Book 5: Chapter 28 – Ace Challenges the War God’s Academy

The silence caused by Merton's abrupt loss was deafening. No one foresaw such a result, but Ace's words managed to bring them back to reality.

It was only as they took another look at the youngster on the ring that they began to take his words seriously.

After losing to Kalia, Merton was currently ranked fifth in the academy, but the mysterious teen had managed to not only defeat him, he did it with a single move – with no weapon at that!

As surprised as the others were, Kalia was by far the most shocked. She had stood closer than anyone, and yet she hadn't noticed Ace move until it was too late.

The moment he moved, she could sense that he, like them was at the peak of the fifth rank, but that made it all the more confusing.

The fact that he had reached such a level despite being even younger than her was nothing short of astonishing, but for him to also have the ability to defeat Merton with such ease… It was simply unbelievable!

'Only those in the top three stand a chance against him,' Kalia noted, acknowledging that she really wasn't his match.

"So, who's gonna get a higher-ranked lizard?" Ace asked mockingly.

Everyone wanted to skin Ace alive for his insolence, but it was clear that none present was his match, so all they could do was glare at him in silence.

"That's enough of your arrogance," The instructor said as he drew the heavy sword on his back. "Come with me before I make you!"

Truth be told, at this point, the instructor desperately wanted one of the students to defeat him. Otherwise, it would tarnish the reputation of the academy, but like Kalia, he also understood that outside the top three, there was likely none that could even hope to match him.

Still, he couldn't just allow the boy to remain standing on stage with his head held high. All he could do was forcibly drag him off the stage and imprison him until his superiors devised a plan of how to move forward.

"What was it you said to me earlier?" Ace asked as he scratched the side of his face, pretending as though he couldn't remember. "Ahh, right. That was it. You're unqualified!"

"Your insolence truly knows no bounds!" The instructor yelled as he lunged for Ace, uncaring about the fact that Ace was unarmed as he swung his sword.

Unlike Kalia and Merton, the instructor's comprehension was wholly underwhelming, having only comprehended 'one with the sword', but as he was at the early stages of the seventh rank, the power of his attack was far superior to anything either Merton or even Kalia was capable of. Still, his target remained unimpressed.

Ace casually raised his right hand to meet the blade causing all the onlookers to look at him as though he were an idiot. From his earlier performance, they knew he was an elite, but still, attempting to block a sword from a high-ranking warrior with his bare hands was nothing short of suicidal.

But they were left speechless when they saw the sword slow enough for Ace's index finger and thumb to clamp it in place. A few of them even began to wonder if this was all staged.

"Why does no one ever listen to me?" Ace sighed to himself, ignoring the shock of the audience. "Now… About calling those higher-ranked lizards."

The students might not understand what happened, but as it happened to him, how could the crimson-armoured instructor not understand?

"Im… Impo… Impose," the man stammered in disbelief. "You've comprehended impose?"

Ace directly ignored the man's question, too lazy to answer something so obvious, but the other students were shocked speechless by their instructor's revelation.

As students of the continent's leading warrior school, they were all well aware of the different realms of comprehension for warriors. They knew exactly what it meant to have comprehended 'Impose', but that's what made it so shocking.

"How is that even possible?" One of the students asked aloud.

"He doesn't look any older than 15?" Another said.

"If instructor Cameron is right, wouldn't that mean he's equal to Young Master Blumer?"

"No, even if he has comprehended 'Impose' like Blumer, Blumer's already become a warrior at the early stages of the seventh rank," another student interjected, reminding everyone not to underestimate their first-ranked young dragon.

"Still, Blumer's almost 19 and only just comprehended it recently," another of the students said, unable to take his eyes off the little monster on stage. "At this rate, it'll only be a couple of years before he surpasses Blumer."

"Maybe, but don't forget about Wharton. He may not have comprehended Impose, but with the support of his Dragonwarrior transformation, he's only a little worse than Blumer, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that he's still younger than Blumer and this Ace kid."

"That's right, and with the strength shown so far, it might not even take Blumer to defeat him," Another student added. "Wharton might be able to beat him as well.

When they heard that, many of the listening students couldn't help but sigh in relief. The thought that a random unknown student from some unheard-of school had surpassed all of their most powerful students was deeply unsettling.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, kid," Cameron shouted as he leapt back, putting some space between him and his young opponent after finally getting over his shock. "Since you insist on resisting, don't blame me for what happens next."

As the instructor said that, an earthy brown aura coated his body and sword, letting everyone know he was going all out from now on.

