Chapter 159 Absorption

Having consumed a significant amount of mental energy in the previous battle, David barely managed to complete today's practice before heading straight to rest, skipping the absorption of the soul energy within the shadow servant.

He was well aware that both the mental arrow within his soul and the energy expended in drawing the dormant patterns could be fully recovered through rest.

Had he chosen to absorb the soul energy from the shadow servant at that moment, it would have offered a quick recovery, but it would have also wasted a precious opportunity to increase his mental capacity.

At six o'clock the following morning, David woke up punctually, went down to the subterranean combat room, and began his morning routine.

After two hours of training, he freshened up and made his way to the dining room.

The original smart butler here had been replaced with a copy of Emma, so as soon as he seated himself at the dining table, the smart butler Emma served him his familiar breakfast.

"Emma, where did this grade-one fortified meat come from?" David asked in surprise when he suddenly spotted a portion of grade-one fortified meat on the table.

He knew very well that he had not purchased any grade-one fortified meat himself. Being still quite unfamiliar with Naan City, and despite having plenty of credit points at his disposal, he had no way of acquiring such advanced cultivation resources just yet.

"Master, this was sent over upon the orders of Lord Galen!" the smart butler Emma replied.

David could not help but marvel at Galen's transcendent influence. No sooner had he been accepted as a disciple than he was rewarded with an enterprise generating nearly one hundred million annually, alongside a steady supply of grade-one fortified meat—a cultivation resource exceedingly difficult to obtain in Pelan City.

After finishing breakfast, David walked into the living room while feeling the grade-one fortified meat continuously replenishing the energy he had expended during his practice.

Seating himself comfortably on the living room sofa, David pressed his hand against the shadow servant's shoulder. Instantly, a wave of warm energy surged into his body and penetrated his soul.

By now, he was capable of sensing his soul fortress, and coupled with the substantial volume of soul energy this time, he could distinctly perceive the changes taking place within the fortress.

As these warm energies poured into his soul, the soul fortress began to tremble slightly. A thin mist of rain formed inside the fortress, and his soul was slowly growing stronger.

However, the soul energy provided by a full fourteen armored warriors dissipated shortly after creating that brief misty shower. He opened his eyes, a crystal-clear radiance flashing through them.

"Shadow servant, display my attribute panel!" David commanded mentally, and thereupon he observed the changes in his mental value.

His mental strength had risen from its previous 5.02 to 5.05. The fourteen armored warriors, combined with the soul energy accumulated prior, had boosted his mental power by 0.3 points. This realization caused him to draw in a sharp breath. For a battle of this scale, with so many armored warriors perishing, his mental strength had only increased by this meager amount.

If he wished to achieve a substantial increase in his mental power, the only viable option was likely to head to the battlefield.

However, considering the shadow servant's absorption range and the twenty-meter tether from his person, souls would only be absorbed if they were within a maximum radius of forty-odd meters. Even if he were to go to the battlefield, he estimated he would have very little opportunity to absorb many souls.

David shook his head and cast these thoughts aside. It was still too far off to consider such matters; what he currently needed was to enhance his strength, physique, and agility. His mental strength was already the highest among all his attributes.

Once more, he probed the interior of the shadow servant. Inside, there were now fourteen knowledge orbs, of which the most eye-catching were seven yellow knowledge orbs, their color a remarkably deep shade of yellow.

"As expected of Naan City, the quality of the armored warriors here is vastly superior to that of Pelan City!" David exclaimed inwardly with a sense of wonder.

During his time in Pelan City, he had absorbed the souls of dozens of armored warriors, yet mastery-level knowledge orbs among them had been exceedingly rare. How could it compare to this instance, where a single skirmish among fourteen armored warriors yielded seven mastery-level knowledge orbs?

In truth, had the Freedom Blade Mercenary Group not dispatched an elite armored warrior squad, there would never have been such a concentration of mastery-level ability holders appearing at once.

David examined these mastery-level knowledge orbs one by one, the joy in his eyes impossible to conceal.

"Heavy Axe Mastery (95 Mastery), Heavy Axe Mastery (60 Mastery), Shield Mastery (89 Mastery), Spear Mastery (52 Mastery), War Hammer Mastery (75 Mastery), War Hammer Mastery (78 Mastery), Advanced Body Art (66 Mastery)."

