Author's Note:

So here's another chapter for you. I had something I wanted to say but right now it's twelve o'clock and my mind is no longer working so that's all... Hope you like it.

****

It was a great morning. Sun shone brightly basking everything in light after the night's darkness while a soft wind brushed past refreshingly. A single bird had woken up first and was telling his tale to the world.

But humans rarely followed the pace of nature. This time was no exception. Like a great flood they were running towards a magnificent building, ready to smash it into pieces if that was what was needed to win. So a small goblin standing in their way had no chance of even delaying them for a second.

Ace looked at them with wonder filled eyes. Why did he always in this game managed to end up in an unfavourable situation?

And there wasn't a place he could run to. Maybe they would leave him alive because he's a kid?

"Kill the goblin and advance ahead without stopping!" someone shouted and Ace felt like face palming. He was no kid but a despicable and absolutely stupid goblin. It's no surprise he stood here looking at them like an idiot.

Something had to be done to preserve his life but what exactly? They would be on him in seconds and lots of flying things would follow him if he tried to jump away. He noticed mages sitting on top of buildings and hiding there. It was a stupid idea as goblins' throw ability was absolutely pathetic but he wasn't the one to talk. He was even worse than they...

And then they were on him. Lots of flashing steel and roaring voices. That was seen a second before he got grabbed by the collar and dragged to the side through the masses of rushing players. They seemed to be making a small circle of free space around his abductor/saviour. It was hard to say which one the guy was exactly.

"Tell me I didn't drag a random goblin away?" came a very familiar voice from his captor when they escaped the centre of the flood.

"I think I'm going to promote you to a bodyguard" Ace said happily. He was quite relieved to have stayed alive. "You're always right on time."

"Don't make a habit out of it. One day I might just decide to leave you there" Monthu said with a huff and dragged Ace to one of the buildings where his party members had ran down to hear what was going on.

Ace didn't argue. It wasn't like his clothes could get any worse than they were now. Starting with charred downs, advancing with tons of dust and finishing with blood spattered all over him. A bit of earth had nothing on it.

"Why did you suddenly jump in to save a goblin?" Aurora asked rushing to him. "Someone might have accidentally killed you instead."

"He should better try" Monthu said laughing. None would even dare to think of hurting him or all army would go on the guy for revenge. He might have been low level and unknown but he led them to victory and that was all that mattered.

"Why did you do it anyway?" Hawk asked too.

Monthu rolled his eyes and threw the goblin, who squeaked unmanly, towards others. "Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

Ace whined lightly, rubbing his head and raised it meeting the curious eyes of three humans. He made an innocent expression while looking up an incantation for [Revelation].

"Am I supposed to know him from somewhere?" Aurora asked while Par got in Ace's face. They were only a few centimetres apart. "Hey, careful there! He might be dangerous!" she said, taking Par by his shoulder and pushing him away.

"The only one he is dangerous to is himself. I haven't seen anyone so lacking a sense of danger as him.”

"Huh?" Aurora asked when Ace started to chant. "Visions of old that were placed to hide the truth from strangers and ignorant ones show me your true colours, Revelation!"

His body started to shimmer, white mist surrounding it. Soon he couldn't even be seen through it.

"Gust" he said and was revealed in all his unkempt glory.

"Ace?" Par asked with his eyes wide.

"One and the only" he said glaring at his clothes. On a goblin it looked normal, but on a human... Well, it wouldn't be surprising if someone mistook him for a dust collector.

"Seriously... What did you do now?" Hawk asked with a note of jealousy in his voice.

"I might have pretended to be a goblin to get inside and meet the leader and then earn his trust..."

"Why would they ever believe you?"

"Me smart! Me know to say right! Big man like me, play lot!" Ace said putting his illusion back on. But this time it was a small living one that he cancelled off after showing off. Hawk's shocked expression was a good reward. "And now I need to take a bath, so please excuse me" he said before standing up and running away.

"Aren't you going to see Vera first? She's very worried about you!" Aurora asked shouting after him. She could have sworn he sped up even more after hearing her words.

