Author's Note:

We'll there's only 15 minutes till Sunday but that doesn't mean a thing. I'm still uploading this on Saturday as promised ;) Hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I liked writing this.

****

Ace specially picked a different cave than the jade one and was now killing everything that got in his sight. He was bathing in blood but it didn't help. Not even a little. But he did it anyway.

What devil pulled him to react so towards the mage's words? He wanted to say it was rashness, blind rage or something along those lines but there was no lying to himself. He had been in full control and he WANTED to hurt him, to make him feel pain and pay for his actions. Does that made him cruel? A monster?

He wasn't going to ask that of Reaper. He was sure he wouldn't like the answer. So Ace sneaked up on another flower and bursted her down. It was better than nothing.

He had wanted to be a part of the team, to belong somewhere but he threw away a chance at that. What a wonderful life. Frustrated he hit another flower but didn't kill it. He played around until voices could be heard and moved on.

The group was always talking among themselves whenever he allowed them to catch up. Even the mage's voice could be heard from time to time.

That made Ace hit with an extra force. Only he was sent here alone. Even the infamous mage was a safer company. Like a monster he was shunned away.

Monthu hadn't said anything but it was clear in his eyes. Ace was a danger and Par didn't need anything of that. The kid was too sheltered but Ace envied him in more ways than one.

He wanted badly to hear what they were talking about him but before their words would carry over to him he had to move on. The monsters just died away.

The conversation Ace so wanted to hear wasn't anything hidden. Only at first did they wonder what happened to their well-behaved and always cheerful pretend kid but as no one came up with an answer, they left that theme alone. They kept on casual talk while from time to time remarking of how there was strangely no monsters even though they had to fight their way in.

"Seriously where are they all? Were they only illusions too?" asked Aurora directing her questions towards the mage.

"I told you they weren't already!" screamed Levin impatiently. "How many times can I repeat it?" then his eyes widened as if in some kind of revelation. "How did you destroy my illusion if you can't tell a difference between real and fake at all?"

"Ace saw through it and used some kind of spell to turn it into mist."

"That psycho? Isn't he a rogue?" asked Levin surprised.

"First he's not psycho and second he's a spellsword" answered Aurora heatedly. Since his act she was the only one still on his side.

"What?! Some lowly duo classer defeated my perfect illusion?! What level IS he?!" Levin asked with a raised voice.

"Now that you mention it..." said Aurora pondering. "I'll ask him right away" she decided and went through her friends list. She found Ace's name and PM’ed him but this time instead of writing just talked to him.

"Hey Ace! We were wondering here what level are you?"

His answer came a bit later and out of breath.

"86th why?"

"The mage can't believe that a spellsword destroyed his illusion"

A short laugh was the given answer and a gurgling sound came from Ace's background.

"What are you doing?" asked Aurora. "Why are you fighting?"

"Because there are monsters here?" he asked and she could just see his raised eyebrow.

"You mean you're cleaning the entire dungeon by yourself?" asked Aurora incredulously.

"Don't make more out of it than it is. They're only around level 60 so... Also tell that oh so smart Levin guy that illusions have a big loophole. If you can prove them wrong to yourself even a beginner first level [Revelation] can remove them wholly. That's why my incantation was different than the previous one. Tell that to Monthu, he's been thinking about it since if I'm not mistaken. And now I'll be a bit busy for a moment, there is an unusually big bunch of crazy flowers ahead" a slashing sound accompanied his words.

Deciding it wasn't for her tastes Aurora turned the chat off and conveyed his message to others. Two surprised faces met her eyes after the explanation was finished.

"So that's how… How could a kid figure out something like that?" asked Levin quietly. He had never thought about it that way. His path of an illusionist seemed worse and worse by the moment. Not only he had to be close to his targets to make illusions as real as possible but now they could even be dispelled by novices.

"He's no kid" said Monthu in a tired voice. He didn't know what to do and that clearly reflected on his mood.

"What do you mean? Isn't he like thirteen years old?"

"No idea about his real age" said ranger explaining. "But he's older than what he looks. He said so himself even though he made it clear that this was his real look. And he was ready to defend his words with actions."

That shut the mage up. How was one supposed to react when he finds out that a kid that beat him claims to be not a kid? That didn't even make sense.

