The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Damian Vs Silas – 1

There were several reasons why Damian chose to fight the common elf without finishing the battle in a single blow, as he had done with others.

One of them was his desire to assess how much his spearmanship had improved.

After fighting for over fifteen minutes using nothing but pure spear techniques, Damian finally realized that his spearmanship had already surpassed the level of masters and was now approaching the realm of grandmasters.

However, at the same time, he sensed a great wall preventing him from stepping fully into the grandmaster realm.

It wasn’t just his spearmanship; his swordsmanship had also reached the same level.

Damian became even more interested in reaching the grandmaster realm when, in the middle of their battle, Elfie asked if he was already a grandmaster.

He could see the frustration on her face, which only fueled his determination to break through that barrier.

But there was a problem; he had no idea how to do it.

He needed more information.

It seemed that even he couldn’t grow stronger by doing everything alone.

Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing that he had made a contract with Shiru.

She might know something about reaching the grandmaster realm or at least have knowledge of where he could seek out the answers.

Damian also discovered something interesting: contrary to the Vatican’s claims, the woman known as the Saintess wasn’t the only person capable of wielding holy energy.

It wasn’t a divine blessing or any sort of divine intervention, as the Vatican wanted the world to believe.

Instead, anyone could wield holy energy as long as they possessed the attunement for it.

After defeating the common elf, Elfie Ayre Dathyra, Damian went on to defeat seven more awakeners without stopping.

Unlike his fight with Elfie, which he had deliberately drawn out to savor the battle, he dispatched the others quickly.

They were strong, but none of them intrigued him. Most were just ordinary cultivators.

In his battles for the 9th, 8th, and 7th rankings, Damian faced martial artists—two swordsmen and a spearman.

However, their skills were far below his, and he defeated them with ease.

For the 6th and 5th positions, he fought mages, one specializing in fire magic and the other in water magic.

The fire mage was the easiest opponent he had faced in the entire power ranking.

Her fire magic had almost no effect on him, and a single punch sent her flying, securing his victory effortlessly.

The battle against the water mage for the 5th position, however, proved to be slightly more troublesome.

The water mage was crafty; he flooded the entire battleground, restricting Damian’s high-speed movements.

He trapped Damian inside a prison of water magic, launching arrows of condensed water that pierced his metal-like skin.

But no matter how hard the water mage tried to keep him contained, Damian was simply too strong.

Using his earth magic, he shattered the water prison and delivered a powerful punch to the mage’s gut, securing another victory.

In the battle for the 4th position, Damian faced another elf, a man.

Unfortunately, this meant Damian wasn’t particularly interested in the fight.

Ever since the day of awakening, and even in his life before his regression, Damian had never been particularly drawn to women.

Before awakening, he had some interest, but no one had ever reciprocated his feelings.

After awakening, even that faint interest gradually disappeared.

Now, after his regression, he had been so focused on growing stronger that he hadn’t even thought about women.

He had begun to wonder if something was wrong with him.

But just now, when he fought that common elf in the 10th-ranked battle, something changed.

The combination of both power and beauty instantly made her appear attractive in his eyes.

He realized that there was nothing wrong with him; he still desired women.

However, he also understood that pursuing romance could become a hindrance to his growth as an awakener.

Still, that didn’t mean he would go out of his way to seek women.

If anything, he preferred that they come looking for him, not the other way around.

In the battle for the 3rd position of the power ranking, Damian faced a woman who was quite interesting, not because of her appearance but because of her abilities.

She didn’t use a sword, spear, or any other traditional martial weapon.

Instead, she wielded a gun, yes, a gun loaded with compressed energy.

Each bullet was highly dense, packed with enough power to obliterate an elephant into pieces.

The Awakener herself was incredibly strong.

She was astonishingly fast, much faster than anyone Damian had ever faced.

Strangely, she didn’t seem to be using any special movement technique, yet her speed was overwhelming.

However, she was still not as fast as Damian.

Eventually, he caught up to her, and before he could deliver the finishing blow, the woman accepted defeat, saving Damian the trouble.

After the battle, Damian developed a particular interest in guns but had no idea where to start looking for them.

He made a mental note to ask Shiru about them.

As Damian watched, his next opponent appeared.

A grin formed on his face as he felt the immense pressure building up, as if he were being looked down upon by a bloodthirsty beast.