Ace used [Shadow Veil] after the first corner and slowed down slightly. She just had to remind him of what was to come. He shook his head. There was still time to enjoy the freedom, he'll be able to cry himself a river after that.

Talking about a river he was quickly approaching one. The last steps he ran at full speed and jumped in using [Shadow Dash]. Cold water met him and welcomed in its deadly embrace. He fell deep, to the very bottom before rising up again. Breaking the surface he breathed a mouthful of air and sighed in relief. He was feeling better by each second he was getting the grime off his body.

And then there was a message of him getting a cold. 'That's not fair! I'm not even finished yet!' He was about to angrily storm out when he remembered his own spell.

"Excessive Heat!"

He felt warmth enveloping him and removing the feeling of refreshing cold. 'It seems there's not a way I can win here' he thought annoyed and went to where the river was shallower. There he took off most of his clothes and scrubbed himself clean. He was finely feeling good when he remembered he hadn't gotten any spare clothes. So now it was wearing wet and dirty ones or wearing none. 'Why didn't I think about it before, again..?' It was a good question that he pondered for more than ten minutes. Neither prospect seemed like a good one for him.

/Hey, can you come to the river?/ he wrote to Par in the end.

It took the kid long twenty minutes before he managed to find him. Ace's mood had become sour by that time. Because of [Excessive Heat] he wasn't cold but was none the less stuck for a whole half an hour alone on the riverbank with nothing to do. He couldn't even play the flute because his fingers got wrinkled by spending too much time in the water.

"What happened?" Par asked coming closer. Somehow he was alone.

"I fell into the river... Do you by any chance have some spare clothes?" Ace asked praying the answer was positive.

"Uhm... I should have..." he said opening his inventory. There he found a few robes. The bigger one he took out. "Is this okay?"

It was dark green with a black ornament of a flower going down. 'Not that bad' Ace decided taking it gratefully. The thing could have been the colour of sickly green or not present at all.

"Thanks" he said with a bright smile and put it on. It was slightly too small for him but nothing too noticeable. "You're a life saver, just like your brother."

The compliment seemed to please the kid as his smile grew bigger before vanishing suddenly. "You're going to leave, aren't you? You have to do what they tell you, don't you?" he asked quietly.

Ace looked at him seriously losing his playful expression too. "Who knows? You're right, I have to listen to them but it's different from you. They're not really my relatives so they don't feel sympathetic to me like your brother who would forgive you anything. But that doesn't mean there isn't a chance of getting rid of them. All I need is a single plan."

"Do you really believe it's possible?" Par asked. There was hopelessness in his voice. He really liked Ace, but now they'll be separated by no fault of their own. Why were the grown-ups so ruthless? He wished he could become one and be able to travel around with Ace freely, without anyone capable of stopping them.

"There's always a chance. What's the point of going forward if you don't believe in your own victory? Who cares if it's fighting windmill blades?" Ace asked rhetorically, remembering an old book he'd read.

Par looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?"

"Don't mind me. What I mean is, I'll surely stay around here for some time with you and return to finish the quest. So we have a few weeks to come up with a plan. I hope you're ready to become a conspirator?" Ace asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes. There was no reason not to make it into an adventure himself. Not all quests had to be written down and received from others. Sometimes you had to do something for yourself too.

Par thought for a moment. His brother wouldn't approve of it but he really wanted to do it. He had never done anything of the like before. His brother and parents were always there to stop him from doing anything even remotely dangerous. "Okay!"

"Deal!" Ace said with a smile and like true conspirators they shook hands solemnly, sealing their pact. "Let's meet..."

"In the castle? I wasn't allowed in before because of goblin danger" Par said hopefully.

"Perfect. I know everything there. Wait for me somewhere close at ten o'clock, okay?"

"I'll be under the third beast sculpture" Par said, remembering how all those who met secretly did this.

Ace nodded and together they stood up and went in different directions. None could see them talking.

Inside Ace was laughing at the stupidity of both of their actions. But who wouldn't want to act out a spy film? Those were the best things ever! So behind the first tree he used [Shadow Veil] and this way went into the city. And good thing he hid.

