Rio stayed at Kehrid’s house for the entire night with Kifrid.
The three of them were at dinner together, and since Kehrid allowed him to stay, Rio decided to sleep on the sofa and took a long rest.
The journey ahead was going to be very difficult, and perhaps he might not even get the chance to rest for months!
It was not a bad idea to recharge yourself while you still had the time.
The night passed in silence and peace. When the morning sunlight passed through the windows and fell on Rio’s face, he woke up and got ready to leave.
"I am not sure if your journey will succeed or not, but I hope you manage to make it back alive, kid..."
"You have a bright future ahead; don’t be reckless and retreat if you can’t handle that place anymore..."
Kehrid couldn’t bear to watch a talented kid like Rio head to such a dangerous place, but he was in no position to stop Rio either.
Thus, all he could do was give him advice to be careful.
Kifrid had also woken up by now; he rubbed his sleepy eyes as he spoke.
"Come visit me again, big bro Rio, when you have the time! My mom makes good food! Next time I will show you her great cooking!"
He smiled and waved his hand at Rio to say goodbye as Rio exited the house.
Rio nodded at the two of them with a smile, summoned his flute and placed it around his waist before speaking.
"Thanks for everything you have done for me; I will be in your debt for lending me the artifact that can help me succeed in this mission to save my friend..."
"I will bring you souvenirs from the spirit realm!"
Although Kehrid was worried, Rio himself wasn’t all that concerned about his safety.
At most he might not find Liam; miasma would not affect him anyway, so he wasn’t worried at all.
All he needed to do was to keep a distance from those powerful evil spirits that could harm him.
After waving his hand to the two dwarfs, Rio’s figure blurred, and he disappeared without a trace.
There was no mana fluctuation, no elemental disturbances in the area, and he disappeared so silently as if he had never even existed.
Even Kehrid was surprised by Rio’s ability to fool an SS-ranker’s detection range.
’That kid... he’s a monster. How did the human race create such a terrifying beast...’
Kehrid scratched the back of his neck and finally managed to relax a bit.
Ever since he laid eyes on ’Vinash,’ Kehrid was already very cautious and always on edge.
He dealt with Rio very patiently and even agreed to most of his requests, not because he himself was a very generous person but because he was ’afraid.’
Yes, Kehrid was ’afraid.’
’Fear... how long has it been since I felt this emotion?...’
Kehrid had never seen a more bizarre person than Rio.
Not only was Rio able to keep ’Vinash,’ a literal uncontrollable sword of absolute destruction, in check, but his entire body was radiating with immensely powerful sword intent!
Kehrid is not a combatant, and even though he’s an SS-ranker, he might not be stronger than a regular SS-ranker in terms of real combat ability.
But his mana detection and intuition as a peak SS-ranker were definitely not wrong.
He could feel from the very bottom of his heart that there was definitely something wrong with that ’bizarre’ kid.
’Last time I watched the news, I heard that talented kid was born as the son of Ashtel Rex... But who is this kid? I have never even heard his name before...’
Kehrid took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
’Forget it... I have already retired; it’s better to keep myself out of this mess. I already chose to seclude myself from the matters of the world...’
’I feel that if I involve myself too much into this, I might not be able to keep my peaceful life... It’s not worth the hassle...’
With that thought in his head, Kehrid took his little grandson back to his parents and stopped thinking about Rio’s matter, as he didn’t want any trouble.
...
On a hill far away from Kehrid’s home.
’Didn’t expect him to be so friendly; I guess I am lucky this time that I got to meet such a humble SS-ranker...’
Rio had no idea that his existence had frightened Kehrid or why Kehrid was behaving so calmly when dealing with him.
He mistook his calm nature for his kindness.
"I wonder if one day in the future... I will also be able to live a peaceful, calm and secluded life like him..."
Kehrid had cut himself off from the world, and he was living a peaceful life far away from the troubles of the entire world.
Rio wanted to be like that in the future once everything was done and dusted.
’Sea of miasma... I might have to deal with that thing one day in the future...’
The current SS-ranker and everyone else believe that the ’Sea of miasma’ is far away from them, and thus it’s got nothing to do with them at all.
But Rio does not see things that way; he knows the future of this world better than anyone.
’Also there’s a possibility that one of the ’fragments’ is also inside that place... I will go there once I am an SS-ranker in the future...’
There are likely many horrible and powerful demons inside the sea of miasma; Rio needs to reach the realm of demigods if he wants to deal with them.
"Forget it, I will leave the future matters to the future, Rio; let’s focus on the current goal for now..."
Without delaying the mission any further, Rio looked towards the south and rushed at a fast speed.
Originally, he was travelling at a slow speed because he didn’t know where the hidden SS-ranker of the nation was, but now that he knows about Kehrid, there’s no need to be that vigilant.
Rio rushed toward the direction of the tower with great speed while using his stealth skills to the max.
He didn’t use any space-type skills because that might leave spatial fluctuations in the area, and that would expose him, so he just enlarged his sword and rode on his flying sword.
’The meeting with Kifrid was really beneficial; my consumption of mana and mental power has dropped significantly...’
’The efficiency of my sword intent has improved tremendously... now I can deal with souls and delicate things like the sea of consciousness more easily...’
Rio was already a menace in others’ eyes; if they found out that he had become even stronger, most criminals might just retire and become honest, law-abiding citizens.
’Such a shame that I can’t keep revealing my powerful skills to the world anymore...’
When Rio was weaker, it was okay to keep showcasing his talents and skills, but now that he’s a powerful S-ranker and has skills that can endanger the entire world, it’s better not to display them.
He only mentioned his ’soul manipulation’ ability to Raji and Ashtel, and the two started questioning whether he was related to the demon king; it’s better not to show anything that might escalate the situation.
With various thoughts swirling in his head, Rio rushed toward the distant ’Tower of Sea Gazers.’