Lightly stepping on the ground, Charles leapt into the air, capturing everyone’s attention as he ascended the stage once again.
On this spacious marble platform, about a dozen people were already sparring, using simple wooden weapons without summoning their mystical beasts.
As soon as Charles stepped onto the stage, he drew the attention of most of the crowd below, even causing many students in the stands to pause their own sparring to watch him.
The controversy surrounding Charles was significant. The strength test had proven his score’s authenticity, but it still hadn’t silenced everyone’s doubts. After all, there were precedents of people passing tests using [strengthening pills], and many remained skeptical.
“Charles, pick a weapon quickly. Since we’re sparring, don’t blame me if you get hurt,” Carlos said, picking up a wooden supreme spear from the weapon rack and looking at Charles with a forced smile. “Make sure you don’t hold back. I really want to see the true strength of my classmate Charles.”
Charles scanned the array of weapons,
Worried that he might accidentally kill Carlos with any of them, he eventually looked towards a nearby trash bin. Casually, he picked up a broomstick, detaching one of the wooden sticks from it.
Seeing Charles choose a broomstick as his weapon, Carlos’s face twitched slightly. Was Charles mocking him, treating him like trash?
Ignoring Carlos’s murderous glare, Charles slowly approached him and raised the wooden stick: “Let’s begin. You said it yourself, casualties are normal in a spar.”
Charles had no intention of holding back against someone who wanted to harm him.
The tense atmosphere on the stage drew a crowd of spectators. However, when they saw that Charles’s weapon was just a piece of a broomstick, they couldn’t help but be taken aback.
“Has Charles always been this audacious? How come I never noticed! Is that even a weapon?” Daniel couldn’t help but comment on Charles’s choice of “weapon.”
Nearby, Thomas crossed his arms, looking down on Charles: “Relying on strengthening pills to temporarily boost strength might deceive the detectors, but I didn’t expect him to fool himself too. Just wait and see how he pretends now in real combat!”
Among the crowd, skeptical voices dominated. Now seeing Charles about to fight Carlos, everyone was curious about his true abilities. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Carlos’s achievements, although not on par with Grace, certainly made him one of the standout young talents in Lsengard, with both his mystical beasts at level 17. Only by defeating him could Charles prove his genuine strength.
Some of the prestigious families who were about to leave, including Lsengard’s city lord Matthew, and the heads of the three major families—Robert, David, and Kevin—paused their departure to watch Charles take the stage again.
Even media reporters who had started to leave came back, cameras in hand, to capture Charles in action.
What was initially a minor sparring match had now become the focus of thousands, both online and offline!
Everyone was eager to see whether this controversial young prodigy truly had remarkable abilities or if he was as flawed as the rumors on the internet suggested.
“With One Sword!” Carlos shouted as he raised his long sword. Golden energy swirled around him, gradually coalescing into dozens of long sword phantoms that looked like real blades. In the blink of an eye, these phantoms materialized, and dozens of swords shot towards Charles’s position…
“How despicable, we agreed to a spar, why unleash a skill?” Charles cursed under his breath, swallowing a [miraculous speed pill] as the swords drew nearer.
Spars can be conducted at various levels of seriousness, and this one, involving wooden weapons, was clearly meant to be light and non-lethal. However, Carlos had unleashed his powerful skill right from the start, clearly aiming to embarrass Charles publicly.
As the numerous swords came closer in Charles’s vision, he remained calm. With a swift sidestep, he dodged the onslaught, his movements ghostly and nimble.
Clang—!!!
Dozens of swords flew perilously close to Charles, none striking him, all embedding themselves in the marble floor with a harsh metallic screech.
While dodging the swords, Charles had already closed the distance to Carlos.
Thud!!!
Before Carlos could react, Charles struck him squarely in the chest with the stick, sending out a dull thud and the sound of breaking bones.
The terrifying force twisted Carlos’s face with pain, and his body, under the overpowering impact, was flung from the stage, tumbling and crashing through a dozen tables before coming to rest, barely conscious, in a corner.
One move!
To be precise, Charles had defeated Carlos with a single strike.
The noisy banquet hall fell eerily silent again, save for the flashing cameras. Everyone’s mouths hung open as their gaze shifted back and forth between the boy with the wooden stick on the stage and the disheveled Carlos, profoundly shaken.
If the earlier strength test could still be dismissed as possibly rigged with miracle drugs, Charles’s defeat of Carlos with a single blow was a lethal blow to those rumors.
Carlos’s strength was roughly equivalent to Level 17. Charles’s ability to defeat him so effortlessly proved that his own strength was definitely above Level 17, affirming his credentials as a Level 3 Beast Master!
In the front of the crowd, having silently witnessed the fight, Matthew’s face was grim, his heart sinking with anguish.
