Book 5: Chapter 27 – Someone Stronger

The O'Brien Empire was as prosperous as ever, with each of their proud citizens going on with their days the same as usual, not knowing that the seemingly ordinairy dark-haired teen casually walking through the capital on his own was preparing to use their empire as a stepping stone.

Ace's first challenge was against the War God's Academy, and although renowned for producing some of the greatest warriors, it didn't pose much of a threat to Ace. As such, Arianna decided it was best for Ace to make this initial challenge on his own so as not to scare them.

They would reconvene and move together only when he was challenging the War God's College, as that would be the main event.

"So this is it, huh?" Ace said as he looked at the imposing gates of the college.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" A middle-aged man asked as he saw Ace staring. "It's the dream school of just about every youth in our incredible empire."

Ace didn't say anything; he just calmly listened as the man continued talking at him.

"You shouldn't feel too bad about not getting in," the man said, thinking Ace was a youth who had failed to enter as he wasn't wearing their uniform. "They only accept the best of the best. Too many children end up heartbroken every year, failing to pass the entry test. Even I myself fai…

Hey kid, where are you going? I wouldn't get too close; the guards are authorised to use force on all non-invited guests."

Ace had wanted to stand in silence and get lost in his thoughts. He had no interest in listening to the meaningless speech of some random passerby. As such, all he could do was start his assignment a little earlier than he would've liked. Not that it mattered much.

"Oi, Kid," the head guard – a warrior in the early stages of the sixth rank – called out when he saw Ace strolling towards them, not wearing the uniform. "The academy doesn't take walk-ins. Leave now before you're forced to leave."

"Are you deaf?" The guard said as he took a step forward to intercept the ignorant teen who seemed adamant about ignoring his kind warning. "Fine, we can do it the hard way!"

"Kids these days…" The middle-aged civilian sighed when he saw the guard's body blur as he shot towards the teen. "They're too impulsive."

Ace could've chosen the peaceful method and told them of his reason for being here today, but the chances of that working were slim to none, and even if it did, it would take too long. The quickest way to accomplish the first part of his assignment was through brute force.

Even as the guard darted towards him, Ace maintained a very leisurely pace as he made his way towards the front gate.

"Foolish brat!" The guard snorted as he threw his right fist towards Ace's temple, believing he was moving too quickly for his target's eyes to follow. "This'll tea…

Ugh!"

Ace's actions had caught the attention of several civilians walking past, each of whom expected Ace to be dealt with easily, but what happened next took them all by surprise.

None of them was particularly strong, so they weren't capable of following Ace's movements. All they saw was the head guard's fist near the teen's temple before he was somehow sent flying back, crashing into the front gate.

Ace still didn't say a word as he walked straight through the now 'open' gates onto the academy's premises.

"Hmm, that way seems to have the biggest congregation of students," Ace mumbled to himself, completely ignoring the shock and disbelief of not just the crowd but also the other guards, whose job it was to prevent incidents like this.

Having come to a decision, Ace's body disappeared at a speed that none of them could follow, leaving nothing but an afterimage in his place.

"Should…

Shouldn't we do something?" Another of the guards asked as he stared at the unconscious body of his superior.

"Right," Another of the guards said, deciding to take charge of what was left of the situation. "Get Kanaru and make sure he's okay; I'm going to find one of the instructors!"

At the same time, in the middle of the academy's campus, there were several youths crowding around a large 100x100 meter ring, watching the two warriors on stage as they prepared to begin their fight.

"What's going on?" A dark-haired teen asked one of the spectators curiously.

"You don't know?" The spectator asked as he turned around only to find the dark-haired teen dressed in a plain black pair of cargo pants and a plain white shirt instead of their standard issue uniform.

"Ooh, I'm guessing you just returned from leave," The spectator said, believing Ace had just returned from leave and hadn't had time to return to his accommodation and get changed back into his uniform.

After all, it made more sense than him having just forcibly entered the grounds and waltzing over as if he owned the school.

"I don't know how long you've been away, but Kalia, our eighth-ranked dragon, just returned from her yearlong training exercise in the mountain range of magical beasts and immediately challenged Merton, who's ranked fourth," The spectator explained excitedly.

Ace hadn't known a lot about the inner workings of the War God's Academy previously, but during his stroll through the capital, he had come to understand that the War God's Academy's ten young dragons were their ten most powerful students.

Apparently, the only way to enter the War God's College was to graduate as one of the young dragons, but as there were thousands of students, the competition could be imagined. Each of the ten was the very best of the best… Or at least they were if you didn't include the disciples of the Yin-Yang Pavilions.

