“Damn, I didn’t hold back…” Charles cursed inwardly, looking at the broken door handle in his hand.
After several days of intensive training, his strength had significantly increased, and he was still adjusting to the changes in his body. With just a little effort, he hadn’t expected to tear the door off its hinges.
Looking up, Charles found himself right in the center of the entire grand hall, surrounded by a fighting platform built of white marble that looked incredibly majestic.
In the outer stands, there were tens of thousands of people, including thousands of high school seniors attending the recruitment ceremony. Every significant power within Lsengard’s jurisdiction had sent representatives.
The tens of thousands of eyes in the stands all turned toward him. The hall, previously quiet, became somewhat noisy due to this misstep by the young man.
“My goodness, isn’t that Charles? To be late to such an important event, and using the lord’s private passage, too—truly, geniuses are a bit crazy!”
“I saw recent news that he is now a level three Beast Master at 18. I can hardly believe it!”
“Hehe, the professors from these universities aren’t fools. You can’t hide the truth; just wait for the drama to unfold!”
“…”
Ignoring the dissent around him, Charles apologetically glanced at Lord Matthew, then lightly leapt down from the high platform and headed towards the outskirts of the great hall.
It must be said, the popularity of this recruitment ceremony had far exceeded Charles’s expectations. Scanning the circular stands around him, he only spotted a few remaining seats in the front row.
Just as he was about to sit down, a foot suddenly shot out from the crowd, blocking his path:
“Charles, this isn’t where you’re supposed to sit.”
The voice was familiar. Charles turned his head and saw a dark-skinned man looking at him with ill intent—it was Thomas, the one who had injured Daniel!
“Sorry, the first three rows are reserved for VIPs, only family members of viscounts and above may sit there.” Thomas looked up, a smug expression on his face as he pointed Charles towards the back of the stands: “Back there, that’s where you belong.”
With Charles having been in the spotlight these past few days, many of the boys were already displeased with him. Seeing Thomas picking on him, they joined in the laughter, eager to see how Charles would handle the situation.
If Charles chose to submit to Thomas, he would lose face in front of everyone; but if he tried to sit down anyway, he would offend all the nobles around him.
Just as everyone was waiting for Charles to embarrass himself, a soft voice came from not too far away: “Charles, why don’t you sit next to me? There’s a spot free.”
Hearing this voice, those who had been waiting to see Charles’s misfortune were taken aback. Their gazes shifted to Aurora at the front of the stands, her face wearing a gentle breeze-like smile, inviting and charming.
Charles paused, then walked over amid the envious and jealous stares of the other boys. He nodded at Aurora and said quietly, “Thank you for getting me out of that spot.”
“It’s no big deal, we’re friends after all.” Aurora smiled lightly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear where a cute blue hairclip rested. “You must have been really busy lately; I sent you quite a few messages, but I guess you haven’t had time to check.”
“Cough… I’ve been busy preparing for the recruitment ceremony, and I’ve had my phone on airplane mode,” Charles chuckled awkwardly.
“Oh, I see… Well, there’s nothing much, but about that ‘shady shop’ you mentioned—Front Group, they’ve recently received a new batch of beast cores. If you need any, I could also help you get them through internal channels! If you’re free after the recruitment ceremony, maybe we could go check it out together?” Aurora smiled faintly, her face full of anticipation as she looked at Charles.
Seeing their close interaction, many of the boys around them couldn’t hide their envy, their eyes turning red.
“Yeah, let’s see after the recruitment ceremony! The imperial capital is miles away from Lsengard, and we’ll definitely need to prepare quite a bit for the journey.” Charles responded softly, then shifted his gaze to the very front of the stands.
Those seated at the front were the heads of Lsengard’s major powers or representatives of the strongest corporations, like Sly, David, Kevin, and others.
In the VIP section, a separate area held about a dozen young men and women, clearly highly valued by the city lord’s office.
Their attire, distinctly different from that of Lsengard’s local style, caught Charles’s curiosity. As he scanned them, his screen popped up with their basic information. Glancing briefly, Charles was astonished—they were all top-level experts. Any one of them could defeat everyone in Lsengard.
Their badges indicated that they were from the three major academies of the imperial capital.
“A level five Beast Master? No wonder the three academies are considered a sacred place for Beast Masters in Genosha. Any recruitment tutor from there could easily overpower anyone in Lsengard; that’s a bit terrifying.” Charles marveled internally. The power of these individuals was even greater than that of Lsengard’s lord.
Lord Matthew, a level four Beast Master, was already more than qualified to govern this frontier town. To reach level five in Beast Mastery in all of Aldania was indeed a remarkable feat, no wonder even the lord showed them great respect.
