Wheher kids saw A stage ag so cockily, they couldn't help but feel as though their pride was being provoked.

  They may've been young, but each of them was intelligent to realise that the sooner you went up, the more difficult it would be for you to win in the long run. For Ace, who, despite not being a mage, was still one of the favourites, to go up first…

  It was clear he was looking down on them.

  Ace didn't know what his cssmates were thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. Part of the reason he went up first was definitely because of Aiden's instigation, but more than that, after watg their respective tests, Ace had begun to feel itchy. These were the very best of the best of his geion. He wao kly how strong they were and how they pared to him.

  "I know he's strong, but to go up first… What exactly is this boy thinking?" Kimika asked as she and the other members of staff gathered around Mathias and Aiden.

  "It's smart if you think about it," Lazerim replied as he looked towards Ace. "Since Ace went on stage first, it's the others who have to challenge him. So even if he loses, he still challenge again ter on."

  "Kong, you know him best. How do you think he'll do?" Lauriel asked.

  "That depends on Ace," Kong replied. "As long as he goes all out, there's no way he lose."

  "I know he's someone you recruited, but you could at least pretend not to be so biased," Kimika replied with an eye roll at her junior brother's words.

  "This king's not being biased," Wukong shrugged. "That brat really is a little monster in human form."

  Kimika and Lazerim, who didn't know much about Ace, eyes widened when they heard Wukong's respohis you brother of theirs was the biggest talent any of them had ever seen, so for him to say what he did about Ace, they couldn't help but look at A a new light.

  "Looks like we won't have to wait much loo see who es out on top," Mathias said slowly. "It's about to begin,"

  Surprisingly, the first challeo go up was Kannal. Seeing as he was not only the you but also the weakest, most expected him to stay out of this altogether, but he didn't care. As he mouhe stage, Kannal's eyes were filled with resolve as he stared at Ace.

  "I know I 't win," Kannal readily admitted. "But I want to see just how big the differeween us is."

  Ace watched his oppo uhe his sword with a smile. Kannal may not be able to see it, but Ace could. Ace could see a hint of Hysode's shadow when he looked at her little brother, and it had nothing to do with their physical resembnce. Instead, it was that same resolve. Though Kannal's was still immature, Ace had no doubts in his mind, he would grow to be a fine warrior iure.

  Unfortunately, that day was extremely far away. Kannal wielded his small Liuyedao in a simir style to both Hysode and Venerin, but uheirs, which was virtually fwless in Ace's eyes, Kannal's was full of holes.

  Ace could go easy on the young swordsman in an attempt to spare his feelings, but he respected Kannal too much for that.

  As soon as he entered his range, Ace seemed to transform into a blur in Kannal's eyes. Then, before he knew what happened, he felt a stinging pain in his right hand only to find that his sword had been spped out of his palm and the tip of his oppo's give oi his neck.

  Kannal looked at his palm, then at his sword. Many expected him to react poorly after suffering such a devastating loss, but Kannal seemed i on impressing everyo every turn.

  "I still have a lot to learn," He sighed to himself softly before looking back up at Ace with clear eyes. "Thank you."

  Ace merely smiled, but before he could respond, both boys were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Kimika.

  The elegant blonde merely nodded politely at Ace before turning to Kannal. "Do you know who I am?"

  "Of course!" Kannal hurriedly replied whilst bowing politely. "Kannal greets Madam Silverlight."

  "No need for all that," Kimika said dismissively as she gently raised the boy's shoulders. "My husband told me that you were extremely talented, but he never mentioned anything about your willpower or character. I have to say, I, along with all the instructors, have been thhly impressed.

  That brings me to my question. Kannal Meiron, how would you like to bey discip-"

  "Kannal greets master!" Kannal said as he excitedly dropped to his knees before his now master could even finish her sentence.

  "Haha, I already told you there's o act so politely with me," Kimika said with a gentle smile. "After the tour ends, we talk properly."

