For Charles, in order to become an all-attribute Beast Master and a true powerhouse, he couldn’t afford to miss any information regarding the whereabouts of divine beasts and refined energy.
He planned to head over to Colton’s place soon; he was determined to get that last map fragment!
In addition to the information about the map fragment, Ezra had also reminded him of one more thing: to avoid leaving Calivia for the next few days.
Charles hadn’t had the chance to ask for more details before Ezra left him with a simple note, “You can ask Hale about it; he should know the reasons.” After that, no matter how much Charles messaged, Ezra didn’t respond.
“Sigh, I wonder what the teacher has been doing lately. He doesn’t even have time to reply to a message!” Charles felt a bit helpless. Ever since he agreed to Ezra’s request, he hadn’t seen him at all.
The afternoon competition had already concluded, and Catherine was acting a bit unusually today. For the first time, she didn’t head to the training room at Cyber Academy but instead wanted to return to the dormitory first.
The boys’ dormitory for new students, the girls’ dormitory, and Hale’s teacher dormitory were all located in the same area.
Charles happened to be on his way back and decided to walk Catherine back before heading to Hale’s dormitory, where he knocked on the door.
“The door’s open, come in,” Hale’s voice called from inside the dorm.
Charles pushed the door open and entered without any pleasantries, directly asking, “Teacher Hale, Professor You Wuming said we should avoid leaving Calivia for the next few days. What’s going on?”
To be honest, Charles had his suspicions.
Since moving from Lsengard to Genosha Calivia and encountering several attacks, he still hadn’t received a clear explanation.
It was likely that those people were still not willing to give up and were secretly plotting something.
Hale set down his Beast Mastery textbook and began to explain, “Charles, the academy has uncovered some news. The last attack against us was carried out by a mysterious organization known as ‘Constellation.'”
“Constellation?” Charles had never heard of this organization.
“Yes. Very few people know about this organization now because it last appeared a thousand years ago, instigating a war between Sandringham and the Abyssal Depths.” Hale stood up and pulled a history book from the shelf, handing it to Charles.
As Charles looked through it, Hale continued, “The outcome of that war was a victory for Sandringham, which left the already remote Abyssal Depths even more backward and barren.”
“So, are you saying that the appearance of the Constellation organization this time is also to incite war?” Charles asked, confused.
Hale replied, “It’s hard to say at this point. Not only have they targeted students from Cyber Academy, but even students from the other two major academies in Calivia, Aredale Academy and Nova Academy, have gone missing outside the city!”
Hearing this news, Charles felt a bit surprised. After all, these incidents were happening near Genosha Calivia, which made it all the more alarming!
The Constellation organization was indeed bold and reckless, and they possessed considerable strength.
Charles chatted with Hale for a while longer, and as time passed, he decided it was time to head over to Colton’s place.
The same verdant bamboo forest,
Inside the small wooden cabin,
Colton looked at Charles and asked, “So, have you made your decision today?”
Charles shook his head, “Senior Colton, it’s like this. I heard from Professor Ezra that you seem to know some information about the whereabouts of divine beasts?”
“The whereabouts of divine beasts? He even told you that? It seems he thinks quite highly of you,” Colton replied while rummaging around. Finally, he pulled out a dusty little wooden box from under the cabinet.
He opened it, and Charles glanced inside to find that it contained the last map fragment!
“Do you want it?” Colton noticed the longing in Charles’s eyes and felt a surge of delight. After all, everyone has their desires. Since Charles wanted this map fragment so much, it meant that agreeing to participate in the Valley of the Herb King trial was just around the corner.
Colton deliberately let Charles have a good look at the map fragment before closing the box and storing it in his spatial ring.
Charles couldn’t help but grumble internally; the fact that Colton had pulled this thing out from under the cabinet showed that he didn’t value it at all. Now that he knew Charles needed it, he put it away right in front of him—what a calculated move!
Taking a deep breath, Charles slowly asked, “Senior Colton, is that the information about the divine beasts? Why does it look like an incomplete map?”
With a meaningful smile, Colton replied, “It is indeed incomplete. Two more map pieces are needed to truly obtain the whereabouts of the divine beasts. For the vast majority of people, this is merely a collectible.”
“I see. So this thing isn’t really that precious,” Charles attempted to downplay the value of the map fragment, preparing for future negotiations.
Unexpectedly, Colton seemed to see through his thoughts and stated directly, “Not quite. For those who need it, this is far rarer than a diamond-quality mystical beast egg.”