They continued their walk quietly, all lost in their own thoughts.

Ace on the other hand was feeling much better. Aurora was still talking to him so it meant she was on his side for some reason and he could persuade Par to help him too. Having these two allies, he had a good chance of regaining his place.

Happy now he continued on his rampage using a skill he had learnt a few minutes before Aurora's call. It was a pretty stupid skill but fun in it's own way, [Fear of the Hungry]

***

In a couple of days this time they managed to leave the cave and breathe fresh air once again. Ace was waiting for them outside playing his flute.

"What is he doing now?" asked Levin incredulously.

"Playing his flute" answered Ace slowly as if that was the hardest thing to understand. "It helps to calm ones nerves, you know?"

A shadow of fear passed the mage's face but as Ace was smiling he decided it was just a friendly jab. Or as close to it as the kid knew, maybe that could even be taken as some sort of apology? Deciding it was the best approach, the mage nodded at the kid and pretended as if he had forgotten the accident.

Ace stood up and stealthily got closer to Par while Reaper's attention was taken by Aurora and the mage. It was way too easy in Ace's opinion and he took twice the precautions but Monthu seemed extremely worried about something to the level of paying low attention to things happening around him. 'What could it be?' wondered Ace but kept to his plan none the less. He simply had to win over the kid before getting kicked out.

Par took things in his own hands the moment Ace appeared close.

"Why did you do it?" he asked. 'So he was waiting for my reply all this time? I can't disappoint him, but what am I supposed to say? Truth wouldn't work well in my favour...'

“People are strange creatures. If met under good circumstances you might love them and become best friends, but if the meeting place and first impression isn’t such, bad things happen. Going mad is one of them. I never said I had a good grasp of my emotions, I really don’t. If I hate someone, I do it with a passion and Levin just decided to insult me when I was already tired and short of patience. Can you believe me Paradox? This world is hardly only white and black”

Par looked thoughtful. He had a very serious expression with his eyebrows knitted and mouth in a tight line. After some time he nodded.

"I do. The mage had no right to say those words about us or Aurora. He deserved to be taught a lesson"

Ace felt relief wash over him, the kid with his belief of justice and heroes.

"Thank you, I knew you would be the one to understand" replied Ace with a relieved smile on his face, ignoring the open mouthed stare of the mage.

Now with the battle won Ace could relax a bit and enjoy his conversation with Par. The kid was very chatty from not being around his friend for so long and didn't even wait for Ace to reply to anything he said. It was fine for the blue cloaked kid. In that time he could test the waters after his explanation.

Aurora looked normal while Hawk had a scowl on his face. That didn't bode well but he turned his attention to the last member whose opinion mattered the most. But he didn't seem to have noticed anything at all! He was lost in his world walking like a robot! Ace shrugged at that 'Whatever'.

A pair of middle aged humans intercepted them the moment they left the forest.

It was a female wearing a bright yellow dress that bordered on indecent and a man wearing grey plate armour and a claymore. They had serious expressions on their faces and emanated huge amounts of killing intent.

"Mother! Father!" screamed Par in Ace's ear who grimaced a bit but kept his cool. This was something he hadn't expected, for them to bring out their heavy artillery. It also explained why Reaper was absent minded today.

Par ran to his parents and embraced them in a big hug. A forced smiled appeared on the female's face, Ace noted. She wasn't happy about something. 'If it's my presence, I should make it better known.'

"Will you introduce us, Par?" he asked interrupting the family moment and getting a glare from the female.

"Oh right! This is my mother Melinda and father Cole. They're the best! And this is my friend Ace I've been telling you about! He's so cool!"

"It's Diana and Mephis to you" the female said icily with distaste in her voice.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance" replied Ace bowing slightly to hide his grin. "And this is our fellow traveller Levin. He's following us to the next city to redeem himself but I suppose Par told you all about that..." he finished his voice trailing off.

"You shouldn't address our son so casually" spoke up Mephis in a deep voice.

"And how should I call him? Your highness? His majesty Prince? Sorry but for me he's just another player and my friend" Ace said looking at him as if he was stupid.

The kid had perfected the look so well that the man even felt a bit silly which in turn made him change his opinion about the pretend kid. At first he thought that this Ace kid was just a random punk but what he saw was a seasoned fighter, someone he would welcome in his firm with open hands.

