After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

However, before Ciel could make any move...

The next moment, a bluish-gray wind blade slashed straight down, cutting the second-tier "elite goblin" in two.

"Hey bro, wanna buy some cheats?"

A young man appeared beside Charles, smiling.

"Buy a cheat?"

"Oh, 'hanging' is a relatively new term. You can think of it as a tool to help you achieve higher results in the trials." As if he felt that Xia Er didn't understand, the young man quickly added.

“I’ve been observing you for a long time. Ever since the Illusion Trial began, you’ve been hiding in a corner of the Demon King’s Castle, afraid to fight the demons.”

The other party had clearly prepared their words in advance and began to explain to Xia Er in an orderly manner: "However, the illusion trial will score you based on your performance in the illusion. Simply avoiding battle will not earn you any points."

"To be frank, based on your current performance in the illusionary trial..."

The young man shook his head, his face grave: "Even if you score high on the written test, considering the weight of the Illusion Trial in the score, it will probably be difficult for you to reach the admission score for the Extraordinary Academy."

Charles thought to himself, "You're probably overestimating me. The person who came in last place in the written exam is right in front of you."

However, though his heart stirred slightly, he did not show it, but listened quietly to the other party's statement.

"We both know in our hearts that being admitted to the Extraordinary Academy or not makes a world of difference to us—"

"Once you are admitted, it is equivalent to having a ticket to the middle and above. The Extraordinary Academy has abundant cultivation resources and mentors to guide you."

"But once you fail the exam, you'll be stuck below the third rank for life, and you'll have to rely on the whims of those strong people for the rest of your life."

"Or perhaps become an adventurer or a soldier, risking your life for meager rewards."

"After years of hard study, are you content?"

The young man's voice suddenly grew louder, his eyes filled with a hint of fanaticism.

Charles remained calm.

If he fails the exam, he can only go back to the Black Tower to be his deputy tower master and chief, which is indeed quite unsatisfying.

However, Charles was also aware of the allure of the other party's words to ordinary test takers.

In the Western Continent, becoming a first-tier professional is not too difficult; as long as one has a little talent and practices diligently, one can break through.

However, the third and fourth tiers—that is, the dividing line between lower-level professionals and middle-level professionals, between the ordinary and the extraordinary—is an extremely difficult threshold to cross.

This can be seen from the titles of fourth-tier professions in each system, such as Grand Knight, Arcane Mage, and Elite Warrior.

For the offspring of nobles, even if they are not admitted, they can rely on their fathers' resources to embark on the path of becoming extraordinary through channels such as the military, the Black Tower, and the Dawn Church.

However, for ordinary people, once they lose the opportunity to attend an academy, they may be stuck at the peak of the third tier for the rest of their lives, making it difficult for them to become true superhumans.

"I know you're not reconciled." The young man's words sounded quite confident, with a hint of seduction.

“The children of those nobles are not necessarily much better than us in terms of talent. It’s just that they have been guided by famous teachers and given various resources since childhood, so they are able to temporarily take the lead over us.”

"And I can give you a chance, a chance to trample those arrogant noble brats underfoot."

Charles finally understood; this guy was here to sell cheating devices for exams.

"So, what's the price?"

With Charles's knowledge, he naturally knew that there were indeed many black wizard potions that could greatly enhance the user's abilities in a short period of time.

However, without exception, these black wizard potions all have considerable side effects; the stronger the potion, the more terrible the side effects.

Take the most famous beast transformation potion as an example. This potion allows the user to gain the ability to transform into a magical beast in a short period of time. The most potent Dragon Blood Potion can even temporarily transform the user into a sub-dragon. Relying on the racial talents of the sub-dragon, fighting against opponents of higher levels is no problem at all.

However, as a side effect, users of the beast transformation potion will retain some of the physical characteristics from their beast transformation in a semi-permanent manner, which is extremely difficult to remove.

If the permanent animal transformation is done in a suitable way, it's fine. In fact, thanks to the trend started by Black Tower Bookstore, kemonomimi (animal-eared girls) has become a fashion trend.

But if the beast-like parts are certain vital areas... just thinking about it is terrifying.

Because of these and other side effects, Black Wizard Elixir has long been classified as controlled knowledge by the four major human kingdoms and the Black Tower. Ordinary superhumans have almost no chance of coming into contact with Black Wizard Elixir without permission.

"The price?" The young man shook his head mysteriously. "You misunderstood. What I'm talking about isn't some kind of secret medicine that hurts the enemy a thousand while harming yourself eight hundred."

"The Lord's gifts are beyond your imagination..."

