Binding System

'Exalted rank?'

Evelyn and Aurelia were startled.

'Isn't he still under twenty years old?'

Normally, awakeners under the age of twenty were at the Novice rank. 

Genius awakeners were at the Elite rank.

But here, Ace was already at the Exalted rank.

If geniuses could only reach Elite rank under the age of twenty, then what was Ace?

A genius among geniuses?

No!

That title did not suit him because his achievement was more than that.

Monster?

This was not the right title either. 

Ace could break through to the Exalted rank under the age of twenty.

Something like this had never been achieved before.

There were even many awakeners who could only dream of breaking through the Exalted rank.

So, his title should be more than that.

But what was the right title for him?

Evelyn and Aurelia did not know what to say because they had never met or heard of any awakener at the Exalted rank under the age of twenty.

For this reason, they only looked at him without saying a single word.

Unlike Evelyn and Aurelia, Scarlett was not startled.

Lexie had told her about it before so Scarlett could still act normally when he said he broke through to the Exalted rank.

Of course, she was thrilled because her lover had achieved something that had never been achieved before.

If she were not the city mistress of Nightshire City, she would have told everyone in her city how amazing her lover was.

However, she could not do that because it would ruin her image as the lord of Nightshire City. 

"Ehm!" Ace broke the silence.

Evelyn and Aurelia instantly came to their senses when Ace pretended to clear his throat.

"Congratulations, Ace." Evelyn said as she smiled.

"You are amazing, young man." Aurelia praised him.

'I knew he was a genius, but he was more genius than I thought.'

She was also a genius, but she was nothing compared to him because she could only reach Elite rank when she was under the age of twenty.

'If Misty Palace was not an organization for women, I would have recruited him by now.'

Because of how genius he was, she suddenly wanted to recruit him, but she changed her mind because Ace was male.

"Thank you." Ace showed his soft smile.

They began talking again.

During their conversation, Ace asked Scarlett to let Evelyn soak in the rainbow pool.

Scarlett agreed instantly.

Evelyn would become his lover soon, so Scarlett granted his wish immediately because it could be said Evelyn was her sister. 

As they were talking in her office, Lala and Lily were eating in a restaurant. 

They were not in Nightshire City; instead, they were in Herora City because someone hired them shortly after they killed Leo.

"Lily, I got news about Nightshire City earlier." Lala spoke abruptly.

"News? What is it?" Lily asked curiously.

"They said countless magical beasts attacked Nightshire City." Lala started telling her twin sister about the news she heard a few hours ago.

"Countless magical beasts?" Lily was startled by the news.

"Yes." Lala nodded her head. "But they managed to protect their city and kill all the magical beasts. Ah, right. Ace is a war hero."

"A war hero?" Lily was shocked again.

"He is the reason why they can protect their city, so he is their hero now." Lala was also shocked when she heard the news.

Sure, she knew Ace was a powerful awakener, but she did not expect he would be the key to winning the war.

"Why did magical beasts attack their city?" Lily threw another question at her twin sister.

"No one knows about it. It's still a mystery." Lala responded, "Ah, right. There is good news too."

"Good news? What is it?" Lily inquired.

"Henry and his subordinates are dead." Lala told Lily that the citizens of Nightshire City killed them. "So, are we still going back to Nightshire City?"

Previously, they planned to go back to Nightshire City after finishing their job because they still wanted to kill Henry.

Now that Henry was dead, they had no reason to return to the Nightshire city. That was why Lala asked her twin sister whether they should go back to Nightshire City or not.

Lily touched her chin and began thinking about it.

'Should we go back to Nightshire City or not?'

----

A mature man was riding a horse with a happy smile on his face. 

If the citizens of Nightshire City saw him, they would know him immediately because he was quite famous in that city.

Kieran!

Yes, that mature man was none other than Kieran, the best healing mage in Nightshire City.

Kieran rode his horse happily because he still did not know what had happened to Nightshire City.

He went to Ocaven kingdom to meet his elder sister before the war broke out, so he did not know anything about it.

Otherwise, he would have returned to Nightshire City because he grew up in Nightshire City.

"I'm sure everyone will be happy if they see me because the best healing mage will be at their service again." The smile on his face grew bigger when he was closer to Nightshire City because he really missed his hometown. 

However, his smile froze when he was in front of the entrance gate.

'What happened?'

He was shocked when he saw everyone rebuilding their city.

'What happened to my city when I was away?'

He wasted no time and jumped down from his horse.

When the citizens caught sight of him, they talked about him.

"Hey, it's Kieran. He has returned."

"What? Kieran?"

"Haha. I'm glad he has returned."

Even though Kieran was known as a pervert or loved beautiful women, they still liked him because he always helped people in need.

When Kieran was close to the citizens, he immediately asked, "What happened? What happened to our city when I was away?"

"Countless magical beasts attacked our city last month." The green-haired man gave an honest answer.

"What?! Countless magical beasts?" Kieran said in surprise.

"Oh, Kieran. You have returned?" Captain Noah said when he saw Kieran.

Kieran shifted his gaze from the citizens to Captain Noah. "Captain Noah, why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"Tell you what?" Captain Noah did not understand Kieran's words.

When Kieran was about to say something, he caught sight of Scarlett and the others.

Without waiting for another second, he rushed toward Scarlett. "City mistress…"

Scarlett, Ace, Evelyn, and Aurelia instantly turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

"Kieran? He has returned?" Scarlett was startled when she saw Kieran.

"City mistress…" like usual, Kieran tried to take advantage of the situation.

But before he could hug Scarlett, he was sent flying by her slap.

Bang!

Kieran fell to the ground.

After slapping Kieran's face hard, Scarlett inquired, "Didn't you say you would return next month?"

Kieran rose to his feet and acted as if nothing had happened. "I came back early because I missed Nightshire City."

"I see." Scarlett uttered.

"City mistress, why didn't you tell me about the war?" Kieran wanted to participate in the war because he was also a citizen of Nightshire City.

"You were visiting your family, so I decided not to tell you about it." There were two reasons why Scarlett did not tell Kieran about the war.

First, he was visiting his family, and last, he was only a healing mage. It could be said Kieran was useless except for his healing magic, so she decided not to tell him.

With him only having a little combat magic, the possibility of him dying in the war was very high.

These were the reasons why she did not tell him about the war.

"But still, I'm also a citizen of Nightshire City. I should be included in the war because I also want to protect our city." Kieran was loyal to his city, not like Henry.

He was even willing to die to protect their city because he grew up there, so Nightshire City had a special place in his heart. 

"Then how about you go to the city guard headquarters and help my subordinates treat the patients?" Scarlett uttered.

"Copy that." Kieran pretended to be a city guard before finally leaving.

Ace, who saw Kieran, uttered, "He is a pervert, but he is much better than Henry."

"You should not say something like that because you are also a pervert." Scarlett uttered.

Ace immediately pretended to clear his throat when Evelyn and Aurelia looked at him.

'I said something wrong.'