Chapter Four: Weapon Force
Valen glanced behind him, tracing the one who just shouted. It was a fair-skinned young man with sharp eyes. He was dressed in a lavish brown surcoat, a sword hanging by his waist.
He raised his chin, his long nose pointing at the sky as he pointed as Valen:
"What? Want to challenge me?"
The other two young masters beside him stepped forward, their gazes unkind. Before Valen could say anything, the white-haired young man beside him stepped forward while taking out a red-coloured coin.
"I am Randel from the Redwind Household of Old West City. Do you still dare take my spot?"
The four young masters immediately showed wary expressions on their faces.
Valen was inwardly astonished. It seemed that Randel was from a terrifying background. Immediately, his eyes spun. What if he clung to this powerful patron?
At least for a while he wouldn't be worried about his safety in this new world. However, that could wait. For now, these young masters only feared Randel, not him.
"Dear friends, please don't take this matter too seriously. I am willing to give up my spot." Jude clasped his fists and threw out his black card.
However, he threw it to Fatso, not Edgar. This was probably because Fatso had offered to pay up and wasn't tyrannical.
Fatso's eyes lit up as he caught it. "Thank you, dear friend. Thank you."
With that, Fatso took out a pouch and gave it to Jude before coming to stand beside Valen and the others.
Edgar's expression turned ugly, but he gritted his teeth and shouted at Valen; "Hey, you! What are you still messing around for? Hand over your spot!"
Valen stared at him like he was staring at a fool. Shaking his head, he refused to reply. Such people… it was better to ignore.
"Y-you! Insolent brat! You dare to ignore this young master!" Edgar roared in fury, stomping his foot on the ground. Then he turned his attention to Marcel, his gaze venomous: "Give me that spot, otherwise..."
Marcel smirked and turned around, heading into the building.
"YOU ALL!!!" Edgar roared at the top of his lungs and unsheathed his sword, charging forward like a madman.
Valen's heart skipped a bit as he hurriedly retreated, but it was already too late. With a swoosh, Edgar's sword fell, aiming to split Valen's skull.
Gritting his teeth, Valen's mind raced for all possible solutions. However, the most reasonable one was to charge ahead.
'I wish I had practised that {Basic Punching Stances}' Valen thought as he dashed forward, colliding head first with Edgar's chest.
"Aaah~" Edgar was sent reeling backwards from the collision, his sword strike losing momentum. Valen didn't relent but instead followed up with a swift punch at Edgar's stomach.
With a "clang", Edgar's sword hit the ground and he gripped his stomach while grimacing in pain. Valen leapt up and threw a round-house kick at Edgar's shoulders, causing him to stagger and fall to the side with a "plop".
Valen took a step backward, panting from both fear and weariness. Just now, dread had overcome his senses at the prospect of his death. This made him increasingly mad at Edgar and he turned his rage-filled eyes towards him.
He was just about to take a step forward when a cold voice resounded from the side: "ENOUGH!"
A tall figure appeared before Valen. His spear shot out with incredible speed, and a sharp grey ray burst forth, so keen that Valen's hair stood on end. It carved a long line between Valen and the groaning Edgar.
The figure revealed himself as a middle-aged man draped in a long cloak. He looked at Valen and said, "What you have done is enough. This foolish boy had no real intent to kill you. That sword is not even real—just a prop that young masters like him carry to satisfy their egos. Now, do not keep the others waiting. Go inside and test your potential."
With that, the man turned and walked away casually. Everyone in the square let out sighs of relief, respect evident in their eyes.
"That's the chamber master, Mr. Benjamin, right? So powerful!"
"Yeah. I heard he was a kind and gentle man. Seems like it's true.'
"Of course, it is! Others would've supported young master Edgar to curry favour, but the Chamber Master isn't like that."
"Also, he seems to have comprehended Weapon Force. That ray just now was incredibly sharp."
"I heard Weapon Force is hard to comprehend, yet the Chamber Master had grasped it."
…
Chatter erupted amongst the remaining people at the square, but no one noticed that Valen hadn't moved from his place ever since the arrival of the Chamber Master.
He just stood at the spot, staring at the line drawn by the Chamber Master with a distant look in his eyes.
