Ch. 271..280

Chapter 271 - The Thunder HorseZone

Shang took a deep breath when he heard Duke Whirlwind's voice.

If beasts got the chance to take a good look at him, they would attack. Dealing with this issue wasn't hard under normal circumstances, but if a Zone Beast decided that it wanted to kill Shang…

Only death would wait for him.

"I will be careful," Shang said.

Duke Whirlwind nodded and led everyone into the Thunder Horse Zone.

The Thunder Horse Zone was just a huge desert with plenty of sand dunes. Usually, one wouldn't associate a desert with lightning, but Shang quickly saw why this Zone was a desert.

BANG! BANG!

From the clear and bright sky, one lightning bolt after the other hit the ground, throwing small bits of sand everywhere.

There were very few clouds present, and the lightning seemingly came out of thin air. Sometimes, the lightning didn't even come from the sky but just directly appeared in the air before striking the ground.

Surprisingly, the bits of sand didn't seem to mind the lightning. Sure, they were flung around, but they didn't get destroyed or burned.

In comparison to all the other Zones, Shang barely saw any beasts in this one.

"Why are there no beasts?" Shang asked.

"This is one of the rare Zones where nearly all the fighting is done either very high in the sky or below the ground inside different caves and tunnels," Duke Whirlwind explained with a neutral voice. Obviously, after realizing that they would soon meet the Thunder Horse, Duke Whirlwind's good mood had vanished.

Shang looked at the sky, at the few clouds he could see.

The biggest clouds were only two kilometers wide, which really wasn't that big for a cloud, and there were a couple of clouds that were only a hundred meters across. There were even very small clouds, only about ten meters across.

The most numerous clouds were the smaller ones, and there were only three gigantic clouds.

'Duke Whirlwind said that most beasts are fighting in the sky and below the ground. Does that mean…?'

"Are the clouds beasts?" Shang asked.

"Correct," Duke Whirlwind answered. "The three big clouds are beasts of the fifth Realm. The ones that are a couple of hundred meters across are True Path Stage beasts, and the smallest ones are Commander Stage beasts. Soldier and General Stage beasts live underground until they become powerful enough to take to the skies."

Shang took a deep breath.

Those three gigantic clouds were beasts of the Fifth Realm!

Shang had never seen one before!

BANG!

Shang's gaze was pulled to a spot in the sky where two small clouds had just met. As soon as they had met, the sound of thunder reverberated throughout the desert, and Shang could see several bolts of lightning shining through the clouds.

Two Commander Stage beasts were fighting.

A couple of seconds later, Shang saw a body fall from the two clouds.

It was a silver hawk, heavy injuries and burns visible all over its body.

The hawk had obviously lost.

And then, Shang saw the victor.

A long, snake-like beast with a long, jagged horn and four relatively small legs exited the cloud.

Shang watched with widely opened eyes as the thing grabbed the corpse with its claws and retreated to the cloud.

'Was that a Chinese dragon?!' Shang thought.

Shang had seen plenty of Chinese dragons in fantasy movies and games on Earth, and they looked very similar to the beast he had just seen.

"What is that beast?" Shang asked Duke Whirlwind.

"Desert Lightning Serpent," Duke Whirlwind answered.

'It's not a dragon? Or is the name simply different?' Shang thought.

"It feels different from other beasts," Shang said. He actually didn't think that it was different, but he wanted to know if there was something special about that beast. After all, it's a dragon!

"It is different," Duke Whirlwind answered. "In comparison to almost every other beast, these Serpent beasts don't focus on their bodies."

"They don't?" Shang asked.

"Their bodies are still far more powerful than ours, but most of their power comes from their ranged attacks. They have many varied abilities that they can unleash from range."

"In a way, you could call them Mage beasts."

Shang looked at the cloud where the Desert Lightning Serpent retreated to.

'A beast that focuses on abilities that are very similar to Spells?' Shang thought. 'That's quite interesting. Sure enough, there are plenty of things I still don't know about this world.'

"How is it flying without wings?" Shang asked.

"If there is enough Lightning Mana in the atmosphere, the Desert Lightning Serpent can manipulate magnetism just enough to let it fly. That ability consumes a lot of Mana, but with enough Lightning Mana present, it won't run out. If it were to leave this Zone, it wouldn't be able to keep flying," Duke Whirlwind explained.

Shang only nodded.

After that, Shang no longer asked Duke Whirlwind any questions.

The Duke was obviously preoccupied with thinking about the Thunder Horse.

Speaking of, just five minutes later, Shang saw several tall buildings in the distance.

He had expected that these buildings would be made of clay, but surprisingly, they were made of yellow stone or metal. Shang wasn't quite sure which of the two it was.

This was obviously Spark Oasis, and the reason for its name was just a kilometer to its east.

Shang could see a lake about two kilometers wide east of the city. Surprisingly, there was no vegetation around it.

It simply looked like a big lake in the middle of a desert.

Oases were known for having lots of greenery around them, but this one didn't have any.

However, Shang could see a couple of weaker beasts drinking from the oasis. All of these beasts came out of the ground to drink.

Yet, even with so many beasts present, there was no fighting.

Additionally, there was a big city of humans just a kilometer away. If this were Warrior's Paradise, a swarm of eager hunters would charge over to the oasis to kill all the beasts.

But here, nothing.

No one fought.

"Why is nobody fighting?" Shang asked.

"The Thunder Horse doesn't like fighting near the oasis or inside the city," Duke Whirlwind said as he focused on the city.

"Wait," Shang said. "I can understand the oasis thing, but why does the Thunder Horse not want any fighting in the city?"

"We are not entirely sure," Duke Whirlwind said, "but the Thunder Horse likes humans to some degree. It enjoys being in their company. Of course, everyone is still allowed to kill each other, but not in the city nor the oasis."

"There has only been one instance of a powerful beast attacking the city in the past, and the Thunder Horse very quickly took care of that beast."

"Some of the Mages focusing on beasts believe that the Thunder Horse is viewing us humans as pets."

Shang blinked a couple of times in surprise.

A horse keeping humans as pets?

That was not something Shang had expected to ever see.

"You have to be careful now," Duke Whirlwind said as the group closed in on the city. "I will try to make our stop as briefly as possible."

"Let's hope your luck is not too bad."

 

Chapter 272 - Thunder Horse

The group reached the entrance to the city, and Duke Whirlwind quickly struck up a conversation with the guards. It was like nothing was wrong.

Not even the people in the group had noticed that Duke Whirlwind was very worried right now.

The only ones that noticed were Shang and the Dean.

The Dean stepped forward from the back and stopped close to Shang.

After talking with the guards for a bit, Duke Whirlwind brought everyone into the city.

When Shang entered the city, he could see a lot of Adepts and True Mages walking around.

But there were nearly no warriors present.

The only warriors were the guards.

It was almost like this was a city exclusively for Mages.

"Academy for Lightning Mages," the Dean said.

Shang looked at the Dean for a second, and the Dean lightly gestured to the west.

Shang looked over, and he could see a couple of taller towers. At first glance, they didn't seem any different than normal towers, but if one looked closely, one could see the occasional spark of lightning travel over their surfaces.

"Don't get too caught up in the city," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile to the group. "We'll directly continue."

The group only nodded, and everyone continued walking.

Keeping the Blessing of Wind active would be too noticeable, which was why Duke Whirlwind deactivated it.

However, the group was still traveling with quite some speed.

They traveled for a couple of seconds before Duke Whirlwind interrupted their journey.

"Oh, I must apologize," Duke Whirlwind said. "I just remembered that I wanted to buy something in the bazaar. I hope you won't mind a short detour."

The group didn't object, and Duke Whirlwind led everyone to the east.

By now, Shang had noticed something.

Shang wasn't susceptible to Lightning Mana, but it was nearly impossible not to notice when vast quantities were moving in one direction.

And, right now, all the Lightning Mana in the surroundings was violently pulled to the north, the place where they had just wanted to go to.

The group followed Duke Whirlwind to the east, and they arrived at the bazaar very quickly.

