Reborn as an Extra

Chapter 523: To The Dwarf Kingdom! Part-1.

"Oh, so you have decided to go the Dwarf Kingdom after all... that decision happened earlier than I expected..."

Irvin was surprised by Rio’s words, but his hands pouring tea did not stop.

He pushed the teacup towards Rio and spoke.

"Well, it did get announced on the news recently that Ashtel Rex has finally woken up... and people were celebrating his recovery as if it was festival..."

"Still, it feels weird that people forgot about you the moment he came back..."

Rio shook his head at Irvin’s words and replied in his usual emotionless voice,

"Nah... It was bound to happen; he’s been protecting the nation for decades. A new kid like me can’t overshadow his reputation in just a few months; it will take a lot of time and effort for that..."

"Matter of fact, I am not even interested in getting more famous than I already am; all I want is just opportunities to keep getting stronger..."

Irvin shook his head as he sighed before speaking.

"Your thirst for strength is incomprehensible to me... you are already so strong; I don’t understand why you are still so desperate for strength... almost as if you are scared that if you didn’t get strong, something bad will happen..."

Irvin has been working with Rio closely for several months now, and he has become fairly acquainted with Rio.

He has finally come to understand that the main reason why Rio has been progressing so fast and has been improving so swiftly is not only because of his own talent.

It’s mainly because Rio has an unquenchable thirst for strength; the stronger he gets, the more his thirst for even more strength increases. This cycle keeps going on and on, and it pushes Rio forward with immense speed.

"Even your girlfriend has to go take risks just to keep up with you... You are already an S-ranker; how about taking life a bit easy? let that young girl rest a bit; she’s desperately trying just to not be left behind..."

Hearing Irvin’s words, Rio sighed, and a rare look of helplessness appeared on his face.

"Others have the option of stopping... Others have the option of resting; I don’t. My time to rest hasn’t come yet; I need to get stronger, or I will never be able to rest..."

Lia’s happy smile appeared in Rio’s mind as he continued speaking.

"It’s regrettable that my continuous improvements have caused her to feel desperate for progress, but I can’t stop... even for Lia, even for my love... I must keep getting stronger, or there won’t even be someone left to love..."

Irvin could not understand why Rio was so desperate for strength, but he could not persuade Rio any further than this.

He did not want to make Rio angry at him for saying nonsensical things, and he did not want to get on Rio’s bad side.

Many have suffered horribly at Rio’s hands, and even Irvin feels a bit scared of Rio’s way of doing things; that’s why he stopped giving any more thoughtless suggestions.

"Well, with your talent and improvement speed, you will reach the realm of demi-gods in just a few more years I think; you can rest well after that..."

Irvin sighed and stopped mentioning the matter of progress, as he thought that Rio’s main goal must be reaching SS-rank as soon as possible.

What he didn’t know was that Rio was aiming much, much higher than that; he was aiming beyond the realm of demi-gods.

"Talking about the dwarf kingdom, how long will you be gone on this mission? Have you informed your wife about this?"

Rio almost choked on the tea after hearing that question.

"Cough! Cough! That surprised me! Old man, you are getting better at your jokes!"

"Well... hmm, it won’t be wrong to call, Lia my future wife though... hmm..."

Rio grinned happily at the mention of Lia and genuinely felt happy when talking about her.

"Well, I already sent a message to inform her... but she entered a peak S-rank dungeon with her father a month ago and there’s been no contact between us since then..."

"But no need to worry, I gave her something before she left on her difficult training journey; she will be safe as long as she has that thing with her..."

Irvin also nodded his head at Rio’s words.

"Yeah, S-rank dungeons these days have become more chaotic and difficult; it might take a long while for them to conquer it, perhaps even a few more months..."

"By the time she comes back, she might already be an S-ranker... she’s also a talented kid after all..."

Rio nodded his head and felt happy when someone complimented the girl he liked.

