Author's Note:

Hey guys! I'm finally back in Denmark and ready to start writing again. I'd love to say I've been busy doing that the whole time on my holidays, but that would be a bit of a lie. What I actually did was read and read and finish half of my goodreads new year resolution which was 50 books. All of that reading gave me an idea of where I wanted to go with this story. I can finally picture the end of it. Just don't worry, it won't be any time soon ^^

Now here you go, another chapter. I'll try to release them each Friday once again. (Just not sure about next week. Got an exam then so I might be a day or twp late.)

Character List

Titles and Abilities

“What are you doing there?” Monthu asked, incredulously. He and his brother had taken a few hours off to get something to eat before returning. If it had been Monthu’s call he’d also would have had them rest some more but Par was intent on coming to see the tournament Ace had promised him.

“Waiting for you” Ace answered, jumping off of a fountain. He’d been sitting at the top of it and was now soaked through. Large droplets fell off him, drawing wary eyes from passer-bys. He smiled and shook like a dog, springing water all around.

“Hey!” some shouted at him indignantly but he just shook his head now, his curls straightened out by water making his hair look twice as long. It felt weird having it move against his cheeks, cover his eyes if he moved his head too quickly but it was that or never wash it ever again.

“Why would you get wet right before the tournament?” Hawk asked with a strange look. “Who will want to sit near you now?”

“That’s the point” Ace laughed, jumping to where Par stood quietly. “Let’s go! I’ve got the best places for us!”

“The lord said not to expect him to give us leniences because we work for him” Monthu said. “We’re normal citizens.”

Ace gave him one of his looks. “You may be, but not me. I get what I want and now that is the best place to watch the battles. And don’t think I won’t get it!” He said that with no little arrogance and pride in his voice, taking Par by hand and dragging him after him.

The path was easy to find as most of the cities population was going that way. They filed into the arena, climbing stairs to find places to sit as the entrance was free. The only reserved places were near the raised platform where the city lord sat. You could get the best view from there and sit freely alone.

“We’re headed there” Ace pointed at one of those balcony like things to the right of the of the city lord. The group wanted to stop him so he wouldn’t make a scene but they were too late. He slipped through their grabbing fingers and rushed towards the place. While passing he waved to L and jumped inside the balcony from the front.

Luckily, he had chosen the free one and the group breathed a sigh of relief.

“Did the lord really let you use this?” Aurora asked warily. She looked around uncertainly, noticing many unfriendly glances. People would have accepted them had they looked rich or were known travellers, wore majestic items. But they didn’t like those that looked like them yet got better treatment.

“I told him I’ll want one” Ace said shrugging, taking a place near the barrier of the balcony. There were seats inside but he didn’t plan to sit. He was small enough already. “Par, stand with me” he said to his friend after noticing him shuffling uncomfortably, not sure how to act. “We’re kids, we don’t need to follow their protocols” he whispered to him. “It’s not like we’re going to block anyone’s sight by standing.”

This last argument more than anything else made the mage boy move to this friend. “When will it start?” he asked also in a whisper, glancing back at his brother to make sure he wasn’t saying anything.

Monthu simply nodded to his brother. He saw nothing wrong with them standing there if they were occupying this balcony anyway.

“Some ten minutes” Ace answered, looking over the crowd. Hundreds of people had come and not all of them were travellers which surprised him somewhat. Since when did native people start moving about? Not a single one had come to the previous tournament Ace had seen. “Did you read about the participants?” he asked.

The red robed boy nodded eagerly. “Yeah. I looked over brother’s shoulder when he was checking the event and I saw Luthil! He’s the greatest fire mage alive!”

“Luthil?” Hawk asked, surprised. “I heard he’s one of the highest levelled mages around. What is he doing around here?”

“Like many others” Monthu answered, quietly. “He’s looking for a fight. There’s a bunch of high level players in this tournament. More than I would have expected.”

“Which is?” Hawk asked interested. “I wouldn’t have expected a single one.”

