Ch. 321..330

Chapter 321 – Lash vs. Mole

Shang and Lash went into one of the caves in one of the tall mountains and descended the tunnel.

After a couple of minutes, they found several Soldier Stage beasts, but they ignored them.

The Soldier Stage beasts also felt that these two humans were too powerful, and they ran whenever they saw the two.

The cave was dark, and in comparison to the Caves in the Storm Eagle Zone, they looked natural.

They were also far less confusing from a layout perspective.

After a couple of minutes, they found the first General Stage beasts, but they also avoided the two humans.

When they saw a Mid General Stage beast, they noticed that it didn't immediately retreat. Instead, it stayed around but didn't attack them.

They continued, and a couple of minutes later, they saw a Late General Stage beast.

It was a five-meter-long mole with rocky armor and long, sharp claws.

"Can you kill it alone?" Shang asked Lash.

Lash estimated the mole's power for a couple of seconds.

"I don't know," he said.

Shang nodded. "Then, that's good training. Fight it. If I see that you are about to die, I will intervene and kill it."

Lash took a deep breath.

This would be a difficult fight.

After some seconds, he charged at the mole. The mole hadn't noticed them up to now, but as soon as it saw Lash approach, it sharpened its claws, which began to grow even more.

Lash also took out his own weapon.

Lash was one of the more powerful barbarians, and he also had his own weapon.

His weapon was a huge spike made out of hard bone. It couldn't be called a spear since it lacked the finesse of a spear. It was literally just a big, sharpened piece of bone.

However, its weight and power were still astonishing. Shang guessed that this bone came from an Initial Commander Stage beast, and even though it hadn't been crafted with a lot of finesse, it probably had been very expensive.

The two of them charged at each other.

And then, they both attacked.

BANG!

Lash pushed his long bone forward, hitting the mole on its head.

It broke through the earth armor, its skin, and its muscles, but it eventually got stuck in the mole's skull.

The mole's attack had missed since it had misjudged Lash's reach.

The mole screamed in pain and jumped back.

Funnily enough, it also stumbled a bit, showing that it had received a heavy concussion.

'He got the initiative,' Shang thought. 'As long as he can keep it up, he will eventually wear down the mole.'

Sure enough, Lash continued stabbing his bone towards the mole. The mole evaded most of the strikes, but that forced it to retreat even more. It was simply too big to sidestep the strike, leaving only retreat as an option.

The mole tried to strike the bone several times, but Lash always managed to make the mole miss.

The fight continued like this for over two minutes.

'Is this how long normal hunts take?' Shang thought.

Shang's fights always ended very quickly due to his very explosive and offensive battle style. He wasn't really used to seeing fights go on for so long.

BANG!

The mole managed to push the spear to the side.

Even though the mole was a level below Lash, its body was still a bit more powerful than his. Together with the leverage it had by hitting the spear's tip, it managed to throw the bone out of Lash's hands.

BANG!

The bone hit the wall about twenty meters away, and Shang frowned.

'The bone is too big, and there is no handle. Even the worst smith knows that a good handle is important. Why would anyone able to create such a powerful weapon refuse to make a good handle?'

Without his weapon, Lash was defenseless, but his eyes remained narrowed and concentrated.

Shang prepared himself to intervene. He wasn't sure if it was necessary, but he had to be ready.

Lash jumped back, and the mole jumped forward with its claws. It had been on the retreat for so long, and it could finally go on the offensive.

It extended its right claw and tried to skewer Lash.

At that moment, Lash's training kicked in.

BANG!

Out of reflex, Lash pushed the claws outward, diverting the mole's force.

BOOOM!

The mole landed sideways behind Lash since it hadn't expected its force to be diverted like that.

Lash charged away from the mole and reached his spear rather quickly.

The mole had recovered and already jumped at Lash again.

.

Lash's eyes focused on the mole's head, and he stabbed forward.

BANG!

The spear hit the same spot it had hit the first time, and the mole's skull broke.

The bone didn't pierce through the entire brain, but it managed to destroy parts of it.

The mole's body quickly began to convulse as its brain malfunctioned.

The fight was already over, and Lash quickly ended it.

Silence.

After the fight, Lash looked at his injured left arm. There were a couple of deep cuts on it since it had deflected the mole's claws.

However, that action saved Lash's life.

"Without your training, I would have died," Lash said without looking away from his arm.

"Fighting with a weapon doesn't mean that you only fight with it," Shang said. "There are a couple of things you could have done."

"For example, you could have baited out an attack from the mole, kick its claw to the side, and kill it by using its own charge as additional force for your spike."

Lash imagined that scene and nodded.

It made sense to him to fight like that, but while fighting the beast, he had reverted to his old habits.

He was used to fighting beasts like this, and it was difficult to change it on a whim.

It needed a lot of training and practice to change one's fighting style.

Luckily for Shang, he had been a master at hand-to-hand combat before he had even received his first weapon.

MMA had a nice flow to it, especially in the ground fights.

Make yourself as compact as possible, get behind the enemy's defenses, and release a powerful attack.

It was like the fighter was a slippery eel that suddenly transformed into a strong gorilla when the time was right.

Shang's fighting style had built upon that. When he fought beasts, he mainly focused on evading their attacks and getting even closer while doing so, and when he was close to the enemy, he unleashed a devastating attack.

Lash was more direct. He essentially made his power clash with the enemy's power, which wasn't the smartest move when one was fighting a beast.

But it was the safe option.