"Hehe... she’s the best! By the way, contact her father and tell him that I have left for the mission if the two of them end up coming out of the dungeon before I can make it back to the empire..."

Rio was going to be busy for a long while now; it was possible that Lia might come back before him and might feel sad and lonely, so Rio decided to leave a message and a reassurance as a backup plan.

"Hmm, that’s a good idea... if only your blockhead of a father was as thoughtful as you when it came to caring about his loved ones... sigh..."

"By the way... How sure are you that the kid you are trying to save might still be alive? If it was me, I wouldn’t dare even step into the spirit realm; that place is a literal ’Hell’..."

Rio was surprised that Irvin knew about the difficulties of the ’Spirit Realm’ and asked back,

"How do you know that the spirit realm is a ’hellish’ place... you don’t seem like the person to venture into such dangerous places, old man..."

Irvin sighed at Rio’s words and replied in a solemn voice,

"I haven’t gone there myself before... But your father tried to go there once. As you know, Kevin loved venturing into places that were inaccessible to normal people..."

"He loved breaking rules and loved being an unstoppable assassin... he once managed to slip inside for a few ’Minutes’..."

Rio’s eyebrows raised as asked.

"A few ’minutes’? Isn’t that a bit too short of a time frame?"

Irvin grinned a bit at Rio’s question before replying.

"Don’t underestimate the influence of ’Miasma’ on normal people like us, kiddo; unlike you, we all are very afraid of even touching that horrible power!"

"And that fool Kevin! He managed to stay in the presence of miasma for a few ’minutes’ without getting corrupted! That’s an amazing feat!"

You need to be S-rank or above to even have a little bit of a chance to resist miasmic corruption; weak individuals can’t even resist it for a few seconds.

The people with ’legendary skills’ are the only ones that have exceptional resistance to miasmic corruption; otherwise, you need to reach rank SS to even be able to properly resist miasma.

Even then, you need to be exceptionally good at using your ’world authority’ and must have good control over your mind and emotions, or you will still be prone to miasmic corruption in a place that is filled with miasma to the brim.

This is one of the main reasons why Raji refused to go to the ’Spirit Realm’; she’s more vulnerable to miasmic corruption than even Link.

"As you know, the dungeons of our world sometimes stimulate the locations of the real world very accurately..."

"Back then, there was a dungeon whose presence created a temporary weak node to the spirit realm and your father tried to enter from there... he only went there for a few minutes and came back..."

Irvin continued with a solemn tone,

"I still remember that day vividly; that was the day when, for the first time, I saw him so scared and panic-stricken. I had never seen him that shaken before that day..."

"He kept shouting, ’Insanity! How can this be!?’ over and over before he fainted... by the time he woke up, he had already forgotten about everything and could not remember what he saw..."

Irvin shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before asking again,

"And that’s why I am asking, are you really going to go to such a horrible place just to search for a kid who you don’t even know if he’s still alive or not?"

"The chances of saving him are slim; finding him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack even with that weird artifact that you mentioned... Moreover, the place is filled with dangers-"

Before Irvin could finish his words, Rio interjected,

"Don’t be so pessimistic all the time old man; it affects your health you know... I will be back with that lost fool soon enough; there’s nothing more to it..."

"Fear? I have never felt that emotion before; there’s no point in trying to stop me... The ’Spirit Realm’... In fact, I need just that kind of place for a better challenge..."

Rio grinned as he drank all of the tea and put the cup away. He got up from his seat and waved his hand at Irvin.

"Take care, old man. By the time I come back, I will be much, much stronger than I already am. I will bring you something as a souvenir from the ’Spirit Realm’... hehe..."

Irvin sighed at Rio’s words; he knew that it was useless to try to stop Rio now, and thus he could only pray for his safety.

"Keep yourself safe kiddo! I hope you succeed in your mission and come back safely in one single piece!"

"I will make some good tea for you if you come back soon!"

Rio smiled happily at those words.

"That’s a promise then old man!..."

With that said, Rio left the tavern and left just as silently as he had come.