Behind these three tutors, sat a dozen young men and women. Charles immediately noticed a tall woman dressed in a silver-white academy uniform. Her impressive physique drew many admiring glances from the males around.
As he looked over, several lines of information flashed before him: fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cm
[Name]: Celestine
[Age]: 21
[Height]: 171 cm
[Measurements]: 93/58/82
[Beast Master Level]: Four
“A level four Beast Master at just 21 years old, her talent for Beast Mastery is impressive, though not quite on par with Grace’s, but still remarkable.” Observing the information on the screen before him, Charles was inwardly astonished; indeed, those who entered the three major academies of the imperial capital were no ordinary individuals.
As if sensing something, the woman suddenly turned around, her eyes meeting Charles’s gaze. Following his line of sight, she glanced at her chest and her brow furrowed slightly.
She was well aware of her own attractiveness and was accustomed to the leering looks from men, but this was the first time someone had stared so openly.
With a slight lift of her pale chin, the woman, showing clear disdain, noticed the girl who seemed very close to him.
A flicker of anger crossed her face, and she immediately left her seat and walked towards Charles’s location.
Noticing the woman approaching, Charles snapped out of his focus on the system prompts, looking surprised at the woman standing with hands on hips, named Celestine: “I don’t believe we’ve met… or have I somehow offended you?”
Although Charles admitted she was attractive, surely a mere look shouldn’t be an issue? Especially since he was merely checking a screen prompt.
Ignoring Charles, Celestine grabbed Aurora’s arm, pulling her aside while she wore a baffled expression: “Sister, is this the handsome guy you were telling me about on the phone? I don’t think he looks like much of a good person.”
“Ah… What are you talking about, sister? Do you know Charles from before?” Aurora was utterly confused, especially since it was supposedly the first time her sister and Charles had met, yet there was such hostility.
Watching Aurora’s naive expression, Celestine sighed heavily, “My dear sister, I don’t know what love potion he’s fed you, but… I took a dislike to him the moment I saw him.”
Knowing her words might seem a bit harsh, Celestine’s tone suddenly softened: “Sister, wait until you get to the imperial capital and you’ll see. There are countless handsome and strong men in this world, why be blinded by a country boy? Just… you’d better stay away from him.”
“Sister, what are you talking about? Charles and I aren’t even…” Aurora looked nervously towards Charles in the distance, then calmly addressed Celestine, “Charles is my best friend, and I don’t appreciate you speaking about him like that!”
Rebuked by Aurora, Celestine felt somewhat annoyed. Indeed, love could cloud judgement, and her sister was still too naive.
Since their mother’s death, she had taken on the role of the elder sister, unable to bear seeing her sister hurt.
Celestine lectured Aurora further.
The usually gentle Aurora suddenly became angry, “Enough, this is my personal matter. If you continue to speak ill of Charles, I will really get angry!”
With a sharp tug, Aurora broke free from Celestine’s grasp and ran back to where Charles was.
Seeing her younger sister’s disobedient behavior, Celestine stomped her foot in frustration.
…
“It’s about time. Thus, the recruitment ceremony assessments officially begin!”
As Lord Matthew’s voice echoed from the high platform, the atmosphere in the great hall immediately tensed up, diverting attention away from the minor incident in the stands.
Watching the young men and women proceed to the center of the hall, the assessors on the high platform activated their scoring devices, smiling at the students passing before them.
They would soon select the top 300 students from these thousands, so they couldn’t afford any distractions. The standards of the three major academies of the imperial capital were even stricter, only the top six overall scorers would qualify for admission.
“Theron, you seem less enthusiastic than usual. I’ve heard Lsengard has some remarkable talents this year,” a man in a silver cheongsam said with a smile to a woman sitting next to him.
“Don’t tease me. Lsengard’s top Beast Master, Grace, has already been directly admitted to your Aredale Academy. You must be quite pleased,” Theron huffed, her face showing a hint of resentment.
The man chuckled, “Mr. Theron, don’t be upset. I’ve heard about a young man named Charles from Lsengard this year, whose talent in Beast Mastery is said to rival that of Grace. Rest assured, I won’t be poaching this candidate for Nova Academy.”
Upon hearing the name ‘Charles,’ a spark of interest finally appeared in Theron’s eyes. Before leaving Nova Academy, Vice Chancellor Emma had instructed her to keep an eye on someone named Charles.
No student had ever been so highly regarded by the vice chancellor, which piqued her curiosity. What kind of abilities did he possess?
—