Right past him Vera ran through at full speed. She was rushing towards the river. 'Did she leave her appearance the same so I could recognize her easily?' Ace wondered. 'Does that mean most of them did that too?' She was a clear leader of those overprotective of him and all followed her lead most of the time.

Further ahead he saw a female earth mage. She hadn't changed either. Raven black hair, tanned skin, delicate features and a small stature. She was wearing a brown mage's robe with green designs and had her hair tightened with a light green headband. It didn't look good at all. She was never good at combining colours.

When he came closer, she just looked straight through him like she had for the last five years. At least now he had a legitimate reason to explain to himself why it was so. Shaking his head slightly he made sure no rogues were around and moved away. Nothing could be gained by standing around.

"Hasn't anyone seen him since?"

"Some saw the other kid going there but he's denying it."

"How could he just disappear into thin air? That's not natural!"

Ace hurried away. He knew exactly who they were looking for and had no wish to be found. He chose to enter some secret tunnel as it would give him some peace. He couldn’t hide forever but there was nothing bad in prolonging the time of freedom. Once he was found, nothing would be the same.

He laughed quietly at the way he described meeting with his childhood friends. It sounded nothing less of a world war.

The hall ended in a room filled with people. 'Oh yeah... This one belongs to the assassin family...' He had turned to go back when a hand on the shoulder stopped him.

"What have you come here for this time?" Helbert asked.

"Mistake. Been looking for a place to hide. I'll be out then" he said and was about to leave.

"So you've lost. I knew it was too good to be true..." he said with sadness. His shoulders slumped in defeat. It didn't look right on him somehow.

"What?" Elena asked appearing from nowhere too. 'They should be extremely high level if I couldn't even see shadows moving where they were.'

"Not exactly. We won, the castle has been retaken" Ace said explaining helpfully.

"Right. And you're hiding because it's so safe outside?" Helbert said, unbelieving.

"My caretakers came and want to start ordering my life again so I'm trying to stave off that time as far as possible" Ace said shrugging.

"So we're really safe now?" Elena asked hopefully.

"Yeah. All goblins with their leaders are dead and the grounds are filled with people of the army and those who came to take me back"

"Can we come out freely or is there a reason to wait? Is that why you didn't come to tell us the moment it happened?" Helbert asked trusting Ace's decisions.

"I f..." Ace caught himself at the last moment. He was about to tell the people he was saving that he had totally forgotten about them! That was totally wrong! "It happened just a few hours ago so I waited some time to make sure everything was safe. I didn't want to bring you out and then see goblins had latched a surprise attack" he said in a very serious tone pretending that was really his reasoning.

*Deception +4%*

"Thanks. You think it's okay now?"

"It should be. Although it would be safer if you first collected yourselves in a single place and advanced from there. You never know what might happen."

"That is true. Could you help us in this?"

"Sure" Ace said with a sigh. It's not like he expected to be able to hide for long. He might as well show up as a hero. "What about the earth wizard's garden? Many people could stay there hidden while everyone comes?"

"Okay. We'll come there ourselves, you bring others."

Ace nodded and left slightly annoyed. He had expected to gain a quest but maybe he wanted too much. They had already given him a lot and he'll be on the top of contributors' to this place list, gaining lots of bonuses. It wasn't bad at all.

Thinking this way he went to pick up the survivors. They were ecstatic to hear the news of victory and happily agreed to first meet up with the others who made it through. Taking few groups at a time he managed to get them all by midday.

Around a hundred people were now gathered in the small space and were chatting rapidly. They had cried enough tears for those who had fallen and now were rejoicing with those that made it through. Helbert came to see Ace who stood at the side.

"We're all ready. Lead us to the head of the army" he said with earth mage Doran beside him. "I'm proud of you" he said.

*The title "Flare of Hope" has become permanent*

'Great'

"Follow me then" Ace said and smiling skipped to the front. He chose the shortest path and threw lots of players into surprise when he marched towards Monthu's office with a large entourage. Only then did he remember that the guy didn't have to be there. He wasn't one to fill the papers all the day.

/Are you in your office?/ he wrote being only a hundred meters away.

/No. Why?/ '....'

