Ch. 191..200

Chapter 191 First Fight

Shang felt relieved when he saw his first opponent walk through the door since he had no idea how he was supposed to carry on the conversation after hearing about Viera's goal in life.

A man in seemingly his early thirties walked through the door. He wore bronze armor, showing that he was one of the basic guards of Warrior's Paradise.

Of course, even if the man seemed to be in his early thirties, he could very well be in his forties or even fifties. After all, General Stage warriors aged slower.

The man had brown hair, and he quickly noticed Shang.

Then, he noticed Viera, and a gleam of recognition appeared in them for an instant.

For that moment, Shang could feel that the man was a bit afraid of Viera.

It seemed like the guards knew Viera.

Shang slowly stood up. "We can continue this conversation later," he said as he looked back at Viera.

At that moment, Shang paused for a bit.

Viera's aura had made a 180 when the guard walked through the door.

She had a cold and apathetic expression on her face as she also slowly stood up from her chair.

She walked to the side of the room and waited for both warriors to take up their positions.

"You are both at the Early General Stage," she said.

Shang's brows furrowed under his mask. He was pretty sure that he was at the Initial General Stage.

'But it makes sense that she would say that I'm at the Early General Stage. After all, after the procedure, my body is basically on the level of an Early General Stage warrior.'

"This student hasn't fought in a while, and he needs to become familiar with fighting again," Viera neutrally explained. "Your job is to win. I wish for you to attack him with the intention to kill."

The guard scratched the back of his head. "Alright," he said. "As long as I'm getting paid."

"You will," Viera said.

Shang slowly took out his sword as he readied himself.

BANG!

The guard immediately charged forward as he took out his own weapon, a spear.

The room was the place where the auction of the academy took place every month, which meant that it was rather big. In fact, it was over 50 meters wide.

The two of them had been nearly 20 meters away from each other at the beginning. Sure, General Stage warriors were fast, but a warrior on their level still needed a full second to close that gap.

But before the guard even came close to Shang, he pulled his spear back and tossed it out from below his waist.

Usually, by throwing a spear like this, not a lot of power could be put into the throw, but for some reason, the spear shot forward with incredible speeds.

Shang's eyes widened.

BANG!

The Magic Circle on Shang's uniform activated, and the spear bounced off his head.

Shang only looked with shock at the spear.

That had been way too fast!

One couldn't forget that Shang had been at the top of his class and that he could even win against almost every student outside the Caterpillar Class.

He definitely wasn't weak.

But this spear throw.

This had been insane!

Suddenly, Shang saw a Space Ring on one of the guard's fingers shine, and a second spear appeared in his hands.

Shang quickly recovered and also charged forward with his sword.

The two of them quickly reached each other, and the guard stabbed forward with his spear.

Shang jumped to the side, but his eyes widened when he noticed that he had jumped to the side by over five meters.

He had only wanted to move to the side by a meter or so!

'I need to get used to my new power,' Shang thought.

SHING!

However, at that moment, Shang saw the butt of the guard's spear hit the place where Shang had intended to evade towards.

Shang hadn't even seen the butt of the spear move!

The guard lifted an eyebrow when he noticed that he hadn't hit anything.

This had been one of his feints, and he had deliberately left this opening for his opponent to dodge towards.

But his opponent didn't.

The guard quickly jumped to the side and began to roll in the air.

Shang was uncertain why the guard was doing that, but he quickly saw why.

In the sky, the guard threw his spear at Shang again, and it was just as fast as the previous one.

SHING!

The spear shot past Shang's head, taking some hair with it.

BANG!

It hit the wall in the distance, and the building vibrated for a bit.

Shang quickly focused on his opponent again.

And then, he saw a spear in front of his face, stationary.

Shang nearly jumped back, but he quickly controlled himself.

Viera stood beside the spear, and she held it.

The fight was obviously over.

"And done," the guard said from a distance.

Shang was still shocked.

Where did that spear come from?

Shang remembered the roll in the air the guard did and realized that this was near the place where the guard's first spear was.

The guard had thrown his second spear in the air, grabbed his first spear from the air, and threw that one too.

In short, the first throw had only been a distraction.

"Wind Beast Defense Technique."

Shang looked at the guard.

"Wind Beast Defense Technique?" Shang asked.

"Yep," the guard said as he began to collect his spears. "All of us have to learn that technique if we want to work in Warrior's Paradise as guards."

"As the name suggests, it's a technique to deal with General Stage beasts that get too close to the city. We can't use the big ballistae against General Stage beasts. After all, every arrow costs a lot of money to produce."

"So, for the weaker beasts, we simply throw our spears. It basically doesn't cost us anything since some of us are responsible for collecting the corpses and spears at night."

Shang nodded. No wonder the spears were that fast. After all, this was a technique specifically designed to deal with the fastest kind of flying beasts.

"Anyway, that should be it for my job, right?" the guard asked Viera.

Viera nodded. "You may leave. Contact your superior for the reward."

"Good," the guard said before looking at Shang. "Have fun. A couple of others are already queuing up. I don't think you will get a moment to rest."

"Thanks," Shang said as he prepared himself for the next battle.

In this short battle, Shang realized two things.

First of all, he was not used to this new power.

But more importantly, the second thing he realized was that he was no longer fighting students.

Yes, Shang was the best of his class, but that was it, the best of his class.

The smartest student still didn't even nearly know as much as the average person that actually worked in their chosen field of study.

In the Academy, Shang had battled 20-year-olds.

But now, he was battling warriors that were in their thirties or forties.

They had over an entire decade of experience on Shang.

'But that's only temporary,' Shang thought as he saw the next guard walk through the door.

'I just need to adapt and learn!'

And then, the second fight began.

 

Chapter 192 Growth

"I was lucky. I got him with the Flying Beast Defense Technique."

Inside a tavern, several guards were talking to each other.

"So you were the reason why he managed to evade my spears!" another guard on the table grumbled.

The first guard only snickered. "Well, I was the first one. How did your fight go?"

"I think I was the fourth he fought," the other guard said. "Luckily, he didn't know the Earth Beast Cracker. I don't remember what his weapon was, but I remember that I managed to make him lose his weapon. The fight was over after that."

"Yeah, he probably wears one of these Haze Masks," the first guard said. "Of course, I can't remember."

At that point, another guard walked through the doors since his shift had just ended.

"Hey, Steve!" the second guard shouted. "Over here!"

The newest guard, Steve, walked over with a laugh and sat down. "What's up?" he asked.

"Hey, did you fight that guy in the academy too?" the second guard asked.

"Wait, you guys fought him as well?" Steve asked.

The two guards nodded.

"Didn't your shift end like five hours ago?"

The two guards nodded again.

"What was your number?" Steve asked.

"I was number one, and Jarrod was number four," the first guard said.

"Tch," Steve spat. "You probably had it easy as number one."

The first guard only laughed. "Don't act like you didn't also have it easy."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "I was number 57, and I had to fight him for like over half a minute."

The first two guards only looked at Steve in surprise.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Half a minute?" Jarrod asked. "Did we fight the same guy?"

"Probably," Steve said. "The numbers seem to check out with the timeframe. Why?"

The first guard and Jarrod looked at each other. "Well, we basically won in an instant."

"In an instant?" Steve asked. "I mean, I get that being the first has some advantage, but that quick?"

"Yeah, he didn't know our techniques in the beginning," the first guard explained.

"That would explain things," Steve said.

"So, how did your fight go?" Jarrod asked as he pushed his mug of beer towards Steve.

Steve drank from the mug.

"Well, after trying to get him with our Defense Techniques, I had to fight him with my sword," Steve said.

"Huh, so you actually had to use your real weapon?" Jarrod asked.

Steve nodded. "But it still wasn't easy. He moved very weirdly. Sometimes he went really low to the ground, and other times, he even jumped over me. Like, who does that?" Steve asked.

