"Where is he?" Vera asked in a shout barging in Monthu's house on whose side was the office.

The guy was already awake and eating breakfast but he didn't even turn her way. Aurora, a white haired cleric, answered instead of him. "Who are you looking for? If Hawk, he's away for the moment."

Vera didn't acknowledge her at all. She stomped straight towards Monthu and with a back of her hand hit his cup of tea spilling it. "Don't ignore me. Where is he?" she asked angrily.

Monthu looked sadly at his tea. Aurora had made it and it was quite good to wake him up in the morning. He might exchange coffee to tea if he got used to it more which seemed likely.

"Ech..." he sighed and finally raised his head towards the enraged female. She was a really annoying specimen. Usually he was polite and gentle towards the other gender but this one was able to show all the bad qualities. He saw nothing in her he could respect or admire like in others. There was just no way he could care about her feelings and being more fragile. "Who do you have in mind?" he asked off-handedly standing up and not giving her a second glance.

"Who do you think, bastard? Where did you hide Ang? You know I have the bigger army, right? And I'm not afraid to use it" she said trying to make him look at her by catching his arm but Monthu didn't budge.

"Wasn't he supposed to stay at your place? Par went to him there."

"Like hell he did! Ang went to him near the midnight!"

Monthu was having a bad feeling about that. His brother would never do anything stupid but if Ace was with him... everything was possible. And that guy even taught his brother to lie. Although it's no surprise Ace was so adept at it having lived with this witch all his life.

He wasn't really too afraid. The kid might have many bad qualities and was a horrible influence, he had never hurt his brother. That gave him a few more hours until a search would be warranted and Ace burned like sorcerer for stealing youth.

"Tell me! Where did you hide him?" Vera asked running in front of him and glaring but he just walked around her as if she was a random pillar.

"Par is with him. They'll be back soon enough."

"What do you mean soon enough? Where are they?" she asked huffing angrily, no longer sure how to gain his attention. It had never happened before. Usually the guys were eager to follow her every word.

"Who knows? They're kids like you clearly said before." Monthu said entering his office and letting two warriors in. They looked very uncertain being in a presence of the shouting female. "Come in and state your business" Monthu said not giving them a choice.

"With the addition of a hundred hungry mouths we're running out of food again, sir. What should we do?" The female smiled like a winner. He would have to send more players away becoming defenseless or ask for her help. Either way he'll be in her power.

Monthu thought for a moment and wrote a few numbers in his notes scattered over a table. "Tell the 5th and 7th divisions to come back and send the rangers. We're almost finished here so they can exercise in the open space. The survivors should have some work for them too" he said calmly making the female clench her teeth. He wasn't going down easily but it was going to cost him. How much more could rangers hunt down than swordsman?

"Yes, general" the guy said bowing a goodbye to Vera and saluting Monthu. The soldiers had quickly adapted to using such words and gestures because it was more fun. They could pretend that they were really in an army and had fought in a true battle.

"What general is he?" Vera said with a laugh. "He's just a stupid pretentious boy who thinks he's all that."

Monthu didn't even glance her way while the still standing guy glared at her. The leader might not have been the highest level player but he did what he said without any kind of pretending and never promised anything he couldn't do. The soldiers grumbled half the time but in reality they liked him for his good planning and caring for their opinion which happened not that often with other leaders. So her words weren't going to be accepted with agreement even if she was a pretty girl having a whole army behind her back.

"Ignore her Jacob. She's not worth it. What did you have to report?" Monthu asked.

The guy ceremoniously turned from her and faced Monthu. "The survivors are asking for your permission to seek help from your army. They need houses rebuilt and rubble cleared."

"Granted. There's no point in us staying idle. Tell the guys they'll gain lots of favor from this and shouldn't shy away from manual labor. The survivors will give twice as much favor and experience as they're so low on possession and in need of help"

The guy nodded and left after a salute without even a glance towards Vera. That made her even angrier and without spectators she could release her whole fury.

"Where the hell is he?" she asked in a shout that could be heard a mile away.

"Did it look to you like I got some new information about them? If so, please tell me because I didn't notice it" Monthu said taking out a map. He looked at it for a bit and then drew a few lines.

"Tell me where is he, you b..." She wasn't able to finish as the door opened and Hawk's voice flew in.

"Monthu, I've been thinking what if..." his voice fell flat as he noticed the female. "I think I'll come later" he said turning around quickly.

"Don't mind her. She thinks I stole Ace so she now acts like a parasite" Monthu said raising his head to his friend.

