Chapter 607: After Kael’s Departure

However, the atmosphere in the hall was quite fun

Lian put his hands in his pockets and headed toward the central area.

There were several large ranking boards there.

Some were for the country’s academy students, while others covered all Awakened registered at the base.

He first looked at the student rankings.

There were five different categories.

Most Solo Hunts.

Most Group Hunts.

Best Mission Performance.

Best Exploration and Resource Discovery.

And Best Support and Rescue Performance.

He looked through the names on the boards for a moment.

"So even healers have their own rankings."

This system made sense.

If the number of monsters killed was the only standard for judging performance, many important roles within a group would be ignored.

A skilled healer could be far more valuable than someone who had only defeated a few weak monsters by saving the lives of several Awakened during a mission.

As expected, Kain still held first place in Most Solo Hunts, and no one had managed to beat his record yet.

However, his attention was mainly drawn to the second set of boards.

The official rankings of the country’s Awakened Association.

Unlike the student rankings, these rankings included all qualified Awakened registered at the base.

There were three main categories.

Individual Combat Achievements.

Group Combat Achievements.

And Exploration and Border Services.

A notice beside the boards explained that every three months, the top ten individuals or groups in each category would receive rewards based on their final scores.

Financial credits, training resources, shopping points at the Association’s store, and priority access to certain special missions.

He tilted his head slightly.

Not bad.

For Awakened who spent most of their time in the Ruined Realm, these rewards could be a good source of motivation.

But just as he was about to walk past the boards, his eyes stopped on the first-place team in the group category.

The group’s name was familiar, and he recognized it even without seeing their former leader’s name.

Kael’s former group held first place in the Group Combat Achievements ranking at Base #3, as he could tell from the names of its members.

Lian looked at the board for a few seconds before giving a faint smile.

So they were still doing well even after Kael left, and they had managed to remain the best group at the base.

It had been a long time since he had last seen them.

"Lian?"

A familiar voice came from behind him.

He turned around.

A girl with fiery red hair and a large sword on her back stood a few steps away.

Her eyes stayed on Lian’s face for a moment before she smiled.

"It’s really you!"

Lian recognized her immediately.

Rhea.

And three other familiar faces were standing beside her.

Zak, the dual-wielding swordsman, Bren, the shield-bearing warrior, and Elias, the group’s healer.

He smiled.

"Looks like you’re all still together."

"Did you think we could get rid of each other that easily?" Rhea walked a few steps closer.

The young Vorhelm glanced at the huge sword on her back.

"At least you still have the same sword."

She laughed.

"And I’m even better at using it than before."

"Good, I just hope you don’t insult people the first time you meet them anymore."

Rhea paused for a moment before laughing even louder.

"You still remember that?"

"It’s hard to forget. I think you called me a freeloader before you even knew my name."

Zak, who had been silent until then, raised the corner of his mouth.

"Well, that really was a big mistake on her part."

Rhea turned her head toward him.

"Zak!"

"It’s the truth." The swordsman shrugged.

Lian laughed, but the atmosphere soon became calmer.

Bren stepped forward and held out his hand.

"I’m glad to see you again."

Lian shook his hand.

"Me too."

"By the way, we never properly thanked you for what happened during the siege." Bren continued in a more serious tone.

"You don’t need to. This is my base too, so protecting it is only natural."

"Maybe to you, but we haven’t forgotten what you did."

This time, Rhea also nodded without making a joke.

During the siege of Base #3, they had witnessed the efforts Lian made and the dangers he faced to defend the base.

Those events had changed the way they saw him.

He was no longer just the unknown young man who had once argued for a bigger share in the middle of a battle against a Lava Behemoth.

"We haven’t seen you at this base since that incident. We heard that you went to a Special Area and came back with quite a few injuries. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check on you back then." Elias added with a gentle smile.

"A lot of time has passed since then, but yeah, we had a hard time in that Special Area."

At the same time, Lian had a chance to take a closer look at the four of them.

Since their last meeting, their presence had changed noticeably.

The mana around Elias’s body had become denser.

Bren’s body seemed much stronger.