The other two laughed when they heard that. "That really is a strange way to fight."

"But it was effective," Steve said. "Fighting him was very different from fighting any other warrior. Usually, it's not that difficult to foresee what my opponent will do, but with him, it was basically a shot in the dark. I had to rely on my instincts and habits the entire time."

"Sure, I won after some back and forth, but it definitely wasn't easy."

The other two remained silent for a bit.

"Hey, how old do you think he is?" the first guard asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Jarrod answered with a snort. "He wears one of those Haze Masks. I don't even remember how tall he is or what weapon he uses."

"Yeah, sure," the first guard said, "but based on how he fought, I was sure that he was a fresh graduate. You know, someone that just reached the General Stage."

"And how is that supposed to work?" Steve asked. "The guy is obviously at the Early General Stage, and his technique also wasn't bad. I can't remember his weapon, but I can somewhat remember how he moved."

"He didn't seem like a fresh graduate. I think he is probably in his late twenties."

The other two snorted. "Late twenties? The guy didn't even know our techniques."

Steve wasn't sure what he should think about that.

The other two told Steve that he was inexperienced, but the opponent Steve fought didn't seem inexperienced.

After a while, the topic veered away from Shang, and he was quickly forgotten.

Several hours passed, and it was late at night now.

The bar had closed, which forced the off-duty guards to gather in one of the towers to play cards.

"Hey, did you guys also have to fight that one student from the academy?" one of the players on the table suddenly asked the other three.

"Oh yeah, that guy," Steve said. The other two he had met in the bar were already back at work, and he would also need to return soon.

"Which number were you?" the guard asked.

"Number 57," Steve answered.

"Oh, so you're one of the early ones," the guard commented.

"Early ones?" Steve asked. "How many did the guy fight?"

"I don't know," the guard said. "I only know that I was Number 183."

"183?" Steve asked in shock. "He fought that many of us in just half a day?"

"I was Number 95," another guard said.

"I was Number 144," the fourth one said.

"Oh yeah, how did your fights go?" Number 183 asked.

"He wasn't bad," Number 95 said.

"He was pretty good," Number 144 said.

"A bit inexperienced, though," Steve said.

The other three guards looked at Steve.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Inexperienced?" Number 144 asked with skepticism. "He seemed pretty experienced to me."

"I mean, he was experienced but pretty experienced? I don't know," Number 95 said.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Number 183 asked. "He was definitely very experienced!"

Now, the three guards looked at Number 183 in skepticism.

"You don't have to overdo it," Number 144 said.

"I'm not exaggerating!" Number 183 shouted. "I nearly lost to him!"

"You nearly lost?" Steve asked in shock. Sure, Steve's opponent had been pretty strong, but Steve had been nowhere near to losing.

"Yeah!" Number 183 answered in frustration. "He even managed to trigger the Magic Circle on my armor."

That surprised the other three guards.

Triggering the Magic Circle?

That meant that Number 183 had received a life-threatening attack.

After that, the four guards started to argue with each other.

Their recounts varied wildly from one another, but they were all certain that they were right. After all, they had seen it with their own eyes!

An hour later, Steve went back to work, and a new guy entered the tower.

"Hey! Did you also fight that student?" Number 183 shouted towards the new arrival.

The new guard looked over. "I was Number 229," the other guard said without much enthusiasm.

"How did it go?" Number 144 asked.

The guard silently took his armor off and slipped into his normal clothes.

"I lost," he said before exiting the tower.

The other guards only looked at the closed door.

Their colleague had lost?

"I told you!" Number 183 shouted. "How can he be inexperienced when he won against one of us?!"

And thus, the argument began again.

Soon, the night passed, and a new day began.

A guard left the big underground room with no energy in his step.

He had just lost in a devastating fashion.

"That should be the last of them," Viera said with a bright smile. "Shang, you've managed to improve tremendously!"

"Well, I'm not sure if you can call it improvement," Shang said. "It's more thanks to getting used to my new body and this thing," he said as he gestured to his mask.

"With this mask, I can finally use more than just my Ice Affinity. By also using fire, I can push my speed way more."

"Of course, but you still managed to overcome their techniques," Viera said.

"Techniques?" Shang asked. "Sure, they have a lot of experience, but their fighting styles are very uniform. I also don't think that warriors aiming to reach the Commander Stage would take up a position as guards in Warrior's Paradise."

"They also obviously didn't come from our Academy," Shang said.

"Some of them did," Viera said, "but you're right. The ones that came from our Academy weren't the best of their class."

"How would you estimate their strength?" Shang asked.

Viera hummed a bit as she scratched the side of her head.

"I think average?" she said uncertainly. "They are better than town guards, but there are plenty of warriors that are more powerful than them."

Shang nodded.

"Anyway, that was the last one," Viera said with a bright smile. "300 guards! Well done, Shang!"

Shang released a sigh. The fights had definitely been exhausting.

"But don't relax yet!" Viera said with a bright voice. "Teacher said that the first Adepts will arrive in about an hour or so!"

"You're going to fight your first Mage, yay!"

 

Chapter 193 The First Mage

Shang talked with Viera for the next hour. She was rather bubbly all the time, but when she talked about her goal in life, her demeanor started to subtly change.

"Beast defenders are selfish people that are only interested in their own gains," Viera said with a snort.

In her mind, beast defenders were people that wanted to keep all the beasts alive.

"They only want to keep the beasts alive because they are powerful enough to resist the normal beasts. They can kill a Pest Cat. And since beasts are worth a lot of money, they want to keep their method of making money alive. Beast defenders are not thinking about the good of the normal people."

"They are selfish and entitled!" Viera said with some anger.

She had controlled her voice, but Shang could feel a lot of hatred coming from her.

This was something she felt very strongly about.

"And how are people supposed to become more powerful without the beasts' resources?" Shang asked. "Mana Sources are a necessity."

Viera snorted again. "Mages can create Mana Sources artificially. They just don't give these Mana Sources to just anyone since it's expensive."

"They can?" Shang asked in surprise.

Viera nodded. "Of course. Do you think over the last thousands of years, the Mages never tried to create something like Mana Sources? Of course they did!"

"Okay," Shang said. "What about the beasts that don't hunt humans?"

"Doesn't matter," Viera answered. "Beasts can change any second. Some beasts that have been peaceful for their entire lives can suddenly have a change of heart and kill a human. It's not a new concept."

"If we want to protect our children and the weaker people, we have to get rid of all the beasts! There simply isn't any other way!" Viera said.

Shang could feel quite some hatred emanating from Viera.

"Well, if you think so," Shang said, trying to get away from the topic.

"Yes, I think so," Viera said as she crossed her arms. "What do you think about this?"

Shang didn't like to answer that question. Viera was very adamant about defending her viewpoint, and if Shang disagreed too much, their freshly created disciple relationship might completely break apart.

"I don't really have a horse in the race," Shang said.

"A horse in the race?" Viera repeated in confusion. "What horse?"

'Seems like that phrase isn't common in this world,' Shang thought.

"It means that it doesn't matter to me. For my goal, I don't need the beasts, but I also don't really care about what they do," Shang explained.

"You don't care?" Viera asked in surprise.

Shang nodded. "Their life is their life. My life is my life. I live my life, and that's that."

Shang looked with a bit of nervousness at Viera.

He had no idea how she would take that.

By now, Shang could understand why Soran wasn't interested in starting a relationship with Viera. Some of her views were really extreme, and she was really adamant about them.

Soran was someone that liked to help and trust people, and that sentiment extended to beasts. In Soran's mind, killing all the beasts was probably something way too extreme.

"Oh, that's fine then," Viera said as a smile returned to her face.

Shang was a bit surprised, but not much. Her demeanor had more than once taken unpredictable turns.

"How come you're fine with that?" Shang asked.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Viera asked.

