“Wooh, we’re finally back,” Faye exclaimed as she hopped off the back of the Wildthunder Stormhawk.

“Took you guys long enough,” Julius exclaimed whilst lazing on the grass not far from where team two landed.

By the time Killian’s team returned, Joel’s team had already been back for almost an hour.

Other than Ace, the remainder of team one had spent that whole time catching up on everything that had happened over the last few months.

Whether it was Yulana, Osiris, or even Joel, all of them were left speechless when they heard about the exploits of team one, especially when meeting Leonel and finding out he was a genuine Divine Beast.

In the end, they couldn’t help but sigh and admit that the teams really were picked fairly, as there was a good chance that if it had been them in Ace’s group instead of Amira or Julius, there was a good chance they would’ve lost their lives.

Though not as ‘exciting’ as Ace and his team, team three experienced their fair share of life and death situations, but with their strength, they were able to handle almost everything that came their way, but when hearing about their run-in with Brutus and hearing that Linley’s little brother would be coming here to challenge Ace, Julius couldn’t help but explode with laughter – even Amira could only chuckle.

As the people who understood Ace’s current strength best, how could they not find it funny that someone younger than him wanted to challenge him?

“Where’s A…”

Before Killian could finish his sentence, he suddenly sensed a threat coming from behind him.

Though he was home now, these last few months had taught him to remain alert at all times, so without an ounce of panic, he drew his battle axe from his back and swung it with all his might creating a whistling sound as it tore through the air to meet the threat.

Mathias smiled happily and nodded as he watched his disciple’s flawless reactions.

Unfortunately, though he did everything right, the difference between him and his sudden attacker was too vast.

“Aha, looks like I’m still the big brother, Kil!” Ace declared as he stood over Killian’s body.

Other than Amira and Julius, all the other disciples looked at Ace in shock!

Not only had Ace moved at a speed that most of them couldn’t even keep track of, they watched Killian wield his heavy, twin-sided battle axe as though it were light moving at a speed that not even Joel would be able to deal with easily. Yet, Ace calmly slapped the flat side of the blade, sending it off course and Killian off balance, only to give the dark-skinned teen a gentle push on his shoulder, pushing him over.

Though he had just been easily defeated in public, Killian smiled happily as he grabbed his brother’s outstretched hand as he got back up and embraced the dark-haired youth in a giant bear hug. “It’s good to see you, brother!”

“It’s good to see you too,” Ace replied as he returned Killian’s hug.

Mathias smiled helplessly when he saw his disciple’s reaction. When he went to pick Killian and the others up, though he appeared happy to see him, it was nothing like the way he reacted when he saw Ace. He could even sense that it was only after meeting up with Ace that Killian finally relaxed, allowing all the tension built up over the last six months to disperse.

Still, after remembering what team two told him about Alissa, a sombre expression appeared on his face. “You kids, stay here and catch up. All instructors follow me for a meeting.”

“I wonder what that’s about,” Ace said curiously as he watched the adults disappear.

“Where’s Alissa, by the way?” Julius asked, his brows furrowed as his mind went to the worst possible scenario.

“She left,” Killian replied indifferently.

“What do you mean she left?” Joel asked, voicing the confusion everyone else was feeling after hearing one of their classmates didn’t return with the rest of her team.

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“It’s probably better if I explain,” Kannal said when he saw the confusion and concern on the faces of the rest of his peers. “… So when she left, Faye and I were unable to stop her.”

“So you didn’t even go looking for her?” Joel asked with a frown.

Even though a large part of Killian nearly dying was Alissa’s fault, she was still a member of their family. So with Killian turning what should’ve been a disaster into a blessing in disguise, it was hard to reconcile him not even looking for her after waking up, but when they heard Ace’s following sentence, they all looked at him in disbelief.

“You did the right thing, Kil.”

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Ace?!” Joel shouted. “I know you and Killian are like brothers, but Alissa is still one of us. You could at least try to hide your bias.”

“Calm down,” Ace said slowly. “It’s not that I’m not worried about Alissa, but when she told Kan-Kan and Faye that looking for her could bring a disaster to them, she wasn’t lying.”

“What do you mean? Do you know something?” Faye asked, looking to Ace for answers, only to see him looking at Killian hesitantly.

