Book 13: Part 15 – Can’t Wait

Ace ignored the shock of the gathering spectators as he leisurely collected the Wind-type Lesser Sovereign Spark and stored it in his storage ring.

It was only then that he indifferently scanned the approaching Sovereigns without so much as an ounce of fear. As he did so, all of them – Wodred and the other Chief Sovereigns included – felt their hearts tremble.

As it stood, Ace's power had clearly and definitively surpassed the level of a Lesser Sovereign, and although it was still some way away from that of an Intermediate Sovereign, it had to be remembered he had only just reached the level of a Full God. How strong would he be when he broke through to become a High God?

It was a question which none of them knew the answer to, but what they did know was that from this moment on, whether it was his potential or current ability, it was no longer possible to treat Ace as a deity – as of right now, Ace had effectively stepped into the ranks of Sovereigns. One that was far from the bottom at that.

Ace could sense the fear and hesitation-filled gazes and knew his intended message had been spread. Although he did well to hide it, with his [Observation Haki], Ace could sense that even Phueus and his weapon spirit were slightly surprised by the heights Ace had grown to and the speeds at which he had done it, he could even feel the terrifying killing intent slumbering behind the pair of abyss-like eyes.

If not for Orloff's appearance, had it only been Bluefire to accompany Ace this time, there was a good chance that Phueus may have risked it all to kill Ace there and then.

Unfortunately, whilst Phueus, as a Wraith, had significantly more potential than Orloff because Augusta had become the Chief Sovereign of Fate and a paragon at that, as it stood, Orloff was the stronger of the two. And with Bluefire also present, Phueus stood no chance of killing Ace.

Understanding that, Phueus took one final long, hard look at Ace before releasing a cold and indifferent snort and seemingly teleporting away.

It was only then that Orloff and Bluefire moved to Ace's side, asking him if he was ready to go. Ace scanned the crowd one final time before nodding.

Their group of three was just about to leave when Wodred plucked up the courage to step forward and ask one of the questions they all had on their mind, and that was how Orloff and Bluefire managed to become Overgods.

Bluefire didn't have a relationship with any of the Sovereigns outside of the Yulan Plane; as such, he felt no need to pay their curiosity or mind. But Orloff, although he was never the official 'leader' as such, he was once seen as the strongest and, by extension, head of the Sovereigns. So, although he didn't need to answer their question, he still proceeded to do so. Still, the answer he gave was one that left most of them with more questions than answers.

Orloff lightly explained that Ace was the reason that he and Bluefire were afforded the opportunity.

Without bothering to explain any further, the group of three disappeared from their previous positions only to once again appear in the void surrounding the Yulan Plane.

When they returned, Ace looked down to see that not much had changed; everyone was still watching the creations of the various divine planes from the viewing platforms, steadily gaining insights and increasing their comprehension.

Considering how impatient Ace had been to return to his own training, it was odd that instead of doing exactly that, Ace turned his attention back to Orloff with an expression of curiosity.

He could sense that there had been no malicious intent when Orloff had said what he had said to the other Sovereigns, but he still didn't understand why he did.

It had to be understood that between his heaven-defying bloodline, his shocking creation of a new Heavenly Mandate, and his otherworldly strength, he was already under enough of a spotlight. If not for the fact that his master and now his grandfather were both Overgods, there was no doubt that he would be hunted all over the universe by the Sovereigns to get their hands on his secrets.

Although he could still rely on his Master and Grandfather to shield him from immediate threats for now, Orloff telling the other Sovereigns that he was the reason he became an Overgod still thrust even more of the spotlight onto him, and he wanted to know why.

But instead of Orloff being the one to answer him, it was instead his master who had been paying attention to the situation from afar.

Aiden explained that although Orloff's words wouldn't be able to bring any of the Sovereigns onto their side, it would be enough to force them to hesitate in picking a side. After all, the concept that joining our side would give them a chance to become a genuine Overgod was too tempting.

If they could find a way to convince the other Overgod Spirits to pick a successor from the various experts on their side, it really would give them a chance to bring more Sovereigns onto their side, but as they couldn't, the most they could do was force the Sovereigns to stop and seriously think before deciding which side to align themselves with.

Hearing that, Ace nodded in understanding that it really was the best decision, all things considered.

As for Orloff, he was staring helplessly at Aiden, who, despite speaking to them, was still in the centre of the 11 steadily forming miniature Divine Planes, slowly helping them to fuse together.

Still, he wasn't focusing on the actions of the man, but the man himself. It was then he sighed and said that he had grown stronger again. As a fellow Overgod, it was impossible for him to see through Aiden with the ease with which he did with Teresia, but he could still sense the increase in power coming from Aiden.

Aiden merely smirked and acknowledged Orloff's words by saying that after being inspired by Kannal, as the Overgod of wind, how could he not choose to comprehend more Concepts of Wind?

Hearing that, both Bluefire and Orloff sighed helplessly at Aiden's talent. After Kannal comprehended a second concept of the Wind, all three Overgods had begun doing the same. And as all three were top geniuses in their own right, they had silently begun competing with one another to see who would be the first.

It could be argued that seeing as he was the only one who got to stay behind whilst Bluefire and Orloff accompanied Ace to face off against Teresia, Aiden had extra time, and whilst technically it was true, the extra time in which he had was minuscule at best, totalling no more than half an hour at most.

Whereas if they were honest with themselves, forget minutes, hours, or even days, both Orloff and Bluefire were months away from accomplishing the same feat, potentially years if they were slow.

In the end, they could only sigh and admit their inferiority. In terms of talent, they were definitely a level behind Ace and Aiden.

Looking at his master, it was then that Ace came to a decision of his own. The reason he originally refrained from focusing on comprehending the Mandate of Pure Yang after creating it was so that he could take advantage of his Heavenly Blessing and create the best foundation for himself to make his ceiling even higher in the future.

With his new method of training – fusing the divine planes of light and fire himself – he was confident in his ability to become a High God and even a Paragon in the next 10,000 years, but he realised now that would be cutting his potential short. Instead, his efforts were now better off focused on comprehending as many Concepts of Fire and Light as possible, and potentially even comprehending his first Pure Yang Concept.

After telling his master of his plans, Aiden revealed he had the same thoughts, and taking it one step further, Ace doing that would give him enough time to separate the planes of Fire and Light Aiden had started fusing from the others so that Ace could use it as his private and personal training grounds in the future.

As much as Ace understood how it would benefit him, he told his master not to bother as it wouldn't be fair on all those below who had an affinity to the Laws of Fire and Light as they needed to train to.

Aiden explained that Ace didn't need to worry about that. Although this would slow them down slightly, after the two planes were carefully separated from the others, Aiden intended for Bluefire and Orloff to take the places of Arianna and Lauriella (the person who took Bluefire's former fire-type Lesser Sovereign Spark) and recreate the two missing divine planes.

As Overgods, not only would Bluefire and Orloff be able to hurry through the beginning phases of creating a Divine Plane and catch up with the others in no time, they would be able to help fuse their respective Divine Planes with the others, taking some of the strain off Aiden who would have to handle the rest on his own.

As for Arianna and Lauriella, when the time came for Ace to restart the fusion process of the planes of fire and light, the two women would be able to go as slow or fast as Ace needed at the moment.

Hearing that Aiden had thought everything through, Ace no longer had any complaints or reasons to reject. In fact, he was more excited than ever – he knew that after he was finished, he would be hundreds of times more powerful than he currently was, and he couldn't wait!

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