Chapter 34: Book 2: Chapter 5 – Beast Tide

“They are, but you were facing magical beasts of a higher rank than you. A weakness or two is to be expected.

Not to mention, among rank three magical beasts, the Emerald Sloth ranks pretty high up the list. Its magical ability [Wind Speed] coats its body in a skin-tight green aura that allows it to move at the speed of a rank four beast, and its claws are no less sharp or hard than your glaive even after you use that haki of yours.

The fact that you could hold your own and even defeat it is an impressive feat in and of itself.” Wukong explained, having had front-row seats to the fight.

“Is there nothing I can do to improve my speed?” Ace asked, clearly not happy with this glaring weakness.

“You have three options:

One, wait till you become a warrior of the third rank.

Two, get your hands on a movement technique, but those are extremely rare.

Or three, comprehend one with the glaive. Even though it’ll do nothing for your movement speed, the speed and power behind your attacks will see a drastic improvement.”

“What did you say?” Ace asked as his eyes flashed with excitement.

“What, comprehend one with the…”

“Not that, the second option.”

Wukong raised an eyebrow at the youngster’s overexcitement. “Get your hands on a movement technique.”

Noticing Ace’s broad smile, Wukong shook his head as he explained, “This king advises you not to get your hopes up in that department. Movement techniques are extremely rare, and virtually all of them require the use of battle-qi.”

Ace barely registered what Wukong had said as his mind went into overdrive.

“Instead of focusing on that, shouldn’t you focus on your glaive comprehension? You only have two more weeks before the deadline for the bet.” Wukong said semi-gloatingly.

Ace could only grunt in response to Wukong’s teasing. He’d been rapidly improving every day since his enlightenment, but he noticed he'd hit a bottleneck during the battle with the sloth just now. It wasn’t a physical bottleneck he could feel, but he could still sense it.

He could feel that if his comprehension of the glaive took even half a step forward, he’d really become one with the glaive, but at the same time, he couldn’t see a path ahead. Ever since he had his enlightenment, it was like he instinctively knew what he needed to do to improve, as if his glaive was guiding him, but towards the end of that fight, that guide just suddenly vanished.

“Haha, judging by the expression on your face, you’ve hit a bottleneck. I guess I can look forward to you being my little minion for the next year.” Wukong said with a mocking smile, but the truth was, even he was a little shocked by Ace’s rapid improvements.

Wukong expected it to take him at least six months to reach this bottleneck. To do it in a little over two was incredible, even by his standards. ‘Even if he can’t do it in the next two weeks, it shouldn’t be longer than another month…

This kid never ceases to amaze…’

“SCREEEEECH!”

Before Ace’s head could turn to face what he subconsciously believed to be a threat, his [observation] haki had already locked on to the source of the screech. As he did, his eyes couldn’t help but bulge in shock as he sensed its strength. ‘Magical Beast of the 8^th Rank?’

Glancing up, he saw a giant silver feathered falcon with four wings diving towards them. He instinctively wanted to jump back from the incoming threat, leaving it to the seemingly invincible Wukong, but the eagle was too fast. By the time he had tensed his legs, the rank eight bird was already virtually on top of them.

“That’s enough, you silly bird, don’t go around scaring kids!” Wukong said lazily as he casually slapped the incoming bird as it landed in front of him.

The falcon stood at a little over 10 feet, pouting at the staff-wielding warrior with an expression that looked like it had been wronged.

“Don’t give this king that look, you dumb bird. Ooh, and give me that!” Wukong snorted as he snatched the scroll that was in the falcon’s beak.

Since they met, Wukong’s expressions had always remained light and easy, so Ace was a little surprised to see Wukong’s face darken the more he read. Ace didn’t want to disturb him even after he’d finished reading but seeing the look in Wukong’s eyes when he looked at him made Ace curious. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This king needs to take care of something and thought you might want to come.”

“What…”

Not wanting to waste time with interruptions, Wukong cut the youngster off. “Before you ask anything, let this king explain everything.

Silverlight City is one of the more powerful cities in the Anarchic Lands and is currently the only formal ally of our Yin-Yang Pavilion. Right now, they’re facing a beast tide. Meaning swarms of magical beasts threaten to overrun their home, and this king has been asked to support them.

Seeing as the vast majority of magical beasts are between the first and third ranks, this king thought it would be the perfect opportunity for you to gain some invaluable experience. Still, you to understand it will be dangerous, and this king won’t necessarily have the time to take care of you.”