"It's been raining!" screamed Ace out of the blue and dashed off towards a nearby puddle splashing water in all directions and laughing like a maniac. Par joined him in a moment and together they ran off ahead jumping on every puddle and competing who could splash more water. The group was left with eyes wide open and mouths agape.

Aurora came out of it first and just smiled at Ace's antics. There just seemed no end to surprises.

A small town appeared in their sights nearing the dusk. It had no walls or gates so they easily entered and veered towards a sole inn.

A burly old man welcomed them and showed to a large table. He said they only served one dish so he'll get it.

Ace sat down between Par and Aurora where he could be safe for a time being and have a nice dinner. The stew was comparatively good and conversation light between those who talked. The parents were silent pretending to be busy eating while actually listening intently.

Ace chose an especially boring and incomprehensible topic for grown ups. It was about Kentamons and their innumerable amount of random names and abilities. He hated that animation the most because it's confusion level was over nine thousand but kids liked it for some reason while it gave their parents nightmares.

It was a patented tactic for Ace. He used it every time he wanted to get rid of someone or annoy them to no end and it worked miracles.

Once they had finished eating and Par went to rest the real conversation began, Aurora and Hawk had made themselves scarce by that time too.

Ace decided to act as the serious situation required and lost his childish expression. His eyes became less wide and turned steely grey from yellow, a smile thinned out into a single line while his back straightened out making him look a bit taller, even slightly older.

The parents went on the offensive instantly but Ace wasn't backing down either.

"What do you want from our son?"

"Why does it always have to be about him? Maybe I just fancy Aurora?"

"Don't kid around!" growled Diana. She had no patience for idiots and those who played them.

"And why can't it be truth? Because I look like a kid?" asked Ace in a level voice, his eyes flashing.

"Uhm... Well... Yes!" Diana said, muffled a bit.

Monthu on the other hand didn't see it that way. It's not that the kid couldn't be attracted to a woman, more like he had a different agenda and was just throwing random answers to fool.

"It doesn't matter" stated Mephis. "What's important is that you leave to never intrude in our lives again"

"And what's the fun in that?" asked Ace raising an eyebrow, a smile surfacing on his face.

"You'll be left alive" explained Diana in a gleeful voice.

Ace shook his head smiling wider and raised his hand for a barmaid to come. A female of about twenty with short brown hair and lovely face approached.

"What would you like?"

Ace scrunched his face.

"These people don't believe that I'm good!" he said pointing at the other residents at his table. "They say I'm bad influence and can't meet their son ever again! But they can't do it, can they?" there was a pleading look on his face. "We're best friends!"

The barmaid looked surprised for a moment but soon directed her angry glare at the parents.

"What could this kid have done so bad to deserve it?" she asked.

"....." the couple hadn't anything to say. It's not like the kid had done something, it was more of a precaution for the good of everyone. "He's a danger" Diana said finally.

"And how is a kid supposed to be dangerous? Does he smoke, drink, kill people? Don't you think he's a bit young for that?" argued the barmaid heatedly. ‘How could anyone think such an innocent kid could do anything wrong?’

"He'll grow up to that" said Memphis while a shadow of pain passed Ace's face which only Monthu, whose whole attention was focused on a him, noticed. He wondered what that meant but it wasn't a good idea to butt in their conversation.

"Of course if you treat him like a criminal from such age!" the barmaid shouted angrily but when she noticed a sad look on the kid's face her expression lost it's severity. "Don't believe them" she said. "They don't know what they're talking about. Wait a moment here I'll bring something nice to cheer you up."

"A surprise?" asked Ace, his face lightening.

The girl nodded and hurriedly left.

"What was that nonsense?" Diana asked raising her voice.

"An answer to your threat" Ace said, his voice icy. "The girl is well liked and the whole inn will stand behind her if you try to do anything to me. Besides have you noticed how easy it was to win her over? The whole continent would come to my aid if I just asked. Who wouldn't save a little kid from evil monsters that want to kill him? You'd be shunned by the world and hunted by all players if you even think about laying a finger on me. So tread carefully, I don't take well to insults and threats."

"Are you serious?"

"Try me" Ace said with a malicious grin which quickly turned into a happy smile when a barmaid came over.

