Warhammer Headshot

The owner of the craftsman's shop immediately perked up, hurriedly rose to his feet, and asked, "Sir, are you looking to buy a warhammer?"

He carefully sized up Rayne's build. Tall and sturdy, with steady footsteps, he did not have exaggerated muscles, but his physique was lean and solid. Standing before him, he gave off an immense sense of pressure.

This was clearly a Transcendent.

Seeing Rayne nod, the owner turned and took the warhammer down from the wall, looking rather strained as he did so.

Rayne easily took the warhammer from him, and his eyes immediately lit up. The weapon's weight was just right, fitting perfectly in his hand.

He examined it closely. The entire warhammer had been cast from a dark golden metal. Its appearance was simple yet pleasing. The hammerhead was nearly identical to an ordinary octagonal hammer, roughly rectangular in shape, only somewhat larger. A few simple decorative patterns had been engraved on its surface, but they were not runes.

The handle was about as long as his arm and divided into three sections, carved with diamond-shaped anti-slip scales. At the end was an egg-sized metal ball to balance the warhammer's center of gravity.

The black warhammer bore a faint dark-golden sheen and weighed around one hundred and twenty pounds.

Though it was slightly heavier than the weapon he had expected, Rayne found it very comfortable to wield. Besides, his strength would continue to grow through training. One hundred and twenty pounds was just right.

With the help of Metal Touch, Rayne understood the warhammer's structure completely. Its forging Craft was excellent. There was no internal metal fatigue damage, no flaws in its form, and the hammerhead was hard enough. This was the limit of what a Mechanical Craftsman could achieve.

Of course, it was not an Enchanted Weapon, so it was not especially valuable.

"Boss, how much is this warhammer?" Rayne had decided on it and asked for the price.

The shop owner answered readily, "Six Gold Shields."

"That expensive?"

Rayne was somewhat surprised, wondering if the man was trying to rip him off.

A fine weapon without enchantments would not be very expensive unless its materials were inherently valuable. At most, it would sell for two or three Gold Shields, which was already quite good.

The octagonal hammer he had bought here before, the kind used at construction sites, had cost only three Silver Krons, or sixty Copper Yuan.

Yet this warhammer cost a full hundred times more!

Seeing that Rayne seemed displeased, the shop owner hurriedly explained, "Sir, this warhammer was not forged from ordinary materials. I mixed Black Iron with more than twenty pounds of Fine Gold, smelted it into a single piece of Fine Iron, and only then forged this Fine Iron Warhammer."

"You know the price of Fine Gold, don't you, sir?" Afraid that Rayne might not understand, the shop owner specifically asked.

Rayne nodded. Fine Gold was one of the most precious metals in Aerenus, perhaps also the densest.

Twenty pounds of Fine Gold sounded heavy, but its volume was only about half the size of a finger. It was worth around three Gold Shields.

Because it was too expensive, warhammers made from pure Fine Gold were rare, and almost no one could wield one anyway. Thus, mixing Fine Gold with iron to make Fine Iron for weapons was a common practice.

This warhammer had been mixed with twenty pounds of Fine Gold, which was why it was so heavy.

Considering the Fine Iron materials and the maker's Craft fee, six Gold Shields was not expensive for this warhammer. It was actually a fairly honest price.

Rayne did not haggle further and paid for it without hesitation.

Having made a big sale, the owner happily accepted the money and gave Rayne a leather harness as a gift.

The harness was strapped diagonally across the body, with a metal hook positioned behind the shoulder. It could hold the warhammer's head perfectly, while the handle fastened diagonally at the waist. Rayne only needed to reach behind his back with his right hand, grip the long handle, and push upward to pull the warhammer free into his hand. It was extremely convenient to use.

Rayne tried it several times and was very satisfied with the sturdy leather harness.

He returned to his apartment with the warhammer and swung it around in his hand. The hammer weighed more than a hundred pounds, yet it felt natural to use, and he quickly adapted to it.

"This Fine Iron Warhammer should stay with me for quite some time."

Rayne put away the hammer, washed up, and went to bed.

In the middle of the night, he woke up.

Silently, he got up and put on a set of black clothes he had bought not long ago, donned a hat, strapped the warhammer to his back, and slipped out of the apartment without a sound.

The night was deep and still. The gas streetlamps along both sides of the road had gone out, leaving only hazy moonlight to illuminate the city.

Rayne activated Voice of All Things and raced through the streets, occasionally stopping to hide in corners and avoid the rare pedestrians and nighttime Patrol Squads he encountered.

His journey was unobstructed. Before long, he crossed Ohashi and entered the Silver Star District.

Rayne had already memorized the route. He headed south along the Feregron River, using buildings to block the Spirit Demon Eye atop the tower, and remained undiscovered.

Not long after, Rayne arrived outside a house not far from the riverbank.

He looked up at the Wizard Tower. It was two or three kilometers away, and beneath the night sky he could only vaguely see a vertical black silhouette. Yet the beam of light shining from its summit was highly conspicuous. This place was still within its surveillance range. If any major disturbance occurred, it would be discovered immediately.

"I have to end this quickly. I can't make too much noise."

Rayne focused and listened. There were two heartbeats inside the house. One was far stronger and more powerful than an ordinary person's, a characteristic of a melee Transcendent.

He was very familiar with that heartbeat's rhythm. It was Hogan the Martial Artist.