  "Yes, master," Kannal said as he excitedly got up.

  Ace could only smile helplessly as he watched his former oppo hurry to pick his fallen sword off and scurry off stage. Even though he won, it still ended up being the Kannal show. Still, Ace felt genuinely happy for him.

  The other kids all watched enviously. Two of them had been picked to be personal disciples now. All they could do ray it would be them .

  As their eyes fell ba Ace, many of them looked at him with a burning fire. If they performed well enough against him, they'd stand a better ce at being taken as a disciple.

  Though they all had the same idea, the fastest to react was a young girl who looked to be slightly older than Ace. She had short dark-brown hair styled in a bob cut and was surprisingly wide-framed for a female.

  Ace remembered from her test that her name was Faye Linwol. A nine-year-old mid-rank two warrior and a mid-rank oh mage with a spiritual essence 23x times above average.

  She held a bck spiked club over her shoulder as she walked on stage whilst softly ting something that Ace didn't quite uand, not that he o uand it to know she reparing a spell.

  Suddenly, Faye jumped several meters in the air as she shouted, "[Earth Tremor]!"

  Despite knowing what she was doing, he still ended up being caught off guard by the spell as the ground started trembling under his feet.

  "No pleasantries before you try to sp my head off with that thing?" Ace asked as he saw her jump over the quaking floor, her club arg through the air and aiming straight for the side of his head.

  "There are no pleasantries otlefield!" Faye roared with a fiendish grin.

  Though he'd barely stabilized his body after the ground stopped shaking, his grin was no less fiendish as his give shot through the air like a bullet to meet her club head-on.

  Because Ace didn't know how many more battles he would fight after this, he didn't bee oh the give as it was drainially; he wasn't even using his haki. As a result, both he and Faye took three steps back befaining their footing, but as he finally stopped, his eyes suddenly widened.

  "[Earth Spike!]" Faye said with a smirk as a rocky spike suddenly shot out from the grouh her target's feet.

  Ace wasn't the only one shocked by her dispy. Everyone khat ting was usually a prerequisite before casting a spell. Furthermore, the average mage would only be able to insta-cast a spell two ranks below them, so for Faye, a rank one mage, to be able to insta-cast a rank one spell was nothing short of phenomenal.

  Lazerim, the oh mage of the instructors, looked like a kid on Christmas when he saw that.

  Faye had no idea what anyone else was thinking about, the only thing on her mind was taking advantage of Ace's shock. She khat no matter how good a warrior Ace was, there was no way her sudden spell wouldn't catch him off guard.

  Unfortunately, though she had succeeded in catg him off guard, she could only watch as his body suddenly disappeared from her field of view. It was only when she felt the cold, sharp steel of his give pressed against her neck did she realise she had actually lost.

  "Phew, that was close." Ace sighed in relief. "You almost had me with that one."

  "You…

  You used a movement teique?" Faye asked in shock.

  Her surprise was uandable. Virtually all movement teiques were only useable in jun with battle qi; at least all of the ones she had heard of were.

  "I did," Ace said casually, as he calmly removed his give from her neck.

  Faye turo get a good look at the boy who defeated her.

  "I admit I lost this time," She snorted unwillingly. "But I'll crush you ime!"

  An amused smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I look forward to it."

  Faye had just jumped off stage when Lazerim approached her. He didn't evehe ce to speak before Faye k down on one knee and respectfully/excitedly excimed, "Faye greets master Lazerim."

  Mathias and his juniors watched with amused smiles as their third brother was caught pletely off guard as his would-be disciple beat him to the punch.

  Lazerim could only shake his head helplessly as he told his brazen disciple to wait till after the petition to speak properly.

  P.S. Support me oreon listed below to read ahead - Release rate is at least 2x as many chapters every week! XD

  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon: Book 3 - Chapter 12Book 2: Chapter 26 – Brazen Disciple