Even if one messed up or lost the clash, they could still retreat.

In comparison to that, if Shang misjudged his opponent's attack or messed up his dodge, he would probably die immediately.

Lash's fighting style was low risk, low reward.

Shang's fighting style was high risk, high reward.

Lash used his weapon several times to block, while Shang only blocked when there was no way to dodge or parry. The reason was that blocking broke Shang's momentum and flow, and he hated that.

"Give me your weapon," Shang said.

Lash handed his spike over without any protests.

Shang had proven more than once that he knew what he was doing.

"I'm going to make a handle for you," he said.

Lash didn't say anything. He simply trusted Shang.

Funnily enough, Shang didn't say this sentence for Lash but Sword.

Shang had never forged anything before, and he knew that he couldn't do this alone.

But Sword probably knew what to do.

Shang stabbed the spike into the ground so that its handle pointed upward.

Then, Shang held Sword to it and began to grind upward.

Shavings of bone left the spike as Sword ground on it.

Sword had understood what Shang wanted, and it stealthily moved in the perfect way to create a stable handle.

It took a while, but an hour later, Shang was finally done.

At the backend of the spike, Shang could now see the bone narrow again in a smooth way until it became thin enough to be held by human hands.

Then, the handle continued for a bit until it widened again, and at the very end, it turned completely flat.

The wide end was so that Lash could put more force into the spike.

Shang gave the spike back to Lash, and he carried it in his hands.

One had to remember that this was a spike, not a spear. Spears could also be swung from side to side due to the sharp blades at their tips, but this spike couldn't be used like that.

This spike had no sharp edges. It only had a sharp point.

Lash put his hand on the handle and saw how easily he could angle the spike.

Then, he put his right hand on the butt of the spike and pushed forward.

BANG!

The stab released a lot of power with tremendous speed.

'With that flexible handle, he can also use feints,' Shang thought. 'He can charge in, point his spike at the enemy's head, force them to block the attack, but then quickly change the angle of the spike before punching forward.'

'But that's for him to find out. I think he will notice that application very quickly.'

"Let's continue," Shang said. "I'm going to get us two Peak Fighter Stage beasts.

Chapter 322 – Closing the Gap

Shang and Lash continued down the tunnel, leaving the corpse of the mole behind. There was nothing useful to them on the mole, and Shang didn't want to unveil that he had a Space Ring or inner world.

The mole had only functioned as training for Lash.

After walking for a couple more minutes, Shang found a Peak General Stage beast.

It was a Cobble Slug.

Shang had learned of this beast from the barbarians.

Apparently, it could create earth armor, role up into a ball, and roll over its opponents. On top of that, it had a scary ranged attack. It could condense an earthen spike and shoot it at the enemy like a cannon.

There were even some Cobble Slugs that could shoot the spike while rolling around the cave. This meant that they had high speed, high defense, and high offense.

It was definitely one of the more powerful beasts, which was also why most barbarian groups avoided them.

Who would have thought that a slug without poison could be so scary?

"Just wait here," Shang said.

BANG!

Then, Shang charged at the slug while dragging his sword behind him.

Shang's approach definitely wasn't silent, and the slug noticed him very quickly.

As soon as it saw Shang, it condensed a powerful spike in front of it and shot it at Shang.

Lash watched and frowned. If this were him, he would need to block the attack with his spike since he wasn't fast enough to evade that attack.

Lash knew that he would lose against this slug, even if it were a level below him.

It simply countered him perfectly.

Even if he managed to get close, the slug would simply turn into a ball and move away with more speed than Lash.

The spike shot towards Shang.

Shang took one small step and then one large step to the side while angling his body.

SHING!

The spike shot past his body, its wind making Shang's hair blow to the side.

Lash's eyes widened. 'How did he move so fast to the side?!' he thought in shock.

After stepping to the side, Shang stopped advancing, transferring all his momentum and power to his sword.

Shang's sword cut through the air, creating a loud, howling noise.

And when Shang's sword reached the front, it shot forward, pulling Shang with it.

This was the very move Astor had used back then, and Shang was still using it as a Peak General Stage warrior.

Shang flew with incredible speed at the Cobble Slug.

Heavy weapons made the user slower, but by using a heavy weapon like this, one could even become faster than with a light weapon.

Of course, the preparation phase of this move was quite extravagant and long-winded. During close combat, this move couldn't be used.

The Cobble Slug noticed the rapidly approaching sword and turned into a ball.

CRACK!

Shang's sword punched through the earthen armor with ease.

BANG!

Shang's huge sword skewered the entire Cobble Slug, coming out at the other side.

Sword was 250 centimeters long right now, giving it terrifying weight and reach. Additionally, it was extremely sharp.

Lastly, it was made with Early Commander Stage materials.

With so much power, sharpness, hardness, and speed, the Cobble Slug's defense became pointless.

And Shang didn't even need to use his ranged attack, his Affinity, or his Domain.

He had fought with a severe handicap, but he had still easily won.

The Cobble Slug tried to unfurl again, but it couldn't due to the gigantic sword.

Shang only used Sword as a handle and slammed the Cobble Slug against the cave walls a couple of times until it died.

Lash only looked at Shang with a shocked expression.

.

He had no idea how Shang could have become so fast with such a heavy weapon.

One had to remember that humans learned from other humans. For example, Shang learned this move by watching Astor.

If no one had shown that move around Shang before, he might not have realized that he could use a heavy weapon like this.