/Where are you then? Hurry!/

/Castle/ /The main hall/ /What's the rush?/

/I'm taking all survivors to you. Be prepared/

"This is his office but..."

"That's my house!" someone from the crowd behind him shouted out but Ace ignored him.

"... right now he's in the castle. It has been retaken not too long ago so he's taking care of things there" Ace said finishing and turned to the left.

The castle was looming over him and it wasn't hard to go its way at all. He was skipping happily knowing that soon enough someone would see him and report it to Vera. He was really not waiting for that moment.

When they entered, Ace determined where everyone was with [Instincts of a Predator] and went that way. He knew it quite well. The sounds of loud hushed voices came from the wide room, the old ballroom. Ace took his people there and without glancing at the scene marched off towards Monthu.

He was the only one like that. All - a hundred or so people - became frozen at the spot as they glanced at what had been their dance floor. Bodies of dozens of goblins were lying around with their insides out and parts of bodies in different places. Most of them were covered in blood and some greenish liquid around which the skin had turned blue. All around the floor was full of corroded holes the size of a kid's fist.

"What happened here?" Doran asked quietly. Goblins might have been horrible monsters but even they hardly deserved such a massacre.

"We're trying to figure it out at the moment" Monthu said coming closer. "It seems like everyone was gathered here when an unknown force came and slaughtered them all. After that it disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace for us to follow. And by the way who might you be?"

"I'm Sir Doran, one of the councilmen. There had been twelve of us who had ruled this place" they guy said in a strong voice but it held remorse.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Monthu, the general."

"Then I should thank you for all the hard work you put into it. When the kid said you came to help us, I was very doubtful but it seems it was for no reason."

"Thank you. Are these all the survivors?"

"Yes and I'd like to let them finally go home if you're okay with it" Doran asked.

"That is fine. Would they like my people to help?"

"No need. We know where our houses are."

Monthu nodded and turned towards Hawk at his right and started to chat about provisions. Ace was absolutely ignored. That was fine by him for now. Later on he'll have to make everything how it was but at the moment he wanted to be alone.

"Ang!" came a shout from his back and Ace knew he was doomed. It was too late to make his escape now.

A female rushed to him hugging so tightly he could barely breath. He tried to push her away but it was to no avail.

"I can't believe I finally found you!" she said to his back.

"Happy to see you" Ace said with a forced smile that no one could ever see through. He was a master at faking his emotions so his deceit was going to raise exponentially now that he had to deal with her.

"I was so worried and they said you got locked in with all the goblins and a monster that ki... uhm... sent them away" she finished lamely, pulling him away and looking at him by holding his shoulders. There hadn't been any need to protect him from horrible truth of the world in reality but this game was filled with violence!

Ace wanted to laugh at her concern but kept himself in check. Now more than ever he needed to act exceptionally well. But that didn't mean everything could be tolerated. "You know you can use the word killed and death around me..." he said with his head down.

"What do you mean? Who said that to you?" she asked turning her head towards Monthu who was ordering his people to do something.

Ace rolled his eyes inwardly and said "My parents explained what happens when old Anna died. You know she took care of me when I was growing up and then she suddenly disappeared. After a lot of time, they finally explained to me the truth of what happened." His words were clear but there were sadness in them as if he really loved the old hag who forcefully fed him poisonous concoctions (soup) and made him go to sleep with light (ten o'clock).

"Aww... You poor thing. And you never told me! It should have been hard for you, my sweetie! Come here" Vera said hugging him once again. It would have been a pleasant experience considering she was a beautiful girl but her seeing him only as a child destroyed any kind of affection he might have held for her.

Ace pushed her away. As long as the role allowed it, he wasn't going to let her be close longer than a second necessary.

"Don't snuggle him like that. He's a big boy now, aren't you?" Kev said coming to them and ruffling Ace's hair who nodded eagerly, looking at him with shining eyes.

"Kevin is here too!" he said in a happy shout, his mood bright once again.

"Did you think I'll let her pamper you into a lady?" he said laughing and Ace smiled too. He knew well that Kev will spoil him just as much if not more. It was an unbreakable rule that he wasn't allowed to do anything and was given everything before even able to think about it.