Even Zak’s movements and Rhea’s balance were different from before.

He couldn’t see their exact status through the system, but judging from the pressure of their presence and their auras, he guessed that they had made great progress.

They were probably not far from their Second Evolution anymore.

Of course, this was only an estimate.

However, it seemed that the group had continued to grow even without Kael.

"By the way, how is Kael?" he asked.

Rhea nodded, but there was a hint of frustration in her voice.

"He’s doing well, though he barely has time to talk to us these days."

Lian already knew that Kael had joined one of the Twelve Ancient Guilds.

However, he still didn’t know much about his new situation.

"Are his training sessions that intense?"

"More intense than we expected." Zak answered.

She continued.

"The last time we talked, he said his training schedule took up almost all his time. Apparently, his new teachers are very strict about controlling the lightning element."

"He even said that he had only recently realized how much there was about lightning that he still didn’t know." Elias added.

The young Vorhelm smiled when he heard this, as he still remembered their old battle on the plains.

Kael’s control over the lightning element had been amazing even back then.

Unlike Lian, who mainly used lightning to improve his movements and physical attacks, Kael truly used it like a skilled mage.

If he was now training under the guidance of teachers from one of the Ancient Guilds, he could probably reach a much higher level in the future.

"Then he’s making a lot of progress."

Rhea smiled.

"I hope so, but don’t think we’re going to fall behind just because he left."

Lian glanced at the ranking board.

"It doesn’t look like you have."

Bren nodded.

"After he left, we had to change our fighting style."

"We used to coordinate most of our moves with Kael’s lightning attacks, but now we’ve divided the responsibility of controlling the battlefield among ourselves." Zak continued.

Rhea placed her hand on the hilt of her large sword.

"And I finally have more chances to attack."

"You weren’t exactly holding back before."

"Now I’m better at attacking." She replied casually.

Lian let out a short laugh, but despite the light tone of their conversation, he could feel the group’s real progress.

They hadn’t simply learned a few new skills.

They had been forced to rebuild their roles and teamwork without relying on their strongest former member.

And the results seemed to be quite good.

After talking for a while, Rhea realized that Lian had returned for the expedition to the Land of First Dawn.

"We’ll probably leave today."

"Then take care of yourself." She added.

Lian smiled.

"You all take care of yourselves too."

Bren put a hand on Zak’s shoulder and said that they should get back to their delayed missions.

Elias and Rhea also prepared to leave, but just before they parted ways, Rhea turned around again.

"Lian."

He looked at her, and the girl smiled.

"Next time you come back, maybe we can hunt together again. And I’m sorry for how I acted when we first met."

Lian smiled and nodded.

"Why not."

He watched them leave for a few seconds before looking at the first-place ranking on the board again.

Good.

It seemed the others hadn’t been sitting around doing nothing either.

When he returned to the departure area, the preparations for the convoy were almost complete.

Several armored carriages stood in the designated area, the transport monsters waited under the control of their handlers, and the escort groups were moving around the route.

The ten selected candidates were also gradually gathering at the meeting point.

Noah was one of the last people to return.

He had his long umbrella resting on his shoulder and was walking toward the group while talking to one of the staff members.

When he saw Lian, he smiled.

"So you’re back too."

Lian nodded.

"Yeah."

"Your base is an interesting place. I had time to look around a little."

"For someone who just arrived, it probably is."

Noah’s smile widened.

"Have you been here before?"

"For a long time."

"Then if we come back here again, you’ll probably have to show me around the entire base."

"If I have time." The young Vorhelm shrugged

"I’ll count on that." He nodded with satisfaction.

At that moment, the escort commander’s voice came from the front of the area, and everyone present turned their attention toward him.

The commander was an experienced man wearing dark military armor.

Several senior officers, reconnaissance officers, and defensive mages stood beside him.

After checking the latest reports, he announced,

"All units, prepare to move. From this moment on, the safety of the ten selected candidates will be the escort’s top priority."

His gaze moved across the students.

"It will take about a week to reach our destination. During the journey, no one is allowed to leave the protected area without permission."