“They sense blood” Ace answered from the front. “They pretend to come to compete but their real reason is to check out who’s stronger. Which side to join as it is going to become a major power in our kingdom.”

“L? A major power? He has a single city” Hawk said sceptically. “And even about to lose that one, judging from the rumours flying around.”

“When did you have the time to hear them?” Ace asked a bit surprised, turning his head back. “Anyway, he might not have much but he’s the only one resisting. If he falls, the whole kingdom of ours is in Morion’s hands.”

“If he wins, he still has nothing. Morion will come again stronger.”

Ace shook his head. “It’s not how it works. If Morion loses, at least once, he’ll lose his status as the perfect leader. He will have made a mistake and people will start struggling against him. Many will join L while the ones under Morion will try to rebel. He has a tendency to increase taxes, make new ones for random actions to fund his army and kill any natives that do not fully appreciate his leadership so he’s not the most popular of rulers” he said.

He would have explained more but he noticed the looks others were giving him. There were questions in them that he didn’t feel like answering. It would take way too much time and the tournament was almost starting; the spokesperson was walking to the stage.

“Ladies and Gentleman!” he screamed into a microphone, which was made by some mage, without even waiting for the starting time. “Welcome to another of the tournaments hoisted by our beloved city lord! He has given us permission today to have a blast and be sure we’re going to do that! Many of the greatest travellers have come here to compete and you can be certain they won’t go down without a fight!”

He continued to talk nonsense so Ace stopped listening to him. He glanced at L who lounged in his throne like chair. The guy presented a relaxed posture, probably tricking many, but Ace could see his restlessness in the way his fingers twitched as if searching for a parchment to write on, his feet being crossed back and forth. It wasn’t the actions of one who didn’t think he was wasting valuable time.

When the spokesperson started to talk, the last stragglers hurried up and the place filled up in moments. All sitting places were taken and all pathways blocked by people standing in them to get a chance to see the upcoming fights. Some even came to their balcony. Ace eyed them but since they kept to themselves and said nothing, he brought his attention back to the arena.

It had grown larger than before. This time it was twice the size of the previous one and with [Mystic Eyes] Ace could see a see-through barrier sizzling around it. This was a tournament of way higher quality. He glanced at L and wondered how much it had cost him to organize it. Remaking structure even with magic wasn’t easy.

The first fight started. Some swordsman with at least level 100 armour against a shivering mage.

Ace yawned. The beginning was going to be so boring when there were such differences in skill. The mage couldn’t be any higher than level fifty, judging by the way he shook. Why had he even joined? Did he hope to not be matched against high level opponents till he reached quarter finals, where there were prizes? That seemed like a far-fetched dream.

It was over in two strikes. Par cheered with the crowd so Ace pretended to do the same and listened to Par gush about the swordsman. The kid seemed to really like talking about what he’d seen. Or was he just not used to having someone to listen to him?

Asked about the mage Ace took his time to ponder for a moment and think of a way to say something that wasn’t insulting. It was hard but he somehow managed and the kid nodded, telling his opinion and guessing about the new contenders that had just walked onto the arena.

Rogue against a axeman. The rogue was higher level but such contests weren’t the strength of his class. Ace couldn’t understand why anyone from the shadow classes would even try it. They weren’t made for it.

As time went by the battles became more intense and the highest level players showed up. You could pin point them from the first look. There was a certain air of authority around them, of held back power.

Their opponents forfeited instantly or were defeated in one strike/spell. They were simply on a different level. “I had expected something better from this” Ace murmured to himself as another player was blasted of the arena. He barely kept himself from falling asleep.

“Did you say something?” Par asked, glancing at him for a second before turning back to the arena.

Ace looked back to see what the kid was seeing but there was only the spokesperson there, talking his usual nonsense. “Nothing,” he said. “I just wonder when we’ll see the high levels getting matched against each other.”

