"The Rohault Empire?" Ace asked as his mind drifted to a certain caramel-skieenage girl. "To find Amira?"

  "If you want to go find yirlfriend, then that's up to you," Wukong smirked knowingly. "But no, that wasn't what this ki."

  "Then what did you mean?" Ace asked, ign the teasing grin pstered on Wukong's face.

  "I meant that by going to the Rohault Empire, you'd be able to train a at the same time," Kong replied. "With how close Fatty said you guys became over the st six months, I'm surprised Mira never mentioned anything about the current state of affairs of her homend."

  "What are you talking about?" Ace asked with a slight frown.

  "The Rohault and O'Brien Empires are neighbours, and as such, they've always been at odds. The reason the Rohault Empire is known for its feroartial spirit is because they're stantly at war against the O'Brien Empire," Wukong expined. "If these st six months have proved anything, it's that you trai by experieng real-life situations rather than training behind closed doors.

  So the best thing for yht now would be to support our allies, the Rohault Empire, in fighting against your ehe O'Brien Empire."

  As he said that, Wukong could literally feel the battle i oozing out of Ace's pores.

  "And you helping the Rohault's with their border war would probably be the perfect gift to give Amira's parents for them to accept you as their future son-in-w," Wukong teased.

  As tempted as he was, Ace sighed helplessly as he forcibly suppressed his desires. "I 't go now; my mother needs me here."

  "Your mother needs you, yes, but it isn't here," Wukong replied. "She needs you to hurry up a that O'Brien bastard as soon as possible so she fix her pure soul.

  Don't worry about anything else, this king's already cleared things with Aiden and Lauri. They both agree that this is the best course of a for you, but it's probably best you don't let your mother know where yoing or what you're pnning to do. Instead, just tell her you pn to go hunting for a few months in the Forest of Darko clear your head.

  As for your mother's safety, leave that to us. This king won't let any harm e to sixth sister."

  "I'm going too!" Killian stated uantly.

  "Roar (Me too)!" Leonel voiot wanting to be left behind.

  "Do what you want," Wukong waved dismissively.

  Later that evening, Leonel returo the space his father had turned into their pride's new home to tell inform him of his decision that he'd be leaving for a few months whilst Ad Killian made their way to Milianna and Lance's , where they found Laenderly g for Milianna, who, whilst more stable than before, still seemed to be in a fragile state.

  "Mom…" Ace called out whe close enough for them to see him.

  "Ace," Milianna responded softly. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fau…"

  "It's not your fault," Ace said, interrupting Milianna mid-sentence. "You did nothing wrong."

  "Don't you bme me?" Milianna asked cautiously, her voice getting softer and softer with each word.

  "Bme you? Why would I bme you?" Ace asked incredulously.

  "For hiding the truth about your father for all these years and keeping you from him," Milianna said apprehensively. "If I hadn't run away back then, you would've grown up as a member of royalty instead of a oner in the middle of nowhere."

  "I could never bme you," Ace replied as he took his mother's trembling hands in his own. "And I wouldn't trade a single moment of my upbringing, especially if it meant being raised near a man who dared harm you."

  "Thank goodness," Milianna said in relief. "As long as we have each other, everything else will be okay."

  "Mom…" Ace said hesitantly, knowing hile she still was. "Kil, Leo, and I are going back out to train."

  "You're leaving?" Milianna asked unwillingly. "But you only just got back."

  "I know, but after everything that's happened, I 't afford not to take every possible opportunity I to get stronger," Ace expined slowly. "We won't truly be safe until I have the strength to protect us even in the face of 'him'."

  "Ace is right," Lance added from the side upon seeing Milianna's face drop. "Until he's strong enough to stand against that man using his own two feet, her you nor Ace will be truly safe."

  Milianna knew Lance was right, but the thought of being apart for Ace for another extended period wasn't something she could just accept so easily.

  "Plus, it might be a good idea for Ace to be away from the Pavilion until Arianurns," Lance added. "Although Aiden said no one from the O'Brien Empire should be returning any time soon, on the off ce they do, if Ace isn't here, the ces of them being able to figure out the truth about who he is will be greatly reduced."

  As soon as she heard that, Milianna's heart wavered. Although she wanted Ace to stay with her, her biggest has always been and will forever be Ace's safety. Still, it appeared she was willing to do anything to stay with her son.

  "So let's all go together then," she suggested.

