“So what else happened to you guys whilst away?” Ace asked, seeing the solemn mood of his classmates. “Joel, you must have a story to tell. What kind of opponent did that to your arm?”
Although his arm had healed well with Yulana’s assistance, with his [Observation], Ace had long since noticed the damage done.
“About that,” Joel smiled wryly. “We ran into an old friend of yours.”
“Of mine?” Ace asked in confusion when he saw Julius and Amira struggling to hold back their laughter.
“Yeah. When we were travelling, we ran into a group from the War God’s academy who looked to be in dire straits…”
“What a nuisance,” Ace sighed helplessly after hearing Joel’s story.
“You’re not mad?” Yulana asked cautiously.
“Mad? With you?” Ace asked. “Why would I be mad at you? I’m more annoyed that another lizard is coming to bother me.”
It was only when she saw Ace’s nonchalance that Yulana’s mind was finally put at ease. Even though Osiris had already told her Ace wasn’t likely to care, she still couldn’t help but feel slightly worried.
The rest of their group couldn’t help but laugh at Ace’s reaction. He may well be the only person who would refer to the Baruchs as lizards. But if anyone was qualified to look down on them, it was him.
“Since you have no interest in fighting Wharton, let me do it,” Killian said, his voice laced with killing intent.
Aside from Ace, he was the only one who still had a bone to pick with the Baruch clan after they tried to have them assassinated.
A sigh escaped Ace’s mouth when he felt Killian’s killing intent. “Fine, you can fight him but don’t kill him. I promised his brother I wouldn’t go looking for revenge in the future as long as they do nothing to provoke us…”
Ace then went on to explain what happened when they ran into Linley in the mountain range and the truth about Lina’s change in disposition.
“… After you defeat Wharton, I guess I’ll have some fun with that idiot Brutus,” Ace smirked. “We can’t have him think that the disciples of the Yin-Yang Pavilion are so easy to bully.”
Killian and the others all felt a hint of sympathy for the representative of the War God’s Academy when they saw the fiendish grin on Ace’s face. Still, for messing with one of their own, the punishment coming his way was well deserved.
Before anyone could say anything else, Ace’s head snapped to the south as he sensed a powerful presence rapidly flying in their direction.
With his master and the other adults present, he didn’t feel worried, but he was still curious as the person coming was actually a mid-staged saint-level warrior.
“What is it?” Amira asked upon seeing Ace’s actions, but before he could reply, she and the others felt the warrior’s domineering presence as well.
Like Ace, they all looked up at the man in the sky, no one exhibiting any fear, just curiosity.
The warrior was a handsome dark-skinned man wearing a tight-fitted white robe, not too dissimilar to Aiden’s. In fact, when looking closely, Ace realised the man actually faintly resembled his master.
“Uncle Brandell?” Amira asked upon recognising the slowly descending saint. “What are you doing here? Are mother and father okay?”
“Mmh, your parents are fine,” Brandell nodded with a doting smile as he landed in front of his niece. “I came here to pick you up as your mother got pregnant whilst you were away on your training exercise. Your master told us when you would be back so that you could return to meet your soon-to-be siblings.”
“Siblings?” Amira asked with wide eyes. “You mean mother’s having twins?”
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“That’s right, child,” Brandell said before looking over the other children, stopping on Ace, a brief look of shock flashing across his eyes before turning back to his niece. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your classmates?”
“Aah, right, sorry,” Amira said as she introduced each of the disciples of the Pavilion, who, whilst remaining polite, felt no sense of reverence towards the man despite being a saint. “… And this is Ace, and his beast partner, Leonel.”
As a saint, he could sense the strangely powerful fluctuations emanating from the dark-furred lion. Still, as his spiritual essence wasn’t as powerful as Aiden’s or Arianna’s, he couldn’t tell its exact quality, so he just assumed it was a mutated mystic beast he’d never heard of, especially after seeing the Crimson-Eyed Mane Lion not far away.
Though surprising that one would willingly bond with a human, it paled in comparison to the shock he felt as he looked at Ace.
