"So what else happeo you guys whilst away?" Ace asked, seeing the solemn mood of his cssmates. "Joel, you must have a story to tell. What kind of oppo did that to your arm?"

  Although his arm had healed well with Yuna's assistance, with his [Observation], Ace had long siiced the damage done.

  "About that," Joel smiled wryly. "We ran into an old friend of yours."

  "Of mine?" Ace asked in fusion when he saw Julius and Amira struggling to hold back their ughter.

  "Yeah. When we were travelling, we ran into a group from the War God's academy who looked to be in dire straits…"

  "What a nuisance," Ace sighed helplessly after hearing Joel's story.

  "You're not mad?" Yuna asked cautiously.

  "Mad? With you?" Ace asked. "Why would I be mad at you? I'm more ahat another lizard is ing to bother me."

  It was only when she saw Ace's nonce that Yuna's mind was finally put at ease. Even though Osiris had already told her Ace wasn't likely to care, she still couldn't help but feel slightly worried.

  The rest of their group couldn't help but ugh at Ace's rea. He may well be the only person who would refer to the Baruchs as lizards. But if anyone was qualified to look down on them, it was him.

  "Since you have no i in fighting Wharto me do it," Killian said, his voice ced with killing i.

  Aside from Ace, he was the only one who still had a boo pick with the Baru after they tried to have them assassinated.

  A sigh escaped Ace's mouth when he felt Killian's killing i. "Fine, you fight him but don't kill him. I promised his brother I wouldn't go looking for revenge iure as long as they do nothing to provoke us…"

  Ace the on to expin what happened when they ran into Linley in the mountain range and the truth about Lina's ge in disposition.

  "… After you defeat Wharton, I guess I'll have some fun with that idiot Brutus," Ace smirked. "We 't have him think that the disciples of the Yin-Yang Pavilion are so easy to bully."

  Killian and the others all felt a hint of sympathy for the representative of the War God's Academy when they saw the fiendish grin on Ace's face. Still, for messing with one of their own, the punishment ing his ell deserved.

  Before anyone could say anything else, Ace's head so the south as he sensed a powerful presence rapidly flying in their dire.

  With his master and the other adults present, he didn't feel worried, but he was still curious as the person ing was actually a mid-staged saint-level warrior.

  "What is it?" Amira asked upon seeing Ace's as, but before he could reply, she and the others felt the warrior's domineering presence as well.

  Like Ace, they all looked up at the man in the sky, no one exhibiting any fear, just curiosity.

  The warrior was a handsome dark-skinned man wearing a tight-fitted white robe, not too dissimir to Aiden's. In fact, when looking closely, Ace realised the man actually faintly resembled his master.

  "Uncle Brandell?" Amira asked upnising the slowly desding saint. "What are you doing here? Are mother and father okay?"

  "Mmh, your parents are fine," Brandell nodded with a doting smile as he nded in front of his niece. "I came here to pick you up as your mnant whilst you were away on your training exercise. Your master told us when you would be back so that you could return to meet your soon-to-be siblings."

  "Siblings?" Amira asked with wide eyes. "You mean mother's having twins?"

  "That's right, child," Brandell said before looking over the other children, stopping on Ace, a brief look of shock fshing across his eyes before turning back to his niece. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your cssmates?"

  "Aah, right, sorry," Amira said as she introduced each of the disciples of the Pavilion, who, whilst remaining polite, felt no sense of revereowards the mae being a saint. "… And this is Ace, and his beast partner, Leonel."

  As a saint, he could sehe strangely powerful fluctuations emanating from the dark-furred lion. Still, as his spiritual essence wasn't as powerful as Aiden's or Arianna's, he couldn't tell its exact quality, so he just assumed it was a mutated mystic beast he'd never heard of, especially after seeing the Crimson-Eyed Mane Lion not far away.

  Though surprising that one would willingly bond with a human, it paled in parison to the shock he felt as he looked at Ace.