"Looks like I'll have to be a little more direct with my approach," Ace muttered to himself as he watched Cameron shoot towards him like a cannonball.

Cameron had barely covered half the distance when he felt as though all of his internal organs had just exploded.

Before he could even figure out what had happened, the senior warrior had already collapsed on both knees, violently struggling to breathe only to cough more and more blood.

The last thing he noticed before losing consciousness was the image of Ace's body fading into the wind as his afterimage disappeared.

Ace could no longer be bothered to waste time. As such, he decided to make a show of this instructor. Using his mastery of his [Armament Haki], Ace used [Internal Destruction] to ignore the man's battle-qi and completely ravage the man's insides.

But that wasn't all; in that brief exchange, Ace showed that his speed was no less impressive than his comprehension.

Although Amira was definitely the fastest among the pavilion disciples, Ace was a close second. Even without using his flames to increase his speed when using [Soru], his mastery of the movement technique more than eclipsed the rest of his classmates. If it wasn't for Amira's ability to use multiple wind-based spells to increase her speed, not even she would be able to keep up with Ace.

Ace's jet-black eyes had gone from playful and lazy to cold and indifferent as he scanned the crowd who didn't dare to make eye contact with him.

"I, GOL D. ACE, OF THE YIN-YANG PAVILLION, CHALLENGES ANY MEMBER OF THE WAR GOD'S ACADEMY," Ace bellowed so loud that even those outside the campus could hear. "BE IT STUDENT OR TEACHER!"

'That ought to do it,' Ace thought to himself as he waited for newcomers to arrive.

He didn't think it'd take long, but even he was surprised when he saw such a large group arrive within seconds of his challenge declaration, but when he saw the familiar face of one of the guards that had been outside earlier with them, he put two and two together.

The man in the front, Falner, was the head of the discipline committee and at the late stages of the eighth rank.

When he heard that an intruder had so brazenly entered their grounds, he decided to personally head the search party, not caring that they were just a teen; he was determined to make an example of them for the rest of the world to see to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future, but when he heard the teen's shout just moments ago, he couldn't help but falter.

After the war against the Rohault Empire almost a year ago, the name Gol D. Ace had been all anyone could talk about for the few months that followed.

Many believed that the rumours had been greatly embellished by their enemies in the Rohault Empire to make themselves seem more imposing than they actually were. And between the fact that the current emperor had ordered all the soldiers who had made it home from that battle to keep quiet about the events that took place that day so as not to add to the boy's fame, and that Sabre had also done everything possible to keep a lid on the fact that so many of their bases had been destroyed by two teens, it allowed the name Ace to become a distant memory.

But Falner was different. As a warrior at the peak of the eighth rank, he was a member of the Empire's upper echelon. He knew for a fact that the rumours weren't exaggerated in the slightest.

As his eyes met the deep, abyss-like eyes of the youth in the ring, he couldn't help but shudder.

Still, as a loyal member of the O'Brien Empire, and a devoted member of the War God's Academy, he knew he couldn't afford to show fear here.

"Young man," Falner voiced stoically as he steadily made his way to the ring, with the students around him parting to make way for the fearful head of the discipline committee. "There's a way to do things; if you wish to make a challenge on behalf of your institution, then you should go through the proper channels."

Many were surprised by how Falner was addressing the teen on stage. It had to be understood that as the head of the discipline committee, he was in charge of dealing out punishment for all who broke the academy's rules. Inside the Academy's grounds, his words were law!

Even though he hadn't exactly lowered his head and taken a subservient approach, the fact that he was addressing a teen as though they were equals was still enough to shock the other students.

Still, there were a few that remembered the myths of "Gol D. Ace". Even though they didn't believe it, they understood there was no smoke without fire, and just from the talent he had exhibited so far, it was clear that, at the very least, Ace being a prodigy was undeniable.

"Are all of you idiots from the O'Brien Empire all bark and no bite?" Ace asked lazily. "Let me put it in a way that you can understand, either accept my challenge or scram!"

Falner had been more than polite with his words; he had expected Ace to take the olive branch laid out for him. Instead, he had been scolded so publicly. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever dared to address him in such a manner.

"Since you insist on courting death, allow me to help you," Falner declared as he summoned a seven-foot halberd from his storage ring, coating it and him in a blazing crimson battle-qi. "I have long since wanted to verify the rumours about you for myself!"

"Sir Falner," A handsome young man dressed in a blue warrior outfit, carrying a long sword on his back, called out. "Allow me to be the one to accept the challenge of the unruly child."

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Book 8 Plot: Part 5 – The Truth About Conqueror's Haki