Duke Whirlwind looked through a couple of stands and eventually purchased about 500 units of Commander Stage Lightning Ore for a ridiculous sum of money.

"Alright, let's continue," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile as he led the group to the northeastern part of the town.

By now, Shang could feel that the Lightning Mana was being pulled to the south of him, which was the eastern part of the city, the place where they had just been.

The group made a detour and eventually saw the northern gate.

At that moment, the Dean inconspicuously stepped in front of Shang, acting like he was striking up a conversation with Duke Whirlwind.

And Shang?

His heart nearly stopped.

The source of Lightning Mana had suddenly vanished from the south and had reappeared at the northern gate.

Shang was mostly hidden by the Dean, but he could still see the Thunder Horse.

Its back was only about two meters high, which was quite tall for a horse on Earth, but tiny for such a powerful beast in this world.

It was shining with a bright, white light, which almost seemed peaceful.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

The light it was emanating was an unreal amount of volatile and destructive Lightning Mana.

There was a long, white horn on its head, making it appear as majestic as an emperor.

However, one thing surprised Shang above anything else.

As soon as the Thunder Horse had appeared, a couple of kids ran over in excitement and began to climb it.

Others were petting its legs with excitement.

Laughter quickly filled the surroundings.

Duke Whirlwind realized that they couldn't avoid the Thunder Horse.

So, he slowly approached with the group.

The warriors inside the group became extremely nervous.

This was a Zone Beast!

If that thing decided to attack them, they would be helpless.

From the very beginning, the Thunder Horse wasn't looking at the children. It was almost like the children didn't exist to it.

Instead, it was fully focused on Duke Whirlwind.

The group approached the Thunder Horse, and the warriors didn't dare to breathe.

Duke Whirlwind walked up to the Thunder Horse.

And then, he put his hand gently onto its snout as he petted it.

"Long time no see," Duke Whirlwind said with a kind smile.

The Thunder Horse moved its snout to Duke Whirlwind's face and sniffed a couple of times.

Then, it looked over to the Dean with interest.

The Dean performed a small, polite bow without saying anything.

Shang was barely visible behind the Dean's body.

"You guys can continue," Duke Whirlwind said with a laugh. "I will catch up with you shortly."

"Of course," the Dean said with his neutral voice before he ushered everyone else forward.

Duke Whirlwind kept talking to the Thunder Horse while petting its snout. He was telling it about some of the things he had seen since they last met several years ago.

The group slowly passed by the Thunder Horse, the Dean between the Thunder Horse and Shang.

And then, the Thunder Horse ignored the Duke and turned to the Dean.

The group stopped.

They didn't want to anger the Thunder Horse.

The Thunder Horse went closer to the Dean with its snout while sniffing. Occasionally, it even let out some snorts.

Shang felt like the snorts were aggressive.

The Dean only stopped and looked the Thunder Horse in the eyes.

The snout came closer and closer to the Dean.

And then, it angled to the left and passed the Dean.

At that moment, the Thunder Horse lightly moved its head to the right, shoving the Dean several meters to the right.

Silence.

The Thunder Horse was fully focusing on Shang.

Shang looked at the Thunder Horse.

The Thunder Horse's head came closer, and it sniffed Shang's face.

As time passed, the snorts became more numerous and violent.

Shang felt like he was looking death in the eyes.

And then, the Thunder Horse let out one especially loud and powerful snort.

The road made of stone below the Thunder Horse's head broke into pieces due to the snort's power.

And then…

Shang felt an unreal amount of Lightning Mana gather on the Thunder Horse's body.

Chapter 273 - Survived

Time seemingly stood still for Shang as he watched the Thunder Horse gather a terrifying amount of Lightning Mana.

He was going to die!

And then, the Thunder Horse unleashed all the Lightning Mana onto Shang.

Shang's Affinity for lightning had always been horrible. He had never been able to feel Lightning Mana.

But at this moment, Shang could feel the Lightning Mana.

It was so much!

It was like his entire body was encased with a form of prickly energy.

Shang felt the Lightning Mana touch his very being, and Shang felt quite uncomfortable.

But that was it.

He only felt uncomfortable.

The wave of Lightning Mana washed over Shang and dispersed after hitting the building behind Shang.

The citizens of the city were looking at the Thunder Horse with confusion.

It was acting very strange.

Then, a moment of silence arrived.

Shang looked into the Thunder Horse's eyes with terror, while the Thunder Horse looked into his eyes with unreadable emotions.

After seeing that Shang hadn't died, the Thunder Horse's snout moved closer to Shang. It was violently sniffing and snorting all over his body.

BANG!

The Thunder Horse's snout shoved Shang to the side, and Shang fell to the ground.

The Thunder Horse's head followed and continued violently sniffing Shang's body as he lay on the ground.

Duke Whirlwind and the Dean were looking with nervousness and a bit of fear at what was happening.

Shang didn't dare to move on the ground. If he showed any resistance, the Thunder Horse might just decide to end his life with a simple stomp.

This entire spiel continued for nearly half a minute, but eventually, the Thunder Horse took a step back and looked at Shang.

And then, it snorted once.

BANG!

A lightning bolt suddenly formed in the air and struck Shang.

It was so fast that Shang hadn't even realized what was happening until it was too late.

Shang realized that he had been struck by a bolt of lightning, but to his shock, he didn't feel any pain.

The lightning bolt only washed over his body and seemingly vanished into nothing.

Shang still didn't dare to move.

The Thunder Horse sniffed once more in Shang's general direction, and then…

It turned around, walked up to a stall, and ate an apple.

The kids that had been scared off by the Thunder Horse's weird behavior returned and played with it.

The Thunder Horse didn't mind, and it slowly walked along the road to the south of the city, ignoring the group of warriors.

Shang only watched in shock as the Thunder Horse left.

And at that moment, Shang's stomach churned, and he felt his head drone.

The terror of nearly dying assaulted him at that point, and his body shivered.

He could have died just now!

The Dean walked over and lifted Shang off the ground.

"Don't mind it," the Dean said. "The Thunder Horse acts weirdly sometimes."

The Dean didn't sound worried, but Shang could see relief in the Dean's eyes.

"We wasted enough time here," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "We should continue."

The group nodded, but their eyes were still distracted. None of them had ever been so close to a Zone Beast before.

The group continued walking, and after they left Spark Oasis, Duke Whirlwind activated the Blessing of Wind again.

Shang absentmindedly accelerated and caught up to Duke Whirlwind.

"What happened?" Shang asked.

"I can make some guesses, but I'm not entirely sure," Duke Whirlwind answered.

Duke Whirlwind's mind inspected the surroundings, and he saw that their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"I think it was confused," Duke Whirlwind whispered just loud enough for Shang to hear him.

"It probably sensed you, and it felt that you appeared similar to one of the Abominations, but not entirely."

"However, your power wasn't nearly enough to threaten it, and you also didn't damage anything in your surroundings. Because of that, it probably tried to make sense of your existence."

"In the end, it judged you as an Abomination and tried to kill you," Duke Whirlwind explained.

Shang's heart nearly stopped. "But I'm still alive," he said.

"Because you aren't one," Duke Whirlwind said. "You should know that Abominations can be killed by throwing a huge mass of Mana at them. That was what the Thunder Horse did to you. It gathered its Lightning Mana and washed it over your entire body."

"Even the strongest Abomination would have died when assaulted by so much Mana. The amount of Lightning Mana it had used on you was more than King Skythunder could produce, and he is an Archmage with a Lightning and Wind Affinity."

Shang thought back to when the wave of Lightning Mana had washed over him.

That had been the Thunder Horse trying to kill him?

"When it saw that you survived," Duke Whirlwind continued, "it became interested in you again. It continued inspecting you but still couldn't make sense of you."

"As for that lightning bolt, I don't know what that was," Duke Whirlwind said. "It wasn't meant to injure you, but I don't know why it had summoned it."

Shang's brows furrowed.

He also had no idea what that lightning bolt was supposed to be.

For a moment, Shang's mind went back to all the fantasy movies he had seen on Earth, and he came up with the idea that he might have been blessed by the Thunder Horse.

