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 success, 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 getting late..." (Rio)
"Yeah- hmm, me? What about you? Aren't you coming 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 should come 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 did come 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 had large 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 and laughed at his own patheticness.
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 can compete 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… compared 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 'combat', but that guy has an insane talent for everything… he is a master at games, sports, piano, singing, cooking, politics, accounting, 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 'villain' 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 related to combat.
"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 become 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 flame of ambition that was just about to die out once again burned in his eyes.
[Ding! The 'Broken Path' has been fixed!]
[Ding! The flames 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 epiphany comes in the most unexpected moments...'
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! It seems Rio really has talent in 'redeeming' villains 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 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.
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