Chapter 139: Victory

Furness did not hear Galen’s rebuke, but rather his guidance, which left him feeling deeply ashamed. He was well aware of the preciousness of a Grade 3 Zerg Space Ripper’s heart core. Within the Interstellar Federation, Grade 3 Zergs usually required powerful super-weapons like orbital cannons to be dealt with, and under such heavy firepower, they rarely left behind a corpse. Without a corpse, there would be no materials, let alone a heart core, which was already a rare drop for a Grade 3 Zerg.

Had it not been for the fact that, besides the defenseless Space Ripper, all other Zergs that breached the blockade of Rock Star were below Grade 3, the transcendent warriors would never have secured the victory of slaying a Grade 3 Zerg. Now, because of his own failure, such a rare treasure was about to be handed over to someone else.

"Teacher, I am sorry!" Furness whispered.

"Furness, do not take it to heart. As long as you find the reason for your failure, then everything is worth it!" Galen said in a deep voice.

With that, he turned his gaze toward David; it was David’s turn to step into the arena.

"David, don't be nervous. This is just to show your current level; don't worry about the outcome," he said to David with a smile.

"Uncle Galen, I will win!" David said, his eyes filled with absolute confidence.

Arlo was indeed strong, and his proficiency with the heavy axe was nearly on par with David's mastery of the war hammer. However, David could tell that Arlo was not a natural-born armored warrior.

David did not choose a different weapon for his match against Arlo. He took the practice war hammer from Furness's hands, noting the look of concern in his friend's eyes. David gave Furness a reassuring look and stepped into the center of the field with the practice hammer. He assumed the same starting stance as Furness, demonstrating the Storm War Hammer technique passed down through Galen’s lineage.

Arlo did not underestimate David in the slightest because of his youth. As an experienced armored warrior, he gave his all against every opponent and never looked down on anyone. He had seen too many warriors put themselves in danger due to momentary arrogance.

David let out a shout and attacked first. His movements were identical to Furness's, the practice hammer carving an arc toward Arlo. A flash of surprise crossed Arlo’s eyes; he didn’t understand why his opponent would choose this approach, but he still opted for the most suitable tactical response and met the strike head-on.

"David’s mastery of the war hammer has improved again!" Galen smiled, feeling proud to have a disciple like this, and proud for his brother Hans to have such a son.

"Galen, congratulations!" General Alvin said to Galen with a smile.

Even Mervin, standing to the side, cast a look of envy, and Daryl was astonished. David was four or five years younger than the youth here, yet his war hammer proficiency was not inferior at all. The expressions of the transcendent warriors on the sidelines did not affect the two in the arena. With a resounding "boom," the two heavy weapons collided.

David was forced to take five consecutive steps back before he could stabilize his stance. Conversely, the man opposite him, Arlo, felt his body jolt violently, a look of horror flashing in his eyes.

Under normal circumstances, given David’s strength, Arlo would not have needed to retreat to dissipate the force of the strike. However, the vibrational force from David’s "Vibration Talent" caused Arlo’s muscles and bones to suffer under the shock, even though he hadn't been prepared for it. Arlo pushed off with his feet, forcibly channeling the vibration into the ground, causing his own body to stumble backward. His pant legs disintegrated as he channeled the force, followed by his shoes. He retreated three more steps on his bare feet before the vibration was fully neutralized. A trace of blood leaked from his mouth—his internal organs had been damaged by the vibration. Fortunately, he had acted in time, shunting the force into the earth before it could cause more severe harm.

No one cared about Arlo’s disheveled state; everyone’s eyes were fixed on David.

"Strength Vibration Talent!" Daryl exclaimed. Such natural-born armored warriors, who reached their level through pure physical talent rather than relying on enhancement serums, were becoming increasingly rare. Not everyone could endure the agonizingly slow rate of improvement and the uncertain, distant prospect of a breakthrough. Once a warrior missed the prime age for such a breakthrough, their entire life could potentially be spent in mediocrity.

If David’s body arts hadn't reached the proficiency level, he wouldn't have been able to rapidly increase his strength to nearly a thousand kilograms, even if he ate Grade 1 enhancement meat every day. It was precisely because he obtained Grade 2 enhancement meat at the most opportune moment that he achieved the perfect breakthrough. If becoming an armored warrior was a one-in-a-thousand probability, then becoming a "natural-born" armored warrior was one-in-a-million. The gap was astronomical, and becoming one often involved a great deal of luck. Only major organizations could stack enough Grade 2 enhancement meat to cultivate such a warrior, but even the major factions on Rock Star lacked the resources for that. A continuous supply of Grade 2 enhancement meat could only be obtained from more dangerous planets; it was impossible to maintain such a supply on Rock Star.

David pushed off the ground, and his practice hammer sliced through the air again, striking toward Arlo. Arlo dared not block the hammer head-on; the previous collision had left his body injured, and he did not want to endure David’s vibration force again.

David was in no rush. Both were using heavy weapons, so it wasn't easy to dance around the fight. Both possessed peak proficiency-level combat skills, yet David’s combat experience was even more extensive than Arlo’s. Every step David took forward perfectly intercepted Arlo’s optimal movement path, making it extremely uncomfortable for Arlo and increasingly difficult for him to dodge the war hammer.

This was a sparring match, not a fight to the death in the wilderness. With several transcendent warriors watching, Arlo could not simply refuse to attack and spend the entire match dodging. To do so would not only lose him face but also embarrass his teacher, Daryl. It was for this reason that while Arlo tried to avoid the hammer, he was forced to seek opportunities to counterattack to avoid being accused of passive evasion.

David felt quite relaxed. Although there was a clear gap in raw strength between him and Arlo, the opponent had not reached the level of a peak armored warrior—at most, he possessed about 1,500 kilograms of force—which was not enough to threaten David through pure strength alone. With their skill levels being similar, David’s war hammer slowly took control of the situation.

Finally, during one of Arlo’s counterattacks, his strike was parried by David. David was forced back again due to the strength difference, but Arlo was once again ravaged by the vibration force. Although he retreated to dissipate it, his initial injuries were aggravated.

"Arlo is defeated!" Daryl announced in a deep voice. There was no need to continue the fight; David’s advantage was too obvious.

Arlo, though defeated, did not seem particularly dejected, as if he didn't care about his loss. As he left the arena, he looked at David with a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Jeffrey, you go next!" Daryl instructed his disciple, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey nodded, picked up a practice heavy axe, and gave it a casual swing. Just from that single movement, David narrowed his eyes. He himself had a mastery level of 78 in heavy axes, and Jeffrey’s casual swing was already at the early stage of the "Mastery" level. With such proficiency in the heavy axe, combined with the strength gap, David knew he would have no chance of winning if he continued to use the war hammer.

"Uncle Galen, I want to change weapons!" David turned to Galen.

"Fine, you decide!" Galen was stunned for a moment, but he trusted David and agreed.

David walked to the weapon rack, which was well-stocked with all common practice weapons. He chose a practice spear. At two and a half meters long, the spear was rarely used in duels because it was a long-handled weapon that required coordination; choosing a spear in a one-on-one fight was typically a major disadvantage. But David was different—his spear mastery had reached the "Perfection" level; he was already a master of the spear.