"Achoo—"
Charles sneezed and jolted awake. The sky was beginning to lighten, and the early morning breeze felt chilly against his face.
He noticed a familiar black blanket draped over him. Taking a deep breath, he caught the faint scent of pure heart flower, the sa fragrance that clung to Aria.
"This is the blanket I gave Aria in the ancient tomb... She kept it all this ti?" Charles thought, slightly stunned as he looked around.
Aria was nowhere to be seen, but the grass beside him bore a shallow indentation, still warm from where she had been lying.
As Charles made his way down the mountain, a powerful force suddenly struck him. Instinctively, he drew his ice and fire supre spear and summoned Max and mousie.
But the oppressive force was so overwhelming, like a thousand-pound weight pressing down on him, that he couldn't move an inch. Even Max and mousie were frozen in place, unable to budge.
Just as he was puzzling over this, a figure clad in black appeared before him. Though the figure was masked, Charles recognized the voice imdiately—it was Joshua.
"Kid, this is where we part ways. A word of advice: don't harbor any unnecessary thoughts. It's better for you and for my lady," the masked man said in a cold, detached tone.
Charles was montarily taken aback. He understood what Joshua was implying. But he had no ulterior motives; he rely saw Aria as a friend, soone from a different race who had beco close to him.
He could sense that Aria felt a certain affection toward him, likely because she had so few friends.
Feelings like these, born quickly and fading just as fast, are the least enduring over ti. He wasn't foolish enough to confuse them with sothing deeper. At most, it was just a bit of flavor in the otherwise monotonous journey of his training.
"Charles." From a distance, he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to see a figure in purple waving at him.
Hearing the girl's voice, Joshua faded into a shadow and disappeared from Charles's sight. In that sa instant, the suffocating pressure that had been weighing down on him vanished as well.
When he looked up, Aria was already standing in front of him, wearing a light-colored gauzy dress with a thin veil covering her face. Though it was ant to conceal her identity, her breathtaking beauty was still faintly visible through the delicate fabric.
"Have you packed everything?" Aria asked, her voice tinged with a hint of reluctance.
Charles nodded, patting the heavy backpack slung over his shoulder. "I just finished. I don't have much to carry."
Aria handed him a small, ornate box. Charles could tell by the warmth and the faint aroma that it contained sothing edible. Curious, he asked, "What's this?"
"I made so snacks for you. You can eat them on the road," Aria replied. Through the veil, Charles couldn't quite make out her expression. She then waved her small hand at him, "Goodbye, Charles!"
With that, Aria transford into her serpentine form, her body stretching nearly 10 ters long. Her tail flicked gracefully as she quickly caught up with the black figure ahead.
Watching the two snake-like figures gradually disappear into the distance, Charles stood there montarily, then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Aria, take care! Safe travels!"
In the distance, the purple figure paused and waved back at him. Though he could no longer hear her words clearly, he could see her gesture.
Judging by the direction they were heading, it seed they were bound for Atacama—a vast desert world, entirely different from the vibrant lands of Genosha.
A gust of wind swept by, carrying with it a bit of sand. Charles watched until the two figures vanished from his sight completely.
He took a mont to glance back at the oasis and the small cabin by the border post. mories of the past two months flashed through his mind—eting Aria, becoming friends, and the many experiences they shared. A wave of lancholy washed over him as he realized it might be a long ti before they would see each other again.
With a sigh, Charles shook off his lingering sadness and composed himself. There was no point in dwelling on the past.
He summoned his cloud leopard from the mount space and, with a final look in the direction Aria and Joshua had gone, he turned and sped off in the opposite direction.
...
The agile cloud leopard darted through the forest, leaping effortlessly over hills and rivers. As Charles glanced at the coordinates on his phone, he realized he was getting closer to Lsengard with each passing mont.
If he were to travel on foot to the training rendezvous point in York and then take a train back to Lsengard, it would take at least ten days, just barely enough ti to make it to the admission ceremony in two weeks.
But with the cloud leopard, Charles could reach Lsengard in just three days, giving him plenty of ti to prepare compared to everyone else.
This upcoming admission ceremony was shaping up to be quite the grand event. Normally, a small place like Lsengard wouldn't even register on the radar of the three imperial capital academies. However, surprisingly, they had been allocated six admission slots!
The briefing on the admission process made it clear that these three academies were prestigious in every sense.
[Aredale Academy] is renowned for producing top-tier wind attribute Beast Masters and boasts imperial royal backing. Most of Genosha's most powerful Beast Masters possess wind attributes. Becoming a student at Aredale Academy would not only grant access to invaluable resources but also provide a prestigious alumni network, allowing one to ascend the ranks of Genosha's elite.
It was even rumored that the empire's princess was among this year's incoming students.