In comparison to warriors, barbarians only focused on their physical power and very simple techniques.

They had a lot of untapped potential.

And, right now, Lash's eyes were being opened to a new world.

"You can have that one," Shang said. "Dig out its heart and wait here. I will soon return with my own."

Lash could only nod absentmindedly as Shang went further into the cave.

Lash dug through the Cobble Slug and eventually retrieved a slimy, bloody, huge heart. It would take a while to eat it.

A couple of minutes later, Shang came back with his own beast heart, and the two of them went up the tunnel again.

When they reached a height with mostly Peak Soldier Stage beasts, they stopped and began their strengthening.

They sat down and emptied their Mana. Something like this wasn't difficult for Shang. After all, he had incredible control over his Mana.

Then, they consumed the heart very quickly. They took huge bites and swallowed them whole.

Surprisingly, the raw heart didn't taste as bad as Shang had anticipated. In fact, it tasted rather nice.

'I guess that's because of the Procedure.'

When Shang consumed the entire thing, he felt heat spread throughout his entire body.

The two of them quickly began to perform the poses to digest the heart.

Shang didn't actually need to perform the pose since his control over Mana allowed him to simply guide the Mana into his body, but he performed them anyway.

After all, he couldn't allow anyone to realize that he wasn't actually a barbarian.

Shang closed his eyes and inspected his body.

'Interesting. I can feel the Mana enter my body, but that's not the only thing. There's also a kind of dormant will inside the Mana. As soon as the Mana enters my body, it loses its dormant will, but the will on the heart in my stomach still remains.'

Over the next hour, Shang kept inspecting the will in his stomach.

Eventually, Shang's body reached saturation, and he couldn't absorb any more foreign Mana.

The dormant will in his stomach had weakened severely, but it was still there. On top of that, it began to become active.

However, it had grown so incredibly weak by now that it didn't pose a threat.

Shang had managed to absorb around 75% of the Mana, making the will in his stomach very weak.

'I guess that also explains why no barbarian consumes hearts from beasts of higher levels. The will itself would be more powerful, and if there were even more Mana remaining, it might actually injure my mind.'

'The remaining Mana needs to disperse naturally, which should take a bit more than three weeks. That also explains why the Mages say that one can only strengthen oneself once every month with the technique costing 50 years.'

Shang opened his eyes and grabbed his sword.

Then, he lifted it.

Shang looked at Sword with interest as he moved it around.

'I still can't use it with only one hand, but it has become quite a bit lighter,' Shang thought with pleasant surprise.

'Only one strengthening and my physical strength has increased by about 10% to 15%!'

Before the strengthening process, Shang's body has been as powerful as an Early Commander Stage warrior or a Late General Stage beast.

Now, his body was a bit more powerful than both.

'I think if I get my hands on Abominations and if I can strengthen my body enough times, I could create a body with the full power of a beast on my level.'

Shang remembered King Skythunder's words.

"The Procedure seems to fit more to barbarians than warriors."

'With the Procedure and the barbarian strengthening technique, I can actually create a body equal to a beast.'

'Even without my warrior training, this would make me superior to a beast on my level. After all, as a human, I can fight in more varied and flexible ways than beasts.'

At that moment, a gleam appeared in Shang's eye.

'This is it!'

'This can close the gap between warriors and Mages!'

'The Procedure, the barbarian strengthening technique, the powerful weapon, my Domain, control over my Affinity.'

'These can close the gap of the Mana Source, mastery of Spells, Foci, and Mana Tranquility!'

'With all of this, I'm on an equal base level with True Mages!'

 

Chapter 323 – Mana Tranquility

After strengthening himself for the first time as a barbarian, Shang left the tunnels together with Lash.

“Did you feel a difference?” Shang asked.

“A lot of things make sense now,” Lash said. “Previously, I noticed that I grew stronger by much more on some occasions and not as much on others.”

“This time, I grew by a lot.”

Shang nodded. “Good to hear,” he said.

The two of them left the caves and returned to the group of barbarians, who were surprised and not surprised to see Shang alive at the same time.

On one hand, Shang and Lash had killed two Peak General Stage beasts very quickly, which almost seemed impossible, but on the other hand, Shang was the strongest of them, and they had full trust in him.

There was a weird conflict in their minds about whether or not what Shang did was impossible or natural.

In the end, their minds could only feel astonishment.

Their new Leader was truly powerful!

Shang and the group of barbarians resumed training.

But just a couple of days later, the Mages sent an announcement to the troop.

Tomorrow, they would attack!

‘So, it’s finally happening,’ Shang thought. ‘I was wondering if this was actually a military camp since I’ve been here for nearly a month without any enemy contact. Almost felt like a vacation. Well, I guess that’s also why so many barbarians want to go to this front.’

The barbarians prepared themselves over the next day.

Tomorrow, they would enter battle, and it was unknown how many of them would be able to come back.

Shang also trained with Sword for the entire night to test his newfound strength.

‘I should be careful of not unveiling too much power,’ he thought. ‘It’s not an issue when I’m the strongest barbarian, but the gap shouldn’t be too vast. Additionally, I need to keep my Domain and my mastery over my Mana and Affinities secret.’

‘However, being outstanding has its uses. I will get more freedom, and the Mages will feel more secure when they see my power. After all, someone with so much power couldn’t keep even more stashed away, right?’

Shang only smirked.

‘Mana Tranquility gives the True Mages a lot more power, but if I go through a couple more strengthenings, it shouldn’t be a problem to jump another level against them.’

