As Haydson led his group to the peak of the mountain, they saw Ace standing behind Lauriel and three other experts of the ninth rank.

  Normally, mortals like them would be all but ignored by saints like Haydson and Kenyon, but after experieng Wukong’s power, they refused to uimate anyone else from this secluded fa, especially as two of them, simir to Wukong, were in the ninth rank as both a warrior and a mage – a feat only achieved by the most talented of experts.

  “Ace,” Wharton shouted as he jumped off the back of the hawk that brought him here. “Do you io just hide like a turtle behind your instructors?”

  “You’re not my match,” Ace said indifferently as he gnced lightly at the young Dragonblood Warrior.

  Looking at those dark eyes filled with nothing but disdain, Wharton couldn’t help but think back to the st time he saw those eyes.

  It was on the day of their assessment. It was just revealed that Ace didn’t have an affinity to any of the elements, hat made Whartoatic.

  As a Dragonblood Warrior, being a saint was all but guaranteed for the young s of the Baru. In his head, it didn’t matter that Ace was strohan him at the moment. Iure, he would be a lofty saint that all mortals had to look up to, and Ace would be nothing but a distant memory.

  But as their eyes met, the joy he felt was instantly doused.

  Instead of seeing the unwillingness he expected, the only thing he saw was disdain. It was as if Ace genuinely believed that no matter how hard Wharton tried, he would never surpass him.

  It was those same eyes that had haunted him every day for the st six years. It was those same eyes that drove him to drive his body to its limits every single day and the up and do the same thing the day.

  He was only 11 now, but he was already nearing the peak of the fourth rank. That alo him he top of his peers in the War God’s Academy, but when you added his bloodline ability and everything he’d learnt from Haydsohe st few years, he ractically unrivalled in the academy.

  And still, Ace looked at him with those same ptuous eyes.

  But before Wharton could reply, Killian stepped forward.

  “If you want to fight Ace, you have to beat me first,” the dark-skinned youth decred whilst gring at Wharton, uo suppress his roiling killing i.

  Ad Lance weren’t the only ones angered after finding out the truth about Milianna’s past. Ever sihey met ba Wushan town, Milianna had been the closest thing to a mother Killian had ever had.

  Even though he promised not to kill Whartoo the promise Ace had made to Linley, he would still use the little dragon warrior to vent his pent-up emotions.

  “We came here for Wharton to challenge Ace,” Haydson said coolly as he looked at Lauriel. “Not some ignorant no named brat.”

  Even though they were in ‘hostile territory’, Haydson still had his pride. He was Haydson, the monolithic sword saint, and Wharton was his disciple. They came so Wharton could challenge Aot a random unknown youth.

  Though it was extremely impressive that Killian was at the fifth rank as both a mage and a warrior, he could sehat the boy was a few years older than his disciple. Plus, as far as he was ed, the only way he believed Killian could reach such a level at his age was if he focused all of his time on cultivation and none on gaining experience.

  “Who invited you?” Lauriel replied, her voice ice cold as she stared the man referred to as the stro saint in the world dead in the eye. “Either have your disciple fight Killian or scram!”

  He khere were saints out there more powerful than him, but there was still a reason Haydson received the title of the stro. His strength was the real deal.

  He’d had many fights since being a saint all those turies ago, many of which he had e close to losing his life, but not once had anyone he’d gone up against treated him in such a manner.

  He had half a mind to reach for the sword on his back, but he was under no delusions. Between Lauriel, Wukong and those two saint-level magical beasts, if he tried, it would mean the deaths of all of his party, potentially even himself.

  “Wharton, go a that boy,” Haydson anded, ign the look of unwillingness on his disciple’s face. “The sooner you beat him, the sooner you fight that Ace boy.”

  “Yes, master. I uand,” Wharton said as he stepped forward to meet the axe-wielding teen as his muscles began to expand, and azure scales began to protrude from his body. “Remember, it was you who asked for this.”

  “Destroy him,” Lina snarled from the rear of her group as she watched her approach his first oppo.

  At the same time, Joel and the others arrived just in time to watch the show.

  “The bloodlines of the desdants of the four supreme warriors are the real deal,” Yuna sighed as she looked at the war bde wielding azure dragon warrior who had jumped straight from the fourth to the sixth rank after transf.

