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"Charles, was that really you in there just now?" Celestine asked. She hadn\'t specifically come to find Charles; she had just happened to be at the Forging Masters Guild to help a classmate buy a few things, not expecting to run into Charles during his certification assessment.

After hearing that Charles was a senior blacksmith and that he would be taking the senior alchemist certification assessment tomorrow, Celestine had slapped her face more than once to confirm whether this was a dream or something real. The Charles who had once bullied her had transformed into someone so outstanding. Perhaps Charles had always been exceptional, and she just hadn\'t seen it.

"Of course it\'s me! Is there someone else who looks just like me?" Charles responded, feeling a sense of joy at seeing Celestine, who was also from Lsengard. His gaze instinctively lingered on Celestine\'s figure, his mind flashing back to that night.

Noticing Charles\'s gaze, Celestine felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She was about to say something more when she caught sight of Catherine next to Charles, and an inexplicable anger surged within her. "You think you\'re something special, Charles? My sister Aurora treated you so well!"

Charles couldn\'t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation at her words. "You\'ve got it all wrong; this is Catherine, my good friend."

"Good friend? You expect me to believe that? Do you think I\'m that foolish? Just wait! I\'ll tell my sister to forget about you!" Celestine was clearly not convinced. She sensed that when Charles said "good friend," Catherine\'s expression had shifted slightly, betraying her discomfort.

"You\'re definitely misunderstanding. Charles and I are not in a romantic relationship," Catherine quickly interjected, wanting to clarify any misconceptions about Charles.

"Really?" Celestine still seemed skeptical but decided not to press further. She felt uncomfortable, perhaps because she saw the person her sister liked being surrounded by other women, which made her uneasy.

"Charles, I need to remind you of something. Grace is now a level four Beast Master. She might compete in the Genosha inter-academy exchange competition in two months," Celestine said before turning to leave without pausing for another moment.

She wasn\'t sure what was going on. Logically, she should have told her sister about the other women around Charles, which would have led her sister to become disappointed in him. After all, wasn\'t that what she had wanted all along?

Now, all Celestine wanted was to return to her dorm and get a good night\'s sleep.

"Grace, a level four Beast Master." Charles repeated those words, unable to forget what Grace had done to him! In two years, he would defeat Grace and make her his slave!

"Let\'s go back to the academy; we have a competition this afternoon," Charles said, taking a deep breath to calm his emotions as he beckoned for Catherine to head toward Cyber Academy.

He didn\'t notice that Catherine was behind him, her mouth slightly agape as she whispered, almost inaudibly, "Grace, who is she?"

...

At Cyber Academy, in the competition area, Charles looked at the information about his opponent and rubbed his nose in exasperation. Another level three Beast Master. It seemed he would have to wait until tomorrow to face a level four Beast Master.

After today, Classes A and B would be separated. Tomorrow\'s competition was to select the top few from the new students, along with the strongest among them!

As for Catherine, she seemed a bit out of sorts. Since returning from the Forging Masters Guild, she had been zoning out occasionally, lost in her thoughts.

Catherine\'s opponent was also not strong—a level three Beast Master. Perhaps that was why she was struggling to focus on the fight?

Charles thought seriously about it, considering that this was the most likely reason. It couldn\'t be because of him, could it?

"Competitors, prepare! The match is about to begin!" With the referee\'s shout, Charles stepped into the competition area.

Before the match even started, his opponent excitedly shouted, "Charles, Charles! I\'m your fan! You\'re amazing, Charles!"

"This contestant, please get ready; the match will start soon," the referee reminded him.

"Okay, teacher, I know! Just let me say a few more things!" Ignoring the referee\'s expression, the opponent continued, "You\'re incredible, Charles! Senior blacksmith, senior alchemist! You\'re just not human!"

The referee heard this too and looked at Charles with astonishment, but then thought it over and dismissed the idea. There couldn\'t be such a person, could there?

"Ready! The match officially begins!" With the referee\'s declaration, the previously starry-eyed and excited opponent instantly summoned three wooden mystical beasts and launched an immediate attack on Charles!

"[Vine Entanglement], [Stab Attack], and [Spore Vertigo]! Charles, I\'m sorry, but you really need to practice more in the Beast Master area..." Before he could finish his sentence, Charles was already in front of him.

