Chapter 101: Book 4: Chapter 13 – Trip To The Rohault Empire
"The Rohault Empire?" Ace asked as his mind drifted to a certain caramel-skinned teenage girl. "To find Amira?"
"If you want to go find your girlfriend, then that's up to you," Wukong smirked knowingly. "But no, that wasn't what this king meant."
"Then what did you mean?" Ace asked, ignoring the teasing grin plastered on Wukong's face.
"I meant that by going to the Rohault Empire, you'd be able to train and vent at the same time," Kong replied. "With how close Fatty said you guys became over the last six months, I'm surprised Mira never mentioned anything about the current state of affairs of her homeland."
"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 ferocious martial spirit is because they're constantly at war against the O'Brien Empire," Wukong explained. "If these last six months have proved anything, it's that you train best by experiencing real-life situations rather than training behind closed doors.
So the best thing for you right now would be to support our allies, the Rohault Empire, in fighting against your enemies, the O'Brien Empire."
As he said that, Wukong could literally feel the battle intent 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-law," Wukong teased.
As tempted as he was, Ace sighed helplessly as he forcibly suppressed his desires. "I can'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 and defeat that O'Brien bastard as soon as possible so she can 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 action for you, but it's probably best you don't let your mother know where you're going or what you're planning to do. Instead, just tell her you plan to go hunting for a few months in the Forest of Darkness to clear your head.
As for your mother's safety, leave that to us. This king won't let any harm come to sixth sister."
"I'm going too!" Killian stated unhesitantly.
"Roar (Me too)!" Leonel voiced not wanting to be left behind.
"Do what you want," Wukong waved dismissively.
Later that evening, Leonel returned to 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 Ace and Killian made their way to Milianna and Lance's cabin, where they found Lance tenderly caring for Milianna, who, whilst more stable than before, still seemed to be in a fragile state.
"Mom…" Ace called out when he got 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 blame me?" Milianna asked cautiously, her voice getting softer and softer with each word.
"Blame you? Why would I blame 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 commoner in the middle of nowhere."
"I could never blame 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 how fragile 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 can't afford not to take every possible opportunity I can to get stronger," Ace explained 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, neither 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 Arianna returns," Lance added. "Although Aiden said no one from the O'Brien Empire should be returning any time soon, on the off chance they do, if Ace isn't here, the chances 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 concern 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 stronger than us. The kind of opponents they'd need to go up against to get any kind of benefit 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 understood 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 Lance standing by her side. Lance had proved himself time and time again, and now, even after finding out that the person he was pitting himself against this time was one of the four most powerful beings on the continent, he didn't even bat an eyelid. The only thing he seemed to care about was Milianna's well-being.
Ace spent the next few hours accompanying his mother, and although the mood was anything but as cheerful as it had been that morning, Ace knew 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 Lance and Milianna, not wanting to waste a single moment, but whilst at his mother's cabin, an idea popped into his head.
"Before we go, I just need to run something by Lauriella," Ace said after leading Killian to meet back up with Leo. "Give me five minutes; I won't be long."
Killian and Leo glanced at each other, but it appeared neither had any idea of what Ace was planning, but before they could say anything, Ace had already disappeared into the distance.
Spreading his [Observation], Ace found Lauriella floating cross-legged at the peak of the Yin-Yang Mountain, meditating under the moonlight, beautiful violet flames 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?" Lauriella asked as Ace used his [Geppo] Technique 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?" Lauriella 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 was a top-tier Divine Beast, 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 understand why Ace was taking it out now. Unless…
"Did you want me to use the materials to upgrade your current weapon?" Lauriella asked.
"Not mine," Ace replied. "I was hoping you'd be able to use these as the core materials to forge into a new spear for Lance."
Ace knew that as willing as Lance was to be there for Milianna in any way he could, he also hated how weak and untalented he was in comparison to everyone around him.
Since leaving Wushan Town six years ago, the progress he had made could be considered incredible for the average warrior, having reached the early stages of the sixth rank, comprehended 'One with the Spear', cultivated his Water elemental battle qi, and even learnt 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 Baruch clan – would be his match.
Still, with his horizons having been expanded, so too had his desires for himself.
Forget Ace and the other students in the Pavilion, even his partner, Milianna, was likely to surpass him in the next decade or so if she carries on improving at the rate she had previously, and she had only started cultivating in the last five or so years.
As good a man as he was, it was impossible for Lance to be completely unaffected. Previously there had been nothing Ace could do, but now…
"Also, I have a total of six more warrior-based techniques that I'd like to sell to the Pavilion. They're part of the same collection as [Soru], and it includes the technique that allows me to use the air as a foothold, though that technique can only be used by those at the fifth rank or higher," Ace explained.
Lauriella had already seen Ace use [Geppo] several times since he had returned, so whilst she was surprised there were so many techniques, 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 contribution points on buying anything you think would help improve Lance's strength," Ace said unhesitantly.
It might seem like a foolish decision to others, but to Ace, there was nothing more important than family.
After everything they'd gone through together, although it wasn't so much of a father-son relationship, Ace definitely saw Lance as a member of his family.
The other thing one needed to bear in mind was that at his current level, contribution points didn't actually do much for him. Ace's primary focus when improving his strength right now was gaining insights into the laws of fire, and unfortunately, the Pavilion didn't have anything for sale that could help him.
"If you insist," Lauriella sighed.
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Book 5: Chapter 36: Ace & Leo Vs. The War God's College – Ace Inherits Aiden's Rivalry
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