Ace walked towards the registration office, the building itself was simple looking, upon entering it, he saw 4 counters with a mage sitting on each one of them, he walked towards the one closest to him and was followed by Maeve.
He gave them his name and some other information that he randomly made up.
"1 gold coin" The mage sitting on the counter muttered while extending his hands towards Ace.
"Oh, I mean, you can go, here's your token" He then spoke in a robotic voice as his eyes lost their shine.
Ace glanced at Maeve who smile at him and took the toke, the token was nothing special, it just had the Inferno Sword Sect insignia and the number '1' printed on it.
Ace left the registration office and walked towards a corner, waiting for others to get their token. They sat down on the garden grass and enjoyed nature.
"Aww… my nightingale woke up?" Ace applauded playfully as Gracie opened her eyes.
"Yayaya…" Gracie mumbled as she extended her hands towards Ace, signaling him to pick her.
Ace happily complied and picked her into his embrace.
"Ehehe~" Gracie giggled sleepily as she hugged her father's neck.
"Does my nightingale want something to eat?" Ace questioned as he took out some fruit from his storage ring.
Gracie shook her head while pushing the fruit that looked like an apple but was orange in color.
"Oh? You aren't hungry?"
As if understanding what Ace meant, Gracie shook her head. Ace nodded and patted her back.
Gracie looked around as the place was relatively new to her. She saw many mages sitting around together but maintained some distance from her.
She stayed in her father's embrace lazily while Maeve smiled.
"So you won't come to your mother?" Maeve asked with a fake cry.
Gracie looked at Maeve before she turned her head and tightened her hug around her father's neck, closing her eyes tightly, acting as if she didn't hear her.
"Haha~ See? She is mine!" Ace laughed merrily and patted Gracie's head. Though he didn't know why, it was clear that Gracie was much more attached to him than Maeve.
"*Sniff* *Sniff*" Maeve sniffed.
Gracie opened her eyes and she turned her head towards Maeve, and when she saw her covering her face with her hands, she turned her head back to Ace, as if asking for his permission.
Ace cautiously put her on the but not before placing around 5 soft blankets on the ground, to see what she does, and to his surprise, Gracie crawled towards Maeve slowly.
"Oh!" His eyes went wide in surprise. If you forgot, Gracie was only a few days old and she was already crawling.
When Maeve felt a small hand touching her lap, she opened her eyes and was surprised when she saw Gracie looking at her with a worried gaze. She quickly picked her up and glared at Ace.
"What? She was the one who asked for it. You were sad so she crawled all the way through to make you happy" Ace revealed and Maeve's eyes went wide.
"You did?" She asked Gracie with a joyful look and as if understanding everything happening around her, Gracie nodded.
"Aww… you little thing…" Maeve mumbled as she tightened her grip around Maeve.
Ace also stood up and walked towards Maeve and Gracie, he picked Maeve up and placed her on his laps, as the whole family sat together.
"Ace, there is a problem" Maeve spoke in a grave tone.
"What happened?" Ace questioned back, confused by what happened so suddenly.
"I… I…" Maeve stuttered.
"Oh c'mon Maeve, why are you hiding something from me? If there is anything that is troubling you, just tell me what it is" Ace urged.
"I-I gained weight!" Maeve revealed in a serious tone while pointing towards her belly.
"WHAT?" Ace questioned, as dramatically as possible.
"Yeah, I gained weight!" Maeve answered, too shocked to realize Ace's sarcasm.
"Pftt" Ace laughed, unable to hold himself when he saw that serious look on her face.
"You are laughing? Do you know how serious this problem is?" Maeve roared, gaining the attention of other mages.
"Hahaha, I know! I know! It is very seriou-pftt" Ace tried to control himself but still laughed in the end.
"Hmph!" Maeve pouted cutely. Many males felt their hearts beating fast when they saw her pout. They glared at Ace, cursing him for his luck.
"It's alright, you are still the second most beautiful girl in this whole world" Ace replied as he hugged her from behind tenderly while he placed his chin on her shoulder.
"You just gave birth to a baby, it is normal to gain a little weight, but if you still want, we can train together every morning and you will return to normal in no time. Well, I say you will return to normal but to be honest, I still don't see a difference. You are as beautiful as you always were" Ace whispered tenderly.
Feeling his warmth, Maeve smiled before she furrowed her brows.
"Second most beautiful?" She questioned.
"Of course, you don't think you can beat Gracie in the future, do you?" Ace replied as his gaze met Gracie who smiled ear to ear, creating 2 cute dimples on either side of her face.
"I don't…" Maeve replied with a smile when she saw those dimples.
"Mhm…" Ace mumbled as he started playing a new game with Gracie.
2 hours later, Ace noticed the last mage coming out of the registration office.
"I guess it is time" He muttered with a smile.
"It is" Maeve muttered as she looked at Ace's smile, which was completely different than the smile Ace showed seconds ago.
They stood up and as if on cue, Stolz appeared.
"The registration is complete, now I shall tell you about the rules of the selection.
The numbers craved on your token are your identity numbers, anyone can challenge any number randomly, the challenged party has the right to reject the talent 3 times.
If someone is rejected 10 times in a row, he or she will be selected by default.
After the fight, the victor will receive 1 point while the loser won't receive anything.
The mages who are selected by default will be counted in the top 500. For example, if 3 mages are selected by default, then top 497 mages will highest points will be selected" He announced.
"The battle will go on until someone lost consciousness, or…" Then Stolz glanced at Ace before completing.
"Or the other party surrenders"
"I wish you all best of luck and may the best ones win"
*Bam*
As soon as Stolz's speech ended, Ace placed his Token on the ground with a Bam before he raised his hand.
"My identity number is 1, if certain someone has the same abilities in a fight as they do while they speak, feel free to challenge me" He declared while looking at the Mage who spoke with a provoking smile.
The Mage trembled in rage but before he could say anything, Stolz interrupted.
"The fights will be held in Battle Arena, so I request everyone to wait until we reach there"
He then walked in a certain direction, signaling everyone to follow him.
Though Maeve wasn't one of the participants, she still tagged along with everyone.
Soon, everyone saw a huge arena surrounded by seats that were filled with people, one of the cabinets had people who wore plane robes just like Stolz sitting in it, Ace reckoned that they were most probably important members of the sect but he didn't know that the sect master himself was present there.
Generally, no one except the elder who is responsible to tell the rules watches over the selection, but this time, Stolz himself requested the presence of the Sect master as he didn't know anything about Ace.
Stolz took the mages to an empty part of the Arena that was booked for participants. He wanted to ask Maeve and Gracie to leave, but somehow, he didn't ask and allowed them to stay with Ace.
"Now, I announce the start of the selections" Stolz announced before he entered the same cabinet as other elders.
*Cheers*
The crowd cheered at the start of the competition while a mage with tall built and spiky hair entered the stage.
"I challenge Number 1" he roared and Ace's token shined brightly.
"Ehehe~" Gracie giggled in joy, Ace placed his cheeks in front of her mouth and as if understanding what he wanted, Gracie gave a peck on Ace's cheeks. Ace then shared a kiss with Maeve who gladly complied, even under the intense gazes thrown by other Mages.
Ace then stood up, stretched his body, and jumped into the middle of the stage.
The judge nodded, while Flink glared at Ace with a disdainful look.
"You shouldn't have offended me" The mage smirked.
Ace remained silent.
"Hmph! Act as arrogant you want, I will cripple you soon"
"And don't worry about your girlfriend, I will take good care of her" He smirked.
"Just confirming... it is fine until no one was heard surrendering or loses consciousness, right?" Ace turned towards the judge and questioned.