"What did you call me?" Vera asked in a shout outraged but no one gave her any attention.

"Oh... But didn't..?"

Monthu gave Hawk a look that said do you even need to ask and the ranger understood. It was Ace they were talking about at the moment.

"Do you think?"

"Stop ignoring me!"

"Yeah, I think he wants to live so I'm waiting right now."

"Damn, you guys!"

"Would you like company?"

"Stop it!"

"Do you have time?"

"Come on, you bastards!"

"Sure, why not. I'm not desperate enough for favor to go and do manual labor" Hawk said with a laugh and Monthu answered him with a smile. Then Hawk sat down and they started to discuss when would be the right time to leave.

Vera was furious but she couldn't do a thing. If the guy had really stolen Ang and she killed him there would be no leads left. But if he really didn't know anything and Ang was just running around with Par it might anger and sadden the kid. She had to always keep in mind that he was still young and didn't understood what was good and what bad for him. That left her with a single solution, when she found Ang, to leave. This way she could get him away from these monsters and be able to make sure his next friends were truly good people. So she calmed down and waited. If he'd lied, there will be no mercy to anyone.

Hour and a half later the doors opened up revealing two disgruntled faces. They were yawning widely and looking through glassy eyes. Vera shot like a rocket towards the golden haired boy.

"Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?" she asked desperately.

Ace looked at her with uncomprehending eyes. "Who was supposed to hurt me?" he asked in the end.

"You've been gone for so long! I was worried sick and this guy wouldn't say me anything!" she said hugging him and trying to worsen his opinion of Monthu at the same time. It didn't help as the kid started laughing instead.

"He didn't know anything!"

"What do you mean? Why would he have stayed here if he wasn't sure you'd come here?" Vera asked confused.

"Par and me, we wanted to have an adventure of our own! But because you kept me so long we started so late, went to sleep later and woke up only now. We came here because Par's big brother is very dutiful and would surely be here" Ace explained with a bright smile, his sleepiness receding.

"So you came here to see him first... Didn't you think I'd be more worried? He was just sitting here like nothing was going on!" Vera said in a hurt voice. The guy had clearly corrupted the innocent kid.

"I knew you'd be here" Ace said in a confident voice.

"Why would you know it?" Vera asked surprised.

"Because you two like each other!"

Silence descended on the room and four pairs of eyes filled with incredulousness fell on Ace's smiling face.

Monthu was the first to roll his eyes to the heavens and look at Ace as if he was stupid. "And where did you get that idea from?" he asked barely containing the sarcasm.

"Since she came you're always together and argue all the time. My grandpa always said that that was the sign of true love and I should never settle for a girl with which I never disagree. When I asked how could I live with her if we always argued he sat me on his legs and with a very serious voice said 'My dear boy, such a girl will help you to reach the skies by always questioning you and never letting you leave half way. And the arguments will become friendly jabs when tension disappears' I just don't remember what tension he mentioned" Ace said with a thoughtful look. You could see he was trying very hardly to remember the word from his scrunched eyebrows and wandering eyes.

Monthu and Vera took a few steps away from each other and Ace. Vera was as red as a tomato and let her hair fall over her face. What the kid said was so wrong on so many levels. She decided to tackle the easiest one hoping to forget how her interactions with the guy had been interpreted by a kid.

"Which grandpa told you about it?" she asked. Her voice was supposed to be strong and demanding but somehow it was still shaking lightly. She decided never to see the guy again.

Monthu was staring at Ace as if he was the devil. What was he playing at with this? Monthu had never believed Vera's words about him being just a kid and saw a scheming mastermind behind the innocent smile which seemed very real. Maybe he was just trying to embarrass them for the sake of it? Well, he wasn't going to be meeting Vera again probably so in a way it could be interpreted as a good thing. Or was it? He was clearly lost.

"Grandpa Umbert, of course!" Ace said happily.

"You're never going to see him again!" Vera said in a crystal clear voice.

"Yes, I will" Ace said crossing his arms.

"No, you won't. The man is clearly a bad influence and your parents won't allow you to see him ever again once I tell them what he's been talking to you about!" Vera said angrily. She'd happily ship the guy to the other side of the world if she only could.

"Ha! They know! And I've still seen him countless times after that!" 'That means twice but it's not like it was my choice. I can't drive myself there and parents are always away...'

"You mean they really know? What kind of parents are they?" Vera asked angrily.

