Reborn as an Extra Chapter 907: A New Adventure! Team Astra, Assemble! Part-2.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon, and a thin golden mist still floated over the fields of flowers around the palace.

As time was short and the group had to return before the wedding day, the entire group assembled in the front garden of the demon king palace early in the morning the very next day!

Their breath came out in small white clouds in the cool morning air, and the dew on the grass shone like scattered crystals beneath their boots.

"It’s been a while since we last went to the Dragon Valley... back then we were all newly ascended A-rankers. Can’t believe it’s already been so long~"

Link stretched his arms high above his head to do a light warmup and took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scent of the morning as he looked around at his old companions.

Link and Riya did make some unofficial visits to the Dragon Valley in the past few years for training purposes, but at those times they had only gone alone.

Those lonely trips had been filled with hard training and very little talk, and he still remembered the sore muscles and long, quiet evenings that followed.

Now that the entire group was going there, it was different! They had never entered the hidden fairyland domain! This time they were going somewhere new!

It felt like the old days again, when they had walked through unknown lands together with nothing but courage and a few terrible plans.

Riya especially was so excited to go to Fairyland that the happy grin on her face was clearly visible on her cute face.

She bounced lightly on her toes and kept glancing toward the magic carriage Selain had brought, as if she were afraid it might leave without her.

While the girls boarded the carriage while chatting with each other, Link nudged Rio and asked in a confused tone,

"By the way, I have been meaning to ask, if your world authority... no, if your world authorities are able to interfere even with concept-level things and entities, can you change and modify others’ ’Path’ too?"

That single question was apparently all it took to turn the quiet morning into an interrogation, and Rio folded his arms with the weary look of a man who already knew what was coming.

Link admired the strong, and he had inherited the trait of thirst for battle and strength from his father perfectly.

Whenever he heard of a powerful opponent, his eyes would light up in a way that always made Riya sigh and shake her head.

So, ever since he found out that Rio had become an SS ranker, he just couldn’t sit still and kept asking one question after another.

His curiosity had turned into a small mountain of questions, and he had been saving them up for an opportunity just like this one.

If it were before, Rio would have given him a cold look and shrugged him off. That cold glance was usually enough to shut the other party up completely.

Link had learned to read it like weather before deciding whether to speak further.

But now things were different.

Rio had regained his emotions, and he could switch between his generous human mode and his cold, ruthless mode.

It was a strange kind of balance, as if two different people lived within him and each knew exactly when to step forward.

Fortunately for Link, the morning sun and the peaceful scenery had put Rio in a rather good mood.

Link just happened to ask this question when Rio was in the generous human mode, so Rio answered the question calmly and patiently.

"I can do that indeed... but you must keep in mind that others’ ’paths’ are unique to themselves, and interfering with them does more harm than good..."

He spoke slowly, with his hands behind his back, in the manner of a teacher who had thought long and hard about the subject already.

"If you ask me to modify a person’s path too much, it would just break apart instead of molding into a new form..."

It was like trying to bend a sword too far, for it would either spring back to its original shape or snap in half without warning.

"People’s paths represent their dreams, ambitions, and goals; modifying them is like brainwashing them to forget or change their dreams! This is not only difficult but can also cause damage to the target’s soul directly..."

His voice dropped into a quieter tone, and the usual playful glint in his eyes faded as he said it.

Hearing those words, Link shook his head in disappointment and spoke,

"Err... I was thinking that if you can interfere with someone’s path and advancement, wouldn’t it be easy for you to boost someone’s strength?"

His shoulders drooped like a child who had been told that dessert had been cancelled, and the sight made Liam hold back a small laugh.

He said it with such an innocent and hopeful look that it was difficult to be angry with him for even thinking about it.

"For example, Liam and Ellie... if you can modify their path, wouldn’t it be possible to help them restore their strength back to their peak instantly?"

Hearing that question, Liam also felt interested and looked at Rio, wanting to hear his opinion.

Although he did not say it aloud, he had been carrying the same hopeful thought in his heart for a very long time.

Seeing those eager eyes, Rio felt a bit helpless and replied as calmly as possible,

"You guys are being too unreal... ’Power’ itself does not work like that in our universe..."

Rio had actually expected this question to come eventually, and he knew that his answer would not be the one they wanted to hear.

He rubbed his temples with two fingers and sighed.

"Hmm, how do I say... in this universe, the fundamental rule to hold ’power’ is that you have to ’earn’ it to make it yours. You can’t just directly be promoted to a high realm with outside help..."

He paused for a moment to search for the right words, and the morning breeze tugged lightly at the edges of his coat.

"This restriction comes from a person’s own ’Path’... for example, imagine a person’s dream is to become the best tea maker in the world!"

He raised a finger in the air, and the others leaned in a little closer, curious about the example he was about to give.

It was one of those truths that sounded simple when spoken aloud, yet took many years of bitter experience to really understand.

"Instead of learning, the person buys the best tea-making machine, creates a famous brand, and makes tea from machines that people end up liking... his business is booming, his goals are achieved, and he becomes famous for being the best teamaker..."

Rio even spread his arms wide as he described it as if he was trying his best

"But only he himself knows that he never even learned to make tea; it was all external gains... despite achieving his end goal, he never even walked a single step forward on his ’Path’..."

The tea maker could smile in front of everyone and accept all the praise in the world, but in the quiet of his heart he would always know the truth.