  It o be uood that not only was Amira the princess of the Rohault Empire, she was almost the greatest talent their Empire had ever produced. After entering the Pavilion, the upper echelons of the Rohault Empire were gives on her cssmates to make sure there was no ce of any mishaps .

  Thankfully, it appeared that none of the children was a desdant of any of their enemies, but there was still one child that grabbed the attention of ead every one of them.

  One of the reasons why Amira was allowed to go to the Pavilion in the first pce was because of Aiden. Ace's master was the current emperor's brother, ae not officially being a saint, due to his strength, he was also a member of the Empire's cil, so when they learnt that he took a disciple, it naturally caused quite the stir.

  Upon doing some more research, they found that, like their Grand Elder, Ace was uo sehe natural ws meaning that he should have no mage force.

  As a member of the Empire's cil himself, he was naturally given the reports on Ace, which was how he was able the dark-haired youth at a gnce, but it was only when he realised that Ace had begun to cultivate mage-force that he became shocked.

  You o uand how special Aiden's position in the Rohault Empire was. Despite being of the ninth rank, he had power surpassing most peak saints, so it could be imagined how desperate the Rohault Empire were for Aiden to bee a true saint. At that point, his power would more than likely be peerless amongst saints, and the Empire's currently precarious position would be a lot more stable.

  When he realised that Ace – a child the cil believed to have a simir dition to Aiden – could now cultivate mage-force, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement well up inside him.

  Ace simply raised an eyebrow upon sensing the man's growiement, but a familiar zy voice rang through the air before he could say anything.

  "Little Brandy," Aiden called out as he suddenly appeared in the air above the children with a gourd of alcohol in his hands. "What are you doing…

  Ahh, that's right, I almost fot. Little Mira, your mother's pregnant."

  Braypically would've been embarrassed and frustrated by Aiden calling him "little Brandell" in such a public setting, but he was way too distracted to care at that moment in time. "Uncle, your disciple cultivate mage-forow? Does that mean you've found a cure for your dition?"

  Aiden looked at his nephew as if he were looking at an idiot. "What does that brat being a mage have to do with my dition?"

  "Don't you both have the same dition?" Brandell asked back as the hope he had felt began to dwindle.

  "Which idiot told you that?" Aiden asked. "My foolish disciple's dition was something he was born with, you should know full well that mine wasn't."

  Although he knew his uncle's dition came as a result of a certain i from when he was a child, he and the rest of the cil believed the same thing had happeo Ace, and that was the reason Aiden chose to take him as a disciple because, i few turies, maalented youths in of their Rohault Empire had requested to bee a disciple of the emperor's brother. Still, he had always uantly rejected, saying he had no i in teag disciples.

  "I see," Brandell sighed helplessly.

  Ace rolled his eyes at his wannabe drunkard of a master, referring to him as his foolish disciple, but his eyes narrowed when he heard Aiden speak of his dition.

  He had asked Aiden why he was uo seure's essence several times over the st few years, but Aiden would never give him a proper ahis was the first clue he'd been given into his master's mysterious dition, and he couldn't help but frown as he ruminated over the implications.

  It was only when he heard Amira's angelic voice that he awoke from his thoughts.

  "Okay, uncle, just let me say goodbye to my friends, and then we go,"

  Ace suddenly felt a knot in his stomach as he watched Amira say goodbye to each of their cssmates.

  This would be the first time in over five and a half years that Ad Amira would be apart. It wasn't something he was looking forward to, and judging by the look in Amira's eyes wheopped in front of him; she felt exactly the same.

  Seeing the way they stared longingly into each other's eyes, all the other disciples couldn't help but look away in a futile attempt at giving them their space. Brandell oher hand, couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at his niece before turning to his uncle, who merely winked back at him before taking anulp of his alcohol.

  "I guess this is goodbye for n-" Amira didn't evehe ce to finish her sentence befasping in surprise at Ace suddenly taking her in his arms.

  "Take care of yourself," Ace said softly. "And I'll see you soon."

  "Mmh," Amira nodded as she returned his hug. "See you soon."

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  Book 5: Chapter 20 - Ranking petition (1)