Chapter 16: Weighted Training

"If you know what's good for you, you'd best concede now, and I might consider letting you off the hook."

Hearing the familiar voice, long-forgotten memories began to flood Charles's mind.

The fierce-looking young woman standing before him was none other than Grace, the daughter of Isengard's city lord.

Before Charles came to Isengard, this favored daughter had nearly monopolized all of Isengard's exams, always clinching the top spot in the city, until that one city-wide joint exam where Charles surpassed her with an absolute lead.

Then... she cornered him at the school gate after classes...

Years had passed, and the little girl had certainly blossomed.

"What promise? I don't remember it." Charles shifted his gaze from Grace to the window outside.

Right now, he didn't even know where his own parents were, let alone have the mind to dwell on some silly promise made when he was a boy with a little girl.

"Are you scared, or did you really forget?" Grace clenched her teeth, looking visibly angry.

She still couldn't forget how Charles had outscored her by more than 100 points in that joint exam, leaving her far behind.

Her reign as the city's top student for several years was usurped by a newcomer from out of town, an affront she couldn't tolerate.

Especially since Charles claimed he had forgotten; this suggested that he simply did not care about their wager, a disregard that felt like a direct challenge to her.

"If you say you forgot, then let me remind you once more. At the recruitment ceremony of the three major academies of the Imperial Capital, we agreed to a duel as Beast Masters. If I lose, I, Grace, will accept defeat graciously and abide by your decision," Grace looked at Charles with utmost seriousness, pronouncing each word clearly:

"But if you lose, you have to let me decide your fate."

In front of Grace, a golden six-pointed star formation appeared, and a butterfly with blue wings emerged from within the formation.

——[Azure Butterfly]——

[Attribute]: Wind

[Level]: 5

[Quality]: Gold

[Skills]: Azure Butterfly, Wind's Shadow Strike

[Mood]: Joyful

[Health]: Good

[Evolution Paths]: 2

[Description]: This is an Azure Butterfly of rare gold quality. It mesmerizes its enemies with ghost-like agility. Each metamorphosis of the Azure Butterfly grants it an additional skill.

"This is... also a gold quality pet." Charles was secretly astounded.

With the help of system prompts, Charles had managed to form a contract with a gold quality The frost wolf, but had Grace managed to bond with a gold quality pet just by opening mystery boxes?

Having lived two lifetimes, Charles was more mature than his peers and originally disdained such childlike wagers. However, he suddenly found himself interested:

"I accept your wager."

"Remember, the loser must agree to any condition set by the winner. I hope you won't back out when the time comes."

Although the Azure Butterfly and Max were of similar quality, Max had four evolutionary paths, offering greater potential for growth.

Moreover, Charles had the 'system,' a kind of cheat that not only pinpointed the opponent's weaknesses during battle but also mapped out the optimal path for his pet's development.

Charles was confident that he could defeat Grace in two months.

"Just wait to lose; I look forward to the day I have you under my heel." Grace lifted her head, her green eyes looking down at Charles with pride. "I just hope when you're kneeling at my feet, you won't be a sore loser and cry."

Grace flipped her dark green hair and turned to leave the carriage, leaving all the classmates who had listened to their conversation, especially the boys, quite astonished.

Daniel, always eager for gossip, nudged Charles's shoulder: "Charles, how do you always get so lucky, knowing the city lord's daughter Grace like that?"

"It's hardly knowing her... it's more like we've just crossed paths once." Charles smiled wryly, a bit helpless.

"My goodness, how many people wish they could meet the city lord's daughter and never get the chance? And here she is seeking you out. If you could get close to a wealthy heiress like that, you'd be set for life, not to mention she's also so beautiful..." Daniel was about to impart his flirting wisdom to Charles when the train suddenly began to slow down.

A voice over the train's speaker interrupted their conversation:

"The train has now arrived at York. All students, please gather your belongings and disembark."

...

Stepping off the train, Charles took a deep breath of fresh air and then summoned Max.

Having been cooped up on the train for several days, Max couldn't wait to romp around in the wild as soon as they hit the ground, looking much like a puppy experiencing snow for the first time.

Charles took a quick look around; the town wasn't large.

This station marked the end of the railway line and was also the southernmost point of Genosha's border—York.

Positioned right next to the Ferocious Beast Mountains, the town naturally became an important supply point. The shops of varying sizes sold everything from healing potions and weapons to armor and ferocious beast materials.

Most frequent were ferocious beast hunters, gathered in groups, either preparing to head into the mountains or taking a brief respite, animatedly discussing their day's hauls, which trails were dangerous, and which local store had the best company.

Isengard's Beast Masters participating in the mountain trial were divided into 25 teams, each consisting of 50 students led by an instructor.

