Novel Boss
Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Aria
Lying in the bathtub, Charles held a skewer in one hand and his phone in the other.
In just two days, he had hunted down a Lv7 silver quality resurrecting serpent and a Lv6 bronze division quality steel-spiked hedgehog.
"I wonder what rank I am among these 1000+ participants with 13 points?"
Charles opened the leaderboard.
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[Ferocious Beast Mountains Training Points Leaderboard]
1st Place: Grace [27 points]
2nd Place: Robert [19 points]
3rd Place: Steve [18 points]
...
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Seeing these rankings, Charles couldn't help but grimace: "No way, these people are incredible! First place is almost at 30 points..."
After some searching, he finally found himself at the end of the first page:
29th Place: Charles [13 points]
Although he had expected Grace to be ahead of him, he hadn't anticipated such a crushing lead, especially since Grace had only 8 points yesterday.
The thought of that girl probably holding her phone and mocking him was infuriating to Charles.
"But thinking about it, it makes sense. Our Group 7 was delayed today, and the other teams went deeper into the Ferocious Beast Mountains where the beasts are of higher levels and worth more points. But... what's the deal with Robert?"
Seeing Robert in second place left Charles somewhat stunned.
"I saw that [four-winged tiger] the other day; it was useless. Could it be that Robert's four-winged tiger isn't the same one I saw, or is there a glitch in the system?" Charles muttered to himself.
The system didn't have voice communication, which frustrated Charles. He needed to find some mental balance by checking on Daniel: "Heh, that turtle of his, I bet he's at the bottom without having to look!"
Charles flipped to the 21st page of the leaderboard and indeed saw:
1018th Place: Daniel [0 points]
"Hahaha, what a loser, two days and he hasn't even hunted a Lv1 beast. Didn't he brag about his skills before we left the city..." Charles's laughter suddenly stopped, and he almost dropped his phone into the bathtub, "Wait, why are so many people at zero points?"
Everyone who entered the Ferocious Beast Mountains for training was a newly inducted Beast Master from Isengard this year; it was unthinkable that they couldn't even defeat a Lv1 beast. Even those girls who flirted with him during the day while chatting managed to score a few points, so how could there be so many with zero?
He clicked on the profiles of those with zero points and quickly noticed something strange—they were all from Group 1, the first team to enter the mountains!
Yesterday, Fletcher had also mentioned that the entire Group 1 was missing.
"Daniel... could something have happened to him?" A wave of anxiety swept over Charles.
Aside from his foul mouth and penchant for showing off, Daniel was the only person in this world, other than his parents, who genuinely cared about him without asking for anything in return. Could fate really be so cruel to him?
Beep beep—
[Hello, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later!]
After several calls, all went unanswered, and the chat icon remained gray.
Daniel was unreachable.
"Is Charles here?" came a soft voice outside the tent.
Hastily throwing on a shirt and without even drying his hair, Charles unzipped the tent: "Aurora, what's up?"
"The moon is so beautiful tonight. I think we couldn't see such a beautiful moon back in Isengard..." Aurora looked at Charles, her cheeks slightly reddening: "A lot of people are at the bonfire party, singing and such. Do you want to join and maybe sing a song?"
"Sorry, Aurora, I have some things to take care of tonight," Charles replied, turning and heading towards the camp's perimeter.
Aurora said something more, but Charles could no longer hear her, or rather, he hadn't been listening since her first word.
Dressed in his Divine Scale Armor, his spear glistening with cold light, an ice attribute beast core at the spear's tip shimmering with a faint blue glow, Charles raced through the woods:
"Daniel, please don't be in trouble!"
...
Leaving the camp, Charles headed south.
Along the way, he did his best to conceal his presence, avoiding alarming the ferocious beasts in the forest.
"I heard that Group 1 disappeared in this valley. I hope to find some clues."
Charles looked ahead between two steep peaks where a narrow passageway less than a hundred meters wide served as the quickest route deeper into the Ferocious Beast Mountains. Consequently, it also became a frequent path for many ferocious beasts.
After the incident with Group 1, all subsequent teams chose to detour, and Fletcher opted to camp outside the valley. Charles wiped the sweat from his palms, then gripped his spear tightly, cautiously making his way forward.