But that thought was quickly thrown out of the window.

The Thunder Horse had literally tried to kill him just half a minute before that.

'Anyway, it's over, and I survived,' Shang thought. 'However, I have to be really careful when it comes to Zone Beasts. The Thunder Horse obviously has no problems with humans, and it probably even likes them. After all, it even lets kids climb all over it.'

'But if something like the Empress Cobra sees me, I might just immediately stop existing.'

The group continued running to the north for several more minutes.

By now, Shang could see a couple of green hills on the horizon.

The hills weren't very big, but Shang could see a lot of trees and bushes.

In a way, the area in front of Shang looked like a warmer Ice Wyvern Zone, but with fewer mountains.

Some moments later, Shang could also see a large tower with several people standing in front of it.

Then, Shang saw that every person had a Focus hovering beside them.

Nearly all the Foci had two circlets, and one even had three!

A Focus with two circlets only became common in the True Mage Realm.

And three circlets?

Only the most powerful Peak True Mages and High Mages carried those.

Theoretically, a Focus with one circlet could be used by a Mid Apprentice, but the value of such a weapon would be wasted on such a weak person. On top of that, it needed a long time of training to use a Focus.

Because of that, Foci with one circlet only became common in the Mid Adept Realm.

The same was true for Foci with two and three circlets, but for the subsequent Realms.

A Mid Adept could theoretically use a Focus with two circlets, but Mid Adepts with one basically didn't exist. It would be like if Shang had a True Path weapon right now.

It was overkill.

Only the absolute elite Peak Adepts had Foci with two circlets.

And only the absolute elite Peak True Mages had Foci with three circlets.

So, after Shang saw the Foci, he immediately realized that every person there was a powerful True Mage.

And the very weakest was probably in the Mid True Mage Realm.

'Quite a powerful lineup.'

"That's the border," Duke Whirlwind said. "Beyond this checkpoint is the personal domain of King Skythunder."

"The Skythunder Zone."

Chapter 274 - Skythunder Zone

"Skythunder Zone?" Shang asked with surprise. "Why is it called as such? Shouldn't it be called after a Zone Beast, or is the Zone Beast called Skythunder?"

"You don't know?" Duke Whirlwind asked with interest.

Then, he smirked. "Then, I won't take the surprise away from you. You will see why it is called the Skythunder Zone."

Shang only lifted an eyebrow, but he didn't answer.

Around two minutes later, the group arrived at the border.

The group of Mages looked at the group, but their eyes showed no emotion.

It was like the group of warriors didn't even exist.

Then, the Mages looked at the Dean.

Some of them snorted while others looked at the Dean with interest.

When the Mages saw Duke Whirlwind, they smiled politely, but their smiles didn't reach their eyes.

This short interaction had already given Shang a good look at how the Mages outside Duke Whirlwind's territory felt about warriors.

Weak warriors were beneath them and basically didn't exist to them, while warriors more powerful than them garnered ridicule.

To them, it was like some lowlife was trying to step onto their level.

They knew that the Dean was more powerful than most of them, but they still looked down on him.

Duke Whirlwind walked over to the Mage with the Focus that had three circlets and talked to him for a bit.

The Mage didn't keep his voice down, and Shang could hear what he said.

"If it were up to me, I would kill this group of trash where they stand," the powerful Mage said with a snort to Duke Whirlwind, "and you along with them, traitor."

The group felt a sting when they heard these words leave the powerful Mage's mouth.

He was talking like the warriors weren't even there.

"Quite big words for an Early High Mage, Sinero," Duke Whirlwind said with a polite smile.

Sinero only snorted again. "You've been living in peace for decades, Jerald. In comparison to you, I have to fight other High Mages and Fourth Realm beasts to keep my spot. You are so relaxed and out of practice that you don't even realize when someone more powerful than you stands before you."

"Oh?" Duke Whirlwind uttered with a smile. "Want to try?"

Sinero only sneered. "I would love to, but I'm not going to commit suicide by keeping the King's entertainment waiting. Enter!"

"What a shame," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "And here I have hoped that I would get to exercise my old bones again."

Obviously, Duke Whirlwind was ridiculing Sinero. After all, Duke Whirlwind wasn't old for a High Mage.

Sinero didn't answer.

Duke Whirlwind chuckled a bit and gestured for the group to continue.

The group passed by the Mages without a word.

And then, Shang finally entered the Skythunder Zone.

Shang could see green hills and meadows, and he could even see quite a few farms.

But, surprisingly, there were no beasts around. Instead, Shang could see quite a few animals.

By now, it was early noon, and the sun was shining from the sky. However, the sun wasn't oppressive or anything.

The temperature was nice.

There were some clouds, but they were not oppressive.

There was some wind, but it wasn't very strong.

For the first time, Shang felt like he was back on Earth.

The Skythunder Zone was not special.

It was just normal.

And that was exactly why it was more special than all other Zones.

'No strong heat, which means not much Fire Mana. No huge rocks and mountains, which means not much Earth Mana. A bit of wind, but not nearly as strong as in the Storm Eagle Zone. A couple of small rivers and ponds, but not an ocean. Not very cold, which means not much Ice Mana. No prickling feeling of electricity, which means not much Lightning Mana.'

'Lots of vegetation, which means weaker plants can thrive here, which wouldn't be possible in an environment filled with Metal Mana. And to top it all off, there is not overly much Light or Darkness Mana.'

'There is no powerful presence of Elemental Mana.'

'That can only mean one thing,' Shang thought.

"There is no Zone Beast," Shang said to Duke Whirlwind.

"Correct," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "I'm impressed that you found that out so quickly."

Shang only nodded.

To be honest, if Shang hadn't come from Earth, he might not have realized that there was no Zone Beast in this Zone. After all, literally every other Zone had a Zone Beast. Zone Beasts were as normal to the humans of this world as rain and wind.

"How come?" Shang asked.

"The other Zone Beasts are fine with their Zones," Duke Whirlwind explained. "Although, if one of them tries to exert their control onto this Zone, the others get angry. In a way, you could say that this Zone isn't worth fighting several other Zone Beasts."

"Why would the Zone Beasts attack whoever tries to annex this Zone?" Shang asked.

"Due to their Affinities," Duke Whirlwind explained. "If the Thunder Horse to the southeast tries to influence this Zone, the Ancestral Blood Bat to the west and the Ocean Serpent to the northwest would get angry. Lightning is too bright for a Zone Beast with a Darkness Affinity like the Ancestral Blood Bat, and the Ocean Serpent also isn't a fan of lightning for obvious reasons."

"If the Volcano Wyrm tried the same thing, the Ocean Serpent and the Colossal Worm would get involved."

"If the Colossal Wyrm tried something, the Thunder Horse and Volcano Wyrm would get involved."

"If the Ancestral Blood Bat tried something, the Thunder Horse and Pontiff Turtle would get involved."

"And if… you get the idea," Duke Whirlwind explained with a smile. "The Skythunder Zone is surrounded by six Zones, and there are always at least two enemies if one of them tries to get involved in this one."

In one short conversation, Shang had learned the names of four more Zones.

"Could you tell me the name of the Zones, the Affinities of the Zone Beasts, and where they are located?" Shang asked.

"Thunder Horse Zone. Southeast. Lightning," Duke Whirlwind said.

"Volcano Wyrm Zone. Southwest. Fire."

"Ancestral Blood Bat Zone. West. Darkness."

"Ocean Serpent Zone. Northwest. Water."

"Pontiff Turtle Zone. Northeast. Light."

"Colossal Worm Zone. East. Earth."

Shang nodded. "Thanks."

Duke Whirlwind also nodded, and then he remembered something.

"By the way, was this your first run-in with one of the arrogant kind of Mages?" Duke Whirlwind asked, obviously referring to his earlier conversation with Sinero.

"It was the first time I saw it this openly," Shang said. "I've gotten some sneers, but I haven't heard someone speak of warriors in such a derisive way before."

"Sorry about that," Duke Whirlwind said. "I don't like to say it, but you should get used to this kind of treatment. Even more, the treatment will only get worse the more powerful you become."