"Because you said that beast defenders are selfish people," Shang said.

"They are, but you're not defending beasts," Viera said. "You said you are ambivalent to the topic. So, if I were to suddenly kill all the beasts, you would only watch."

"I guess so," Shang said with uncertainty.

"See? So, everything's alright!" Viera said with a bright smile.

"She crazy," Sword said in Shang's mind.

Shang didn't answer Sword.

After some more talking, the door opened again.

When Shang heard the door open, a fire appeared in his eyes.

His first Mage!

Shang looked over and saw his future opponent.

It was a girl with long, icy blue hair. She wore light blue robes, and she carried two small sticks with crystals on them in her hands.

Shang recognized the sticks. They were scepters, and they were used as weapons until the Mage could finally afford a Focus. They obviously weren't as great as Focuses, but they did their job adequately.

For a bit, Shang was surprised that his opponent was a girl, but he quickly realized that there was no reason to be surprised.

Shang had been surprised since nearly all his opponents had been men in the past. Women were very rare amongst warriors.

However, this wasn't the case when it came to Mages. There were a lot of female Mages. After all, physical ability didn't matter when it came to Magic.

"Hello?" the Adept asked shyly. "I'm here to fight someone."

Right now, the Adept saw a powerful teacher and a scary-looking man in the room. It was understandable why she was nervous.

Viera stood up and walked to the side. Shang also stood up and stopped on the other side of the room.

The Adept and Shang were now about 40 meters away from each other.

"This will be your opponent," Viera said coldly as she gestured to Shang.

Whenever someone unfamiliar was in Viera's vicinity, she always took up this serious and cold persona, completely different from her usual one.

The Adept nervously looked over at Shang. "He looks scary," she said.

Under his mask, Shang lifted an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Will I get hurt?" the Adept asked.

"I will interfere before one of you dies," Viera said coldly.

"Okay," the Adept said nervously, "but will I get hurt?"

Viera only looked at the Adept.

The Adept nervously fumbled with her robes in discomfort. "You see… I'm not really good at fighting."

'Not really good at fighting?' Shang thought. 'Are my first opponents supposed to be easy?'

"Then, I will interfere when your Mana Shield gets broken. That should be fine, right?" Viera asked with a bit of annoyance.

"Thank you," the Adept said as she lightly bowed to Viera in thanks.

Viera nodded.

Then, she looked at both opponents.

The Adept readied her two scepters. With Viera's assurance, she was no longer as nervous.

"Start!"

Chapter 194 Advantage of Mana Source

BANG!

Shang exploded forward with all his power, the ground beneath him shaking as he used his Fire and Ice Affinity to increase his speed.

For a moment, the Adept became nervous when she saw Shang's speed.

'Calm down, Leen!' the Adept, Leen, thought. 'Just do what teacher told you to do! First, Mana Shield!'

Leen quickly spoke several words in a shockingly fast fashion. It didn't even take her half a second.

Some distortions appeared around her as her Mana Shield appeared.

A normal human, not experienced in combat, would have taken longer to recover, but Mages trained their minds. They were thinking far quicker than warriors. Because of that, it appeared like Leen had created her Spell as soon as the battle had started.

Shang was still 25 meters away when the Mana Shield appeared.

'I should be able to create an Ice Spear before I have to use Mana Step,' Leen thought.

Leen's words jumbled together as she spoke faster than Shang could fathom.

When Shang was ten meters away, a long needle made of ice appeared above Leen's head.

'Next, Mana Step,' Leen thought.

Shang arrived in front of Leen and swung forward.

SHING!

However, Shang's attack missed as Leen suddenly vanished from his vision, and she nearly instantaneously arrived over 20 meters away from him.

Of course, Shang had expected that his opponent would use Mana Step. He had seen plenty of fights, and he knew all the spells the Mages could unleash.

Without pause, Shang immediately charged toward Leen again.

Every Mana Step consumed quite some of Leen's Mana, and consuming all his opponent's Mana was one of the most common methods to win the fight.

After some words, a second ice spear appeared beside Leen.

Shang reached her and struck forward.

Leen vanished again, but this time, Shang had noticed where she would go.

Leen had looked in a certain direction after she had finished her Incantation, telling Shang where she would go.

Experienced Mages would never make such a rookie mistake. They would have scanned the surroundings beforehand and would remember where they wanted to go. They didn't need to look in that direction while using Mana Step.

So, Shang struck the place where Leen would pass to.

CRRRRK!

The sound of two hard things grinding together echoed throughout the room as Shang's sword was pushed back.

Shang had hit her Mana Shield!

30 meters away, Leen's face became white.

'I lost so much Mana!' She thought in horror. 'Don't panic, Leen! Just do what teacher told you! Create another Ice Spear!'

Shang charged at his opponent again.

A third Ice Spear appeared beside Leen.

When Leen saw Shang approach her, she was uncertain of what she should do. 'The fight has been pretty easy so far. Should I try a Mana Push? I should be able to win if I can pull it off.'

However, when Leen saw the violently approaching Shang, she became fearful. 'Too risky!' she thought as she prepared another Mana Step. 'Just do what teacher told you!'

'Everything is prepared. Now, I only have to pull it off!' Leen thought nervously. 'Just do what teacher told you!'

CRRRK!

Shang's sword ground against Leen's Mana Shield again as she vanished one more time.

Then, Shang turned towards her to follow her.

BANG!

The Magic Circle on Shang's uniform activated.

While Leen had shot towards the distance, she had thrown one of the Ice Spears at his head, triggering the Magic Circles of his uniform.

Shang was more than a little surprised. When he had seen the Apprentices fight the Soldier Stage warriors, he hadn't seen any of them essentially use two Spells at once!

Shang had even seen very talented Apprentices, but even they hadn't been able to do something like this!

And just when Shang recovered, Viera appeared in front of him.

CRACK! CRACK!

The two other Ice Spears were destroyed by Viera.

Just now, Leen had unleashed all three of her Ice Spears in a line.

This was exactly what her teacher taught her.

Warriors often had some armor that defended them from a life-threatening attack, which was why it was important to line up several such attacks at once.

Shang looked with shock towards his front.

'I lost?' he thought.

His opponent had been incredibly inexperienced, obviously.

Yet, his opponent had still won against him with ease!

Shang guessed that his opponent probably hadn't even used 70% of her Mana!

'I did it!' Leen thought with an excited smile. 'It went down exactly as teacher said!'

"You can leave," Viera said to Leen. "Contact the teacher responsible for external rewards in your academy for your payment."

Leen quickly recovered and bowed politely. "Thanks, miss," she said.

Leen threw one last glance at Shang but didn't say anything else.

Shang looked scary, and she didn't want to be in his vicinity.

After Leen left the room, Viera looked at Shang with a bright smile. "Well done! You managed to exhaust her Mana by a lot!"

Shang didn't feel as proud of himself.

'I exhausted her Mana by a lot, huh?' Shang thought.

Shang clenched his fists.

'She was insanely inexperienced, but she still won!'

Then, Shang remembered all the fights he had watched between the red uniforms and the Apprentices.

'However, none of the Apprentices had been able to wield Magic as fluently as her. I wonder…'

'Is this the effect of the Mana Source?'

"What role did the Mana Source play in this fight?" Shang asked Viera.

"Her Ice Spears," Viera answered. "Her Mana Source allows her to quickly manifest them and keep them active without using too much Mana to sustain them. However, the biggest advantage is the ability to Half-Cast."

"Half-Cast?" Shang asked. He hadn't heard of that ability before, even though he had visited Vice-Dean Ranos' class for an entire year.

That probably meant that Half-Cast was something that only Adepts could use. After all, Shang had only been in the Preparation Grade, which was for warriors at the Soldier Stage.

"In the Apprentice Realm," Viera explained, "Ice Spears is one Spell. You summon them and then unleash them. However, after getting a Mana Source, you can Half-Cast. Half-Cast allows you to prepare a Spell and interrupt the Incantation without destroying your work."

