"Bloodline Ability?!" Lazerim asked, no less shocked than any of the other children who overheard their versation.

  The only people who weren't shocked by Wukong's decration were Ace's group, Aiden, Mathias, and Wukong.

  Hell, even Alissa, who'd been travelling alongside Ace for the better part of a year, was beyond shock by this new revetion.

  You have to uand, Bloodline abilities amongst humans were simply too rare. As far as most people knew, only the desdants of the four supreme warriors were blessed with bloodline abilities and even then, it was clear from the current state of the Baru that their bloodlines were waning with each geion.

  "Mmh," Wukong nodded. "He calls it haki!"

  "It really is just one surprise after another with you, isn't it?" Joel asked as he stared at the obsidian bde of his oppo's polearm in disbelief.

  However, Ace had no iion of talking any longer. "[Soru]!"

  For the first time siheir fight began, Ace finally took the initiative.

  Joel gritted his teeth as Ace suddenly appeared in front of him and unleashed an onsught of attacks.

  He had assumed that when he began using his lightning to coat his bde, he would easily be able to dominate, but as Ace began to attao matter what he tried, Joel couldn't find a way to break his flow. Even when insta-casting [Pierg Bolt], Ace mao easily dodge without breaking his flow.

  If that wasn't bad enough, Joel noticed small chips starting to form on his bde after each block. He knew if this tinued, it wouldn't be long before his on broke and he lost, a, despite knowing this, there didn't seem to be anything he could do to stop the iable.

  Despite being the stronger of the two, Joel was being thhly suppressed. It was like Ace could read him like a book and perfectly ter his move before he even finished making it.

  The lo went on, the more mistakes Joel began to make, and Ace made sure to punish him for eae.

  Several cuts and gashes started to appear on Joel's body, and even though it was just a practice match, Joel never showed any sign of giving up.

  Yuna watched her young master get dominated with ched fists and red eyes. She khat it was her fault he was forced to fight that monster so early. If she hadn't insulted him, he likely wouldn't have embarrassed her in the way he had, a, instead of holding herself atable, she held Apletely responsible.

  Unfortunately for her, Ace had no idea what she was thinking, nor would he care even if he did. All he wao do was finish this as soon as possible. Using his [Armament] for extended periods put quite the strain on his body, and he knew he still had more fights after this one.

  Then, as though Ace had a guardian angel looking out for him, his give finally cut his oppo's sabre in two.

  Joel looked at the give resting mere millimetres away from his ned then at his broken bde. He couldn't believe he had lost. Not only was he older and at a higher realm, he had also resorted to breaking his vow and used magic, yet…

  Ultimately, he didn't say anything. Instead, he simply carried both halves of his broken sabre in his hands as he left the arena.

  Many were surprised by the fact that Joel wasn't chosen to be a disciple, but Joel didn't seem to care as he retook his pce by Yuna, eared too scared to say anything.

  "The Dawson boy didn't mao pique your i, Kong?" Kimika asked, turning to her Junior brother.

  "Whether it's his talent as a warrie, it's first css," Lazerim added. "He even mao insta-cast a rank one spell with the power of a rank two spell. Though it's not quite the same as insta-casting a spell of your rank, it's not much easier."

  "Not ied," Wukong ht rejected. "Until this king bees a saint, this king refuses to take on a single disciple."

  Whilst the instructors were talking amongst themselves, Ace was eyeing his cssmates, trying to figure out who was .

  As his eyes fell on Killian, all he got was a simple thumbs-up and an encing smile. Though he didn't say it, Aderstood that Kil had no iions of fighting.

  "What about you?" Ace asked as he focused on Alissa, who was, as usual, right beside Killian.

  "Who wants to fight a freak like you?" The silver-haired girl snorted.

  Ace could only smile helplessly at that. Ever since she found out about his prehending 'oh the give', Alissa had taken to calling him a freak instead of his actual name. But before he could voice a reply, he noticed someone walking towards the stage from the er of his eye.

  Upon realising who it was, a helpless smile appeared on his face, especially when he saw the cold glint in her eyes.

  She may not have beero in terms of realm. Still, Amira Rohault was, without a doubt, the most talented perso, especially when sidering her age, and warrior and mage cultivation. And for the simple fact that she was cherry-picked by Wukong's mysterious master, Aew that she more than likely had the bat ability to back it up.

  Ace could hear the chug of Wukong and the other instructors, but he didn't dare take his eyes off his approag oppo. It artly because he was scared of what she would do if he did, but it was also because he quite literally couldn't.

  Despite being so much older than her mentally, there was something mesmerising about her. Just like the first time he id eyes on her, his cheeks began to flush red, and his heart began to race.

  It was only when she was a mere meter away that he noticed a golden light coating her now outstretched palm as she spoke. "[Purifying Light]."

  That was the first time he'd heard her speak. He was so distracted by the sound of her angelic voice that he didn't notice the fatigue that had started to build from his st fight disappear until he saw her elegantly drink the tents of her metal fsk before it disappeared into the ste ring on her right index finger.

  "You healed me?" Ace asked in surprise.

  "I want you at your best when I defeat you," Amira replied calmly.

  Ace didn't reply immediately. Instead, he just stared at his soon-to-be oppo in a daze. As he stared at her, she stared back, but the longer she looked into his jet-bck eyes, the faster the ice melted.

  "Iing," Aiden voiced as he watched the two children staring at each other.

  "What's so iing about puppy love?" Wukong asked back as he impatiently waited for the two love birds to start what should be the final round.

  "Don't you find it iing that they're so fasated by each other even though this is obviously the first time they're meeting each other?" Aiden asked with an intrigued smile.

  "What's iing about two brats finding someone of the opposite sex attractive?" Wukong replied, answering the man's question with another question.

  "Think about it. Objectively speaking, Alissa's no less attractive than my adorable little niece over there, a Ace has always been utterly indifferent to her looks.

  Then there's Lauriel and Kimika. They're both nation-toppliies in their ht, and as fully-grown women, their beauty isn't what a prepubest child's could pare to. A Ace didn't so much as bat an eyelid in the face of either of them." Aiden expined as his smile grew wider.

  "My adorable little niece is no different. As the princess of the Rohault Empire, she's been introduced to all sorts of attractive males of her own age and older, many of whom have tried all kinds of extravagant acts in their attempts to court her knowing she'll be a beauty han our Lauriel and Kimika, yet she's always been pletely indifferent to ead every one of them, wanting to spend more time fog oraining than anything else.

  Don't get me wrong, Ace is a handsome boy, but he's not the most attractive boy arouher. Still, as soon as she locked eyes with him, she was no less entrahan he was." Aiden said, uo hide his fasation.

  "Okay, when you put it like that, I admit it's a little odd," Wukong said as he turned his attention from the two youngsters back to his master's husband. "But what does any of it mean?"

  At that point, it wasn't just Wukong who was ied. Each of his senior brothers and sisters hung on Aiden's every word with rapt attention. Unfortunately, they were destio be disappointed.

  "I have no idea," Aiden replied simply. "I just think it's iing."

  Wukong and the others rolled their eyes before turning their attention back to the pair in the arena. Though they were disappointed by the ck of answers, they weren't surprised. They knew how etric this martial uncle of theirs could be when he found something that caught his attention.

  Aiden, though, simply smiled as a curious light fshed across his eyes.

  P.S. Support me oreon listed below to read ahead - Release rate is at least 2x as many chapters every week! XD

  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon: Book 3 - Chapter 16