Ace asked himself that question often enough too but not exactly for this kind of reason. There was no answer to it anyway.

"They gave him a few lectures on what should be said around a kid and what shouldn't. He's my mother's father! We must go see him as often as we can!" Ace said with a serious expression on his face.

"Lectures don't change a person!"

"So why are you telling them to me all the time?" Ace screamed in his own turn.

Vera was speechless for a moment and Ace used that time to run out. He chose the shortest street behind whose first bend he activated [Shadow Veil]. Now he was free for some time more. Although he was going to have a very long conversation with Vera about proper behavior and shouting in public later on... It was very hypocritical of her but he better didn't ask her out on it.

He walked around for a bit before coming to the assassins' house. Elena had promised him a few lessons on using Sai so he better take them now. The future was very misty and hardly held any more free time for him.

The doors were broken down so he entered without knocking and looked for Elena. He wished he could turn off [Instincts of a Predator] because now it was just too easy. He will never be able to play Hide and Seek if this continued... That was a big problem that needed to be solved in some way.

"Welcome back, Ace" Elena said coming from around a corner.

"Hi! Do you have some time now?" Ace asked with a smile. He was so used to it that it would be strange to be less smiling and jumping around all the time.

"Not really. But I think you're here to take what I've promised?" she asked tiredly. For the last days they had been living by hope only. When they were told they were finally free. It made everyone ecstatic but reality was a harsh one. They may have regained their home but the houses were destroyed. Doors smashed, windows shattered, furniture broken, food gone. All they had were pieces of cloth and walls to protect from wind but not from cold and the winter was on their noses. It made her feel exhausted only thinking about everything that had to be done before the snow fell.

But a promise was a promise. They were family and had to take care of each other. He helped them to get free and she had to help him get stronger. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

Ace nodded and took out the weapons. The steel gleamed in a soft sunlight streaming from a broken window.

"Follow me then. I'll take you to our training grounds. I suppose you know simple fighting well?"

"As well as someone who had been learning for almost a year can. There's still much for me to find out" Ace said following her, his smile was still there but more subdued the eyes were a color of deep ocean.

"I'd be honored to teach you all that I know but we hardly have time for that. It'll have to be enough and now I'll teach you the basics of Sai fighting" she said and started to explain the theory. "Sai are better at defending than frontal attacks although once you've mastered they become equal actions. For now I'll show the basic stances that you'll have to practice until you can make them fluidly. Don't despair if at first you'll feel like a log. It is natural that different weapons require the use of different muscles that you haven't trained yet. Once you master the first stances I suggest you go and find another master. It is better not to try creating a bicycle yourself when it already exists. You can start thinking of your own moves when you master the basics and know the weapons strengths, weaknesses and your own body’s capabilities."

When she finished they were in a wide courtyard. It's center was a wide open space while the sides were filled with all kinds of devices. From simple training dummies to some narrows wooden planks positioned in different angles so you had to jump from one to another, suddenly change directions while keeping balance, go by your hands, pull up and go over a rope without holding onto anything. 'It would be really fun going over that' Ace decided.

"Look at me" Elena said stopping in the middle of the place and taking out her own Sai. They were much more beautiful than Ace's.

She stood in a pose where her hands where stretched forth and bent over an elbow with Sai facing up. Her left leg was ahead of the other just like her left hand was further too. The legs were slightly bent as if ready to jump.

"This is the first pose from which you'll start almost everything. Follow my movements now" she said slowly moving her hands and legs in what could be only called a defensive position. Her movements were very fluid that even Ace could know she was at master level.

That was mostly everything he'd learnt from what she showed. The moves were easy but complicated if that was possible. Once she finished he tried to repeat it but it didn't flow at all. He felt more like he was going against the current than with it.

"Don't try to force it. No one was borne knowing. Just repeat it again and again. After a few hundred tries you'll catch it."

"That's a very long time" Ace said annoyed trying to repeat it but it looked as if his hand was broken. He shook his head and tried again. And again. And again. "This is impossible!" he said throwing Sai down. Before Elena could say anything he had picked them up and was in position to start again.

"There has to be a trick to it" Ace said grumbling to himself. He hated repeating the same action again and again without seeing any kind of results. It felt so pointless even if in reality it wasn't.

"Deep breaths, they can solve everything" he said to himself starting over. He had grasped the main point of the stance but it was just so hard to execute! He wasn't sure if he got it right even once.