"She finished 90% of three Ice Spear spells one after the other and then finished all three of the Incantations rapidly one after the other."

"Each of these Spells represents a very powerful attack. After all, she took nearly a full second to create one. One Ice Spear Spell has about the same power as if you were to abandon all defense and put your everything into a single strike."

"But as a Mage, she can prepare several of these strikes beforehand. Of course, since a Mana Source has to be Element-specific, Half-Cast only works on Elemental Spells."

"You also have to remember that a Mage's closeness to their Affinity allows them to finish the Spells whenever they want. Your opponent, for example, finished the Spell while using Mana Step. You didn't know that, which was why she was able to take you out."

"But this is the point of training. You are supposed to learn these things so that you don't fall for them when your life is actually on the line."

"Anyway, you did very well against your first opponent, Shang," Viera said with a bright smile.

Shang absorbed everything Viera explained, but he couldn't even properly digest it before the doors to the room opened again.

Shang looked over and saw a nervous young man looking into the room.

'Another inexperienced opponent,' Shang thought. 'I guess this is what I have to deal with for the next few days.'

Chapter 195 Against Mages

Shang's next opponent was an Earth Adept, and he obviously also had nearly no combat experience.

Just like Shang's first opponent, this one also made several rookie mistakes, and Shang managed to use up a lot of Mana of his opponent by hitting his Mana Shield a couple of times.

But, eventually, Shang's opponent managed to prepare several devastating attacks, which were released in rapid succession. This time, Shang's opponent had summoned several Earth Spires that shot out of the ground.

Due to Shang's reflexes, he had been able to evade the first one, but it hadn't been easy. Shang had to abandon all his balance to barely evade the Earth Spire.

Since the Adept only needed a single thought to unleash his remaining spells, he released the next two in rapid succession, and Shang hadn't been able to avoid those.

Shang had lost.

The Adept bowed politely to Viera and threw Shang a look. Then, with a snort, he left without saying anything.

Shang's next opponent was a Metal Adept.

When the Metal Adept used Mana Step, Shang decided not to use his sword but to jump into the way of the Mana Step to grapple with the Adept.

However, the Mana Shield threw Shang away, and he quickly lost after that.

These Adepts were faster than Shang while using Mana Step, which surprised him quite a bit. Sure, Mana Step was fast, but this fast?

The next opponent was a Fire Adept.

Fire Adepts basically didn't exist in the Mage Academy, but Shang's opponents didn't only come from the Mage Academy. A lot of his opponents were Adepts that gave up trying to become True Mages or were ones that simply didn't have the talent or discipline to become one.

In short, those were Adepts that would forever remain Adepts. They basically counted to the worst Adepts in existence.

And yet, even though they all had horrible fighting experience, by simply following some simple rules, they always won against Shang.

As a warrior, Shang had to constantly adapt to his opponent and make quick decisions, but a Mage didn't fight that way.

A Mage followed rules.

They followed protocol.

They followed a path.

They followed a sequence.

They followed a plan.

Fighting against warriors for them was nothing more than following a step-by-step guide.

Mages were superior to warriors in Battle-Strength, and the only way they could lose was if they didn't use their powers correctly.

But by following a step-by-step guide, they used them perfectly.

A huge man could lose against a far smaller man in hand-to-hand combat if he made many mistakes and didn't use his powers correctly. However, if the huge man simply focused on resisting the strikes and barreling over his opponent, the huge man would almost always win.

The huge man had the weight and power advantage, and if he managed to throw the other one to the ground and land on top of him, the huge man would only need to use his raw power to win.

Technique didn't matter.

That was exactly why there were weight classes in combat sports on Earth.

Being heavier and bigger was an unreasonable advantage.

The same thing was true for Mages when they fought against warriors in this world.

Their powers were unreasonably greater than their opponent's powers.

They would need to take several hits while going through the procedure, but their Mana Shield took care of that. As long as they could resist their opponent's attacks until they were ready to unleash their own power, the Mages would win.

Of course, this only counted for the inexperienced Mages. An experienced Mage wouldn't even let their opponents hit them while thoroughly crushing their opponent.

And Shang felt the power difference very clearly.

After a full day of fighting, Shang hadn't won even a single time.

He had become pretty good at anticipating where his opponents would go while using Mana Step, and he managed to hit their Mana Shield several times.

Shang had also become far faster in following his opponent, which often gave him an additional opportunity to hit their Mana Shield.

But in the end, Shang would always succumb to the rapid barrage of Spells after the Adept was done preparing.

Shang tried to increase his ability to intercept the Adepts and deal more damage to them, but after a full day, he realized that there wasn't much else he could do.

This path was a dead end.

So, Shang concentrated on being able to dodge his opponent's barrage of spells.

At that moment, Shang realized once again that fighting Mages was somewhat similar to fighting beasts.

When fighting beasts, the most important thing was to dodge their devastating attacks. Their attacks had far more power behind them than the attacks of other warriors, which basically made it impossible for a warrior to block them. One always had to evade these attacks.

The same thing was true when one fought Mages. Blocking their Spells was basically impossible, and one always needed to evade them.

However, the difference between Mages and beasts was the frequency of these devastating attacks.

A beast could only unleash one devastating attack at a time, but a Mage could unleash several in just a single second.

In the end, Shang focused on increasing his ability to evade the spells. It was fine as long as he was only hit once since his uniform would cancel that hit.

At that point, his opponent would need to prepare several more Spells again since Shang could evade the Spell if it were only one.

And that was where Shang's experience in fighting against beasts came into play.

It was not normal for a warrior to be able to confidently evade a Mage's Spell.

In fact, it was very rare.

Nearly all warriors only managed to evade a Spell with a lot of luck, but Shang could do it consistently.

This was the basis of Shang's power, and it had given him a solid starting point.

Now, he only had to advance in that department!

After two days, Shang managed to evade one Spell consistently and a second Spell about every second attempt.

After the third day, Shang pushed that frequency to 75%.

After the fourth day, it became 90%.

After the fifth day, it became 95%.

By now, Shang had managed to deplete a lot more of his opponents' Mana, but he still hadn't won even once.

But he was making progress!

By now, nearly all of Shang's opponents had to use over 70% of their Mana.

After the tenth day, Shang managed to evade two Spells confidently, but that was when it became far harder again to advance.

Shang had to use all his power to evade the second Spell, making it impossible for him to evade the third.

If an Adept prepared three Spells, Shang would be hit by one, and the Adept would need to prepare another three.

If an Adept prepared four Spells, Shang would lose immediately.

But in both cases, Shang managed to push his opponent to waste about 80% of their Mana.

Just a bit more! As long as he managed to exhaust all their Mana, he would win!

Chapter 196 Prepared

More days passed, and although Shang became better and better, he still didn't win even once.

Shang had come across another problem.

A lot of his opponents were now using Mana Push.

Mana Push was a common Element-neutral defensive Spell. It created something like a force field around one of the Adept's arms, which extended outward by quite a bit.

Mana Push was the very technique Duke Whirlwind used to deal with the Exploding Mountain Turtle's attacks. He had created a huge forcefield and used it to bat the stones of the Exploding Mountain Turtle away like they were pebbles.

Of course, the Mana Push of these Adepts was nowhere near as overwhelmingly powerful as Duke Whirlwind's, but it was still troublesome.

Using Mana Push didn't waste as much Mana as receiving a hit to one's Mana Shield. However, it was harder to utilize since the Adept actually had to anticipate Shang's movements somewhat.

If they messed up their Mana Push, they would have wasted their Mana in using Mana Push while also receiving an attack to their Mana Shield.

Since Shang's opponents were now using Mana Push, Shang's progress was thrown back.

By now, Shang could barely waste 60% of his opponent's Mana.