"Does that mean others are here too?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes, we should go see them now. They're just outside the castle."

Like a bullet shot Ace ran outside. Every second away from the two was a breath of fresh air. No one else was as suffocating as them. His parents were the best in that regard. 'I wish they would come here and chase all of them away...' he thought with a sigh but knew better than to hope for it. It was a lost cause and he had to do everything himself if he wanted out.

"Hey guys!" he said bursting outside into a group of thirty or so people.

"Ang!"

"We've been searching for you! How..?"

"... looking around..."

"... did you survive?"

"Been fine?"

"Has everyone been nice to you?" Vera added coming after him. It was a stupid question. There were different kinds of people so how could everyone be nice? He didn't get it.

"Yes, I've been great! I met many new people and became friends with most of them (more like sworn enemies). Also Par and I are best friends now! We do everything together!" Ace said cheerfully, smiling from ear to ear.

"Really? That's great!" Sam said. He didn't know her game name yet...

"Let's go to our camp now and rest. You can tell us all about your adventures there" Vera said taking his hand but Ace evaded her clumsily. It was important to look like a useless burden or else they might suspect something.

"I can't! I promised to stay with Par!" he said crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes changing into orange.

"What do you mean you can't? Will something happen to you if you don't? Did that pretentious bastard threaten you?" Kev asked, taking him by his shoulders.

"Kev your words!" Vera said in outrage.

"Not now, Veronica. So did he?" Kev asked in a barely controlled voice. "I'm going to skin him alive if he even thought about it!"

Ace looked at him wide eyed. That wasn't what he was going for at all! He had no wish to get Monthu killed as that would make it very complicated to launch a plan with Par. "No, no, NO!" Ace said shaking his head so much that his whole body moved in Kev's hands. "I've just promised to stay with Par and you always taught me how important it is to keep your word!" he said with tears in his eyes. Kev's hands didn't really hurt that much but it was never a bad idea to exaggerate slightly.

"Kev release him this moment! He's not one of your guys! He's just a kid!" Vera shouted taking Ace whose eyes flashed red in her own hands from stunned Kev. "Don't worry, sweetie. He won't hurt you again. I'll make sure of it" she said promising softly.

Ace was trying desperately to keep his temper in check. He could take any kind of abuse but one thing was still stepping on a wound. He didn't really care what else Vera was saying while he calmed himself down. He wished so much to throw her and get away but he didn't want to get locked up. For that he had to continue his act. He shut his eyes even tighter before opening them and pushing away from the concerned girl.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded slightly with his head down.

"You'll be able to spend time with your friend, don't worry okay? We'll work something out for sure. Come now. You'll tell us everything about your amazing adventures and how you met your newest friend. Just don't be sad" she said with a smile and gave him a sweet.

Ace sighed inwardly. Why were people giving candy to sad kids? How was it supposed to help? It was just a piece of sugary food.

He took it gratefully and put in his mouth. The barmaid had had better ones...

He went with them to their camp outside the walls. Some people had prepared a wide space in a middle with a fire going. Vera took Ace there and sat him, she and the others sat down a few steps away where they could hear him perfectly but be out of the heats range.

It was getting very hot as Ace sat quietly waiting for everyone to find a suitable patch of earth. The day was still warm and the fire beside him was enhancing it to extremes. He was going to get cooked if nothing changed. He could say that to Vera but Ace had no wish to be thankful to her for anything.

He thought for a moment and activated [Excessive Heat]. The skill heightened his body’s temperature so it should ease the strain of heat on him too... At least that was what he hoped for.

What happened was that he caught on fire! Flames started to come from his body licking the clothes but leaving them intact. The grass wasn't so lucky. It caught on fire quickly and advanced in great speed before anyone was able to react. Soon Ace sat in a cage of flames but it didn't burn him at all. Interested he raised his hand and put it right in ignoring Vera's shriek. Nothing happened.

*Splash!*

"Apchoo!" Ace sneezed the water he had been doused in. "What was that for?" he asked in a shout angrily. He wanted to test it more and now he was wet once again without any clothes to change into.