It needed to be understood that not only was Amira the princess of the Rohault Empire, she was almost the greatest talent their Empire had ever produced. After entering the Pavilion, the upper echelons of the Rohault Empire were given reports on her classmates to make sure there was no chance of any mishaps occurring.
Thankfully, it appeared that none of the children was a descendant of any of their enemies, but there was still one child that grabbed the attention of each and every one of them.
One of the reasons why Amira was allowed to go to the Pavilion in the first place was because of Aiden. Ace’s master was the current emperor’s brother, and despite not officially being a saint, due to his strength, he was also a member of the Empire’s council, so when they learnt that he took a disciple, it naturally caused quite the stir.
Upon doing some more research, they found that, like their Grand Elder, Ace was unable to sense the natural laws meaning that he should have no mage force.
As a member of the Empire’s council himself, he was naturally given the reports on Ace, which was how he was able to recognise the dark-haired youth at a glance, but it was only when he realised that Ace had begun to cultivate mage-force that he became shocked.
You need to understand how special Aiden’s position in the Rohault Empire was. Despite being of the ninth rank, he had power surpassing most peak saints, so it could be imagined how desperate the Rohault Empire were for Aiden to become a true saint. At that point, his power would more than likely be peerless amongst saints, and the Empire’s currently precarious position would be a lot more stable.
When he realised that Ace – a child the council believed to have a similar condition to Aiden – could now cultivate mage-force, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement well up inside him.
Ace simply raised an eyebrow upon sensing the man’s growing excitement, but a familiar lazy voice rang through the air before he could say anything.
“Little Brandy,” Aiden called out as he suddenly appeared in the air above the children with a gourd of alcohol in his hands. “What are you doing…
Ahh, that’s right, I almost forgot. Little Mira, your mother’s pregnant.”
Brandell typically would’ve been embarrassed and frustrated by Aiden calling him “little Brandell” in such a public setting, but he was way too distracted to care at that moment in time. “Uncle, your disciple can cultivate mage-force now? Does that mean you’ve found a cure for your condition?”
Aiden looked at his nephew as if he were looking at an idiot. “What does that brat becoming a mage have to do with my condition?”
“Don’t you both have the same condition?” Brandell asked back as the hope he had felt began to dwindle.
“Which idiot told you that?” Aiden asked. “My foolish disciple’s condition was something he was born with, you should know full well that mine wasn’t.”
Although he knew his uncle’s condition came as a result of a certain incident from when he was a child, he and the rest of the council believed the same thing had happened to Ace, and that was the reason Aiden chose to take him as a disciple because, in the last few centuries, many very talented youths in of their Rohault Empire had requested to become a disciple of the emperor’s brother. Still, he had always unhesitantly rejected, saying he had no interest in teaching disciples.
“I see,” Brandell sighed helplessly.
Ace rolled his eyes at his wannabe drunkard of a master, referring to him as his foolish disciple, but his eyes narrowed when he heard Aiden speak of his condition.
He had asked Aiden why he was unable to sense nature’s essence several times over the last few years, but Aiden would never give him a proper answer. This was the first clue he’d been given into his master’s mysterious condition, and he couldn’t help but frown as he ruminated over the implications.
It was only when he heard Amira’s angelic voice that he awoke from his thoughts.
“Okay, uncle, just let me say goodbye to my friends, and then we can go,”
Ace suddenly felt a knot in his stomach as he watched Amira say goodbye to each of their classmates.
This would be the first time in over five and a half years that Ace and Amira would be apart. It wasn’t something he was looking forward to, and judging by the look in Amira’s eyes when she stopped in front of him; she felt exactly the same.
Seeing the way they stared longingly into each other’s eyes, all the other disciples couldn’t help but look away in a futile attempt at giving them their space. Brandell on the other hand, couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at his niece before turning to his uncle, who merely winked back at him before taking another gulp of his alcohol.
“I guess this is goodbye for n-” Amira didn’t even get the chance to finish her sentence before gasping in surprise at Ace suddenly taking her in his arms.
“Take care of yourself,” Ace said softly. “And I’ll see you soon.”
“Mmh,” Amira nodded as she returned his hug. “See you soon.”