“Next fight! It’ll be the Fire Mage against the assassin with the dual blades. And they’re both close to reaching level 300! It is going to be so awesome! Look they’re coming out now! The one who wins will go to the quarter finals!”

“Already?” Ace asked in surprise. Had he been sleep watching? There were supposed to be over a couple thousand participants! When did they all fight it out?

“Yeah, I wish we could have been in all the arenas” the kid answered in a sad tone. “I’m sure there were many things I could have learned too.”

“Can’t be everywhere at once. Let’s enjoy this one fully, instead!”

“Yeah” the kid agreed smiling and Ace turned back to the arena.

‘There were more of them? Since when?’ he asked himself, not really wanting to show his lack of knowledge. He hadn’t heard anything about it.

Something exploded before him and Ace actually raised his eyes to look at the fighters. The mage was an interesting guy. It was easy to spot why he was one of the high levelled ones.

Instead of standing in places, he was running all around. Various spells were leaving the gleaming gem on his staff and each of them was aimed at the jumping rogue. The guy was quick on his feet and had high evasion but it was hard even for him. The spells were of different width, size, range and effect. He had less than half a second to decide if he wanted to dodge or block and how and where.

He tried desperately to move in on the mage but the guy had a fire sphere burning around him, could fly and teleport short distances.

Rogues might have been created to get rid of mages but unprepared ones, not in an arena where there was no sneaking up on anyone.

The rogue seemed to decide that too and threw something on the ground. It exploded and the whole arena got covered in smoke. Luckily, because of the magical barrier in couldn’t pass to the audience.

It was cleared in moments by a wind spell by the mage but the rogue was gone. The mage flew up, feeling safer in the air. From there he tried to find his opponent.

Ace looked around the place and in a couple of moments saw the rogue. It was almost impossible to do but being rogue himself he knew what to look for. There was a slight change in the air when they moved, something you might see in a desert in intense heat.

If the rogue stood still, there was no way to see it, but as they moved... Well, it was a closely guarded business secret.

The rogue was preparing to jump and strike when something tapped on Ace’s shoulder. He twirled instantly back, his dagger on the person’s neck.

Nein.

The blade disappeared from his hand as if never having been there. “I hate surprises” he whispered. The mage hid his surprise well and motioned for Ace to follow him. The kid sighed as the crowd awed and clapped at something on the arena and went after the mage.

It took them some good ten minutes to leave the throng of people and have some private space.

“May I ask why did you make me leave on the most interesting moment?” Ace asked, glaring slightly at him. “Couldn’t you have come a few hours ago when I would have actually welcomed your arrival?”

“I was on business” the mage answered quietly. There was something in his eyes that Ace didn’t like. Was that distrust? Or was it judgement?

“Ask it” Ace said rolling his eyes. “I can see you want to.”

Nein eyed him warily. “You weren’t in the meeting.” It wasn’t a question.

“Actually, I was” Ace said with a hint of a smile on his face. “There just weren’t any reason for you to see me.”

“You’re not the leader, but you know too much.”

Ace smiled fully now. “Yeah.”

They continued to walk in a silence. The city seemed dead around them. Every single person were watching the adventurers beat each other to death, or as close to it as they were allowed by the duelling system.

It allowed players to challenge each other. Then, when they fought and someone’s health dropped to zero, the winner would receive some favour while the defeated one would lose it and get their health back to ten percent from which it could heal itself in time. It was made so that people could test their skills without having to kill each other and receive a red mark over their heads that signalled them as player killers.

As they walked, Ace noticed empty streets were empty and doors were closed. Even the wind was non-existent. If not the sounds of excitement echoing to here, one could guess this was a dead town.

“Aren’t you going to elaborate?” Nein asked, stopping them next to a fountain of a nymph. She stood on pedestal and water was running down from her hair and raised hands.

Ace jumped in it. Cold water streamed down his body and he sighed in contentment. “You didn’t ask a question” he said to the mage, who was watching him strangely. Like most people Nein didn’t understand the joy of playing in the water. Exactly because of it Ace used [Gust] to move the droplets straight in his face.

