Chapter 23: Inevitable Defeat
"It's the Hounds," remarked one of the Awakeners who had gathered to watch the fight between Sam and Yami.
A group of people entered the arena, each bearing the image of a purple dog-like beast on the back of their hand.
"The Reapers are here as well," someone else noted as another gang arrived, displaying the emblem of two crossed scythes with a skull in the center on their wrists.
"Even the Reapers have come to watch. This guy is drawing too much attention," someone muttered.
Sam couldn't care less about the Hounds or the Reapers.
All he wanted now was to beat the guys standing before him so they wouldn't disturb him again unnecessarily.
Within a few minutes, the arena was filled with students from the first three years, all eager for some action.
"The fight will start when the line of fire burning in the center of the arena is extinguished," the trainer announced, moving to the corner of the arena.
He was there to ensure that nothing against the rules would occur during the fight.
Sam's grip on the Eclipse Sword tightened as he waited for the line of fire to burn out.
After a few seconds, the entire line of fire went out in a puff.
Sam was the first to make his move.
He immediately utilized his full speed and blasted towards Yami and his underlings.
"This bastard has gotten so much faster than before," Yami thought.
He didn't know that Sam had used the free attribute points rewarded by the system to increase his agility and stamina stats.
Even without that, Sam's specialties were speed and technique.
"Surround him," Yami ordered as his four underlings encircled Sam.
Yami stayed put, beginning to conjure dark purplish flames powered by his dark energy.
Unlike last time, Yami was going all out from the start.
He wasn't entirely confident he could beat Sam.
Sam watched in amusement.
He had wondered from the beginning why Yami wanted to fight him again, knowing how strong he was.
Perhaps they had a plan this time.
Once his underlings surrounded Sam, Yami used his dark flames to create a ring of fire, trapping Sam and his underlings in a confined space.
"So that's your plan, huh? Trying to limit my movements," Sam mused.
Yami then focused his dark power and made a small exit for his underlings to escape from the ring of fire.
"That's a lot of heat."
"What kind of ability creates such terrible black flames?" the Awakeners wondered, intrigued, wanting to see how Sam would escape from the ring of fire, which seemed to be growing stronger even without anything to burn.
"I'm going to fry you alive, you bastard," Yami declared.
He raised his hand, and the ring of fire gained more strength.
It grew more intense, its height increasing, and it began to spread throughout the entire arena.
It was fortunate that the arena had a protective system that shielded the outside world from the events occurring within its confines.
From the bleachers, spectators could see that the only area not engulfed in flames was the center, where Sam and Yami stood, surrounded by a dome of dark, seething fire.
As the dome began to shrink, Sam remained at its center, seemingly unfazed.
The fire grew thicker and more intense, threatening to consume him entirely.
Yet, Sam did not move.
"I think he gave up," one observer remarked.
"How can he escape from something like that? I think he accepted his fate," another responded.
The awakeners felt a pang of disappointment.
They had hoped for a more spectacular display of skill.
Despite this, they anticipated watching someone burn, knowing that Trainer Austin would intervene before the situation turned fatal.
Lucy appeared beside Trainer Austin. "You're not just going to stand here and let him burn to death, are you?"
"Of course not," Austin replied, his gaze fixed on Sam. A small grin slowly formed on his lips. "But I don't think he needs saving."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, following his line of sight.
She saw Sam, a dominant grin on his face, as if everything was going according to plan.
He stood still, eyes closed, focusing intently.
The dome of dark fire grew stronger and denser as it shrank further around Sam.
"This is it," Sam muttered.
He opened his eyes and straightened his posture.
His heroic energy erupted, filling the dome with a brilliant yellow light.
"What the hell?" someone exclaimed.
"Just how much energy does this guy have?" The first years who had participated in the beast hunt with Sam gulped solemnly.
They had never seen anyone their age wield such immense power.
"This kid... I sensed he was around level fifteen, but his energy reserves are more than double that," Trainer Austin said, bewildered.
"He is... abnormal"
"I'm beginning to see why you're giving him extra attention," he added, glancing at Lucy, who remained expressionless.
"So what if you have more heroic energy? My dark flames will still devour you. You're going down today!" Yami bellowed, his negative emotions fueling the dark flames further.
Sam's energy continued to surge, pouring out like water from a floodgate, pushing against the shrinking dome from within.
But it seemed futile.
The dark flames, feeding on energy, grew even denser and began to overflow.
The dark flames expanded to a point where even Yami struggled to maintain control.
"Shit, I've lost control," he muttered, lowering his hands and covering himself in a protective mass of dark energy.
Suddenly, the yellowish energy gushing from Sam transformed into a dark bluish hue.
This new energy seemed to absorb the overflowing dark flames, pulling them in like a sponge soaking up water.
"Haha, looks like there was a reason why he let Yami do all this... I wonder what he's doing exactly."
From Trainer Austin's point of view, Sam was just casually standing there with one hand raised, constantly releasing a blinding, almost divinely dark blue energy that rapidly latched onto the dark flames.
[Innate Ability, Extraction Level Increased: +1]
Even the dark flames protecting Yami were slowly being extinguished.
"What the hell is going on?" Yami suddenly had a bad premonition that it was going to end badly for him.
Then something happened. In a split second, the dark blue energy pulled every ounce of dark flames along with it into Sam's palm, into himself.
[Extracting enormous amount of Dark power essence from the Dark Flames]
[Dark Power Assimilation Increased: 7.95%]
[Dark Power Assimilation Increased: 14.74%]
[Dark Power Assimilation Increased: 24.34%]
[Dark Power Assimilation Increased: 48.94%]
[Dark Power Assimilation... ]
[Dark Power ... ]
[...]
[Dark Power Assimilation Increased: 100.00%]
[Dark Power Assimilation Complete]
[You have awakened a Rare Stat on your own using your own Abilities]
[Rare Stat: Dark Power]
[Description: A type of energy born from the negative side of the universe. It is powered by negative emotions and is the counterpart of Holy Power from the positive side of the universe.]
[Effects: Dark Flame Creation, Accelerated healing, ability to influence negative emotions, ability to defend against Holy Power, immunity against venoms and poisons.]
[This Achievement deserves a reward]
[Reward: +5 Free Stat Points]
"Oh, yes, free stat points!" Sam's grin widened.
Then he noticed he still had some dark energy he had yet to absorb completely, so he decided to increase its dark power.
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
[Dark Power Increased: +1]
Yami watched in horror as Sam began to emanate a very familiar sensation.
A throb pulsed through his veins, recognizing a threat far greater than anything he had ever encountered.
It wasn't just Yami who felt this fear; it was something within him, an innate terror one would feel in the presence of a superior being of power.
Before he could gather his senses, a flash blinded him, followed by a searing pain in his chest.
In an instant, he found himself slammed into the wall at the corner of the arena.
His bones shattered, blood poured from his mouth, his ears rang incessantly, and numbness spread through his body.
Then, his vision blurred, and he lost consciousness.
Sam looked down at Yami, then pointed his hand, activating his Extraction.
[Extracting Heroic energy and Dark Power from the target's reserves]
[Cultivation Level Increased: 69%]
[Dark Power Increased: +3]
Sam then turned his gaze to Yami's underdogs. "Do you still wish to fight?"
"N-No, no way in hell," one of them stammered.
"You won... Just don't come near us," another added hastily.
They had no desire to end up like Yami, especially considering Sam had emerged unscathed from the onslaught of dark power.
Defeat was evident, compounded by the fact that they were already obligated to serve as his slaves for an entire month.
They had no wish to exacerbate the situation by facing Sam in combat.
[A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much! - Arigato! 🙏]