These past few days, rumors about Charles hunting down classmates in the Ferocious Beast Mountains have spread like wildfire online. Now, looking in the direction where Charles was standing, many students’ eyes flickered with both fear and resentment.
“How can Charles have the nerve to attend the banquet? Why hasn’t the defense squad arrested him yet?”
“Ugh, that monster has completely disgraced our Lsengard High.”
“It must be Miss Lily who saved him. Does he really think he can do whatever he wants in Lsengard with Miss Lily and the Smith family backing him?”
Charles’ arrival caused quite a stir at the venue, and even his former classmates scoffed, keeping their distance.
Charles found it somewhat amusing to see a five-meter radius around him that no one dared enter.
The seating at the banquet was arranged according to social status, and Charles, being a commoner, could only sit at the back, at the least desirable table.
“Charles!”
A voice, clear as a bell, suddenly rang out from the front of the hall.
Everyone looked astonished as a girl dressed in the Lsengard Secondary School uniform left her seat. All eyes followed her as she walked towards the back of the hall where Charles was.
“Charles, I’m so glad you’re alright. I was afraid that you might have…”
The girl ran up to him, standing shyly before him with her pale hand covering her mouth, her cheeks flushed with excitement. Despite her simple school uniform, her elegant demeanor was undeniable.
Soon, several other girls left their seats to join them; surprisingly, they were all members of the original Squad 7. They gathered around Charles, chattering incessantly.
Looking at the charming girl in front of him, Charles scanned the room and noticed the intense stares from the male students. With a hint of resignation, he said, “Aurora, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? I’m already an outcast, and now you’re putting me on the spot like this?”
After Aurora’s arrival, Charles felt the surrounding gazes become even more hostile.
“Giggle.” Ignoring the stares, Aurora sat down next to Charles, flaunting her phone in front of him with a pout. “I’ve sent you so many messages. Why didn’t you reply to any of them?”
Charles cleared his throat, masking his discomfort: “Well… I was busy trying to climb up the leaderboard and didn’t check my phone.”
“Alright… How about we take a walk by the river after the banquet?” Aurora asked, her face full of anticipation.
“Hmm… Depends on what time it ends…”
Seeing Charles surrounded by a group of girls like a star amidst his fans, the male students at the venue glared with eyes red with jealousy.
Bang!
Seated in a dark corner at the front of the venue, Thomas punched the wall, causing a crack to appear. His clenched fist trembled slightly from the pain.
As the recognized top genius of Lsengard Secondary School, Thomas had always been confident. Not only was Aurora the belle of Lsengard Secondary, but she also came from the prestigious Jiang family. The elders of both families had long intended for a marriage, just waiting for the young people’s consent.
Although Aurora had always politely declined his advances, Thomas believed it was only a matter of time. In his mind, Aurora was already his wife-to-be…
Yet here she was, chatting intimately with another man right before his eyes. How was this different from being publicly cuckolded?
Thomas’s face was filled with rage, his eyes bloodshot: “Back in the Ferocious Beast Mountains, you stole my second-tier beast core, and now you dare steal my woman too… You little bastard, just wait till I expose your hypocrisy. Let’s see how you’ll face Aurora then!”
Among the many resentful gazes towards Charles, one at the front of the venue was particularly venomous. The middle-aged man’s face was weathered, his eyes sharp as an eagle’s.
“Lord Mayor, I think it’s time to start the testing phase. If Charles has indeed cheated, I hope you won’t cover for him,” Sly turned his head and chuckled at a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses sitting nearby.
He was eager to strip away Charles’s disguise.
Though he had no evidence that his son Robert had been killed by Charles, if Charles’s strength did not match his leaderboard scores, it would prove he had tampered with his chip, using murder to boost his points.
Once Charles’s guilt was confirmed, Sly had countless ways to make his life a misery.
“Mr. Sly, don’t be too sure of yourself. It would be quite embarrassing to get slapped in the face later,” David, sitting not far from Sly, couldn’t help but taunt him, seeing his rage.
When Charles was young, he often visited Daniel’s house to play, so he knew what kind of person Charles was. He couldn’t believe that Charles was capable of the cruel acts that were being discussed online.
“Mr. David, ever heard the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’? To associate with Charles, your young master’s taste could certainly use some refining!” Sly couldn’t resist scoffing.
David was no pushover and promptly stood up, slamming his hand on the table: “Sly! Your worthless son was probably devoured by a ferocious beast, and by now, I’d wager he’s been turned to dung. Isn’t that also a case of ‘birds of a feather’?”
