Book 6: Chapter 15 – Race To The Peak

  It had been several hours sihe beast tide officially came to an end, and Ace let loose with his harsh truths.

  At that time, Faye and the others had silently returo their own private quarters, not in the mood to speak to or see anyone.

  Though not as dispirited as Faye and the others who had been on the receiving end of Ace’s rant, Kannal had also returo his aodation, deg to get back to training, leaving Ace to go expl the city with Mira, Killian, and Leo.

  Though her of them said anything, Ace could sehat both Mira and Killiahat he had been a little harsh with his words.

  Still, Ace didn’t regret his decision. He uood that after everything that had happened over the st year or so, his cssmates had e to a crossroads.

  They had already achieved more than most teens could ever dream of in their entire lives. Ead every one of them had the strength of experts he apex of the mortal world. Each of them went to the most outstanding school on the ti. Each of them had singlehandedly challenged aed the students of some of the best schools for warriors and mages this ti had to offer.

  No matter what happened iure, they had already done enough to go down in history as peerless geniuses.

  If they chose to go down the easier of the paths avaible to them, Ace didn’t doubt that each of them would go on to bee prime saints at the very least, probably even Demi-Gods, but if nothing ged, that would be it.

  For most, that would be a dream e true. I mean, they would have the power to stand at the apex of their ti as it currently was, but Ace wanted more for them.

  To most, Ace’s goals in life started and stopped with the killing of O’Brien, but they had no idea h they were.

  It was true that Ace wahat, but if he was being ho, as much as he hated O’Brien and wanted him dead, he didn’t actually think that much of him.

  It had to be remembered that Ace’s prehension had already long since surpassed O’Brien’s, and the ces of O’Brien achieving another breakthrough, especially in a barren ti like theirs, were virtually nil.

  Between his incredible prehension and even more impressive bloodli was only a matter of time before he caught up with and surpassed the vile creature that was his biological father.

  After ing to that realisation, Ace subsciously began thinking about his future after that. The challenges and adventures he would face when he begins his jouro stand at the peak of not their ti but the universe.

  Whenever such thoughts would pop into his head, those standing by his side weren’t limited to Mira, Leo, and Killian. He knew he was being selfish, but he wanted ead every one of his cssmates by his side as they jourhrough the various higher pnes. But they couldn’t stay by his side if they were willing to settle for what, in the grand scheme of things, was a life of mediocrity. They o be willing to demand the best from themselves to overe what was destio be a life of tributions.

  Still, ultimately, he k had to be their choice. So, if after everything he said, they decided to distahemselves from him, as unwilling as he would be, he would respect their decision.

  Still, that roblem for the future. Fht now, Ad his group were expl the small city of Gol that Cirulus had spent the st year developing, and as they did, Ace had to admit, he was surprised.

  Though there was a hint of fear in the air from the overbearing auras from not too long ago, Ace could also see that most iy appeared to be fairly happy and tent. Something that one wouldn’t expect to see in the northern part of the Anarchids.

  He already knew from his time in Silverlight City that whilst the whole of the Anarchids was extremely chaotid violent in nature, that was especially so for the northern areas which bordered the forest of darkness.

  The sta tides meant that those who decided to take up residence here were all very militant and sturdy, and unless you were lucky enough to find yourself a powerful yet benevolent leader like Kimika’s husband, Venerin, you would likely find yourself uhe thumb of a powerful tyrant.

  Most felt they were stantly walking a tightrope where they could lose their lives at any moment. The stress and ay caused by such a life was more than uandable.

  But here, despite having beehan a year, the city seemed extremely stable.

  Though, when remembering that Cirulus was a warrior at the middle stages of the ninth rank and Lance, who had apparently been by his side this whole time, who was a warrior at the eighth rank and a fifth rank mage, it made sense.

  Having seehing he o see, Ad the others had just returo the City Lord’s residence. A rge estate in the tre of the city that was big enough to home dozens of families, when he saw a face he hadn’t expected, at least not this soon.

  “Osiris…” Amira hollered, pleasantly surprised, but before she could say anything else, she was stopped by the rise of Ace’s palm.