However, Shang wasn't stupid, and he had realized something.

His initial opponents had been very clumsy, and they hadn't used Mana Push.

But now, his opponents were using Mana Push confidently.

This meant that Shang's opponents had been upgraded.

He was no longer fighting the trash portion of the Adepts but the average ones.

When Shang had just fought against his first few opponents, he had only managed to use up around 50% of their Mana, and these opponents had been the worst Adepts.

Now, he managed to waste 60% of the Mana of average Adepts.

Shang had made progress!

Several more days passed, and Shang learned to deal with Mana Push better.

There were three levels to dealing with Mana Push.

First level: Somewhat avoiding it and quickly charging towards the Adept's new location after they used Mana Step.

Second level: Avoiding Mana Push with a lot of confidence and making the Adept use even more Mana by forcing them to use a Mana Step with all their power.

Third level: Nullifying Mana Push and hitting the opponent's Mana Shield before they vanished with Mana Step.

After five days, Shang managed to confidently reach the first level. By now, he wasn't thrown to the ground anymore by being hit by Mana Push.

After several more days, Shang managed to reach the second level a couple of times, but before he could continue, he had to take a break.

17 days had already passed, which meant that the academy's auction would take place now.

Viera left to deal with several things. After all, she had been down here for over two weeks.

Shang retreated to his room and sat down.

One would think that Shang wanted to relax after 17 days of constant battle, but that was far from the truth.

Shang saw his own progress, and he became addicted to it.

More power!

He wanted more power!

He was making so much progress!

Shang wanted to continue fighting right now, but he had to wait until the room became free again.

Luckily, Shang wouldn't have to wait with nothing to do.

Mattheo arrived at Shang's room with several Spells made by Duke Whirlwind.

He delivered the Spells to Shang and gave him a couple of tips on how to train in Spell casting.

After becoming a General Stage warrior, Shang's mind was also slowly growing. By now, his mind had reached the Initial Apprentice Realm.

The Initial Apprentice Realm wasn't impressive, but it was still a step forward.

After Mattheo left, Shang looked through the list of Spells.

They were the easiest Spells imaginable. It was almost like they weren't Spells but training methods.

One Spell required Shang to simply gather Fire Mana from the surroundings.

Shang could absorb lifeless Fire and Ice Mana, but he hadn't yet been able to absorb these kinds of Mana from the atmosphere.

Obviously, Duke Whirlwind wanted to test if Shang had the same abilities as people with normal Affinities.

Shang sat down and concentrated on these Spells.

He was helping Duke Whirlwind, but he was also doing this for himself.

His Magic abilities would never reach the power of his physical abilities, but there surely were some Spells that could help Shang a little bit.

A Mage's power was 100% magical and 0% physical.

A warrior's power was 0% magical and 100% physical.

A magic warrior's power was 40% magical and 60% physical.

Due to Shang's warrior's body, he planned on making his power 10% magical and 90% physical.

Spells used the Mana from one's mind, but in comparison to a Mage, if Shang's Mana in his mind ran out, he wasn't helpless. Because of that, even though his Mana reserves for his mind were pitifully small, he could attempt to gain a one-time boost per battle by completely using up all the Mana in his mind.

Shang got reminded of how Astor used his Affinity to move to the side to change the angle of his attack.

If Shang could use all his Mana in one Mana Step to move to the side, it would already help him.

With one Mana Step, he could probably avoid an additional attack.

One Mana Step was obviously pitiful when compared to Adepts, but this one Mana Step could make the difference.

But to learn Mana Step, Shang had to become familiar with Spell casting.

And Duke Whirlwind's extremely easy Spells came at just the right time.

At that moment, Shang saw another path forward.

Shang was quickly approaching the limit of his techniques. The Adepts were overwhelming him, even though he was nearly perfect at fighting them.

There was only so much technique could do.

Shang had to upgrade some part of his power, and one of these methods was to learn Mana Step.

Shang spent the entire day practicing the Spells Mattheo had delivered him, and when Viera returned to get him to return to battle, Shang almost didn't want to stop.

Shang had made quite some progress in his Spell casting, and he was absolutely sure by now that he could increase his power with that.

Shang had so many things to practice that there wasn't enough time in the day.

At least General Stage warriors didn't need to sleep anymore.

Mana and oxygen fueled their entire being, and the Mana also changed their minds to process information while being awake.

Shang returned to his battles.

Sadly, even though he had made some progress in his Spell casting, his Battle-Strength hadn't been increased by it.

He was still quite a bit off from using an actual Spell.

For the next few days, Shang practiced dealing with Mana Push and learning all the different Spells his opponents were using.

By now, his opponents were using more than one Elemental Spell, and Shang saw new Spells every single day.

Shang was certain that these Adepts weren't weak.

After ten days, Shang managed to confidently deplete 80% of his opponents' Mana reserves again.

Only a bit more!

Three days later, Shang was so close to winning!

Only a bit more!

"Alright, that was the last one!" Viera said.

Shang became shocked.

The last one?

An entire month had already passed?!

Shang gritted his teeth. "I didn't manage to win even once," he said with frustration.

"Are you surprised?"

Shang turned around as he heard a familiar voice.

His teacher, the Dean, stood at the door.

"Can I go now?" Viera asked with the voice of a pleading child. "I want to hunt beasts again."

The Dean looked at Viera. "You can leave."

"Yay!" Viera said as she excitedly clapped her hands.

Then, she looked at Shang. "You're really impressive, Shang! In just one month, you became one of the best students our academy has ever had when it comes to fighting Mages!"

Shang snorted. "One of the best? I didn't even win against an average Adept even one time."

Viera only smiled brightly.

Then, she turned to the Dean. "Can I tell him now?"

Shang raised an eyebrow while the Dean nodded.

"Shang!" Viera said excitedly. "You've not been fighting Initial Adepts but Early Adepts!"

For a second, Shang's mind halted.

Wait, so these Adepts had all been a level above him?

No wonder their Mana Step was so fast!

"Surprised?" the Dean repeated.

Shang only looked at the Dean with a perplexed expression.

"Your body is a level higher than the body of a normal warrior. In short, your body is equal to an Early General Stage warrior."

"By fighting Early Adepts, you have essentially nullified the advantage of your new body. You experienced how it is to fight as a normal warrior against Mages."

"Our very best students can fight an average Adept on their level on equal grounds. By now, you are also fighting an average Adept on equal grounds, which makes you part of our best students."

"Of course, that's without considering the advantage of your unique body."

"Shang, you shouldn't forget that you have become very powerful over the last year. Your Battle-Strength is outstanding, and not many warriors can fight against you anymore."

"By making you fight Early Adepts, you learned a lot about how Mages fight, and you learned the most important aspect."

"Evasion and adaptability."

"Viera, you can leave," the Dean said as he looked at Viera.

Viera noticed that the Dean wanted her gone, and she left after saying her goodbyes.

Now, only Shang and the Dean were left in the room.

"You should be able to beat the fourth level in the Mage category in the trial," the Dean said. "You even have a tiny chance of winning the fifth level."

"You should undertake the trial in a couple of hours."

"I'm expecting greater things from you than I have achieved back then."

Shang remained silent as he listened to the Dean.

He hadn't even thought that his opponents were a level above him.

Why?

Because the supreme power of the Mages was blinding.

Shang thought that it was normal for him to lose against the average Adept.

But now, Shang realized that he had grown far more than he had anticipated.

The gap between him and the Mages had seemed insurmountable.

But now, Shang could confidently fight an average Adept one level above him.

Of course, without his body, Shang would only be able to fight an average Adept on his own level, but that was still very impressive.

Not many warriors could fight an average Adept one-on-one.

Shang had become one of the very best warriors in the academy, and he had his new body on top of that.

Additionally, Shang saw another method of becoming more powerful, which was Mana Step.

Shang had already become very powerful, but this wasn't even close to his full potential.