"Here take this" she said handing him a bag of sweets.

Ace pulled one out and put in his mouth. It was heavenly. Then a thought seemed to enter his mind and he turned towards the barmaid.

"Thank you very much. You're a wonderful lady!"

The girl’s cheeks turned pink and she left laughing a little.

"If you need anything just come to me."

Ace nodded and waved at her retreating back. When he turned back to his table mates his face was an emotionless mask.

"Do you have anything else to say or can I leave?"

"If for forever, leave this moment for all we care."

"No such luck. I'll be here and you can't do a thing about it unless you forcibly prevent Par from meeting me and he won't like it at all."

"You were working towards that from the very start, weren’t you?" Mephis asked tiredly. He saw that money wouldn't work here and the kid was prepared to use every trick available to stay.

"Actually I became friends with Par to gain an upper hand on Monthu here. I needed a way in and he wasn't nice enough to just let me join" explained Ace truthfully. It was no secret to him.

"Why do you so desperately want to stay?"

"Because I feel like being in a group for now"

"And why is it exactly my party?" asked Monthu with a growl taking Ace by his collar and bringing their faces in a very close proximity.

"Because...” Ace said slowly, his voice barely heard. After a moment of thinking he made it into a statement. "Just because."

Monthu held him for a little while longer keeping his gaze but no more words were exchanged. A fight of wills you could say.

*Monthu has requested to register you as a friend. Will you accept?*

Ace felt surprised but hid it well behind indignation for being handled this roughly. He accepted the request by pretending to be brushing off invisible dust from his robes and straightening his collar.

*Monthu has been registered as a friend*

"How much would you want for leaving?" asked Mephis deciding at least to try this approach, maybe he was wrong and the kid would accept a good enough proposal.

"You don't have what I need" replied Ace dismissing the mere notion of it with a wave of his hand.

"And what is that?" asked Diana intrigued. ‘What didn't they have?‘

"A cure for congenital growth-hormone condition which isn't a cure" answered Ace, his face looking tired for a moment. ‘How many times he'd wished for it? How many times he dreamed to no avail? He thought he'd gotten accustomed to it but here he was again, begging someone to save him...’

"Isn't it easily curable?" asked Mephis unsure.

Medicine had greatly improved over the years. These days even cancer was no longer a death sentence but curable with enough money.

"My condition isn't. My organism starts to destroy itself if any medicine is given to me. I almost died once when they tried to cure me" a bitter smile manifested on his face. "I can't even drink cough medicine to ease a cold. So no, you have nothing for me"

"How old are you really then?"

"What's the difference? For all intents and purposes I'm a thirteen year old"

That said Ace stood up and asked the innkeeper for a room. After paying he walked up the stairs and disappeared from the table’s sight.

"What do you think of him?" asked Cole turning to his wife.

"He won't leave. All we can do is monitor him and find out his real identity. There shouldn't be too many people with his condition."

The man nodded agreeing and stood up to leave with his wife.

"Make sure to follow his every move and gain as much information as you can" he said over his shoulder to Monthu who sat quietly until the couple left. Then he asked for a room and took his leave too.

***

Ace laid on his back staring at the wooden ceiling.

'Did they fall for it?’ There was no reason to think otherwise but it was still a huge gamble. What if they actually found something? “Forget it, it's too late now. The game has started and only time will tell if I have a Full House or simply a High Card" he muttered to himself, turning on his side to look through the window.

Ting!

/What it's like being a child?/ came a message from Monthu distracting Ace. 'So he isn't a mindless servant? Maybe I can actually win him over too. That would only leave Hawk.'

/It means no girlfriends, no cars or bikes, no drinking, no travelling or mostly even going alone and no respect. On the other hand I'm always welcome to any company and taken everywhere; get many gifts and sweets while never having to work for anything. You could even call it a dream world/ Ace wrote back knowing Monthu will get it and trying to shove it all away. He's been talking about himself way too much, some action was in need.

Standing up he walked to the window and opened it up. It was night time already and no one was around. Ace jumped on a windowsill and from there climbed on the roof.

The town opened up before him as the inn was made on a higher ground to be seen from afar. There were ten small houses with flat roofs well suited for walking on, which Ace decided to use. He activated [Shadow Veil] and [Silent Steps] and went ahead jumping from one house to another using [Shadow Dash] as his small frame got in the way like usual. It took a considerable amount of his mana but with his extreme regeneration it was a small loss.