Tired and annoyed he decided to take a break and hit some training dummies. They happily received his punishment turning this way and another. He specifically chose the moving ones so it would be more fun. Jumping, kicking, slashing, blocking, everything was used to protect against their swinging blades.

Fighting like this he felt better. He knew no rules to follow and could move in any way he felt like. It probably wasn't even close to what it was supposed to be but who cared? Elena had taken a leave some time ago saying something he didn't catch.

"Ang you're here!" came a cheerful voice from somewhere behind and Ace turned around plastering a smile. On the entrance stood Elena with an apologetic expression and Vera. She seemed quite angry. 'Oh well...' he thought and turned around to kick the dummy. Its blade rotated towards Ace's head but he caught it with the right hand and attacked its heart with the left before blocking another blade.

"Ang stop it! It's dangerous!" Vera said in a shout running closer but Ace ignored her. He twisted his body to evade a blade and kicked at the dummy's stomach. A soft humph sounded followed by a clashing of blades.

"I told you to stop it!" Vera repeated herself not really wanting to get closer to the rotating blades. She never really liked such dangerous mechanisms and preferred the normal one on one fighting.

There was no reaction from the boy. He just kept on hitting and kicking like nothing happened. His face was very serious while the body moved in grace. Even Elena was staring at him with awe.

"Where did you learn that?" Vera asked reverently. She expected him to be a useless player but to her surprise he was showing skills way beyond what even she could achieve.

Ace kept on hitting the thing. If he stopped, he would have to turn back and face her, listen to her moralizing him, pretend to be happy to leave. Kick. He didn't want to leave yet. He still had to learn the way of the Sai. Slash. There were lots to learn yet but he would never do it if he pushed it for later on. That later never happened. Block. How was he to return under her control when he had felt the taste of freedom? He had had forgotten it but now it was fresh in his mind and he had to freely give it up? Stab. Could he do it without going mad? Jump, twist, slash, dodge and a [Burst] setting the dummy on fire.

Ace's eyes flashed a dangerous red as he watched the flames enveloping the poor training device but soon they returned to the natural light blue. With that he turned around and faced Vera. He wasn't exactly smiling but neither was there a frown just a tired person ready for whatever was to come.

"What are you doing here?" Vera asked finally.

"I've heard there is a good training ground here so I came to see it" Ace said shrugging. "Can I stay here a bit longer?"

That broke the spell and Vera felt back in her element. "I'm sure it'll be okay for an hour or two if you don't go near that thing again. Later on we'll be leaving from this place."

"But I can't leave just yet!" Ace said in a shout. "I haven't finished the quest yet!"

"Don't worry about it. We'll do other quests together" she said with a smile patting his shoulder.

Ace was having none of that. "That's not the same! I worked very hard to help here! I want to see it finished!" he said angrily, clenching his hands into fists.

"You did it well already, sweetie. There's no need to return to hear someone unknown calling you great. We all know you're that, don't we?" Vera said squatting down before him and looking in his eyes that had become a shade darker.

"It's not that! I started this adventure with Par and I don't want to give it up half-way! I'd be known as a quitter for my whole life then!" Ace said taking a step back. 'There is a thing called personal space.'

"Hey, sweetie. No one will say that about you! You're the best little guy there is!" Vera said nodding encouragingly.

"Of course, they will! And it'll be true!" Ace said shaking his head angrily, the curls bouncing around. "Why can't we stay with Par and Monthu for a while until the quest is finished?"

It was a hard question. How could she explain to him that Monthu was bad influence? That he was very cold-hearted and uncaring. A kind of person a kid should never associate with. It was sad that Ang's friend Par had to live with him, he seemed such a nice kid too but nothing could be done to save him. If they only weren't family, she would take custody of him in an instant.

"Please, can we stay? Pretty please?" Ace asked with his best puppy dog eye look.

She looked at him for a long moment before finally giving up. "Okay we'll stay until the quest is finished. But not a moment later! You hear me?" she said to Ace who was already on the other side of the place.

"I've gotta tell it to Par!" he shouted out and ran off disappearing from her sight in a second.

"But I just..." the rest of her words were said to the wind as Ace was running away at full speed. There wasn't anything that could make him turn back and here her out. Who cared if she had just come after half a day of searching for him? No one was preventing her from doing that again.

He breathed fresh air and ran towards Monthu's office. Maybe they had stayed there? It was a poor choice but there wasn't any other specific place they could be at.

As luck would have it for some reason they had stayed in the room. Monthu was filling documents while Par read a book about spell casting most likely. They didn't even raise their heads when he entered!

