The shock Linley radiated was palpable as he stared at the teen two years younger than him.

Despite using [Super Sonic] to increase his speed and them being the same rank as warriors, Ace was somehow able to generate a lot more power than he could.

“One with the glaive,” Doehring Cowart sighed in admiration as he looked at Ace from within the coiling dragon ring. “Linley, you can’t fight him in close quarters. With him having comprehended ‘One with the glaive’, you trying to get close to him is nothing short of suicidal.”

Linley didn’t respond; he simply glared unwillingly at his opponent. He was a descendant of one of the four supreme warriors, and even without having awakened his bloodline ability, he was still blessed with a body somewhat stronger than those at the same rank and yet here he was being bullied by a boy two years his junior.

Still, he wasn’t an idiot. Through the notes given to him by his father documenting the path of a warrior, he was fully aware of what becoming one with your weapon meant. Thankfully, whilst he was a talented warrior, that came second to his talent as a mage.

“[Earth Spike],” Linley called out as he flicked his wrist and began chanting the incantation for his next spell.

Despite being so quick with his spell, Ace could literally see the earth essence gathering beneath his feet. Before the spell had even formed, he had already moved out of the way as he launched himself at his opponent, but Linley wasn’t done.

“[Superfield gravity],” Linley called out as his glaive-wielding opponent neared.

Ace suddenly felt the gravity in the area double, but he barely flinched as he channelled more strength into his legs as he attempted to close the gap.

Linley smirked when he saw Ace suddenly slow whilst under the effects of the increased gravity. He was a Baruch, a supreme warrior descendant. If he couldn’t beat Ace up front as a warrior, he’d use magic to support him, but one way or another, he would defeat Ace as a warrior.

He recast his [Supersonic] spell and charged in once again. This time he found it a lot easier to get in range to use his dagger, but Ace was still able to calmly react to each of Linley’s attacks.

With his [Observation], he could clearly see the path of Linley’s attacks and skilfully use various parts of his polearm to defend without taking a single hit.

One might think that his most significant improvements over the last five years came from his various breakthroughs, but in truth, his biggest gain came in the shape of his battle IQ.

One of the things that made Aiden such an incredible warrior was how he could use minimal effort to defeat those much stronger than him. He could see the weakness of his enemies at a glance and use the least amount of strength required to take advantage of that.

A lot of Ace’s time training was spent sparring with his master, who would do nothing but attack his weak spots. Whilst Ace never seemed to get any closer to closing the gap between his master, when facing the others, Amira included, he could use less and less effort to defeat them. That was the main reason why everyone, minus Amira, and Killian, refused to fight against Ace anymore. It was simply too frustrating.

And now Linley was starting to feel that very frustration. Despite being able to use a lot more speed and strength than his opponent, Ace hadn’t taken a single step back as he blocked, parried, and dodged each of his opponent’s strikes.

The thing was, the more frustrated he became, the more openings he left, and Ace was nothing if not decisive. As soon as he saw an opening, Ace’s glaive was like a predator that smelled blood.

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“Ugh!” Linley grunted as he jumped back, using his empty hand to cover the bloody gash on his shoulder.

Although it wasn’t deep, it was definitely a hindrance, especially in a battle of this level. Moreover, the lapse in concentration caused by the wound even caused the dispersion of the gravity spell.

He couldn’t help but gnash his teeth in frustration as he looked at Ace’s indifferent visage. ‘Is the difference between us really this big?’

Suddenly, Ace’s figure disappeared from his field of view, and Linley’s eyes threatened to pop out of their socket.

“[Wall of Earth], [Earth Shield],” Linley roared, insta-casting two weaker defensive spells and launching his body out the way as Ace appeared by his side and began chanting for his next spell.

Seeing so much earth being used as a last-ditch effort to shield his target from harm, a disdainful snort left Ace’s mouth as the whole of his glaive turned pitch black.

Linley watched in horror as the now obsidian polearm sliced straight through his spells like a hot knife through butter, but Ace was far from finished. He had to patiently wait and bide his time under Linley’s relentless barrage of attacks when he was suppressed by the increased gravity. Now it was Linley’s turn to be on the receiving end of his attacks.

As the jet-black blade of Ace’s glaive descended, Linley felt as though he was standing beneath a falling mountain. He immediately understood that not only had this young enemy of his comprehended ‘one with the glaive’, he had also comprehended ‘wielding light as though it were heavy’.

It was at that moment that he thought back to the day his family had originally asked Ace to become his personal guard. He couldn’t help but feel that Ace was more than justified in turning down such a position.

He had heard from his family that although Ace had set a record for his spiritual essence, he had no affinities, so whilst there was a good chance that Ace would one day go on to become a ninth-rank warrior, his becoming a saint was all but impossible. Still, as he looked at the unwavering confidence that radiated from Ace’s eyes, Linley felt there was nothing capable of stopping Ace’s rise.

For the briefest of moments, Linley resigned himself to his defeat, but then the memory of his father entrusting him with the clan’s future resurfaced in his mind. ‘I can’t die here; I have to survive!’

“[Wall of Earth], [Earth Shield].” Linley roared as his mageforce sprang to life like never before.

Under the threat of death, Linley managed to achieve a small breakthrough to become a mid-rank five mage. The earth by his feet shot up and over his head to slow the incoming strike, and right behind that was a floating shield of earth.

Linley was under no delusions. He knew that even with his minor breakthrough, these two spells would be nowhere near strong enough to protect him from this next blow, but he wasn’t done.

“[Earthguard]!” Linley roared as he raised his arms above his head and a layer of stone covered his body.

This was the first time Linley managed to insta-cast a spell of the same rank. Any other day, Linley would have been immensely proud of his achievements, but now, all of his attention was on Ace’s descending glaive.

As he expected, the two weaker spells did next to nothing in the face of Ace’s strike, but it did give him just enough time for his [Earthguard] to finish forming. But, unfortunately, he still underestimated Ace’s attack.

Ace’s haki-coated glaive cut through the stone, leaving a long gash on his wrists and across his chest.

Ace was just about to finish the job and lob off Linley’s head when he noticed a black shadow speeding through the air in his direction at a speed that caught even him by surprise. Still, he kept his calm as he smoothly transitioned from ‘wielding light as though it were heavy’ to ‘wielding heavy as though it were light’.

His glaive was like a blur as it flickered into the path of the shadow.

Ace’s dark eyes widened with surprise as he felt his arms numb and took three steps back to stabilise himself.

“Bebe,” Linley said weakly as he tried his best to ignore his wounds. “Thank you for saving me again. It looks like I’m going to need your help after all.”

“Scree!” The little black rodent called out as it licked its boss’s wounds and glared threateningly at the one who caused all the damage.

“ACE!” Amira called out worriedly.

She knew Ace’s strength better than anyone. That last strike may have been redirected at the last moment, but he wasn’t holding back in the slightest, and yet, he was still forced to retreat.

“I’m fine,” Ace said, sensing the worry in Amira’s voice. “I still don’t want you to interfere. This is something I need to do by myself.”

His voice remained emotionless as his eyes stayed on the tiny mouse that was somehow able to get the better of him in a direct confrontation.

He may not know much about the various types of magical beasts, but he understood that that mouse was definitely no ordinairy magical beast, but it didn’t matter. All he knew was that a year from today would mark the first anniversary of Linley Baruch’s death, and if the mouse insisted on getting in the way, he would kill it too!