“Senior Colton, the remaining two map pieces are unknown in location. Whether one can gather all the pieces to find the divine beasts’ whereabouts is purely based on luck,” Charles said sincerely.
His luck had indeed been good; he had obtained two map fragments, and with this last one in Colton’s hands, he would be able to locate the divine beasts!
“You’re right; it does depend on luck. How about this: I can see you want it, so I could give it to you,” Colton said slowly.
Charles’s eyes lit up, but before he could speak, he heard Colton continue, “However, there’s a condition. You not only have to agree to participate in the Valley of the Herb King trial and obtain what I need, but you also have to promise me a small favor in return.”
A favor?
Charles thought carefully and began to understand Colton’s intentions. If he could meet Colton’s demands and complete the task, his future achievements would undoubtedly be glorious. Just in the field of alchemy, he would certainly become a master-level alchemist!
He might even reach a level beyond that of a master!
For Colton, trading a useless, tattered map for the favor of a future top alchemist was a very worthwhile deal. It was an investment in Charles.
“Of course, the diamond-quality mystical beast egg I promised earlier won’t be reduced. As long as you can accomplish this, I’ll give you both the diamond-quality mystical beast egg and this map,” Colton affirmed without any reduction in his reward.
To him, the items within the Valley of the Herb King trial were what truly mattered!
“Senior, what is it that makes you value it so highly?” Charles couldn’t help but ask, curiosity getting the better of him.
Colton, who had originally hunched over, seemed to slump even lower, responding vaguely, “A specific herb. With it, I can make up for the mistakes I’ve made.”
A herb? Making up for mistakes?
Seeing Colton’s slightly dejected expression, Charles decided not to press further.
He had already made up his mind to agree to Colton’s request: within a year, he would become a master-level alchemist and participate in the Valley of the Herb King trial!
“Alright! It’s settled then. Once you complete my task, I’ll give you both the diamond-quality mystical beast egg and this map,” Colton said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I have some matters to attend to over the next couple of days. Three days from now, as long as you have time in the evening, you can come here to learn about alchemy.”
Charles nodded. Leveling up in alchemy was beneficial for him, as it meant he could create miracle drugs himself in the future!
However, this had to be balanced with his Beast Master training, and how he divided his time between the two would depend on his own decisions.
After bidding farewell to Colton, Charles didn’t idle away his time.
He returned to the place where he had trained Mia yesterday, using fruit wine to entice her to train hard.
Ding! Your mystical beast Mia Lv.16 defeated Lightning Demon Ape Lv.15, Experience +20!
Ding! Your mystical beast Mia Lv.16 gained experience in combat training, Experience +10!
…
Ding! Your mystical beast Mia Lv.16 leveled up to Lv.17!
Charles didn’t know how long it had been, but Mia had finally leveled up to 17. Just as he was about to continue training, he noticed that Mia wasn’t as focused as before; she wasn’t as obsessed with the fruit wine as she had been yesterday.
“This little drunkard, could it be that she’s tired of fruit wine?” Charles slapped his forehead in frustration. With Mia’s loyalty now at only 66, he couldn’t scold her too harshly, or her favorability would drop even further!
After thinking it over, Charles decided to sweeten the deal, saying, “Mia, it’s getting late today. Let’s train well for now, and tomorrow I’ll buy you some even better wine!”
Mia’s eyes lit up, and she excitedly spread her wings, darting toward Mousie, startling him quite a bit.
“Let’s continue the training!”
Not just Mia, but Max and Mousie also endured the late-night training!
It wasn’t until the late hours of the night that Charles noticed Mia, Max, and Mousie were starting to look fatigued. He decided to call it a night and returned to the dormitory for some rest.
Now, Mia had reached level 18, while Max and Mousie’s levels remained unchanged at level 24.
For both Beast Masters and mystical beasts, as they progressed, the pace of leveling up slowed down, and the challenges grew more difficult.
“At this rate, I don’t know how long it will take to reach level four as a Beast Master and contract my fourth mystical beast,” Charles thought anxiously as he lay in bed.
He was well aware of his own strength; with his equipment advantages, he could slay a level five Beast Master!
That might be enough for others, but for Charles, growing stronger was an endless journey!
The class competition was set to conclude the next afternoon, followed by the inter-academy competition in two months, the Cyber Academy main campus quota competition in six months, and the Valley of the Herb King trial a year later.
With all these thoughts swirling in his mind, Charles drifted into a deep sleep.