As Lia's rank rose to the next level, a massive tornado of condensed mana appeared around her, just as it usually does when an A-ranker or above-level individual ascends.
As Rio had witnessed this type of sudden ascension before, he wasn't caught off-guard, and he directly jumped away to make some distance.
If it were normal, Ashtel and others would have arrived by now, but currently, they are prohibited from leaving the VVIP area until the tournament concludes.
This rule was made so that none of the SS-rankers try to do anything shady to make their candidates win; after all, a fair and square competition is the key to improvement.
As a result, aside from a few A-rankers who were on patrol duty, no one else came to watch Lia ascend.
But still, with the amazing detection capabilities of the SS-rankers, they could all sense her ascension from far away.
…
VVIP Area.