The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: The Real Challenge Starts Now

“S-Something is very w-wrong…”

Stefano Barone could sense the change in the air.

He looked at Damian, who was brimming with an intense aura that made him feel as if he were standing before a giant, a human-shaped monster.

“Just how much power has he been holding back?”

Shiru, like the other Awakeners watching the battle, shared the same thought.

Every time they believed Damian had reached his limit, he would surpass expectations in the next fight, revealing even greater power.

It made them wonder just how strong he truly was.

Yet, despite their speculations, they couldn’t be certain.

Within the arena, both the challenger and the position holder had their levels and cultivation power set to match, making it impossible to accurately assess Damian’s true strength.

Still, that didn’t stop some curious Awakeners from trying to gauge his power on their own.

Damian took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling as his muscles tensed and his nerves throbbed, as if they were about to burst from his skin.

“I have to calm down…” he muttered to himself.

“I can’t lose my temper and kill him, or else I won’t get the rewards—and I’ll be punished by the system.”

He could hear his own heart pounding in his ears.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly restrained his aura, reducing the pressure around him.

But while his outward energy calmed, his fury did not fade.

He wouldn’t act on it now; there was a time for everything, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make Stefano suffer.

Fueled by rage, Damian dashed forward.

In mere seconds, he appeared before Stefano Barone and threw a powerful punch straight into his chest.

The impact sent Stefano flying into the wall, slamming against it with a sickening crunch.

Before he could even attempt to move, a sudden presence loomed before him.

Damian was already there.

Another fist slammed into Stefano’s stomach, driving his already broken body further into the wall, his spine smashing against the unyielding surface.

But Damian didn’t stop.

One punch.

Then another.

And another.

The single strike turned into a relentless barrage of blows, his fists hammering into Stefano’s body without pause.

The assault continued for a whole minute, with hundreds of punches landing one after another.

“This is brutal…” someone in the audience murmured.

“Does he have some sort of animosity with the [Lord’s Disciples] faction?”

“Now that you mention it, he does seem to go all out when fighting Awakeners from that faction…”

Damian’s expression never changed as he mercilessly assaulted Stefano.

Even after Stefano lost consciousness, Damian continued pounding him, as if venting his fury through every strike.

By the time he finally stopped, Stefano Barone was in a miserable state.

However, the audience didn’t react too strongly; they had seen worse.

Damian extended his hand toward Stefano and activated his unique ability.

[Extraction: Unique Ability Activated]

A vortex of energy formed, drawing every ounce of Stefano Barone’s Qi into Damian.

As a Qi user, Stefano had vast reserves, but Damian absorbed every last drop.

[Your Qi Increased: +14]

As soon as Damian finished extracting his Qi, Stefano Barone vanished into a speck of light.

It was fortunate for him that Damian controlled himself from killing him.

Instead, Stefano escaped with a completely broken body, something that could be healed with pills, healing potions, or the help of Awakeners with support-type classes.

However, had he died, no healing could revive him unless a Necromancer or an undead-related class Awakener intervened.

But Awakeners with such classes are extremely rare, and there was no way an Awakener with those abilities would be present in the First Tower Realm.

Not to mention, they are advanced classes that only appear after two or three class promotions.

A few more hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Damian finally defeated the 11th-ranked position holder, securing the 11th spot in the power rankings, shocking the entire First Tower Realm.

The Tower Realms had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, as old as the system itself.

In its history, no Awakener had ever accomplished what Damian had done: continuously fighting every single ranker in the power rankings without taking a break, resting, or even losing.

Sure, there had been Awakeners who achieved similar feats, but none had fought 200 consecutive battles without stopping and with such overwhelming force.

Of course, if an Awakener from a higher Tower Realm entered this realm, they could easily surpass Damian’s record.

However, that wouldn’t be the same, as Awakeners who had reached the limit of the First Tower Realm, Solarta, and moved on to the next realm were no longer eligible to enter the power rankings of the First Tower Realm.

Awakeners can only participate in the power rankings of the realm they currently reside in.

Damian was still in Solarta and hadn’t moved on to the Second Tower Realm.

Until he did, he remained a resident of the First Tower Realm and could continue challenging the power rankings.

However, once he advanced to the Second Tower Realm, he would no longer be able to compete in the rankings of the First Tower Realm.

Each Tower Realm has a specific power and level limit.

Awakeners cannot grow stronger or level up beyond that limit unless they advance to a higher realm.

