Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Star Source Awakening
Holy crap! The swagger!
You are the challenger... Good heavens, bro, that confident, huh?
Can he win, bro...?
Watching Tendo declare his victory on screen, the audience on Station 13 in the real world didn't question him. Instead, they all felt that his words perfectly matched Tendo's demeanor.
After all, from the very first episode of Prequel of the Stars: Embers, Tendo had left them with a profound impression of an innate powerhouse.
This ingrained image dictated that Tendo could die, but he absolutely could not lose, especially not like a clown. Because if Tendo were to lose, his character... would collapse.
In the world of Stars, facing Tendo's arrogant expression, the Coral Knight's face beneath his helmet slowly grew solemn.
"I am the challenger, you say..."
He reached behind him and slowly took off the two-meter-tall shell-shaped heavy shield that he always carried on his back.
Thud!
The heavy shield hit the ground, and the hard concrete of the parking lot instantly fractured, creating numerous cracks. It was clear that the ground couldn't bear the astonishing weight of the shield. Yet, the Coral Knight had consistently carried such a heavy shield on his back, moving freely. This showed just how exaggerated his physique was.
The Coral Knight held the shield with both hands and calmly looked at Tendo in the distance. "...Child, then let me, the challenger, see what you're capable of."
As his words fell, the Coral Knight lifted the heavy shield in his hands and then smashed it down forcefully.
Boom!
With his powerful slam, several sharp coral spikes instantly embedded themselves into the ground and began to spread rapidly towards Tendo like vines.
Facing these fiercely approaching coral spikes, Tendo showed no signs of wanting to dodge. Instead, he stood perfectly still. Finally, when the spreading coral spikes reached within five meters of Tendo, his right foot stepped forward.
Thud!
The hard concrete ground, under Tendo's single stomp, instantly shattered into countless fragments. Amidst the flying debris, three intact, one-meter-tall large stone blocks rose from the ground.
The suddenly erected stone blocks, like newly appeared walls, stood between the Coral Knight's coral spikes and Tendo.
However, ordinary concrete blocks naturally couldn't stop the star energy corals condensed by the Second-Tier Star Emissary, the Coral Knight.
In just the blink of an eye, those upright, black concrete stone walls were easily cut through by the Coral Knight's star energy corals as if they were tofu, and continued to surge towards Tendo behind the stone walls.
But to everyone's surprise, these star energy corals, with their speed, skill, and exceptionally sharp tips, missed their target at the last moment. Because Tendo, who had been standing behind the stone wall, instantly disappeared when the star energy corals broke through it.
"Hey, old man, what era is this? Still playing these little games of mutual probing."
"Get serious, otherwise... you'll lose miserably."
In mid-air, Tendo's vanished figure reappeared like a ghost, suddenly appearing above the Coral Knight's head.
The Coral Knight's pupils constricted sharply; he clearly hadn't noticed when Tendo disappeared or when he reappeared. But his combat instincts still made the Coral Knight respond instantly. He raised the large shell shield in his hands high, protecting his entire body with the shield, adopting an all-out defensive stance.
In response, Tendo directly launched a whip kick that cut through the air, heavily smashing onto the Coral Knight's shield surface.
Boom!
Tendo's whip kick was heavier than anyone had imagined. Not only did it generate a visible shockwave the moment it struck the shell shield, but it also forced the two-meter-tall Coral Knight, a strength-type Second-Tier Star Emissary clad in heavy coral armor, to retreat three or four steps to dissipate the force.
And with each step the Coral Knight retreated, the concrete ground beneath his feet immediately shattered into a small crater. After leaving a total of four small craters, the Coral Knight, having finally shed the force, completely stabilized himself.
Meanwhile, after delivering that kick, Tendo wasn't in a hurry to launch another attack. His body landed lightly, then he brushed off the shattered concrete clinging to his shoulder, as if he hadn't been fighting at all, but merely playing with the Coral Knight.
On one side was Tendo, calm and unhurried. On the other was the Coral Knight, retreating repeatedly and with a serious expression.
Undoubtedly, in this first exchange, the Second-Tier Coral Knight was completely at a disadvantage, both in terms of outcome and momentum. And this result undoubtedly left the audience outside the dimensional screen greatly shocked.
Good heavens, they've already switched to a new map, and bro is still so dominant?
A First-Tier kicking a Second-Tier? Is this even scientific???
Although neither side is going all out yet, from the looks of the scene, this old man really is the challenger.
Meanwhile, watching the Coral Knight suffer an immediate setback, Yunmeng, who had been smilingly observing from a distance, finally couldn't help but tease, "Coral, I told you Tendo is different from the others."
"If you still hold back and don't get serious, then the result of this test might truly be as little Tendo said, leaving you with neither face nor honor."
Facing Yunmeng's teasing, the Coral Knight showed no emotional fluctuation. He slowly stood up and easily lifted the large shell shield, which had been embedded half a meter into the ground.
Unlike before, when he held the shield with both hands, the Coral Knight now held it with a single hand. As for his free right hand, he pulled out a one-meter-tall cross-hook fishing spear from behind him and aimed it at Tendo in the distance.
"Child, be careful. I'm getting serious now."
Tendo shrugged indifferently, "About time."
Although he had just been suppressed by Tendo, the Coral Knight was in an unprecedentedly good mood. Because he knew that the stronger Tendo performed now, the safer the young lady's life at the academy would be later.
And if Tendo could truly defeat him when he went all out, it would mean he would no longer have to worry about the young lady's days at the academy.
Therefore, the Coral Knight was never afraid of Tendo being strong; he was only afraid that Tendo... wasn't strong enough.
Sincerity is always the greatest ultimate skill.
Facing the honest and simple Coral Knight, even though his opponent was the current Stars popularity king, Commander Tendo, the audience not only didn't feel any ill will towards him but even became a bit enamored.
I have to say, besides the protagonist, every other supporting character in Stars has a lot of personality. I really like this old man.
This is the true character a knight should have!
Why do I suddenly feel like Tendo is the villain?
Meanwhile, as the Coral Knight got completely serious, his star energy value began to climb at a visible rate. It didn't stop until it reached a full 2100 points. In addition, the small, sharp coral spikes on the Coral Knight's body turned a strange purple during this process, clearly indicating they now carried considerable toxins.
"Oh? Finally willing to use a Second-Tier Star Emissary's awakening ability?"
Looking at the completely serious Coral Knight, Yunmeng shed her previous laziness and showed a slight interest.
After all, if he didn't get serious, this so-called 'test' would truly end in a boring, overwhelming manner. And through her words, the audience outside the dimensional screen finally understood how 'Second-Tier Star Emissaries' and 'First-Tier Star Emissaries' were differentiated.
It turned out that the so-called 1000 basic star energy points for a Second-Tier Star Emissary was merely one of the thresholds to become one.
If a First-Tier Star Emissary wanted to truly cross the Second-Tier boundary, they needed to meet another condition besides the '1000 points' basic star energy: the 'awakening' of their Star Source.
First awakening meant Second-Tier Star Emissary.
Second awakening meant Third-Tier Star Emissary.
Third awakening meant Fourth-Tier Star Emissary.
Therefore, although the level division between Star Emissaries seemed simple, the gap between each level was much greater than most people imagined. As a Second-Tier Star Emissary, the Coral Knight's Star Source, Sea Thorn Coral, had a first awakening characteristic: poison.
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