Ace's interest was piqued when he heard the teen's explanation, but the more he watched, the quicker he lost interest. Still, he calmly let them finish.

The cold-faced blonde-haired girl, Kalia, appeared to be around 16/17 and had reached the peak of the fifth rank, an achievement that even Ace had to admit wasn't bad.

Her opponent, Merton, appeared to be a year or two older and was also at the peak of the fifth rank. The main difference between them appeared to be in their levels of comprehension.

Kalia wielded her light-weighted rapier as though it were lighter, whilst Merton skilfully changed between wielding his halberd as though it were lighter to wielding it as though it were heavy.

It allowed him to steadily suppress his opponent with a calm but grating smile on his face.

"Kalia had done well to catch up with Merton in terms of realm over the last year, but their weapon comprehension is too different." One of the more senior spectators assessed with a sigh.

It was evident that many agreed with the teen's assessment, but Ace didn't. He could see that although Kalia appeared to be on the losing side, she remained calm and composed. That on its own didn't mean much, but when added to the fact that she hadn't received so much a single injury, Ace knew she was playing the pig to eat the tiger.

"That Kalia's not bad," Ace praised. "Better than that Merton guy."

Though his words sounded more condescending than anything else.

"Are you blind?" Another of the spectators chided. "Can't you see she's about to lose?!"

"It's just about over," Ace stated casually, not paying the teen scolding him any attention.

The teen was just about to respond when he heard the gasps of shock from his peers. Turning his head back, he saw something that left him with his mouth open.

Not only had Kalia comprehended both states of wielding, she had even fused them. The moment she erupted with her true strength, Merton was instantly defeated.

"Not bad at all," Ace nodded, understanding that Kalia hadn't been holding back to embarrass her opponent but to train her swordsmanship further.

Ace had truly meant it as praise, but because of his age and the fact that he was completely unknown, it was grating on the ears of all who heard him.

"Who do you think you are?" The teen from before asked. "Why does it sound like you think you could do better than senior Kalia?"

Ace glanced lightly at the youth before turning back to the stage.

To the others, it came across that Ace was too scared to even reply, but the youth in question had sweat dripping down his back as he was overwhelmed by fear.

The fact that he reacted in such a way to a teen who looked even younger than him was embarrassing, but by the time he recollected himself, the dark-haired teen in question had leapt into the air, gracefully landing on the stage.

"Who are you?" Kalia asked coolly when she saw an unknown teen land on the stage.

"My name's Ace," the teen replied with a smile.

"What the hell do you want, kid?" Merton barked, still pissed off about his embarrassing loss.

"I'm here on behalf of the Yin-Yang Pavilion to challenge the War God's Academy," Ace calmly announced, allowing his voice to be heard by all those present.

Like the teen from earlier, everyone initially believed that Ace was a student who, for whatever reason, wasn't wearing his uniform, but from his words just now, it was clear he wasn't a student at all.

"How did you get in?" An instructor asked coldly as he leapt on stage, appearing directly before the intruder.

"I walked in," Ace shrugged, a teasing smile playing across his face. "I came here today to challenge the War God's Academy, but if you're too scared, you just need to say so."

"You're unqualified!" The instructor replied, trying his best not to lose his temper in the face of Ace's blatant provocation.

"Is that your way of saying you're scared?" Ace asked back curiously as though he genuinely wanted to know.

"Shut up and come with me, you little…"

"Wait," Merton called out frostily, stopping the instructor from grabbing the intruder. "Since he's here to challenge us, I'll give him exactly what he's looking for. If he was to leave just like that, rumours might start to spread that we warriors of the academy were scared."

"That's the spirit," Ace praised sincerely. "But you're too weak; call someone stronger!"

"What about me?" Kalia asked icily as she glared at the dark-haired teen.

Until now, she had remained indifferent, but Ace's arrogance was starting to cross her bottom line as a senior student of the Academy.

"Still not enough," Ace shook his head sincerely.

"Just die already!" Merton roared impatiently as he swung his halberd with unbridled wrath.

The moment Merton took action, everyone believed that Ace would lose his head. Not that they cared; it was his own fault for acting so arrogantly. Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed.

Merton held nothing back; his halberd tore through the air like a bolt of lightning as he infused his comprehension of wielding heavy as though it were light, aiming to sever Ace's head from his neck and considering it was so sudden, no one believed Ace could even react, let alone dodge, but to Ace, who was used to fighting experts in the ninth rank, it may as well have been in slow motion.

Before anyone could even react, Merton's body was sent hurtling through the air, crashing into the crowd gathering around the ring.

"See," Ace sighed helplessly. "This is why I told you to call someone stronger."

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Book 8 Plot: Part 3 – Ace Returns 10 Years Later