Chapter 170:

"Hgrhhh,", Ace grunted, exertion pouring out of his body, as he lifted his body above the top of the cliff.

He sat down on the rock floor, breathing hard due to the physical and mental trial he had just put himself through. He had climbed a cliff, of an unmeasurable length, without any ropes or equipment, simply focusing on his body's capabilities - which were most certainly impressive, and yet, it had still been a challenge, one he could not hope to complete again, this time taking an even shorter amount of time. He lived for the high that came from the risk, and this was a prime example of that.

'Ok,', he said to himself, 'I have to keep on exerting myself, it is the only way I will 'advance'.', he thought.

Over the time he had received his 'gift', Ace had lived through countless different experiences, and found that nothing really scared him, made him nervous? Yes, but scare? Never. It was only one night, when he was partaking in a breathing challenge, and his stopwatch had malfunctioned, which he used just in case, had malfunctioned. He knew it had, he had kept count with his internal clock after all, and yet, he had felt, fear…

Fear and despair at the fact that he had plateaued, that for whatever reason, he had hit his limit, and in the moments following that, when he calmed down, he knew, he had finally realised what truly scared him: stagnating. Not being able to advance - in whatever that may be, not being capable of improving himself. It was a despicable feeling.

And for whatever reason, he loved it. It made total sense for him to fear that he had reached his limit, and therefore, since then, he had focused on improving. All with one goal, that of which reaching his limits.

It was weird, but for Ace, it made sense, after all, what better way to overcome his limit, than overcome the fear of the limits themselves? It had a beauty not many could appreciate.

And so, he worked his ass off, he learnt and practised everything. He spoke all common languages to perfection, and had picked up multitudes of tricks and knowledge, from stints all over the world.

He had trained his body as hard as he could, and as his limits slowly unravelled more and more, he kept on improving at a breakneck pace. He had found the most pleasure, however, in fighting, fighting everything: both others, and himself.

This, climbing a cliff equipmentless, was a fight against himself: a fight against his body, and a fight against his conscience, which attempted to warn him off.

He had also learnt martial arts from all over the world, and even participated in a few underground fights, just for fun. It had been an interesting experience, but he was not stupid, whilst he may have had great talent, some of these people did so as well, and even if it was less, they had trained for the whole of their lives, which considering most were more than double Ace's age, was a considerable amount.

And so, he had stopped after a few fights, he had not been beaten, but as his opponents got stronger, he knew he needed more training.

As of now, had he gone back to the Tournament he had taken part in so many months ago, he would be able to demolish pretty much everyone, even if they attacked together. His skills had improved by miles, and yet, he kept improving.

***

The hot water jet fell all over his body, and Ace contracted his overworked muscles one by one, ensuring they would have a speedy and full recovery.

'This is the best bit. Although, what should I do next? I am sure there will be something to do I guess, and if not, I could always focus on different aspects.', Ace went over the different things he could do on the island, things that would hopefully not bore him to death.

It was in these moments that he hoped he was back home, he would have gone skating with his crew, or played video games on his computer. Now, he could do both, but it was not the same thing, here, everything would feel 'foreign'. Regardless, he decided to go to the skate ramp, there would hopefully be someone he could ride with there.

Ace went down to the floor, where there was a massive area, with a multitude of walls, ramps, bars… It was a heaven for urban sports, no matter which you practised.

Ace launched off his skateboard, which he had luckily brought with him on the trip. He kickflipped off the main ramp, and then went through different obstacles, carrying out different tricks, warming up in preparation to do some of the more extraneous ones. As of now, he was in the process of nailing one of the hardest flips one could do, a Fakie Beta Flip, to pull it off, one needed to be riding backwards, and then had to a sequence of flips and rotations. It was extremely hard, and Ace was enjoying learning it, primarily because of how challenging it was.

As of now, he could land the trick, which was impressive in and out of itself, but he would need to do a lot more 'cleaning up' in order for it to be considered as mastered.

After about twenty minutes of just warming up and messing around, Ace went to one of the flat spaces, where he could practise it nicely, without worry of hitting any obstacles. He began by simply skating backwards, and doing simple flips, progressing slowly into the necessary sequence of flips, which he did separately, before then beginning to combine it. He began doing the actual trick, slowly accustoming himself, and progressively landing it better and better. He was at it for about an hour and a half, before he decided to do something different, and went to do a round through the various obstacles that were set up, this time, warmed up, and doing much more challenging tricks.

After he finished, he noticed his watch, and decided that it had been enough for today.

He got his skateboard, and went into the elevator, aware yet nonchalant of the camera that had recorded his whole session.

***

"Compliments to the chef,", his grandmother said, and Natalia Rye nodded, smiling, as she savoured the wine, "Most definitely, it was a wonderful meal, thank you for the invitation."

The waiter thanked them, before walking away.

"So, anyone up for some cocktails?", Natalia asked, and they all agreed.

They moved to the lounge area, which had a grand piano, and soft, melodic jazz music coming from a band at the stage. It was loud enough you could enjoy it, but not enough that it would disturb a conversation, 'These guys are definitely professionals.'

They ordered drinks, and sat comfortably on the coaches that were set up around the lounge.