The other was much weaker and was likely an ordinary woman. The two were very close together, seemingly embracing on the same bed in an upstairs bedroom.

Rayne hesitated for a moment. As for Hogan, who had seen his face, he had to kill him. He could not wait even one day.

Even though he had only become a Transcendent today, he had come here overnight to act and eliminate future trouble.

But the ordinary person sleeping beside Hogan—Rayne did not know what her relationship with him was, or whether she was an Evil God Cultist. He would have to identify her when he acted, lest he kill an innocent person by mistake.

Of course, all of this was contingent on his own safety.

If the other party threatened his life, then no matter who it was, he would not show mercy.

Rayne waited patiently for more than ten minutes. Their breathing was even, and they only shifted occasionally, indicating that they were already deeply asleep.

He locked onto Hogan's breathing and approached the house step by step.

Even with Hogan asleep, Rayne could not be certain whether he could sense the Strife Mark, or whether he would awaken once the Strife Mark entered its sensing range.

As the distance closed, there was still no movement in the bedroom.

Rayne climbed over a low wall and landed softly. He took the warhammer from his back and gripped it in his hand. His straight-line distance from Hogan was now less than fifteen meters.

"It seems Evil God Cultists can sense the Strife Mark from less than fifteen meters away, not as far as one hundred meters."

"Of course, it might just be that he's asleep and can't sense anything."

Rayne pondered inwardly. For him, the smaller the sensing range, the better. That meant fewer chances of being detected by Evil God Cultists.

The doors and windows on the first floor were tightly shut, and he could not get in. He cautiously circled to the side of the house, leaped lightly upward, grabbed the edge of the balcony, and pulled himself over.

Under the control of the phone's gyroscope, his movements were flawlessly precise, making not the slightest sound.

He entered the room through the balcony. Only one wall separated this room from Hogan's bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, that powerful heartbeat suddenly quickened, and the breathing became briefly hurried, clearly unnatural.

"He's awake!"

Rayne immediately noticed the change. Without hesitation, he stomped down hard, shattering the wooden floor beneath his feet, and slammed directly into the wall.

With a boom, Rayne smashed through the wall and appeared inside Hogan's bedroom.

He had already locked onto Hogan's position. The moment he burst through the wall, he swung the warhammer in his hand and smashed it straight at the figure on the bed.

Bang!

The entire bed shattered into pieces, but he did not hit Hogan.

Hogan's reaction was incredibly fast. He rolled away half a step ahead of time, sprang up like a coiled spring, kicked repeatedly against the wall beside the bed with both feet, climbed toward the ceiling like an agile cat, flipped over swiftly, and pounced down at Rayne.

"Ah..."

The sleeping woman woke in fright, fell to the floor, and let out a terrified scream.

Seeing that she was merely an ordinary person, Rayne casually struck her with his palm and knocked her unconscious.

By then, Hogan had already flashed in front of him. He wore only a pair of shorts, his entire body covered in knotted muscles. His fists were clenched tightly, and a faint current of air flowed beneath his muscles, gathering in his fists. They broke through the air with crisp cracking sounds.

A fierce gust from his fist swept toward Rayne.

Rayne remained calm. He raised the hammer handle and blocked Hogan's fist at precisely the right moment.

At the instant of impact, Hogan's fist erupted with several times its normal power. It lasted only an extremely brief moment, yet produced a startling effect.

Rayne's palm went numb, and he could not help taking half a step back.

By comparison, Hogan suffered a greater rebound force. His whole body was sent flying backward into the wall.

His eyes filled with shock. He had used all his strength in that punch, intending to knock the warhammer from his opponent's hand. Yet the other man had merely stepped back half a pace and was completely unharmed.

"What terrifying strength!"

The thought flashed through Hogan's mind, but he felt no fear. Under the effects of the "Balance" element, he instantly adjusted his stance, turned around, and charged at his enemy again.

As long as he killed this man and seized the Strife Mark, he would receive a blessing from the god!

A Martial Artist's path to victory lay in close-quarters combat: using speed against slowness, staying glued to the opponent, and giving the enemy no chance to react. No matter how many methods the enemy possessed, none could be used.

As Hogan advanced, his footsteps flickered rapidly from side to side, attempting to create an illusion in his opponent's angle of attack.

"This move is interesting."

Rayne was not fooled. With a thought, he pretended to misjudge the direction and swung his warhammer toward the left in front of him.

Whoosh, whoosh. The heavy warhammer tore through the air with a fierce howl, but it failed to strike its target.

Bang!

Hogan appeared on the right and landed a solid punch beneath Rayne's ribs, producing a dull thud.

His Inner Qi erupted in full. A smug smile appeared on his face, as though he could already see the victory of killing his enemy. The Martial Artist's instantaneous explosive power was something even an Iron Guard could not withstand. A single punch would surely inflict grave injuries.

Yet in the next second, Hogan's smile froze.

Where his fist had landed, Rayne's clothes had shattered, revealing a dark gray metallic sheen. A sharp pain shot through his hand, as though he had struck not a human body, but a steel plate.

In the darkness, he could not see Rayne's current appearance. The skin all over Rayne's body had turned dull, and even each strand of his hair had hardened, making him resemble an iron statue.

In that split second, the prepared Rayne pivoted half a turn. The warhammer that had originally swung left naturally swept around to the right, its hammerhead striking Hogan directly in the head.

Smack!

Blood splattered. Rayne seemed to hear the sound of a watermelon cracking apart.