That’s why Damian’s achievement was such a big deal.

He shouldn’t have been able to accomplish this, even if he was from one of the higher-ranked races.

Even they didn’t possess this much stamina compared to other races.

The issue wasn’t just power; it was endurance.

Even higher-ranked beings don’t have such extraordinary stamina.

The longer one fights and takes damage, the faster stamina depletes.

Even beings with high stamina recovery, like Werewolves, cannot sustain battles for too long.

Even with rapid stamina regeneration, it would be impossible to instantly recover every ounce of lost stamina.

The main reason Damian was able to endure was because of his Elemental Essence, specifically [Wood Essence].

[Wood Essence] didn’t provide offensive or defensive abilities, but it granted him extremely high health regeneration, fatigue recovery, stamina regeneration, and rapid healing, enhancing his already exceptional physical capabilities.

On top of this, he possessed six more elemental essences, each with its own healing and regenerative properties.

His [Water Essence] alone granted him nearly 75% of the regenerative capabilities of [Wood Essence], along with a 100% increase in healing speed.

Each Elemental Essence he possessed passively enhanced his vitality.

And that wasn’t even considering his [Qi] and [Mana].

Damian harbored so many types of energies within him that it would be strange if he didn’t have such immense stamina.

But to those unaware of his true nature, his seemingly endless endurance and power were both astonishing and terrifying.

After fighting for so long, Damian was finally beginning to feel fatigue creeping in, though only slightly.

However, he could already feel his energy recovering as his wood essence reserves depleted a little.

Damian turned to look at his next opponent, an awakener ranked 10th in the power rankings.

The moment the 10th-ranked awakener appeared, the expressions of the other awakeners changed dramatically.

“The real challenge starts now.”

“The top ten power rankers are on a whole other level.”

“Their difference is like the sun and the moon.”

Shiru also agreed with the others.

Having witnessed most of the top ten awakeners in combat, she knew just how powerful they were.

As they said, the real fight was only just beginning.

“The 10th position of the power ranking…”

Damian laid eyes on his opponent, a strikingly beautiful, towering, bountiful woman, nearly seven feet tall, with elongated ears and a long spear in hand.

“An elf?”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the spear she was holding.

A smile formed on his face as the sword, [Darmung], dissolved into a speck of light, transforming into a chain-like bracelet around his left upper arm.

At the same time, the dark red pendant with crimson accents hanging from his neck turned into a blood-red light and reshaped itself into a long spear with crimson accents, landing in front of him.

This was yet another of the four martial weapons he had obtained from the [Random Martial Weapon Card].

[Recna, The Spear of Torment]

Just like [Darmung, the Devastation Bringer], as soon as the [Spear of Torment] materialized into its true form, it radiated waves of energy.

Unlike the sword, which exuded sheer destruction, the spear’s energy instilled fear and unease.

It was an eerie sensation, as if those present were reliving a forgotten trauma.

Another wave of shock rippled through the crowd of awakeners in Solarta.

“He has another weapon like that?”

“Just how many of these does he have?”

While the awakeners of Solarta were reeling from the endless surprises Damian seemed to be pulling out, the elven opponent narrowed her eyes, eyeing the [Spear of Torment] with deep wariness.

“What is this unsettling sensation I’m feeling?” the beautiful and imposing elf murmured, her expression tense.

Her instincts screamed danger at her.

She already knew she wasn’t going to win.

Elves were beings with a strong affinity to nature and incredibly sharp instincts.

They could sense a brewing storm before it formed, feel the very presence of life in the air, and detect danger from miles away.

Even though she was of a lower-ranked elven species, she was still a full-blooded elf.

Her instincts were hundreds of times sharper than those of a normal human.

Even the lowest-ranked elf possessed more talent and potential than an average human.

Meanwhile, someone else was watching the spear’s appearance, reacting in a completely different way.

In the shadows, blood-red eyes glowed as they observed the battle through the system’s [Streaming Function].

A smile, predatory and sinister, crept onto their lips, revealing sharp fangs that hinted at the awful intentions lurking behind their gaze.

In the [Awakener Hall] of [Sol City], a man with long brown hair, pale skin, and a flowing brown coat sat with a book in hand.

He narrowed his eyes in intrigue as he noticed the unique spear in Damian’s grip.

“Interesting spear… interesting person,” he muttered, closing the book he had been so intently reading before turning his full attention to the ongoing battle.