  Like each of them, Osiris’s strength had improved by leaps and bounds over the st year, having broken through to the sixth rank as both a mage and a warrior, and from what he saw just before arriving to save Killian from being killed by the dragon, Osiris had also fused both states of wielding into his arrows.

  His current strength, and sidering he was a deadly archer, made him a threat to even experts in the ninth rank, a shog feat for someone barely even 16. Still, after Ace’s words, any pride Osiris felt had been doused.

  Osiris had always been the calm and silent type, and though still silent, right now, he was anything but calm. Although he wasn’t oo speak much, he had always held A the highest regard. Whether it was his talent or his drive, he had nothing but respect for this cssmate. It was why Ace’s disappoi stung so badly.

  As Osiris’s hesitant eyes fell on him, Ace could sense his turbuleions. Still, he didn’t do anything to make the situation less awkward. Osiris has to want it enough to really enough to make the ge.

  “Ace,” Osiris began. “Do you really think that it’s possible?”

  “What’s possible?” Ace asked badifferently.

  “When you said that we could catch up to you one day with enough hard work…” Osiris expined slowly as he raised his hopeful eyes to meet the indifferent gaze of his ‘friend’. “Do you really think that?”

  “No,” Ace replied matter-of-factly.

  “Ace!” Mira shouted, uo bear Ace’s verbal beatdown of their friends any longer.

  She could literally see Osiris’ heartbreak from his listless eyes. Still, Ace wasn’t done.

  “Whether it’s Kannal, Killian, Mira, or even Leo, I don’t think anyone catch up with me,” Ace replied holy, his words shog even Killian, who never knew his sworn older brother to feel like this. “In my eyes, I am and will always be without peer. As far as I’m ed, those strohan me now are only so because they were born before me. In time I will surpass ead every one of them until I stand at the peak of this world.”

  As Ace spoke the words he had hidden in the depths of his heart. Both Killian and Amira shuddered, feeling like Ace was looking down on them.

  The only one who uood Ace perfectly was Leo via their link. He had known this was how Ace had felt for quite some time. The way each of them was feeling now was how he had felt a year ago. It was because he had so much time to find his own ahat he was able to remain pletely calm right now.

  In that moment, Ace’s pride and arrogance soared to the heavens, being almost tangible, to the point where it was almost suffog for those around him, but Ace tinued as though he couldn’t feel their emotions.

  “But that’s not to say I look down on any of you,” Ace shrugged. “It just means I believe in myself. Just like I believe that you all will be, the ones ranked sed, third, fourth and so on.”

  “Rooarrr!” Leo growled with an almost human look of disdain.

  “You think you’ll be the oo bee the universe’s number one expert?” Ace smirked mogly as he g his familiar. “sider it a race!”

  “You t me in on that race!” Amira snorted, a petitive fire having been lit inside her.

  “Me too!” Killian added.

  Ace’s words had definitely rocked both Mira and Killian down to their cores, but Leo’s roar had e at the perfect time. Before they lost themselves in the same dark abyss that the rest of their cssmates had, it remihem that, ultimately, it wasn’t Ace’s job to believe in them; it was theirs. If they couldn’t believe in themselves, why should anyone else?

  Looking at the group of four bickering among themselves from the outside looking in was an eye-opening experience for Osiris.

  If he wao achieve his dreams of killing his sister aroying the Cult, this would be the mi he needed in order to achieve his dreams.

  “Thank you,” Osiris said suddenly, his words catg Mira and the others by surprise.

  “Hmm,” Ace looked up at the young archer. “What for?”

  “Never mind, it’s not important,” Osiris shook his head. “But you t me in for the race.”

  Although he couldn’t say to be where Ad the others were with regards to believing in himself so wholeheartedly, he was finally fag the right path. Now it was just up to him to tinue down this path.

  He uood that there was no quick fix and that it was going to take a lot of hard work and long hours on his part, but the good thing was that he could use the light of Ace’s fire to light the path.

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  Book 12: Part 25 – Greeting the Sns