Chapter 483: That’s High Quality Boyfriend Material Right There! In Endless Leveling Online, Charles Lambert stood out among the playable Unique Characters because of how notoriously difficult it was to get past his tutorial stage. Even the professional gamers could only raise a white flag in surrender, stuck at the start of Charles’ route. His quest was simply impossible. What exactly made everyone give up on him, you ask? His Unique Skill, Challenger’s Mark. A skill that passively attracted aggressive monsters as soon as they were within several meters of his range. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 That itself posed trouble, but it wasn’t all that bad. At least not compared to what would happen whenever Charles set foot into a dungeon. Challenger’s Mark made it nearly impossible for anyone to clear the Dungeon of Beginnings. Not only would his aggro range expand to two kilometers, but the monsters affected by it would also turn berserk and manically charge at him, aiming for the kill. The worst part... the range also applied vertically. In other words, the lower floors of the dungeon were also affected, resulting in a Dungeon Outbreak. Alex had been the very first to clear his tutorial quest. And for the feat of clearing something deemed nearly impossible, the God of Games, Eriol, had sent him to Arcana. Now, that same troublesome skill had evolved into Challenger’s Mark [EX]. This time, its range was no longer two kilometers. It was SIX kilometers! If found out, this skill would make Charles the mortal enemy of adventurers, whose livelihood depended on Dungeon diving. More importantly, a Dungeon Outbreak was a serious matter. If things went wrong, it could wipe out entire villages, towns, and even cities. And yet, a character who was supposed to die from it was still very much alive, standing in the arena to fight in the tournament. Charles glanced at his savior and benefactor, Alex Stratos, who was also looking back at him with a warm smile. "Everyone, are you ready to rumble?!" Alex asked, to which the contestants and audience cheered in response. Even Charles found himself raising his hand and shouting along. With practiced movements, Alex raised his arm and announced the start of the battle. "Battle start!" As soon as the signal landed, Charles rushed to the very edge of the arena. His choice of action wasn’t unique, and many others did the same. While these participants deemed it potentially safer, reality didn’t guarantee that. After all, only the last two standing would proceed to the next round. If they all avoided fighting, the battle royale would drag on. Fortunately, the warriors didn’t disappoint the audience and engaged in combat. His hands turned obsidian black from a partial void transformation, giving him superhuman strength. The young man’s hands weren’t the only parts that transformed. Concealed by his shoes, his feet had also blackened, giving him a boost in speed and power as he unleashed the basic martial arts that Alex had recommended to him, which he bought from the Exchange Center with his own Academy Points. The fighting skill he had studied was called the Stone Breaking Fist. As implied by its name, this martial art allowed its practitioners to unleash punches that could break stones and boulders. It might be basic, but in the hands of Charles, it was a deadly weapon that broke the bones of the contestants targeting him. He complemented this martial art by a movement technique called Void Footwork, which let him move in unpredictable steps, making it hard for the enemy to know where he would be as he eliminated one opponent after the other. By the time half of the contestants were already eliminated, everyone had already noticed Charles’ skillful performance. Even Duke Percival took notice of the young man who had been defeating nearby opponents within three blows. Every punch he delivered hit like a car, sending some of his opponents flying as soon as his fist connected with their bodies. "Oh my gosh! Who’s that handsome guy over there?" Alex said, pointing at Charles. "He’s so awesome! So charming, so suave! If I were a girl, I’d definitely confess to him after this tournament ends! That’s high-quality boyfriend material right there!" Hearing Alex’s nonsensical statement, Charles almost tripped while charging at his opponent. The last thing he wanted was to be the center of attention. However, Alex seemed hell-bent on shoving him under the spotlight. From the audience seats, Nessia also glared at Alex for making Charles stand out too much with his comments. The rest of the club members only chuckled, giggled, or smirked, amused by Alex’s new troublemaking antics. Chuck laughed out loud and even started to cheer for Charles. He shouted, "I was the one who raised that kid!" Soon enough, only ten people remained, each strong in their own right. Among those ten people were two teams, composed of three or four young men respectively. Charles and the other two solo players had no one to cover for them and had purely survived through sheer skill and effort. "Let’s eliminate the others first," one of the team leaders proposed. "We can fight against each other once the small fries are defeated." "Good." The other leader nodded. "We’ll target that girl, so your team shall deal with those two guys." "Make it quick." "Fine." After agreeing to a temporary truce, the two teams charged at Charles and the two other contestants. Charles and the other guy exchanged a nod of understanding and also formed a temporary alliance with each other. The young man and the leader of the group targeting them clashed with each other. That initial exchange helped Charles figure out that his opponent was a Rank 4, supposedly stronger than him. He felt no anxiety. On the contrary, he was ecstatic. For a long time, he’d been wanting to face someone stronger than him. Alex had been doing that since they met, and Charles believed that if his benefactor could do it, so could he. The clash between him and the leader resulted in a thunder-like rumble. It forced Charles four steps backward while his opponent only took one. That exchange told him their difference in strength, but Charles still wasn’t rattled in the slightest. The black obsidian color coating his hands spread to his arms and to the rest of his body, leaving only his head. He knew he wouldn’t be able to win unless he fought for real, so he decided to go all out. But this transformation caught the attention of Duke Percival and Lady Celestria, who exchanged glances with each other. "Is he one of them?" Duke Percival asked. "I’m not sure," Lady Celestria replied. "But he gives off the same presence." Duke Percival narrowed his gaze, locking onto Charles at the moment. "I’ll assign people to pay close attention to him," Duke Percival decided. "Unless he does something funny, we’ll keep observing him from afar." Lady Celestria nodded, agreeing it was the right thing to do. Someone else in their Kingdom had powers similar to Charles, and that person was someone they didn’t dare to provoke. ’Void-Touched...’ Lady Celestria mused. ’To think one of them will appear here in the tournament. I wonder what will happen if that person finds out.’ The Saintess then glanced at Alex. The young man was still hyping the battle, centering the majority of his commentary on Charles. Lady Celestria felt complicated. It seemed that Alex was surrounded by many unique and promising individuals that every kingdom would wish to sponsor and put under its umbrella.