At that moment, Shang realized how powerful he had become.

And it felt great!

He wanted to feel that feeling of progress more!

And his next step?

Shang looked at the Dean with fiery eyes. "Thank you," he said. "I won't disappoint you!"

"I will bring back an amazing reward from the trial!"

The next step was the trial.

Shang was certain that the reward from the trial could increase his power even more!

Chapter 197 The Trial Begins

Over the next couple of hours, Shang talked with his new master about several tactics he could employ during the trial.

These were the last hours before Shang would fight for his future potential. The better the reward, the more likely it was that Shang would receive something that would help him in the future.

No one in the world knew how a True Path Stage warrior could reach the fifth Realm, and theorizing the Realm might also consume Shang's entire life.

But there was another way.

The trial!

The trial would allow Shang to peek into the past power of the warrior path.

Back then, the warriors were just as powerful as the Mages, and they must have also had extremely powerful people amongst their ranks.

After all, the God had said that the Mage Emperor had been the one that had killed the leaders of the other paths. This meant that the Mages under him probably hadn't been able to eliminate these leaders on their own.

The strongest warriors must have had powers rivaling the strongest Mages.

Right now, Shang probably wouldn't be able to receive something that showed him the way to the fifth Realm, but in the trial at the True Path Stage, he would very likely get that opportunity.

The Dean had done very well during his first trial, but due to his weak body, the future trials hadn't been as profitable as the first one.

In the first one, the Dean had managed to gain 10 points.

In the second one, the Dean had managed to gain 8 points. Three against the beasts, four against the warriors, and one against the Mages.

In the third and last one, the Dean had managed to gain 3 points. One against the beasts, two against the warriors, and zero against the Mages. He hadn't even attempted to fight the Mages.

The Dean had undergone the third trial after reaching the True Path Stage, and people that paid attention would notice something weird.

If the Dean was the only True Path Stage warrior, how could the trial show other True Path Stage warriors?

The warriors of the past were obviously much more powerful than the ones currently living, which would mean that the Dean wouldn't even be able to win one match.

So, how did he win two matches?

The Dean had noticed that the trial showed warriors that perfectly followed the Dean's created path towards the True Path Stage. Because of that, the Dean theorized that these were probably future warriors that would use his method to reach the True Path Stage.

Their bodies weren't more powerful than the Dean's, which meant that they couldn't come from the past.

The Dean was definitely an outstanding warrior, which was how he had won against the average True Path Stage warrior. He might also have won against an outstanding one, but he hadn't known that he couldn't die during the trial.

Because of that, he had decided against trying the third level.

Getting three points during a trial was pathetic in the Dean's mind, and there was no way for him to rectify it.

His path to power had ended.

But when he saw Shang, he gained renewed hope.

Shang's Battle-Strength was just as good as the Dean's was back then. When it came to beasts, he might even be a bit superior. On top of that, Shang had had the opportunity to train against several Mages, which gave him a lot of experience in fighting them.

On top of that, Shang was the first warrior with a successful Bloodline Injection.

With all of these advantages, reaching the same score as the Dean would be a disappointment.

Shang would go much further.

He was sure of that.

"Have you memorized everything?" the Dean said.

Shang nodded. "I did."

The Dean also nodded. "Then, you can start. I'm looking forward to your reward."

"I will," Shang said with fire in his eyes. "I won't disappoint you."

"Good luck."

Shang closed his eyes and went to his world. Just like before, it took him around three seconds to arrive.

Shang opened his eyes inside his own world. Just like before, he saw nothing but grass and open skies.

Shang prepared himself mentally for a couple of seconds.

Silence.

Shang's world was completely silent.

"I'm ready for the trial," Shang said, his mind prepared.

Toot!

Suddenly, a purple wheel appeared in the air, throwing confetti out of several cannons.

Shang became startled for a moment since he hadn't expected the sudden noise.

The confetti rained down on Shang, and streamers became stuck in his hair.

Shang only looked at the flying wheel with serious eyes, red and pink streamers hanging down from his body.

Above the wheel was a weird animatronic puppet of a jester. It carried a cute hammer, and a bell was beneath it.

Shang got reminded of some shady casino. Something like this would definitely fit there.

"Level one: Weak Initial General Stage beast."

Shang heard the mechanical, simulated voice of a woman, which reminded him even more of a casino.

Shang's expression remained solemn as he looked at the wheel, which began to spin.

Shang was trying his best to remain in his peak condition as he was confronted by an absurd and unfitting scene.

To Shang, this was a serious situation that might decide his future.

But, obviously, to the God, this was nothing but entertainment.

He didn't care if Shang's concentration was broken.

He wanted to have his fun, and he would get it.

Shang could imagine the God leaning back on his throne, a smug smirk on his face.

After a while, the wheel began to slow down, and Shang could see the images on it.

Several beasts that Shang recognized were displayed on the wheel but in a very cartoony way.

It was almost like they had all been transformed into mascots of cereal companies.

The wheel slowed down more and more until it was close to stopping at a dark shadow that was giving a thumbs-up.

CRK!

But suddenly, the wheel sped up for an instant and stopped at a different picture.

When Shang saw the picture, his eyes narrowed.

"You think that's funny?"

The lower half of the picture was a huge, feathered, grey ass, and the upper half showed a distant bird with a long beak, blushing in embarrassment.

Shang knew that beast all too well.

 

Chapter 198 Joke Turning into Reality

Shang's opponent appeared 100 meters away from him, and he looked over in annoyance.

Sure enough, it was a Trash Bird.

Shortly after, the little jester mechanically lifted his arms in a very rigid and clunky manner.

DING!

And the hammer hit the bell.

After that, the wheel left Shang's vision, but before he could see it again, it had vanished.

It was like the wheel had simply "left the screen".

Shang looked over at the Trash Bird, which had noticed him after the bell had been struck.

And then, it turned around and ran away, squawking loudly.

Shang narrowed his eyes.

BANG!

The earth beneath Shang exploded as he charged forward with all his speed.

Shang used his Fire and Ice Affinity to make him move even faster.

His speed wasn't comparable to the last time he had fought a Trash Bird.

Back then, Shang had been at the Peak Soldier Stage.

Now, Shang was at the Initial General Stage, and even more, he had undergone the procedure.

Even though there were no trees here to slow the Trash Bird down, Shang was still faster than it by quite a bit.

After just a couple of seconds, Shang reached it.

The Trash Bird grabbed some dirt with its feet and flung it at Shang.

Shang easily sidestepped the dirt and pointed his left hand backward.

BANG! BANG!

Shang released an Ice and Fire Blast in quick succession, destroying his arm and increasing his speed to the peak.

In an instant, Shang arrived above the beast.

BANG!

Shang kicked the Trash Bird's head, and with the new power of his body, the Trash Bird flew to the side, hitting the ground.

Shang quickly jumped on top of the Trash Bird and put his hands around its beak.

The Trash Bird thrashed around and tried to screech, but it couldn't since Shang kept its beak shut.

At the same time, Shang activated his Darkness Absorb, and the Trash Bird quickly started to age and degenerate.

After around five seconds, it stopped moving, and Shang's left arm was nearly exploding with life energy.

However, it was only nearly.

Shang stood up and looked at his left arm.

'This should give me a free use of my Blast Combo.'

At that moment, Shang saw some roses falling to the ground, and he heard cheering and clapping.

Shang had no idea where these noises were coming from.

Shang only remained standing near the Trash Bird as the corpse slowly sank into the ground until it vanished.

As the "crowd" continued cheering, Shang only looked forward with narrowed eyes.

He couldn't take this event lightly!

He had to get a good result!

The wheel returned after unleashing more streamers.

"Level two: Average Initial General Stage beast," the mechanical voice said.

The wheel began to spin rapidly again.

After a while, the wheel slowed down again, and soon enough, Shang saw his next opponent.

