"Little White, quickly dodge!"

At dawn, a sharp cry pierced through the mist, but the huge body of the white dragon couldn't evade in time. After being hit mid-air, it fell heavily back to the ground. This time, its consciousness finally couldn't bear the burden anymore; it closed its eyes and directly fell into a deep sleep.

"For a beginner, you've already done quite well."

Lady Fengweidie wiped the sweat from her brow, her tone filled with exhaustion.

While Ethan was heading to the Frozen Lake, Charlotte wasn't idle either. In preparation for tomorrow's battle, she visited Lady Fengweidie in the second half of the night.

"But it's still far from enough..."

The consecutive failures left her a bit discouraged. As the number of training sessions increased, Lady Fengweidie found it easier and easier to defeat her, letting her directly feel the disparity between Summoners.

Even though she had stronger companions, she couldn't bring out their full potential nor immediately see through the opponent's tactics. Her mindset inevitably shifted during this process, from initially improving herself to just wanting to win at least once. Yet, even before daybreak, she couldn't win even a single time.

This was the strength of the City Lord's Summoners. Yet, even such powerful Summoners lost to the suddenly appearing mechanical monsters...

Charlotte couldn't help but think of Sakaki from Team Rocket. That young man, who didn't look many years older than her, had already far surpassed numerous City Lords. When in Moon Forest City, she witnessed the whole process of him killing a mechanical beetle with a single strike.

Compared to that, her title of "the destined one" seemed rather unfit.

"This is the relationship between monsters and Summoners. An excellent Summoner can help a monster tap into its potential; both are indispensable to each other."

As she spoke, a silver butterfly gracefully descended from the air, affectionately resting on Lady Fengweidie's shoulder. "She's my first companion, and every City Lord I know of has such a companion."

Lady Fengweidie seemed to recall some pleasant memories, and her eyes softened somewhat. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

In fact, this silver butterfly monster was as common in Mistywood County as the Fog Weaving Antelope. She was born into an ordinary family, and after her coming-of-age ceremony, her parents could only gift her the most ordinary monster egg. But that was the happiest day of her life, and she can still remember the excitement she felt holding the monster egg.

During her years as City Lord, she also witnessed the change in atmosphere among Summoners. Nowadays, Summoners increasingly crave strong monsters, preferring to skip the journey and growth process with their companions.

"Charlotte, do you know why the Royal Family stipulated that only Summoners who have received the full approval of all City Lords can qualify to meet the Crimson Queen?"

"Because firstly, it filters out those Summoners who are just there to make up the numbers. Each City Lord's tactical style is different, and a Summoner needs to prove their ability to cope with different tactical styles."

Charlotte immediately answered.

Just like Lady Fengweidie's foggy weather tactics, which essentially deprive monsters and Summoners of their sight. All subsequent attack methods derive from this core, which later became one of the characteristics of Mistywood County.

Before she acquired her first monster companion, Charlotte was a battle enthusiast. She loved sitting in the courtyard with her father, listening to stories of other Summoners. Her father spoke highly of Lady Fengweidie, marveling at how anyone could raise a common Silverwing Butterfly to the level of an ace.

Her father had also asked her the same question. To Charlotte, this was the standard answer.

However, Lady Fengweidie, like her father, just smiled without answering.

"Is there a problem?"

"You'll have to find that answer yourself."

"But don't forget the importance of attribute advantage, young Summoner."

An unharmonious voice interrupted their conversation. An intruder, cloaked in black and leaning on a cane, appeared in the practice field at the back of the City Lord's Mansion. Clutching his lower back, he tottered towards the two, "I just saw the confusion in your eyes. You must be wondering why even strong Summoners like Lady Fengweidie and your father couldn't defeat those suddenly appearing mechanical monsters."

The cloaked man paused and said, "The answer lies in attribute advantage... I suppose Lady Fengweidie noticed this when she was at the Market District, right? Those peculiar things are like natural enemies to most monsters. Summoners can't play their true strength in front of them. And Miss Charlotte, your companion... Ouch, easy there, easy!"

That deliberately deep voice turned into a yelp as the cloaked man's waist bent like a shrimp, being lifted into the air by the Silverwing Butterfly, who seemed to show disdain in its big eyes.

"Slow down, my back is genuinely hurt! It's impossible; my disguise was flawless, it should have been impossible to recognize me!"

"Put him down."

Lady Fengweidie, seeing that the cloaked man's crying didn't seem fake, frowned and instructed the Silverwing Butterfly to place him back on the ground. The cloaked man promptly flopped face-first to the ground, still tightly clutching his lower back.