Reborn as an Extra

293  The Award Ceremony! Part-4.

Ryul waved his hand to a nearby butler as soon as he finished awarding all the students, with the exception of the tournament champion.

The butler nodded his head and relayed his command to the servants.

Two rows of knights wearing shining elven-style armor walked in from two different directions, then marched to the red carpet in the middle area.

Both rows of knights moved in perfect sync, standing on either side of the red carpet.

The knights drew their swords and aimed them at the ground; their precise movements created a remarkable momentum.

Musicians started to play an epic heroic theme in an instant when the knights took their positions.

Even Ashtel and the other SS rankers were surprised by this scene.

Jin glanced at those knights, and a confused look appeared on his face.

”This is?”

A smile appeared on Ashtelʼs stern face, and he replied in a calm voice.

”This is the ʼRoyal Salutation of fifty-one knightsʼ… This ceremony is the symbol of the highest respect given to a particular individual in the whole Elven Empire...”

”They usually do this when an army general or someone who has achieved great merits comes back victorious from war…”

”Twenty-five knights on the right and twenty-five on the left, and the person of merit himself is the 51st Knight…”

”This basically shows that the whole Elven Empire has accepted the person as a great knight… to think that Ryul will pull this off now…”

There are only a few people who have ever received this honor throughout the past two millennia.

Not even King Allen was given this honor because he beat up the Elven King of that era; not even Ryul himself has ever received this honor, even though he is the current King of the Elven Empire.

Only someone who has achieved great merit in the Elven Empire can receive this honor.

Ryul has been a king for a century, but he never felt that he himself was worthy of receiving this great honor, but today he organized it especially for the champion.

Rio demonstrated his talent and triumphed over talented individuals from all over the world.

Technically, he stands as the top powerhouse of the younger generation; he has become a source of motivation and inspiration for the young awakeners.

He rose from humble origins, reached these heights with his own hard work, and even defeated Link, who was already being considered the strongest in the younger generation.

Simply put, Rio has earned this honor by defeating all the worldʼs geniuses while standing on the soil of the Elven Empire, so they must show him the utmost respect.

If they donʼt show this much respect, it would mean that they are belittling the next strongest person.

The Elves are smart people; they donʼt want to get on the wrong side of the one who will dominate the whole era in the next generation.

Itʼs better to show some favors when you still have the opportunity.

Although this show of respect is being organized to gain Rioʼs favor, all SS-rankers felt that it was fair. Barely anyone has ever received this honor, after all.

The first person to receive this honor was ʼAstraʼ because she once helped the Elven race with her healing magic. Next were ʼAriaʼ and ʼSyvisʼ because they healed the world tree.

And now the fourth is Rio Flash.

He won the championship of supreme talents, and he did so in front of the whole world.

In past championships, everything was done hidden from the eyes of the world, and even the talents of the champions were not that special.

They did eventually become strong people, but they werenʼt as insanely broken as Rio is.

Ryul has ruled the Elven Empire for a long time; he has an extraordinary intuition.

He can feel that giving this honor to Rio was the best choice possible.

…

The main gate of the royal garden opened, and a young man wearing a golden crown walked inside.

The cape on his back swayed with the wind, and the symbol of the world tree on it seemed to be blessing everyone who looked at it.

With one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other in his pocket, the young man walked with impeccable form.

It seemed as if he had practiced the royal manners a lot.

His face remained as expressionless as ever, and his eyes remained as lifeless as ever, but his aura alone was strong and firm.

Aside from Link, all candidates could feel the massive momentum generated by his steady footsteps.

Knights donning silver and greenish armor walked behind him, and with each step, the knights on both sides of the red carpet saluted him and kneeled down on one knee to welcome him.

And an epic, heroic melody was being played in the background by the musicians, who were welcoming the young man with great pomp and show.

Ryul handed over the microphone to the butler, who then made the announcement in a respectful voice.

[We, as the people of the Elven Empire,

We, the children of the world tree,

We, the humble dwellers of the forest,

Welcome thee with utmost respect!

Thou art who won the supreme honour,

May the world tree bless thee with absolute grace…]

When the national welcome lines ended, Rio arrived on stage.

He had learned all the royal etiquette in the previous few hours, so he adhered to them.

He brought out his sword and kneeled on one knee towards the Elven King.