Mana Tranquility.

Shang had thought about that term several times by now, but what was it actually?

When an Apprentice becomes an Adept, they absorb a Mana Source. This gives them far more control over their Affinity. This was one of the reasons why Mages are so much powerful.

Of course, the overwhelming strength of the Mages couldn’t be fully attributed to the Mana Sources.

Mana Tranquility was something that Adepts underwent when they became True Mages.

The Adept needed to buy several plants, ores, stones, and beast materials that conformed to their Affinity.

When everything was gathered, the Adept would need to cast a very complicated Spell. No one else could cast the Spell on them. Only the Adept themselves could do it.

Most Adepts needed at least three years of practice to learn that Spell, and the Spell was also rather expensive to purchase.

All in all, the Spell plus practice plus materials would set back the Adept about five million gold, a ridiculous sum for someone in the Second Realm. After all, their Focus barely cost 500 thousand to one million gold.

Of course, an Adept didn’t directly need to go through Mana Tranquility. They could also become a True Mage without it.

Sadly, that would mean that they would become the weakest True Mages, the ones that could only work in the lowest of Circles.

They would be knighted, but they would never enter true nobility.

Naturally, this wasn’t the first time the Mages were confronted with issues regarding money.

After all, a normal Mana Source only cost an Apprentice about 800 gold, while a Pure Mana Source cost about 200,000 gold.

200,000 gold for someone equivalent to a Peak Soldier Stage warrior…

That was far too much money.

And near the True Mage Realm, once again, they would be confronted with something that was very, very expensive.

But if an Adept managed to purchase the Spell, learn the Spell, purchase the materials, and perform the Spell, their investment would pay off.

Mana Tranquility gave them a far closer connection to the Natural Mana that was around them all the time.

What was the difference between a True Mage with Mana Tranquility and one without?

A True Mage with Mana Tranquility regenerated Mana three times as fast as one without.

In practical terms, this meant that a True Mage with Mana Tranquility could keep casting low-cost Spells as fast as they could without reducing their Mana storage.

Popular low-cost Spells were Spells like Lightning Bolt, Icicle, Wind Blade.

They were the most common Spells that every Mage used during combat.

Together with their Focus, a True Mage with a Lightning Affinity could cast Lightning Bolts at insane speeds, and they wouldn’t run out of Mana.

They would only lose Mana if they cast more powerful Spells or when they were hit.

If the opponents Shang had fought in the Trial had undergone Mana Tranquility, he would have died against his third one.

Mana Tranquility essentially transformed Mages into gatling guns that never needed to reload as long as they only fired basic bullets.

Because of Mana Tranquility, there was no more exhausting the Mage’s Mana by evading their Spells for Shang.

He would need to beat their Mana out of them.

‘Even with Mana Tranquility, I’m confident that I could kill an Initial True Mage right now,’ Shang thought. ‘Of course, I would need to use all of my power. I think killing an average Initial True Mage with Mana Tranquility is only slightly easier than winning against Vice-Commander Wilbury.’

‘Luckily, if I were to fight Wilbury again, I’m confident that I could win. I have my Domain now from the very beginning of the fight, and my strength has increased.’

‘However, if Baroness Wilbury were to fight me…’

Baroness Wilbury was an Early True Mage that had undergone Mana Tranquility.

She was a level lower than her husband, but her power was far above her husband’s power.

Even an average Early True Mage could kill Vice-Commander Wilbury.

At the General Stage, the most talented warriors could win against an average Adept on their level.

Sadly, that was no longer the case at the Commander Stage.

The most talented warrior at the Mid Commander Stage could maybe win against the weakest Early True Mage.

If a Commander Stage warrior had the ability to win against any Mage one level below them, they would be lauded as an outstanding hero by all warriors.

And the gap only continued to widen from then on.

But that was about to change.

The Procedure had been invented, and Shang was certain that the Dean would very quickly create his own version of the technique the barbarians used to strengthen their bodies.

The only thing that they would be missing to equalize the playing field in the Third Realm would be expertly crafted weapons.

Luckily, Shang and the Dean had these great weapons.

But that didn’t mean that the other warriors would never get those.

Eventually, someone would create a technique to forge amazing weapons that allowed warriors to fully close the gap in the Third Realm.

‘The world is undergoing a change,’ Shang thought with a smirk, ‘and I shouldn’t be left behind!’

Shang looked at the morning sun.

Then, he looked at the gathered warriors near the camp.

‘Let’s see what I can accomplish in this battle.’

Chapter 324 – Lifting

All the barbarians gathered in front of the camp as soon as the sun came up, and Shang also quickly joined them.

Lash and the other barbarians that had come to him earlier stood close to him, showing their allegiance.

Even though the barbarians all stood in front of the camp, there were three distinct camps.

The biggest one wore no collars and surrounded the tall barbarian from the camp. There were about a hundred barbarians in that camp.

The second camp was only comprised of barbarians with collars, and that camp consisted of about 25 barbarians.

The last one was Shang’s camp. There were two barbarians with collars, including himself, and five barbarians without collars. They were only seven.

The collared barbarians didn’t heed Shang’s camp any mind, but the bigger group of barbarians looked with narrowed eyes at Lash and Shang. They saw that Lash stood respectfully beside Shang, which meant that he was Lash’s Leader.

However, they had never seen Shang do anything to show his power. On the first day of the criminals’ arrival, Shang had only walked away, not showing his power or dominance.

