With the arrival of the giant white wolf, the princes and princesses paused for a moment.
Their eyebrows rose slightly as a thought flashed across their mind.
'Charles Xander!'
What followed after the thought was either a torrent of envy or fear.
When envy crossed limits, it turned into hatred.
When fear crossed limits, it turned into submission and admiration.
Charles got a mix of these looks.
'He is twenty? Or twenty-one?'
'The rumors are really real! He's a level 7!'
'Wasn't he a level 6 during the solar banquet?'
They went back to their battles, but their minds were still trying to comprehend the absurdity of a twenty-year-old level 7.
Even though they were all busy trying to gain as many treasures before entering this valley and then busy clearing the valley, they still heard the rumors.
Rumors about a man who broke the definition of the word 'genius'.
At first, they dismissed it as a prank. In fact, even for a prank, it was a pathetic attempt.
Even the best geniuses take around six years to go from level 6 to level 7. How can Charles reach level 7?
But despite the utter dismissal, the rumors didn't end.
Rather, they increased every day.
'Did you hear? Charles defeated a mid level 7!'
'Heh. That's old news! He recently fought a freshly promoted high level 7!'
'Shut up you two! He ambushed a group of injured high level 7 and won!'
It was as if the mastermind decided to praise Charles to the point of absurdity that they didn't even care about the rationality of the rumors.
But there's no smoke without fire.
So, one by one, the princes and princesses got interested in the news.
Did he really reach level 7? If he did, was he really a high level 7?
Of course, the root of such curiosity lay in strong ambition.
If the rumors were even partially true, then they'd think of acquiring Charles and forcing the secret out of him.
Of course, only very, very few people dared to have such thoughts.
The rest simply wanted to obtain benefits from this man who might as well be the greatest genius.
"Ouch! Fuck!" A prince that was distracted by his thoughts was slapped by a giant ape.
He crashed to the ground and broke a few bones while coughing out blood like he was a red fountain.
"…"
Except for the battle sounds, there was an awkward silence followed by a yell from Princess Nora.
"Fucking concentrate, you idiots!"
Everyone flinched at her words before focusing on the battles. They put Charles off their minds, at least until the monsters were killed.
Swish!
A blade swiftly cut open the chest of the ape and wounded it deeply.
The prince pulled back his blade and smirked. 'Not trying to brag, but my focus is too high. I won't even think about Charle—'
His thoughts stopped abruptly as a white silhouette flashed in front of him.
"Roar!"
With a thunderous roar, the giant white wolf slapped its paw at the ape's head.
Plop.
Like a watermelon bursting, the ape's head exploded.
"Wha—"
The prince opened his mouth in shock. But the white wolf didn't care about his reaction.
It swiftly moved through the monsters. Its attacks didn't have the surprise factor anymore, but with each attack, it managed to inflict a significant injury upon its foes.
The prince looked at the mid-level 7 ape's corpse and shuddered.
The rumors...
"Roar!"
The giant white wolf clashed head-on with a bull monster.
Boom!
The bodies of the two beasts collided with each other and both of them were blown back.
The white wolf's shoulder started to bleed while the bull monster looked fine.
But everyone looked at the white wolf with trembling eyes.
"He's not that strong in high level 7…"
"He can still fight high level 7s…"
"As a mid level 7, I was way stronger than him just a month ago and now…he totally surpassed me."
The fights still continued, but with the addition of Charles Xander, the low level 7 and mid level 7 monsters were being quickly crushed.
His help to high level 7 monsters was somewhat limited, but only in comparison to what he did to low and mid level 7s.
In fact, whenever he confronted a high level 7 monster, the teams were able to quickly kill the monster.
Even though there were quite a few princes and princesses stronger than him on the field, they couldn't even feel a shred of superiority in front of him.
The atmosphere turned tense even though the monsters were decreasing.
Three members, however, looked at the battlefield with nonchalant gazes.
"So," Prince Curtis raised a brow as his mind sense locked onto the white wolf. "How is this even possible?"
"Treasures, obviously." Princess Nora rolled her eyes.
"Thanks, princess obvious." Prince Curtis clicked his tongue and turned to Jamie. "What do you think?"
"…all treasures, including ambrosia take time to digest," Jamie said in a light tone.
"Sovereign Ares went into a twenty-year seclusion." Princess Nora chimed in.
"…For a treasure that pushes him to barely high level 7, he has to take at least a few years." Prince Curtis shook his head. "Even if it's a very, very user-friendly treasure, it has to take a year."
"…I fought him." Prince Jamie said with a complicated expression.
"What?!" Curtis and Nora exclaimed, Curtis out of shock and Nora because she imitated Curtis.
Curtis and Jamie both looked at Nora. She blushed a bit before asking with a fierce expression. "What's with that look for? Did you fall in love with him during the fight or what?"
"…"
"When he started fighting, he was still a bit unaccustomed to his powers. Like someone who freshly advanced." Prince Jamie's gaze turned to the white wolf.
The white wolf moved among the horde of monsters like a flash of lightning and every time it stopped, a monster either shrieked in pain or died.
"Now he's showing no clumsiness. He's completely adapted to his powers." Jamie's eyes glowed. "Even when I crushed him and told him bluntly that he won't win in the ruler's abode, he didn't back down."
Jamie looked at Nora and Curtis with a serious gaze. "His eyes were burning with confidence. He…he believes he can beat us."
"I call bull," Nora said in disdain.
"I don't think so." Jamie shook his head and he kept recalling those eyes. "It's not just confidence, I think…he's sure."
The trio fell silent before one of them exclaimed.
"Potion!" Curtis slapped his forehead and leaned toward Jamie and Nora. "The Xanders and their potions! Gamma potion has a lot of problems. But maybe he has a perfect potion!"
"!"
"!"
The prince and princess opened their mouth in shock.
Right then, another silhouette flashed in front of their eyes and shot towards the battlefield.
"Who?!"