Chapter 38: Is He Even Human?
“William, is he the one known as the ‘Monstrous Bear’, the one who can smash a small hill with a single hammer?”
“It is said that he was born with a divine strength of three thousand catties. Even a Bronze-tier warrior of the same level would not be able to block a single blow from him! And even if Watson was a Silver-tier warrior, he would definitely be injured if he stood still and allowed William to attack.”
..
There was a commotion amongst the dozen guards when William stepped forward.
William’s reputation was very well known within a few hundred miles of the border, and many did not favor Vincent’s chances. If William could smash a small hill, then a body of flesh and blood would be smashed into meat paste in just a short, especially if it was standing still.
“William, right? Come on,” Vincent chuckled and gestured with his finger towards William.
“Are you sure you don’t want to release your combat aura armor? This hammer of mine might even seriously injure you.”
“There’s no need to go through so much trouble.”
“How arrogant. I won’t hold back.”
William widened his bell-like eyes and waved the hammer that weighed hundreds of pounds towards Vincent. The hammer broke through the air with a m.u.f.fled sound and went straight for Vincent’s chest. The huge force even created a whirlwind and blew away the stones on the ground.
The hammer in his hand was an Iron-tier weapon. A weapon of the same level, such as a sword for example, would break if it came into contact with it. At that moment, William did not use his full strength and used only half. After all, the opponent was the master of Blackmoon Castle, and it would not be good if the master was injured.
Bang!
The hammer and Vincent’s th.o.r.n.y vest collided. Vincent’s body swayed and did not move. On the contrary, William’s hands trembled. He took two steps back and sat on the ground as confusion filled his eyes.
He felt a force that was not inferior to his coming from Vincent’s body, which cancelled out the attack.
“Failed. Next.” Vincent swept the dust off his body without even looking at William.
The Th.o.r.n.yvest on his body was originally a Bronze-tier defensive equipment, but when he bought a longbow for his seventh sibling, he also bought dozens of sets of armor. He asked Watson to help him re-forge the Thornvest, and had it upgraded to Silver-tier. The rebound effect had increased from 50% to 100%, and a mere bronze grade warrior could not even break through his defense.
“William actually lost, and he lost that quickly?”
The surrounding guards looked at this unexpected scene with a face full of disbelief.
“Wait a minute!”
At this moment, William also came back to his senses. His face was red as he shouted, “I didn’t use my full strength just now. It doesn’t count.”
He held back on Vincent earlier so that the latter would not be injured, but Vincent ended up being repelled without even moving. Whether he pa.s.sed the selection or not had become secondary, as he did not want to lose his reputation after bragging.
“Rules are rules, but since you’re not convinced, let’s do it again.”
Vincent’s expression was calm as he beckoned with his hand again.
“WAAAAA!”
As he shouted, William raised his hammer and rushed toward Vincent. His body was covered with a thick layer of earth-attribute combat aura. He was like a mad bear who could overturn a horse carriage, let alone a person.
Vincent’s gaze turned solemn after seeing that scene. A bright color burst out from his body and was covered with a layer of s.h.i.+ning golden combat aura armor. It was a light-attribute combat aura.
Bang!
After an even heavier sound, William was sent flying again. He flew for a few meters before landing heavily on the ground. A crack appeared on the hammer.
Everyone rubbed their eyes and gasped. Some sharp-eyed people recognized the combat aura on Vincent’s body and cried out in surprise.
“This is light-attribute combat aura. As expected, he’s Watson!”
Many of them had come because they had heard that Watson had mastered light-attribute combat aura. Light- and dark-attribute combat aura cultivation methods were very precious, especially when it came to publicly teaching them. There might be more than one Silver-tier warrior in Blackmoon Castle, but there could only be one person who cultivated light-attribute combat aura.
Everyone firmly believed that the person in front of them was definitely Watson.
“What else do you have to say? Why don’t I give you another chance?”
Vincent asked. William, who was lying on the ground, got up with a resentful expression and waved his hand with a red face. “No, there’s no need.”
He had already used his full strength, but he was still unable to do anything to Vincent. He would not allow further tricks to be played on his pride.
“The first person was eliminated. Who else wants to try?” Vincent looked around. The many guards in front of him all took a step back with a pained expression on their faces. William might not be the strongest among them, but he was the one with the greatest strength and the fiercest attacks. If William was unable to do anything to Vincent, they would certainly be faced with humiliation if they were to go up.
“No one is willing?”Vincent was a little disappointed as he shook his head and sighed. “Since no one is willing to give it a try, I announce that…”
Just as he was about to say ‘…no one has pa.s.sed the selection’, he was interrupted by a voice from behind him.
