The shouts from the crowd did nothing to stop Kevin; he summoned his mystical beast, the Lightning Demon Ape, and both charged at Charles, roaring:
“Hyper gravity Field!”
As Kevin’s command echoed, Charles, who had been in mid-air, crashed down like he was burdened with a massive boulder, smashing the solid marble floor into a web of cracks.
The intense pressure made it difficult for Charles to breathe, and the rapidly increasing gravitational field around him made it nearly impossible to straighten his back. In the blink of an eye, Kevin was less than 5 meters away from him, leaving Charles with no escape.
A newly promoted third-level Beast Master facing off against a peak fourth-level Beast Master was a battle with nearly two whole ranks of difference, and it seemed there was no suspense to the outcome. Everyone in the audience held their breath for Charles…
“Boy, you’re dead!” Seeing that Charles was completely subdued, Kevin’s bloodshot eyes gleamed with murderous intent, his hatred rendering him irrational: “Lightning Demon Ape, tear him to shreds!”
“Roar! Roar! Roar!!”
With a ferocious roar, the Lightning Demon Ape raised its robust arms, its fist whistling through the air towards Charles. Anticipating the gruesome scene of Charles’s flesh being pulverized, several girls like Aurora in the audience already covered their eyes.
“Boom!!!”
Just as the Lightning Demon Ape’s fist was about to crush Charles, he extended his right arm to block in front of him. In the instant his arm met the fist, his [Nine Netherworld Armband] sprouted fine golden scales. He faced the strike head-on, and a deafening collision echoed through the hall.
“Clack!!!”
The five-meter-tall Lightning Demon Ape’s arm broke off completely, blood spurting from the break, as it fell to the ground wailing in pain.
As the audience’s gaze turned back to the young man in the center of the combat platform, they saw him casually leap out of the crater in the ground, evidently unharmed by the recent strike.
“Ah, this…”
Witnessing this scene, everyone in the great hall fell silent, even Kevin in front of Charles was momentarily dazed, staring at him in disbelief.
“How is this possible! I am a fourth-level Beast Master, why does that kid look completely unscathed?”
He had held nothing back. The Lightning Demon Ape had even unleashed its most powerful ability, [Arc Swing]. Given the gap in their strengths, that move should have been lethal, but not only was Charles unharmed, his mystical beast’s arm had been shattered instead?
Failing to exact revenge and instead injuring his mystical beast only fueled Kevin’s fury.
“Stop!”
Just as Kevin was about to launch another attack, a woman dressed in a white cheongsam stepped in front of him: “Since Kevin likes to spar with those far weaker, perhaps he would like to try a match with me, how about that?”
Sensing the dangerous aura emanating from the woman, Kevin’s fury abruptly deflated like air being let out of a balloon. The woman was a recruitment tutor from Nova Academy, a minimum of a fifth-level Beast Master; he was no match for her!
Seeing that Kevin had abandoned the idea of attacking again, the woman then stood up and approached Charles, helping him up from the ground: “Are you alright?”
Charles retracted his [Nine Netherworld Armband] into his storage space, still somewhat shaken as he looked at the woman and shook his head.
In the nick of time, he had equipped a purple-quality item he had crafted himself from his storage space, using a scale from a [Devouring Serpent] to dissipate 97% of Kevin’s attack, only suffering some minor external injuries.
After a quick examination to confirm that Charles was unharmed, the woman finally relaxed and smiled at him: “From now on, you are my student, Theron’s. If anyone dares to bully you, they’ll have to ask if I agree first!”
With that, Theron glanced at Kevin beside her as if warning him.
Charles’s performance had been too striking. Being able to instantly defeat Thomas proved his strength far surpassed his peers; surviving an attack from a fourth-level Beast Master was a delightful surprise for her. A student with such extraordinary talent would be a loss for Nova Academy if not enrolled.
At this moment, Matthew arrived belatedly and sternly chastised Kevin: “Kevin, you publicly interfered in a junior’s spar. Have you no shame at all? Do you not respect my authority as lord of this city?”
Faced with the lord’s rebuke, Kevin said nothing but silently picked up Thomas, who was barely alive, and then approached Charles, bowing slightly: “Earlier, my son Thomas initiated the challenge and was severely injured; it was his lack of skill. I also acted impulsively just now. I hope you, young brother Charles, won’t hold it against him.”
An apology?
Surprised by Kevin’s respectful demeanor, Charles found it unexpected to hear such words from him.
However… Charles was no na?ve idealist. Having fought his way through the cutthroat business world in his past life, he had seen all types of people. He adhered to only one principle—
[Never give people a second chance.]