"Many people don't mind looking at a cockroach outside their house, but if that cockroach enters their house, they get angry and kill it. In their mind, the cockroach should know its place and not enter the human's domain."

"That's how many powerful Mages view warriors. As long as you are weak, it is like you know your place, but if you ever reach a comparable power to theirs, they feel like you are disrespecting them. They feel like you don't deserve your current power. After all, you are not an illustrious Mage."

Shang furrowed his brows.

In the beginning, he wasn't sure why a more powerful warrior would be even more looked down upon by a Mage than a weak warrior. After all, the powerful warrior was stronger.

But with Duke Whirlwind's explanation, Shang could see why that wasn't the case for a lot of Mages.

And now, Shang could also understand why that Mage also hated Duke Whirlwind.

Figuratively, Duke Whirlwind was working on a method to allow plenty of cockroaches to enter houses. Of course he wouldn't be liked by the occupants of said houses.

"But you don't need to worry about their opinion," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "King Skythunder has his entire Kingdom in his grip. If he showed even a slight sign of disapproval between Duke Mithril's and my conflict, we would be best friends the next day."

"So, even if there are plenty of Mages that hate warriors becoming more powerful, they won't dare to act without the King's approval. The only thing they can do is bark."

"By the way, you can see the castle from here already. Look to the front," Duke Whirlwind said as he gestured forward.

Shang looked to the front, and he could see a huge structure.

'That doesn't look like a castle.'

Chapter 275 - King Skythunder'sCastle

Shang looked at the thing that Duke Whirlwind had called a castle.

On the horizon, Shang could see a gigantic, white dome.

It was three kilometers long and nearly two kilometers high. In a way, it looked like a gigantic hill without any vegetation.

And that was supposed to be King Skythunder's castle?

In Shang's mind, having a huge dome as a castle didn't fit King Skythunder at all. After all, King Skythunder had a Wind and Lightning Affinity. Those Affinities were related more to spiky than round things.

As the group continued traveling, Shang kept looking at the dome.

For some reason, it wasn't entirely even.

There were some ridges here and there. On top of that, the ridges didn't seem entirely man-made.

That was when Shang remembered something, and his mind made a connection.

'Wait, could that be?'

"Is this an exoskeleton?" Shang asked.

Duke Whirlwind looked with surprise at Shang.

And then, he smirked. "Quite smart, Shang," he said. "Yes, this is the exoskeleton of the Ancestor Queen."

Shang nodded.

This made a lot of sense!

The Caves below the Storm Eagle Zone had once housed a huge insect tribe, and it had counted as its own Zone, the Ancestor Queen Zone.

The Ancestor Queen had died mysteriously, and King Skythunder had once confirmed the death.

Would they leave such a valuable corpse?

Of course not!

They had retrieved the corpse, and evidently, they had used the Ancestor Queen's carapace as a natural fortress.

The natural armor of a Zone Beast. Was there a greater defense?

If another Kingdom attacked, would they even be able to break through this insane defense?

Shang had only heard of the Ancestor Queen. Seeing part of its body was something entirely different.

How had this gigantic Zone Beast died?

Was it another Zone Beast?

Was it a natural death?

Was it the God?

Shang wasn't sure.

"Alright, everyone!" Duke Whirlwind shouted to the group of warriors. "Before we reach King Skythunder's castle, I have to tell you how to act in front of him."

The group nodded and listened intently.

"King Skythunder isn't one for formalities and procedure. He only cares about power and what people truly feel. As long as you don't look down on him in your hearts, he won't perceive your actions as insulting."

"However, it is better to be safe than sorry. I would suggest that you bow to him in an honest manner. The bow doesn't need to be very deferential, but you have to mean it. You also don't need to think that you are his servant or something. As long as you acknowledge his overwhelming power, he doesn't care."

Then, Duke Whirlwind's face turned into a bitter smile. "Although, talking to him is contradictory to what I told you just now."

The group looked with confusion at Duke Whirlwind.

"King Skythunder also doesn't like weaklings, and his definition of weakling is a bit different than you might imagine."

"In his mind, a weakling is someone that can't follow their own principles, someone that can't speak up for themselves. To him, everyone in his Kingdom is so far beneath his power that Dukes and servants aren't different in his mind. They are all far weaker than him, and he treats them the same."

"Everyone in the Kingdom is weaker than him, and he is right in thinking so. You all have to remember one thing."

"Even if every High Mage in the entire Kingdom attacked him, he wouldn't even get injured."

Silence.

The group took a collective deep breath.

They had known that the King was powerful, but THAT powerful?!

"As long as you don't forget his power while speaking to him, you will be fine."

Then, Duke Whirlwind frowned.

"Sadly, I can't say the same thing for the Council. While speaking to them, you have to show your deepest respect. They won't dare to do anything with King Skythunder present, but hiring a True Mage Cleaner is just a bit of money to them."

Shang had already expected something like that.

The Council were the actual leaders of the Skythunder Kingdom. King Skythunder didn't much care about ruling over his Kingdom, and he fully focused on his own power.

So, it fell to the Council to manage his Kingdom.

The Council was comprised of the, generally accepted, five most powerful High Mages in the Kingdom, except for the Archduke. The Archduke was the spokesperson for all the Dukes, and they had the same level of power as the Council Head.

Together, the Archduke and the Council Head counted as the second most powerful people in the entire Kingdom.

They were both Peak High Mages with a Focus that had four circlets.

"So, try to be careful how you talk to them. The best way to go about this is to only talk to them if they speak to you first, and if they happen to speak to you, be respectful," Duke Whirlwind explained.

The group nodded.

"Honestly, we are all quite lucky that I managed to get an audience with King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with a bitter laugh, "and we're also all lucky that everyone managed to keep the secret until I could reach him."

The group looked at Duke Whirlwind with confused expressions.

"If the Council had found out about the procedure before I managed to reach King Skythunder, we might have all already died," Duke Whirlwind said.

Silence.

A terrifying silence washed over the group.

Shang also felt quite nervous, and he was glad that he didn't let any of the details slip.

"But now, everything should be okay," Duke Whirlwind said with a laugh. "King Skythunder has heard of the Procedure, and he showed his interest. If he decides that the Procedure is okay, we don't have to fear the Council."

"At least, openly," Duke Whirlwind grumbled.

The group continued to travel towards the large dome, and a couple of minutes later, they arrived at the gates.

From his current position, Shang could see that the exoskeleton had been fully filled with expensive ore. The Kingdom had truly converted the empty exoskeleton into an actual building.

Surprisingly, the gates were open, and there were no guards standing near them.

There had been plenty of guards near every town, city, and at the border, but there were no guards here.

Shang quickly realized why that was and saw the first sign of King Skythunder's personality.

"Why would I need guards? If something is powerful enough to threaten me, all of you would be useless anyway."

This was probably what King Skythunder had thought.

The Skythunder Zone had plenty of normal people living there. After all, a Zone of humans needed lots of food and services.

But the castle of King Skythunder didn't need any guards.

"We have already stepped into King Skythunder's domain," Duke Whirlwind said. "Do not forget where you are, no matter what."

Bzzt!

Suddenly, a small bit of lightning appeared on Shang's body, but it vanished just as quickly.

Only Shang, the Dean, and Duke Whirlwind had noticed.

Duke Whirlwind had noticed, but he acted like he hadn't seen anything.

The group had stopped in front of the gates, but they hadn't entered.

Instead, they were all just waiting in front of the open gates.

"We are allowed to enter," Duke Whirlwind said.

And then, everyone entered King Skythunder's castle.

Chapter 276 - King Skythunder

After everyone stepped through the gates, they entered the gigantic dome.

Surprisingly, there were not many decorations, and the place looked more like a metallic cave, not like a place where a human would live in.

Shang had expected plenty of decorations, paintings, and expensive items on display.

However, there was just nothing.

It simply looked like a metallic cave.

"Does the Council also reside here?" Shang asked Duke Whirlwind.

