บท 53: Book 2: Chapter 23 – Welcome To The Yin-Yang Pavilion

It was only when Wukong finally let him go that Ace finally got the chance to look around. Other than his mother, Lance, Wukong, and Lauriella, he didn't recognise anyone else.

"That man over there is this king's 3rd brother – Lazerim Penay. He's also the pavilion's mage instructor." Wukong explained, pointing towards the bearded man sitting cross-legged by the finish line Ace passed not long ago.

"And that woman standing beside your mother and Lauriella is our 4th sister – Kimika Lilt. She's the pavilion's warrior instructor." Wukong explained as he pointed to a strawberry-blonde-haired woman. "Ooh right, she's also Venerin's wife."

"And I'm guessing the other kids are my future classmates," Ace said as he scanned each of them with his [Observation].

He had to admit that each of them was the absolute cream of the crop in terms of talent, but there were two that really caught his attention.

The first was an obese brown-haired boy wearing a brown robe.

He already knew from Venerin's explanation that each student admitted had to be both a warrior and a mage, so when he realised that the boy had no warrior cultivation at all, his surprise wasn't hard to understand. Still, when he realised his mage cultivation, things became clear.

'Early-stage of the third rank?!' Ace mentally shouted in shock.

It had to be remembered that cultivation as a mage tended to be slower than for warriors, so for this overweight youth to be a third-rank mage was nothing short of monstrous.

The only thing that Ace still didn't understand was how such a child could've made it up the mountain, as his magic wouldn't have assisted him in any way. Forget hiking under the increased gravity; just the climb should've been impossible for him, and yet not only was he here, but he was the only one of the children who didn't seem to be even the slightest bit tired.

'He must've been exempt from it.' Ace thought to himself as he studied the spherical body of the boy in question.

The other person who caught Ace's attention was a young light-skinned girl with captivating golden eyes and long curly black hair that reached the small of her back. She wore a set of white leather armour, and sheathed on both hips were a pair of katanas.

Like all the other children present, she too was an incredible talent being both an early-stage second-rank warrior and mage, but that wasn't what caught Ace's eyes.

The truth was, the moment he and her locked eyes, Ace felt his heart race as if it was trying to escape his chest, and at that moment, no one else existed but her.

Judging by the furious blush on her face, it appeared she felt the same way.

Unfortunately, they weren't alone. All the adults noticed the notice the change in the two children. Most just smirked knowingly. Even Milianna smiled sweetly at Ace's reaction. Even though Ace was a bit young for such things, she never treated Ace like a normal child.

"What's wrong, brat? You see something you like?" Wukong asked teasingly.

"What? No!" Ace snapped back when he broke out of his trance.

"You sure?" Wukong chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a little crush…"

"No! Shut up!" Ace barked as his face grew redder by the second. "How could I have a crush on a little kid?!"

As soon as his words escaped his mouth, the girl's eyes seemed to frost over as she icily glared at Ace, causing him to gulp nervously.

Although it sounded offensive when speaking about a girl who appeared to be no younger than he was, it had to be remembered that despite him having a physical age of 8, he had a mental age of almost 30.

When he said what he said, he may have mainly been responding to Wukong, but there was a small part of him that was talking to himself. The same girl who made his heart stir was young enough to be his daughter, mentally at least.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt the urge to go over and apologise, but before he could, Wukong's cheerful voice entered his ears.

"Haha, I think you angered her. I guess your talents start and stop with fighting." Wukong said, taking no small amount of pleasure from Ace's misfortune. "Ooh right, I should probably tell you, that girl is Amira Rohault. She was the only person from this batch personally recruited by my master."

Thinking about the five monsters Arianna took as disciples, Ace could imagine the ridiculous standards she had, and for some reason, he didn't feel like they had suddenly lowered.

"Tch, whatever," Ace replied, pretending he didn't care after sneaking one final glance at the frosty-eyed girl who made his heart move.

Seeing that, Wukong smirked but ultimately said nothing further.

