"Really? HAHAHA!"
Ace laughed as if he just heard the most ridiculous story in his whole life.
"Sorry, can't help it, haha."
"Is that really not normal? I mean, I just lived with my old man, so I don't really know much."
Gray scratched his head, looking baffled.
They're at a hub right now. They're the only ones around since Ace rented the whole place. Ace bought Gray food after knowing that Gray had no food for a day.
After the short bout at the coast, Ace and Gray somehow talked it out and became friends. Maybe it's because both of them never really had a friend before or some other reason.
After hearing that it was the first time Gray had stepped onto another island, Ace burst out laughing.
"Have you been to another island, Ace?"
"Well, I've been to several islands when my family delivered the Power Fruits to the palace."
Ace replied proudly.
"You delivered Power Fruits to the palace? Wait, there's a palace? What palace?"
Gray asked, genuinely clueless.
"Are you for real, dude? Of course, there's a palace; it's where the king and his family reside. We delivered fruits to them annually in exchange for their protection. Without it, the island would have been raided by pirates by now."
Gray's face turned grim after hearing the word pirates.
"Pirates, huh."
"You knew about pirates but not the palace?"
"Let's just say I have some history with them."
Seeing that Gray's mood seemed to change and sensing that he didn't want to talk about it, Ace changed the topic.
"By the way, are you a power holder too? Dodging my attack would not be that easy; either you're a power holder too or you have some crazy senses."
"Well, I—"
The conversation got interrupted by the opening of the door. A guy wearing a knight's armor walked in hurriedly, wearing a nervous expression.
"Young master, you need to go home."
"Young master?"
Gray mumbled while looking at the knight and then at Ace.
"Nahh, I'm not even out that long."
Ace said, looking annoyed.
"It's about the Master; it's urgent."
Ace stood up, not caring that the chair he was just on got knocked over.
"What about my father? Is it back again?"
Ace asked tensely.
The knight stayed quiet and just kept on looking at Ace nervously.
"Okay, I'm going."
Ace walked to the door but then remembered something.
"Oh yeah, Gray, you can come too."
Gray pointed at himself.
"Me? Why?"
"You have no place to go and no money to use, right?"
"Uhh, yeah."
Looking embarrassed, Gray replied.
"Then come."
"Okay, if you say so."
Gray stood up and followed.
"But young master, I only bought one horse."
The knight hurriedly said.
"Where would he sit?"
Ace smirked.
"Don't worry, he can run fast."
He then jumped at the roof of the hub and looked at Gray.
"Right?"
Gray sighed.
"Leg Amplification, Fivefold"
Gray bent a little and jumped to the roof. The roof of the hub was quite high, so the force needed to reach it was quite high, causing the ground Gray was just on to crack.
Ace smiled and turned around, facing the mansion. The knight could only look helplessly.
"Run fast so you won't be left behind, Gray."
He then proceeded to run swiftly as if he was also part of the wind, jumping from roof to roof, making no noise with every landing.
Gray looked surprised and mumbled.
"So fast."
He then runs to. With his legs amplified five times, he was able to catch up, but not without some of the roof tiles breaking.
"You sure can run fast."
Ace said, not expecting that Gray was able to run as fast as him.
"Well, you too. By the way, how are you doing that?"
Gray asked, pointing at Ace's feet.
Ace looked down.
"Doing what?"
"Run swiftly but do not make any sounds."
"Ahh, this? I just made my body weightless, well, not really weightless. A kilogram or two, I guess."
Ace replied.
"Wow, you can do that?"
"Of course, I can turn my body or any part of my body heavy or light."
Ace said proudly.
"That's amazing."
"How about you? How'd you do it?"
Ace asked, pointing at Gray's leg.
"They looked bulkier than before."
"I can amplify the functions of any part of my body, not much of course, just tenfold or so."
Unimpressed, Ace replied.
"Not much? You call jumping and running so strong to the point of breaking stones and bricks not strong? You should really stop downplaying yourself, man."
Gray smiled helplessly.
The village was not that big, so they soon arrived at the residence of the Silverstone family.
They walked to the big gate with two knights guarding outside. They opened the gate after seeing Ace but stopped Gray from entering.
"It's okay, he's my friend."
Ace said, looking to the guards.
The guards let Gray in after hearing their young master.
"Wow. This is your house, Ace? So big."
Behind the gate is a garden with a pathway in the middle. At the end of the pathway is a short stair leading to the door of the house.
"It's actually very lame. You'll get bored if you live here quickly."
A maid ran to them quickly after seeing Ace.
"Young master, you need to see the master quickly."
The maid said frantically.
"I know, where is he?"
"At the master's bedroom, young master."
Ace face turned serious and walked faster.
Inside the house was a big hallway with many doors on the side. At the end of the hallway is a staircase leading to the second floor. On the second floor was another hallway with many doors on the side and a big door at the end.
They reached the big door, clearly the master's bedroom.
Ace knocked.
"It's me, Ace."
"Come in."
A sickly voice came from inside the door.
Ace opened the door and walked inside. Gray hesitated but also walked inside.
Inside the door is a big room with a window on the side, able to oversee the whole village. At the side is a closet, and in the middle lies a sickly man with white hair and gray eyes in his early 50s in a king-size bed. At the side of the bed stood an old man in a white robe and a 10-year-old kid with white hair.
"Big brother!"
"Young master"
The man in the white robe and the kid both shouted out.
"Ace"
The master of the Silverstone household called out.
"Father"