When Duke Whirlwind heard that Shang dared to say something inside King Skythunder's place, his heart nearly stopped, but after he heard Shang's entire question, he calmed down.

'Quite courageous of him to speak up,' Duke Whirlwind thought.

"No," Duke Whirlwind answered.

Shang nodded. "I thought so."

Duke Whirlwind wanted to ask why Shang thought that, but he didn't want to goad Shang into speaking more.

Everyone traveled down the long hallway in silence. There were a couple of hallways that connected to this one, but they all only followed the biggest hallway.

Since everyone was walking at normal speeds, they needed over five minutes to reach two black doors.

As they all approached the doors, they opened of their own volition, and the group could finally see the throne room.

It really didn't look like a throne room.

Just like the hallway, the throne room was absolutely barren. There were no chairs, decorations, tables, or anything that one would expect to find here.

It simply looked like a big cave, about a hundred meters wide, three hundred meters long, and a hundred meters high.

Right now, there were seven people present, except for the group of warriors.

On the left side of the throne room were five people, and they were all emanating a terrifying amount of Mana.

There were three women and two men, all wearing differently colored, extremely expensive and ostentatious robes.

Their robes almost seemed too big with all the added accessories and layers.

Just the tiniest earring gave off a terrifying amount of Mana that rivaled the amount of Mana the Exploding Mountain Turtle had given off.

But there was one person among them that emanated even more Mana.

It was an older woman with pitch-black hair and red eyes, and Shang was quite surprised when he felt the kind of Mana her body was giving off.

'Darkness Mana?' Shang thought.

Shang quickly realized who that woman was since she gave off more Mana than the other four.

'She must be the Council Head,' Shang thought. 'She gives off even more Mana than Duke Whirlwind.'

'Although,' Shang thought as he glanced at the other four, 'the other four give off just as much Mana as Duke Whirlwind. I guess that means that Duke Whirlwind is a Late High Mage. No wonder the Exploding Mountain Turtle hadn't stood a chance.'

As the group glanced at the Council, the Council looked back.

"ARGH!"

Suddenly, the other warriors in the group shouted out in pain and grabbed their heads as they averted their gaze.

Meanwhile, Shang only got a slightly painful headache.

It definitely hurt quite a bit, but Shang could deal with it.

Of course, Shang felt just as much pain as the others, but due to his high resistance to pain, he didn't react as extremely.

But Shang still looked away.

Angering the Council was not something he wanted to do right now.

"Don't blaspheme the Council with your abominable eyes," the Council Head said with a cold tone.

"I'm sorry! I- ARGH!"

One of the warriors wanted to say sorry, but he was immediately thrown to the side and lost consciousness.

Silence.

"You will address the Council when we want you to address us," the Council Head stated coldly.

"Don't make this longer than it needs to be. I have somewhere to be."

Shang looked to the right of the throne room, where he saw one lone person standing.

She had been the one that had just spoken up.

She looked rather young, and she had pure white hair. In comparison to the Council members, she also wore expensive but relatively normal-looking robes. They looked about as expensive as the robes Duke Whirlwind wore.

However, the amount of Mana she gave off rivaled the black-haired woman, the Council Head, which meant that she also was a Peak High Mage.

'Then this is probably the Archduke,' Shang thought. 'Ironically, she gives off Light Mana. Seems like the Council Head and Archduke have contradicting Affinities.'

The Dean and Duke Whirlwind didn't look at the Council or the Archduke.

Instead, their eyes fully focused on the end of the throne room.

Shang also looked forward, and he came face to face with King Skythunder.

This was the most powerful human Shang had ever seen, except for the God.

He represented the peak of human power.

At the end of the throne room were a couple of black stairs, and they all led to a rather large throne made of unknown silver material.

There weren't any decorations on the throne. It was rather big but very spartan, just like the entire castle.

On the throne sat a man with silver hair who looked to be in his early thirties.

Surprisingly, he only wore white pants.

His upper body was bare.

Whatever Shang had expected the King to look like, it wasn't this!

The King's body was bulky and chiseled. Surprisingly, his skin was also tanned quite a bit.

Usually, only farmers and warriors had tanned skin since they were training outside most of the time. Oftentimes, warriors also trained without a shirt.

Mages, on the other hand, didn't need physical training, and they always wore their equipment, which gathered additional Mana for their training.

But based on King Skythunder's tanned skin, it was obvious that he also liked to train outside without wearing a shirt.

Together with his chiseled body, it was almost like King Skythunder was a powerful warrior, not a Mage.

"We will start the meeting now," King Skythunder said in his deep voice.

The Council and Archduke immediately quietened down and looked to the front in a dignified manner.

The group of warriors remembered what Duke Whirlwind had said and bowed with genuine respect.

The Dean did the same.

Duke Whirlwind didn't bow. For him, bowing would equate to showing unnecessary respect. The King and Duke Whirlwind knew each other, and Duke Whirlwind didn't need to show his respect.

After all, he had shown his respect enough times in the past.

And Shang?

Surprisingly, Shang didn't bow.

But why?

Did Shang have some kind of stupid, inherent pride that he couldn't suppress?

No, nothing like that.

In fact, Shang had wanted to bow, just like everyone else.

But something stopped him.

The King's eyes.

As soon as King Skythunder had announced that the meeting had started, his eyes had focused on Shang's eyes with interest.

Under King Skythunder's penetrating, powerful gaze, Shang couldn't move.

He could only look back with nervousness.

Had he done something wrong?

Why was King Skythunder focusing on him?

Duke Whirlwind had noticed that Shang hadn't bowed, but when he saw King Skythunder's eyes, he realized why.

It was difficult to move under the gaze of someone that was so overwhelmingly powerful.

Additionally, King Skythunder had ended an uncountable number of lives.

If prey looked into the eyes of a predator so powerful that every action was useless, the prey would either play dead or freeze.

This was an incredibly powerful Archmage.

And under his gaze, nobody in this room had the ability to resist.

"You, approach," King Skythunder ordered while looking at Shang.

Chapter 277 - Punch

The entire room remained quiet.

No one dared to say anything while King Skythunder spoke.

Shang took a deep breath through his nose, narrowed his eyes, and walked forward.

Shang's light footsteps echoed throughout the silent throne room.

The walk was painfully long since there was still quite some distance between him and King Skythunder.

During the walk, Shang was uncertain about what was waiting for him.

After several seconds, Shang stopped in front of the steps to King Skythunder's throne.

"I don't like repeating myself," King Skythunder said in his deep voice.

Then, Shang slowly walked up the steps.

At this moment, Shang felt like he was climbing a mountain.

Approaching the Thunder Horse wouldn't have been nearly as difficult as approaching King Skythunder.

The Thunder Horse didn't show any aggression as long as it didn't see Shang, but King Skythunder gave off a terrifying pressure.

Walking up to him felt like one was provoking him.

A couple of steps later, Shang arrived on top of the platform, and he stopped just one meter in front of King Skythunder.

The others still didn't dare to say anything.

King Skythunder looked evenly into Shang's eyes.

"Punch me with your full power."

Shang's eyes narrowed even more, and he clenched his fists.

Right now, Shang knew that he was in a lot of danger.

He had no idea how far he should go.

If Shang used too little power, King Skythunder might get annoyed again since Shang hadn't followed his orders.

What place should he punch?

The chest?

The face?

At that moment, Shang remembered his first meeting with the God.

Would King Skythunder even care?

Shang knew that he couldn't injure King Skythunder, even if he used Entropy to sacrifice his entire body.

It was impossible for him to injure him.

BANG!

An icy explosion came out of Shang's feet, and he exploded forward with all of his speed.

He pulled his arm back.

And then, he punched forward.

BANG!

Another icy explosion came out of Shang's right elbow, making the punch even stronger.

And then…

Shang's fist hit the middle of King Skythunder's face.

BANG!

An explosion of ice came out of Shang's fist, hiding King Skythunder's head behind icy mist.

At the same time, due to the power, Shang's right fist turned into mush as nearly all the bones in his hand and forearm broke into pieces.

And then, Shang stepped back as his arm fully regenerated in a second.

