again.
And Riya was already on the verge of a breakthrough when she succeeded in achieving a miracle that no other could.
It’s just that she was delaying her breakthrough, as she was in the middle of a critical operation.
After healing Jin and Ashtel, Riya and Link both left for their personal training grounds and spent the entire night adjusting their state and breaking through to the next realm.
Rio, on the other hand, gained an insane amount of proficiency after using his skills on two SS-rankers!
His soul manipulation and mind manipulation skills broke through several times and improved ten times in one go!
Using a skill on a normal S-ranker is entirely different than using it on an SS-ranker!
His skill managed to penetrate to the depths of the soul of ’Ashtel Rex’! The strongest man on this planet! A literal peak SS-ranker who’s standing at the pinnacle of this world’s power ladder!
Even though it was in a defenseless and unconscious state, it was proof that once Rio reaches the realm of demi-gods, he will be insanely overpowered!
’I wonder what Lia is doing nowadays...’
While standing on a wide balcony with tea in his hand, Rio looked at the two massive mana storms rising from the training grounds of the Rex Mansion.
He came to the Rex mansion with Ashtel and was now watching Link and Riya ascend.
’Even Link and Riya have ascended to the realm of S-rankers... I wonder how much progress Lia achieved; the last time I got to talk to her was a month ago...’
’Sigh~... I miss my wife; even the tea tastes bland... I am having a serious lack of ’Lipium’ over here...’ (For those who don’t know, Lia + Copium = Lipium... It’s a very addictive substance...)
Lia was obviously working very hard; she seems to have gone to a peak S-rank dungeon with her father a month ago, and it’s quite likely that she might have ascended to S-rank inside the dungeon.
It’s possible for communications to break down inside dungeons when the dungeon is S rank or even higher.
Moreover, due to the current circumstance, S-rank dungeons have become more dangerous too, which means it might take her quite a long time to conquer them.
’Ahhh, I wanna hug her now so badly... this lipium deficiency is killin me!!!’
Sometimes, Rio feels jealous of Link.
The girl who likes Link is a healer; she does not have to separate from him for training, she does not have to take risks alone, and Link can just keep her close while protecting her all the time.
But things are different for Rio.
Lia is indeed his girlfriend, and they both love each other, but they also have their own paths in life.
Just like Rio, Lia is a combatant; she’s a powerful, talented sword user. If Rio sticks to her all the time, she might not be able to progress, as she needs to put her life on the line to get actual combat experience.
This situation will become even more common as Rio and Lia become stronger; they might have to stay away from each other for longer and longer times for training and progress.
The ’path’ to strength is a lonely one; you end up losing your friends, your partner, your loved ones, and everything else. Only you alone remain, and you alone keep walking forward while everything else gets left behind.
The life of awakeners is not easy, and death can happen at any moment; it’s a constant struggle of life and survival.
Moreover, humans are fickle beings; when separated for long intervals of time, their connections and feelings for each other slowly fade away.
A couple who are madly in love with each other might drift apart from each other after being separated for a long time period.
Emotions fluctuate wildly, yet this is precisely what defines a person as ’human,’ and it cannot be avoided.
This is one of the main reasons why all-powerful awakeners that are at rank A or above usually end up marrying ordinary partners or weaker awakeners.
Because that way they don’t have to worry about separation.
Lia’s mother was a weak awakener, Link’s mother was just an ordinary woman, and Rio’s mother was not an awakener either.
These are just a few cases of them all, and the pattern can be noticed repeating over and over in many scenarios.
Rio himself has barely any feelings left in him; he does not want to stay away from Lia for long intervals of time, as he’s afraid that these final few emotions he has might just leave him and he might not even be able to ’love’ her anymore.
That would be cruel to not only himself but to Lia too.
She might expect feelings from him, but he would have become a cold, emotionless machine by then and might not be able to keep her happy later on in life.
’Sigh~... I kind of understand the term ’No Waifu, No Laifu’ quite well now...’
Just when Rio was heaving a long sigh, a person walked over to the balcony and stood beside him.
"Oho, what’s gotten you so depressed? You seem quite down now even though we won quite a good victory today..."
Rio glanced to his side, and it was Ashtel; he was holding a gigantic mug of beer in his big palm as he watched Link and Riya ascending.
"Kuuaaah~ Drinking good beer after a long day of work is my favorite thing... Oh, come to think of it, you are also an adult now; you can have some too you know..."
Rio rolled his eyes and sipped his tea as he said in reply,
"No thanks, I prefer my tea more... You seem in quite a good mood today; I don’t think I have seen you this carefree ever before..."
Hearing Rio’s words, an awkward smile appeared on Ashtel’s face.
"Ahem... well, after taking such a long break, of course I feel refreshed. I was keeping everything in check for decades without rest you know..."
"This is the first time I have taken such a long break since I became an awakener... I can’t even remember the last time I had a vacation, in fact..."
Ashtel shook his head, and a conflicted look appeared on his face.
"This is the life of those who are burdened with trying to maintain order... it’s a thankless task with no real benefits... I could do it because I grew up in times of war when even a single loaf of bread was becoming scarcity..."
"I don’t know if a kid who’s grown up in peaceful times will be able to do it though..."
While saying that, Ashtel was looking at the mana tornado Link was creating.
No SS-ranker has the obligation to work like a sl*ve for their race; most of them are doing it by their own choice. They are all ’heroes’ who have sacrificed a lot for their homeland.
Ashtel does not know if the next generation will be able to do the same or not.
"You worry too much, old man; it won’t be long before you will be sitting in a retirement home; you will be pushed aside by us soon enough..."
Hearing Rio’s words, Ashtel smirked.
"Hehe, in your dreams, kiddo! You lot are still a few hundred years too young to compete with me! Hahaha...."