“Big Brother, wait a moment.”
Watson brought Scarlet out of the castle with a helpless expression on his face. “Big Brother, you’re wearing Silver-tier defensive equipment and you’ve trained light-attribute combat aura. It’s normal for these people to be unable to move you. The conditions you set are too harsh.”
Watson had just arrived not long ago to witness the process of the duel between Vincent and William.
The border was such a remote and desolate place that it would have been good enough if they could gather more than ten bronze grade warriors. Who else would come back to apply for the job in the future if so many people were eliminated at once? It was not that there were no geniuses in the border who could defeat Vincent in Silver-grade defensive equipment, but rather, such geniuses would not just simply become a servant to guard houses.
“Watson, why did you come out?”
Seeing his younger brother, Vincent was first puzzled, then explained, “I’m doing this for the sake of the family. If these people couldn’t even defeat me, what’s the use of recruiting them into the house other than feeding them our rice? How are they going to guard the house? How are they going to protect you?”
The person in front of everyone was not Watson, but Watson’s older brother?
Everyone’s eyes widened upon hearing the conversation between the brothers. Watson was a genius who had recently become famous at the border. If he had become a Silver-tier warrior at such a young age, his big brother must have been even stronger. It was unsurprising that they could not beat him.
“So you’re wearing Silver-tier armor. No wonder I can’t beat you with my hammer. You’re cheating! If you have what it takes, take off your armor. See if I can make you move. However, this time, I won’t fight you. I want to fight Watson.”
William, who was just about to give up, shouted as his eyes lit up.
If he could not win against the elder brother, he would definitely not lose against the younger brother. Indeed, he still had a chance.
Vincent frowned and turned his head to say something, but Watson waved his hand to stop him. “Big Brother, forget it. Since he’s so persistent, let’s give him another chance!”
Turning his head, Watson said, “Your name is William, right? I won’t make it hard for you.”
As he spoke, Watson took off his small black s.h.i.+rt and threw it on the ground, revealing his smooth muscle lines and slightly tender upper body. “This s.h.i.+rt I’m wearing is Gold-tier armor. For the sake of fairness, I’ll take it off for now.”
Gold-tier armor!
Everyone present there widened their eyes. They were already extremely envious when Vincent earlier said that he was wearing Silver-tier armor. They had not expected Watson to wear something even better. Gold-tier armor was often heard in legends, but it was the first time they had seen it. One such equipment was worth at least a thousand gold coins, and they wondered where Watson had gotten that much money.
They all had a sudden realization after raising their heads and looking at Blackmoon Castle behind Watson.
Anyone who could afford to build a castle would certainly not lack the funds to get Gold-tier defensive equipment. At that thought, they became even more eager to join Blackmoon Castle. With such wealth, they would still be able to get a set of Bronze-tier equipment, and it was enough to make them happy for a long time even if they could not get Silver- or Gold-tier defensive equipment.
“I’m coming now.”
William also looked begrudgingly at the s.h.i.+rt on the ground and licked his dry lips.
“Hold on a bit.”
Watson gestured for him to stop. The light on his body circulated and a layer of combat aura armor appeared. It went from gold to red, then yellow to green, and finally, it turned sky-blue, “You’re cultivated earth-type combat aura. I’ll use water-type combat aura to defend, which will increase your chances of winning.”
In this world, the six attributes had a restraining relations.h.i.+p. Light and dark attributes countered each other. Earth-type combat aura countered water-type combat aura, water-type combat aura countered fire-type combat aura, fire-type combat aura countered wind-type combat aura, and wind-type combat aura countered earth-type combat aura.
Under the situation where the attributes countered each other, the superior party’s battle strength could be doubled.
“Did you see how many types of combat aura Watson used just now?” A guard nudged the person beside him, unable to close his mouth.
The person beside him carefully answered, “There seemed to be five types.”
There were six types of combat aura in total. Watson had exclusive possession of five. Training two types of combat aura at the same time would require more than double the time spent by an ordinary person, not to mention five. What kind of talent was that? Was he…still human?
“You can begin.”
After doing all this, Watson beckoned William in satisfaction with his hand.
William’s face alternated between green and white, and he could no longer take another step forward. After pausing for a moment, he dejectedly put down his fist. “I… Admit defeat.”
What was there to begin? Watson had mastered five types of combat aura, and he had deliberately chosen one that was restrained by him. This was looking down on him.
When he had seen Watson replace Vincent, he had thought that Watson might not be as good as his big brother, and that he might be lucky enough to win. It all seemed incredibly stupid of him. It was not unreasonable that the famous genius was Watson and not Vincent, because Watson was both young and a monstrosity.