"You were on fire! Are you burned? I told you not to put your hand into the flames. Someone find a cleric! Fast!" Vera said fussing over him.

"I'm fine" he said laughing. "It's just a game! I'm not hurt at all!"

"What do you mean? I clearly saw you putting your hand into the fire!" she said not comprehending.

"Magic" Ace said mysteriously, pretending he had known that would happen. He would never hear the end of it if he didn't.

"Is that your skill? Oh yeah! You're a spellsword. Can you show it again? It was so cool!" someone said in a shout and Ace happily nodded standing up to get to the fire. Vera grabbed his hand and sent a death glare to the person who had opened his mouth a few moments before.

"You're not doing anything of a kind! I ban it! It's too dangerous! The skill might not work for some reason at any given time! I got scared half to death even seeing that!" Vera said angrily.

'And what would happen if I managed to hack the skill into not working? I would get a small burn? That's a disaster, death for sure. And it's not like there's a willing to help cleric in every direction.' Ace thought annoyed and it showed on his face but he didn't argue. She would never go down for something like that. He consulted himself by thinking of what he did when no one was looking and felt slightly better. She knew and could do nothing to stop that.

"Sit a bit farther away from the fire now and let's hear it, your tale" Vera said smiling and Ace sat down. He was cold now but the skill made it a bit better so he hoped not to catch a cold.

He was surprised Vera didn't get anything for him to warm up when he remembered she was from Lavana. That kingdom was great in a way that it had a single warm season. Oradin on the other hand had four of them and those who had never been here knew nothing about sicknesses and cold wind's powers. It was an early autumn so the sun was still strong, only slightly losing its heat. Snow was still ways off. Yet Ace was already eagerly waiting for it as, when he joined the game it had all melted down and in his hometown in reality it was always summer.

There were many people around and he didn't know most of them. He remembered Monthu saying this army contained around a thousand players and they probably wanted to know why they had hurried off to find a kid. There were only thirty people eligible to join RD from his town so all others must be random. All here for him. It would have been exhilarating if it didn't mean that now he had a thousand people looking after his every step. He had no doubts Vera had told them a gazillion times to take good care of him and that she would reward everyone who did. Many will probably fall for it and he'll have to get rid of them in a nice way. So much work...

"The sun was so bright when I came to this world! It blinded me for a moment and then I felt myself alive! I saw..." Ace said starting his tale and continued with all his adventures that had nothing shadowy in it. He talked about meeting an old man and staying with him for a long time for free. Supposedly he left because the man's family came.

Later Monthu and the group showed up and took him in. Then together they cleared the cave and captured an evil illusionist. After that came a very edited version of the caravan fight and the ghost's quest. There were no breaking ins and lying in achieving that at all. In the end he explained how he came with the army, got to lead the rogues and managed to get himself locked inside by an accident.

Ace was proud of his story. He managed to edit everything on the spot and make it look like he was a little angel while telling real events. What he did at night was forgotten altogether.

Questions came from all sides and he answered them with a bright smile. It was fun in a way, to tell the truth. He was able to talk as much as he wanted and everyone listened to his every word like he was giving a sermon. Then they told their stories too. Most of them were funny as no battle ones were appropriate for a kid in Vera's opinion. They laughed and spent their time happily together.

Ace wished it was always like that. Even Vera had calmed down and different kind of stories started to be told to everyone's delight. Ace sat in a middle of it and did something that happened rarely. He smiled sincerely, enjoying the moment. It changed nothing but he had learnt to treasure every moment and this one was a great one.

The sun moved through the horizon and was now falling behind the clouds, allowing moon to take her place. Night descended but the fire burned brighter and more cheerful by each moment keeping the high spirits up. Ace was tired but he still had some unfinished business. One of them was to meet Par.

He thought for a moment but seeing no alternative approached Vera.

"I think I'm going to sleep."

"Okay. Come I'll prepare a bed for you" she said with a smile. Today was a success.

"You promised I could go to Par!" Ace said angrily.

Vera grimaced. She had hoped he would forget it by the evening. "It's late now. You'll just fall asleep and that's all. Wouldn't it better if you went to him in the morning?" she asked, trying to persuade him.

