The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The Strongest Human

The noble vampire’s partial Ancestral Form began to unravel as the flames surrounding his figure dissipated, and his movements became considerably slower.

Damian shook his head, and in a sudden flash, he appeared before the vampire, effortlessly catching the hand that was coming at him, its claws aiming to pierce his flesh.

He caught it with ease because there was no real strength behind the vampire’s attack anymore.

In fact, the vampire was so weak that Damian no longer needed any techniques, abilities, or even his [Warrior’s Will] to overpower him.

“You’re so through,” Damian muttered softly before pulling his hand back and then thrusting it forward, delivering a powerful punch to the vampire’s chest.

With a loud bang, the attack sent the noble vampire crashing to the ground like a meteor.

“Argh…!”

The vampire hit the ground hard, coughing up a mouthful of blood as the impact shattered many of his bones.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem.

His vampiric regeneration should have healed him within minutes, but that wasn’t happening.

His [Blood Essence] reserves were completely depleted, leaving his body with no energy to recover.

He was in the worst possible situation.

Never before had he been beaten this badly.

No one in the First Tower Realm had ever pushed him to his limits until today.

Not even the Alpha Werewolf, whom he despised, had been able to do so.

In fact, he had taken great satisfaction in watching that werewolf lose miserably to this very human, but he had never imagined he would share the same fate.

Now, here he was, lying on the ground in utter misery.

His body was completely drained of energy, blood staining his figure, his racial healing abilities compromised, and worst of all, he was still conscious.

Vampires had incredible resilience, which meant that even in this state, he remained aware of everything.

And that awareness came at a cost: the unbearable pain of his shattered body.

Above him, Damian hovered in the air, his presence growing stronger as his aura intensified.

In his hand, [Recna, The Spear of Torment] materialized, cloaked in its own dark energy.

“Hmm?” Damian hummed thoughtfully, activating a spear technique.

[The Thousand Armor Impale: Spear Technique Activated]

As soon as the technique was triggered, thick energy surged around the spear.

However, unlike before, when he had used [Qi], this time the surrounding [Wind Essence] gathered and cloaked the weapon instead.

Damian hadn’t changed anything about how the energy flowed or how the technique functioned.

He had simply replaced the energy source from [Qi] to [Wind Essence].

The [Wind Essence] swirled around the spear, while the winds in the area responded to Damian, flowing toward him.

“So… elemental essence can be used like this too, huh?”

Damian nodded, feeling the hot wind streaming around the spear.

As it merged with the spear’s dark aura, the entire technique radiated a powerful, ominous energy.

Pulling his spear back, Damian made a simple impaling motion, pointing it at the downed vampire.

As soon as he thrust the spear forward, the dark aura surrounding it transformed into a lance of pure [Wind Essence].

The attack accelerated toward its target, leaving a powerful gust in its wake, even pushing Damian slightly backward.

Within moments, the wind-forged spear struck the vampire.

Upon impact, the spear exploded, releasing a violent burst of pure energy in all directions.

An intense wind pressure swept through the battlefield, forcing everything away and filling the arena with dust and debris, making it difficult for spectators to see what was happening inside.

But Damian’s eyes could still see through the storm of dust and dirt.

Then suddenly, he felt the [Wind Essence] surrounding him become unstable.

A few seconds later, the form deactivated on its own, and the effects of [Wind Avatar] completely vanished.

Damian fell toward the ground.

“Ha… shit,” he muttered as he landed safely, though the last remnants of [Wind Essence] dissipated from his body, clearing the dust in the process.

“Eight minutes… I can only maintain the [Wind Avatar] form for eight minutes. I need to increase my elemental essence reserves,” Damian noted to himself as he assessed his energy levels.

His [Wind Essence] reserves were completely depleted, and it would take some time before they naturally recharged.

Every form he possessed depended on the amount of energy he had.

Even then, the duration of his transformations would decrease further if he used too much energy on large, flashy moves, which rapidly drained his reserves.

Right now, the only element he had enough reserves for was [Fire Essence].

With it, he could maintain [Fire Avatar] for around forty-five minutes, though even that duration would shorten if he kept using high-energy techniques.

[Your understanding of the spear technique [The Thousand Armor Impale] has increased.]

[Your technique [Thousand Armor Impale (High)] has improved to [Thousand Armor Impale (Master)].]

Damian turned his attention back to the vampire, curious about the state he was in.

The vampire was, unfortunately for him, still conscious, though barely.

If one ignored the giant, handball-sized hole in his stomach, he simply looked even paler than usual, even for a vampire.