Then he stretched out his hand in a gesture to hand over the ceremonial sword to Ryul.

The Elven King nodded his head with a smile, then took the sword and placed it on Rioʼs shoulder.

[Thou art the one who won the true honor,

May you be recognized as a great knight from this day onʼ

And may the world tree bless thee,

Rio Flash, The ʼSupreme Swordʼ.]

Not only did Ryul bestow knighthood upon Rio, he even gave him a unique title of his own.

From that day onwards, Rio will be known as the ʼSupreme Swordʼ in the whole Elven Empire.

When Ryul finished talking, all of the knights who were kneeling also shouted in sync.

[May the world tree bless thee! May the ʼSupreme Swordʼ stay victorious forever!]

Although Rioʼs face remained expressionless, he was feeling quite happy after getting praised so much in just one day.

Those who rarely ever receive compliments know the true value of a compliment; thus, Rio appreciated all those compliments greatly.

He accepted this great honor ceremony wholeheartedly.

ʼWell, I guess I had paid them back for this honor by saving their prince and their nation altogether…ʼ

Although others donʼt know about it, Rio did save the elven nation from demise and helped their prince.

If he hadnʼt interfered, then the elven nation would have been destroyed by Fade, according to the original storyline.

This means, technically, that Rio indeed has great merits, and he is worthy of accepting this honor. Others just donʼt know about it.

…

”He looks stunning today…”

Liaʼs eyes shone like stars when she saw Rio in that royal dress.

Not only did he have a unique hairstyle today, he also looked particularly handsome in those tailor-made clothes.

They suit his emotionless style so perfectly, as if every inch of that dressʼs fabric was created just to be worn by Rio one day.

Even Link and Liam were shocked by this massive scene.

They didnʼt expect that Rio would receive such great honor by winning the championship.

Although they were a bit jealous in their hearts, they still felt happy for Rio.

Rio had won fair and square against them, so they readily accepted this honor, and since Rio looked quite handsome today, they decided to stop joking about him being ordinary.

Only one person was unhappy about it all.

ʼTch! It should have been me to receive the reverence of everyone….ʼ

Fade felt irritated when he saw that everyone was looking at Rio in awe. He wanted to be the one to receive these looks of awe and respect.

Although he was feeling unhappy, he dared not say it out loud at this moment for fear of attracting Rioʼs gaze.

…

Rio stood up and received the ceremonial sword back from Ryul.

This sword is of no use to Rio, but itʼs a symbol of the Elven Empireʼs respect for him, so he carefully put it back in his space ring.

”Now then, letʼs move on to your reward, shall we?”

Rio nodded his head at Ryulʼs words.

Ryul waved his hand, and the two of them flew into the air and went towards the gigantic trunk of the ʼWorld Treeʼ. Ryul had extended his ʼauthorityʼ to help Rio stand in the air.

While standing just a handʼs distance away from the trunk of the ʼWorld Treeʼ, Ryul said in a calm voice.

”The reward for the champion of this tournament is a ʼBlessing of the World Treeʼ itself… The blessing itself differs from person to person; what Vanya and others received was a blessing given on birth or awakening…”

”But you are different; you have earned the appreciation of the World Tree with your own hard work….”

”This blessing is just a medium; it will help you achieve something that you have always wanted to… It entirely depends on your will and what you want… So donʼt worry too much and stay positive…”

”You just need to place your hand on the trunk and close your eyes to start… Give it a try…”

Rio nodded his head at Ryulʼs words and stretched out his hand toward the trunk of the ʼWorld Treeʼ.

He placed his palm and closed his eyes.

Seeing that Rio was about to start, Ryul retreated in the distance to give Rio space, and he cast a barrier to isolate Rio from outside.

Ignoring all those things, a thought came to Rioʼs mind.

ʼThis is it; I have worked hard just to steal this chance… and I finally got my hands on it… Letʼs start now…ʼ

At that moment, Rio said it in a quiet and calm voice.

”I wish for strength…”

…

…

Authorʼs notes.

Yo! Itʼs your beloved author here!

Actually, the whole tournament and everything were already part of this stealing session.

From the moment Rio came to the Elven Empire, his goal was already set. Finally, he completed all of the necessary procedures for this stealing session.

Question of the day:.

Do you also feel that the words Rio said at the last moment were familiar?

(Tell me where else he used those words…)

By the way, donʼt 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.