The worse you are, the stronger you become: My summoned beast is a photographer.

The Knights' Academy is located in the southeast corner of the main city of Erster, across the street from the Royal Arena. Its architectural style is as dignified and imposing as those around the inner ring of the capital. Ivy climbs all over the gray-white stone walls, and two tall stone griffins stand in front of the porch, lifelike, as if they are about to take flight at any moment.

Ming Luochen led Aura through the gate, into a spacious courtyard paved with bluestone slabs and spotlessly clean. Several uniformed knights and squires were chatting idly in the courtyard. When they saw a centaur leading a human in, they merely glanced at him casually before continuing their conversation.

"Where is the registration area?" Ming Luochen looked around.

Aura gestured with her chin, indicating that he should look towards the main hall. There hung a wooden sign that read "National Little Knight Ranking Battle - Registration Area".

As the two entered the main hall, a faint smell of ink wafted towards them. The hall was not large; a long counter separated the inside from the outside. Behind the counter sat an elderly man with gray hair and a goatee, wearing round-framed glasses, who was looking down at a thick register.

"Excuse me, is this where I register for the Little Knight Ranking Battle?" Ming Luochen stood on tiptoe, trying to peek his head out from behind the counter.

The goatee-wearing old man raised his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over the two of them before finally settling on Aura: "Have you filled out the registration form?"

"Not yet." Aura shook her head.

The old man pulled a form from under the counter and pushed it forward with a pen: "Fill it out. Write down your name, age, race, level, and summoned beast information clearly."

Aura took the pen and began to fill it in. Her handwriting wasn't very beautiful, but she wrote each stroke with great care, as if she were performing some kind of sacred ritual.

Taking advantage of the lull, the old man sized up Ming Luochen, a hint of curiosity in his eyes: "You're her summoned beast?"

"Yes." Ming Luochen nodded.

"What level?"

"Rank F"

The old man paused, glanced at him, and then looked at the level Aura had filled in—level 5. He was silent for a moment, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on, as if to confirm that he hadn't misread it.

"Young lady," the old man sighed, his tone tinged with admonition, "this battle has already begun, and those who challenge you now are all tough opponents. You're only level 5, and your summoned beast is only an F-rank intelligent type. To be honest, your chances of winning aren't high."

He paused, then pointed to the ranking column on the registration form: "The defenders ranked ninety and below must be at least level fifteen. If you go up there..."

"We know," Ming Luochen replied sincerely. "We just want to give it a try, and if it doesn't work, we'll admit defeat."

The old man glanced at him, then at Aura—Aura kept her head down and continued filling out the form, showing no sign of giving up.

"You can't reason with a damned devil." The old man shook his head, said no more, took the filled-out registration form, took two bronze number plates from the drawer, and handed them to Aura. "These are your competition number plates. Don't lose them. The competition is at the Royal Arena. You can still make it there. Remember, it's the last three days of the battle. You're on your own."

"Thank you." Aura took the number plate and carefully pinned it to her waist.

Ming Luochen also thanked them and led Aura outside.

The old man watched the two figures disappear into the distance, shook his head, and muttered to himself, "These days, it seems like everyone wants to give it a try."

The Royal Colosseum is located opposite the Knights' Academy. It is a huge circular building with gray-white stone walls that soar into the clouds. The walls are carved with reliefs of various battle scenes—griffins fighting giant pythons, centaurs battling werewolves, crocodile orcs tearing their opponents apart... Each one is lifelike, as if telling the story of countless battles of blood and fire.

The arena was larger than Ming Luochen had imagined. At the center were a hundred arenas arranged in a fan shape, each protected by a referee and a magical barrier. The spectator seating, arranged in tiers, surrounded the arena and could hold tens of thousands of people. At this moment, the audience was sparse, mostly focused on the matches on the higher-ranking arenas.

Ming Luochen looked around and found that most of the contestants on the arena had already determined their rankings and were just sitting lazily on the stage waiting for the defense battle to end. The arena ranked ninety-first to one hundredth was even more deserted, with some of the defenders dozing off, some chatting with their companions, and some even eating snacks.

"As expected, it's the last few days, and no one dares to challenge us," Ming Luochen murmured.