Before the young man could finish speaking, he felt himself being grabbed.

"Cultists?"

"Evil God?"

He looked up and saw that Charles, who had previously seemed uninterested in his topic and whose replies were half-hearted, suddenly had his eyes shining and was clutching the hem of his clothes tightly.

The gaze was filled with a hungry intensity, making the young man feel as if he were being seen naked from head to toe.

He tugged at his clothes, but found he couldn't budge them.

"you……"

"Ahem, sorry, I got a little too excited." Charles cleared his throat and released his grip on the other's clothes. "What I mean is, I've been dissatisfied with those incompetent nobles for a long time. Are kings and nobles born with special privileges? I've wanted to give them a good beating for a long time."

“I am very interested in what you have said about the Lord and the opportunities that are given. Please explain in detail.”

The young man looked at Charles with suspicion.

However, Charles's excited demeanor earlier seemed genuine, so he assumed that his previous persuasive words had successfully convinced the other party.

He was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"These things are the organization's secrets, unless you swear an oath..."

Without hesitation, Charles said, "I swear in the name of the Magic Network that if I ever reveal the secret you have spoken of, may I be struck by lightning and punished with a lightning curse."

Chapter Thirteen: Edmond Dantès

The young man immediately felt a deep respect for Charles.

The magic network is the conceptual embodiment of all the rules of magic in the world. Unless one becomes a legend and can freely use the laws of arcane magic to create forbidden spells, all spells cast by wizards are inseparable from the magic network.

For this reason, swearing an oath to the magic net is no small matter for spellcasters, as breaking the oath could very well come true.

In terms of destructive power alone, lightning spells are on par with fire spells in the top spot of elemental magic.

Forbidden spells based on lightning are extremely troublesome even for weaker legendary figures. Even the aftershocks can turn superhumans below the level of quasi-legendary into ashes in an instant.

The fact that the other party could make such a solemn vow without hesitation clearly shows their strong sincerity in joining the organization.

Suddenly, his gaze softened considerably as he looked at Charles and began to recount the various matters concerning the organization to Charles.

……

On the other side, Charles also fully roused.

His original purpose for going to the capital was simply to complete the system's beginner tasks and take the opportunity to relax.

That's why he's been taking a detached, playful approach to life these past few days, just watching the drama unfold.

After all, given his status as a legendary mage, it would be beneath him to seriously compete with the noble offspring and mentors of some academies.

However, Charles did not expect that this trip would lead him to unexpectedly discover clues about cult members.

Generally speaking, cultists in Western fantasy worlds are basically symbols of destruction, killing, and inhumanity.

And the term "evil god" goes without saying; it's practically synonymous with madness, indescribable, chaos, and depravity.

Because of its lofty status, even the slightest emanation of its aura, or the whispers it utters across dimensions, can unknowingly corrupt people, causing them to lose control and fall into depravity.

It's the real deal—it'll explode if you look at it again.

Even if the truth is uncertain, cultists are people that ordinary superhumans would like to stay as far away from as possible.

However, the Charles is different.

For wizards, the saying "knowledge is power" is by no means an exaggeration.

The wizards' practice of arcane arts is actually a process of using the rules and principles they have mastered to analyze the laws governing the operation of all things in the world, seeking knowledge and exploring the mysteries of the universe.

This is why every Black Tower wizard has an extremely strong thirst for knowledge about the unknown. They are all seekers of truth in their respective fields, walking alone in the vast ocean of knowledge, pursuing the truth step by step in their own way.

As one of the best wizards, described by the Black Tower Master Vimes as a "born wizard," Charles's thirst for knowledge can only be described as boundless. Otherwise, he would not have been able to reach the level of a legendary mage in such a short time.

However, given Charles's current strength and arcane skill, there are very few things in this world that can still arouse his sense of mystery, making it difficult for him to improve his arcane skills.

Therefore, it is only natural to understand the allure of clues about cultists for Charles.

The path to godhood has been severed in the Western Continent for thousands of years. During these thousands of years, even the Dawn Church has not received any clues about true gods, as if those gods have simply disappeared without any warning.

And the evil god—

He's a god, after all, isn't he?

To give an example, most people would probably be terrified of zombies.

But if these zombies, which defy the laws of physics, were to appear before scientists, they would probably only shout "Physics no longer exists" while secretly calculating how many SCI papers they could publish and how many Nobel Prizes they could win.

……

The two had a very pleasant conversation.

"Keep this token safe. With its blessing, you will have no problem passing this trial."

As he spoke, the young man carefully took out an antique-style ring engraved with mysterious patterns and gently handed it to Charles.