"Where am I?" Ace asked as he sat up from the bed, surprised to realise that he felt much better than before. If not for the rampaging strength within his body itching for a fight, he would rather believe that everything that happened previously was a fleeting dream.
"Ace, didn't I tell you to wait until my return before starting your cultivation?" The cold voice of Ultric came from the chair that was opposite of the bed on the third floor.
"Sorry master, but my desire for strength consumed me and no matter how much I tried to shake this notion off, I wasn't able to manage it."
"Shawn has told me everything, I have something to inform you of as well."
"What is it?"
"I've decided to take in another disciple who will be your junior from today onwards."
"You can come up here now."
Sensing the arrival of someone, Ace turned his gaze only to see the familiar face who had just sworn to kill him yesterday.
"Master, did you capture him for me so that I can take revenge personally?" Charlotte turned to ask Ultric as she took out his sword and pointed its tip towards Ace.
As for Ultric, he sat there confused by what happened as he asked, "Did something happen between the two of you?"
"Yes!"
"No!"
Against their opposite sayings, Ultric could only sigh as he said, "Be honest with me on what happened."
"No!"
"No!"
This time, both sides refused to give him an explanation on what happened without any hesitation which left him helpless against this situation.
"Fine, whatever happened in the past, forget it. Ace, she'll be your junior from now on."
"Huh?"
"Master, I understand that he was already your disciple beforehand, but are you tolerating his actions even though he's an undeniable pervert?"
"Pervert?"
Oops, my mouth slipped. Charlotte cursed within her mind.
"Master, there's no way I can cultivate in peace with him by my side and why should he be the senior when he's so much weaker than me?"
"You sure about that?" Ace asked as he stood up from his bed and took out his longsword from the spatial ring.
"If it's a battle you want to determine the truth and get a chance at revenge, you have one now."
"Swords have no eyes right?" Charlotte rebutted back with a question as she stabbed towards Ace without any hesitation unlike the first time they met.
Her attacks are definitely faster than yesterday, that was the conclusion Ace came to in just a split moment's time.
Raising his sword to block the attack, he realised that his heightened senses were more than enough to play her swift attacks in slow motion.
Aiming for her sword, he made use of this advantage and the explosive strength within his body to send her sword flying away, piercing through the ice wall.
"How is this possible? Weren't you sent flying by a single swing of my sword just yesterday?"
"Who knows, maybe it's because I'm a peerless genius who gets motivated because of some exhibitionist?"
Since the feud had already been formed, it would be a waste if I don't make use of it to have some fun, Ace chuckled to himself.
Even though Ultric might not know what exactly happened, just the terms pervert and exhibitionist were more than enough for him to make up stories of what happened between them.
"You two can stop arguing with each other over this, I have a suitable plan that would only work because the two of you are my disciple."
"What is it?" Ace immediately asked.
"Master, are you serious?" Charlotte unwilling to give in.
"Wouldn't things be settled if the two of you become a couple?"
Ace was left stupefied as he looked at his master without knowing how to react.
As for Charlotte, her crimson face was looking towards the ground as she whimpered a soft 'no'.
"Since that's the case, I'll be leaving this entire floor to the two of you for the remaining two years that I'll be here." Ultric decided with a smile proudly before leaving this place, acting as though his decision was final and approved by the two young kids before him.
"I won't go against the orders of our master, but I have three wishes."
With one finger up, she said, "You aren't allowed to touch me or use the cabinets."
"Fine."
With two fingers up, she said, "You aren't allowed to touch anything in this room or get near the bed, if you want to cultivate, go to the far end of the floor and use the empty space there.
"Fine."
"Thirdly, you aren't allowed to open your eyes."
"Sure...wait what? What's the reason behind this?" Unwilling to accept this, Ace immediately inquired the reason behind this rule, trying to sound polite despite the overwhelming shock in his heart.
"Who knows what you would do in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping considering the fact that you're a pervert in all aspects." Charlotte crossed her arms and explained like she's in the right without giving a regard to whatever reasons Ace might have.
Just like this, neither side compromised and Ace headed to the empty space of the room while telling Charlotte, "We'll decide this later, I'm going to cultivate."
Meanwhile, Ultric and Shawn while having a conversation over some tea and pastries while the renovation workers continued with their work.
The place looked brand new and even though it was still wood that was being used, it was definitely top quality wood. The lightings were changed and while dim, created a unique ambience in the soon to be pavilion.
"Senior Shawn, what do you think about the two of them getting together?" Ultric asked Shawn who was currently sitting opposite of him, a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Initially, I would have said that your disciple might not be able to chase her footsteps considering the difference in their talent and that he had a later start compared to others. But now, the gap between them would only increase since that child by the name of Ace had already built up a foundation with his physical body that none can match." Shawn said with a sigh.
"To be more exact, he's also at the Foundation realm now and you should probably let him know about this piece of good news." Shawn added on with a contented smile on his face since he deserved the credit.
"Doesn't that mean that he had lost out on the benefits of the Body Tempering realm?" Ultric asked back in concern as he took another gulp of wine that invigorated him.
"Damn this wine is good!"
"No, it's because his physical body had already reached the limits of a mortal in all aspects, placing him on the same starting line with those of his age now." Ignoring Ultric's sudden comment about his wine, Shawn explained the reason.
"But still, how do you plan on making those two fall in love with each other consider the feud between the two of them at the moment?" Knowing that this conversation was over, Shawn started a new topic which might affect two potential love birds.
"That's easy to settle, I've given up my entire personal space to them, but Ace might be suffering from this though."
"It'll be fun, it won't be long before he thanks you for this arrangement in the future."
"Hahaha, I hope so."
"Senior Shawn, wanna have a go at another drinking contest?"
As Ultric asked, he took out tens of bottles of wine and smashed them onto the battle with a delighted face.
"Will you die if you stop drinking for even a moment of your life?"
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" With crystallised tears threatening to leak from his eyes, he laughed his agony out as he gulped down a whole bottle of wine at once.
"Fine, I'll drink with you!"
Taking a bottle of wine from the table, Shawn also gulped it down without hesitation as the two men started just spent the remainder of the night drinking.
When Charlotte awoke in the morning, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. Yet when she turned around, she realised that she was just hallucinating.
Damn it...why did our master have to arrange for me to leave with a pervert? Isn't he worried that his cute little disciple might get lost to a pervert?
I have to talk to our master about it! Charlotte decided as she quickly changed her clothing, only to be surprised by the strong smell of sweat that filled a portion of the room.
Was he training the whole night? Charlotte thought to herself as she walked over to Ace's side of the room, only to see him picking up his robe from the floor, his half naked body bare before her as their gaze met, sparks flying in the air.
"Pervert!"