Chris never went to meet the Saint, but the news of her invitation to him had already spread throughout Blay, the capital of Kamaran.

Almost all the young people were preparing to cripple this 'super pretty boy' during the Magic Martial Arts Competition. It was clear to them that this guy, being a one-star magic apprentice, was just an easy target, posing no threat whatsoever. Of course, some were elite students who had participated in battles and knew Rody and Chris. However, they wanted to enjoy the spectacle and kept silent about Chris being the fearsome beauty who made orcs and demons tremble. Some even secretly instigated the ignorant ones, hoping for chaos.

Various rumors surfaced.

Some said Chris was the illegitimate son of King Mille, others said he was an elf prince, and some even claimed he was the great-great-great-grandson of the 'commoner magic saint', Christian. There were also rumors that Chris was a powerful magician disguised as a one-star apprentice, or simply an incompetent guy relying on his looks to attract women.

Regardless, Chris had made enemies with the elites of various nations.

Every day, at least twenty servants delivered silver gloves from their masters, hoping Chris would accept their challenge to a duel.

Every day, at least thirty servants brought roses from their mistresses, hoping Chris would accept a date.

Chris ignored them all, resulting in the reception house run by the chubby lady being filled with various gloves and roses. Members of the elite squad from the West area came to see what was happening, not just for the spectacle, but also because they heard Stanley was fending off over forty thief spies every night and didn't want to let him steal all the limelight.

Fatty Tommy and Skinny Terry also returned. They hadn't enjoyed the luxury of the teleportation gate like the elite squad, having walked out of the land of evil on foot. By the time they reached Saint Song, Rody and the others were already in Blay.

"Let us go on the dates for you," begged Fatty Tommy with puppy dog eyes. "Chris, you might not care, but we do!"

"You're pathetic!" Rody punched each one of them on the head.

"We haven't seen a beautiful woman for months," complained Fatty Tommy, looking woeful. "Even a pig looks like a beauty to us now. Please, have some pity on us! Without the nourishment of beauty in our lives, we're withering away... Stanley, I dare not say it to others, but you, you must understand, right?"

"Of course, life without beauties to embrace is hell," agreed Stanley.

"Don't trust this lecher!" Red Hat exposed Fatty Tommy's true colors, "This guy found a 'gold cat' as soon as we got back to Saint Song! As a righteous and powerful dwarf magic master, I must reveal his ugly truth to the world."

"I can attest to that because the 'gold cat' was originally sitting on my lap, but Tommy traded her for his 'sheep girl'," revealed Thief Terry, always Fatty Tommy's rival, never missing a chance to expose him. Upon hearing this, Fatty Tommy rushed to choke him, fearing Terry would reveal more of their escapades.

"Stop your whining; there will be beauties," Chris said nonchalantly.

"But to just stand there with a date and not go, leaving a beauty waiting, how can one bear that?" Fatty Tommy was almost in agony.

“I think if you go on a date, you won’t be meeting a lonely, longing beauty, but a bunch of fierce, jealous men,” Rody said with a slight smile. “So, going on a date is fine, but remember to order a tombstone when you pass by the stonemason's. As for collecting your body, consider it done as a favor for a fellow student. I’ll even give you a free epitaph: 'A stupid pig, who realized its foolishness only when it lay silently here.'”

“Ha ha ha…” Everyone burst into laughter.

“If among those ten dates there’s even one true one, that would be a regrettable loss!” Fatty Tommy said, his heart bleeding.

“Forget it, I’ll introduce you to a woman who can stir up a wave of passion, guaranteed to make you ecstatic,” Stanley patted Fatty Tommy’s shoulder warmly. He had heard that Fatty Tommy often went with Dean Buke to watch women undress in lion cages, knowing he was a favorite disciple of Dean Buke and shared a common interest, thus forming a special bond with him.

“Rody, we also hope to train with you guys,” Benson and Leo put forth a small request.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Welcome aboard!” Chris responded with a smile. “I just happen to need a few subordinates.”

“My magic isn't something you can learn, but I’ve thought of a new method for condensing and manipulating fighting spirit. It's not yet perfected, but you can try it out. I got the idea from observing the attack methods of Teacher Buke and Chris; it might be useful for you,” said Rody, making Leo and Benson overjoyed.

“Boss, when can you get us each a summoned beast?” Stanley remembered Rody’s casual remark in the Evil Forest.

“Wait until I learn summoning magic!” said Rody, causing everyone to collapse in laughter.

The Magic Martial Arts Competition began.

Due to the large number of participants, the preliminary rounds weren’t held on the main stage and didn't allow cheering squads like friends and family. The Kamaran organizers stated that to prevent low-skilled participants from getting injured in the arena, the preliminaries required passing tests in strength, agility, and magic power. Even the elites recommended by various countries couldn’t proceed without passing at least one of these tests.

Of course, some exceptionally famous knights and magicians, like Dafrey's Second Prince Vincent, Kamaran's Dragon Knight Nutidola, Naples' red-haired Sal, and Mille's Ice Demon Jiao, were automatically promoted.

Early in the morning, Rody and Chris went for testing.

Fatty Tommy, Thief Terry, Stanley, big-bearded Malu, and a bunch of others, as if they had won a great victory, went off to flirt with beauties.

When Rody and Chris were around, they were too embarrassed to make a move. The two guys didn’t like going to bars to watch stripteases; Chris might have high standards, but Rody was definitely a one-woman man, not willing to give away his virginity to just anyone. Everyone thought that for him to fall from grace, they would probably have to wait until Jill grew up.