“What about Kil and Alissa? Are you going to ask them as well? And what about my mom and Lance? We can’t just leave them here…” Ace replied after listening to Wukong’s suggestion.

“Killian has improved drastically over the last three months, but he’s not ready for something like this yet, and as strong as Alissa is, she isn’t suited towards direct combat with large groups of magical beasts in that sort of environment. Something like this would be too much for the current her.

We’ll drop the others off at Shurgard City. It’s on the way, and the city lord owes me a favour.” Wukong explained. “So, are you in or out?”

Hearing that, Ace’s blood began to boil in excitement as he unhesitantly replied. “I’m in!”

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“Alright, mom, I’m going. We should be back in a few days,” Ace said as he gave his mom a tight hug.

“Ok, honey. Stay safe and follow Mr Wukong’s instructions,” Milianna replied.

“I will, don’t worry,” Ace said before jumping on the back of the giant silver bird.

“Why can’t we all go if you’re just going to train?” Alissa asked, clearly displeased that she was being left out.

“Because you and Killian aren’t ready yet,” Wukong answered for the hundredth time.

Instead of telling everyone the truth, that he and Ace were about to fight against a rampaging horde of magical beasts. Wukong told the others that he was taking Ace to do some intense training for a few days to try and help him comprehend ‘one with the glaive’.

Although frustrated, Alissa didn’t say anything further. Over the last two months, she’d been Ace’s sparring partner a few times and watched how his ability with the glaive had improved at an astonishing speed. Although it wasn’t as exaggerated as Wukong’s speed when learning to wield a dagger, it was still like nothing she’d seen before.

She, who’d been hailed as a genius by those in charge of her training as an assassin, wasn’t used to kids her own age outshining her, but she had no way to compete with Ace.

“Oii baldy, take care of them. If when we get back, there’s so much as a single hair missing… Hmph!”

Hearing Wukong’s threat, a stocky bald man donning shining silver armour hurriedly stepped forward. “Do…

Don’t worry, milord. I…

I will treat them as if they were my own family.”

Sensing his meaning was understood, Wukong turned to the bird beneath him and said, “Come on, you stupid bird, let’s go.”

“So, how long will it take to get to this Silverlight City?” Ace asked when his family and friends had disappeared from view.

“We should arrive by nightfall.” Wukong lazily replied.

“Nightfall?! I thought flying on the back of a rank eight bird-type magical beast would only take a couple of hours at most.”

“The Anarchic Lands isn’t just the most chaotic region on the Yulan Continent; it’s also the biggest! If we were taking the cloud wolves, it’d take the better part of a week to get there.” Wukong explained. “Ooh, and hold on tight.”

“Wh…” Before Ace could ask, the falcon took off like a bolt of lightning, almost shaking Ace from its back.

Looking down at the side of the bird’s face, Ace could’ve sworn he saw it smirk. But, when he turned to Wukong, he saw the man standing steady on the bird’s back, no different to if he was on the ground.

Using his [observation] to really observe him, Ace noticed Wukong seemed to be using energy to keep him still.

“It’s my battle qi. When you develop the ability to use battle qi, you’ll be able to do this too.” Wukong explained when he sensed Ace’s haki.

It was then that Ace realised not only was he using ‘battle qi’ to keep him steady but also to project his voice. Even with the winds raging in his ears, Wukong’s voice was easily heard, as if the Ape-like warrior was talking directly into his ear.

Ace then noticed that Wukong had removed the battle qi from his feet but could still easily stand on its back.

‘It’s slight, but every time the stupid bird is going to flap its wings, Wukong shifts his weight to counter its movements.’ With his [observation], Ace could easily see how Wukong could stand so easily on top of a giant speeding bird.

Wukong watched with a smile as Ace tried to copy him. He almost fell off a few times, but he quickly started to get the hang of it.

Standing steadily on its back, an intoxicated grin suffused Ace’s lips as he felt the wind against his face. ‘Now this is freedom!’

With time, he could even apply the same mechanics so he could sit down. Whenever the bird turned or flapped its wings, Ace shifted his weight accordingly.

‘This brat really is a little monster.’ Wukong thought to himself as he saw the incredible speed Ace was able to learn to balance from him and even improve on it.

Ace had no idea what Wukong was thinking; he just couldn’t be bothered to stand for the next few hours.

The sun hadn’t long set when Ace saw what he assumed was their destination. He only thought that because he saw a couple dozen archers standing atop the city walls staring vigilantly at the forest to their east.

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