“You’re asking for it!!!” Sly’s eyes turned bloodshot with rage.
Boom!!!
The table in front of him shattered into pieces due to his force.
“Gentlemen! Calm down. There are many young folks watching. What kind of example are we setting?” Mayor Matthew, sensing the escalating tension, quickly intervened.
He cleared his throat and infused his voice with wind energy, ensuring it resonated in every corner of the hall: “Everyone here tonight is part of the young elite of Lsengard! We, the older generation, are also eager to get to know you. Thus, there will be a segment for demonstrating your abilities. If you’re interested, feel free to invite your peers to the center of the hall for a friendly spar.”
As soon as Matthew finished speaking, the lights in the hall dimmed, leaving only a spotlight shining on the center of the venue. Simultaneously, a platform slowly rose in the middle of the banquet hall.
The venue quieted down instantly. Looking at the arena-like platform, which was thousands of square meters large, the faces of the young men and women tensed up.
Those with strong abilities naturally hoped to seize this opportunity to show off in front of others. Those of average strength also wanted to showcase their best in hopes of attracting the attention of the major families of Lsengard, possibly securing a respectable position in the city.
In the back middle of the venue, Charles’ face remained remarkably calm. He had seen too many skeptical and hateful gazes, yet his mood was hardly affected.
After tonight, those who doubted him and slandered his name would forever hold their peace.
Just after the mayor announced the start of the individual demonstration segment, Charles saw a row of reporters carrying cameras enter the venue, many of them from media outlets outside Lsengard. The flashbulbs went off continuously, resembling a large-scale talent audition scene.
In this tense atmosphere, surprisingly, no one dared to step forward, creating an incredibly awkward moment.
“I’ll go!”
With a shout, a dark-skinned young man leaped onto the stage in a few bounds.
As he appeared, several lines of text were projected onto the large screen in the middle of the venue.
[Name:] Thomas
[Trial Points:] 19655
[Rank:] 3rd
“Thomas?” Charles remembered their encounter during the hunt for a bloodthirsty rhino when they had disputed over the ownership of a second-tier beast core.
The entire venue erupted into excitement with Thomas’s appearance, clearly not expecting that the first to perform would be the star contestant, ranked third on the leaderboard!
“Do you know him?” Aurora asked Charles, her large sparkling eyes showing surprise.
Charles nodded, “We met once in the Ferocious Beast Mountains, but it wasn’t a good impression. He seems to be from your school, so you might know him?”
Aurora glanced at the dark-skinned man on the stage, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she sighed wearily, “Sort of…”
Under the spotlight, surrounded by endless praise, Thomas slightly lifted his chin, like a hero returning triumphant. He raised his right hand, and two silver-white hexagram arrays appeared in front of him, summoning two large mystical beasts.
A laser scanned quickly, and the host of the venue couldn’t contain her excitement as she screamed:
“Rock Boulder Bull, Silver quality, Level 16!”
“Rock Eater, Silver quality, Level 17!”
“Second-tier Beast Master!”
Envious gazes from around the venue focused on Thomas on the stage, with flashbulbs flashing non-stop! To break through to a second-tier Beast Master in just two months and even contract a second mystical beast, such talent was not just rare in Lsengard but across all of Genosha, a one-in-a-million prodigy!
No further demonstration was needed; the level of the mystical beasts said it all. A Level 17 mystical beast was an overwhelming force among these newly adult young people.
Amid the screams and flashing lights, Thomas walked down from the stage with a smug look, deliberately passing by Charles and Aurora.
“Psh, what’s so great about that?” Aurora muttered, clenching her fists irritably, though she felt a twinge of disappointment deep down.
She had barely survived her latest ordeal and had just managed to break through to a second-tier Beast Master, while Thomas was alarmingly strong. The fact that she intensely disliked him only made his success more irritating to her.
Handing a pastry to Aurora, Charles said disdainfully, “It’s just Level 17, nothing special.”
“Hmm?” Aurora was taken aback. What did he mean by ‘just Level 17’? Could Charles be stronger than Thomas?
Charles didn’t explain further, instead focusing on indulging in a hearty meal.
The participants who followed were mostly of average talent. A few managed to break through to second-tier Beast Master, but after Thomas’s dazzling performance, they hardly caught much attention.
“Grace?!”
From somewhere in the venue, a voice roared, stirring up excitement once again.
Hearing that name, Charles finally set down his food and looked up towards the figure in blue at the center of the venue…