"Because now the challenge requires signing a death waiver," Aura said in a low voice, her tone tinged with seriousness. "The first fifteen-day protection period has expired. If we go up now, the opponent can kill us."

Ming Luochen gripped her hand tightly: "Are you scared?"

Aura glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "With you here, I'm not afraid."

The two walked to the edge of the arena where the 100th person was ranked. The arena was about one meter high, square, and surrounded by iron chains. Sitting on the arena was a tall werewolf with messy gray-black fur and wearing a tattered leather armor. Beside him squatted a huge grizzly bear. The two were idly gnawing on a roasted chicken leg.

The referee was a middle-aged bear-type orc who sat expressionlessly on a chair beside the arena, holding a notebook in his hand.

"Hello, we want to challenge the 100th place." Ming Luochen handed over the number plate.

The referee took the number, checked it in the scorebook, glanced at Aura, then at Ming Luochen. His gaze lingered on Aura for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Level 5?" His voice was low, tinged with doubt. "Are you sure you want to take on this challenge?"

"OK." Aura nodded.

The referee was silent for a moment, then pulled a piece of parchment from under the scorebook and pushed it in front of Aura: "Sign this waiver. Once you're in the ring, you're responsible for your own life and death. We're only responsible for judging, not for saving you."

Without hesitation, Aura picked up the pen and signed her name.

Ming Luochen also signed.

The referee put away the death warrant, stood up, and shouted to the werewolves on the stage: "The 100th defender has been challenged."

The werewolf, who was gnawing on a chicken leg, paused for a moment upon hearing this, then grinned. He dropped the chicken bone, stood up, dusted off the crumbs, and looked down at Aura by the arena.

"Level 5? Centaur?" He tilted his head, grinning to reveal sharp teeth, his face full of disdain. "Are they here to die? Or to be a joke?"

The grizzly bear beside him also stood up, shook its fur, and let out a low growl, as if it were also mocking him.

"I'll just use this to kill time." The werewolf cracked his knuckles, his tone casual and relaxed, completely disregarding the other person.

Ming Luochen quickly bowed, his attitude as sincere as a door-to-door salesman: "Thank you, we just wanted to give it a try."

The werewolf was taken aback by his attitude, then chuckled and shook his head, thinking that this human must have something wrong with his brain.

Aura took Ming Luochen's hand and whispered, "If there's any danger, surrender immediately."

"Understood." Ming Luochen nodded seriously, his gaze quickly sweeping between the werewolf and the grizzly bear.

His innate skill is "Freeze," which can freeze a target for one second. Although one second is short, it is enough to change the course of a battle. Moreover, he can cast it continuously, as long as his magic power can keep up. Not to mention, he also has that magical camera—containing photos of lightning that he has taken.

He is a top-tier hard CC support.

More importantly, he and Aura share a very high level of spiritual resonance, and can teleport to each other at any time.

With this understanding in mind, Ming Luochen wasn't particularly worried.

The two stepped onto the ring, and after the referee confirmed that both were ready, he raised his right hand and swung it down sharply—

"start!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Aura dashed towards the center of the arena, mentally shouting to Ming Luochen, "Get out of the way!"

Without saying a word, Ming Luochen turned around and ran towards the edge of the arena, his speed so fast it was as if a ghost was chasing him.

The werewolf's sneer deepened as he looked at Ming Luochen's cowardly appearance. He didn't even draw his weapon, but simply took a lazy step towards Aura, with the grizzly bear following slowly behind.

"boom--"

A deafening thunderclap suddenly exploded on the arena!

A bolt of purple lightning, as thick as a bucket, struck down from the void, hitting the unsuspecting werewolf and grizzly bear with pinpoint accuracy. Arcs of electricity leaped through their fur, sparks flew, and the bodies of the man and beast convulsed violently, their limbs stiffening as if nailed to the spot.

Without the slightest hesitation, Aura unleashed her power, propelling herself forward like an arrow released from a bow, her long body leaving a trail of afterimages on the arena. She delivered a flying kick to the side, her horse's hoof slamming into the werewolf's chest—the force so great that it sent the still-paralyzed werewolf crashing off the stage!

She then used the momentum to turn around and kicked the grizzly bear, who was also frozen in place, down with another kick.