Then he laughed out loud, slipped and still laughing fell inside the small pool he was standing in.

That wasn’t part of the plan but Ace didn’t mind. [Excessive Heat] warmed him up instantly and there was not the slightest chance of him catching a cold. As he lay still chuckling to himself, something or more like someone moved in to block his view.

There was thunder in Nein’s eyes. If eyes could kill, Ace was sure he’d be dead by now. But even mage’s weren’t so powerful, well, most of them weren’t, so he just smiled at his companion.

He was about to say something before jumping back in a manner that more resembled a rogue than a magician and blocked a dagger that had been thrown in his direction. The blade made a thump sound hitting the wood and then flew back to its owner.

It was attached to a chain so Ace had a pretty good guess who was interrupting them. He raised his head, shook it, making Nein glower at him even more, and then turned to see Aster standing a few meters away.

He looked pretty much the same as last time - brown leather armour and an array of daggers strapped to his belt - but there was something different with his disposition. Was he more solemn? Do berserks actually have feelings? It was an interesting thought for pondering but the guy was looking straight at him.

‘What did I do now?’ Ace wondered raising from the water and jumping out. ‘I don’t remember even meeting him in this form.’ But there was no question that the guy was here for him. He didn’t spare a single glance to Nein.

“Have you any information to pass?” Aster asked coming closer. His right hand was wrapped in a chain and he twirled his dagger in it as if just twitching to release it.

“Information?” Ace asked, unsure of what was happening here. It was rare that he was in the dark and he didn’t particularly like it. What was the guy talking about?

Aster came even closer so they stood face to face. Ace was shorter, dripping wet and at first glance unarmed but he held his head high and didn’t let himself be cowered. The guy might be taller than him and think himself older, but Ace knew better than that. There was no way that fifteen or so old kid could know more about life than him.

“The old geezer wants to know if you’ve sniffed anything interesting. He says there’s no telling when your prize might travel to someone else if you won’t hurry up.”

“Bastard” Ace said as an answer. He turned around and sat down on an edge of the fountain. Had there even been a few days since his meeting? That was a damn short time after which to ask for results.

Aster laughed at that. “I’ll pass it up to him” he said still smiling.

“Sure thing” Ace said, waving him off. He let his eyes fall to the ground as he tried to figure out what was happening. And whether he should hurry up with his dirt finding.

L was sure to have a few secrets lying around so it wouldn’t take long but he had previously planned to help him take over the world. Does that mean he should stick around or would it be more interesting to betray him and see what he does then?

Does this meeting mean he should hurry up on deciding and doing something? Or should he let the two idiots have a bit more of a show off before starting to throw logs in their tracks? Questions, questions and no answers.

“You’re working for the guy who’s about to take over our city?” Nein asked, eyeing him as if seeing for the first time. There was calculations in his gaze and Ace wondered what the guy had been left with. What did he decide about him? Sadly, he couldn’t read minds. Yet.

He nodded , still preoccupied with his earlier thoughts. Who was he going to save and who to betray? Which path would be the most interesting one?

“I would like to ask if you went mad but the answer is probably that you’ve never been sane” Nein said, raising his eyes to the heaven as if asking it for patience and understanding. Ace chuckled. “What are you going to do about it?”

The mage shrugged. “Nothing. It’s not my business.”

Ace tilted his head sideways but didn’t question that. “So why did you take me out here?”

“Who is that elf? How do you know him and how can he be contacted?”

“So many question” Ace said with a smile, remembering the act. It had been so much fun. Well, besides getting punched. That had hurt like hell and it took all his self-control to keep from scowling or passing the dagger into the guy’s side. It would have been so easy...

“As to who he is, I have no idea. I met him before even getting killed. Then after enjoying that particular feeling I met Romeo and with him went to the Guild Hall where we created the guild.”

