“If you stop speaking, this king promises, no one will think you’re dead!” Wukong said, interrupting the giant warrior from the War God’s Academy, not even turning around to face him.

Brutus glared daggers at the ape-like man, but ultimately, he decided against saying or doing anything that could further provoke the madman.

“If Ace joins, I want to join too!” Killian said excitedly.

“Me too,” Alissa said, sneaking glances at the unsuspecting Killian.

“Haha, with your talents, you’re both more than qualified to join the Yin-Yang Pavilion.” Wukong nodded with a pleased smile.

“What about you, Ace? Do you dare to join a newly formed school for both warriors and mages with only two full-time teachers?”

Ace immediately understood what Wukong was really asking. If he could trust them at the Pavilion to make the most of his potential, despite them being so lacklustre in comparison to the average institute.

“If you dare to accept me, I dare to join you!” Ace replied with a confident smile.

Wukong laughed happily hearing Ace’s answer. He understood that Ace was saying that if the Yin-Yang Pavilion dared to accept him, even after he provoked a warrior with the bloodline of one of the supreme warriors and the dignity of one of the most prestigious institutions on the continent, then he would put his trust in them.

“Yahaha, good, good!” Wukong laughed victoriously, having recruited three top-tier talents. “Since this king is in such a good mood today, let me, as your substitute teacher, give you your first lesson here and now. As students of the Yin-Yang Pavilion, losing is acceptable, but you can’t lose the pavilion’s face. If someone tries to insult the dignity of the pavilion…”

As Wukong paused for dramatic effect, Ace, with the help of his haki, was the first person who realised that what was left standing in front of them was nothing but an afterimage. Turning his head, he noticed that Wukong was now stood behind the unsuspecting Brutus with a crystal white bo staff in his hand.

‘Where did the staff come from?’ Ace wondered as he watched from his spot.

“…You remind them of their place!” Wukong said in a playful tone which put the fear of god in Brutus as he realised what was about to happen.

“No, you can’t do th…”

Before Brutus even had the chance to try and dodge, Wukong thrust his staff forth like a bolt of lightning. “Eat this king’s staff!”

Brutus desperately wanted to dodge, but as the staff neared him, he felt as if space itself was compressing around him. He could only watch in horror as the staff shattered his chest plate before losing consciousness.

“So strong!” Muttered Killian as he watched Brutus’ body fly through the air breaking the giant doors of the hall.

‘How did he do that?’ Ace wondered as he replayed Wukong’s attack over and over again.

Through his observation haki, Ace could sense that Brutus was trying with all his might to dodge but couldn’t. ‘It was almost as if there was something holding him in place.’

With a flick of his wrist, the glistening white staff in his furry hands magically disappeared.

“Interspatial Ring,” Alissa said in surprise.

Although she was extremely quiet when she said it, how could Ace, who was standing so close to her, not hear with his enhanced senses as a warrior of the second rank? Despite being interested in knowing more, he knew now wasn’t the time nor place to talk about such things.

Looking at the church official with a carefree smile, Wukong flipped his hands, and a frost blue magicite core five times the size of the one Ace won from Brutus earlier magically appeared in a similar fashion to his Bo Staff.

“Here, this should cover any damages,” Wukong said as he tossed the magicite core to the invigilator. “It’s from a rank nine Frost Python that attacked this king on the way here.”

There was virtually no power behind Wukong’s throw, but the Radiant Church’s examiner showed unparalleled focus when catching it. Afterall, it was a rank nine magicite core. It was worth 5,000,000 in gold coins.

Though expensive, Wukong was well aware he only caused a few tens of thousands in damages at most. The reason he gave them so much was because, though he could be impulsive, he was still intelligent enough to know that acting as he did inside the Radiant Churches’ domain could be considered rude on his part, and he didn’t want to offend them for no reason. Plus, he didn’t see the average rank nine beast as anything more than dinner.

By the time the invigilator looked up from the treasure in his hand, Wukong had already strolled past him towards Ace, Killian, and Alissa.

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“Are you kids ready to go?” He asked leisurely, no longer feeling the need to pay attention to anyone else present.

Lance, who was still standing behind the guards that had prevented him from going forward earlier, genuinely felt like he’d aged ten years in the space of one day.

He went from almost having a heart attack when Ace got into a battle of words with that Brutus fellow, to feeling like he was on cloud nine seeing Killian’s results, to feeling both worried and angry when Ace said he was willing to give his arm as part of the bet, to ecstatic when Ace set the record for the strongest spiritual essence ever recorded in history, to feeling at anger towards heaven for stripping Ace of the talent he believed he deserved when they found out he had no affinity.

Still, he felt genuinely relieved when Wukong offered both boys a spot in ‘the pavilion’. That relief turned into excitement when he witnessed Wukong’s strength. As far as he was concerned, the institution couldn’t be too bad with a powerhouse like him there.

“Lance, come on, we’re leaving!” Ace’s calm yet immature voice woke him from his daze.

He watched as the guards that had previously blocked his path hastily moved aside. Lance was well aware they moved due to the presence of Wukong, but it didn’t matter to him.

