“Mousie, use your illusion to attack. You don’t need to defeat him, just buy us some time,” Charles commanded the flying squirrel through Mind Communication.
“Squeak!”
Seeing the charging double-headed tiger replica, Felix sneered, “It’s just a counterfeit. You don’t think a copy can defeat my mystical beast, do you?”
The two identical double-headed tigers clashed, tearing into each other. Using the same skills and moves, they fought intensely, making it hard to tell them apart.
Relying on the faint connection with his mystical beast, Felix knew that his tiger had the upper hand in the fight and breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning to Charles, Felix smiled confidently. “Is this your trump card? It’s nothing special! You’ve only just barely broken through to become a second-level Beast Master. How could you possibly be my match?”
“Who said that was my trump card?” Charles replied with a faint smile as an energy storm of ice and fire began to surge violently behind him.
Felix’s smile faded as he saw the swirling energy. “What is this?”
Charles didn’t respond. Instead, he focused the elemental energies, merging them into a powerful and destructive force. The wind howled, and the temperature fluctuated wildly as the ice and fire energies collided and fused.
“Max, now!” Charles shouted, commanding Max to strike with its full power.
Max unleashed its ultimate attack, combining ice and fire into a massive spear of elemental energy, which shot towards Felix with incredible speed.
Felix tried to dodge, but the sheer force and speed of the attack were overwhelming. The spear struck him, and an explosion of ice and fire engulfed the area.
A mushroom cloud of elemental energy rose into the sky, and when the dust settled, Felix lay on the ground, defeated and severely wounded.
Charles approached him, his eyes cold and unforgiving. “This is the end for you, Felix. May you find the answers to your questions in hell.”
With that, Charles raised his supreme spear and finished the job, ending Felix’s reign of terror once and for all.
Feeling the terrifying energy, Felix’s face turned pale, and he instinctively took a step back.
Charles’s face was filled with murderous intent, and the chaotic energy stirred up a wind that lifted the bangs from his forehead. “I’ve never used this move before. Today, you’ll be my test subject. Max, activate the skill—”
“[Energy Bomb]!”
Max was enveloped in an eerie glow. Extreme cold and heat gathered behind him, forming a vortex like a black hole, continuously devouring the ice and fire elemental energy from the surroundings. It transformed into a blazing sphere, even brighter than the sun…
“Run! Run now!”
Sensing the imminent danger, Felix abandoned his mystical beast and the surrounding bandits, sprinting towards the mouth of the valley. However…
A flash of white light passed, and before Felix could react, he was incinerated by the searing energy, reduced to a charred husk.
Boom!
The explosion echoed, and the violent shockwave leveled the surrounding forest. A small mushroom cloud rose from the explosion site…
“Letting that bastard Felix die like this, without feeding him to the man-faced spider, is really too lenient,” Charles muttered, watching the rising ‘mushroom’ with a look of awe.
After the mutation, many physical laws of this world had changed. In this Beast Mastery World, there were no nuclear bombs.
But Charles had achieved a similar effect, though on a much smaller scale…
Looking at the deep crater in front of him, over ten meters deep, and the mushroom cloud, everyone around was stunned. The sound of gasping followed.
The surviving students, all around Charles’s age, looked at him with admiration. While they were still struggling with how to defeat a level 5 ferocious beast, Charles had just created a mushroom cloud.
Felix was a second-level Beast Master, but Charles had obliterated him with a single move, leaving nothing behind…
More and more people nervously approached the giant explosion crater, unable to hide their amazement.
No wonder Charles could easily kill the steel-spiked hedgehog a few days ago. With this level of power, he could dominate the entire periphery of the ferocious beast mountains!
At that moment, Fletcher staggered to his feet, his eyes wide with shock. He was even more astonished than everyone else around him.
Just a week ago, Charles was still a first-level Beast Master. How had he suddenly advanced to the second level in just one week, and defeated Felix, who Fletcher himself couldn’t beat, with a single move?
There were many first-level Beast Masters in Lsengard who never managed to advance to the second level in their entire lives. But Charles had done it in just one week. How would those old guys feel if they knew?
He looked at Charles incredulously. “Charles, can you tell me what happened to you this past week?”
“Uh, well… I’m not really sure myself. I just somehow advanced,” Charles said, scratching his head in embarrassment.
He then recalled the extremely weak Max into his mystical beast space.
Charles himself was a bit shocked by the power of the energy bomb. He saw the skill description and thought it looked pretty powerful, so he decided to try it out on Felix. Who could have guessed it would be this ridiculously strong?
He glanced again at the skill description in the system prompt:
[Energy Bomb]: Gathers ice and fire elements to form a chaotic elemental stream, causing a massive explosion. May harm the user.
He used to be puzzled by the “may harm the user” part, but now he finally understood. If not careful, he could blow himself up too!
It seemed that this skill should be used sparingly. The backlash was too great; Max had fallen into a deep sleep and who knew how long it would take to recover…
Aurora also stared at Charles with wide eyes. She had heard that Charles had left the ferocious beast mountains and felt a bit sad.