“So you’re the owner? You control the officers and can give them freedom?” Nein asked, feeling a bit lost. He had threatened Romeo till he told his side of the story and expected to hear lies from the kid but the story matched.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Nope. I passed the elf his ownership rights since I didn’t want to do anything with guild leading. It’s way too much work” Ace answered, confusing the man even more. Where was the truth in this mess?

“Can you contact him?”

“Sure, although, he does tend to take a while before answering.”

“Yet he came instantly when you said about what was happening” Nein said, watching the kid’s face for any kind of give-away. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see but it had to be done. He wanted to get to the bottom of this yet, wherever he looked, the kid was in the middle of it and kept his cards closely guarded. Who was he really?

Ace shrugged. He was getting tired of this conversation. “He was around” he said and noticing the disbelief shining in Nein’s eyes elaborated. “Which is not surprising since he’s a minstrel. This is their capital!”

“You look defensive” Nein noted and Ace yawned. “No, I’m just bored. So if you have nothing else to say, bye. Maybe I can still catch some action.”

Without waiting to find out if Nein actually had any, Ace used [Radiant Step] and ran up the air. He rose high enough to reach the roofs of the buildings which were flat and just made for running on them.

So he did exactly that and jumped from one to another, making his path ten times shorter towards the arena. Where there was a larger gap between the buildings or he needed to cross streets, he made air fields with his ability and was away.

It took him only a few seconds to locate his group and he dropped next to Par. The kid was sitting with his back to the arena and sipping on some juice. The rest of the group was in deep conversation on whether water magic was superior to ice infused blades.

Ace wasn’t sure how to even compare such things so he turned to the arena. There were two groups of two fighting against each other but there was no caster and those who were interested in the fight were standing right around the arena. They were shouting and hooting loudly with each hit or barely made dodge.

It was a way lower calibre of fight. One even Par could join.

That was an idea.

“Do you want to try something out?” he whispered to his friend and Par almost jumped from his seat. He hadn’t noticed him appearing.

The kid moved his head to the exit and Ace for a number of times before settling with a puzzled expression on his face. “I used Radiant Step” Ace said quietly. “So what do you think? Should we try something fun?”

“What?” Par asked with a guarded look. Was he cautioned against doing anything stupid with me? Like just before being allowed to come and watch this without getting much rest?

“Don’t you want to try out our strength there?” he asked, motioning with his head towards the arena. Howls of laugher came from there and someone had just clearly won a huge bet.

Par glanced at the arena with longing in his eyes. “I’m not good enough to fight there” he whispered back, not looking at Ace. “But you can take Hawk. I heard he wanted to try just had no one to join him.”

Ace shook his head. “How can you be not good enough? Wasn’t it said that everyone can participate?” At least he hoped so. Usually, such fights were made so that anyone could volunteer and then they would have to fight until they were defeated. It was a fun way to try out your strength and maybe even earn a bit of cash.

“Well, yes but...”

“No buts!” Ace said louder this time. He glanced back to make sure the rest of the group was still occupied and then grabbed Par’s hand. “We never did anything like this before. Let’s do it!”

“My broth-”

“He’s here. It’s not like we’re leaving his line of sight, right?” Ace asked with a smile and Par had nothing to say but nod.

Then Ace helped him get down from the front of their balcony and they rushed down to the arena.

There were lots of people there and none even noticed the two kids trying to get to the front. Ace frowned as he barely evaded someone’s elbow and decided this was not the way. If they wanted to reach the front, they had to use more violent methods.

“Par call out your elemental” he ordered his friend who hesitated for a moment but didn’t disagree. In moments a large humanoid creature of fire stood near the boys. “Throw fireballs on these people before us!” “But that’s not...” “They won’t even feel it! It’ll just annoy them a bit, nothing too bad. Trust me, okay?”

That left Par no choice once again and he told the elemental to use his fire attacks. The boy looked sad and distraught so Ace smiled at him and hoped it’ll be enough.

