Villain's Evolution: Investing in My Minions Yields Crazy Returns!

Chapter 47: [Power Stone Bonus Chapter]The Alves Family Arena [1]

Chapter 47

Six in the morning at the eastern gate of Starlight Royal Academy.

The sky had only just begun to brighten, and a thin layer of morning mist still lingered over the road outside the city walls. A black magic-powered carriage bearing no noble family crest was already parked by the roadside.

By the time Victor arrived, everyone else was already there.

Karl carried the White Rock Bulwark on his back and had changed into a set of lightweight inner armor clearly better suited for actual combat. A shortbow hung at Milo’s waist, while two quivers containing different types of arrows were strapped to his back. Noah still carried only a longsword, but it was no longer the ordinary iron sword he had casually taken from the training grounds. Instead, it was a fine-grade standard longsword worth just under three thousand gold coins.

As for Leah, the girl wore a simple black combat outfit, with her long hair tied behind her head. She carried no weapon at her waist, only three Tier 2 mana crystals for emergency mana replenishment.

After absorbing the twenty-two units of Pure Astral Energy yesterday, her Astral Core had become far more stable than when she had first awakened. Even the occasional traces of silver mana leaking from her body could now be completely restrained.

Victor swept his gaze across them.

Evelyn had originally been included in the morning’s arrangements, but before leaving, Victor had reassigned her to continue training at the academy.

After thinking about everything that had happened so far with this so-called Fate Correction, it was only right that she remain close enough to act if anything happened there later.

”Get in.”

No one asked where they were going, as they all trusted Victor to a certain level at this point.

It was only after the carriage had left the academy and traveled through Starlight City, which had yet to fully awaken, for nearly twenty minutes that Leah finally noticed something was wrong with their direction.

”Aren’t we going to the academy’s magical beast training grounds?”

”No.”

”Then where are we going?”

”To kill real monsters.” Victor leaned against his seat, his voice as calm as though he were talking about something completely ordinary.

Noah, however, tightened his grip on the sword resting across his knees.

Real magical beasts! When he received the message telling him to ”bring a sword” last night, he had already vaguely guessed what was coming.

He simply had not expected it to happen so soon.

Karl clearly knew their destination but even him was not certain so he asked. ”Young Master, are we going to the family arena?”

”Mm.”

Milo quickly looked up. ”The Alves Arena?”

”You’ve been there?”

”I watched two matches there.”

Milo’s expression became slightly strange.

”Isn’t that place used by nobles to watch beast fights?”

”Which is exactly why it has magical beasts.” Victor’s answer sounded perfectly reasonable.

For a moment, Milo could not find any way to argue with him.

It was true.

The arena operated by the Alves family in the Imperial Capital was not the largest, but because it regularly purchased magical beasts from the northern territories and surrounding regions, it always kept a considerable number of them in captivity. Under normal circumstances, those beasts would be arranged to participate in beast-fighting performances or sold to nobles and professionals who needed them.

Now, Victor was merely giving them a different purpose, which was leveling up and testing their capabilities against real monsters.

Half an hour later, the carriage stopped.

An enormous circular building appeared before them.

Its thick gray-black stone walls stood at least thirty meters high, and its exterior was covered in metallic formation patterns designed to prevent magical beasts from escaping. Even though it was still early in the morning, faint, guttural roars could already be heard from within.

The arena was closed today. However, someone was already waiting at the main entrance.

The moment a middle-aged man dressed in a black steward’s uniform saw Victor step out of the carriage, he hurried over.

”Young Master.”

”Is everything ready?”

”According to your instructions.”

The man handed him a mana-crystal tablet.

”We have forty-seven First Tier magical beasts between Level 10 and Level 27 that can be used for actual combat.”

”Eleven of them are high-level beasts suitable for your current strength. There are also six that are seriously injured and were originally scheduled to be disposed of today.”

Victor took the mana-crystal tablet and quickly scanned the list.

”Close the arena for the entire day.”

”No one is allowed inside.”

”Understood.”

The steward did not ask why. After all, it was property belonging to the Alves family.

As the duke’s sole heir, Victor could close it for a day—or even demolish and rebuild the entire place—and no one would dare stop him.

A few minutes later, everyone entered the arena.

It felt completely different from sitting in the spectator stands back in the academy.

The moment they stood at the edge of the actual beast-fighting area, the ever-present stench of blood in the air became much stronger.

The central battlefield was more than one hundred and fifty meters in diameter. Twelve enormous metal gates were positioned around it. And Behind each gate was a separate beast cage.

”There won’t be any training puppets today.” Victor walked to the edge of the battlefield. ”No illusions. And no instructors who will forcibly stop the battle when you’re about to lose.”

Everyone’s expressions gradually became serious.

”Once you enter, the magical beast won’t stop just because you’re injured. If you fall, it will tear out your throat.”

”Of course.” Victor raised his hand. ”I’ll be watching. If you’re genuinely about to die, I’ll save you. But if you wait for me to save you every time...”

His gaze swept across each of them.

”Then you won’t need to receive any more of my resources.”

No one spoke, but their faces had become very serious, their grips on their weapons tightening.

Victor did not consider this cruel.

He was willing to invest.

He was willing to spend money.

He was even willing to directly give away rare skills, epic equipment, and advanced resources that ordinary professionals might never acquire in their entire lives.

But only on one condition: these people had to be worth it.

Otherwise, the more resources he gave them, the more he would waste.

”Karl.”

”Here.”

”You’re first.”

...

Thank You for your support. This is the first bonus Chapter for hitting 200 Power Stones!