Fall From Grace

Most present thought Ace was still showing off. They could see that although he started to struggle towards the end, he still seemed far from his limits. But the truth was, he was being completely honest.

With him having the mind of an adult and then starting life again with a drastic improvement in his mental strength, as proven by his observation haki, Ace honestly didn't think he'd break much of a sweat completing the test, but towards the end, he had truly started to feel it.

Peter was the first to stand as he excitedly said, "Ace…

No, young master Ace, I would like to be the first to congratulate you on creating history here today! On behalf of the Ernst Institute, I would like to offer you a spot at our Ernst Institute and 100,000 in gold coins."

Peter's enthusiastic offer came as a shock to most present. Not only had Ace not finished his assessment yet, but the Ernst Institute was known for not offering anyone special treatment. But when they considered the level of talent Ace had just exhibited, the offers flooded in.

"Young master Ace, my name's Gorgan from the Weilin Magus academy. I would like to offer you a full scholarship, a signing bonus of 100,000 gold coins, and 10,000 gold coins paid at the start of every term that will increase every time you progress by a rank."

Ace heard offer after offer, but he didn't let his success so far go to his head.

"Thank you for all the kind offers, but before I make any decisions, I'd like to finish my assessment." He answered, showing humility for the first time all day.

His sudden change in demeanour took them by surprise, but they all readily agreed before taking their seats, eagerly anticipating the results of Ace's affinity test.

"But before that, I would like to ask that the almighty recruiter of the incredible War God's Academy pay what he owes."

Due to the shock of Ace's spiritual essence, they had completely forgotten Ace had made a bet with Brutus. They all turned to Brutus to see what he intended to do, as 100,000 wasn't a trivial amount by any means.

Brutus wanted nothing more than to kill Ace and disappear, but he knew neither option was possible right now. Even more so when considering that he was there in an official capacity representing the War God's Academy. If he did anything to bring the academy into disrepute, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.

"Tch, what's a mere 100,000 to a warrior of the 7th rank like myself," Brutus said as he reached into the sack by his side and took out two spherical gems. "Here, catch!"

Seeing these two gems flying towards him, Ace was preparing to dodge. Although the power in the throw wasn't enough to kill him, he knew he'd break several bones if he tried to catch them.

Luckily, just as he prepared to dodge, Ace noticed a pair of hands intercept them, casually catching each gem. "Here you go, young master Ace."

As Ace turned to the speaker, he couldn't help but look up at the church official gratefully. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble, no trouble at all." The invigilator said with a polite smile that was quickly replaced by an icy glare as he turned to face the representative of the War God Academy. "Brutus, I have already given your War God's academy face by remaining quiet till now, but if you carry on, I will be forced to ask you to leave!"

Brutus could only sit down quietly in front of the church's official. If it was anyone else, he could act wilfully, but the Radiant Church was a power no weaker than his O'Brien Empire. He didn't dare do anything that could offend that behemoth.

Ace understood full well that the church only chose to stand up for him after seeing his talent, had their intentions truly been pure, they never would've allowed things to get to this point. But Ace didn't blame them; he was under no illusions about human nature.

After giving the white-robed man another nod of gratification, he looked down at the two gems in his hand.

Assuming Ace didn't understand what he was holding in his hand, Peter, who wanted to kick himself for acting too slowly and not being able to receive Ace's gratitude, explained, "They're magicite cores of two seventh-rank magical beasts, each of which is worth 50,000 gold coins."

After visiting various shops during his time in the city, Ace had learnt that magicite cores were essentially the energy core of magical beasts. They served as containers for a magical beast's energy and only solidified in the bodies of magical beasts after they reached the third rank.

"I see. Thank you." Ace said appreciatively to Peter before stuffing the two cores in his pocket and walking over to the position of the final test.

Ace didn't immediately place his hand on top of the crystal to determine his affinity. He looked to be lost in thought as he stared down at it.

It wasn't till he heard the examiner's voice that he woke from his daze. "Whenever you're ready, just place your hands on top of the affinity crystal."

Looking at the crystal, which would help determine his future, a helpless sigh escaped Ace's mouth. 'Here goes nothing.'

As Ace's hands neared the crystal, everyone in the audience held their breath in anticipation, but when his hand actually fell on the crystal…

"What's going on? Why is nothing happening?!" Peter asked the invigilator.

"I… I don't know, I've never seen it act like this before." He replied with confusion etched on his face as he watched Ace calmly remove his hands. "Please try one more time. I apologise for this confusion."

Hearing the official's request, Ace put his hands on the crystal again, but there was still no response.

"Hmm, let me try…" As Ace removed his hands, the examiner from the church stepped forward and placed his hand on the crystal.

Almost immediately, the crystal shone with a deep gold light showing his high-level affinity to the light element.

"This…"

Looking back at Ace, he and everyone present seemed to understand that there was nothing wrong with the crystal. The problem lay with…

Brutus, who had just been in a terrible mood up to that point, almost fell off his seat with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! After all that, the brat has no affinity to any of the elements?"