King Skythunder wanted Shang to punch him with all his power, and Shang did just that.

The Mages in the Council lifted their eyebrows in surprise.

The group of warriors looked at Shang in terror.

A second later, the white clouds vanished from King Skythunder's head.

King Skythunder hadn't moved, and his expression hadn't changed.

Obviously, he was uninjured.

He only continued looking into Shang's eyes.

"Show me your Affinity," King Skythunder ordered.

At that moment, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean became nervous.

This was bad!

Shang looked into King Skythunder's eyes.

He felt like he was back in the trial.

This felt very similar to how the God had played with Shang.

Shang had to make the correct decision if he wanted to survive.

For a second, there was only silence.

"I can't."

Shang's words rang throughout the room, and the entire atmosphere changed.

Shang had declined King Skythunder's order.

The Dean's eyes narrowed.

But in comparison to the Dean, Duke Whirlwind's eyes shone.

A second after Shang spoke these words, King Skythunder smirked.

"I know," he said.

The people in the room felt confused by King Skythunder's answer.

What did he mean by that he knew?

What did he know?

That this warrior couldn't show his Affinity?

Meanwhile, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and Shang knew exactly what the King meant.

The King had said that he knew what Affinity Shang had.

He knew that Shang was essentially part Abomination.

Shang looked into King Skythunder's eyes.

"How?" he asked.

The group of warriors became terrified again while the Council furrowed their brows.

He was asking King Skythunder a question as a lowly General Stage warrior.

Why had Shang done so?

Because he trusted Duke Whirlwind.

Duke Whirlwind had explained King Skythunder's personality, and Shang trusted Duke Whirlwind.

Everyone was the same for King Skythunder.

Shang's status didn't matter.

"The Thunder Horse," King Skythunder answered almost immediately. It was almost like he didn't find it strange for Shang to ask him something. "It marked you."

Shang remembered the lightning bolt that had hit him.

That was a mark?

"Thank you," Shang said without moving.

"You may return," King Skythunder said.

Shang turned around and walked down the steps.

"That was a good punch," King Skythunder said as Shang descended.

"Thank you," Shang said again without turning around.

Usually, when interacting with a person of such status, it was customary to say their title, turn to them, and bow while speaking.

However, Shang had full trust in Duke Whirlwind's judgment of King Skythunder.

Shang knew that he wasn't even remotely close to King Skythunder's power, and Duke Whirlwind had said that as long as someone had genuine respect for King Skythunder's power, there wouldn't be any problems.

On top of that, if Shang were in King Skythunder's place, he would maybe also get annoyed by the constant deferential bowing from others. It was nice for a little bit, but it would get annoying very quickly.

King Skythunder probably preferred if things were direct, honest, and simple.

Just the fact that King Skythunder didn't wear a shirt showed what kind of person he was.

He obviously only cared about power.

He didn't care about prestige, politics, wealth, status, or whatever.

His power was absolute, and he was above everyone else.

And if someone disagreed?

He would just kill them.

Shang stopped at his previous spot and turned to the King like everyone else.

Then, King Skythunder looked at another member of the group.

"You, approach," he ordered.

The warrior's body shook, and he slowly stepped forward in fear.

When he reached the steps, his body began to shake, but he still climbed them.

After a long time, he managed to stop in front of King Skythunder, but his entire body was shaking in fear and terror.

King Skythunder only looked at him evenly.

"Punch me with your full power," he ordered.

The body of the warrior shook even more.

He slowly pulled back his fist, and after a second, he punched King Skythunder's chest.

BANG!

But instead of hitting King Skythunder, the warrior was shot into the distance by an invisible force.

BOOOM!

The warrior's body hit the hard ground with his head, which split open, scattering his brain all over the throne room.

His corpse tumbled for about thirty more meters, leaving a bloody trail of brain behind until it eventually stopped near the door.

The warriors took deep breaths in shock and terror.

Everybody else didn't react at all.

Then, King Skythunder looked at the Dean.

"Is that how you train your students?" he asked.

Everyone turned to the Dean.

The Dean looked evenly into King Skythunder's eyes.

"Yes," he answered.

A moment of silence passed, and the Dean continued.

"I can teach them how to fight, but I can't teach them courage and willpower," the Dean said.

By now, the group of warriors had fallen into terror.

One of them had died, and the Dean was now seemingly confronting King Skythunder.

"Teach them how to fight?" King Skythunder repeated with even eyes.

And then, King Skythunder stood up from his throne.

Now, the full size of King Skythunder's body was unveiled, and it definitely wasn't small.

King Skythunder was probably over two meters tall!

Crack!

King Skythunder cracked one of his fists as he looked at the Dean.

"Why don't you teach me how to fight?"

BOOOOM!

And King Skythunder suddenly shot forward with unreal speeds, right towards the Dean!

Chapter 278 - Barbarian

BANG!

The Dean took out his spear and impaled King Skythunder's fist.

When the Dean had seen how fast King Skythunder moved without using Mana, he knew that his body was more powerful than his own.

Just like how a powerful body nourished the mind, a powerful mind nourished the body.

And with King Skythunder's incredibly powerful mind, it wasn't strange for his body to be even more powerful than the Dean's.

And it wasn't just one level.

According to the Dean's judgment, King Skythunder had a body on the level of a Peak True Path Stage warrior, three levels above the Dean.

The Dean knew that he couldn't win against someone with such a powerful body, even if that person didn't know how to fight barehanded.

However, even if King Skythunder's body was powerful, the Dean's spear was still powerful enough to injure him.

A moment of silence passed.

King Skythunder's blood flowed out of his pierced fist and hit the ground.

And then, King Skythunder grinned.

CRKSH!

His injured hand became even more injured as he wrapped it around the head of the spear.

And then, King Skythunder punched forward with his other hand.

CRRRRK!

Suddenly, the Dean's spear rotated several times, creating a hole in King Skythunder's fist.

However, King Skythunder's speed was too fast, and the Dean couldn't get his spear out in time.

BANG!

The Dean barely moved his shoulder up to block the punch that had originally aimed for his head.

BOOOM!

The Dean's body shot into the distance and hit the wall, the sound of the impact thundering throughout the entire throne room.

The Dean's shoulder and back broke, but just like Shang, the Dean had a warrior's body, and his injuries healed in an instant.

However, King Skythunder immediately charged after him, and he arrived in front of the Dean just as he hit the wall.

BOOOM!

With all his experience, the Dean managed to evade the punch, and it hit the walls, creating several cracks.

At that moment, the Dean's spear spun again like a drill.

King Skythunder used his injured arm and slapped the spear to the side, but the spinning spear still cut off a huge part of King Skythunder's left forearm.

BANG!

But suddenly, King Skythunder was thrown back.

The Dean had angled his body in such a way that he could focus all his power on his left fist.

Shang had seen that kind of punch back on Earth.

It was the famous one-inch punch.

As King Skythunder's body shot back, he looked at the spear with interest.

Striking with a spear should have made this position impossible on such short notice.

Did that mean that the spear had moved of its own volition?

BANG!

The Dean exploded forward without his spear, and he kicked King Skythunder's retreating body.

WHOOOSH!

Yet, King Skythunder somehow managed to evade the kick by bending his body in a very strange way.

Shang could see that this was not some kind of martial art or practiced movement.

It was simply an instinctual action.

At that moment, Shang realized that King Skythunder's instincts regarding battle were unparalleled.

He obviously was a novice when it came to fighting with his body, but his instincts still made it possible for him to evade such a kick.

He instinctually just made the correct decision.

Then, King Skythunder punched at the Dean's extended leg.

CRACK!

The Dean's right leg was punched off his body.

However, the Dean's expression didn't change, and he used the force on his leg as leverage to punch King Skythunder with his left hand.

CRACK!

The Dean's fist exploded due to King Skythunder's physical power, but King Skythunder's ribcage caved in.

Blood shot past King Skythunder's grin, and he punched the Dean again.

But at that moment, King Skythunder's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

The spear was spinning again, and it was shooting towards King Skythunder's chest.

If he continued punching, the spear would shoot through him.

King Skythunder's grin widened.

