8 to 9 days had passed since the tragic and tumultuous event that took place during the Inter-Academy Tournament. Ace had fully recovered, while Leo had been living with the former and his family due to not having a residence to his name.
However, since a week had passed, it was time for the family to move into their new house near the Sea of Millher. The Sea of Millher was a rich neighborhood near the coast of Bryxton city. Since the houses were so large, as well as the fact that the neighborhood was reserved for people that carried more importance than regular people, the houses cost ten times more than normal.
It was rumored that Noah Williams owned some land near the said location, inflating the cost of houses even more. That's why it was such a surprise for Ace's parents to be moving there. That is also why Alice, Amanda, and Adam currently had their mouths hung open.
They had believed their son at first but had doubted it until today when the moving truck had arrived near the hotel they were staying at. Their doubts had vanished and the emotion they felt now was shock. Ace had specifically mentioned not to ask him about the source of his money, so his parents couldn't satisfy their curiosity.
As Adam, Amanda, and Alice watched, Ace and Leo carried everything towards the truck. The latter doubted Ace at first, but he couldn't help it since he knew how secretive his friend could be.
"So, the Neutral Faction allied with the Conscientious Faction?" Ace asked, currently carrying a television into the truck. He gently placed it in the right corner of the back of the truck, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Yep. Oliver Tree has signed a contract clearly mentioning their intention of assisting the Conscientious Faction during the war. Also, they will allow an increase in the import and export business as well." Leo answered, assisting Ace while the latter picked up the couch. The couch weighed a lot, but Ace couldn't even feel the weight on his hands due to his inhumane strength.
"It seems they've shown open hostility towards the Iniquitous Faction, considering their decision of increasing the import and export business. It will soon prove to be disadvantageous for the Iniquitous Faction since their main source of trade was through the Conscientious Faction." Ace explained, placing the couch down near the left corner of the truck. The truck was almost full due to the sheer amount of things the family possessed.
"It's possible, and since it's an all-out war, no one can refute or question their decision and display of hostility," Leo remarked, stroking his chin as if he were a scholar discussing politics with another of his kin. Technically, Ace could be considered knowledgeable in politics due to him currently reliving most of the decisions made by the factions in his previous life.
Yes, the war had occurred in his previous life as well, albeit a little later. The cause had been the same, and the result had also been the same. Despite the changes Ace had caused, he couldn't affect much in such an important decision.
Of course, he had caused the war on purpose, but he expected there to be some changes. Aside from the fact that the Neutral Faction existed, not much had changed since then.
Ace nodded with a blank expression on his face, tapping on the truck to motion for the driver to take it to their house. As he watched the van drive away in the distance, he walked inside the hotel to inform his parents of the completion of their move.
"Mom, dad, we're done." He said while pushing the hair out of his eyes. His hair had gotten considerably longer, and he believed it was time to cut it. He preferred his current hairstyle, so he decided to only trim a tiny bit.
He walked towards his mother and father who were completing the last of their work before they officially left the building. They nodded when Ace told them of their completion.
"We can either leave by nightfall, or we'll have to wait until dawn tomorrow," Leo explained, sitting down on the couch beside Alice, who moved over to accommodate him. The two of them focused their eyes on the laptop that sat on the table, on which a series named "Moody Monday" played.
"You guys are still watching that dumb series? How many episodes does it have?" Ace asked, cringing at the sight of the two quietly concentrating on the show.
"Over 850…" Leo began…
"W–Wha…"
"850 Seasons." He said, causing a moment of silence to descend atop the room. Amanda, Adam, and Ace all had bewildered expressions. 850 episodes were already too much, but the same number of seasons!? They guessed that the series had been airing since ancient times.
"Forget I even asked." Ace said, rolling his eyes. He then walked towards the kitchen counter and grabbed an apple, cutting it into equal pieces using his nails, which were still extremely short.
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"Is this the house?" Alice asked with a meek voice, her expression that of disbelief. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging. The enthusiastic smile that had just revealed itself on her face grew wider by the second, eventually contorting into something Ace didn't know was possible for a human body.
Amanda and Adam were no different, either. Leo was a little calmer due to having lived in a house comparably larger than the one before them.
The house in front of them…
It was large, to say the least. No, it was gigantic. The area could be around 15000 to 20000 square feet, and that was only counting the building. The lawn and backyard measured about 5000 square feet as well.
The house had six rooms and six bathrooms. It also had two living rooms, which was almost unseen in multi-family homes.