He ran over to Ace and Killian and gave them a giant bear hug. “Thank God you 2 are alright. You worried me half to death!”

“No need to worry so much; I knew what I was doing!” Ace said confidently. “Oww! What was that for?”

Lance glared at Ace as he removed his hand from the back of the boy’s head. “What happened to being on your best behaviour?”

Ace could only chuckle sheepishly, knowing he had probably caused Lance no small amount of worry.

“I’m sorry!” Ace said sincerely.

Even though Ace didn’t regret anything he did or said here today, he was genuinely sorry about making Lance worry. He could hear the panic in his voice when Ace volunteered to bet his arm. He never thought for a second he’d lose, but worrying Lance like that was the last thing he wanted to do. But at the same time, a warm feeling rose in his heart, knowing that Lance cared so much.

“Just don’t do something so reckless again!” Lance replied, feeling Ace’s sincerity. “And don’t tell your mom! There’s no point in her worrying over spilt milk for no reason!”

“Agreed!” Giving Milianna unnecessary worries was the last thing any of them wanted to do.

“Ok, ok, this king doesn’t have all day. Let’s get going already!” Wukong said impatiently as he made his way towards the exit.

Watching Wukong lead Ace and the others out, everyone couldn’t help but think about how today’s must’ve been the most exciting assessment in history.

Ordinarily, it’d be lucky for one genius-level child to appear at an assessment. Every once in a while, two might appear simultaneously, but for four to appear in one go is practically unheard of.

And then all the drama that happened on top of it…

No one knew exactly what would happen next, but they were all certain that today was just the start.

When they returned, Milianna was glad they were all safe and sound but shocked to find the two new additions to their group. Despite her surprise, she immediately gave them both a warm welcome, not seeming to notice or mind Wukong’s Ape like features.

Lance then proceeded to explain what happened at the assessment, leaving out anything to do with the conflict between them and Brutus.

“Thank you so much for giving my little Ace a chance Mr Wukong!” Milianna earnestly said after hearing how Wukong was the only one to step forward to recruit Ace after seeing the results of his final assessment.

“No need for thanks; this king was merely doing his job,” Wukong replied. “But if we want to make it back in time for enrolment, we must leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?” Ace asked, slightly surprised. “I thought you said the school year didn’t start till February first. It’s still September, so we still have five months. Why the rush?”

“You’re right. We do have five months, but The Yin-Yang Pavilion is based at the north of the Anarchic Lands.”

“Anarchic Lands?” Ace asked, having never heard of it.

“It’s on the other side of the continent. Over 15,000 kilometres away.” Alissa answered, still in the habit of clearing up Ace’s confusion, before turning to Wukong. “Forget five months; that sort of distance will take the better part of a year.”

“Normally, you’d be right, but this king decided to capture a pair of cloud wolves on the way down,” Wukong said proudly.

“What are cloud wolves?” Ace asked when he saw Alissa’s eyes light up in understanding.

“They’re rank six wolves that have the offensive strength of your average rank four beast.”

“If they’re so weak, why did you look so surprised?”

“Because even though they’re so weak offensively, in terms of speed, they’re no slower than a rank nine beast, but what makes them so special is their balance. It doesn’t matter what type of terrain they’re running on; their balance allows them to run as if they’re running on flat ground. Apparently, it feels like you’re sat on a cloud when riding one.” Alissa said, allowing her excitement to get the best of her.

“And if a carriage of good enough quality is strapped to them, that feeling of travelling on a cloud will also be transferred to the carriage,” Wukong added.

“Forget five months; if we travel on cloud wolves, getting there in three wouldn’t be impossible.” Alissa blurted out in excitement at the idea of riding on cloud wolves.

“That would be true if we didn’t have to stop for food.” The Ape like powerhouse leisurely explained. “And it’ll take even longer as you three brats will be hunting for your own food for the duration.”

“That’s too unsafe!” Milianna immediately interjected.

“This king understands that it’s a mother’s job to love and protect her children, but your son is training to be a warrior now.

As time goes on, his enemies will only get stronger. Unless Ace can improve faster than them, there may come a day when you, as a mother, have to bury your son.”

Wukong was blunt with his words, but everyone present knew what he said wasn’t wrong. Even Ace, who’d typically be the first to come to his mother’s defence, ultimately said nothing. He better than most understood the veracity of Wukong’s words. He himself had wanted to say it for a while now, but whenever he saw the loving look on his mother’s face when she looked at him, his words would escape him.

Milianna was no fool. From the day Ace had first declared his desire to follow the path of a warrior, she knew this day would come eventually, but she never expected it to come so soon.

“But there’s no need to worry,” Wukong added when he saw the look of dejection on her face. “With this king there, nothing bad will happen.”

“You promise to keep my son alive?” Milianna asked as she stared Wukong dead in the eye with an almost threatening gaze.

“You have this king’s word!” Wukong promised as his mind wandered. ‘Women like you are far more intimidating than warriors like that idiot Brutus!’