BANG! CRKSH!

King Skythunder destroyed the left side of the Dean's torso as the spear punched through his chest.

More blood flowed out of King Skythunder's body and mouth.

BANG!

But his body was kicked away by the Dean.

Just like before, the Dean had used the destruction of his chest as force to unleash a kick.

Usually, a warrior would be incapacitated by such a heavy injury, but the Dean had a warrior's body.

With his incredible experience, the Dean was able to heal his injury as it was happening.

CRK!

As King Skythunder's body shot away, the Dean grabbed his spear, making it leave King Skythunder's body.

BANG!

King Skythunder's back hit the wall, and it cracked in several places.

The Dean lowered his stance, and his eyes shone.

After that, a terrifying energy gathered on his spear.

And the spear shot forward.

An arrow of explosive Mana left the spear's head, and it shot right at King Skythunder's injured chest a hundred meters away.

'This is the ranged attack from the trial,' Shang thought.

King Skythunder only grinned as he looked at the wave of energy.

BZZT!

A small bolt of lightning left King Skythunder's body, and the wave of energy was completely obliterated.

A second later, water gathered all over King Skythunder's body, and his injuries all healed in an instant.

When the Dean saw that, he didn't continue his attack, and he only looked at King Skythunder.

And then…

King Skythunder laughed.

The room remained silent as King Skythunder laughed.

King Skythunder wiped the blood on his mouth away with his left forearm and looked at the Dean.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"George," the Dean answered.

"Well fought, George," King Skythunder said with a grin. "You win."

"Comparing my strongest aspect with your weakest aspect is not something I take pride in," the Dean said.

King Skythunder laughed some more when he heard the Dean's answer.

"Well done," he said as he slowly walked back to his throne.

Nobody in the room had moved during the battle.

The group of warriors had nearly died of terror as they had seen King Skythunder attack their Dean, but now, they were only confused.

"It seems the path of warrior has some merit to it," King Skythunder said as he sat down on his throne again.

Then, he looked at Shang. "And based on the difference in power, your so-called Procedure will show even greater results than the path of the Barbarian."

At that moment, the Dean's and Duke Whirlwind's eyes shone in recognition.

King Skythunder noticed their eyes. "Surprised?" he asked with a smirk. "Not many people know that I wasn't born in this Kingdom."

No one answered.

King Skythunder chuckled. Obviously, he was in a very good mood now. "I wonder, how powerful would a barbarian become if they had access to the Procedure?"

"Honestly, the Procedure's effects seem to fit the Barbarian path far more than the warrior path."

"Are you sure you haven't accidentally created the wrong thing?" King Skythunder asked with a smirk.

"It doesn't matter," the Dean said. "Power is power. Splitting power into different categories devalues it."

"The weak die. The strong survive. The method with which the strong become strong isn't important."

King Skythunder only smirked.

"You've got my attention," he said.

"Tell me everything about the Procedure and how it works."

Chapter 279 - Discussion

The Dean explained the Procedure in full detail to the room of people.

He went into so much detail that even some of the Council members had trouble following. Sure, they were absolute authorities when it came to Magic, but when it came to biology and how exactly the body worked, they were not as advanced as someone with a Ph.D. in biology from Earth.

There were several differences in biology, especially when someone absorbed more and more Mana, which changed their body.

However, the Dean had enough time to learn about these differences and create an entirely new biological model of the human body.

"You don't need to go into so much detail," King Skythunder said with a slight grin. He was still in a good mood, thanks to the fight. "I doubt that anyone in here will doubt your knowledge regarding the human body."

King Skythunder's eyes wandered over the Council.

The Council only averted their eyes.

"Alright," the Dean said. "In short, the properties of the chosen beast compete with the properties of the human body and fight a war. Inevitably, since the produced blood comes from the beast, the body will slowly lose. The body will continue dying until some parts manage to combine with the beast components."

"In the end, the body will be replaced by the properties of the beast, and throughout it all, the warrior will keep their old mind," the Dean explained.

"How powerful is the result?" King Skythunder asked as he leaned back on his throne, his head resting on his right fist.

"The new body of the warrior will be as powerful as the halfway point between the warrior's original body and the physical power of an equivalent beast."

"This means that the initial increase in power is definitely noticeable, but only as more time passes will the true power of the Procedure unveil itself," the Dean explained.

Shang inconspicuously glanced at the Council.

They were all furrowing their brows.

Obviously, they didn't like what they had heard.

'They probably thought that the Procedure would only be useful for General Stage and maybe Commander Stage warriors, but now, they know that the increase in strength only becomes greater as the warrior gains more power,' Shang thought.

Shang had already seen how the High Mage at the border and how the Council Head had acted towards the group of warriors.

Duke Whirlwind had made the correct decision by talking to King Skythunder directly.

King Skythunder rubbed his jaw in thought for a while.

Then, he turned to the Council.

"You may make your opinions known," he commented.

"Abominable perversion of the natural order of things," a green-haired older man from the Council shouted with disgust.

King Skythunder didn't say anything.

He only smirked to himself.

The older man immediately pointed an accusatory finger at the Dean. "You are transforming humans into beasts! Humans are humans, and beasts are beasts!" he shouted aggressively.

Then, he pointed at the group of warriors. "According to what you have said, all of these things are now some disgusting, unholy mix of human and beast! What difference is there between this so-called Procedure and a woman being raped by a beast and giving birth to some bastard monster?!"

Some of the warriors felt bad when they heard these words. It was natural for them to have an existential conflict about their nature as humans.

Were they still human?

Hearing such a powerful High Mage say these things certainly didn't help these warriors.

King Skythunder then looked at the Dean. "Your answer?" he asked.

The Dean only looked at the Councilmember.

"So?"

That was the entire answer.

The other members of the Council became more frustrated as they heard this dismissive answer.

"You dare?!" the man shouted in rage. "Beasts are beasts, and humans are humans! Mixing such fundamentally different existences can only create chaos!"

"Warriors don't have a powerful Spirit, and the stronger they become, the greater the difference between them and beasts! As of this moment, you can claim that the warrior is not mentally changed, but what of the future?! As the beast becomes more powerful, its mindset might very well eliminate the human nature!"

"What then?! Will we see mutating, violent monsters hunt and consume humans?! Will we see them stalk our academies so that they can kidnap an innocent Apprentice just so that they can increase their own power?!"

"Beasts grow more powerful by consuming people and other beasts! Can you assure us that these bastards you created won't do that in the future?!" the man shouted in rapid succession.

"No, I can't," the Dean said.

"That would be denying them their human nature."

Silence.

"What?" the man asked in outrage.

"As humans, it is in our nature to seek power," the Dean said. "We strive for power, and we all want to obtain it. The only things that differentiate us are our morals and personal philosophy."

"A human that is willing to cannibalize another human is also just a human."

"These events have happened in the past, they are probably happening right now, and they will continue to happen. Consuming other humans for their power is not something only beasts do," the Dean explained.

"That doesn't address the argument!" the old man shouted. "Can you vouch that no unwanted side effects will occur in the future?!"

Everyone looked at the Dean.

"No," he answered. "There are always risks to everything."

"Then why should we even consider giving you the permission to perform these abominable rituals?!" the older man shouted again.

For a second, everything fell silent.

"Member of the Council," the Dean said. "May I ask a simple question?"

The older man furrowed his brows in annoyance. "You may."

"Who is stronger, a Mage or a warrior?" the Dean asked.

"Why are you asking such a pointless question?" the man asked with annoyance.

"Please answer."

The man snorted. "A Mage, obviously."

"Correct," the Dean said. "A Mage is more powerful than a warrior, and the higher the level of power, the more powerful the Mage is compared to the warrior."

"The Bloodline Infusion won't be able to bridge this gap."

"So, if there comes a day when warriors suddenly transform into bloodthirsty monsters, there is only a simple thing you have to do."

"Kill them."

Of course, the older man didn't let up, and he continued trying to argue with the Dean.

However, the Dean kept using his trump card.

"You're more powerful. Just kill them."