"You promised!" Ace said stubbornly, his small hands clenched into fists but his eyes stayed clear blue.

"I didn't know, we'd stay up so late. There's no point in going there now" she said softly.

"But you promised I could!" Ace said repeating his words. He had learnt it was one of the best tactics to get onto someone's nerves so much that they gave you what you wanted. All you needed was to not hear all the objections until the person ran out of them and in that way push your point through.

"Why do you want to go there so much? I hope the guy didn't really threaten you?" she asked narrowing her eyes. "You know you can tell me and I'll protect you from him."

Ace held himself from rolling his eyes. Were they ever going to stop with that? "Par is my friend. Aren't I supposed to want to spend time with him too?" he asked with a curiosity filled look.

Vera had nothing to say to that. Every word she used would be then used against her later on as she was just a friend too. "There's nothing wrong with that. Feel free to go and meet him but be here in the morning" she said with a pretend smile which was as fake as it can be. Ace felt like he should teach her some things, not that she would want to hear it. Lips weren't supposed to waver and the corners of your mouth should go up too, not even going into a brightened expression and shining eyes. She was just terrible.

"Thanks!" he said showing a perfect version and ran off ignoring her sudden concerns about his safety. The next moment he was behind a bend and used [Shadow Veil] so when she ran after him, he stood motionless and absolutely invisible. He waited for her to choose a random direction and went the other.

It was almost midnight so he went towards the castle. The surrounding place was still empty so he found a comfortable place and took out his pair of Sai. They were such a strange weapon still, resembling a fork to him. 'I should learn to use them somehow tomorrow. But how should I escape from her again? Or would it be better to go straight to Elena when the sun raises?' While he was wondering that Par showed up.

"Hey!" Ace said removing his shadow and scaring the kid half to death.

"Don't do that again!" he said in a whisper/shout holding onto his heart.

"Sorry" Ace said sheepishly but quickly a smile brightened his face. "Ready to go exploring?"

"I thought you said you knew the castle?" Par asked uncertainly. The looming castle looked evil at night with its sharp towers and scary beasts all around.

"You don't mean you're scared?" Ace asked incredulous.

"Of course not!" Par said without thinking even for a second and marched off straight to the entrance.

"Wait!" Ace said stopping him. "We're not coming in from the front. There are still people there"

"Can't you sneak through?" Par asked tilting his head slightly.

"And how will you get in then?" Ace asked him with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go" he said before the kid could get embarrassed and led to an entrance in a nearby house. Like a true secret tunnel it was made in the basement where lots of cobwebs occupied the place. Ace had seen his share of them and no longer even tried to get rid of them while Par did that. In vain. Those things stuck to clothes, hair and hands and nothing could change that.

"Do we have to go through here?" Par asked unhappily.

"We're almost there" Ace said looking for a heightened wooden floor. He had seen this place in Caro's map and hoped the tunnel was still in good shape or they would have to find a new one and that would take time.

'There' he saw a latch on the ground and opened it up getting swallowed in a cloud of dust. Both of them sneezed a few times before being able to breathe again. Ace sent [Flare] ahead and went down the stairs thinking that if he ever had a secret tunnel in his house it would be better taken care of. If a need to escape arose, he would be caught in moments after leaving the tunnel because he would attract way too much attention being covered in a few tons of dust and cobwebs.

At the bottom they took each other's hands and went ahead with their bodies bent like a person does when he’s sneaking. The small flame provided only a slight light leaving many dark corners that looked like good demon spawning places. Somehow passing through such corners their steps became quicker on their own. Yet there were smiles on their faces.

It was a true adventure! Neither of them knew what exactly was waiting on the other side or even here if you were looking into that. Ace had seen the map for a whole of three minutes and couldn't remember for the sake of him where this path led. Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad. Not that he knew what that could be.

Around half an hour later, which in truth were only ten minutes, they reached a door. It was absolutely simple without any kind of an ornament.

"Is this it?" Par asked quietly.

"I hope so" Ace said releasing his hand. He took out his Kris and meeting Par's eyes for a second opened the door with his left. Or tried to. "It's locked" he said in amazement.

