Charles opened the [Alchemy] tab in his system and saw that two new alchemy recipes had been added.
[Miraculous Speed Pill]
[Grade]: White-grade miracle drug
[Description]: Travel a thousand miles a day. Increases speed by 50% for 3 hours after consumption.
[Ingredients]: 3 miraculous speed herbs, 5 wind mushrooms, 10 feathers of a graceful bird, 1 bottle of regenerating potion, 1 wind attribute beast core [no grade]…
————
[Seduce Potion]
[Grade]: White-grade miracle drug
[Description]: Colorless and tasteless, enhances sexual desire for both men and women upon consumption. When applied to oneself, physical contact induces aphrodisiac effects on the opposite sex. The effect lasts for 6 hours. If desire is not relieved before the effect ends, it results in heart failure.
[Ingredients]: 2 blood deer antlers, 5 epimedium seeds, 10g of pure yang stone, 10g of inner shadow stone…
[Would you like to open the alchemy lab?]
Charles reviewed the information on the light screen one by one.
“The Miraculous Speed Pill looks quite effective. I have all the ingredients needed, so I can make plenty tonight.”
Currently, his primary means of survival came from the skill [Darkness Cloak] he acquired from Mousie.
This skill was incredibly powerful; during his battle with Bradley, it was this very move that allowed him to successfully launch a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the weakness effect after its use was something his current strength couldn’t easily withstand.
The Miraculous Speed Pill could boost his speed by 50% during battle, which would certainly catch enemies off guard. It would also be a great skill for traveling quickly in non-combat situations.
“Seduce Potion? What the heck is this?!”
Seeing the second recipe, Charles couldn’t help but lose his composure.
It seemed like some kind of unisex aphrodisiac.
“With my handsome and charming looks, there are plenty of young women who would throw themselves at me. I don’t need to resort to such despicable means,” Charles muttered to himself, taking a selfie on his phone.
Besides, given his strength, this effect would likely be of little use.
It must have been a mistake when they built the tomb… Why else would Ares’s tomb contain such a thing?
Charles had plenty of the materials needed for these two alchemy recipes in his storage space, so without wasting any time, he got to work.
“Open alchemy lab!” freewebnvel.com
As soon as Charles spoke, a long metal table appeared out of thin air before him, covered with various metal containers. Having refined over a thousand miracle drugs, he was quite skilled. Even though it was his first time crafting white-quality miracle drugs, it wasn’t too difficult.
He carefully adjusted the heat to ensure each ingredient reached its optimal potency.
An hour later, as a white light appeared over the alchemy lab, Charles wiped the sweat from his forehead, “It’s done!”
After the first successful batch, he could produce them in bulk. Charles continued to work until late into the night, eventually crafting a total of 30 Miraculous Speed Pills.
As fatigue set in, his attention shifted to the other alchemy recipe.
“Well, it’s a rare white-quality recipe. Might as well use it to practice my skills.” Charles followed the recipe to craft a batch of Seduce Potion, then carelessly shoved it into his storage space.
“After half a month of hard training, let’s see the results!”
Charles glanced at his system’s storage space.
[Storage Space]:
[Weapons]: Ice and Fire Supreme Spear (Blue)
[Equipment]: Divine Scale Armor (Blue)
[Daily Items]: Camping lantern, bathtub, barbecue grill, solar panel…
[Food]: Water (95 tons), steel-spiked hedgehog meat (10 kg), resurrecting serpent meat (30 kg)…
[Ferocious Beast Materials]: Wolf pelt ×1, resurrecting serpent fangs ×4…
[Beast Cores]: (Level 1) Wood ×3, Gold ×2, Water ×2, Earth ×2, Wind ×2, Lightning ×2, Light ×2, Poison ×2, Ice ×1, Fire ×0, Dark ×0
[Alchemy Ingredients]: Spirit root ×18, revival flower ×9…
[Alchemy Miracle Drugs]: Miraculous Speed Pill (White) ×30, Seduce Potion (White) ×1, Regenerating Potion (Gray) ×25, Hemostatic Powder (Gray) ×21
[Common Medications]: Painkillers ×165, Fire-Control Elixir ×100, Spirit-Replenishing Pill ×21, Recovery Plaster ×136…
[Treasures]: Bronze Sword (Unidentified), Bronze Cauldron (Unidentified)…
[Special]: Map Fragment (Unknown)
————
“In the past half month, I’ve gathered quite a bit of ferocious beast materials and medicinal herbs, but the ferocious beast meat supply is running low.”
In reality, Charles had hunted a fair number of ferocious beasts over the past two weeks, but most of them were too unpalatable. He discarded the meat after collecting the ferocious beast materials. Plus, with three mouths to feed, the ferocious beast meat consumption was high.
He didn’t have a single beast core above Level 1. It was already a struggle for him to fight Bradley, so he couldn’t even think about taking on a Level 2 ferocious beast.
“What could this map fragment be?”
Looking at the piece of parchment in his hand, Charles felt his eyelids getting heavy.
…
At dawn.
“Wake up!”
“Wake up, get up, no more sleeping!”
Outside the tent, Mr. Fletcher’s familiar urging voice rang out, though he noticeably lowered his volume as he passed by Charles’s tent.
Charles quickly ate some breakfast, gathered his things, and headed to the camp for assembly.
As soon as he joined the group, all eyes were on him, and a chorus of voices erupted around him:
“Good morning, Charles! You’re finally awake! We were so worried about you while you were unconscious!”
“Charles, from now on, you’re my big brother. Do you need me to carry anything for you?”