His opponent, the one holding the 2nd position in the power ranking, looked at Damian with a predatory grin, as if eyeing prey before a feast.

“A werewolf… and much stronger than any I’ve faced before,” Damian pondered.

The man in front of him could only be described as a literal beast.

Standing at about seven feet tall, his massive muscles bulged, and his enormous hands looked strong enough to crush a human skull with a single grip.

His dark eyes, filled with a predatory gaze, and his long fangs, reminiscent of a vampire’s, gave him a terrifying presence.

Surrounding him was a cloud-like aura that reminded Damian of the monsters he had fought during the trials.

“Such a strong presence…” Damian’s smile widened, his excitement to fight a formidable opponent overshadowing the pressure in the air.

“That’s the werewolf…”

“He’s the leader of the werewolf faction.”

“Not just that, he’s the only Alpha Werewolf in Solarta. Every single Beta Werewolf submits to him.”

“He’s insanely strong… They say he’s as powerful as the 1st position holder.”

“Oh shit…” Shiru grew increasingly nervous as she heard the murmurs of the crowd.

Even though she already knew these facts, hearing them spoken aloud only reinforced the gravity of the situation.

She was well aware of how strong werewolves were, and she had no idea how Damian, her contractor, would fare.

She had seen him fight and easily defeat both plebeian vampires and Beta Werewolves, but those beings weren’t even considered true vampires or true werewolves by their respective communities.

They were former humans turned into what they were by higher-ranked beings.

The beast of a man standing before Damian was not just any werewolf; he was an Alpha Werewolf, the second highest-ranked species of the entire werewolf race.

He had the power to create Beta Werewolves.

Even the weakest Beta Werewolf was much stronger and more talented than the average human.

As an Alpha, he was many times more powerful and gifted than an average Beta.

And this man in front of Damian wasn’t just any Alpha; he was a descendant of an ancient werewolf lineage and he was anything but weak.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

As soon as the timer hit zero, Damian dashed forward like a flash, using his full speed.

In an instant, he arrived in front of his opponent, channeling his full strength along with the momentum of his acceleration, delivering a powerful punch directly to the werewolf’s abdomen.

Silas Moonrend, however, didn’t even attempt to defend or dodge.

He simply stood there, letting Damian attack as he pleased.

Damian’s fist made contact, but despite Silas being in his completely human form, it felt like punching a steel wall.

Upon impact, the werewolf was pushed back several meters, but beyond that, he was completely unfazed.

Damian’s eyes widened, his lips curling into an even wider smile.

This was the first time since the start of the power ranking battles that someone had taken his full-strength punch as if it were nothing.

The werewolf grinned darkly. “I see how you were able to win until now… You are strong.”

Silas’ smile widened, and so did his presence.

A strange energy began to manifest from his body.

It looked similar to Qi, yet Damian could sense that it was something else entirely.

As the energy enveloped Silas, Damian suddenly felt a shift in movement.

In a flash, the werewolf vanished and reappeared right in front of him.

A massive fist came hurtling toward Damian, and before he could react, it connected with his chest.

The force sent Damian flying backward, crashing into the wall and shattering a massive portion of it.

“But this is as far as you can go…”

The energy surrounding Silas diminished slightly as his nails elongated, transforming into large claws.

His canine teeth grew sharper, his body expanded, and his height increased by a few inches.

Fur began to cover his skin like a second layer, while his legs reshaped.

His facial features became sharper, his eyes enlarged, and the sclera vanished, turning completely black.

His ears grew pointed like a wolf’s, and his nose flattened slightly.

With these transformations, all his physical capabilities increased by leaps and bounds.

[You have entered the Hybrid Form (1st Form) of the Alpha Werewolves.]

[All your physical abilities have increased by 25%.]

His face took on a beastly form, yet his human features did not completely disappear.

This was the second form of an Alpha Werewolf, a state where they retained their human appearance but developed animalistic traits over their skin, accompanied by a significant boost in physical strength.

“Because you can never defeat me… and I will show you what true power feels like,” a hoarse, deep voice emerged from the werewolf’s mouth, accompanied by a monstrous grin.

Damian slowly rose from the rubble, his lips still curled into a wide grin despite the blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

He looked up at Silas, who now stood in his hybrid werewolf form, surrounded by a green aura.