"So we went here for nothing?" Par asked.

"Do you have something sharp and small?" Ace asked him ignoring the question.

"Uhm... No? What are you planning to do?"

"Don't you watch films? In them they just take some small sharp thing and easily open all the locks. I want to try that too!" Ace said looking through his bag but it lacked anything of the like. That left him with his daggers. He chose one of the throwing ones as they were smaller and less useful. Most of the time he never even retrieved them.

He ordered the flame to light the lock and started to move the dagger inside as if he knew what he was doing. Time passed by as he fruitlessly tried to open it but nothing changed. Par had decided to summon his elemental and was reading a book by its light.

"By the way when is your birthday?" Ace asked trying to push the dagger all the way through out of frustration.

"August 7. Why?" Par asked raising his head from the book.

"It's so soon! And what friend would I be if I missed it? It's unforgivable!"

"You're right. When is your birthday then?" Par asked opening his notebook. It was full of spell incantations and some things he had noted on what his spells could do.

"It is the night from April 30 to May 1, The Walpurgis Night, when witches and sorcerers meet to celebrate." Ace said stopping for a moment to remember the meaning. He liked his birthdays and hated them at the same time because his parents were always present at that time. There was no point in thinking about them but he noticed them being on the corner of his mind for the day. 'Am I missing them? That would be very stupid of me.'

"That's cool! I wish my birthday had something as great as yours!" Par said writing the date down.

"Well, now you have a whole day for yourself and nobody can dictate the theme of your party because it's all yours" Ace said with a smile twisting the dagger once again.

*Click*

Tiiriing!

New skill acquired: Lock picking!

You're able to open the locks that people protect their treasures with.

+3% to opening locks

+10 Intelligence

Warning! You'll lose fame if you're seen breaking in.

"I did it!" Ace shouted happily, forgetting all about the possible danger.

"Really?" Par asked standing up and coming closer tried to open the door. It creaked horribly but opened up. Ace made a note to keep his future doors well-oiled too so when he tried to escape it wouldn't announce it to the whole world.

"Let's hurry away from here" Ace said. "I'll scout ahead and you follow. I have a place in mind, okay?"

"Sure" Par agreed and watched in wonder as Ace disappeared right from under his eyes.

He walked ahead when a message came. /Turn left next, the coast there is clear./ This way they reached a small room that no one had even tried to search through. Who would look into a janitor's place anyway?

Ace entered quietly and the doors made no sound. He smiled at that, the guy had been smarter than Ace had given him credit for. He knew how to take care of his things.

Before Par came Ace lighted the candles with [Burst] and looked at the blood spattered maps on the table. 'I destroyed them quite well' he thought, because half of them were in a shape where nothing could be read from them. 'What did I do here anyway? Did I stab him again and again just for the sake of it? Shouldn't his body have disappeared if that happened?'

His memory of the rampage was very foggy. He remembered only episodes: a hand clutching his, a goblin with his eye stabbed, fear of death in Leo's wide eyes, goblin insides falling on his hands and someone spitting at him. That hardly helped him to get a good grasp of what he did. The leftovers did but he didn't want to believe it was all his doing..

"I'm still a human" he whispered as Par opened the doors.

"What did you say?" he asked looking around and liking what he saw. It was a perfect place for conspirators to meet in.

"Nothing. Do you like it?" he asked spreading his hands as if it was all his.

"It's amazing" Par said truthfully and sat on the single chair.

"Great!" Ace said and sat on the table's corner. "So do you have any ideas of how I should escape?"

"Not really..."

"Well, neither do I..."

Both of them looked at the candle as if the answer was hiding in its wavering flame. But it held their gazes without giving anything in return.

"We came here for nothing" Ace concluded after some time in which he grew bored.

Par nodded thoughtfully. "But it's still a very cool place. Let's stay here for a little longer. I told Monthu I'm staying with you anyway."

"Same here" Ace said with a laugh. "I'm sleeping at your tent right now"

Grins flashed on their faces as they shared a true conspiratorial look. They might not have created an elaborate plan on how to stay together but they forged a stronger bond that everyone was going to have a very hard time breaking. The smiles promised that.