To barbarians, if one had the power, one would show it. It was only natural to show that one was the strongest.

The fact that Shang didn’t show his power made them mistrustful.

Shang didn’t heed the barbarians any mind.

Their opinions were irrelevant.

The fact that the barbarians created different Tribes inside the military camp was already idiotic and childish to Shang.

Why would one want to establish themselves as the Leader while being confined in a cage?

Leader or not, when the Mages gave an order, everyone followed.

The Leader had no power, just like all the other barbarians.

After a couple of minutes, the commander over the camp arrived with her typical, cold expression. Behind her were two True Mages.

The commander was the strongest human for kilometers around since she was an Early True Mage.

Right now, Shang was rather sure that he would lose if he were to fight her.

This was the power he had to overcome if he wanted to regain his freedom.

And, for now, Shang wasn’t powerful enough.

The commander looked at all the gathered barbarians for a while.

“The five strongest, step forward,” she commanded.

The barbarians all looked at each other.

And more than five barbarians stepped forward.

From the biggest group, the Leader and three other barbarians stepped forward.

From the other camp, two stepped forward.

And from Shang’s group, Shang and Lash stepped forward.

In total, there were eight barbarians that had stepped forward, and they all glared at each other, except for Shang.

The commander frowned, but she decided that it would be too much hassle to organize several fights.

“Eight it is,” she said.

SHING!

A thick, black staff appeared out of thin air in front of the commander, and it fell to the ground.

BOOOM!

When it hit the ground, a heavy quake washed over the gathered group, and they looked at the staff in shock.

This thing was heavy!

Why did the commander summon this staff?!

“If you can lift this staff, you will be chosen for a special mission,” she explained. “If you do well in this special mission, you will have proven your worth to us, and we will elevate your position and will grant you more power.”

When the barbarians heard that, greed appeared in their eyes, and the barbarians that hadn’t stepped forward regretted not stepping forward.

The commander noticed their gazes and snorted. “Don’t overestimate yourselves,” she said. “I would be surprised if even one of you can lift it.”

Of course, the barbarians took that as a provocation, but they didn’t dare to protest.

“You, step forward,” the commander said to the tall barbarian from the main camp. She knew that he was considered the strongest.

The tall barbarian complied and stepped forward.

Then, he crouched down and took hold of the staff.

And he tried to lift it.

His muscles bulged, and his face became red, but the staff only very slowly moved upward.

The tall barbarian’s body shook, and about ten seconds later, he managed to lift it to his waist.

His arms trembled under the tremendous weight.

“It needs to be lifted above your head,” the commander said coldly.

The tall barbarian gritted his teeth, and he tried to lift it further.

It moved a couple more centimeters, but when it reached his belly button, he had to drop it.

BOOOOM!

The heavy staff hit the ground again, and another powerful quake went throughout the camp.

The barbarians had been shocked into silence.

How heavy was this staff?!

How was anyone supposed to lift this?!

“Anyone else?” the commander asked.

The other three barbarians from the main camp walked back to their group. The tall barbarian was the publicly acknowledged strongest in their group.

At that point, the Leader of the criminal camp stepped forward, and he also tried to lift it.

However, he barely managed to lift the staff to the middle of his shin before he had to drop it.

This made those two retreat as well, leaving only Lash and Shang.

“You want to try?” Shang asked Lash.

Lash narrowed his eyes and stepped forward.

Then, he tried to lift it.

His entire body shook, and his face became red, but the staff moved upward.

When the staff reached his knees, Lash was already at his limit.

But he kept going.

Lash continued lifting, and even blood started to flow out of his arms.

His eyes had become completely bloodshot, and blood exploded out of his nose.

But he kept going.

When he managed to lift it to his waist, he managed to hold it there for about two seconds.

And then, he dropped it.

BOOOM!

The staff hit the ground with tremendous force, and Lash nearly fell over.

However, he had proven his power and will.

His body was still weaker than the tall barbarian’s, but with tremendous willpower, he managed to nearly close the gap.

The commander noted Lash’s tremendous willpower and decided to look more closely into Lash.

And then, there was only Shang.

Shang slowly stepped forward, and the other barbarians looked at him with mixed expressions.

Shang’s group looked with confidence at him.

The main group looked with hostile eyes at him.

The criminal camp looked with ridicule and disgust at him.

Shang didn’t take any of these expressions to heart.

He stopped in front of the staff and calmly looked into the commander’s eyes.

The commander only furrowed her brows.

For some reason, Shang felt very different from all the other barbarians.

She didn’t know how or why, but Shang felt out of place among the group of barbarians.

Shang slowly crouched down and took hold of the staff.

Then, he stood up.

In just two seconds, Shang had lifted the staff to his waist.

Silence.

The barbarians looked with shock at Shang.

His arms weren’t even shaking!

Yes, his arms were bulging, and they were definitely under a lot of stress, but they were definitely not at their limits!

A glow appeared in the commander’s eyes.

Shang’s biceps curled as he lifted the staff to his chest.

Even more silence.

Shang had pulled the staff far higher than anyone here!

Then, Shang pushed the staff and took a big step forward.

In one push, he had stretched his arms over his head with the staff.

Shang pulled his legs together again and remained standing.

The black staff was extended above his head, and it was stable.

His stance was stable.

His body didn’t shake.

It was perfect.

Shang continued looking at the commander.

The commander looked with narrowed eyes at Shang.

Shang only had one question.

“Do I pass?”

Chapter 325 – Contract

BOOM!