From the moment the lightning struck to the moment the two "people" landed, only three seconds had passed.

The entire room fell silent.

The referee gaped, nearly dropping his scorebook.

"Yay, we won!" Ming Luochen cheered immediately.

The werewolf lay on the ground below the arena, his limbs still twitching slightly. The grizzly bear lay beside him, letting out a pitiful whimper. Both of them had their fur singed black from the electric shocks, and the air was filled with the smell of burning.

In the stands, everyone was focused on the fierce battle between the sixteenth-ranked player and the top ten, and no one noticed what was happening here. But the thunder was so loud that it startled the entire arena.

"What happened over there?"

"Did someone get struck by lightning?"

Whispers poured in from all directions, like a disturbed beehive.

The werewolf scrambled to his feet, shaking his still-numb arm, his face ashen. He stormed up to the referee, his voice shrill and piercing: "I protest! They cheated! What did that summoned beast use! That wasn't a normal skill!"

The referee glanced at him expressionlessly, then pointed to the magical barrier on the arena: "The magical barrier has not detected any prohibited items. Protest overruled."

"Can--"

"Protest invalid." The referee repeated, his tone as flat as if he were reading a textbook. "The winner, challenger Aura, advances to 100th place."

He had been careless; the lightning struck so suddenly that the werewolf's face turned a deep purplish-red, his teeth grinding together with a grating sound. He glared fiercely at Ming Luochen, then turned and dragged the grizzly bear away, his steps heavy and hurried.

Aura stood on the ring, stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and rushed towards Ming Luochen, pulling him into her arms and giving him a hard kiss on the cheek.

"Honey! You're amazing!" She smiled so hard her eyes curved into crescents, her voice filled with excitement.

"That's right, your husband is a professional." Ming Luochen was dizzy from the kiss, his lips curled up high, he reached out and hugged her neck, returning the kiss, "But wife, that kick of yours was pretty hard, I didn't even see it clearly before he flew out."

The two embraced on the ring, celebrating oblivious to everyone around them, completely unaware of the various gazes directed at them—some curious, some shocked, some puzzled, and some beginning to re-evaluate this peculiar duo.

The referee cleared his throat: "You can wait in the rest area for the match to end, or choose to continue the challenge."

Ming Luochen peeked out from Aura's arms and glanced at the rankings.

Eighty-ninth place.

He narrowed his eyes, quickly calculating in his mind. His magic was still plentiful; unleashing hundreds of lightning bolts wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, he had several hundred photos of lightning stored in his camera—all taken on a thunderstorm day after studying the camera's replication function.

"Wife," he whispered in Aura's ear, "want to try again?"

Aura hesitated for a moment: "Which number?"

"Eighty-nine." Ming Luochen gestured towards the rankings. "I observed the situation earlier. The defender is a lizardman, level twenty-one, not much stronger than this werewolf. We'll stick to our strategy. You can use your shield to knock him down; that should work."

Aura glanced at the rankings, then at Ming Luochen's bright eyes, and bit her lip: "Are you sure?"

"Give it a try, and if it doesn't work, just admit defeat," Ming Luochen said with a grin. "It's not like we can't afford to lose."

Aura took a deep breath and nodded: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

However, before going to take on the challenge, Ming Luochen took the silver ring off his finger and handed it to Aura.

"Use your shield."

Aura took the ring, put it on her hand, and with a thought, a pale purple transparent light shield appeared on her forearm. It was two feet wide and four feet long, as thin as a layer of ice, yet so light that it was almost weightless.

"Pushing someone down with a shield is much safer than kicking them," Ming Luochen explained. "If you kick someone and they grab your leg, that'll be troublesome."

Aura nodded, a warm feeling welling up inside her. He had even thought of such a detail.

The two stepped off the stage and headed towards stage number eighty-nine.

The referee watched their retreating figures, shook his head, and whispered to his colleague beside him, "These two are quite interesting."

The clouds above the arena were gradually dyed orange-red by the setting sun, like a huge oil painting.

"Husband," Aura suddenly spoke, her voice tinged with amusement.

"Um?"

"be safe."

Ming Luochen turned and glanced at her. Aura's profile was bathed in a golden halo under the setting sun, as gentle as a painting.

He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Okay, I'll take you flying."