All of his attacks missed entirely; not a single one hit Charles!

With the boost from [Quick Travel], Charles\'s speed was such that a Beast Master below level four couldn\'t even react in time! Even a level four Beast Master could only make effective defensive movements if they could predict his actions in advance or use a wide-range attack to force Charles to change his path of attack.

In hand-to-hand combat, Charles had always been at an advantage, except when facing Catherine. His physical attributes and strength far exceeded those of other Beast Masters at the same level!

"Charles, wait, don\'t hit my face! I admit defeat!" The opponent was surprisingly straightforward, calling out directly to the referee.

"The match is over. The winner is Charles, with an additional point awarded," the referee announced the results.

Charles turned to leave, but a voice from behind him called out.

"Charles, could I get your autograph? I admire you so much!" The person was pulling out a marker as they continued, "Charles, you have no idea how famous you are right now! You\'ve made headlines everywhere! My sister really likes you!"

Headlines?

Charles felt a bit confused. He hadn\'t had time to check his phone these past few days and had no idea what was going on.

"Charles, please! Just one autograph! If I have your signature, my sister will definitely think highly of me!"

Seeing the pleading look in their eyes, Charles couldn\'t bring himself to refuse. He took the marker and signed it, writing "Charles."

Once he stepped outside the venue, Charles immediately pulled out his phone. As soon as he opened [Calivia News], he saw a video of himself from the side—specifically, footage from the events at the Alchemist Guild.

There were countless comments from netizens below: "So strong! An eighteen-year-old senior blacksmith, senior alchemist, and level three Beast Master! No one is stronger than Charles!"

"Hasn\'t even passed the senior alchemist certification yet—how can you be so sure?"

"Bet or not, I\'m betting."

"Of course I\'ll bet! I bet Charles will pass the senior alchemist assessment smoothly!"

"You..."

Charles slapped his forehead. It seemed things were getting a bit out of hand. Was it really just his blacksmithing and alchemy skills that had made him this famous?

There are many high-ranking blacksmiths and alchemists, so why is everyone paying attention to him?

"Sigh, I just want to quietly improve my strength," Charles lamented.

He decided not to dwell on it any longer; popular events on the internet only stay trendy for a while, and after that, few people would remember him.

When Charles arrived at Catherine\'s competition venue, he found that she had already finished her match. She stood there, staring blankly into space, lost in thought.

"What\'s wrong? You seem a bit different this afternoon," Charles asked with concern.

Catherine shook her head, indicating that nothing was wrong. But after a few seconds, with some hesitation, she asked, "Charles, who is Grace?"

Charles was puzzled. He didn\'t understand why Catherine was asking this, but he had nothing to hide, so he explained:

"Grace is the daughter of the Lord of Lsengard, Lord Matthew, whom you\'ve met. I… well, I have a complicated relationship with her."

Catherine grew increasingly angry as she listened. Her fists clenched tightly, and her muscles tensed as if she were ready to strike at any moment. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Charles, this Grace is too much! How can she act like that?"

Charles shrugged helplessly, raising his hands in surrender. There was nothing more to say about the past. All he needed to do was surpass Grace within two years and then defeat her, which would allow him to make Grace his slave. Not only would he be able to clear his past, but he would also make Grace experience true humiliation!

"Charles, you will definitely be stronger than her!" Catherine believed in him. There was one thing she didn\'t say, though: if Charles failed to surpass Grace, she would personally intervene to make Grace regret proposing the "human contract"!

"Thank you, I know I will be stronger than her!" Charles nodded.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

At first, Charles thought it might be Hale contacting him about something, but when he opened his phone, he was surprised to see that the message was from Ezra!

Ezra\'s message read, "Charles, agree to Colton. He has a fragment of the map regarding the whereabouts of the divine beast!"

A fragment of a map!

Charles looked at the fragment of the map in his storage space [2/3].

[Map Fragment](2/3): This is a map that records the location of the fallen ancient god beasts. Since the map is missing the last 1/3, only a rough location can be discerned. [Click to view details] Celestial City, the Infinity Isles.

He had two pieces; was the last one with Colton?