Inside the SSA, Central Area, on the Evening of the fourth Day.


    "Seriously, what took you so much time to arrive here!? I have been waiting for an hour here!" (Link)


    Hearing Link say that Rio replied without any expression on his face:


    "Doesn''t that mean that you have also reachedte here, I bet you must have been busy bullying weak monsters or perhaps you were showing off to the newbies..." (Rio)


    Ignoring Rio, Link looked at the copsed members of Rio''s group, he pointed his finger at them and said with a confused face:


    "Leaving that aside, what happened to these guys?" (Link)


    "Nothing, they are just too weak, can''t even withstand a shallow wind breeze…" (Rio)


    Rio shook his head in disappointment as he insulted the newbies with an expressionless face as if he didn''t even care about them copsing on the floor and crying like a baby.


    Just then Lia also walked over from Riya''s side, she looked at the copsed newbies strangely but didn''t mention them.


    "Including Rio''s group now we have four groups here, but we still need one more group to be present to activate the teleportation circle only then will we be able to go to the boss arena." (Lia)


    "Indeed, but are there even anyone strong enough to even reach this ce on his own aside from us…" (Link)


    "You don''t even know that there are quite a few strong individuals in our ss? Do you even look at the rankings of other ss members aside from your own?" (Rio)


    Hearing Rio, Link averted his gaze and said in a low voice:


    "O-of course, I look at them, like I know that you are ranked 2…. Wait you are ranked below me…. Doesn''t that mean I am stronger than you!?" (Link)


    "You just noticed that I was ranked below you?..." (Rio)


    Rio shook his head and thought in his head:


    ''Where is that shrewd and cunning Link I read about in the novel!? This guy has be so dumb! I never knew that having a girlfriend can lower your IQ!'' (Rio)


    "Come on bro! Don''t look at me as if I am garbage! You are hurting my feelings!" (Link)


    While Rio and Link were busy confronting each other, half an hour passed away quietly, and finally, the fifth group arrived at the central area.


    A huge wyvern appeared in the sky, the wyvern started to descend near the altar, looking at therge wyvern Link stood up immediately, he was about tounch an attack but Rio stopped him from doing so.


    "That''s a summoned beast of a ssmate, don''t attack it…." (Rio)


    "What!? That''s a peak B-rank monster! Someone from our ss is capable of summoning that!?..." (Link)


    "Indeed it is the first time, I have seen it too, is it really a summoned beast?" (Lia)


    Link and Lia both looked amazed by looking at the size of that monster, apparently, neither of them ever inquired much about the strength or profiles of their ssmates, they only care about their close ones after all.


    As the wyvern finally descended to the ground four individuals jumped down from its back andnded on the ground.


    Link looked at Rio with a smile on his face, he gave Rio a thumbs up and said:


    "You are indeed quite smart, Rio, just your face is a bit irritating that''s all…" (Link)


    "You are also quite annoying, you know…" (Rio)


    ''Well, I just know about it because I read about it in the novel…'' (Rio)


    Among the four that descended from the back of the wyvern was a boy leading them with a shrewd-looking grin on his face.


    Looking at the guy Link had a surprised face and he said in a serious tone:


    "Hey, Rio, this guy, he''s…." (Link)


    Listening to Link''s question in a serious tone, Rio nodded his head and said:


    "He''s strong…. Indeed…" (Rio)


    ….


    Liam got down from the Wyvern''s back, he nced around the area and his gaze stopped on Link and Rio standing near the altar, a feminine voice rang in his head instantly with a tone of concern in it:


    ''Master! Be careful! These two guys are quite strong!'' (???)


    ''I know, I know, Ellie, both of them are quite high in the rankings, I am ranked 3 because of the presence of these two after all, don''t worry too much, there''s no need to fight them right now…'' (Liam)


    ''Okay!'' (Ellie)


    While Liam was looking at Link and Rio, they were also looking at him, thus a chilly atmosphere appeared between the three of them. All the newbies who sensed the chilly aura circting around here stepped back one by one.


    Ignoring the atmosphere Liam walked towards Rio and Link with his signature shrewd smile on his face:


    "Well, well, if it isn''t the invincible duo from ss A-3… oh wait we are all in the same ss now…" (Liam)


    (After the death or expulsion of many students there are only enough students to be put in one ss now, the increasingly smaller number of the students in the ss as the years go on is actually a normal phenomenon thus generally there''s only one ss for the second and third-year students in the academy. After all from the original thousand students that enter the academy only a few of them actually graduate by the end of the third year.)


    Liam pushed his hand forward for a handshake, Link also did the same with a bright smiling expression on his face, and Rio just did the handshake with the same expressionless face.


    Liam looked at Rio for a while before saying:


    "Actually I am more impressed by you ''Dark Star Rio'', to be able to progress so much from a humble background, you have amazing talent and determination…" (Liam)


    Despite it looking like a taunting gesture from him, Liam was actually praising Rio from the bottom of his heart, it''s just his way of talking is twisted, and this is also the reason he doesn''t have any friends in the academy.


    "Oh, thanks, you yourself are quite amazing, to be able to summon such high-ranking monsters is also an amazing talent you have…" (Rio)


    Although Rio didn''t say it out loud he knew that this wyvern was not actually the strongest beast Liam had summoned, he had a much stronger one, which resided in his consciousness and was also the one that protected Liam from any mortal danger.


    Liam hurriedly let go of Rio''s hand, because he felt that Rio could look right through him and all his secrets were exposed in front of Rio, although he felt a little ufortable he sighed in his mind and changed the topic of the conversation.


    "By the way, when are we going to fight the boss, are there enough people now, I actually arrived here the second day of the survival test, but since no one was here I just went away to pass some time…" (Liam)


    Link looked at the copsed newbies who were being healed by Riya and said:


    "Including your group, now there are enough people to start the teleportation circle, but since it''s already night, how about we do it tomorrow though, the newbies still need to get some rest after all…" (Link)


    Hearing that Liam and Rio also nodded their heads.


    "Well since that''s the case, I would go and set up the bonfire with my group, let''s attack the boss tomorrow together…" (Liam)


    Saying that Liam went towards the group, Link went away to help Riya heal the newbies and Rio sat down near Lia.


    "Why are you so quiet today, did you get injured?" (Rio)


    "I am not so weak to get injured so easily, humph…" (Lia)


    Looking at Lia, pouting her cheeks, Rio shook his head:


    ''When will she learn to be honest with herself? Sigh~'' (Rio)


    ….


    ….


    Outside the SSA, near the main gate.


    "How can you be so careless!? Why didn''t you protect the newbies, all three members of your group got eliminated!" (Teacher)


    "It was not my fault! They were all so weak they couldn''t even ask for help, how was I supposed to protect them!" (Fade)


    The teacher looked at Fade with anger on his face, thinking about the three newbies who got beaten half to death during the test due to Fade''s carelessness, his anger red up even more.


    If not for the fact that they had arranged an S-rank healer here specially for this test they could not have been able to heal those three students back to full health.


    The teacher red at Fade and said:


    "You are eliminated in this test! And you get zero marks! Now go back to the academy and write apology letters to all three of the students who got injured because of you!" (Teacher)


    Although it was indeed Fade''s mistake but, how could a protagonist apologize to some nobodies:


    "No! I didn''t do anything wrong! Why must I apologize instead those three should apologize to me for being so weak!" (Fade)


    "You!" (Teacher)


    ….


    ….


    Author''s Notes.


    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.