A towering fire ape, over three meters tall, stood between Charles and Lan. This was Nora’s mystical beast, and she sensed something was off immediately. The blade aura Charles had unleashed could have easily killed Lan!
“Charles! It was just a spar! Was it really necessary to go that far?” Nora exclaimed, her heart racing. Seeing that Lan wasn’t hurt, she turned to scold him.
Charles put the black gold long knife back into his storage space and glanced at Hale, feeling helpless. He hadn’t intended to kill. The angle of that knife glow had been calculated perfectly; if Lan had just shifted slightly to either side, he would have been fine!
When the blade aura was released, Charles had even slowed it down—he was already holding back. But who would have thought Lan would freeze in place, completely paralyzed by fear?
“Teacher Nora, Charles was already being merciful,” Hale said, fully aware that Charles had restrained himself. He had only used a single attribute knife glow—he hadn’t even tapped into the dual or triple attribute knife glows. Otherwise, even ten Lans wouldn’t have stood a chance!
“Is this what you call mercy?” Nora looked at the blood droplets seeping from the fire ape’s arm, still feeling shaken. The power behind Charles’s strike was beyond her imagination!
If Lan had died, she, as the recruiting instructor, would bear some responsibility. It wouldn’t be a mysterious organization’s attack that led to a student’s death, but rather her negligence. That was a burden she couldn’t afford to carry!
Hale nodded calmly and said, “Yes, Charles didn’t even summon his mystical beast or use Beast Mastery. He was already being very lenient.”
Lan, still frozen in place, stirred a bit upon hearing this. He slowly turned his gaze toward Charles and asked, “What quality are your Beast Mastery abilities?”
“Jace mentioned it—it’s all platinum quality. Not just mine, but the girl who was supposed to fight you too; all four of her mystical beasts are also platinum quality,” Charles replied with a hint of amusement.
It was simply the truth. Jace hadn’t lied at all; it was Lan who didn’t believe it and chose to provoke trouble. Now that he knew the reality, he looked utterly defeated, as if he were on the verge of death. What was the point of it all?
“So it was all true…” Lan seemed to have lost his backbone, his body going limp. The strength he once took pride in, his three gold-quality mystical beasts, felt utterly insignificant in front of Charles.
Looking back, he realized he had been a mere clown in Charles’s eyes from the very beginning. Charles hadn’t even bothered to care or retaliate; yet, Lan had insisted on mocking, provoking, and demanding a fight. It was all self-inflicted.
“Lan, are you alright?” a teammate helped Lan to his feet.
As Charles, Catherine, and Hale turned to leave, Jace watched Lan’s dejected state with excitement and casually added, “Oh, by the way, Charles is a third-level Beast Master, but he only has two mystical beasts. Once he contracts a third, he’ll be even stronger!”
“Lan, Lan, what’s wrong with you?” After Jace’s comment, Lan’s vision blurred, and he couldn’t hold on any longer—he fainted.
On the way back to their room, Catherine asked with concern, “How are you feeling? Are you unwell?”
Charles shook his head. The black gold knife glow he had unleashed hadn’t taken much out of him, and he was perfectly fine.
“Charles, I need to talk to you about something,” Hale said, walking ahead.
Catherine quickened her pace and said, “Teacher Hale, I’ll head back first.”
Hale nodded. Once Catherine had left, he stopped and turned to Charles. “What are your thoughts on the third mystical beast, Charles?”
Charles’s eyes lit up at the question, and he quickly asked, “Not yet, but do you have any emerald or diamond-level mystical beast eggs?”
“Kid, mystical beast eggs of that level aren’t easy to come by,” Hale was initially taken aback, then replied with a bemused expression. “Have you said something similar to Uncle Ezra?”
Charles nodded, a bit embarrassed. “Teacher Hale, you’re really perceptive! But I asked my master for a diamond-level mystical beast egg.”
“Cough, cough. You really think highly of me. Even Uncle Ezra doesn’t have one, and I’m just a regular sixth-level Beast Master—where would I find one?” Hale responded.
Ordinary sixth-level Beast Master? Charles couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. How could an ordinary sixth-level Beast Master possess a legendary-level mystical beast, even if it was cursed? This Teacher Hale was clearly a man with a story.
Just as Charles was contemplating this, Hale asked, “So, what attributes are you thinking for your third mystical beast?”