The wall on the outside was blue, while the roof and specific parts of it were white. It was shaped like a regular house in the western part of the world 500 years ago… only way bigger.
"Yep, this is now our home," Ace announced, his outstretched arms displaying the home as if hugging it.
"But, what about the mortgage? Surely, this would be too large to buy at once." Leo doubted that Ace possessed wealth rivaling the great family heads. If he had paid for the entire home at once, he would have to admit him being wealthier than his former father.
"I didn't take a loan. I paid it all at once." Ace said, refusing to specify the source of his wealth even now. He told them to guess, but nearly anyone would find it impossible to do so unless he/she were a prophet.
At this point, Alice, Amanda, and Adam weren't surprised by the doings of their son. However, Leo, having not witnessed the true extent of Ace's wealth, was bewildered by the answer. He wondered if Ace had robbed a few banks because a single bank wouldn't be enough to pay for such a house.
"Shall we head inside?" He asked, causing the others to nod fervently. They walked towards the entrance of the area Ace had bought, where they found a gigantic gate the size of several vans.
Pushing it gently and waiting for it to open, the five scurried inside, exploring the place as if it were an unexplored ruin or dungeon. Well, the bushes were carved into the shape of a maze, but that was overshadowed by the enormous statue of a dragon in the distance.
There was also a fountain under the statue of the dragon, spewing more water than Ace could fathom. Even an experienced mage wouldn't be able to generate so much water at the same time.
'I guess this is what money gets you.' Ace said inwardly, remarking at the value of money in the modern world. Without as much money, they had been living in a regular home. However, with wealth rivaling the great family heads, they were enjoying the true luxury of residing in the Conscientious Faction.
As Leo and Alice headed inside, Amanda and Adam stayed behind in the lawn to admire the beauty of it. Ace exited the area for a bit to make an important call.
"Hello?" He said into the phone, causing a loud stir to occur on the other side.
-Yes, Ace?
It was Felix Edwards, the principal of the now-demolished school, Academy 07. It was being rebuilt, but it would at least take one month for the construction to conclude.
"When can we meet?"
-When school begins. Also, nice job causing a ruckus. I did not expect you to actually fish out the scripture from that stubborn lady. Is that why you bought the [Concealment] skill?
"Yeah, but the skill wasn't really useful in the end, since Genro has inhumane senses." Ace sighed, feeling regret for spending money on a skill he couldn't make use of.
'Well, I'll have other opportunities.'
"Anyway, so we'll meet after school begins, right?" He asked once again for confirmation, only to receive a "yes" as a response.
After conversing with the principal of the school he attended, Ace headed inside the house to arrange their luggage. It seemed that a fraction of it could occupy a lot of space, and even carrying it inside would prove to be a hassle.
However, in the end, he had to do it.
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"Finally!" Leo exclaimed, collapsing on the couch, which he had finally brought inside. Ace had already finished his part of the work hours ago, while Leo had procrastinated. Now, the latter had to continue doing it even after nightfall.
"This series, Moody Monday, isn't so bad." Ace remarked in order to mock his friend, who had finally completed the job. He had been watching the series for hours, and couldn't wait to rub it in the lanky-armed individual's face.
Groaning, Leo punched Ace's arm lightly. The latter ruffled the former's hair before standing up to go get some yogurt from the refrigerator.
"Get me one too," Leo ordered, prompting Ace to grab two instead of one. He tossed one to the lanky-armed individual, who devoured it instantly. Stunned by the unconventional display, Ace could only sit down with a disgusted expression on his face.
"I was wondering, you guys wanna visit Mount Othrys tomorrow? It could be great for training." Ace suggested, causing Alice to fervently nod her head in glee. She had been looking forward to their next trip since before Ace disappeared, and they could finally visit again.
However, Amanda and Adam seemed a little less enthusiastic than their daughter. Leo was all in since it would allow him to test his abilities for longer. He had been conversing with Dante and had developed an evolved version of his previous form already.
Ace was bewildered by the rapid development of his friend, but decided not to question it in the end. He secretly wished for Leo not to have already reached his level, but it wasn't that obvious at first glance anymore.
'I worked so hard for a year and a half, but him…' Ace was actually a little jealous of Leo, who had already almost reached Ace's level of strength despite being so weak a couple of weeks ago. However, he knew he couldn't do anything about it, and nor did he want to.
"I wanna go."
"I'm not sure."
"Sure."
"Why not…?"
Those were the responses Ace received, and to his glee, the majority of them were positive. That meant they would take another trip to Mount Othrys to thoroughly train their abilities to the fullest. Having not grown much since arriving back on Earth, Ace was in desperate need of some training to loosen his muscles, and also help him advance.
