Reborn as an Extra

Chapter 704: Burdens of being an Awakener. Part-2.

At Rio’s words, Riya nodded her head as the usual calm smile returned to her face.

"I kind of get it now why you were able to impress the ’Mad Demon Sword’ of our academy, who was famous for not liking men at all..."

"You have a way with the words... You are good at motivating people, sigh..."

"If only I was also as good as you at motivating myself..."

Saying those words, Riya started to float higher in the air.

"Thank you for the help, Rio... It’s getting late; I should head home now. if I disappear for too long, my protective and cuddly bear-like boyfriend will start to get worried and might feel lonely..."

"He may look tough from the outside, but he’s quite prone to being sad if I am not around..."

Rio waved his hand to say bye as he spoke.

"Well, I hope you will talk things out with him properly and share your burdens with him..."

"Make use of that sturdy body of his, make him carry your burdens for you..."

At those words, Riya nodded her head, smiled, and flew away in the direction of the capital city.

Rio watched Riya’s figure fade away into the distance for a while before he walked over to the bench located under the tree nearby and sat down.

While leaning his back against the bench, Rio stared at the setting sun near the horizon and spoke,

"How long are you going to stay in hiding like that? You do know that I am one of the best tracking experts in this nation, right?"

Hearing Rio’s words, the air trembled slightly as Raji’s figure appeared on the same bench Rio was sitting.

"You are not called the strongest S-ranker without a reason... I am surprised that you managed to notice me..."

"I guess it won’t be long before you reach rank SS..."

Raji was actually quite surprised that Rio noticed her presence so easily despite her best efforts to hide herself.

Usually the difference between S-rankers and SS-rankers is so massive that it’s practically impossible for even peak S-rankers to even think about contending with an early SS-ranker, let alone a much stronger one.

But Rio was different.

He was already good at detection capabilities with his unusually strong ’intuition,’ but now that he was only one step away from reaching rank SS, his skills had all reached a new height.

With how overpowered his soul manipulation ability was, Rio could even detect and track the hidden soul fluctuations of early SS-rankers like Raji now.

Moreover, it was impossible that Riya could have come all the way here to Oaklum with no one noticing that she was missing from the capital city.

Usually nobody would care if an S-ranker is randomly traveling all over the nation for no apparent reason, but Riya was special.

She was related to two SS-rankers and was the best healer in the entire nation.

Keeping her safe was very important; moreover, Raji was Riya’s older sister, so her being worried about her younger sister’s mental health was obvious.

Thus, Rio easily deduced that Raji was here to protect Riya from the shadows.

"I thought you would show up when we were talking and console her... I am surprised that you remained hidden until the end..."

Hearing Rio’s words, Raji sighed as she stared at a hairpin she was holding in her hand.

"It’s not that I didn’t want to come out and console her... it’s just I am not good at consoling and taking care of others at all..."

"I grew up aiming to be a ruthless and powerful warrior; unlike her, I have seen the cruel nature of the world vividly... and as they say, when you walk near a river, you are bound to get your feet wet..."

"That cruelty and cold-heartedness has made severe impact on me as a person... I am not good at talking about feelings at all; I just couldn’t find the words to say to her even if I knew that she was feeling burdened..."

Hearing those words, Rio sighed.

"Well... that’s what being an awakener is all about... it’s hard to get used to normal human feeling in our heart..."

Being an awakener is not easy, especially more so if you have loved ones who are not awakeners and cannot understand your world.

An awakener’s world and an ordinary person’s world are very different.

Both have their own set of difficulties, and both have their own different lives; it’s hard to comprehend both worlds at the same time.

"Well, she’s heading back home to talk things out with Link... won’t you go with her and listen to her too? Even if you don’t give any consoling words, just being there for her is already enough, you know..."

"Sometimes just having a shoulder to lean on is already enough to share your burdens and regain your strength..."

Raji sighed at Rio’s words, got up from the bench, and nodded her head.

"Indeed... you are right, I should go..."

"Rio... Lia was right. You are a good person, and I am very thankful that you are friends with Riya and Link... You have helped them and me too a lot... I will forever be grateful for that..."

Rio waved his hand at those words.

"It’s nothing special... I am just trying to lend my help as much as I can in times of need... I am not perfect myself; nobody is..."

"But trying again and again is all we can do... after all, that’s what It means to be human..."

Raji nodded her head at Rio as a sign of thanks and then flew away to chase after Riya.

Seeing the two sisters finally leave, Rio sighed deeply.

"Sigh... despite being emotionless myself... I am giving advice about being human to others... what hypocrisy... sigh..."

Truth be told, Rio felt no regret or sadness for Zach or Riko’s death... it wasn’t that he hated those two or anything; it’s just that he was simply incapable of caring about anyone else other than Lia.

But to blend with others like a normal human being, Rio had to pretend and act all the time.

’Acting like a human... is more tiring than I expected it to be...’

’Sigh... I was just lecturing Riya that she should share her burdens with her loved ones and look at me... I can’t even share my own burdens with Lia, whom I trust the most and I am trying to advice others...’

It’s not that Rio didn’t want to share his fears with Lia; it’s just that he didn’t want to make Lia worried more than she already is.

Shaking his head, Rio got up and decided to go home early.

’Forget it... all this brainstorming has made me run out of energy; I need to go home and hug my wife to recharge myself...’