Damian looked around and saw red dots scattered all over the battlefield, as if it had rained blood.

“Oh god… Did that attack blast his blood all over the place? That’s unfortunate,” Damian shrugged, then turned his attention back to the vampire.

“That might explain why you looks so pale, even for a vampire…”

Crouching down, Damian observed the wound, ignoring the pained groans echoing in the background.

The wound wasn’t healing like it was supposed to.

“Y-You…”

A pained, barely audible voice escaped the fallen vampire’s mouth, along with a spit of whatever remaining blood he had left.

“Oh? You can still talk? Wow, a vampire’s endurance really cannot be underestimated, can it?” Damian was genuinely impressed by the abilities of this noble vampire.

Both vampires and werewolves possessed incredible endurance and resilience, but vampires had top-tier regeneration.

They could heal from nearly any injury as long as their heads remained intact.

Werewolves, on the other hand, didn’t have such rapid regeneration, but they did have immense healing capabilities and strong bodies that could withstand unnatural force and pressure.

“Y-You… L-Low…ly… H-Human…” the noble vampire’s mouth moved as he struggled to speak.

“Still going on about that ‘lowly human’ nonsense?” Damian shook his head, disappointed. “Let me ask you something… is it really worth it?”

Damian moved closer, doubting that the vampire could even hear him.

“I mean…” Damian smirked.

“You lost to me miserably. Just like that werewolf. Actually, you lost even more miserably than that werewolf… Yet, you’re still calling me a ‘lowly human’? Seems a little ignorant, doesn’t it?”

“Do you still think you’re superior to me, a so-called ‘lowly human,’ when you’ve just been utterly defeated?”

The vampire didn’t respond.

Or rather, he simply couldn’t.

Damian stepped back as he noticed the vampire’s body slowly turning into specks of light.

“It’s great to have pride, but pride alone isn’t enough… Did your pride help you win against me?”

“No, right? If you don’t have power, your pride is meaningless.”

Then, slowly, the vampire completely disappeared into tiny specks of light as the arena erupted into an uproar.

“He won…”

“He obtained first place in the power rankings…”

“He won 200 battles straight… I can’t believe this…”

“He’s probably the strongest human to ever walk the land of the First Tower Realm!”

Shiru was in a similar state to the other Awakeners who had been watching Damian’s battles.

“He really did it…”

Shiru felt her throat go numb and dry, as if it hadn’t seen saliva in days.

“I made the right decision forming a contract with him,” Shiru sighed, her figure vanishing from the spot and reappearing in the Awakeners’ Hall.

Not just her, now that the battles had concluded, there was no reason for anyone else to stay either.

Almost everyone left, leaving Damian alone on the battleground, watching a series of notifications appear in his field of vision.

[The Power Rankings have been updated.]

[The Awakener ‘Infinity’ has obtained 1st place in the Power Rankings.]

[It has been detected that you are the first Awakener in the history of Solarta to win 200 battles in a row without resting, taking a break, or losing.]

[You have won all the ranking battles and reached 1st place in the power rankings.]

[You have completed the hidden function of the power rankings.]

[For every consecutive battle won, without loss, from the 100th position to the 1st position in the power rankings, you will gain 1 free stat point.]

[You have won 100 consecutive battles without a single loss or break.]

[Reward: +100 Free Stat Points]

[Since you have achieved 1st place by defeating every single position holder in the power rankings, you have unlocked another hidden function.]

[Reward: +50 Free Stat Points]

[You have obtained the title: ‘The Strongest Human.’]

—–

[Title: The Strongest Human]

[Effect: When fighting against humanoid beings, your stats will increase by 15%.]

—–

[The system congratulates you on your achievement.]

[He who prevails writes history.]

[Your achievement will be recorded in the annals of Solarta.]

[You will be known as ‘The Unforeseen One’ by all beings associated with The tower and The system throughout all tower realms and worlds.]

[You have obtained the title: ‘The Unforeseen One.’]

—–

[Title: The Unforeseen One]

[Effects:

– Your luck will increase when within tower realms or foreign worlds.

-You will receive a 25% discount on all system-related purchases, including system shops, public auctions, and private auctions.]

—–

Damian felt a warm sensation spreading throughout his entire being as his physical stamina and depleted energy reserves rapidly recovered.

[As a small reward for your efforts, your stamina will be completely rejuvenated.]

[You will be transported back to where you were before you entered the ranking battle.]

Then, Damian’s figure broke into pieces of light before vanishing, returning him to the Awakeners’ Hall, where his contractor, Shiru, was waiting for him.