Austin was still standing there, but the shards of metal-like armor on his body had shifted and formed a dome that shielded his head.
Because of this, Alex's kick—though powerful—had no effect at all.
Austin laughed. "Hahaha… Disappointed? Don't worry, I'll show you I can do much more than this."
As he spoke, he gripped the armor pieces on his arm with his right hand and yanked them off.
The broken shards quickly reassembled themselves into a spear.
At the points where the fragments joined, streams of purple energy connected them together.
Alex was startled and shouted, "You… you're using a weapon?"
"This isn't really a weapon. It's a part of my body," Austin replied with a casual smile, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Damn it! What's the point of continuing this fight now?
Still, Alex refused to accept that someone with an SS-ranked talent like himself could lose to someone who'd received power from another.
"AA!!" Alex shouted, his body blurring into a gust of wind as he lunged toward Austin.
Suddenly, Alex appeared behind Austin, swinging his leg to kick at Austin's legs.
"Ack!" But instead of feeling the impact, Alex realized his foot had struck something unbelievably hard.
Looking down, he saw it was Austin's spear.
"Damn it!" Alex quickly retreated a step, then leapt high into the air.
Flipping midair, he launched another kick at Austin's head, using the rotation to generate even more power—the kick whistled through the air.
Austin hadn't expected Alex to attack again so relentlessly, and he didn't have enough time to dodge.
So he just tilted his head, letting Alex's kick land squarely on his shoulder.
The impact sent a shockwave rolling out.
Austin could feel just how strong Alex's kick was—so powerful that pain shot through his body, and he immediately dropped to his knees.
His knees struck the ground hard enough to leave dents, but his hands still gripped the spear, planting it firmly as a support.
Gritting his teeth, Austin forced himself to bear the pain from Alex's blow.
Seeing Austin's expression, Alex immediately realized his attack hadn't been completely useless.
He jumped back to put some distance between them.
Clasping his hands together, he drew them back, and at that moment, a white energy surged around his fists, radiating a terrifying power.
Austin refused to back down. He had just received this power from Noan—he didn't want to lose.
If he lost, it would mean he was unworthy of the strength his master had given him.
He stood up, swung his spear, and thrust it toward Alex.
Alex didn't dodge. His hands, wrapped in raging energy, struck straight at the spear.
The clash was explosive—a wave of heat erupted from the point of impact and spread in all directions.
Luckily, Noan had sealed off their battlefield; otherwise, this fight might have caused chaos throughout his territory.
A moment later, the dust settled. Noan could see Alex was still standing, but his hand was covered in blood, with several fingers broken.
Austin was in even worse shape—he'd been blasted back, lying on the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with frustration as he stared at Alex.
"Ha… ha… ha…" Alex panted, then managed to say, "Ah! Hahaha… In the end, I'm the winner, hahaha…"
Noan couldn't help but feel amused seeing Alex so elated about defeating Austin.
In reality, Austin had only just received his new powers and hadn't yet learned to control them.
Besides, he was only level 0. If he reached level 5 and gained regular training, Alex likely wouldn't be his match.
Still, Noan didn't expect Austin to win right now. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel{f}ire.net
After all, Alex was a Fate Holder, and Fate Holders rarely lost—especially in battles of honor and life one.
He hadn't needed Austin to win. He simply wanted to see how powerful Austin would become after gaining his new strength.
Now, he had his answer.
It seems… the power of the Void is far more terrifying than I thought.
Austin has only just absorbed Void energy and can already fight Alex on equal terms. What if Urlgug and Urlgan absorbed this energy as well?
Noan was excited and curious, but he was able to restrain himself.
If everyone could have this power, they would start thinking it was worthless.
He wanted to use this energy as bait, to motivate his subordinates to work harder.
Noan waved his hand, and the protective dome disappeared. He tossed Alex two rank D energy crystals.
Alex was startled, catching the two crystals, feeling surprised and confused.
Noan was truly generous—he'd already given Alex three rank D crystals before, and now another two.
How many resources did Noan really have?
A greedy thought flashed through Alex's mind, but he quickly pushed it away.
Austin had received power from Noan and became this strong; Noan himself must be far more powerful than he could imagine.
He wasn't foolish enough to challenge such a being.
Noan, of course, had no idea what Alex was thinking. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.
He walked over to Austin.
Austin, seeing Noan, said in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, Master. I lost."
Noan shook his head. "No, you did very well. If you have time to adapt to this new energy, you definitely won't be weaker than him."
"You can go find Urlgan to practice. There will be many tasks for you in the future."
Austin smiled brightly at this. "Yes, Master, I promise I won't let you down."
"Good! Now that you've lost your Lord status, you'll stay in my territory." Noan continued, "There are plenty of empty rooms in the dormitory area. You can choose whichever you like."
"Thank you, Master," Austin replied respectfully, then was led away by a female NPC.
At this point, Noan glanced over at Alex, who was absorbing the energy crystals to heal his hand. "You have two choices: join me as my subordinate, or act like nothing happened and leave this place."
After fully healing his hand with his talent, Alex sighed.
Hearing Noan's offer, he frowned and asked, "Be your subordinate? What would I get in return?"
Noan shook his head. "You should be asking yourself what you can do for me."
"This…" Alex felt a flash of anger at Noan's words, as if Noan was looking down on him.
However, when he thought it over carefully, he realized Noan's words were actually quite reasonable.
After witnessing Austin's power, Alex's confidence was shaken.
He thought for a while, then asked, "If I become your subordinate, will I lose my freedom?"
Noan shrugged. "Not really. You can act freely. If I need you, you must show up."
"Also, if you come across any opportunities, you have to report them to me first."
Alex frowned. "And if I keep an opportunity for myself?"
"Then you'd better hope that opportunity is enough for you to surpass me—otherwise…" Noan trailed off, giving Alex a meaningful smile.
A chill ran down Alex's spine. He knew exactly what Noan meant.
It was simple—either you use that opportunity to surpass Noan and break free from his control, or your fate would be grim.
Alex understood Noan wasn't bluffing. Noan was that strong, and if it came to a fight, Alex would definitely lose.
After thinking it over, Alex finally nodded firmly and said, "Fine! I accept. I'll be your subordinate."