Charles's team leader was Vice President Fletcher.

At that moment, he stood in front of the group, carefully detailing the precautions for entering the mountains: "I am your team leader, Fletcher. Everyone check if you're missing any supplies. If not, let's set off!"

"The trial in the Ferocious Beast Mountains is finally starting..." Charles muttered to himself.

He reached into his backpack, his attention, however, was on the system's [Storage Space]. A piece of equipment materialized from the void into his palm.

This was Charles's secret weapon—[Divine Scale Armor]

Although the [Divine Scale Armor] offered only moderate protection, its significant weight meant that Charles was essentially undergoing weighted training every moment he wore it.

"The effect should be quite good, but I might have underestimated its weight." Wearing the [Divine Scale Armor], Charles immediately felt winded, and if it weren't for inheriting some of Max's attributes, he might not have been able to straighten his back at all.

Feeling as if he was carrying a massive stone on his back, Charles left deep footprints in the soil with every step he took on the mountain path, quickly falling behind the rest of the group.

"Those of you at the back, pick up the pace, haven't you eaten!" Fletcher's impatient voice came from several dozen meters ahead.

Charles glanced behind and saw he was now at the end of the line. What surprised him, however, was that despite carrying several hundred pounds, there were still others lagging behind him.

Several hundred meters ahead, the sounds of combat echoed, and the air was faintly tinged with the smell of blood, clearly indicating an encounter with a ferocious beast.

By the time Charles arrived, however, the fight was already over, and even the materials had been completely divided up.

After several hours of difficult trekking on the mountain path, Charles took out his phone to check the score leaderboard.

————————————

[Ferocious Beast Mountains Trial Scoreboard]

1st Place: Grace [8 points]

2nd Place: Brian [6 points]

3rd Place: Robert [5 points]

...

————————————

"Grace is really formidable; not even half a day in, and she already has 8 points." Charles leaned against a large tree, panting heavily.

But he wasn't in a hurry, the first few days were meant to adapt to the Divine Scale Armor. With two months for the trial, there was plenty of time to hunt ferocious beasts.

What surprised Charles was Robert being in the top three: "Could I have been mistaken, and that four-winged tiger actually has strong combat capabilities?"

Despite his slow pace, Charles did not stop trying to catch up with the main group.

By the time he reached the campsite, the sun was already setting.

"Alright, today's trial ends here, it's getting late. Everyone, hurry up and set up the camp. Boys on the outer perimeter, girls on the inside," instructed Fletcher, which was met with a burst of cheers around him.

Sweat had pooled into little streams on Charles's body, and he flopped down on the grass as if unburdened.

...

The dark night was adorned with a crescent moon on the horizon.

Around the outskirts of the Ferocious Beast Mountains, small fires twinkled like stars.

Charles luxuriously soaked in a bathtub, surrounded by two large plates of grilled skewers, while Max indulged in a hearty meal beside him.

Charles tasted a sizzling, juicy skewer and sipped some red wine, then opened a chat group named "Trial Team Mega Group."

"I'm dead tired today, I've never climbed so many mountains in my life!"

"Did you guys check the leaderboard? I hunted down 3 level 1 ferocious beasts today, now I'm in the top 100 with 3 points."

"Nice, bro, how did you manage to win?"

"Awesome, I didn't score at all today, thanks to a loser named Charles in our team lagging behind, even worse than the girls!"

"Help! A snake just fell into my tent, someone save me!"

"For real, there's a snake? Don't get bitten, there's no hospital around these wilds, a bite would be the end!"

"So many mosquitoes in the mountains, my hands are all swollen!"

"This dry food is so awful, I miss my mom's burgers so much, waaaah..."

The chat was flooded with messages, most of them bonding over their hardships.

Gurgling—

Charles burped comfortably after his bath, feeling refreshed.

He packed up the leftovers around him, stuffing them into his [Storage Space], a designated trash area.

Before leaving Isengard, he had already stored a large amount of food, medicine, and drinking water in his storage space. While others were suffering, his two months of trial could be quite comfortable.

However, as he stowed the bathtub back into the storage space, he was surprised to find he could lift the hundred-pound tub with one hand. "Is the training effect of the [Divine Scale Armor] really this good? It's only been one day!"

Feeling the tightened muscles on his body, Charles excitedly stepped out of the tent, took the [Ice and Fire Supreme Spear], and ventured to a spot far from the campsite. He swung fiercely at a large rock.

Cling—

The sound of the strike was crisp, and the rock, half the height of a man, was cleanly split in two by Charles.

Sensing the changes in his body, Charles was thrilled and couldn't wait to test his strength against a ferocious beast:

"Max, let's go hunting!"