Charles looked at the fear on Zara's face and realized—he truly hadn't known that Serpent People actually hatched from eggs.
At that very mont, several information prompts appeared before his eyes in rapid succession:
——[Wind and Moon Spirit Falcon]——
[Na]: Mia
[Elent]: Wind
[Level]: Lv39 [View promotion materials]
[Quality]: Diamond
[Skills]: [Moon Riding Wind], [Sharp Claw Strike], [Frenzy: Gale Slash], [Blessing of Wind and Moon]
[Weakness]: Abdon / Lightning
[Likes]: Alcohol
[Mood]: Happy
[Health]: Good
[Loyalty]: 90
[Evolution]: 4 possible routes
...
——[Twin-Winged Savage Gold-Eater Beast]——
[Na]: Little Gold
[Elent]: tal
[Level]: Lv39 [View promotion materials]
[Quality]: Diamond
[Skills]: [Enhanced Devour], [Body Enhancent], [Rapid Recovery], [Liquid tal Spray], [Alloy Feather Wings]
[Weakness]: Abdon / Wood
[Likes]: tal Devour
[Mood]: Joyful
[Health]: Good
[Loyalty]: 92
[Evolution]: 3 possible routes
Looking at the info prompts for Mia and Little Gold, Charles took a deep breath. At this point, he wasn't particularly eager to click and see the promotion materials required for Mia and Little Gold.
The main reason was Mousie. Its required promotion material—Blood of the Demigod—was sothing Charles still had no idea how to obtain.
Holding onto the hope that Mia and Little Gold's promotion materials wouldn't be as ridiculously rare, Charles proceeded to check.
Aside from needing beast cores from a few ferocious beasts, Mia required a special material called Windrider Bone, while Little Gold rely needed any three pieces of Golden-quality tallic materials.
Charles let out a subtle sigh of relief. Compared to Mousie's, Little Gold's promotion materials were relatively manageable.
Committing Windrider Bone to mory, Charles made up his mind to search for more information about it once he left the secret realm.
While Charles was still deep in thought, Zara stared at him blankly and asked in confusion,
"Just now... how did you seem to know everything?"
Before Charles had the chance to respond, an unusual noise rang out nearby.
The student from Ancient Academy who had mocked Charles outside the secret realm—and challenged him to a fight—Flynn, had appeared not far away.
When he saw Charles and Zara, his expression lit up with excitent at first. But then, realizing he had been separated from his teammates and was alone without any nurical advantage, his confidence quickly faded.
If a fight broke out now, he clearly wouldn't stand a chance against Charles and Zara.
The next second, Flynn turned and bolted without hesitation.
But how could Charles possibly let this opportunity slip by?
Clutching his Black Gold Long Knife, his figure vanished from Zara's side in an instant. Before Zara could even react, Charles was already closing in on Flynn at lightning speed!
Flynn had been overwheld with fear at first, but upon realizing that Charles was alone, he quickly cald down. A mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips as he sneered,
"Charles, you must be out of your mind, thinking you can take on all by yourself!"
"This is all your fault! Hand over those serpent eggs, now!"
At this mont, Flynn was brimming with excitent. As long as he could finish Charles off before Zara—who possessed the strength of a level-six Beast Master—arrived, everything would change.
Then, he'd have a chance to seize the treasure Charles had obtained!
In Flynn's mind, the serpent eggs stolen by that flying mystical beast of Charles must be so kind of rare and precious treasure. If he could manage to get his hands on them, this trip to the secret realm wouldn't have been in vain.
Besides, he'd been itching to teach Charles a lesson for a long ti!
Without a shred of hesitation, Flynn stared at the rapidly approaching Charles and imdiately summoned six fire-elent mystical beasts, launching a full assault!
Charles didn't underestimate Flynn in the slightest. As Flynn summoned his mystical beasts, Charles likewise summoned Little Gold, Mousie, Mia, and Max, and activated The Affliction of Mutated Beast Mastery without delay!
When the light faded, Charles stood before Flynn—now over two ters tall, with nine tails at his waist, wings sprouting from his back, arms lined with sharp, protruding spikes, and a crack splitting the skin across his forehead.
Flynn was montarily stunned. He blinked in surprise and muttered,
"The Affliction of Mutated Beast Mastery? You actually know that skill?"
As a so-called genius Beast Master from the Haunted Marsh, Flynn had always considered it beneath him to study Charles' profile. He was convinced that Charles—hailing from so insignificant little kingdom deep within the Abyssal Depths—couldn't possibly be a real genius.
That so-called title of "genius" was nothing more than baseless hype created by people who had never seen the real world.
It wasn't until he saw Charles personally use The Affliction of Mutated Beast Mastery that he suddenly recalled soone once ntioning that Charles had used this skill when facing the oppressive might of Instructor Everett, a level-nine Beast Master.
Flynn pushed down his surprise and began to take Charles a bit more seriously. He fixed his gaze on Charles' movents, hoping to spot a weakness or an opening.
But even under the assault of six fire-elent mystical beasts, Charles didn't slow his approach in the slightest.
