Chapter 91:

Ace, a bit taken away at such a statement, scratched his hand lightly. He waited for a few seconds, and then Rob continued: "It would be stupid of us to not assume that you have some sort of skill or experience we could use, even if it was the mere experience of feeling pain for so long, and what it has resulted in, now that you are free from it."

He had an almost manic smile on his face, and Ace asked, "So, the goal of this 'group' is to further your own knowledge?"

Rob laughed, and so did some of the others, only Lin kept her face stoic. "I suppose in a way, but we do much more, we trade information, we trade skills, we trade experiences, but more than that, we trade stories. Our goal is to form a deep link, one that will last and will benefit us all in the future."

"I understand why I was chosen now, but what about you? Care to share?"

Rob smiled, "Of course, this is part of our meeting. Do not worry about the time either, you don't have to go to class, it's been handled."

Ace nodded, and Rob continued, "I was chosen for my obsession, and what it leads to. A good way to describe me would be a crazy genius. I obsess on something, and once I do, I lock on, nothing else is on my mind, and all of my capabilities are focused on that, nothing else. It can be useful, especially now that I can control the obsession somewhat, but… I have been known to get out of hand once in a while, so this group helps me keep a modicum of focus. Of course, like everyone here, I am smarter than the average. However, I will warn you, the Coefficient of Intelligence is not the only Coefficient that someone can excel at, particularly in this group. Careful with generalising, some people find it distasteful."

Ace had his mind at full throttle, he was focusing his attention on everyone at the same time, trying to catch signs of emotion, and reactions to words or statements. It was a slow yet effective process. However, he could not keep it up for long, it was extremely tiring, although he hoped it would lessen with use.

'This is interesting, so he is the spokesperson for the group, and yet, there are more likely people here with more charisma, interesting…"

"Hello! I am Lucy, I love art!", she seemed to be the leader, at least at the start, but now, Ace saw that it was different, it was not that she was the leader, but that everyone here seemed to like her, she was probably dangerous. "Yes", Rob said, "She was picked for her imagination, she is able to create things within her mind, it truly is fascinating. Have you ever heard of a mind palace?", Ace nodded, "Well, she actually has one, however, it is a bit more complicated than that. She is not on the autism spectrum, however, she is known to space out, so a poke on the arm is necessary once in a while."

"Hey!", Lucy complained, and scrunched up her nose, everyone laughed or smiled, even Lin's lips lifted slightly.

"Lin here, is mute, or well, she had taken a vow of silence, at least to outsiders, her vow was that she would only speak to people that were interesting to her, which means she speaks here, however, it may take a while for her to say anything."

"No.", a melodious voice sounded out, and Rob lifted his eyebrows and widened his eyes, the others looked just as surprised. "He is interesting already, I will speak.", she looked at him and said: "Pleased to meet you."

Ace smiled, "Likewise."

"Well, that was…"

"Oh shut up.", the brash voice of Lila spoke out, 'And she must be overprotective'

"Ok, Lila, calm down, that is Lila, she is here because she can scrap and loves violence, as well as another reason that I will not disclose."

Ace nodded, and looked at Lila more attentively, she looked at him menacingly but he had no reaction.

"The others you have already met, however, as to why they have been chosen… That is up to you. I also would like to warn you of the fact, that just because we were chosen for a particular skill or experience, does not mean we have others."

"I understand, one more question, are you guys students?"

Rob grinned, "Would we be here if we weren't?"

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Ace went home with a million thoughts in his mind, as soon as he got there, he worked on sketching every single of the participants in the meeting down to their last hair. It took him the whole afternoon, but it was of utter importance.

"Alfred, find what you can about these people. I have also inputted their names, but they could be fake."

"Yes sir."

When he finished, Ace washed his hands, and went to have some food. Then, he went to his dining table with his laptop, and loaded a new activity to practice his language skills.

He spent the rest of the day on it, before then going to bed, even then, he had thoughts swimming in his mind, wondering exactly what the goal of it all was. Regardless of it, he was now intrigued, the people there all seemed interesting in their own way, and they at least had some serious power behind them, considering that all their files were pretty much hidden from the archives he had gotten all the others from. This meant that they would most likely be in the middle of the pack when it came to ranks, so as to not stand out too much. They most likely stayed in a small group to minimise contact with others, and therefore, did not care much about setting a good foundation for their future.

This was most likely because they had already decided what their future would look like, which was concerning, since none of them looked stupid or reckless - for the most part at least. If they had decided on something already it must have been a deal they could not pass up on.

He would have to do more research, maybe even contact Bong and the others, but for now, he would wait to see what Alfred brought him.

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"So, do you feel prepared for the Puzzle Tournament, it is only in a few months you know?",the maths teacher asked him, hesitation evident on his face

"Do not worry, it should not be a problem. I am training once in a while.", Ace said this, laughing in his mind

"Once in a while! What! Ou should train every day for hours, at least!", he was not angry, but clearly distraught and preoccupied

Ace laughed, "Oh relax, it was a joke, I play around with puzzles every day."

The teacher let out a sigh of relief, "Ahhh good. You had me worried for a second."

"I am sure I did.", Ace said, with a small grin on his face

"And what about the Knowledge Tournament, that is in a few weeks right?"

"Yes, the last week of this month, we will be taken to a compound, where we will be trained for days, before then having the exam on the seventh, it should be fun."

The teacher nodded, but then said, "Watch out, some of these people are devious, you never know what they could try."

"Do not worry, it should all be ok."

"I sincerely hope so, if something happens to you, and you cannot attend the Puzzle Tournament…", he said with a smile

Ace laughed out loud, and after waving goodbye, made his way to his next class, he had to focus on his learning after all.