Chapter 69:

Ace and the others kept on talking, the music had gotten louder, and people were now dancing in a more dynamic fashion.

"Sir, would you give me this dance?" Ace smiled hearing the voice, and when he stood up and bowed to Allison, he asked, "And who might you be, my lady?", she laughed back and took his hand.

Ace was a bit shorter than her, since she was tall for a woman, and he was still growing, but it did not impede a single bit. Dancing was one of the things his grandmother had signed him up for. She had said it would come in useful, and as always, she was right. They had a lot of fun, twirling around the dance floor, and Ace spotted some of his friends dancing as well. They were all laughing and having fun, no one would expect that the accumulated wealth in this room amounted to more than most country's.

Most of these people would normally only speak to each other in seriousness, but these gatherings were a way for them to enjoy themselves, while being able to talk and converse in an atmosphere not overwhelmed by the aroma of work and boardrooms.

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Emilia Violet was pleased, the party had been a great success, and while more would be hosted, it would be complicated to beat the first. She had hosted her first party 20 years ago, and now, an experienced matriarch, she knew exactly who to sit where and with whom, and what songs and decorations would play the mood to her favour.

Hosting a successful party such as this was of great importance, considering that her job was as an event planner for the most powerful heads of both state and organisations around the world. The good publicity that would come from a successful event such as this should be able to get her a few clients.

Of course, there was another reason as to why she enjoyed hosting parties. It was fun. She got to place the most dangerous predators in the world into one room. And was able to observe their interactions, and from them, take notes on their behaviour, and create hypotheses on the state of their particular life or households. She then used these hypotheses to boost her family's power, she was a scientist through and through.

Today, however, to the behest of a few of the more powerful and important guests, she was observing one person in particular, Ace Goldsign. She had, of course, asked his grandmother for permission to do this. She had of course expected to be denied, and yet she had been granted the permission to observe as much as she liked, without influencing anything, of course. Not that she did anyways, if she were to add particular variables, it could influence the target to behave differently, which would then give her the wrong hypothesis, and she would never make that mistake again, never again.

Her target this time was a curious one, she was surprised. For one, he had not drunk a drop of alcohol, or taken a single pill of the pack that had been going around the younger generation since the beginning of the party. He also seemed to act perfectly, she had not caught a single faux pas the whole evening. He had been drinking enough to blend in, but not so much that he would have to go to the toilet. During dinner, she had been able to observe him less, but she had noticed that he ate with impeccable manners, and was not picky about any types of foods.

He engaged in appropriate conversation, and even though her informants had assured her Ace had never met them, he had made quick friends with her daughter's friends as well. He was not repulsed by the attraction of Saul, not that she blamed Saul, with the way Ace looked, if she was a few years younger, and him a few years older…

She shook her head, clearing those thoughts, her husband had also told her that he acted perfectly with him, with respect yet meeting his gaze. She respected that.

The most interesting aspect, however, was Ace's own awareness, he had noticed Kristina - that poor girl, alone in a corner, and interacted with her, he had done so without pressuring her into anything, and had even been able to make her smile, something Sabine would like. The daughter still had trust issues, but that was to be expected, Sabine, however, was a good person, and it was clear she worried about her step-daughter, going so far as to ask for a personal favour for her daughter to introduce her to some friends.

In the end, all she had been able to find was a boy that seemed to have everything. He was extremely good looking, kind, polite, and socially aware. Most surprising was his knowledge of Allison, she would have to speak to her about that, it could be important. She was pleasantly aware to find out that her family's future ally, and heir to one of the biggest corporations in the world was as steadfast as this, hopefully, he would not change, much.

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Ace danced for a bit with Allison, and then as the group swapped around partners, he ended up dancing with pretty much everyone. Kristina was by far the worst, but it made sense, since she had not been taught. Ace, therefore, used a few songs to teach her the basics, and from then on, she was able to quickly learn and follow along as needed. It was clear she had rhythm, something she had gained from 'clubbing' for more than a few nights in her past city.

They all ended up having a good time, and as people began to leave, they waved goodbye to each other, with promises to meet up another day in the holidays. Ace and his grandmother walked to the car with smiles on their faces, but as soon as they entered the protection of the tinted windows, they erased their facades and got to business.

"I made contact with her, it's fine, she is my friend now."

"Is that all?"

"You know it's not, she owes me, big time, as in her future big time. I gave her my full outlines, it should be enough to get her to the top of Rank 1 if she works hard, which she seems to want to do."