The moon was obscured by the cliffs, plunging the entire valley into darkness, yet Charles did not turn on his flashlight. Having acquired some of Max's wolf tribe vision, he could barely make out the path in this pitch-black place.
Suddenly, a strong scent of blood wafted through the air.
"Are they all dead?"
"Relax, absolutely clean, not a single one of the 50 left alive."
"Search them, see if they have anything valuable."
It seemed there were people talking in the dense forest ahead. Charles held his breath and listened intently. When he heard the number '50,' his heart chilled.
50 Beast Masters, 50 lives—thinking about this, Charles felt his eyes redden with fury and he approached the two bandits without hesitation: "You took 50 lives so easily. Forgiving you is God's business. Now, let me send you to meet Him!"
"Who?!"
Hearing the noise, the two bandits switched on their bright flashlights and spun around, only to see a young man with a spear charging at them with a fierce look, and then... he suddenly stopped.
"Doves?" Seeing a string of bird carcasses around the men's necks and hands, Charles was stunned.
"What about 50 lives, what about meeting God..." One of the men scratched his head. "Kid, you scared us to death in the middle of the night. We thought we were being robbed!"
"Ha, sorry, my mistake. What are you guys doing out here so late?" Charles deactivated his bestial soul merge state but remained vigilant.
"We're local hunters. This mountain trip's been cursed; not a single ferocious beast spotted in two days. We were starving, had to hunt doves at night just to fill our bellies..." The man chuckled naively, showing off about fifty doves.
Hearing the men talk about their fruitless two days, Charles gave an embarrassed laugh. With over a thousand Beast Masters from Isengard training in the area, they'd probably scared off every ferocious beast around.
"Since it was a misunderstanding, I'm really sorry. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll leave you to your dove hunting," Charles said, getting ready to leave.
The other man suddenly called out to him: "Young man, you seem in a hurry. Are you looking for someone?"
Charles nodded, seeing no need to hide it.
The man pondered for a moment before speaking to Charles, "Last night, we passed by here and saw a lot of blood on the ground. There must have been an accident. We also saved a young girl who said she was from York. Could she be the person you're looking for?"
A young girl from York yesterday...
Charles considered that she could likely be a surviving Beast Master from Group 1. He could ask her about what exactly happened last night. He nodded and said, "It's very possible. Could you gentlemen please take me to see her?"
"That's easy."
The men tied up the doves with a rope, slung them around their necks, and then led Charles to a nearby village.
From afar, they saw a few lights halfway up the mountain. It was Charles's first time realizing that there were actually villages within the Ferocious Beast Mountains.
"I tell you, that young girl, I've never seen anyone as beautiful in my life."
"Her skin, so soft and tender, and that slender waist..."
As the dove man spoke about the girl, a sleazy smile appeared on his face.
"Cough, cough!"
It took his companion's reminder for the man to realize he had been inappropriate.
Disgusted yet curious after hearing the two men, Charles wondered. In his memory, there wasn't a woman in Isengard more beautiful than Grace, but Grace wasn't scoring zero points.
A few minutes later, Charles followed the two hunters to the village, which was oddly designed with a round city entrance, a structure typically used in ancient cities for defense.
Entering through the gate, he saw a dozen thatched huts scattered about, and everyone looked at him with strange eyes.
"Aria, we just met one of your friends in the mountains," the dove man knocked on the door of one of the thatched huts.
"A friend?"
With a creak, a woman gently pushed open the door.
She wore a purple dress and her face was partially veiled in translucent fabric, her eyes shimmering with a seductive allure. Her long hair was casually tied at the waist with a headband, and her every move radiated a refreshing aura.
As Charles's gaze unintentionally swept across the young woman's waist, he suddenly understood why the previous man had chuckled like a creep. Her delicate, slender waist seemed as if it could be encircled with just his hands. Despite it being their first meeting, Charles felt an unexpected urge to embrace her protectively.
Such a beautiful girl looked strikingly out of place among the rugged villagers of the settlement.
[Name]: Aria
[Age]: 17
[Height]: 172 cm
[Measurements]: 82/49/77
[Beast Master Level]: None
This brief information flashed before him, leaving Charles somewhat startled:
"This girl named Aria, she isn't a Beast Master?"