Ace didn't like that at all. No one was allowed to ignore him but he shook his head. Acting like a spoiled brat wouldn't help him win Monthu’s favor and it might be needed to escape Vera.

"Hey! Par do you have a moment?"

"Sure. What is happening?" the kid asked in a monotone voice. That made bells in Ace's ears ring. Clearly something was wrong here but he couldn't think of anything that might have put him in a bad light. 'Par adores me, so why is he suddenly so cold?'

Ace's accusing eyes fell on Monthu. That had to be his work. So the brother didn't appreciate their secret night outing as much as he pretended to. From his behavior around Vera it looked like he didn't mind it that much... Seems like he had been to some acting classes too.

"Nothing" Ace said lightly and turned around. That moment he saw an emotion cross Par's previously emotionless face but he didn't stop and left. Nothing could be achieved here now. He'll have to catch Par some time without Monthu around and win him back. 'But what could the guy said to make Par change his mind so quickly? There had to be some big words involved for sure. It would be great to find them out but no one else probably heard them beside the duo. Well, I'll have to work around it somehow.'

Now he had nothing to do. He had gained free time to play with Par but the guy was busy at the moment. 'Where else could I go?' He thought for a moment and decided to give back the earth mage his ring. There was no longer any use from it.

He walked around not hurrying, knowing Vera was looking for him in Monthu's place. It should take her some time as he just loves to annoy her. He smiled slightly. It had been fun to see their faces when he announced them as a great pair. Hopefully it'll prevent them from talking too much and allying themselves against him.

The mage's house was a large one. It still had a terrible garden made of vines and thorny bushes so he stayed away from that side. The front doors were opened like so many others and there were voices coming from the inside.

"...too much."

"But you're not giving me anything!"

"That is all I've got" Darius said angrily hitting the table of his study as Ace entered.

Ignoring the thick atmosphere around he jogged to the table and sat on the corner where a little small space free of papers was.

"I've come to give you something back!" Ace said with a bright smile. He could feel some guy glaring at his back but it was his own fault for not concluding the conversation earlier.

"What do you mean?"

Ace smiled and raised his hand on which a dark green seal ring stayed. He took it off and dropped on the table. It rolled closer to the mage.

"I thought you'd need it back" Ace said jumping down from the table and turning to leave.

"Thank you for keeping it well' Darius said nodding and put the ring back on. It glowed a light green for a moment but when Ace turned to make sure he didn't dream it, it was gone.

"What was that?" Ace asked coming back closer and poking the ring. It seemed as normal as when he wore it but why did it glow when the mage put it on?

"What are you talking about?" the mage asked faking ignorance.

"Come on..." Ace groaned knowing the answer wasn't coming. When grown-ups pretended not to see something, it always meant it wasn't something a kid was supposed to know. It made him mad. Why couldn't anyone ever understand that he was no longer a kid?

Shaking his head he left the room. One day he'll find out why an item could glow when equipped by a specific person. It probably had something to do with being a high level player and an item being legendary. Sometimes he wished he had the identify skill to know about items' capabilities and not only find them out by accidents.

Outside he went around for a bit. Today seemed like a very boring day with nothing happening and him being chased out of the single place that might have helped to pass the time.

Bored he went towards the castle and found Caro's room. It was dark having no windows and Ace heightened his flame. He didn't like being in a closed up space all alone in the dark. Here it was impossible to feel that outside it was mid-day with sun high up.

He sat down against the wall where his place was. It was a comfortable spot that allowed him to see the whole small room and the doors.

"And what am I supposed to do now..?"

There was nothing new in the room so it meant no one went out of his way to check it. Very bored Ace decided to check his announcement window. He had done it very long time ago too.

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

'Wait, what? When did he?' That was a good question. All the time he pretended to be a goblin so when could the guy have figured it out? His last action! 'He grabbed my hand after I stabbed him! But why would he have wanted to befriend me? I was killing him at the moment...' That made no sense. Being friends didn't allow you to track the other down so it couldn't be it. Not finding a good enough reason Ace accepted the request. It was one of the easiest ways to find out.

*Caro has been registered as a friend*

But the guy was offline. 'Pfff....'

Level up!

Level up: Fear of the Hungry [4]

Movement speed increased to 27%

Reaction tine increased to 55%

Strength boost increased to +7%

Level up: Fear of the Hungry [5]

Movement speed increased to 29%

Reaction tine increased to 60%

Strength boost increased to +9%

'Well, that could be expected thinking of how much I used it some nights ago...' He deleted the messages and looked on.