"What could a group of rampaging warriors do against the Skythunder Kingdom?"

The Dean kept using the Mages' overwhelming power as an easy solution to every bad eventuality the man brought up.

This entire thing continued for over five minutes until…

"And what of their growth?!" the older man shouted in rage and frustration. It was like he was talking to a wall.

"Youngsters have to learn that nothing comes for free! On the path to power, they have to rely on themselves more than anyone else!"

"By just handing them such a powerful weapon without any price or requirements, you are damaging their futures!"

At that moment, the other Councilmembers looked at the older man with concerned expressions.

The older man looked into the Dean's eyes for what felt like an eternity.

The Dean didn't answer.

"I'm not interested in any more of your opinions, Reeve."

Reeve, the older man of the Council, looked with shock at King Skythunder.

King Skythunder only looked at Reeve with a displeased expression.

Reeve's expression fell.

Then, he gritted his teeth…

And walked back to the other members of the Council, not saying anything.

Everyone knew why the older man had been thrown out of the conversation.

Not handing young people something?

What? Did the guy expect every Apprentice to kill a Commander Stage beast on their own to get their Pure Mana Source?

Not helping the youngsters? Then, did they also have to learn how to create Space Rings, create Foci, create their own Spells, and create their own training?

"Next," King Skythunder said evenly.

 

Chapter 280 - Decision

The next person that stepped forward from the Council was a middle-aged woman with blue hair and a steely gaze.

"What are the requirements for the Bloodline Infusion, who can perform it, what is necessary, and how much does it cost?" she asked.

The Dean answered all her questions in detail.

Someone had to be at the Peak Soldier Stage, a couple of people could perform it, it needed a fitting beast and someone to do the procedure, and the cost was based on the time invested and the materials.

The woman's expression didn't change. She still looked with a cold and steely gaze at the Dean.

"Can it be performed on more powerful warriors?" she asked.

"That requires more testing," the Dean answered. "Until now, I could only focus on the Peak Soldier Stage since that is the most optimal spot to transition. However, I estimate the probability of success regarding performing the Bloodline Infusion at General Stage warriors to be above 90% and for warriors at the Commander Stage to be at around 60%."

"What about the True Path Stage?" the woman asked.

"I'm uncertain, but I believe the chances to be very low due to the special properties of the True Path Stage," the Dean answered. "The more powerful a warrior becomes, the more unique and developed their path. It is easy to find a beast for someone weak and young, but it is difficult to find a fitting beast for someone that has created their own True Path."

"Have you done testing regarding the potential increase of power by consumption of living matter filled with Mana?" the woman asked.

The warriors looked away with discomfort.

"Not yet," the Dean answered. "I wanted the first batch to be free of any potential corrupting influences, but I plan on testing that aspect later."

The woman's expression still didn't change, and she looked at the Dean for about two more seconds.

"No more questions," she said as she stepped back.

The group of warriors looked in surprise at her.

They had expected her to also argue against the Dean, but she hadn't said anything negative about the Procedure.

However, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean noticed her approach.

While the first person had argued about ethics and philosophy, she had come from an efficiency and profitability standpoint.

She had asked all these questions in hope of finding a target.

If something regarding the Procedure were very costly, difficult to obtain, or difficult to perform, she would have had some leverage to minimize the support.

While the first person had immediately tried to ban the entire thing, her goal had been smaller. She wanted to make it seem as wasteful and useless as possible.

However, the Dean's Procedure was nearly perfect. It was relatively cheap, easy to perform, and didn't take much time.

She had noticed that, but instead of trying to argue without any facts backing her, she decided to stop.

She didn't want to embarrass herself like the first member.

"Next," King Skythunder said.

The third person stepped forward, a rather young man who seemed to be in his late twenties with long grey hair.

"Can the Bloodline Infusion be performed on Apprentices?" he asked.

"It should be possible as long as their bodies have reached the Peak Soldier Stage and as long as their minds are still below the Initial Adept Realm," the Dean said.

"How come?" the man asked.

"The biological matter from the beast has to win the war," the Dean answered. "If the mind is more powerful than the beast, the Procedure will fail."

"Assuming the person has the mind of a Mid Adept and the body of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, if we were to use a Peak Soldier Stage beast as material, the biological matter of the beast would die. If we were to use a Mid General Stage beast as material, the power of the beast would be too overwhelming, and the body probably wouldn't be able to remain in its human shape."

"Therefore, for a successful Bloodline Infusion, the mind has to be weaker than the Stage of the beast, and the body has to be at the same level as the Stage of the beast," the Dean explained. "As for everything after that, it doesn't matter. As soon as the Bloodline Infusion has worked, the person could focus their entire life on Magic without any issues."

The man frowned and looked to the side for about a second.

He obviously didn't like the answer.

"No more questions," he said as he stepped back.

He also wasn't a fan of the Procedure, but the first two people had already used nearly every argument. There was no point in repeating the same arguments.

He knew how this meeting would go, and he wanted to see if he could make use of the Procedure, at least.

"Next," King Skythunder said.

A young woman with icy blue hair stepped forward, but instead of looking at the Dean, she looked at Duke Whirlwind.

"Jerald, I'm interested in the Bloodline Infusion. Please contact me in the future regarding the specifics. I think we have some use for more powerful warriors," she said with a smile.

The first guy snorted in disgust, but she didn't acknowledge it.

"Of course," Duke Whirlwind. "I don't plan on monopolizing everything."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "No more questions."

Yes, not every member of the Council was against the Procedure. Only four out of five. Although, that still was 80%.

"Next," King Skythunder said.

Only the Council Head remained.

However, in comparison to the others, she didn't even step forward.

"My opinion makes no difference to the outcome of the discussion," she said coldly.

Silence.

King Skythunder nodded, and his gaze wandered over to the Archduke on the other side of the room. "Anything to add, Miriam?"

Miriam, the white-haired woman, only sighed as she looked at Duke Whirlwind. "You could have simply come to me with this matter," she said helplessly. "You shouldn't have gone around me."

Duke Whirlwind had a guilty expression on his face. "I must apologize. Next time, I will come to you with these things," he said.

Everyone in the room knew that he was lying.

The Archduke only sighed again and stayed quiet.

"Now that everyone has had their chance to offer their opinion," King Skythunder said, "I can finally announce my decision."

None of the Council Members reacted to King Skythunder.

They all knew that this had been a hopeless endeavor from the start.

Even if all five of them went all-in with threats, ultimatums, and arguments, it wouldn't have swayed King Skythunder's decision.

Luckily, even though the most important decision was up to King Skythunder, the finer details were up to them.

"I allow for the Procedure to be performed," King Skythunder announced.

The warriors all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank you, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with a bow.

King Skythunder only smirked. "Jerald, you made the right call by supporting George," he said. "Keep me informed regarding the process of the Bloodline Infusion."

"I will, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with gratitude as the Council frowned.

King Skythunder's comment had made it much more difficult for them to interfere with the Procedure.

"But you shouldn't expect any funding or support," King Skythunder said with a chuckle as he glanced at the Council. "I doubt you will get any."

The Council didn't react.

This was their decision.

King Skythunder had the power to declare things legal or illegal, but he didn't fully control the resources of the Kingdom. Sure, he could take everything he wanted for himself, but he also knew that the Kingdom needed to flourish if he wanted better and more resources in the future.

Because of that, everything regarding the Kingdom's funds was left for the Council to decide.

"I'm fine with that, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said.

Duke Whirlwind had never expected any funding or support from the Council.

If it were up to them, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and even the entire Warrior's Academy would have probably been eradicated just to get rid of any trace of the Bloodline Infusion.

While the Council couldn't directly go against Duke Whirlwind with King Skythunder's decree, they could still try to deal with Duke Whirlwind.

As long as Duke Whirlwind lost more and more for the Kingdom, they could slowly redistribute his lands and eventually get rid of his title.

If they wanted to deal with the warriors, they had to get through Duke Whirlwind first.

Without him, they could simply send all the warriors to the war front against the other two Kingdoms.

They wouldn't return.

"The meeting is over. You may all leave," King Skythunder said.