Chapter 484: Golden Paper Kite Academy

A young boy, looking down on Charlot, muttered softly, "Youna! None of us recall him. At most, he’s just recently broken through and can’t be more than a First Rank."

Charlot quickly nodded and replied, "That's right, I’m just a First Rank!"

Youna nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What transcendent path are you following?"

This young girl had delicate features, a slender figure, exceptionally long legs, and a slim waist. She exuded an air of a minor goddess, with a hint of natural leadership. Indeed, her charm was enough to captivate boys of her age group.

However, Charlot, with his two lifetimes combined, wasn’t exactly young anymore. Back on the Old Continent, being a mathematics teacher required at least a graduate degree. Charlot had already graduated from university in the Fars Empire two years prior and was a legitimate imperial civil servant. He felt indifferent toward this type of young girl.

Moreover, if beauty were the metric, Princess Annie, the West Wind Goddess of Gorgias University, far outshone this Youna girl in every way.

Well, Annie’s only shortcoming was her relatively low transcendent rank.

She had just broken through to the Second Rank Dreamwalker but had been too modest to bring it up to Charlot.

Still, as a princess of the Fars Empire, Grand Duchess of Moldova, and a legendary novelist, Annie Mecklenburg didn’t need a high transcendent rank to prove her worth.

Charlot hesitated for a moment before replying softly, "It’s just the most ordinary kind."

The paths of human transcendence were many, and Charlot wasn’t sure what the young people in this “academy” might be learning. Giving a precise answer seemed tricky.

Youna’s expression turned slightly exasperated. "Another guy cultivating Bloodfire Combat Energy."

Charlot was taken aback. He thought to himself, “These young people don’t look like orcs. Why would their academy teach Bloodfire Combat Energy?”

The boy who had spoken earlier looked a bit excited. "What orc transformation did you choose? Hopefully, it’s a tank type. We’re short on defense!"

Charlot thought sarcastically, "Me? Provide defense for you? Dream on." He replied in a low voice, "I specialized in Silver Falconman."

The boy immediately looked disappointed. "A guy good at running away? How useless."

Most participants in the Evil God’s Arena were young people, though there were also two teams of adults. However, their strength didn’t seem significantly better.

From their conversations, Charlot gleaned that these people were all from the New Continent.

On the Old Continent, the Nine True Gods held sway, leaving little room for Evil Gods to stir trouble. But on the New Continent, where there were no True Gods, Evil Gods proliferated, and even candidates for Evil Godhood were not uncommon. This piqued Charlot’s curiosity as he familiarized himself with his new teammates.

Charlot learned that they hailed from the Golden Paper Kite Academy. Unlike the Old Continent’s tiered educational system, the New Continent had a single-tier academy system. These academies taught cultural subjects, martial skills, and transcendent knowledge over a twelve-year period.

Charlot could understand why. On a continent where fighting Evil Gods required high birthrates, education couldn’t proceed at a leisurely pace. These boys and girls had to be exposed to transcendent knowledge at an early age. However, this rapid approach was detrimental to progressing far on the transcendent path. Exposure to corruption weakened a child’s resistance, lowering their chances of achieving higher ranks in the future.

But on the New Continent, people likely had no other choice.

The transcendent knowledge taught at Golden Paper Kite Academy was relatively simple compared to the deep foundations of the Old Continent. They offered only a dozen knight paths and a few mage legacies.

And as for teaching Bloodfire Combat Energy?

That was a twist of fate. Tumisan the Leopardman had once traveled through the New Continent, teaching at over a dozen academies, including Golden Paper Kite. He left behind his Beast God Transformation and Bloodfire Combat Energy techniques there. Charlot found it amusing to encounter students of Tumisan in the Evil God’s Arena.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the hall: "The sanctuary will open in twenty minutes. You will face the wandering monsters of the City of the Pale. Kill them. The first team to kill ten monsters will win and be awarded a fragment of divinity. Each monster has a chance to yield weapons, armor, magic cores, divinity fragments, psychic runes, and more. These will be your spoils of war."

The atmosphere in the hall grew tense as everyone double-checked their weapons.

Charlot noticed that no one here possessed transcendent weapons. He surmised that the rules of the Evil God’s Arena forbade them from bringing such items.

Most carried broad swords, great swords, war knives, short guns, daggers, and even bows. The knightly lance popular on the Old Continent seemed impractical to carry here and was nowhere to be seen. Only two people carried rapiers, which were similarly uncommon for field adventuring due to their limited utility.

Charlot pulled out two Magnum Maulers and pretended to inspect them.

He had little choice. Most of his weapons were stored in the Mirror World and couldn’t be brought out here. Producing two Magnum Maulers was already the best he could do; pulling out rapiers or a knightly lance would draw too much attention.

Soon, doorways appeared on all four walls of the previously sealed hall. Each team tacitly chose a different direction. Youna hesitated briefly before selecting the exit to the left. Once all five members stepped through, the doorway vanished, plunging the surroundings into complete darkness.

Charlot hesitated. Thanks to his Insight ability, he could move freely even in the dark, but he didn’t particularly enjoy it. As he contemplated how to generate some light, a faint glow appeared beside him. Someone had lit a torch.

The torchbearer was another girl in the team, Penny. Compared to Youna, Penny was quieter and less striking in appearance, but her figure was exceptional. Her clothing, both in material and craftsmanship, was the finest among the group.

From the faint scent of oil wafting from the torch, Charlot deduced it was crafted using special techniques and could burn for hours. Such items were not cheap.

The two boys gasped in mild delight, while Youna looked mildly surprised, noting that the torch Penny produced was unusually expensive.

Though all five team members were students of Golden Paper Kite Academy, they weren’t particularly close. Youna and the two boys had been acquaintances at the academy, but Penny was solitary, rarely socializing, and her background was a mystery to them.

Charlot was the least familiar of all.

His earlier timid behavior had given the impression that he was meek, indecisive, and somewhat slow-witted—a poor addition to the team.

Charlot, however, had no intention of revealing his true abilities just yet. He wanted to observe the situation in the Evil God’s Arena.

“This place doesn’t seem as dangerous as I thought,” Charlot mused.

Suddenly, his Insight ability issued a warning...

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