16 The True Perpetrators

"We were just talking about you," Lance said softly, not knowing what was just going through Ace's mind.

Sitting on the opposite side of the bed, Ace couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were talking about, but he didn't have to wait long to find out.

"After you lost consciousness, Lance asked me how I managed to knock out those assassins, but I genuinely didn't know; I'd never done anything like that in the past. That was when I remembered the night before we met Lance almost six years ago now.

Us and several of the townsfolk around us randomly lost consciousness. At the time, I, along with the rest of the town, assumed it was a hidden expert who acted to stop Lina Baruch from being kidnapped, but after today…

It was you wasn't it? You somehow managed to stop the kidnappers with that weird energy."

"It was… But I still don't completely understand how I did it. All I know is that when I woke up the next morning, I had the ability to sense energy without looking at it and the ability to harden myself or external objects I'm in direct contact with. Still, the latter ability seems to be linked to my personal strength, so I can't use it for very long right now." Ace explained.

'Technically, everything I said was the truth; I just said it in a way that allowed me to keep the knowledge of my past life a secret.'

"Why didn't you tell me at the time? You should know you can tell me anything." She asked, clearly hurt that Ace hadn't told her earlier.

"I…

I didn't…

I don't know, I'm sorry." Ace muttered, looking down at the ground, unable to look her in the eyes.

"It's ok, son. Just don't hide things from me. If you tell me, then we can figure it out together." Milianna said gently as she pulled Ace into her embrace.

'Sorry, mom. I don't want to lie to you, but I'm still not ready to explain everything.' Ace thought to himself as he returned his mother's hug.

"I was just telling your mother that I personally haven't heard of anyone with abilities like that, but I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable. What I do know is that there are certain families with special bloodlines that give them access to certain abilities.

The Baruch family was one. Although they have declined from their peak, their bloodline ability was what allowed them to reign supreme once upon a time.

If you're like them, and these abilities stem from your bloodline, I suggest we keep it a secret until you have the strength to protect yourself from all potential threats." Lance said seriously after giving the mother and son the time to have their moment.

"I agree!" Ace replied, happy that Lance was on the same page.

"But if it is an ability tied to your bloodline, that would mean you inherited it from one of your parents," Lance said as he looked towards the dark-haired beauty beside him.

"I wouldn't know. Like Killian, I'm an orphan," Milianna replied.

"Did the orphanage tell you anything about your origins?" Lance asked, clearly aware of how orphanage's typically worked.

"All… All I know is I was left on the doorstep of a small orphanage on the O'Brien Empire's border when I was still a baby." Milianna said, trying to hold back her emotions.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business," Lance replied, placing his hand on her shoulder, attempting to comfort her.

"It's ok...

But I do need some rest; I'm pretty exhausted." She replied with a forced smile.

'Those eyes…

The only time I've ever seen her like that was when we got home after meeting Lance that day…

And it was only for the briefest of moments, but she had a weird look on her face when she mentioned the 'O'Brien Empire.' What exactly happened in this O'Brien Empire?' Ace thought as he looked into his mother's eyes.

"Okay, we'll see you in the morning," Lance said, leading Ace out.

"How are you doing, by the way?" Lance asked after closing Milianna's door.

"Today, you took a life for the first time. Your first kill is something most people take a while to get over; hell, some never do." Lance continued when he saw the confusion on Ace's face.

As a pirate, he'd killed his fair share of enemies. He'd long become numb to it, but he had almost forgotten that now he was just an eight-year-old boy who had grown up in a peaceful environment.

"I'm fine. I have no regrets. If it's to protect the lives of those I love, I will always make the same choice!" Ace replied with pure conviction.

"It really is hard to believe you're just an almost 8-year-old boy." Lance sighed softly. "Anyway, go get some sleep; you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow, Mr. Birthday boy!"

After saying goodnight to Lance, Ace returned to his and Killian's room and sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

'O'Brien Empire…

For your sake, I hope you did nothing to my mom. If you did… I'll personally burn your whole empire to the ground!'

.

.

.

The next day the group of four celebrated Ace's birthday in peace, buying a nice meal from a slightly extravagant restaurant in the city and bringing it back to the inn to eat. The next few days were spent recovering or training in Ace's case.

Five days later, Killian had recovered enough to move around by himself, and Ace decided to take him to explore, as he promised.

Walking along the Fragrant Pavilion Road, Ace could only laugh and follow along as Killian felt the need to explore virtually every shop they passed.

"Aren't you ready to go for food yet?" Ace asked after almost three hours of window shopping.

"Yeah… Wait, what's everyone doing?" Killian asked, seeing a gathering crowd.

Ace wasn't that interested in whatever was going on as he was getting hungry. Still, he had promised to do whatever Killian wanted today, so he followed along as Killian entered the crowd.

Squeezing through the crowd, they finally got to the front. Apparently, everyone was gathering around a ring to watch two kids about their age battling.

"I can't believe those nobles started a betting station on their child." One of the men next to Ace said.

"I know. It's only ten gold coins to enter, but you apparently get 100 Gold coins if you win. Part of me wants to enter as well."

"Unfortunately, it's only open to children ten and under."

"You can see why they had the confidence to do this, though. That kid's a little monster. He's already fought 19 matches and has easily dominated all of them."

Hearing the conversation, Ace looked up at the children battling. On one side was a blonde-haired boy about ten years old whom Ace could sense was an early rank one warrior, and in front of him was a brown-haired boy who was also an early rank one warrior, but this brown-haired boy was no older than seven at most.

"Why does that brown-haired kid look so familiar?" Ace asked himself aloud.

"That's Wharton, the Baruch's second son." Killian reminded him calmly.

"Ahh, that's right… How did he become a rank one warrior so fast? He should've only turned six a few months ago." Ace wondered as he looked at the young noble.

"The Baruch blood, I guess," Killian said absentmindedly as he watched the fight.

"Even Linley took over a year to reach that stage, and he has the same bloo…" Ace stopped talking mid-sentence as he felt a hostile aura nearby.

Following his senses, he saw Lina, Wharton's mother glaring at him. He could sense a mixture of shock, fear, and killing intent.

'Why is she…

Did the Baruchs send the assassins after us? Surely they're not that petty to send assassins after a couple of children, are they? But to be fair, they are the only people any of us have offended...'

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

'What an impressive family! Since you threw such a dirty blow at my family, don't blame me for what happens next.'