This horrifying scene made Charles break out in a cold sweat, but he quickly calmed down. He looked at Uldir with some confusion and asked in a low voice, “Uldir, why did you join them? This is a gang of ruthless bandits!”
Though his voice was low, Charles’s tone was full of reproach. In his impression, Uldir’s nature wasn’t that bad; otherwise, he wouldn’t be thinking of saving him now.
“Sigh, I can’t explain it to you right now. Let’s just say they have something on me,” Uldir said with a bitter smile. “Hurry and leave, Bradley is a Level 3 Beast Master. You killed his son Felix a few days ago; he definitely won’t let you go!”
“Level 3 Beast Master?” Charles was slightly stunned.
He had just recently advanced to Level 2 Beast Master, and the fight with Felix had already been tough. With Max still in a weakened state, encountering a Level 3 Beast Master would mean no chance of victory.
However, something was odd. They had decided to come to this hunter’s village to resupply just two days ago and only mentioned it in the trial group. How did Bradley know?
Charles looked puzzled. “Is it just a coincidence that Bradley happened to ambush us here?”
“I’ve been seeing a stranger frequently entering and leaving Bradley’s camp recently. He might be the one who leaked your whereabouts,” Uldir said, his forehead sweating and his heart pounding as footsteps sounded from the nearby huts.
“Uldir, can you describe him?” Charles asked, lowering his voice even more.
“His face is pale, as thin as a stick, riding a four-winged tiger…” Uldir hadn’t finished speaking when the wooden door next to them creaked open.
Seeing Charles, a hunter-looking man was first startled and then shouted:
“Charles! Charles is here! Catch him, the boss offers 5 gold coins!”
The words were like poking a hornet’s nest.
In an instant, the bandits who had been hiding in the surrounding straw huts tore off their disguises and rushed out, weapons in hand.
“5 gold coins? Let’s see if you have the guts to take it,” Charles snorted coldly. He took out the Ice and Fire Supreme Spear from his storage space and faced the oncoming bandits head-on.
A flash of light passed, and then the Fire Supreme Spear swung. The tip of the spear slashed through the air, and the bandit who had just spotted him had blood spurting from his neck.
Hearing the commotion outside, the other members of the Seventh Squad, who were cooling off inside the house, rushed out.
These past few days, they had been hiding in the mountains to avoid these bandits’ pursuit. They hadn’t eaten well or slept well, and everyone was already filled with pent-up anger.
They didn’t hold back, summoning their mystical beasts and engaging in battle with the surrounding bandits.
Fireballs and hail rained down on the bandits, while the melee mystical beasts charged forward for close combat. Even a usually timid girl summoned her mystical beast, a skylark, using its song to provide buffs for her teammates.
After nearly two weeks of training, the strength of the entire Seventh Squad had undergone a qualitative leap. Those who could survive the trial were not to be trifled with.
After half an hour of fighting, a dozen bandits were dead, while only a few squad members had minor injuries.
Suddenly, a roar came from outside the village:
“Asshole, today I will tear you to pieces to avenge my son’s death!”
In the blink of an eye, a middle-aged man with a grim expression appeared in front of Charles.
The man wore a black cloak, with a long sword with an ‘L’-shaped hilt at his waist, and he glared at Charles with bloodshot eyes.
Sensing the formidable aura emanating from the middle-aged man, Charles immediately realized that this must be Bradley, the Level 3 Beast Master that Uldir had mentioned.
Before Charles could speak, Bradley drew the three-foot-long ‘L’-shaped sword, stomped on the ground, and shot toward Charles, swinging the sword at his head!
Almost reflexively, Charles used the Fire Supreme Spear to block the man’s fierce attack—
“Clang—!!”
The supreme spear and the blade collided, producing a sharp, piercing metallic sound. The force of the clash sent straw from the thatched roofs flying and falling to the ground.
Under this powerful impact, Charles slid back several meters before coming to a stop. In contrast, the man opposite him only took half a step back to steady himself.
As Charles looked up at the man, several lines of text appeared on his system’s light screen.
[Name]: Bradley
[Age]: 51
[Height]: 178 cm
[Beast Master Level]: Level 3
“What immense power! So this is the difference between a Level 2 Beast Master and a Level 3 Beast Master,” Charles marveled silently.
With each level a mystical beast advances, the Beast Master’s own attributes also improve. The strength of a Level 3 Beast Master is comparable to a Level 20-29 ferocious beast, while Charles’s current strength is at most equivalent to a Level 12. The gap between them was too large; he was no match for Bradley now.
Charles glanced at the shadow not far from him. He only needed to activate the skill [Darkness Cloak] to teleport away.
But if he did that, Fletcher, Aurora, and the rest of the Seventh Squad would likely be slaughtered by Bradley.
“Well done, big boss!”
“Great hit!”
“Kill that bastard and avenge the second boss!”