The staff hit the ground again as Shang dropped it. He had proven his power already.

The commander kept looking at Shang for a bit before turning to one of the Mages behind her. “Bring them to the front,” she ordered.

The Mage behind her saluted and stepped forward to bring the barbarians away.

“You, follow me,” she said to Shang as she turned around.

Shang took his sword and followed her without saying anything.

The two of them entered one of the buildings and walked into a room.

The room was basically a military office. There were some maps, some chairs, some books, and there were some tables.

It wasn’t anything special.

The commander gestured to one of the chairs, and Shang sat down.

She sat down on the other side of the table, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

For a while, the two only looked at each other.

“You’re a warrior, right?” the commander suddenly asked.

“Yes,” Shang answered with a nod.

The commander furrowed her brows at Shang.

“Do you know what a warrior is?” she asked.

“A strong barbarian,” Shang answered.

The commander’s furrowed brows stayed furrowed.

“No, a warrior is someone similar to a barbarian, but warriors live in the Skythunder Kingdom,” she said.

This time, Shang furrowed his brows. “A warrior is a strong barbarian,” he said.

Some annoyance appeared in the commander’s eyes. “That might be your definition, but in the grand scheme of things, a warrior is not a barbarian, and a barbarian is not a warrior.”

Shang looked with a bit of skepticism at the commander. It was obvious that he didn’t fully believe her.

The commander released a very silent and covert groan of frustration.

‘It worked,’ Shang thought, trying not to smirk.

At that moment, Shang was happy that he always went through many hypothetical conversations with others in his head.

Otherwise, he would have reacted suspiciously.

How would a warrior have reacted to a Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom suddenly asking them if they were a warrior?

They would deny it.

They would come up with reasons as to why they couldn’t be a warrior.

But exactly that would be suspicious.

How could a stupid barbarian on the northeastern front know so much about warriors that they could argue that they weren’t one?

Would the barbarian even know what a warrior was?

And exactly that was the trap in the question.

A stupid barbarian would simply think that she was referring to the general term, which was generally associated with strong barbarians.

A barbarian would just confirm that he was a warrior, while an actual warrior would deny it.

‘She must have gotten some kind of file from the Governor that captured me. I am already very noticeable due to my missing eye and my power, which means that the Mages will look very closely at everything I do.’

‘This was probably a test to see if I was the spy that talked with someone in the Skythunder Kingdom.’

‘Additionally, whatever special mission I will be joining is probably also quite sensitive and secretive. They can’t risk any traitors entering.’

A piece of paper appeared in front of the commander, and she wrote a couple of things on it.

“Name,” she said.

“Zero,” Shang answered.

The commander frowned and looked at Shang. “That doesn’t sound like a real name.”

“I gave this name to myself,” Shang said.

“I need your real name, the one you got at your birth,” she said.

“I don’t remember,” Shang said.

The commander looked with furrowed eyes at Shang.

After that, she cast a long Spell.

When she finished the Spell, nothing obvious happened, but Shang could feel that the Mana was somehow different.

“Repeat what you’ve just said,” she said.

“I don’t remember my birth name,” Shang said.

The commander closed her eyes to focus on the Mana, and two seconds later, she opened them again.

“Fine,” she said as she wrote Zero onto the piece of paper.

‘That was probably some kind of Truth Spell or something,’ Shang thought. ‘Sucks to be you. I didn’t lie.’

Shang truly didn’t remember his birth name.

The god had made sure of that.

“If you are willing to accept the mission, sign here,” the commander said as she pushed the piece of paper to Shang.

Shang looked at it and quickly read through it.

‘That’s basically an NDA,’ Shang thought. ‘I can’t talk to anyone about whatever I see, or I will be under severe pain until the Mages decide to stop my pain.’

Shang signed the Magic Contract.

After fully signing it, a complex mix of Mana entered Shang’s mind.

As soon as it reached his mind, Shang felt like a chain had been strung around it.

This was the effect of a Magic Contract. It limited the freedom of the subject regarding one specific thing.

‘The Magic Contract is weak,’ Shang thought. ‘The fact that I don’t identify with the name Zero very much weakens the contract significantly. Additionally, they probably don’t use the really powerful ones since we are only barbarians. It’s doubtful that a barbarian would have the necessary control over their mind and Mana to break free from the contract.’

‘I can break the contract whenever I want,’ Shang thought.

The Magic Contract split into two pieces, and the commander took both of them.

Shang didn’t comment on it.

Usually, the second copy was for the person that had signed the contract, but the commander kept both copies.

This meant that the Mages could now act oblivious and claim anything. After all, Shang didn’t have any proof that they were lying.

‘Huh, they didn’t even hand me my copy,’ Shang thought. ‘This means that I would be able to break the contract regardless, even if I had used my real name.’

Magic Contracts were expensive and very complicated.

The standardized paper of the Magic Contracts had a built-in escape clause.

If one of the parties genuinely believed that they hadn’t received their copy, they could annul the contract.

Of course, one would first have to know how to trigger this built-in escape clause, and barbarians definitely didn’t know that.

Naturally, the other party would also be informed if the contract broke.

If Shang decided to annul the contract or break it, the commander would immediately be alarmed.

‘But I don’t have to,’ Shang thought. ‘I can break it when I break out.’

‘It’s really useful to be thought of as an idiot.’

After stashing the two copies away, the commander stood up.

“Follow me. We have to go to another camp for further testing. If you’re lucky, your mission will start tomorrow at dawn.”