From the first six knowledge orbs, David deduced that they originated from the elite armored warrior squad that had forced him to unleash every skill at his disposal to defeat them.

The mastery-level knowledge orbs provided by this squad immediately filled the gaps in his proficiency with war hammers and shields, and even elevated his heavy axe mastery to a level extremely close to the peak of mastery.

Naturally, the spear mastery at 52 mastery held little utility for him now.

What surprised him the most, however, was the Advanced Body Art at 66 mastery—this was the first time he had ever seen body art provided by an armored warrior.

One had to bear in mind that for armored warriors, driven by the pursuit of combat and the acquisition of greater resources, their strongest capabilities were almost invariably combat skills.

Furthermore, the progression of combat skills was far more evident and faster compared to the proficiency curve of body art. Thus, it was hard to fathom how an Advanced Body Art at 66 mastery could possibly have materialized.

Equally baffling to David was what Advanced Body Art actually entailed and how it differed from the body art he currently mastered.

David glanced briefly at the remaining knowledge orbs. The proficiency-level knowledge orbs could no longer capture his attention. Finding time to slowly integrate these knowledge orbs would likely yield only a marginal amount of insight and experience.

Yet, minimal though the gains might be, he would not waste a single knowledge orb. These insights and experiences represented a lifetime of accumulation by the armored warriors; acquiring such knowledge and experience through his own trials and studies would demand an immense expenditure of effort and time.

Returning his focus to the Advanced Body Art (66 Mastery), David could not wait another moment. He was eager to integrate this knowledge orb and master the advanced body art capability.

David was entirely unaware that this knowledge orb of Advanced Body Art (66 Mastery) originated from Horatio, the armored warrior who served as the supervisor of the C117 shelter within the underground network.

Long ago, Horatio had been dispatched by the Freedom Blade Mercenary Group to Naan City, where he had managed the C117 shelter for many years.

To most people, the underground network was an extremely perilous place, but to Horatio, the supervisor stationed there by the Freedom Blade major mercenary group, the underground network was remarkably safe and yielded a substantial amount of hidden income.

Ordinarily, the security of the shelter was maintained by his subordinates, and no one would dare cause trouble in a stronghold belonging to the Freedom Blade Mercenary Group.

The safety of the five mining areas was protected by mercenary armored warriors, backed by formidable forces like the elite armored warrior squads. At least during all the years Horatio had spent at the C117 shelter, there had never been an occasion that required him to personally intervene in a fight.

All Horatio needed to do was coordinate relations between the C117 shelter and other factions while managing the krypton crystal mines produced locally.

It was precisely for this reason that Horatio had no need to ponder the enhancement of his combat prowess; instead, he had devoted himself heart and soul to the practice of body art.

To achieve superior results in his body art training, he had even gone to great lengths and paid a heavy price to purchase a set of high-tier armored warrior body art from the black market.

Very few individuals ever attempted to practice high-tier armored warrior body art because the time and resources required to train in such specialized techniques vastly exceeded the standard eighteen-style federal body art, while its difficulty was multiplied manifold.

Without a massive consumption of resources and prolonged, uninterrupted practice, achieving even a basic entry level in high-tier armored warrior body art was exceedingly difficult—often proving less effective at physical enhancement than the familiar eighteen-style body art at the proficiency level.

Perhaps Horatio possessed an extraordinary talent in this domain. After acquiring the high-tier armored warrior body art, he practiced diligently, channeling all the profits skimmed from the transactions at the C117 shelter into purchasing resources to advance his training. It was through this relentless effort that he had achieved the astonishing feat of raising his mastery of advanced body art to 66.

During his years at the shelter, not only had his physical strength reached the absolute limit attainable by an armored warrior, but his constitution was also on the verge of reaching the ultimate physical threshold of an armored warrior. Perhaps, had Horatio been granted a bit more time, he might have stood a chance at breaking through the barrier of armored warrior strength.

Regrettably, Horatio had squandered an excessive amount of time on this high-tier armored warrior body art, leaving his actual combat capabilities quite weak. This fatal flaw meant that when he encountered the armored warrior special operations squad, he was utterly incapable of mounting an effective resistance.

In the end, all the experience he had accumulated over many years of practicing high-tier armored warrior body art crystallized into this knowledge orb gleaming with a deep yellow light, ultimately becoming David's spoils of war.