  “He’s still not Killian’s match,” Faye snorted.

  After their time in the wild, she knew better than anyone just how strong Killian had bee. In her eyes, other than Ace, Amira, and Julius, there was no orohan him in their css, and that included Alissa.

  Killian watched calmly as Wharton charged in his dire like a bloodthirsty demon. All though he could defeat most beasts and warriors at the sixth rank, he could tell at a ghat Wharton had prehended oh his sword, putting him well above your average sixth-rank warrior.

  Ordinarily, Wharton would definitely be able to give Killian a det fight, but if Aiden’s pn was to work, they o win every fight in the most domineering fashion. As suot only could he not afford to hold back, but he also had to use his brains.

  To Brutus and Lina, it looked as though Killian had frozen in fright with Wharton rushing towards him, which put a smile on each of their faces. Unfortunately, they couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  As soon as Wharton reached a distance of two meters away, his oppo’s cold, calm voitered his ears.

  “[Earth Wall]!” Killian said calmly.

  Wharton snorted disdainfully when he saw a wall of stone was erected between him and his oppo.

  With a casual wave of his bde, the stone wall was chopped in two, but by the time he reached the other side, his oppo had disappeared.

  ‘Movement Teique? Without battle-qi?’ Haydson thought to himself as he calmly watched Killian skilfully enter his disciple’s blind spot.

  Between his Insta-casting of a fairly powerful spell and the skilful use of a movement teique to put himself in the best possible position to ter his disciple’s attack, Haydson had to admit he uimated Killian; he definitely had more experiehan he inally believed. Still, he wasn’t worried.

  If, after all his training, his disciple could be caught off guard aed so easily, all the training over the st few years would’ve been for nought, or at least that’s what he believed until he watched Killian make his move.

  “[Supergravity Field],” Killian called out as gravity seemed to double for Wharton catg the young Dragonblood warrior off guard.

  Whilst Lina could barely keep up with what was going on, Brutus being a warrior of the seventh rank, had no difficulty following, which was why he was so shocked to see Wharton suddenly being put on the back foot. Still, his shock paled in parison to Kenyon and Haydson.

  Both saints of the O’Brien Empire knew how talented one had to be to insta-cast a spell of the same rank with such skill, but the thing that really took them by surprise was that as Killian’s axe desded, they could clearly see he was ‘wielding heavy as though it were light’.

  Wharton was barely able to react, being caught off guard by Killian’s sudden burst of power. Still, after his hellish training with his master, if there was ohing he knew, it was that he couldn’t afford to lose his posure.

  Killian’s axe moved like a blur, but he was still able to raise his sword to block just in time, and as he was a warrior of the sixth rank when transformed, he was able to hold his own in a csh of strength even with all the disadvantages his oppo put him under.

  Unfortunately, Killian wasn’t do.

  “[Destructo-Pulse]!” Killian roared as a spherical wave of grey mage force exploded out of him, sending Wharton skidding back with both the bde of his sword and the scales c his forearm cracked.

  This was one of the best parts of having Mathias as a master. As a saint, his insights into the ws of destru were so profound that despite being a that those of the Yun Pne didn’t uand much about, he was able to create a multitude of different spells for the mortal ranks from scratch.

  Although just a spell of the fourth rank, after breaking through to the fifth rank, Killian was able to successfully increase the power of the spell to the fifth rank, and as the element with by far the most destructive force, its power wasn’t to be uimated. The fact that Wharton escaped with such minor injuries spoke volumes about the defensive capabilities of a Dragonblood Warrior.

  Wharton had just looked up, only to find Killian having appeared directly in front of him with his twin-sided battle axe resting by his neck, looking at him just as disdainfully as Ace had.

  Killian was fully aware that if they were to fight again now, he would never be able to win as easily as he had. Still, since Aiden’s pn required them to inspire shod awe, Killian had to take full advantage of the fact that Wharton was uimating him and used that momentum to crush him, and thankfully he was successful in his mission.

  “Is this the quality of the ‘War God’s’ Academy?” Killian asked as he turo Brutus. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t listen to you back at the assessment after all, seeing as all of you at the academy are nothing but trash.”

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  Book 5: Chapter 28 - Ace Challehe War God's Academy