"Impressively done, I always wondered why you had even made those in the first place, but you never cease to surprise me. Well done, you may have just secured your first serious ally.", the pride in her voice was evident, and Ace was surprised, his grandmother had never spoken like that to him, and honestly, it meant a lot more than he wanted to admit.

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As Ace got to bed, he smiled. His life was on track, he had made new friends, his grandmother was proud of him, and he was having the best Christmas he had ever experienced, and it had only been five days into the holidays.

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Ace used his ability to create a hole in the wall, and quickly swapped back to his assault rifle, aiming down his iron sights to clear the room. He had been challenged by a viewer to win a full ranked match while being top fragger, only using iron sights. It was certainly interesting, but it had not been too hard, and now, in this final round, he was hoping to secure a few more kills to ensure his top spot. He had been playing at high Elo for a very long time, and now, when he loaded into a match, he usually recognised the people playing.

In this Elo, everyone was skilled, and while Ace did win quite a bit more than he lost, he still lost. There were usually full teams that were practising their comms, and if you were playing solo queue, it was normal to not have as good communication, which usually lost you the game. Regardless, however, the game was immensely fun at a high level, everyone was able to think on the spot, and come out with crazy tactics that could decide a round. It was in these games where the META game was decided, and where the crazy strategies were displayed.

His chat loved watching him come up with ingenious tactics, and it was good that as a general rule, most of the people were happy to listen to a strat. Most of the people that flamed or were toxic, were usually stuck at a lower Elo, since they usually carried their teams to their doom. This meant, that as a general rule, most people were reasonable, and even if you had never met them, they were kind enough to actually listen to you explain a strategy they could use.

It, of course, did not mean the tactic would actually be carried out, but a few people were well-known to come up with effective tactics, and most people were willing to put trust in them. Ace was at the head of that group, his refreshing way of playing the game, since he did not really have much experience in FPS games, allowed him to look at it with a different point of view. This allowed him to see things most would not notice.

This was going to be one of his tactics, he would make noise on one bomb site, and hopefully be able to hold it by himself, without peeking, only putting enough pressure to keep at least one person there. Then, his other four teammates would push a bomb and hopefully plant the bomb, where they would then pincer attack and hopefully catch the people in the other bomb site unaware. They would then only have to deal with the people that rotated to the bomb site. Which would hopefully mean that they would have a successful hold on the diffuser.

Ace slowly got closer to the bomb, and used a drone to get an idea on where they were. As he saw one, he did not ping it, but cooked a grenade and then threw it. It had not killed the defender, but that was not the goal of it. He now knew exactly where the defender was. He just had to hold the angle, while being careful of any other people in the bomb site, and keeping his ears out for any sounds that may indicate a roamer coming to flank him.

Ace waited a few more seconds holding the angle, and then threw another grenade, this one was to check if anyone else was there, but that did not seem to be the case. Regardless of the result, he still kept his guard, someone could have hidden or come after the grenade, nothing was impossible.

At this moment, his teammates began their attack, they killed one and then killed another quickly, not losing a single player. Then, as one began defusing, the rest began to choose angles and holding the various points they could come from. This was when Ace moved, he moved sideways, catching an opponent peeking at the door. Ace killed him but also took damage, leaving him at about half health. He then went in, clearing the room as he did, but no one else seemed to be there. He then went behind a piece of furniture, and began to hold the doorway, ensuring no one could come in. He saw a smoke grenade be thrown, and as he saw it, he rushed outside. He found the Smoke, sitting outside the doorway, about to detonate his toxic grenade. It was an easy kill.

With one enemy remaining, they all kept quiet in chat, attempting to hear footsteps. No one wanted to die, and they all wanted to ensure that this was a clean round. The clock ticking, all aimed at their respective spots, and Ace heard more than saw a brief firefight in which two of his teammates killed his last opponent. And with that, the tactic had worked and they had won the game.

His chat exploded in emotes and text, and his teammates congratulated him on another successful strat.

"Well guys, thanks for watching, I think this is it for today. I don't think I will be streaming much in the holidays but we will see. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.", he smiled and then stopped his broadcast.

He did a few light stretches, and then went to the kitchen, where his regular bowl of fruit was waiting for him. Eating the bowl had become a ritual for him, it was a healthy food that he liked. And with how peckish he usually felt after streaming, it only felt right to eat.