Seeing Bradley win the first exchange with Charles, the previously beaten and downtrodden bandits were greatly encouraged, cheering loudly.
Bradley cracked his knuckles, producing a series of bone-popping sounds: “You actually managed to block my strike without breaking your arm. I must say, you do have some strength. But your path as a Beast Master ends here!”
Bradley extended his right palm, and three silver hexagrams appeared in front of him.
Three massive creatures emerged from the summoning array, their enormous bodies blocking out the sunlight. The surrounding thatched huts trembled slightly with their footsteps.
“Three mystical beasts… He’s a Level 3 Beast Master!” Seeing these three mystical beasts being summoned, Fletcher’s heart sank. He wasn’t even a match for Felix, let alone Bradley.
Fletcher commanded the cloud leopard to stand in front of the students, prepared for a desperate fight.
The surrounding students looked at the three summoned beasts with eyes full of despair. With Bradley’s power, killing them would be as easy as crushing an ant.
“What should we do… I’m so scared, I don’t want to die!”
“Mr. Fletcher, maybe we should hand Charles over. He’s the one who killed Felix…”
“Shut up! What are you talking about? Without Charles, we would have been dead already!”
Amid the chaos of the battle, Charles remained unusually calm. He carefully examined the information about the three mystical beasts, looking for any weaknesses.
——[Four-Eyed Pit Viper]——
[Attribute]: Poison
[Level]: 20
[Quality]: Silver
[Skills]: Poisonous Fang Sting, Venom Spray
[Weakness]: Fire Attribute
…
——[Long-Tailed Emperor Scorpion]——
[Attribute]: Poison
[Level]: 22
[Quality]: Silver
[Skills]: Bone-Cutting Claws, Scorpion Tail Sting
[Weakness]: Fire Attribute
…
——[Vesiculated Toxic Toad]——
[Attribute]: Poison
[Level]: 21
[Quality]: Silver
[Skills]: Vesicle Spray, Long Tongue Coiling
[Weakness]: Fire Attribute ƒгeewebnovёl.com
…
Charles shook his right hand, which had gone numb from the impact, his brow furrowed in concern. “The gap between Bradley and me is too vast. With such a disparity in strength, he can easily negate the disadvantage brought by attribute restraint.”
“I need to find a way to enrage Bradley. When he loses his composure, that’s when I can attack his weaknesses!”
Charles pondered. Since he couldn’t handle the three Level 20 and above mystical beasts head-on, he had to look for an opportunity to ambush Bradley instead.
Though it might not be the most honorable tactic, Charles had never considered himself a noble person. He was willing to use any means necessary to survive.
Having formulated his plan, he immediately issued combat orders through Mind Communication:
“Mousie, use [Mimetic Illusion] to create a replica of the two-headed tiger and infuriate Bradley!”
“Leave it to Mousie!!”
“Max, use ice spikes to slow their assault and buy me some time.”
“Max received!!”
The space distorted as Mousie activated its skill [Mimetic Illusion], and a towering figure, five meters tall, emerged from the void.
“Roar!!!”
The two-headed tiger let out a deafening roar, its bellow echoing through the mountains.
“You—!!!” Bradley’s pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the all-too-familiar two-headed tiger, his clenched fists cracking.
This two-headed tiger was the combined form of his deceased son Felix’s mystical beast. How could he not recognize it?
“You bastard, you’re courting death!!!”
Thinking of Felix’s mutilated remains, Bradley’s eyes turned blood-red. He issued a battle command to his three mystical beasts:
“Attack! Kill them all!”
The ground began to tremble as the massive creatures engaged in battle.
The vesiculated toxic toad charged forward, grappling with the two-headed tiger in close combat. The four-eyed pit viper unleashed [Venom Spray], aiming to poison the frost wolf.
The long-tailed emperor scorpion, the strongest in combat, struggled to move as its segmented exoskeleton slipped on the ice-covered ground, making even walking difficult.
“Hmph, do you think you can defeat me this way?” Bradley snorted coldly.
In the face of absolute power, any scheme or trick was laughable. His mystical beasts held a dominant 3v2 advantage in their fight, and as for Charles, Bradley intended to finish him off personally.
Bradley stomped the ground and shot forward, evading the frost wolf’s ice spike attack, heading straight for Charles.
The sound of rushing wind reached Charles. By the time he saw Bradley’s figure, Bradley was already in front of him.
The long sword clashed with the Ice and Fire Supreme Spear, sending out a shower of sparks.
Given the disparity of an entire Beast Master level, Charles had no chance. He was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into a nearby mud hut.
“Lightning Demon Ape!!!”
A row of thatched huts collapsed under the powerful impact.
Bradley had a decisive advantage, and the frost wolf and the two-headed tiger were also losing ground. With a slight smile, Bradley pointed his long sword at the debris in front of him:
“It’s over, you bastard.”
“I will soon show you what it means to beg for life and be denied death!”