“If it’s about Alissa being part of the team of assassins sent by the Baruchs, I already know,” Killian said indifferently when he saw Ace’s hesitancy.

“When did you figure it out?” Ace asked as he looked at his brother with a hint of surprise.

“I figured it out during the sparring session against her when Wukong took you to face the beast tide.” Killian shrugged. “I might not have been able to see her face, but facing her daggers again, it was hard not to recognise her fighting style.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ace asked.

“Since I could figure it out, I knew you would’ve already put two and two together and seeing as you didn’t seem to mind her presence, neither did I,” Killian replied.

“I see,” Ace sighed.

Though he didn’t say anything, something clicked in Ace as he was finally able to make sense of Killian’s treatment of Alissa these last few years.

Other than him, Alissa was the member of their cohort that Kil had known the longest, and although it couldn’t be said that he had ever been cold to her, especially when Killian was so naturally antisocial anyway, Ace could still sense the walls his brother had up when interacting with the young assassin.

Initially, Ace thought that Killian also had feelings for her, but due to his antisocial nature, he didn’t know how to proceed, but now that he knew the truth, it all made sense.

Though Killian said he didn’t mind her presence, as someone who had been part of a group that had almost killed him and all those he cared most for, his inability to lower his guard was understandable.

“Anyone there?” Faye said when she saw Ace’s absentminded expression. “Can one of you tell us what you know about Alissa?”

“When we first met her, Alissa was a member of Sabre,” Ace explained. “I don’t know why she felt the need to go back so suddenly after awakening her bloodline, but had you successfully found her, there’s a good chance that you could’ve unknowingly gotten yourselves involved in the internal politics of the most powerful assassins organisation on the continent.”

Hearing that, all the other disciples were shocked speechless. Their concern for their friend had skyrocketed, but they understood there really was nothing they could do for her. All they could do was leave it in the hands of the instructors.

.

.

.

At the same time, on the top of the mountain, Mathias had just finished explaining everything Killian had told him about Alissa’s disappearance.

“…We already knew she was an assassin from Sabre. That on its own isn’t a problem,” Lazerim said sombrely. “The problem lies in that she’s also a Tigerstriped warrior. If that madman Cesar gets his hands on her, who knows what he’ll do.”

“That foolish girl,” Lauriella sighed. “From the sounds of it, she already knows about Cesar’s hatred of the Prey clan. She likely returned to keep the so-called ‘King of Killers’ away from us here at the Pavilion.”

“If she had come back here, we could’ve protected her,” Kimika said helplessly. “Not even Cesar would’ve dared to try anything with Master around. Not after last time.”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about that again,” Wukong snorted. “It wasn’t my fault; they were the ones who provoked me first.”

A little over a decade ago, not long after Wukong had singlehandedly humiliated the War God’s Academy, the academy’s principal used sabre to put a hit out on the ape-like young man.

Unfortunately for them, by the time they found him, Wukong had improved since his fight with Olivier Akerlund.

Unlike most who would be interested in who put the hit out on them, Wukong simply attacked one of their bases, killing everyone inside it to send them a message, but that message was taken as more of an insult.

They were going to send a saint out to kill the seemingly invincible mortal young man, but Cesar took an interest in the young staff-wielding warrior.

Upon finding him, Cesar wanted to take him as a disciple, but Wukong obviously rejected him.

Seeing how he was so adamantly against becoming his disciple, Cesar was about to kill him when he met Arianna, and like Ignus before him, he too was easily defeated.

Not surprisingly, Cesar didn’t spread word of his defeat, allowing Arianna to keep her identity a secret from the masses.

“She can’t be blamed for her ignorance,” Lazerim replied. “As a member of Sabre, it’s likely that all she knows is the rumours of the king of killer’s ‘peerless’ strength, even amongst saints. How could she know that Cesar’s not master’s match.”

“Okay, that’s enough reminiscing. I’ll go try and track Cesar down,” Arianna said softly. “Hopefully, he’s still in seclusion somewhere in an attempt to become a deity.”

“Whilst you do that, I’ll try and find Alissa,” Mathias added. “Hopefully, she’s hidden her Tigerstriped warrior bloodline in an attempt to look for answers about her family. As long as I can find her before that, everything else will be easily resolvable.

Lauri, I’ll leave you in charge whilst I'm away.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything here,” Lauriella replied.