Valen was indeed absentminded. When the Chamber Master had shot out that grey ray, {Heart of Gloom} had automatically activated and Valen glimpsed a whole new world.
Everything blurred, and the grey beam slowed, gradually dispersing into a cluster of faint grey dots. A sharp pain shot through his mind, urging him to withdraw, but to his shock, he could not.
The pain intensified. Just as he felt he could no longer endure it, the state ended, and his surroundings returned to normal.
Suddenly, he felt his bag tremble. It seemed the ancient book was trying to notify him of something. Unfortunately, he had put it away before registering his name at the chamber's entrance, so he could not check.
Even so, he sensed that he had grasped something.
As if possessed, he ignored his surroundings and walked over to the sword lying on the ground.
He picked it up and pressed the blade. As expected, it bent like elastic—not a real weapon.
That, however, was not why he picked it up. He hesitated for a bit, then activated {Heart of Gloom} with a thought.
Several vague dots appeared again, with two predominant colours: white and grey. Valen immediately willed the grey dots to surround the sword.
An instant later, a headache struck, forcing him out of the state. Even so, the sword flickered with a fading grey light. Before it could die out, he quickly slashed the ground. A long, faint line appeared.
Similar to the Chamber Master's strike, it emitted a sharp chill that made all of Valen's hair stand on end.
A suge of ecstasy rushed through him and he realised the significance of what he had just achieved. From the earlier murmurs, he knew this was Weapon Force and it was clearly extraordinary.
With this, he might finally be able to defend himself, right?
'{Heart of Gloom} is truly an overpowered technique. Whoever created it much have been a great genius!' Valen inwardly praised.
"Hey, snap out of it!"
A voice jolted Valen from his stupor. He quickly throw the sword aside as he couldn't let anyone know he had comprehended Weapon Force.
Turning around, he saw it was Randel, whose expression was filled with shock.
'Did he notice the weapon force?' Valen's heart pounded.
Randel pointed at Valen and said in disbelief: "Y-your face."
"My face?" Valen asked, confused. He touched his nose and felt something sticky. Looking at his hand, he saw blood - his nose was bleeding!
Realising the strain {Heart of Gloom} placed on his min, he instantly understood.
'Although I get it, but just how many more times in the future would I have to keep wiping my nose?' Valen thought, irritated.
Wiping his nose with his sleeve, he said casually; "It's nothing. The Chamber Master's Weapon Force was quite powerful."
He was not lying. It had nearly driven him mad to comprehend it.
Randel looked doubtful but did not press further. He simply nodded. "By the way, those punches you threw earlier were impressive. That arrogant young master needed to be taught a lesson."
Valen chuckled. "It's nothing compared to you, dear friend Randel. Why would I start a fight, if I had a coin to flash?"
Randel laughed heartily as the two of them entered the building together.
'Finally, this potential testing will be over,' Valen thought with a silent sigh.
***
Unbeknownst to Valen, far behind in the square, Edgar still lay on the ground, groaning.
He cast a glance towards the chamber's entrance. Once he saw Valen disappear inside, he abruptly stopped groaning, stood up, and dusted off his clothes.
Looking around and noticing he was alone—the other two young masters having fled—he snorted coldly. "Cowards! If I did not need to conceal myself, I would not associate with the likes of you."
"Young Master Edgar, shall I silence him? I have investigated and he is merely a common boy named Vale, with no background."
At some point, a man cloaked in black had appeared behind him.
Edgar smirked and shook his head: "Don't kill him. When he leaves the city, notify me. I will continue the act and attempt to "kill" him, only to get myself disgraced."
"Aah… as you wish, Young Master," The black-cloaked man replied with a sigh. "But do not overdo it. Many already see you as a fool, so you have achieved your purpose."
"Have I?" Edgar narrowed his eyes. "That cousin of mine is both ruthless and suspicious."
The black-cloaked man fell silent. The political situation within the young master's household was indeed tense. To survive, Edgar had been forced to play the fool both in public and private.
Few knew the truth. To the rest of the city and his family, he was nothing more than a senseless young master.
Now, he had found yet another person to involve in his act.
The black-cloaked man could only pity that young man called Vale!