Now, some people in Blay recognized Rody and Chris, especially Chris, who had become the public enemy of all men in the Kamaran Empire.

“You’re Mr. Chris, right?” A young and beautiful female magician in charge of leading them in came up to them. Upon seeing Rody and Chris, her eyes lit up, and she quickly approached them, leaving her companions behind. “You don’t need to test with those barbaric guys. Come to my magic laboratory, and I’ll test your magic power for you.”

“But we don’t have any magic power,” Chris said with a smile. “We’re just one-star novice magic apprentices; we can only test for strength or agility.”

"The young female magician was greatly disappointed.

“Goodbye, beauty!” Chris winked at the young female magician, nearly knocking her out with his charm. She only came to her senses after Rody and Chris had walked away and entered the testing room.

“Two pretty boys, both are just good-for-nothings, why treat them so specially?” Her male magician companion commented sourly.

“I like them, is it any of your business?” The female magician was furious, angered that her colleague, whose face looked as if it had been trampled by a thousand and five hundred horses, dared to criticize others for being handsome. Didn’t he realize that his mere existence was the greatest harm to women? Instead of hiding away and reflecting, he dared to be jealous of exceptionally handsome men, which was just too much...

“Hmph.” The male magician thought to himself that if those two pretty boys fell into his hands, he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t disfigure them worse than himself!

Rody and Chris were unaware that another couple was arguing over their looks.

Upon entering the testing room, they found it filled with several hundred people.

A test instructor, a full-armored swordsman, looked at their names on the list and then at their robes with one-star insignias, and he almost wanted to throw them out. This was a world of swordsmen, not a place for an alchemy student and a magic library administrator. Did they think their handsome faces would get them special treatment?

“There are ten tests in total, and you can choose any one of them. If you pass, I’ll stamp your form; otherwise, get out!” The full-armored swordsman was obviously not in a good mood.

“Ha ha, look! One-star magic apprentices!” Many people gathered around to watch.

“Have they weaned off milk yet?” Someone jeered.

“What kind of elite are they from which country? My god, they’re one-star magic apprentices, and that counts as a country’s elite? I suddenly understand the importance of this test; it’s crucial. Without it, I might have had to face a magic apprentice in the competition, oh, what a disgrace,” a seemingly strong contestant laughed boisterously.

“What’s the easiest one?” Rody, unfazed, casually asked.

“Archery. As long as you hit the bullseye of a target 25 meters away with one out of ten arrows, you pass,” an old warrior assistant replied, still maintaining a sense of fairness.

“Thank you, I’ll choose archery,” Rody picked the smallest wooden bow, eliciting a roar of laughter from the crowd.

“And what’s the most difficult one?” Chris politely asked the old warrior assistant, giving him a bow.

“Carrying wood.” The assistant nodded and pointed at a log ten meters long and so thick it couldn’t be embraced with two hands. “This ironwood log weighs over two thousand kilograms, equivalent to the weight of twenty strong men. If a contestant can lift it and carry it onto a two-meter-high wooden frame, they pass the initial test excellently.”

“I’ll start with archery. Holding a bow and arrow without shooting makes me nervous,” Rody said with a slight smile, raising his hand to draw the bow and shoot casually.

The crowd erupted in laughter, everyone ready to see him make a fool of himself.

Such a carelessly aimed arrow was obviously doomed to miss, as even a blind person could tell.

Rody shot nine arrows in a row, none hitting the bullseye. All nine arrows landed neatly around the edge of the bullseye, forming a circle around the small red center. The crowd, upon seeing this, were silenced mid-laugh, their eyes wide with disbelief. Achieving such a formation with nine arrows around the bullseye is a hundred times more difficult than hitting the bullseye directly, a feat only possible for a master archer.

Even a master archer wouldn't dare claim to achieve this effect randomly with a small wooden bow without aiming.

“You have one last arrow. If you fail, you won’t be able to advance,” Chris reminded Rody with a grin.

“So, I need the heavens to bless this last arrow not to fail,” Rody said, shooting the last arrow high into the sky.

The crowd was first stunned, then amazed. Was he intentionally avoiding advancement? Shooting an arrow into the sky, it would be a miracle to hit the bullseye. Could he be a master archer, hiding his skills, deliberately not participating in the Magic Martial Arts Competition? But then, why did he come for the test?

As everyone pondered, the arrow that soared high came down and landed right in the center of the target.

Everyone was dumbfounded...

How was this possible?

“Ah, I was so lucky.” Rody tossed aside his wooden bow, took out his registration form, and handed it to the stunned full-armored swordsman. “Could you stamp this, please? I was lucky enough to hit the bullseye.”

“Me too!” Amidst the shocked stares, Chris, with hands as white as jade, effortlessly lifted the huge log and tossed it onto the wooden frame above his head, causing a deafening noise and making the entire testing room tremble. He casually dusted off his hands and also pulled out his form, smiling, “Could you stamp mine too, please? I was lucky enough to complete it.”

After Rody and Chris left, the crowd was able to pick their jaws up off the floor.

Many were speechless, their lips trembling.

“These two guys are freaks…” the full-armored swordsman instructor finally managed to utter, his voice filled with annoyance at being made a fool of.

“You two passed the test? That quickly?” The beautiful female magician was also stunned. Could it be that the testers inside, seeing their good looks, deliberately let them pass? Weren't they just one-star novice magic apprentices? How could they possibly pass the test?

“Where is our location for the preliminaries?” Rody asked calmly.

“Beauty, would you mind leading us there? But it’s not to the magic laboratory, okay!” Chris winked again, nearly causing the female magician to faint.