New Stat Acquired: Grace

You move effortlessly with unmatchable elegance. The more you advance the more charming you become. It helps to impress other people and gain their favor more easily, The stat grows depending on your taken actions.

There was a slight increase in dagger mastery, luck, agility and alchemy. Some why the last skill gained experience even by using poison. Maybe it was taken as experimenting? That gave him an idea.

He went to the storage room and found a pot which he put in the bag. From there he went to the food storage and took some dried meat and all the herbs he found. Neither goblins nor humans often used them so there was a ton of them filling up Ace's backpack to the brim.

Bowed slightly under the weight, he carried it all to the small room. There he took out the pot and filled with water he had stored in his bag from some time ago. He made [Flare] go under the pot held in the air by [Gust] and put a few candles there too to faster boil the water.

That left him in almost darkness. Unhappily he lied down so his face was level to the flames. He watched them dance around and hypnotize him. Before falling asleep he managed to put a lot of herbs inside.

"Aaah!!!" he screamed when something extremely hot touched his hand waking him up in moments. He jumped up looking around with hazy eyes, still half-asleep. There was a hot liquid running on the ground. There was something wrong with that.

"My poison!" he said in a shout jumping to the boiling pot. Water was running down its sides to the ground but because the candles were below the middle of the pot it never reached them. Ace fell to the ground on his hands and ignoring the pain of burnt hands squatted down blowing some air to extinguish the flames. [Flare] left the place at the same time and Ace stood up.

He looked at his hands that were very red. 'Not too good. I should ask Aurora to heal me before I run into any more trouble'. There was not a chance he could fight well like that. Annoyed he came closer to the pot and lowered him down to the ground. There was around half the water he'd put in there, herbs were at the bottom so it might still have worked out. He wasn't sure if he was really trying to make a poison but that's what he wanted it to end up in. The liquid looked like crystal clear water and gave no smell to indicate what it was. Ace took out some bottles and with [Gust]'s help filled them. He'll have to test his creation later. Unlike most other alchemists he wasn't eager to test everything on himself. Dying wasn't one of the best experiences, he'd heard.

He opened the doors and taking a last look of the room left. There still were much water on the ground and it'll stay until someone cleaned it up which would make it bad for Ace in turn. Hiding places had to be secret and known by none or only a few.

As he walked he remembered Silver Wing was absent for a very long time. He'll have to do something about it. Probably some secret place from which he could travel swiftly to any place he wanted to. That was nice but where should he make it? In a town? A forest? Or in some dead land where nobody lives?

Ech, who cares? He'll do it once the right time shows up. There's no need to tire your mind out for something that will be in the future. Maybe there won't be any future.

He walked around the castle for a bit before deciding to come back to the training room in assassins' house. He found Elena and asked her to help him with his stances a bit more. With a tired sigh she agreed.

This was mainly the only thing he did to pass the time the next few weeks. Vera tried to get him out but when he repeatedly refused she let him be. It seemed like he was having an argument with his friend and didn't want to meet him which worked in her favor. Besides as long as he wasn't endangering himself and spending time with evil corrupting people almost everything was acceptable.

Ace learned a lot in that time about Sai but the more he trained the more he understood how lacking his skills were. Sai were different than daggers while being similar at the same time. They were quick and seemingly delicate but had ways to block even swords without the danger of breaking. It was a magnificent weapon for sure.

When the time came to come back to Lasran city, Ace was sad to go. If only he had a choice, he would stay here for a year at least. But no. Now he had to say goodbye to Elena and her husband and leave surrounded by stupid villagers who pretended to be heroes.

He walked among them through the fallen first wall of Vascas castle and didn't turn back. What was the point? Vera asked if he's eager to finish the quest and be off so he smiled and said yes. She continued asking him about random things so he listened with one ear smiling and nodding. Soon enough others picked up the conversation and everyone was talking excitedly about upcoming adventures leaving him alone. That was exactly what he wanted. Or maybe not. He wanted to be at the front of expedition with Par and Monthu laughing and thinking of what to do next. They were great people who treated him like a human being but now he was separated from them. That wasn't fine and he was getting it back. One way or another he'll create a plan and make Par help him. And he won't be having a choice of disagreement. Some things just had to be done.

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Author's Note:

So this is a chapter about nothing. I hope you liked it non the less. I'm having a lot of problems with school at the moment so my next chapter will probably be a week later on the next Sunday. Sorry about that.