But now she realized that Charles hadn’t left; he had gone to train and enhance his abilities alone.
With such a terrifying rate of improvement, she could sense that Charles would definitely become a highly influential figure in Genosha in the future. Her gaze at Charles now included a bit of admiration.
She wanted to go up and say a few words to Charles, but felt a bit shy. Moreover, Charles was already surrounded by many students, and she couldn’t get through.
Meanwhile, the dozen or so surviving bandits, after seeing Felix killed by Charles, were already scared out of their wits and were fleeing towards the mouth of the valley in a panic.
“These bandits killed so many of our classmates! Don’t let them escape!”
Inspired by Charles’s explosive display of power, the previously disheartened training team rallied. A dozen boys grabbed their weapons and chased after the fleeing bandits…
…
In the dark forest, the cold moonlight bathed the land, with ferocious beasts occasionally moving through the woods, emitting terrifying roars.
But in a clearing within the forest, the atmosphere was peaceful.
By the campfire, Charles poked at the wood with a stick, making the fire burn brighter. The meat on the grill sizzled as it cooked.
“Charles, I made some beast meat mushroom soup. Would you like to try it?” A girl adjusted her skirt and sat down gently beside Charles.
Charles took a sip. The soup was perfectly prepared, with the succulent taste of the beast meat complemented by the delicate flavor of the mushrooms. He couldn’t help but praise it: “Hmm! This tastes really good!”
“Re-really?” Aurora’s face turned slightly red upon hearing Charles’s praise.
Seeing her expression, a few girls nearby teased, “Aurora, do you like him or something?”
“N-no way. Don’t talk nonsense…” As she spoke, Aurora stole a glance at Charles’s reaction and then quickly looked away.
She wasn’t sure how she felt herself. Witnessing the brutal deaths of over a dozen classmates today had left a deep psychological scar.
If Charles hadn’t arrived at the critical moment, she probably wouldn’t be here now.
In the dangerous ferocious beast mountains, she felt that only by staying near Charles could she feel safe.
Even though she didn’t say it, her expression revealed everything.
And it wasn’t just Aurora. Many girls in the seventh squad had developed feelings for Charles. Seeing Aurora’s actions, one couldn’t help but tease:
“Charles is a second-level Beast Master now. After this training, he’ll definitely get into Vendatia Academy in our Vendatia Province.”
“With Charles’s talent, he won’t be content staying in this small place like Lsengard.”
Aurora couldn’t miss the mocking tone in their words, and she was well aware of the gap between her and Charles.
“He’s probably out of my reach now, isn’t he?” she thought, feeling a bit dejected as she lowered her head.
“Ahem!” Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Fletcher cleared his throat. “Everyone, finish your meal and get some rest. Tomorrow, we will enter the mid-levels of the ferocious beast mountains. The real training is just beginning…”
Charles ate his ferocious beast meat while listening to Fletcher describe the mid-levels of the ferocious beast mountains. He couldn’t help but admire the resilience of his classmates.
Despite just experiencing a fierce battle, with some even sacrificing their lives, they quickly pulled themselves together. No one suggested quitting.
Charles had to acknowledge that humans were indeed a tenacious species.
In this Beast Mastery World, humans were not at the top of the food chain; they were a vulnerable species.
People who survived in this dangerous world might have been accustomed to life and death from a young age, which allowed them to face mortality so calmly.
“The mid-levels of the ferocious beast mountains… I’m looking forward to it,” he thought.
…
In the mid-levels of the ferocious beast mountains, a waterfall cascaded down, forming a clear stream at the base.
The thin mist from the waterfall dispelled the summer heat, making Grace feel particularly comfortable.
She tested the water temperature with her hand and smiled in delight. She glanced worriedly in the direction of the camp’s lights but ultimately couldn’t resist the lure of the stream…
Slowly, she removed her top, revealing smooth, fair skin and long, slender legs, then continued to undress layer by layer…
“Little Butterfly, keep watch around and make sure no one comes close.”
After instructing the azure butterfly to guard the area, Grace relaxed completely and soaked in the stream. Despite being outdoors, she insisted on bathing daily.
After spending the entire day battling ferocious beasts, this was the only time Grace could feel a moment of relaxation.
She glanced at the points ranking.
————————————
[Ferocious Beast Mountains Training Points Leaderboard]
1st: Grace [1092 points]
2nd: Robert [617 points]
3rd: Thomas [575 points]
…
————————————
Seeing her points, which were far ahead of everyone else, she smiled contentedly.
“Everyone has now entered the mid-levels of the ferocious beast mountains. This advantage is only temporary. I need to keep pushing,” Grace murmured.
Before she left, her city lord father had revealed some insider information to her.
In half a month, all the mentors would leave.
At that time, nearly a thousand students would be without any protection for a month of trial. That would be the true hell on earth!
“Charles, what have you been doing all this time? How come you only have so few points?”
“This time, just wait to lose. I look forward to the day you bow and scrape before me.”
Thinking this, Grace suddenly noticed someone had posted a short video in the group chat. Just one look at the video thumbnail made Grace widen her eyes in disbelief…