Standing on a last house he heard voices, with [All Ears] he determined where it was coming from and sneaked to the outskirts of a forest.

A group of four players were arguing about which quest to do first.

"We should just go and kill the tree spirits! They're not even that strong!" a warrior guy said wearing full armour and a broadsword.

"But they have huge hp bars! It's simpler to wipe out the rogue cave, with my glitter dust spell it would be child's play and good experience" didn't agree another male but this one wore a green robe.

As these two kept on arguing a cleric and a rogue had their own conversation.

"I think it'll still last awhile. Maybe you should scout around just in case?"

"Sure" agreed the rogue and left.

That was a very good idea in Ace's opinion too. It made his work so much easier.

He followed the rogue a bit to determine his walking pattern and then went to make his ambush. A strong branch extending on a path was perfect for that. While sitting Ace decided to activate [Instincts of a Predator]. It was a skill that allowed one to sense other creatures and their level of dangerousness. It showed that the rogue was around level 65.

'Ech... That's not even a challenge' sighed Ace before jumping on an unsuspecting rogue. He used all of his three damage abilities and one status [Curse of the Hungry]. At his level, Average 4, it made the corpse stay for a whooping three minutes. Looting the now dead rogue he obtained a full set of rogue equipment, a few potions and a hundred golds.

Being a player killer made one really rich.

Then Ace took out his silver wing shaped necklace from under his cloak and murmured "Goddess of Light and Righteousness forgive a Fallen Soul that walks in the Shadows and grant him your favour."

A white light shone from within the pendant and it duplicated itself. The new one was a bit less well made, looking darker but was still a beautiful thing. Ace put the silver wing in the rogues bag and walked away towards the remaining members, leaving the body to disappear in due time.

The three members were still doing their things, not aware of their friend’s misfortune. It was better for Ace this way but he decided against going solo versus three. He could easily burst one down but the remaining two could deal him significant damage, especially if he was forced to use [Heart-seeker]. He climbed on a nearby tree and prepared for a long wait. It'll be some time before they'll notice the missing one and maybe make the mistake of separating at least for a good five meters.

It took them two hours by which Ace felt like killing the arguing duo simply to shut them up. They were still arguing over the same thing, using almost the same words when a cleric interrupted them.

"I can't contact Wind! He's went scouting a few hours ago and I hadn't gotten a word from him since!" there was worry etched in his voice, and a bit of fear.

"Are you sure he's missing? Didn't he just went for a smoke or something?" asked the warrior calmly.

"That’s never happened before and he wouldn't have left his unprotected body in a middle of a forest!!” answered the cleric, his voice raising instinctively.

The warrior had to agree to that logic.

"Fine. I'll go look around, you stay with Warner and create a fire. If he was caught by wild beasts it should deter them."

The mage and cleric nodded because neither of them wanted to walk around a forest in a dead of a night and set out to their task of creating a fire for themselves.

Ace stood up and quietly followed after the retreating back of the warrior. The guy was walking in random circles so ambush was out of the question.

Or maybe not.

Ace hid in the bushes near the general direction of the warrior's path and made the [Flare] leave his cowl. Controlling it with a flick of his fingers he made it intercept the guy and lead him straight to Ace's dagger.

Warrior being of curious nature followed the flickering light and didn't notice a shadow jumping on his back before it was too late. He felt a dagger finding gaps in places where armour pieces were attached to each other and piercing his leather armour and flesh.

It hurt like hell but the enemy wasn't finished, he stabbed and stabbed while Kaldor uselessly tried to get him off his back. As a last resort he fell to the ground and tried to roll around but a moment before that his heart came into contact with something sharp. 'Wait! Was that a dagger? How could it...' His life force drained to a zero, he felt darkness envelope him and the silver hue of his cabin meeting his eyes. He was done for with no access to the game for the next couple of hours.

It was too much of a penalty for dying in his opinion but the creators didn’t care for that. They had decided that it was a good idea to make players weary of dying and this was their solution.

In the game Ace was looting his dead body and smiling at the second set of armour he found in the backpack and a 95 gold coins.