Flynn imdiately ordered his highest-level fire mystical beast to unleash a massive wall of flas from its mouth, roaring as it surged toward Charles.
Yet in the next instant, a jet-black arc of blade light flashed—and the fire wall was cleaved clean in half!
Charles strode through the flas, leapt into the air, and with a brilliant gleam on the blade of his Black Gold Long Knife, carved a graceful arc through the sky, bringing it down upon Flynn with deadly precision!
At this mont, Flynn had completely fallen into panic. His mind couldn't process or analyze anything—there was only one thought dominating his brain:
Was this really the power of a level-five Beast Master?
Driven purely by the instinct to survive, Flynn desperately summoned all the elental energy within his body and cast a powerful defensive skill. Instantly, countless red flas gathered in front of him, forming a massive shield of fire.
It was his strongest defensive technique—Fla Shield!
Even most level-six Beast Masters, attacking at full force, could only leave a shallow mark on the Fla Shield.
And Charles, as a level-five Beast Master—even if he was strong—shouldn't possibly be able to break through the Fla Shield in a short amount of ti.
That's what Flynn thought—until he saw sothing he would never forget.
Charles's long blade struck the Fla Shield, and the previously rock-solid barrier began to tremble violently. In the very next instant—it shattered completely!
Flynn's eyes widened in disbelief. He instinctively took a step back and shouted,
"Impossible! There's no way you have that kind of power!"
But Charles paid no attention to Flynn's shock. His assault didn't let up. The Black Gold Long Knife locked onto Flynn like a predator eyeing prey, as Charles kept a cautious eye for any hidden counterattack.
The blade embedded itself directly into Flynn's shoulder blade, yet Charles sensed no further threat.
He furrowed his brow slightly and said, with a hint of disappointnt,
"Is this... all you've got?"
The searing pain snapped Flynn back to reality. At that mont, all arrogance he once held toward Charles vanished completely. All that remained was terror. The scent of blood thick in the air made his knees tremble.
Flynn began to plead,
"Charles, please… don't kill ! I was wrong!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, it was my fault!"
Charles showed no emotion as he pulled the Black Gold Long Knife out of Flynn's shoulder. Then, he raised it high—fresh crimson blood trailing along the blade's edge, dripping onto Flynn's forehead.
Flynn slowly lifted his head. Staring at the blade in the light, his pupils dilated in fear.
Shhhhhh!
The sound of the blade cutting through the air echoed sharply.
Flynn squeezed his eyes shut in despair.
But… the death he expected didn't arrive.
Instead, he felt an icy chill on his forehead.
His eyelids fluttered open—only to see Charles's blade, its razor edge resting right against the skin of his forehead.
Charles said quietly,
"You're not good enough. The gap is far too wide."
Then, the Black Gold Long Knife slowly withdrew from Flynn's forehead.
Flynn exhaled a shaky breath. He had never felt death so close. His entire body trembled—he'd nearly pissed himself from fear.
"Bang!"
The spine of the Black Gold Long Knife, carrying imnse force, slamd brutally into Flynn's body. Like a piece of worthless trash, he was sent flying through the air, crashing hard into the pristine white wall of the labyrinth.
In an instant, splashes of crimson blood across the white surface like grotesque flowers.
Charles looked indifferently at Flynn, who was now sliding down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind. Without hesitation, he sheathed his blade and turned away—calm, composed, and utterly unconcerned.
He wasn't so kindhearted as to let Flynn off that easily. Showing rcy to soone like Flynn would only encourage others to push their luck even further.
By the ti Charles returned to Zara's side, she stood frozen in place—mouth agape, eyes wide, locked onto Charles with disbelief. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Charles and the brutally wounded Flynn, who lay crumpled and motionless on the ground.
Zara muttered under her breath,
"That guy... he's a level-six Beast Master."
Charles nodded casually and replied,
"I know."
The look in Zara's eyes could no longer be described as re shock. If she had been the one fighting Flynn, she couldn't say for certain she would've co out on top.
And this ti, Flynn had been fully prepared. There had been no interference—no surprises.
Still staring at Charles, Zara remained motionless. Charles let out a helpless sigh and said,
"Co on. Let's check out a few other places. We'll be leaving this labyrinth soon."
Zara raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"This is a labyrinth! You think it's that easy to leave? What about Her Majesty's mission, huh?"
Charles responded simply,
"Relax. Just stick with ."
Before long, the two of them had disappeared deeper into the maze, leaving only Flynn behind—so badly injured he couldn't even move, blood pouring from his mouth.
Suddenly, a radiant rainbow-colored band of light descended from the sky, wrapping itself around Flynn's arm. It pulled him out of the secret realm in a flash.
Outside the secret realm, Isolde flung Flynn to the ground without ceremony, right at the feet of Everett, a level-nine Beast Master of the Ancient Academy.
Everett's face was twisted with fury. Just as Flynn regained full consciousness, a thunderous roar exploded in his ears.
"You're a complete disgrace! Absolutely pathetic!" Everett bellowed.
"You're nothing but trash!"
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