The image was of an insect wearing a tuxedo and top hat. It had five gigantic and long mandibles, which mimicked a long beard in the picture.

Shang couldn't put the image to a beast he knew, but for some reason, the image felt familiar.

But Shang was certain that he had never learned about such a beast. So, how could it be familiar to him?

A moment later, Shang's opponent appeared, and Shang lifted an eyebrow when he saw it.

It was an about half-a-meter high stone, and it looked exactly like an Ore Toe.

By now, Shang had seen a couple of Ore Toes in the wild. Ore Toes were ore that broke through the surface after enough Mana had accumulated.

He remembered, the first time he had seen one…

"Really?" Shang asked as he realized what the God had done.

The jester lifted his arm and hit the bell.

Just like before, the wheel vanished.

Shang only looked at the solitary stone for several seconds.

"A Spire Mire, huh?" Shang said.

Chuck McGuiness had scammed Shang back then by saying that the Ore Toe in front of him was a beast called Spire Mire.

However, these beasts didn't exist.

But now, they did.

It seemed like the God had created a new beast just for Shang.

"Who knew that Chuck's joke would result in the creation of a new beast?" Shang muttered to himself.

Shang slowly walked over and stopped about five meters away from the stone.

Then, he lifted his sword and threw it at the stone.

BANG!

The sword pierced the stone until it got stuck.

BOOOOOM!

Five gigantic mandibles quickly closed around the stone, but the Spire Mire didn't catch anything.

The sword had already left the stone of its own volition and quickly crawled back to Shang.

One shouldn't forget that this wasn't just a sword, but Sword.

A gigantic head came out of the ground as Shang charged forward.

Sword jumped upward, and Shang caught it with his right hand.

Just as the Spire Mire turned its head to Shang, Shang had already arrived beneath it.

Shang put his left hand on his sword, and a moment later, Shang's arm began to freeze.

Then, Shang transformed all his momentum into a strike.

Shang's sword hit the middle of the Spire Mire's thorax.

BOOOOM!

Fire exploded out of Sword, and Shang's sword punched through the entire beast.

The mandibles of the Spire Mire scratched together threateningly as it wildly moved its body around in pain. Its body had been too big to sever with only a single slash, but Shang had basically bisected it by 80%.

After unleashing his slash, Shang used his left arm and used an Ice Blast to push himself away from his opponent.

A moment later, the gigantic mandibles clawed through the place Shang had just been.

Blood poured out of the Spire Mire's thorax as it violently moved around.

Its organs were being squeezed out, and the Spire Mire moved around in panic.

Shang only looked at it from a distance. His arm had consumed the life energy and had already healed.

The Spire Mire threateningly clawed into Shang's general direction with its mandibles, but it didn't dare to move.

Shang only waited.

After several seconds of intimidating Shang, the Spire Mire tried to leave in the other direction.

However, that meant turning its head.

BANG!

Shang exploded forward again, and when he saw the Spire Mire's small tail, he quickly severed it before jumping away again.

The Spire Mire turned to Shang again and threatened him.

It even tried to lunge at him, but as an ambush predator, it wasn't the fastest beast. Yes, its mandibles were very fast, but its body wasn't.

After that, Shang began to circle the Spire Mire from a distance, forcing it to turn its body to face him.

Blood and organs poured out of its huge cut and from the stump of its tail.

Every additional movement accelerated its death.

Eventually, the Spire Mire stopped following Shang, and Shang struck again.

Another deep cut was left on the Spire Mire's body.

The remainder of the fight wasn't very exciting.

Over the next ten minutes, the Spire Mire slowly succumbed to its injuries, and Shang absorbed its life force before it could fully die, filling his arm with life energy again.

Shang slowly stood up, and the invisible cheering returned.

A couple of seconds later, the wheel returned.

"Round three: Powerful Initial General Stage beast."

The wheel spun again.

Shang looked with narrowed eyes at the wheel.

From now on, the fights would become a bit harder.

Chapter 199 Climate Weasel

After some seconds, the wheel stopped.

The image of Shang's next opponent was of a grinning weasel, wearing a sun hat, sunglasses, and a thick winter coat.

Shang raised an eyebrow when he saw that image.

This beast didn't seem familiar. On top of that, why was it wearing a sun hat and a thick winter coat?

A small light shone, and Shang saw his next opponent.

It was an orange and blue weasel, about two meters long. For a General Stage beast, it was more on the smaller side.

Just as before, the jester lifted the hammer and struck the bell.

After the bell rang, the weasel noticed Shang.

A moment later, its fur began to stand on end.

However, it didn't attack.

It seemed like the weasel didn't want to fight Shang.

Shang wanted to let the weasel attack first to see its abilities, but that obviously wouldn't work now.

BANG!

So, Shang exploded forward, the earth beneath him cracking again.

The weasel screeched aggressively, and it opened its mouth.

Shang jumped to the side.

A gust of icy air left the weasel's mouth.

'Ice Affinity?' Shang thought.

But then, the weasel turned its head while still unleashing the cold stream of air.

Shang was encompassed by the cold air, and he felt his clothing being covered in frost. Luckily, his body was very resistant to extreme temperatures. After all, he was constantly shifting the temperature of his entire body.

Shang continued charging at the weasel while it kept blanketing him in frost.

At that moment, Shang remembered the image on the wheel.

This could represent the thick winter coat in the picture.

So, if it was also wearing a sun hat and sunglasses…

'It would make sense,' Shang thought. 'This weasel counts as a powerful beast, which means that it might have a rare Affinity. A Temperature Affinity isn't unheard of.'

As soon as Shang realized his opponent's potential next move, he quickly stopped unleashing Fire Mana and only unleashed Ice Mana to increase his speed.

Shang's speed became a bit faster, and his body began to heat up, countering the icy wind from the weasel.

When Shang reached the weasel, it suddenly stopped unleashing its icy breath and jumped away.

Then, it opened its mouth again, and, sure enough, it unleashed a burning hot wind.

Shang felt like he had just opened a gigantic, pre-heated oven.

However, Shang wasn't injured in any way.

'Interesting,' Shang thought as he continued charging at the weasel. 'It uses the very thing that constantly destroys my left arm, intense cold followed by intense heat.'

'If I hadn't properly reacted to its attack by heating my body, my skin would have probably ruptured at several places on my body.'

Shang felt himself violently sweat.

Even without the cold, the heat was already dangerous on its own.

Shang quickly switched to using Fire Mana, which cooled his body down.

It was a balancing act of temperatures, but Shang had gained enough experience on that front over the past year.

'No wonder it belongs to the powerful beasts. Its attack has a wide range, and it's effective against basically every enemy.'

'It doesn't matter if the enemy is fast or slow.'

'It doesn't matter if the enemy has a hard outer layer or not.'

'Armored enemies would feel their hard defenses shattered.'

'Light enemies would feel their skin rupture.'

Shang was slowly gaining ground, but the weasel also wasn't slow.

'On top of that, it's very fast.'

'I guess I'm in luck, for once, since I perfectly counter it.'

However, even if Shang didn't have his temperature abilities, he would probably still win. After all, his opponent was only an Initial General Stage beast. He would probably get injured quite a bit, but his Mana would take care of the injuries without any problems.

Eventually, Shang reached the weasel, and he slashed at it.

The weasel barely sidestepped the slash, but Shang wasn't a newbie. He wouldn't put all his chips on one hand.

Shang quickly followed up with a second attack and hit the weasel's side.

A huge cut appeared on its body, and it jumped away again.

BANG!

Shang used his left arm to chase after the weasel, and before it could recover, he reached it again.

SHING!

This time, the weasel couldn't evade, and it was bisected.

Wild waves of varying temperatures came out of the weasel's body, but without any coordinated attack, the waves canceled each other out, turning into a strong but temperate wind.

