NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: An Arm
"When you're ready, Killian, we'll begin with the final assessment."
Hearing that, Killian nodded at the examiner before walking over to the crystal ball and placing his hand on top.
The crystal ball shone with a blinding muddy brown light and a fainter but still prominent purple light in the centre.
"Exceptional Affinity to the element of earth and high affinity to Lightning!" The church official read out excitedly.
As soon as he did, the offers began to poor in one after the other. Offers no less enticing than the ones received by Wharton.
Wharton watched on with a stomach full of anger but nowhere to put it. Besides him, Lina's eyes turned frosty as she watched from her spot.
Lance, on the other hand, who had just managed to get over the heart attack he nearly had when Ace was provoking the War God's Academy, was now struggling to hold back his joy as he watched even the Ernst Institute and the War God's Academy make offers.
Killian, the cause of this madness, was stone-faced as he seriously said, "I go where he goes."
Brutus frowned when he heard that and tried again, "That boy, while I admit he's fairly talented, his attitude will be the death of him. A boy of your talent should drop dead weight before it ends up dragging you down with it!"
Killian's face was frosty as he glared at Brutus. "I go where he goes!"
Seeing Killian's eyes, the oversized warrior understood there was no changing his mind. "Tch. Do what you want!"
Killian glanced coldly at the infuriated Wharton before walking over to Ace.
"You did well, Kil!" It was only when he heard that that Wharton smiled like the child he was.
The assessments carried on smoothly, with no one standing out from the crowd too much until the silver-haired girl went up.
Ace watched on with his interest piqued as she stepped into the first formation.
"Alissa, age 7, peak rank one warrior!" The invigilator read out in surprise.
"Ooh, so she's only 7? For some reason, I assumed she was eight." Ace said aloud, a little taken aback, having not seen anyone reach that stage as quickly as he had till now.
"She's almost as talented as you," Killian said, looking at the girl strangely.
"What's wrong, Kil?" Ace asked when he saw the look on his friend's face.
"She looks familiar."
"Does she? I hadn't noticed." Ace replied, playing dumb.
Alissa's results caused an uproar among the crowd, but she paid them no mind as she walked straight into the Overawe formation and looked to the examiner for him to start.
The crowd was once more in an uproar when her results were read out.
"High Spiritual Essence 17x her peers."
This time Ace wasn't surprised. Though he didn't know anything about her origins, he could imagine how gruelling the training would be for a child assassin.
Not wanting to waste time, she quickly shook off the spell's effects and placed her hands on the crystal ball for the final test. The crystal ball shone with a bright emerald green light no less impressive than Killian's.
"Alissa, age 7, peak rank one warrior, High Spiritual Essence 17x her peers and an exceptional affinity to the wind element!"
The crowd was about to enter a frenzy when her soothing yet indifferent voice rang out. "I go where they go!"
As the crowd followed her line of sight, they realised she was referring to Ace and Killian.
'Why does it feel like she's interested in Kil.' Ace thought as he stared at the young assassin. 'For a second there, it looked like she was blushing when her and Kil made eye contact.'
Before anyone could question her about her choice, she had already descended the stage and stood behind Ace, not paying anyone further attention.
Ace shrugged his shoulders as he noticed all the odd looks he was receiving. 'It's not like I told them to say that.'
"Ace, was it?" The invigilator asked. "Take your position in the first formation."
As he did, he watched the formation glow and a warm energy flow through his body.
"When was your birthday?" The invigilator asked with a hint of surprise.
"Four days ago." Ace replied
"When did you break through to the second rank?" The church official asked with growing interest.
"The day before that." Ace answered honestly
"Ooh, so you broke through to the second rank whilst you were still seven?"
"Yup." Ace casually answered as he walked over to the second formation, patiently waiting for the following assessment to begin.
Other than Lance and Killian, everyone present was still trying to get over the shock of Ace's talent as a warrior.
That was especially true of the War God's Academy recruiter, who felt like Ace had done this on purpose. "Even if you're somewhat talented, before the true talents of this world, what does your little bit of talent amount to?"
Ace looked at the petty behemoth with a teasing smile that made the man uncomfortable. "You speak about my talent as if you already understand everything about me."
"Hmph, a cocky brat who's no different from a frog in the well! What's not to understand?" The man said disdainfully.
"Why don't we make a little bet?"
"Who wants to make a bet with a snot-nosed brat?"
"Now you just sound scared." Ace replied mockingly.
"Hmph, who's scared?"
"Prove it. Put your money where your overgrown mouth is?"
"I bet you that my spiritual essence is at the exceptional level."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Only that brat from the Leon family has shown an exceptional spiritual essence in this test in the last hundred years, and you want to bet me you have reached the same level?"
It wasn't just Brutus, other than Killian, who had unwavering trust in Ace and Alissa, who felt there was more to Ace than meets the eye, everyone else thought that Ace had let his talent as a warrior get to his head.
But Ace didn't care; his expression remained light as he asked, "Is that your way of backing out?"
"HAHAHA, don't go crying to mummy when you lose this bet. Name your terms!"
"If I win, I want 100,000 gold coins or something to that value!" Ace boldly stated.
"You what?" He asked, thinking he had misheard.
"If I win, I want 100,000 gold coins or something to that value!" Seeing his eyebrows frowning, Ace decided to apply a bit more pressure. "I mean, you did seem sure of yourself before. If you admit you were wrong, we can forget about the bet. I'm sure no one here will think any less of you."
The man understood he couldn't back down now, or he'd lose way too much face. "What do I get if I win cos something tells me a hill-billy brat like you doesn't have 100,000 gold coins lying about."
"If I lose, you can take one of my arms!" Ace confidently stated.