“Wind attribute, or maybe gold attribute,” Charles scratched his head.
“I actually have a way to potentially obtain an emerald-level wind attribute mystical beast, but it’s quite difficult,” Hale began, but before he could finish, Charles stepped forward eagerly and asked, “An emerald-level mystical beast? Teacher Hale! What’s the method?”
Hale responded with two words: “Alchemy!”
It turned out that within Genosha Calivia, there was a master-level alchemist offering a wind attribute juvenile mystical beast as a reward, seeking a Beast Master under twenty years old who could concoct a green-tier miracle drug.
“A green-tier miracle drug?” Charles asked, intrigued. Miracle drugs were classified into gray, white, green, blue, purple, orange, and gold… Let alone green-tier miracle drugs, even white-tier miracle drugs were extremely rare.
Alchemists capable of producing green-tier miracle drugs were known as advanced alchemists, while those who could create blue-tier miracle drugs were classified as exceptional alchemists! As for master-level alchemists, they could reliably produce purple-tier miracle drugs, with a very slim chance of concocting orange-tier miracle drugs!
A master-level alchemist held a status in the eyes of a Beast Master that was comparable to that of an eighth-level Beast Master, or even more significant!
“Charles, the reason I think you can give it a try is because your fire attribute energy carries a chilling aura,” Hale explained. He clearly understood that for alchemy, the lower the temperature of the flame, the better it was. This indicated talent!
Charles nodded, but he still felt uncertain. The miracle drug he had previously concocted, the Tone Reproduction miracle drug, was still far from a green-tier miracle drug.
“Teacher Hale, I have some experience in alchemy, but I doubt it’ll be easy to produce a green-tier miracle drug,” Charles admitted, feeling less optimistic. Besides, he didn’t even have a recipe for a green-tier alchemy.
The profession of alchemist only became more challenging as one advanced, even more so than being a Beast Master! Achieving the level of an advanced alchemist in a short time was fraught with difficulty.
“I know, which is why this path is so challenging,” Hale sighed and said. “Genosha is still too small; emerald and higher quality mystical beasts are exceedingly rare. If we miss this opportunity, who knows when we’ll get another.”
As soon as Hale finished speaking, he suddenly realized something was off. “Wait, what did you just say? You have experience in alchemy? Who taught you?”
“I taught myself; my level isn’t very high,” Charles replied.
“Self-taught? You mean to say you’ve been training as a Beast Master while also studying alchemy?” Hale exclaimed in disbelief. He had assumed Charles was merely a Beast Master, not realizing he was also an alchemist!
This meant that the time Charles had spent reaching the third level as a Beast Master was shorter than Hale had imagined!
“Can you currently concoct the Tone Reproduction miracle drug?” Hale couldn’t help but ask, then realized that even if Charles had some experience in alchemy, it was likely just in creating common herbs.
Yes, herbs—those were what an alchemy apprentice could produce. They had little use for a Beast Master, but were quite effective for ordinary people’s ailments.
Charles scratched his head. “Of course, I can make the Tone Reproduction miracle drug, and I can also create white-tier ones.”
“White-tier? You’re an intermediate alchemist?” Hale’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Charles.
“I suppose so; I haven’t gone to the alchemy guild for an assessment yet,” Charles admitted. Although alchemists held high status, they usually lacked combat power. The true path of strength lay with Beast Masters, with alchemists serving more as support.
“An eighteen-year-old third-level Beast Master and an intermediate alchemist? Charles, you’re truly a prodigy!” Hale murmured, pulling something out of his pocket. “I have a miracle drug recipe for you. Take it and practice; if it’s you, you might actually reach the level of an advanced alchemist in a short time!”
Charles took the recipe from Hale. Seeing Hale so astonished, he didn’t mention that he could also forge purple-tier weapons. He had used gold-tier materials to forge a purple-tier weapon, indicating his crafting skills were likely higher, reaching the level of a high-level forger.
As Charles looked at the recipe in his hands, a notification appeared on his screen:
[Revival Pill]
[Tier:] Green-tier miracle drug
[Recipe:] Resurrecting serpent beast core ×1, spring wood ×2…
[Description:] A restorative miracle drug that can quickly heal injuries within a short period. (The level of the Resurrecting Serpent Beast Core affects the success rate; the higher the level of the core used, the greater the likelihood of successful concoction.)