Shang put his hand on the weasel's neck and absorbed its life energy.

A couple of seconds later, it was dead.

The cheering returned, and the corpse slowly vanished.

SHING! Plop!

Shang looked over as he heard a new sound.

On the ground, Shang saw a small leaflet with the weasel's image on it.

Shang furrowed his brows, walked over, and looked at the leaflet.

"Climate Weasel," Shang read.

Some information about the weasel was on the leaflet, and Shang looked through it.

'The Dean said that I would get some information about some beasts after the trial. I was wondering why I didn't get any information about the Trash Bird or the Spire Mire. Is that because I technically knew them already?' Shang thought.

'Interesting, Climate Weasels come from the Ice Wyvern Zone, but after living in the battlefield for so long, they began to adapt to the ravaged land.'

'Sadly, according to this leaflet, they will soon go extinct since the battlefield is now purely cold. Only their progenitor, the Icy Wind Weasels, will be left.'

Down at the very bottom of the leaflet was a quote from the God.

"Playing both sides in a war is only profitable as long as the war continues… unless you have a lot of power."

'Well, I guess he's right, to some degree,' Shang thought.

Shang had noticed that he had accidentally made a pun by using degree, but he didn't find it very funny.

After some seconds, the wheel returned again with its usual fanfare.

"Level four: Weak Early General Stage beast."

'This is where it gets interesting,' Shang thought. 'Without the procedure, this would be the strongest opponent I could fight against.'

Shang watched the wheel spin.

'However, the gap between the beasts and me has been reduced by a lot.'

'I'm interested in seeing my progress.'

 

Chapter 200 Accumulated Power

The wheel slowed down and eventually stopped on Shang's next opponent.

It was a Pest Cat, but it had several things that didn't fit the image of a normal Pest Cat.

First of all, it had long eyelashes, which showed that it was very feminine.

It also had a big belly, which reminded Shang of a pregnant woman.

Lastly, it wore a dainty crown.

Shang quickly realized what beast this picture symbolized.

He hadn't seen one yet, but these beasts were worth a ton of money.

It was Pest Queen.

Pest Queens were the main source of the Pest Cat problem.

When a Pest Cat reached the General Stage, it had a chance of evolving into a Pest Queen.

A Pest Queen would abandon its agility in exchange for ranged abilities and vastly increased fertility.

Pest Cats only had six children per pregnancy in general.

Pest Queens, on the other hand, could store sperm from male Pest Cats like ant queens, and they could endlessly birth Pest Cats as long as they had enough food.

Its children would catch all the food for it while having children of their own from time to time.

One Pest Queen could produce as many children as 30 Pest Cats!

'Luckily, they are not great in direct combat. Their danger comes from their fertility and their army of Pest Cats,' Shang thought.

'But that was to be expected. After all, I am supposed to fight a weak Early General Stage beast.'

After a short moment, the Pest Queen appeared in the distance.

It looked similar to a Pest Cat, but it had a gigantic belly, and dark shadows swirled around its body.

The jester lifted its hammer again and struck the bell.

The Pest Queen noticed Shang and screeched a warning while slowly walking backward.

Shang readied his sword and exploded forward.

When Shang was only 50 meters away, the shadows around the Pest Queen's body began to shoot at Shang like living missiles.

'Each shadow is filled with Darkness Mana, and when hit by it, the target will lose a lot of life energy.'

The shadows were quite fast, but they weren't as fast as the Spells all the Adepts had unleashed on Shang.

Over the last month, Shang had focused his entire training on being able to evade devastating attacks, and he had become very good at it.

Shang swayed to the side, barely evading the shadow.

Then, the second shadow appeared, and Shang evaded it too.

In comparison to Mages, the Pest Queen couldn't unleash all its shadows in rapid succession. It could either release several at once or one every half a second.

Half-a-second was a short time for a normal human, but it wasn't as short for a General Stage warrior.

Shang evaded several shadows and came closer to the Pest Queen.

'Without the procedure, my body wouldn't be fast enough to evade its attacks that easily. I would need to fight from a safe distance and exhaust the Pest Queen of Mana.'

'It would be about as hard as fighting the Trash Bird back then. I would probably be able to win, but the fight would still be quite close.'

As Shang evaluated his newfound power, he basically danced through the shadows the Pest Queen shot at him.

In comparison to evading all the Adepts' spells, evading the Pest Queen's ability was easy.

When Shang was only ten meters away from the Pest Queen, it suddenly turned black and seemingly melted into the ground.

'There it is. That's its Shadow Escape, the very reason why Pest Queens are so hard to find.'

No more shadows shot at Shang, and the Pest Queen fully vanished.

It was like it had never been there.

Shang closed his eyes and concentrated on the Darkness Mana in the air.

Shang's world was bright, and there wasn't much Darkness Mana inside it. If Shang had still been at the Soldier Stage, he wouldn't have been able to see his surroundings with Darkness Vision.

But now, as a General Stage warrior, Shang could somewhat perceive his surroundings, even during the day.

Shang could feel the general direction of the Pest Queen.

The Pest Queen was obviously a beast with a Darkness Affinity, and Shang could feel it.

Right now, it was rapidly fleeing into the distance.

Shang followed the Pest Queen but kept around thirty meters between them.

After some seconds, the Pest Queen changed its direction, but Shang kept following it.

Five seconds later, it changed directions again.

Shang kept following it.

Splash!

Suddenly, like it was emerging from a pool, the Pest Queen reappeared, and it screeched at Shang.

Shadow Escape used up a boatload of Mana, and over half its shadows had disappeared.

Then, ten shadows shot at Shang at once.

It was like the Pest Queen had shot at Shang with a shotgun.

This was exactly why Shang had kept some distance between him and the Pest Queen.

Shang quickly jumped away and barely evaded the shadows.

'Without the procedure, I would have been hit by at least one.'

Shang charged forward again, and the Pest Cat unleashed more shadows.

This time, there were 20.

Shang managed to avoid them again.

'I would have been hit again. With that hit, I would have probably used up nearly all my Mana.'

The Pest Queen screeched loudly again, and it unleashed all its remaining Shadows, which were 30.

Shang barely avoided this barrage.

'I think this attack would have heavily injured me.'

Shang looked at the Pest Queen.

There were no more shadows swirling around it.

'But I think I would have won.'

Shang ran at the Pest Queen, and it only continued screaming at him.

When Shang reached it, it quickly attacked Shang with its claws.

However, in comparison to normal Pest Cats, the Pest Queen's attacks were slow.

Shang easily jumped over the claw and flipped over the Pest Queen, severing its head during the flip.

Shang landed, and behind him, the corpse of the Pest Queen collapsed.

'This would have been quite an intense and dangerous fight for my past self,' Shang thought.

Shang turned around and glanced at the corpse while the imaginary crowd cheered for Shang again.

'But the procedure has changed everything.'

'A fight that would have threatened my life in the past now only counts as a warm-up.'

'With this round won, I have matched teacher's score in the beast category. He never attempted the fifth level since he was afraid that he would die.'

'I mean, I understand him. I'm pretty sure I also wouldn't have tried the fifth level without the procedure or knowing that I couldn't die in the trial.'

'The last fight would have nearly killed me, and challenging the fifth level would have been stupid and suicidal.'

Shang sighed.

'However, in comparison to teacher, I have the advantage of having asked the right question and the procedure.'

'The Mages are only so powerful because they have thousands of years of progress. One outstanding Mage after the other solidified and strengthened the path of Magic.'

'Generations upon generations of geniuses have pushed the path of Magic to the absolute peak.'

'And now, thanks to the Dean, I get to feel a small part of this accumulated power.'

The wheel returned and began to spin.

Shang looked at the wheel.

'The fifth level also isn't my limit. Without the procedure, the fifth level would be nearly impossible.'

The wheel slowed down.

'This will be a fight that would have killed my past self.'