“Charles, let me see what treasures you’ve managed to gather from the vault!” The voice rang out, and the crowd parted to make way.
Charles looked in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find it was Daniel. He quickly went over to support him:
“Daniel? Weren’t you in the hospital? You’ve been discharged already after just a few days?”
Charles checked Daniel’s injuries, and several lines of information flashed across his screen.
[Name]: Daniel
[Health]: Internal injuries and fractures [Healing…][Current recovery progress: 92%]
It’s remarkable how resilient this guy is. That day, seeing him get beaten so badly by Thomas, several ribs broken, and now he’s already out of the hospital?
“Heh, thanks to that [Hemostatic powder] you gave me to take, the doctors said if it wasn’t for that miracle drug, I might have been in real danger.” Daniel grinned goofily, rubbing his nose, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at Charles. “By the way, I watched the entire recruitment ceremony live from the hospital. Seeing you take down Thomas in the great hall was so satisfying!”
At this, Daniel paused: “You must be planning to go to Nova Academy, right? School starts in a month, when are you heading out?”
Charles could see the mix of envy and loss in the chubby fellow’s expression and quickly comforted him: “Don’t be too sad, taking a gap year and re-entering the trials next year, maybe we’ll end up being classmates!”
With Daniel’s capabilities, getting into one of the three major academies in the imperial capital might be tough, but aiming for Vendantia Academy in the province next year was definitely doable.
With his family’s business in the Smith family, returning to Lsengard after graduation would allow him to live quite comfortably—the envy should be directed at him, really.
Graduation season is always bittersweet.
Daniel had reserved a private room at a restaurant near Lsengard Bank, inviting a few close classmates for what amounted to a farewell meal.
“Charles, your performance at the recruitment ceremony yesterday blew me away!”
“To take on Kevin’s vicious attack head-on, Charles, I can hardly imagine your true strength!”
“Daniel, don’t take this the wrong way, but I just have to say something. The moment Charles stood up in front of the city lord and said, ‘Do those gentry have blue blood, certainly?’—just for that alone, I’ll admire you for life!” one of the students exclaimed.
As the classmates around him continued to shower Charles with compliments and clinked glasses with him, he quickly realized that he was now the center of attention at the gathering—far more than Daniel, the actual host. For a moment, Charles felt a wave of mixed emotions.
Not long ago, he was the least popular person in the class, with only the trash can at the back of the room to keep him company. But now, as his strength became more apparent, his ‘friends’ suddenly seemed to multiply.
Perhaps this was the cruel reality of this world: without power, you’re nothing—everyone treats you like dirt. But the moment you become strong, it feels like everyone wants to be connected to you.
Aside from Daniel, Charles had no intention of getting closer to the others. After a simple lunch, he declined the invitation to join the party and returned alone to Lily’s villa by the riverside.
When he arrived home, Lily was still nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t seen her for several days now, and Charles couldn’t help but worry that something might have happened to her family.
…
After the recruitment ceremony ended, Lsengard became noticeably quieter.
With almost a month to go before the new academic year began, many students who had just finished high school took advantage of the rare break to travel around Lsengard.
As for those whose families were less well-off and whose universities weren’t in Lsengard, things were a bit tougher. They couldn’t afford the expensive tickets for flying beasts, so they had to leave early to make it in time for the opening ceremonies a month later.
In this more peaceful atmosphere, Charles allowed himself a few days off as well.
Of course, in his mind, as long as he wasn’t training more than 12 hours a day, it counted as a vacation.
One afternoon, after swimming a few leisurely laps in the villa’s pool, Charles retrieved a golden miracle drug from his storage space.
He checked the weather forecast—there was a thunderstorm predicted for later in the afternoon.
[Tribulation Golden Pill] [Gold Quality]]: Upon consumption, it triggers a tribulation. If the mystical beast successfully passes the test, it will advance by one tier. Only effective for mystical beasts of the third tier or lower that are in an advancement state.
Upon reading the detailed description, Charles learned that the so-called ‘test’ required a large amount of energy to break through the energy barrier between tiers.
Mousie had been stuck at Level 19 for a long time, and Charles had yet to find the mysterious ‘dark altar’ that he needed for its advancement. He didn’t want to waste a precious gold-quality miracle drug, but it seemed like he had no other choice.
With less than a month until university started, Charles would soon have to leave Lsengard.
The world outside Lsengard wasn’t as peaceful and quiet as it was here. Before leaving, it was best to advance Mousie to a second-tier mystical beast to ensure an extra layer of protection in case of danger.