Finished he repeated the prayer and gifted the dead man with a silver wing necklace.

Now it was time for the last two standing to have a go at him.

Ace walked slowly so his mana had time to replenish. When he reached the camp a smell of cooked meat met him, making his stomach growl quietly. One of those guys was a really good cook, it's sad that he had to die anyway.

Hiding in the bushes he debated on who to go for first.

He could burst down the cleric but the mage would then be able to cast a spell in that time. On the other hand if he went for the mage, the cleric could heal him up and that would suck.

In the end he decided to go for the wizard, it contained just that little bit less risk. That decided, he left the bush and keeping in shadows circled himself to be behind the mage.

It was good that the guy wasn't smart enough to use glitter dust on the surroundings.

In position, he took a big breath and used [Shadow Dash] to get close to the target. He was able to use [Cut-throat] and [Backstab] but a strong spell pushed him back before the last hit could be made.

The mage was bleeding heavily and poison should have infected his system by now so Ace went for the cleric to prevent him from healing as much as kill him. Dashing towards him he used a few random slashes to wound him for poison's sake and then used [Heart-seeker] to finish him off (with a curse of course).

Sadly the mage hadn't died by that time and even prepared a spell that made vines sprout from the ground and prevent him from moving.

"Life given by earth, shall be returned to..." Ace was desperately cutting at the vines trying to get himself free. He had no wish to see what that spell was.

"Leech Lif..." a violent cough interrupted the mage's spell casting making him spit blood. There was astonishment on his face when his hand became red.

Ace seeing the mage preoccupied took out a knife and cursing it threw at the mage's heart.

"Heart-seeker" he yelled out directing the mage's attention back to him but it was too late now. The knife embedded itself into his chest and dropped his health bar to a zero.

The vines constraining Ace disappeared but he stood still, waiting a moment before regaining his movements because of [Heart-seeker]. Then he looted the two corpses obtaining a few spell books, potions and their gear. Together they had 300 gold to give for which Ace gave them a silver wing each.

Tired he sat down among the corpses and ate their food. It was delicious! He thanked the now dead guys and decided to check his status.

"Status window"

Status WindowNameAceAlignmentLawful EvilLevel88ProfessionAssassin MageTitleNoneFame375Notoriety963Health1225Mana1490Strength134+30Agility310+30Vitality97+30Wisdom146+50Intelligence49+100Stamina51+30Luck17+30Leadership0Attack109Defense0Magic Resistance5%

+ All survival stats are added 30 points, Int + 50 points

+ Dagger mastery increases more easily by 25%

+ Wisdom and Intelligence are added 50 points

+ Magic mastery increses 25% more easily

+ You can learn all spells up to master level

+ After hiding, all stats increase by 30% in addition for a short duration.

+ Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class.

+ Due to your double classes' differences your fame is divided into fame and notoriety until your identity is discovered.

"So I leveled up twice... Now how's my blood thirsty friend is doing..."

He took out his dagger and checked it's status.

Kris

Durability: 97 stacks

Damage: 30-50

Dagger that was made wavy in order to increase it's deadliness. It is one of the few remaining masterpieces made by skilled blacksmith that lived in a Reion empire. Stolen from his master's grave he was passed down by master assassins to their students. One of them fed it blood until the blade started to crave it.

Effects:

Heart-seeker [Active] Average 7

An ability that allows to bypass all armour and reach the target’s heart, killing him in an instant. The activation stuns the user for three seconds making him unable to move or cast; with improvement the time will lessen.

Warning! The blade requires blood to keep the ability. Every twenty-four hours consumes a heart. If more than one is taken in a day they can be stacked for future. Monsters' hearts are inefficient unless they are very human like. If a low quality heart is taken, a good one will be used to purify the blade.

Warning! If a day passes without the blade being fed, the ability will disappear. It can be relearnt with right conditions but it's level will be beginner 1.

"I'll need to restack in a next large city... I can't enter any dungeons being this low. Anyway, I'm done here and some sleep would do me good"

He stood up, used a weak water spell to douse off the fire and walked back to town, [Flare] showing him the way. A few growls from nearby predators could be heard but Ace walked on unworried. They wouldn't attack him no matter what. It was a useful skill but he would have deleted it a billion times if he only could have.

He was not a freaking child.