“You have a long day ahead of you.”

Then, she stood up and walked out of the building.

Shang followed her.

Chapter 326 – Special Mission

The two of them traveled to the western border of the Deepcore Turtle Zone.

There, Shang saw a hundred-meter-tall tower, which meant that many Mages were stationed there. This was probably the central headquarters for the actual offense.

However, the commander brought Shang to a field quite a bit north of the tower, behind one of the mountains.

When the two of them arrived at their destinations, Shang could see five Mages with differently colored robes and hair talking to each other.

In front of them were around ten barbarians, and nine of them were at the Commander Stage, or Champion Stage, as it was called here.

There was one younger man at the Peak General Stage amongst the group of older Commander Stage barbarians.

Yes, the Commander Stage barbarians were nearly all, at least, middle-aged. Some of them even looked to be in their sixties.

‘I guess there aren’t many young Commander Stage barbarians,’ Shang thought.

Shang joined the other barbarians, who looked with surprise at Shang.

Warriors would be impressed that someone at the Peak General Stage could pass the exam, but barbarians were different.

These barbarians were more powerful than Shang, which meant that they didn’t need to respect Shang.

They didn’t take his potential and talent into account.

What use did talent and potential have? They could still beat him up.

The Commander spoke with the Mages for a bit, and the Mages threw interested glances at Shang from time to time.

They hadn’t expected any Fighter Stage barbarian to pass the test, but now there were two.

After a while, the commander saluted, handed one of the copies of Shang’s Magic Contract to them, and left the area.

Now, only the five Mages remained.

The Mages talked amongst each other for a bit more as the barbarians waited.

About ten minutes later, the Mages stopped talking, and one of them stepped forward.

It was an older man with long grey hair and grey robes.

“Over the next day, you all will undergo several tests. We will test you in different aspects to gauge the limit of your coordination, flexibility, endurance, will, and many other categories.”

Not every barbarian understood what the Mage was saying. They only knew that they had to undergo some tests.

“First, we need to test how much stress your body can handle,” the Mage explained as he gestured to a big Magic Circle on the ground beside him.

The other four Mages stepped around the Magic Circle and waited.

“You, step forward,” the Mage said to a random barbarian.

The barbarian puffed out his chest and stepped into the Magic Circle.

“Try to remain on your feet,” the Mage said emotionlessly.

After that, the last Mage stepped on a free spot around the Magic Circle while the barbarians watched with interest.

A moment later, all the Mages began to cast Spells, but they were all casting different ones.

Shang only recognized two of the Spells, but that already gave him an inkling as to what they were testing.

‘Huh, so that’s why they need a powerful barbarian. I think I get it. Quite clever, actually,’ Shang thought. ‘The Blackshadow Kingdom probably won’t see this coming.’

As the Mages cast more Spells, the barbarian began to sweat, and his body began to shake.

His muscles violently bulged in some places, and blood flowed out of his skin in others.

The barbarian’s face whitened, and he gritted his teeth.

After about a minute, the barbarian fell to the ground, blood coming out of all orifices on his body.

The Mages stopped casting their Spells and looked with furrowed brows at the barbarian.

“Not good enough,” the grey-robed Mage said.

Then, he turned to Shang. “You, step forward,” he said as the other barbarian was pushed out of the Magic Circle.

Shang knew what was waiting for him, but he wasn’t afraid.

He could deal with that.

After Shang was done with his turn, the Mages tested the other barbarians.

Only seven remained after this round from the original eleven, including Shang.

The barbarians that didn’t pass were sent back to wherever they had come from.

“Next test, dealing with stress,” the Mage announced.

Every barbarian went through the next test, and another two were sorted out, leaving five.

“Next test, flexibility…”

“Next test, agility…”

“Next test, accuracy…”

Over the next 20 hours, Shang went through nine different tests in total.

In the end, only two barbarians were left, but the Mages decided to go with Shang since he didn’t show any weaknesses in any of the tests.

The other barbarian had better marks on several tests, but he also only barely passed two of them, while Shang was very comfortable in the upper middle in all of them.

The last barbarian left, leaving Shang alone with the five Mages.

The grey-robed Mage smirked as he looked at Shang. “Congratulations. You will be part of history!”

Shang didn’t answer.

“Now, I will tell you what you have to do…”

…

Dark skies.

It had been years since the Plague Rat Zone had seen natural light.

The Plague Rat was a Zone Beast with a Darkness Affinity, and the Plague Rat Zone reflected that disposition very well.

There was barely any vegetation in this Zone, and if one saw one of the plants, one could be sure that the plant was extremely dangerous.

The Plague Rat Zone was a nearly lifeless wasteland full of danger.

One could see no fighting beasts.

After all, nearly all the beasts in this Zone were ambush hunters.

There were no fights.

There was only one-sided, quick slaughter.

At the southern part of the Plague Rat Zone stood an army comprised of over 200 barbarians.

They all stood in a line with their gigantic weapons, ready to charge.

About 20 True Mages stood behind the barbarians, ready for battle.

Around ten kilometers to the north was the enemy.

A dark castle with black spears poking out of it stood in front of a tall mountain.

A fully black barrier surrounded the castle.

The Blackshadow Kingdom had a terrifying amount of Darkness Mages and an equally terrifying number of Spells for Darkness Mages.

Darkness Mages ruled the Kingdom.

The dark castle was the home of one of the Priests, the Dukes of the Blackshadow Kingdom.