Soon angry, hissing faces turned their way. They glared and cursed before noticing who they were facing. Their words got stuck in their throats. Kids were a rare sight in the game and nobody wanted to be thought a mindless jerk.

Ace grinned at them and now that the players easily moved from his path, pushed to the front. There stood a guy who he instantly identified as the one responsible of the fights. He was standing on a small platform before which there were two boxes for gambling.

“Hey! Can we participate?” Ace asked him, looking up at the man’s surprised face. “I - I don’t know... Maybe next time whe-” “I want to try now! Not after a decade! What if I don’t get a next chance? Huh?” “You’re too yo-” “Is there an age limit to be an adventurer?” “No, but...”

“Par come! Let’s go try it out!” Ace shouted out to his friend who was still standing at the back of the stunned crowd. “He said we can try!” “I said no such th-!” Ace turned on his heel in a blur and in a second had his dagger to the organizer’s throat. “You were saying something?” he asked with fake sweetness dripping from his tongue. He was sure his eyes were flashing silver.

The man gulped audibly and shook his head. He didn’t know the kid’s level and such but he was a merchant and even the weakest of attacks were fatal to him. He wasn’t going to risk his neck to protect this idiot kid from killing himself. “Foot and Johanna! Prepare to face the new challengers ... ?” he said glancing at the now satisfied kid, who was helping his friend on the arena. The boy raised his golden hair to answer “Ace and Paradox.” “Ace and Paradox! Let the votes start now!”

The crowd was quiet after those words. They knew the previous winners were going to triumph again but since no one was going to vote for the kids, what was the point of even putting money?

“I don’t think we should be here...” Par whispered, looking around with wide eyes.

From close up the arena was simply huge. You could feast forty families on it easily. But the worst part was raising one’s head and looking at where the spectators were sitting.

The rows seemed to go up and up to the very heaven and they were filled with people. It didn’t matter that no one was looking. They were far away enough you couldn’t tell it. And it made you feel like an ant put for someone’s inspection.

Not the most comfortable of feelings.

Ace shook his head, trying to throw away such thoughts and zoomed in on their opponents. They stood next to each other, eyeing them with annoyance.

‘Easy picking’ Ace decided not even trying to guess their classes or levels. He turned back to Par who was looking more scared by the moment. “Hey,” Ace whispered to him quietly, making him jump. “We’re just going to fight a few battles and be done with it. Nothing will happen. You have always wanted to try this out, haven’t you?”

He really doubted it but the kid was an innocent. He was sure he could make him believe he had always wanted to jump down from an Eiffel Tower without a parachute if he really put his mind to it. Par was just too trusting.

“But I don’t know good magic...” “All magic is good” Ace answered with a smile. “Just use what you think is best and I’ll make it work.” “What if I hit you?” Par asked, a quiver in his voice. Ace chuckled. “You won’t. Just trust me, okay? We can do this!”

The boy didn’t look very convinced but he called the elemental to himself and seemed to be concentrating on something invisible before his eyes. Ace wondered if that meant the boy was reading his own spells and how bad it could end.

It couldn’t be too bad. At least he hoped so, not knowing what Skele had taught him.

“Are you ready?” the organizer asked loudly to make sure everyone knew he was giving the kids a choice to back out and that if something happened it wasn’t his fault. Ace flashed him a smile with a nod and took out a pair of daggers.

While the guy finished his introductions and called for the start, he infused his daggers with [Flare] and [Gust].

“Let it begin!” the organizer shouted out and the moment the last syllable left his mouth, Ace flashed through the arena. His agility was high enough that his movements were close to a blur.

His targets hadn’t even had time to take out their weapons when he stabbed his daggers into them. He used his assassin abilites, [Cut-throat] and [Backstab], to amplify his damage and had chipped one of them to thirty percent health when they finally understood this wasn’t a game.

He was dangerous.