The threshold to B Rank wasn't far, but it still seemed almost unreachable to the boy with long hair. Having not grown to the S Rank in his previous life, he was unbeknownst to the process or sensation of achieving a high rank. That is why he had a harder time deciphering the process to grow any further.
He had long surpassed the strength he achieved in his previous life. He surpassed it when he was merely at the C+ Rank, possibly setting new records if such information was made public. Some people knew of his strength, but Ace guessed they would much rather monopolize it than make it known.
Ace soon started counting his goals and what he was about to achieve.
'I need to achieve the B Rank, increase my control on aether… and utilize mana as a tool.'
What Natalie had said back then really shattered all logic Ace had of magic. Even Akash or Larry hadn't taught him this, but then again, they weren't combative. Larry had some experience in combat, but he mostly used mana for defense.
That's why it was a shock to Ace when Natalie mentioned something about utilizing mana as a tool instead of as a means to your attacks. Ace predicted that her statements meant, 'the utilization of mana as the force, not the action'.
But did that mean Ace had to use less mana? Did it mean he had to lower his destructive capabilities? Honestly, he didn't know. He could already control mana to an extent where even rankers would find it difficult to match up, but somehow, it didn't satisfy Natalie. In fact, it worked to anger her, instead.
Ace believed he could eventually find a solution, but he only had limited time to reach strength matching that of a deity specializing in destruction. At the rate things were progressing, it would be difficult to do so without a boost.
His aether, a trump card only he possessed, seemed to be too low in quantity as well. He believed he might just be greedy, but he desired a higher amount of aether to flow inside his body so that his potential would improve, and he would have more aether to utilize.
He had learned how to control aether, but that still needed a little more practice. He believed if he received more of the purple energy, he would be able to wield it better.
Also, his first goal was to achieve the next rank, which he hadn't done for the last couple of months. It was his first priority, along with the concept of using mana as a tool. The aether could wait for now.
He suddenly remembered the fact that he hadn't improved [Sword Saint] for a while either. It had only been a couple of weeks, but any intervals in training could bring dangerous consequences.
He needed to achieve the fourth move and third level. According to his previous life in which he had witnessed Noah Williams use the technique, the fourth movement was "Flaming Slash" while the third level was "Advanced Level Mastery".
Noah could only use until the fifth move and third level, but he had refined the skill so much that it was as easy as breathing for him. That was the level Ace wanted to achieve. No, he wanted to surpass it.
The previously meek Ace had vanished into thin air. Now, instead of having low self-esteem and wondering if he could match up to Noah, he wanted to surpass all of humanity for his goals as well as satisfaction.
Not authority, but satisfaction.
He never wanted authority in the first place. The only reason he ever pursued strength was for his goals and his family. Of course, a little bit of satisfaction was mixed in the equation, but that never took priority over the former.
He also pursued strength for the danger looming around the earth, waiting to emerge from the depths to devour the planet. That was something he wanted to prevent, and Genro and Noah weren't powerful enough to stop it.
Having seen it firsthand, he was sure that even with the interference of other planets, they could never take down a deity. He had trained with a deity and a celestial, and even though they were on the weaker end of the spectrum, they could easily match up to mortals.
Ace predicted Larry could take down thousands of SSS Ranks without breaking a sweat.
Moreover, Akash introduced another problem. Not that he thought he could achieve it, but earth now had to survive the catastrophe without the help of a divine being, since that would supposedly alert the Outer Godly Society, Asgard.
Ace thought that was crazy, but then he realized that the concept of divine beings was crazy, too.
Rolling his eyes, he looked behind him to see Leo ruffling Alice's hair. He looked towards the dining table to see Amanda and Adam conversing with smiles on their faces. Feeling a sense of positivity, he headed towards his new room, which was supposedly humongous.
As he entered his room, he saw various different things, but one thing that interested him was the presence of a substance he had never seen before. It wasn't big, but it radiated a large presence. Ace could sense danger, but he could also sense familiarity.
The object was the color black, and it radiated light of the same color. It was about as big as Ace's head and was round.
As the wind swept past Ace's head, his hair fluttered. The boy scrunched his eyebrows as he carefully scrutinized the appearance of the object that sat on his desk. The aura exuded was cold, and darkness oozed out of it.
There were tiny grey dots on the pitch-black object, making it look like a black golf ball. As he eyed the suspicious object, he finally realized what he had been looking at.
"Is it an… egg?"