Kevin, now apologizing under the pressure from Theron and the city lord, couldn’t be expected to protect Charles forever—who knows if Kevin might strike from the shadows someday?
Despite these thoughts, Charles maintained an easy smile on his face: “Senior Kevin, there’s no need for such words. It was I who lacked restraint in our spar with Brother Thomas. Injuries in sparring are inevitable; you should rush Thomas to the hospital.”
With a few words, Charles deftly shifted any blame from himself, while also checking on Thomas’s injuries. Given Thomas’s frail condition, even if he recovers, he’s likely reached his peak as a second-level Beast Master.
Seeing Thomas’s pitiful state, Charles almost laughed out loud, were it not for all the eyes on him.
“I’ll take my son to the hospital now and take my leave.” Kevin, holding Thomas, turned and jumped down from the white marble platform.
Standing at the entrance of the great hall, once out of everyone’s sight, Kevin’s expression turned fierce, and he glanced back coldly at Charles: “Such malice at a young age, and so cunning. If he’s not eliminated soon, he will surely become a great threat!”
With the backing of the people from the three academies, it won’t be easy to kill him, but I will not let this go!
Watching Kevin’s disappearing figure, Lord Matthew coughed lightly:
“Since you’ve resolved the matter among yourselves, and everyone is satisfied, I see no need to intervene. Injuries in sparring are unavoidable, and I hope, Mr. Charles, you don’t blame yourself too much.”
Looking at the young man before him, who was only 18, Matthew couldn’t help but admire him. Charles’s performance in the arena had completely astonished him; his talent was on par with, if not superior to, his daughter Grace’s.
If he were to choose a son-in-law from those present in the great hall, Charles would be the most suitable candidate.
But, unfortunately, his daughter Grace had managed to offend Charles and had even formed a [human contract], turning a potential son-in-law into an enemy—a shift too great for Matthew to accept at the moment.
He had already planned to call his daughter in a couple of days to suggest she apologize to Charles and then dissolve the [human contract].
“So, with Charles’s outstanding performance today, I think everyone agrees that he deserves a perfect score at the enrollment ceremony, right?”
Matthew’s comment was just a formality; in reality, the judges had already given Charles a perfect score, and there were no objections from anyone.
[Name: Charles]
[Total Score: 200]
[Ranking: First Place]
The moment these results appeared on the central screen of the great hall, what had been a quiet venue instantly erupted into cheers.
“Both trials and assessments with perfect scores, that’s never happened before in the entire history of Lsengard, has it?”
“We’re all the same age, how can the gap be so wide? I’m still struggling to advance to a second-level Beast Master, and Charles is already preparing to tame his third mystical beast!”
“It’s a pity that the goddess Grace got a direct pass to Aredale Academy. If they could compete on the same stage, it would definitely be a thrilling fight!”
“I’m so envious of Charles, now any of the three major academies in the imperial capital would pick him without a second thought…”
“What’s the use of being envious? If you had his skills, wouldn’t all the colleges in Genosha be at your disposal?”
“Charles, can I be your sister? I find shelter when it rains and I don’t pick up random things from the ground to eat!”
“…”
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, the enrollment ceremony continued, but after Charles’s show-stopping battle, all subsequent participants seemed somewhat lackluster.
The only one who could have compared to Charles was Thomas, who was now third on the leaderboard but unfortunately had been hospitalized by Charles.
Meanwhile, Theron in the VIP seats was no longer focused on the ceremony.
Charles’s talent, to say the least, wasn’t just extraordinary for Lsengard; even throughout Genosha, there wouldn’t be more than ten of his peers who could match him. Securing such a genius was a must!
Theron stood up from the judges’ panel and walked over to where Charles was sitting. Her cheongsam split as she moved, revealing swathes of pale skin. She sat down next to Charles and smiled:
“Before I came here, the Vice-Chancellor repeatedly instructed me to look out for someone named ‘Charles.’ I must admit, the Vice-Chancellor’s foresight is impressive. Young man, you’ve really caught my eye. Congratulations, you’ve earned admission to Nova Academy!”
Seeing Theron write the admission letter on the spot, the surrounding students cast envious glances at Charles.
Being admitted to Nova Academy meant a lifetime of opportunities!
At the judges’ panel, an admissions tutor from Aredale Academy envied Nova Academy for securing Charles, though it seemed she had a connection with Vice-Chancellor Emma, making it difficult to contest his placement out of respect.
At that moment, the sole instructor from Cyber Academy sent to Lsengard, dressed in a black robe, slowly stood up…