“Charles, do you need a sidekick? Could you help me out later?”
Seeing the smiling faces around him, Charles felt a warmth in his heart and responded to each greeting.
Initially, he didn’t know any of the members of the Seventh Squad, but after half a month of life-and-death experiences, their bonds had deepened, and he was gradually integrating into this world.
“Charles, did you have breakfast? I prepared an extra portion for you…” Aurora, with her hair neatly braided and a hairpin in her bangs, handed him some breakfast when she saw him.
Charles had already eaten, but he appreciated the gesture: “Thank you!”
Wearing the Divine Scale Armor, Charles had started to keep up with the first tier of the team despite its hundreds of kilograms of weight.
“Students, 100 kilometers ahead is our final training destination for the Seventh Squad this time—the [Nine Hell River],” Fletcher’s voice came from the front of the group.
As they walked, Fletcher introduced the surrounding area to the trial team.
The Nine Hell River, spanning 5,000 meters in width and flowing from the southwest to the northeast, divides the entire ferocious beast mountain range into two parts. The more ferocious beasts mostly live to the east and south of the Nine Hell River.
Therefore, the thousand-strong training team from Lsengard set their final camp on the northwest side of the Nine Hell River.
“In short, all training will take place on the northwest side of the Nine Hell River. Under no circumstances should you cross the river boundary.” At this point, Fletcher paused for a moment, “Today is July 26th. In five days, the teachers will leave the ferocious beast mountains, and you will have to complete the last month of training without any teacher accompaniment.”
Upon hearing this, the previously lively Seventh Squad fell silent.
No one spoke, lost in their thoughts.
However, Charles noticed that since Fletcher had announced that they would disband the Seventh Squad and allow everyone to form their own groups for the trial after he left, more eyes were turning towards him.
Before the last rays of the sunset faded, Fletcher finally led the Seventh Squad to their final camping site for the trial—the alluvial plain at the junction of Kentish Mountain and the Nine Hell River.
Charles glanced around and couldn’t help but admire Fletcher’s choice of location.
This plain offered a wide view, mostly covered with low shrubs. The ferocious beasts here were generally below Level 10. Even if dangerous beasts invaded, they could be quickly spotted. The open area also made it easier for group members to assist each other.
For those aiming to climb the ranking board and enter prestigious schools, Kentish Mountain provided an excellent training ground. Moving southwest into these mountains would lead them to Level 10, and even Level 20 and above ferocious beasts.
By the campfire, Fletcher earnestly reminded the students of survival tips in the wild, repeatedly emphasizing, “No matter what, do not cross the Nine Hell River.”
The more Fletcher reminded them, the more curious Charles became. He glanced across the Nine Hell River, where the opposite shore was shrouded in darkness, featuring much higher and more treacherous peaks than Kentish Mountain. The craggy mountains loomed like devil’s claws in the dark, watching the river’s other side menacingly.
After eating roasted meat by the campfire, a chubby boy suddenly approached Charles and whispered, “Charles, do you know there’s actually a faster way to climb the ranking board than hunting ferocious beasts?”
Charles was intrigued, “Oh? What method? Tell me.”
The boy placed his hand on his neck and made a slashing motion before turning and walking back to his tent.
Charles was left wondering whether the boy was giving a warning or had another intention.
Killing… can also increase trial points?
Charles felt a shiver run down his spine.
Watching the chubby boy’s retreating figure, which bore a slight resemblance to Daniel, Charles couldn’t help but worry. Could it be that the boy was…
Charles was grateful for the warning, though. Even if he wasn’t deranged enough to harm his classmates, it reminded him of a crucial lesson—no one could be trusted in these ferocious beast mountains. People could deceive, and they were far more dangerous than ferocious beasts.
“To survive, I can’t fully trust anyone.”
With that thought in mind, Charles approached his tent and saw Aurora standing at the entrance, looking like she had been waiting for a while.
“Charles, I found a depression on the plains with lots of low-level ferocious beasts! No one else has discovered it yet. Do you want to team up and score some points tomorrow?” Aurora asked eagerly.
“No, thanks,” Charles replied with a slight smile.
“Oh… okay.” Aurora looked a bit disappointed.
Charles is so powerful; he probably isn’t interested in something as trivial as scoring points…
…
Night fell, and silence enveloped the camp.
Thinking back to what the chubby boy had said, Charles lay in bed, unable to sleep. He picked up his phone and checked the points ranking again.
————————————
[Points Ranking for Ferocious Beast Mountain Training]
1st: Grace [2385 points]
2nd: Robert [1317 points]
3rd: Thomas [972 points]
…
752nd: Charles [214 points]
…
————————————
Reluctantly, he scrolled to the last page.
1018th: Daniel [0 points]
Not only Daniel, but all 50 members of the First Squad who had entered the mountains three weeks ago still had zero points.
The fact that killing for points was possible meant it was tacitly allowed. Who knows how many atrocities were happening in the ferocious beast mountains right now?
“Robert, that bastard, he’s definitely capable of this,” Charles thought bitterly, glaring at the ‘1317’ next to Robert’s name.
In his eyes, that number turned blood red, hiding who knows how many lives behind it.
“At this rate, forget about the three great academies in the Imperial Capital, I won’t even get into Vendantia Academy in the province.”
Charles drank a bottle of regenerating potion, instantly shaking off his drowsiness.
He put on his Divine Scale Armor and quietly slipped out of the tent.
Once the campfire was out of sight, he took a Miraculous Speed Pill and sprinted toward the Nine Hell River…