One threw something on the ground which exploded into a mass of dark clouds, removing everyone’s sight. Ace smiled, activated [Mystic Eyes] and stalked towards them. He didn’t really like seeing the world this way, people having colourful threads around them, but it was better than not seeing at all.

He sneaked behind the female and finished her off. She screamed into the darkness, scaring her partner even more and dissipated into grey mist. ‘This is easier than I had expected.’

He found the other guy and gave him a few stab wounds. However, this one was quicker. He moved out of the way and threw something more on the ground.

This time it removed the smoke.

The angry crowd for having been blinded quieted down after noticing that there was something wrong on the arena.

There stood two boys and only one grown up.

“Par?” Ace asked over his shoulder, not even glancing back. They boy murmured something under his breath and Ace instantly moved to the right. A fireball, larger than he’d ever seen before, whooshed past him.

‘That is dangerous!’ Ace felt like shouting to the kid but made his mouth stay shut. If Par wanted to play with fire, who was he to stop him. He should just make sure never to be in a way of any of the projectiles.

The man had taken out a long staff while Ace had been distracted and stood with a grim expression on his face. Ace dashed towards him, his daggers aiming for undefended sides. The man blocked them, and again, and again.

It was annoying but Ace knew it wasn’t going to last much longer. The moment was clearly not of meele class whatever he was and he was getting slashed and bruised even if he was redirecting the main hits.

But poison didn’t need a big wound. Every time Ace’s daggers touched the man’s skin they left a drop of poison which then started to eat his health little by little.

At times large fireballs rushed past and Ace had to duck, roll or jump in the craziest poses just to get away from them. If he had time enough, and he usually did, he made sure that the man was in the way instead.

His health was being chipped down. Ace could see the anger and his own helplessness in the man’s eyes but there was nothing to do about it. The man was of some support class and wasn’t meant to fight alone, although, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

Ace felt his [Evasion] senses tingling so he attack from the left leaving his right side open. The man took the bait and moved to strike when a fireball exploded in his face. Ace had the joy of being burned once again too but he didn’t turn into grey smoke unlike the other guy.

He shook his head and turned around to to face Par. “We’ve won!” he shouted out, raising his hand with a bloody dagger high in the air.

Par looked at him stunned. “We’ve won...” he whispered as if in a daze. “We’ve won...”

“Yeah!” Ace shouted out, jogging to him with a bright smile on his face. “I told you we could do it!”

“I-I I defeated... someone... Right? I did it?” the kid asked again, his voice coloured by disbelief. “Yes, you did!” Ace said, laughing and patting his friend on the shoulder. “Good job with those fireballs!”

“Thanks...” Par murmured, his eyes glazed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” someone’s voice growled from close by and Ace groaned internally. Why, oh why did he have to notice so quickly... “Having fun” he answered, turning to face Monthu with an innocent smile. “It’s a break, isn’t it?”

“Leave my brother out of your schemes!” the guy hissed, standing right next to the arena with his hands clenched into fists at his sides and a scowl on his face. That didn’t look good.

“Schemes?” he asked, tilting his head as if not understanding. “We just came to try out our skills!”

“You know my brother...”

“What about your brother?” Ace asked turning to Par with an innocent smile. “Hey, Par! Monthu wants to say something to you!” The little red mage rushed to the side of the arena with the brightest smile anyone had ever seen on his face. “Did you see how I defeated that person? Did you see it? I did it! I did it!” he said, looking drunk with happiness.

Monthu looked at his expression and his face softened, tension releasing from his body. “Yeah, I saw it. You were great” he said quietly, almost murmured.

“It was so fun! I hit almost all of them and ...” the kid chattered on in a blissful manner, unaware of the way Ace was smirking at his brother from behind. Monthu, however, saw it and debated grabbing his brother and getting him as far away from the manipulating friend as he could, but every time his eyes returned to his brothers happy face he felt himself relaxing.

There was no way he could do something that would wipe the smile from his face.

Not even remove him from the presence of the devil himself.