Ace proceeded to lie back down in an attempt to clear his mind and recover his energy as much as possible. Even though he had no idea what was still to come, he understood that the pavilion still had activities in store for them.

Almost two hours later, Ace watched as the dark-haired boy he passed whilst climbing the mountain stumbled across the finish line in a sorry state.

He took a few minutes to catch his breath before dragging his fatigued body over to a secluded part of the mountaintop giving each person no more than a casual glance.

It'd been a total of 16 hours since Lauriella dropped Ace and his group at the base of the mountain when Killian finally made it to the finish line.

He had barely passed instructor Lazerim when his body gave in, but before he could collapse, he found himself being propped up by a small but familiar frame.

"I did it," Killian said with pure pride. "I really did it!"

"I knew you would," Ace said with a smile that radiated pride no less than Killian's.

Killian stayed conscious just long enough to flash a happy smile before falling asleep in Ace's arms.

Thankfully, Ace had been resting for almost five hours by that point, so he had recovered more than enough energy to carry his friend's body over to Lance and his mother's side.

The next to come in was Alissa, who seemed intent on ignoring her fatigue as she stormed straight over to Ace and the others under the watchful eyes of her future classmates and instructors.

"Stinky, foolish, oaf!" Alissa snorted as she gave the foot of Killian's unconscious body a boot before she, too, collapsed on the ground.

Everyone present watched in confusion, not knowing what Alissa's problem was. It was only Ace and his group who had seen Alissa's feelings develop over the last five months, who were able to vaguely guess what annoyed her.

She had wanted to spend their time climbing together to grow closer, but Killian was a bit of a blockhead when it came to social interactions, so whilst she tried to stay close to him, Killian focused solely on his climb.

Though in a fight, Alissa was undoubtedly superior. When it came to an event like this which relied more on raw power and determination, Killian was in his element.

As soon as they made it to the gravity-induced hike, Killua gradually left her further and further behind.

"You really are both as bad as each other when it comes to women," Wukong teased, eliciting a laugh from Lance and the others.

Even Milianna couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at her boy's problems with the fairer sex.

"Shut up!" Ace barked back at his recruiter. "It's not my fault girls are such complicated creatures."

As soon as his voice waned, he suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Turning to face the direction of the threat, he saw Amira glaring at him threateningly, almost as if she was daring him to repeat his words.

"Hahaha, yup, terrible with women indeed!" Wukong declared when he saw the sweat dripping down the side of Ace's face.

"Would you get lost already?!" Ace said, turning his frustration to his recruiter, causing Wukong to keel over in laughter at the boy's plight.

"Tch! Do what you want!" Ace snorted, no longer paying the man any more attention.

After nearly 22 hours, Kannal was the last to arrive. Though it was to be expected, seeing as other than the fat child with no warrior cultivation to speak of, Kannal was the only child still in the first rank.

He was barely conscious as his body crossed the finish line, but he kept mumbling the same thing under his breath with each step. Every time each of his feet hit the ground, he would mutter his sister's name as though it was a mantra for him to draw strength from.

Even after crossing the line, Kannal kept walking in his dazed state, clearly not realising he had finished. It was only after Kimika appeared in front of him that he stopped.

"Did…

Did I complete it?" Kannal asked with the last of his strength.

"You did it," Kimika replied softly, taking the boy in her arms as he lost consciousness.

Another few hours were given to allow the students to rest a bit more, but Ace was starting to get restless and more than that…

"I'm starving! What are we doing next?" Ace asked impatiently.

As if to answer his question, it was right then that Mathias slowly floated down from the skies.

Despite not doing anything in particular, as soon as he became visible, everyone turned to face him. Even those who were asleep simultaneously awoke. It was a

"Congratulations on completing the little welcome hike," Mathias said with an amiable smile on his face. "But most importantly, as the headmaster, I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Yin-Yang Pavilion."

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P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon: Book 3 - Chapter 6