When Charles had displayed his ghostly movements, Matthew had already braced for Carlos’s defeat, but he hadn’t expected it to be so decisively swift and brutal.
After Charles’s single-move victory over Carlos, the only thought left in the Lsengard city lord’s mind was—this young man is an extraordinary genius!
Although his daughter Grace was a genuine prodigy, if Charles continued to develop at this rate, it was uncertain who would win or lose in the future.
Could he really just watch, helplessly, as his daughter potentially lost to him in two years?
“Cough, since someone has been injured, I think it’s best to end today’s sparring here. There are only 12 days left until the admissions ceremony. Everyone should go home, rest up, and prepare,” Matthew said, glancing at Carlos’s injuries. To knock someone down so fiercely was perhaps too harsh?
But this was a contest among the younger generation, and it wasn’t his place to comment.
Medical staff quickly arrived, gently lifting Carlos off the ground, administering first aid, and then carting him off to a nearby hospital.
Several minutes after his departure, the exclamations finally began to subside, followed by a flurry of camera flashes. Charles had undoubtedly become Lsengard’s star!
Sitting in the VIP area, watching the very popular Charles, Sly felt an itchy hatred but was powerless to do anything about it.
With city lord Matthew there, along with several members of the Beast Master Guild sitting nearby, despite his deep desire for revenge against Charles, he was helpless.
“Just wait, you little brat, your time will come!” Sly cursed under his breath and stormed off from the banquet hall.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Charles also returned to his seat to pack up his things.
“Charles, what was that stick technique you used? I’ve never seen anyone use that kind of move before,” Daniel approached him impatiently, his eyes wide with astonishment.
“That move is called ‘Dog-Beating Stick Technique.’ It’s not very effective against people, but it works wonders on dogs. Against Robert’s lackeys, I guess the effect is doubled!” Charles couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at Daniel.
The move was not very damaging but highly insulting. With the [nine netherworld armband] boosting his strength by 100%, even a light strike was more than his peers could handle.
Daniel’s face twitched as he realized Charles was joking, but he couldn’t help laughing along: “Carlos has the strength of Lv17, and yet you knocked him down with a single strike. He’s probably lying in his hospital bed right now, grinding his teeth in anger! Haha!”
Before setting out on his journey, he had mocked Charles, saying he could come to him for help if he couldn’t beat a ferocious beast. Little did he know, Charles was the real powerhouse!
Charles patted Daniel on the shoulder: “Fatty, you’re doing pretty well yourself. I thought you were gone without a trace, but your rock turtle is almost Level 15 now, isn’t it?”
“Don’t make fun of me. I’m hardly a match for you, not even close!” Daniel replied with a somewhat melancholic stick out of his tongue.
The two left the banquet hall amidst laughter and walked out of the Red Mansion.
…
In the front row of the VIP seats, Grace watched Charles’s departing figure, her face still marked by defiance.
Charles’s rapid advancement had indeed surprised her, but after a brief moment of astonishment, her anger flared anew.
Three years ago, she had already lost to Charles in theoretical achievements, but she had not expected that three years later, his Beast Master talents would rival hers. She couldn’t tolerate her pride being so violated!
“Grace, I’ve long warned you to temper that temper of yours. Now look, you’ve not only offended others but also formed a [human contract]. If you really lose to Charles in two years, won’t you have to spend your life as his servant?” Watching the still unmoved Grace, city lord Matthew couldn’t help but explode: “The human contract was your own doing. In two years, if you win, all well and good.
But if you lose to Charles, don’t call yourself Matthew’s daughter!”
“Dad… do you really have so little faith in your own daughter?” Grace felt uneasy, demeaned by her father’s low expectations.
With a sigh, Matthew said, “This boy’s rate of improvement is indeed abnormal, and what’s more, his luck is outrageously good! I’ve put so much effort into helping you contract three Gold-quality mystical beasts, but that boy, he managed to contract a platinum-quality mystical beast!”
“Dad, my mystical beast can evolve and upgrade its quality. Plus, haven’t I already received a recommendation letter from Aredale Academy? You know as well as I do that just having talent as a Beast Master isn’t enough.
Once I become the vice dean’s personal disciple, the resources I’ll have access to, including theoretical guidance in Beast Mastery, are something Charles can’t compare with!” Grace retorted with a pout, clearly unconvinced.
Looking in the direction where Charles had departed, Grace slowly extended her left hand.
On her pale wrist, there was a blood-red countdown resembling a clock:
[1 year, 365 days, 19 hours]
She had already secured a guaranteed admission and no longer needed to participate in the admissions ceremony in 12 days. She planned to set off for the imperial capital the next day.
“Less than two years left until the human contract takes effect.”
“Charles, I will wait for you in the imperial capital, until the moment I see you kneeling before me!”