  "We're not strong enough to go with them," Lance replied. "Whether it's Ace, Leonel, or Killian, all of them are too much strohan us. The kind of oppos they'd o go up against to get any kind of be are beasts who could kill us with a thought. We'd only end up getting in their way if something happened."

  Milianna's eyes dimmed, but she didn't argue any more. She uood that everything Lance said was the truth. But, unfortunately, it didn't make the impending separation any easier to bear.

  'Thank you,' Ace mouthed to the former Baruch family guard.

  He couldn't help but be thankful that his mother had Laanding by her side. Lance had proved himself time and time again, and now, even after finding out that the person he itting himself against this time was one of the four most powerful beings on the ti, he didn't even bat an eyelid. The only thing he seemed to care about was Milianna's well-being.

  Ace spent the few hours apanying his mother, and although the mood was anything but as cheerful as it had been that m, Aew it was what his mother needed and quite frankly, so too did he.

  The trio had already decided they would leave that night after parting with Land Milianna, not wanting to waste a single moment, but whilst at his mother's , an idea popped into his head.

  "Before we go, I just o run something by Lauriel," Ace said after leading Killian to meet back up with Leo. "Give me five minutes; I won't be long."

  Killian and Leo g each other, but it appeared her had any idea of what Ace nning, but before they could say anything, Ace had already disappeared into the distance.

  Spreading his [Observation], Ace found Lauriel floating cross-legged at the peak of the Yin-Yang Mountaiating uhe moonlight, beautiful violet fmes flickering around her body, giving her an otherworldly aura.

  Although she couldn't sense his [Observation] passing over her, she could still feel his presence as he neared.

  "Ace? Is something wrong?" Lauriel asked as Ace used his [Geppo] Teique to reach the mountain top in a hurry. "I thought you would've left already."

  "We were just about to leave, but I had a request," Ace said as he flicked his wrist, summoning a giant skeleton and a beautiful head-sized Azure crystal.

  "Is that the skeleton and magicite core of the Divine Azure Dragon?" Lauriel asked with a raised brow.

  As a saint, the corpse of a mere beast at the fifth rank wasn't enough to startle her, even if it -tier Divi, but she would be lying if she wasn't a bit impressed. Just looking at its magicite core, she could feel that it should've been no weaker than the average eighth-rank magical beast. Still, she didn't uand why Ace was taking it out now. Unless…

  "Did you wao use the materials to upgrade your current on?" Lauriel asked.

  "Not mine," Ace replied. "I was hoping you'd be able to use these as the aterials te into a new spear for Lance."

  Aew that as willing as Lance was to be there for Milianna in any way he could, he also hated how weak and ued he was in parison to everyone around him.

  Since leaving Wushan Town six years ago, the progress he had made could be sidered incredible for the average warrior, having reached the early stages of the sixth rank, prehended 'Oh the Spear', cultivated his Water elemental battle qi, and eve how to use [Soru].

  If he were to go back to Wushan Town now, other than Hogg, no one else, including Hillman – the head guard of the Baru – would be his match.

  Still, with his horizons having been expanded, so too had his desires for himself.

  Fet Ad the other students in the Pavilion, even his partner, Milianna, was likely to surpass him in the decade or so if she carries on improving at the rate she had previously, and she had only started cultivating i five or so years.

  As good a man as he was, it was impossible for Lao be pletely ued. Previously there had been nothing Ace could do, but now…

  "Also, I have a total of six more warrior-based teiques that I'd like to sell to the Pavilion. They're part of the same colle as [Soru], and it includes the teique that allows me to use the air as a foothold, though that teique only be used by those at the fifth rank her," Ace expined.

  Lauriel had already seen Ace use [Geppo] several times since he had returned, so whilst she was surprised there were so many teiques, she didn't doubt their authenticity. Still, it was Ace's following statement that really caught her by surprise.

  "I'd then like to spend all my tribution points on buying anything you think would help improve Lance's strength," Ace said uantly.

  It might seem like a foolish decision to others, but to Ace, there was nothing more important than family.

  After everything they'd gohrough together, although it wasn't so much of a father-soionship, Ace definitely saw Lance as a member of his family.

  The other thing one o bear in mind was that at his current level, tribution points didn't actually do much for him. Ace's primary focus when improving his strength right now was gaining insights into the ws of fire, and unfortunately, the Pavilion didn't have anything for sale that could help him.

  "If you insist," Lauriel sighed.

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  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 5: Chapter 36: Ace & Leo Vs. The War God's College – Aherits Aiden's Rivalry