After lunch, Charles left Lsengard and headed to a small hill on the outskirts, near the border of the ferocious beast mountains. There, he summoned Mousie.
“Squeak!”
Mousie, thrilled to be summoned again, was brimming with excitement. It had been a long time since it had been able to freely fly around in the open air. It spent quite some time soaring through the forest, only returning to perch on Charles’s shoulder after exhausting itself.
“Master, is that some kind of treat?” Mousie’s eyes widened in curiosity as it stared at the golden pill in Charles’s hand, sensing the potent energy of lightning within. It felt confused.
It was a dark attribute mystical beast, so why would Charles offer it a pill infused with lightning energy?
Looking at the golden pill in Charles’s hand with some disdain, Mousie scoffed, “You’re not planning to experiment on me, are you? I’m not eating a lightning-based miracle drug… unless you give me a bag of those delicious sunset fruits!”
Charles grinned, clearly having anticipated Mousie’s reaction.
“Mousie, look here!”
With a shout, Charles tossed a handful of sunset fruit nuts into the air, skillfully mixing in the [Tribulation Golden Pill] among them.
The moment Mousie saw the nuts, it shot off like a cannonball. Within seconds, it devoured every last one of them before they hit the ground.
Clack—
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by the rumble of thunder. Startled, Mousie dove onto Charles, clinging to him tightly as the predicted thunderstorm arrived.
“Mousie, go up and check out that cloud.”
Mousie: ?
In weather like this, isn’t it smarter to hide in a tree hollow? Flying into the sky right now is a surefire way to get struck by lightning!
“Don’t worry, Mousie. It’s not that easy to get hit by lightning,” Charles said with a sly grin.
Hearing Charles’s reassurance, Mousie mentally braced itself, praying the lightning would miss, then reluctantly flew toward the cloud.
Lightning demon ape!
As soon as Mousie reached the sky, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the clouds, striking it squarely. Mousie wobbled and fell from the sky.
Charles caught Mousie mid-fall. Its once vibrant body was now charred black, but at the same time, a golden glow began to shimmer around it.
“Looks like I was right. The lightning’s energy has activated the power of the [Tribulation Golden Pill] inside Mousie.”
Charles quickly retrieved several spirit-replenishing pills from his storage space and fed them to Mousie. He then applied recovery plaster all over its body. Slowly, Mousie’s eyes fluttered open, and its fur, once singed black, started returning to its usual brownish-yellow color.
Mousie opened its eyes, still visibly shaken, and threw itself into Charles’s arms. “I was hit by lightning! My life almost ended! It was terrifying!”
“Hmm… but didn’t you notice something? You’ve got more energy flowing through you now,” Charles said, gently scratching under Mousie’s chin.
“Wait… you’re right…” Mousie straightened up, testing its dark energy. Sure enough, it was significantly more abundant than before.
The golden miracle drug it had accidentally swallowed seemed to have the ability to convert the lightning’s energy into the dark energy it needed.
“Ahem, Mousie, I couldn’t find any leads on the [dark altar], and I didn’t want you stuck at Level 19 forever, so I thought of this method,” Charles explained.
“By using the immense energy generated by the lightning and letting the golden pill convert it into the dark energy you need, you can break through the barrier between a first-tier and second-tier mystical beast and complete your advancement!”
After hearing Charles’s explanation, Mousie’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Upon seeing Max break through to Level 20, Mousie had been deeply envious. If it stayed stuck at Level 19, the gap between it and Charles would continue to widen, eventually making it nothing more than a burden.
But now, an opportunity to break through that barrier was right in front of it. Even if the process was painful, Mousie was determined to push through!
“Brave Mousie! Fearless of tribulations!” It seemed to be cheering itself on, waving its tiny fists before flapping its wings and wobbling back up toward the ominous storm clouds.
Boom!
Lightning continuously struck Mousie, and with every hit, Charles could clearly feel its energy growing stronger.
Each time Mousie was knocked to the brink of collapse by the lightning, a single spirit-replenishing pill was enough to revive it, sending it back into the sky once more.
With each lightning strike, Mousie felt the thick energy barrier within it start to show signs of cracking.
Clack!
After another massive bolt of lightning, Mousie suddenly felt a rush of relief as something within it shattered!
At that very moment, Charles’s system screen flashed with notifications.
[Ding! Your Mousie has successfully advanced! 5300 experience points have been used. Current level: Lv21!]
[Your mystical beast, Mousie, triggered a critical evolution during the advancement. Please choose an evolution path!]
…