[Nova Academy], specializing in water attribute Beast Masters, was slightly less prestigious than Aredale Academy but still held in high regard. With three Level 7 Beast Masters on its staff, Nova Academy was a powerhouse in its own right.
Charles also had a letter of recomndation from Vice Principal Emma, which practically guaranteed him a spot at Nova Academy if Aredale Academy didn't accept him.
Then there was [Cyber Academy], which was the most unconventional of the three. The admission brochure for Cyber Academy was—blank! Information about it online was scarce, but it was still considered one of the top three imperial capital academies alongside Aredale and Nova. Cyber Academy's motto was equally strange: "We don't welco the ordinary; we only welco monsters."
"Cyber Academy really lives up to its na," Charles muttered, unable to suppress a chuckle as he read more about the academy online.
This eccentric institution had the smallest student intake and the most stringent admission requirents: prospective students had to reach Level 3 Beast Master status before the age of 20! Because of this, fewer than 50 individuals in all of Genosha t the criteria each year.
Although the student body was small, those who graduated from Cyber Academy invariably beca renowned Beast Masters not just in Genosha but across the entire Abyssal Depths.
Thanks to the reputation brought by its graduates, [Cyber Academy] gradually rose to prominence alongside [Luminara Academy] and [Nova Academy], becoming one of the three prestigious imperial capital academies.
Noticing that the cloud leopard beneath him was starting to pant heavily, Charles put away his phone. After traveling for an entire day and night, the creature was clearly exhausted.
Charles slowed the cloud leopard down and found a flat spot to set up camp, deciding it was ti for a rest. While preparing to take a break, he began to plan out his next steps for the upcoming two weeks.
"Although I'm now a Level 3 Beast Master, I haven't yet bonded with a third mystical beast. To perform well at the admission ceremony in two weeks, I need to figure out how to advance Max and mousie..."
Mousie's advancent requirents were a bit troubleso, but Max's seed more manageable.
He could brew the white-quality [Regenerating Potion] himself, and if the [Fusion Heart] wasn't available for purchase in the city, he could search near the volcanic crater to the north of Lsengard.
The most challenging task seed to be acquiring the two second-tier ice and fire [Beast Cores].
Over the next two weeks, Charles would need to frequent The Beast Master Guild or the auction houses. If necessary, he might even have to visit the black market. One way or another, he had to secure those two second-tier Beast Cores.
"I wonder how much money I have left?"
Charles checked his bank account via his phone. A few seconds later, he received a text ssage:
[Dear custor, your account ending in 9527 has a current balance of: 0 gold coins, 5 silver coins, and 510 copper coins.]
If this amount had been available to him in the past, it would have been enough for Charles to live comfortably for five years. But now, as a Beast Master, his mystical beasts consud money as quickly as water flowed.
A decent first-tier Beast Core could easily cost dozens of silver coins, while a second-tier Beast Core would undoubtedly fetch a high price on the market.
"Five silver coins won't get far, let alone cover the cost of a Beast Core. I need to find a way to earn more money."
During the two-month ferocious beast mountain training, Charles had hunted over a thousand ferocious beasts, collecting materials that could be sold. He hadn't had the ti to sort through them yet.
"Once I get back to Lsengard tomorrow, I'll make sure to sell those ferocious beast materials and free up so storage space. If that doesn't bring in enough money, I can always turn to alchemy or crafting equipnt to sell!"
Charles devoured several skewers of roasted at, letting out a satisfied belch.
Instead of sleeping, he gave the cloud leopard a [Regenerating Potion] to restore its energy and continued his journey back to Lsengard through the night.
After two months of living in a tent, Charles was eager to lie down on a proper bed again.
...
After another day of speeding through the [Ferocious Beast Mountains], Charles could finally see the towering walls of Lsengard in the distance.
Compared to when he left, the walls appeared to be taller and thicker, a clear indication that attacks from ferocious beasts had beco more frequent during his absence.
After his credentials were checked at the city gate, Charles hailed a taxi and headed straight for his old house. Though the house was a bit rundown, it had been his ho for many years.
For soone who has been drifting around, having a ho gives a sense of belonging.
Half an hour later, Charles arrived at an old residential complex. The peeling paint on the apartnt building's walls gave Charles a sense of warmth and familiarity.
But when he reached his front door, he was stunned!
The rusty iron door had been kicked in, leaving Charles's first thought that his house had been robbed. But as he rushed inside, he realized sothing was off.
The refrigerator, television, washing machine, and furniture—everything that could be smashed was shattered into pieces. Items that couldn't be destroyed were either coated in black tar or sprayed with red paint.
Staring at what now looked more like a garbage dump than his ho, Charles collapsed onto the floor, overwheld. But after a few monts, anger flared up in his eyes.
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