The Priest herself wasn’t currently here since the Grandmountain Kingdom threatened other parts of her Kingdom.

This camp of the Grandmountain Kingdom didn’t have a High Mage amongst them.

The other parts did, which was why the Priest had to defend those parts.

However, she didn’t fear for her home.

Even though her Peak True Mages were scattered amongst the frontlines, her personal general remained here.

He was an extremely outstanding Summoner who might become the first Summoner to reach the High Mage Realm.

This Summoner could control eight beasts in total, and they were all Late Commander Stage beasts.

The Grandmountain Kingdom would need to send significant resources to this place.

Additionally, her base was surrounded by an invincible shield.

No Mage below the High Mage Realm could possibly break through it.

The general stood on top of the castle’s walls together with several other True Mages.

If the Grandmountain Kingdom decided to attack, they would be assaulted by a barrage of Spells that would decimate their army.

Attacking would be suicide.

A Mage with short-blue hair looked at the distant castle with a cold look.

“Do it,” he ordered.

The grey-robed Mage from earlier saluted.

Then, he turned to the person behind him with a smirk.

“It’s your time to shine,” he said. “Just as we practiced.”

And then, Shang stepped forward.

Chapter 327 – Force

Shang stepped forward from behind the Mage.

The barbarians didn't look at Shang and only focused on the distant enemy.

Shang didn't look any different except for two things.

His Sword wasn't there, and he had a new ring on his finger.

Yes, the Mages had given him a Space Ring for the mission. If Shang did well, he could even keep it, giving him an excuse to finally use his inner world again.

Right now, Sword was in Shang's inner world.

Shang slowly stepped past the Mages and barbarians until he was at the very front.

An army of barbarians and Mages stood behind Shang while an impenetrable fortress was on the horizon.

Shang cracked his neck, took a deep breath, and closed his remaining eye.

Two seconds later, Shang's eye opened.

BOOOOM!

Shang exploded forward with all his power, leaving a small crater behind.

The army didn't move.

In the distance, the Summoners and Mages on the castle looked with confusion at their enemy.

There was a lone barbarian charging at them.

They weren't sure what they should think of that.

Even the strongest barbarian in the world would be turned into dust before even reaching the halfway point.

Was he a messenger or diplomat?

No, he didn't wear the universal signs of one.

Then, what was he doing?

Was he defecting?

But then, the Mages behind him would directly kill him.

Shang reached his top speed quite quickly.

With just his body, Shang reached the speed of an Initial Champion Stage barbarian, which was quite fast. In fact, Shang was running at around 180 kph.

However, in front of an army of powerful True Mages, that speed wasn't anything special.

"Kill him," the general ordered.

A Mage near him took out his Focus with two Amplifiers and readied a Spell.

This was a Late True Mage, and one Spell of his could decimate Shang from several kilometers away.

A bit later, an intense fireball had been readied.

From a distance, Shang could see the fireball and got reminded of his first Day of Chaos.

The Mages of Warrior's Paradise had completely annihilated the surrounding beasts with that Spell.

The Mage unleashed the fireball, which shot towards Shang at blinding speeds.

Even if he stepped to the side right now, he would still be hit by the explosion, which would injure him severely.

'Let's go!' Shang thought to himself.

At the same time, Shang's body was nearly shrouded in a thick cloud of Elemental Mana.

There was Wind Mana, Metal Mana, Fire Mana, Earth Mana, Water Mana, and Lightning Mana.

Shang's body began to bulge and turn red under the severe stress of all the Mana, but he could handle it.

And then…

BOOOOOOM!

Two explosions.

The fiery explosion from the fireball turned the surrounding ten meters into a hellscape, but it was the smaller of the two explosions.

Shortly before the fiery explosion appeared, the ground below Shang exploded.

The ground for over thirty meters in radius had been lowered by several meters. It was almost like a giant had stepped on this place!

However, no giant had set foot in this place.

No, this was the explosive force of Shang accelerating!

The Wind Cancelation Spell moved the air out of Shang's path.

The Blessing of Wind increased Shang's Speed.

Earth's Power increased Shang's strength by several levels.

Metal's Resistance gave Shang more resistance, allowing him to not collapse under the Spells.

Lightning's Speed increased Shang's speed even more.

Blessing of the Flowing Water increased Shang's thinking speed.

This was the special mission.

The Mages needed a barbarian that could hold out under so many amplifying Spells while still being able to control their body.

And right now, Shang's speed…

It was unimaginable!

From a lonely running barbarian, Shang had transformed into a lightning bolt of different Elemental Mana, carving a long crevice into the land.

In the short moment in which the enemies had been shocked, Shang had already traversed nearly a full kilometer.

When the explosion occurred, Shang had already gained a distance of about 300 meters!

"Kill him!" the general shouted.

The surrounding Mages all readied their Foci and channeled several Spells.

Over 20 True Mages were currently targeting Shang with their Spells.

In the distance behind Shang, the Mages were looking at Shang with narrowed eyes.

Everything hinged on this!

A moment later, a storm of Spells shot at Shang.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

The Plague Rat Zone was turned into a chaotic hellscape of destructive Elemental Mana.

Everything around Shang was being torn apart by the violent power of the Mages.

Yet, the colorful lightning bolt symbolizing Shang was zigzagging like a real lightning bolt, and he was evading all the dangerous spots!

"Carpet!" the general shouted.

The Mages quickly synchronized with each other and chose a place.

And then, they unleashed another wave of Spells, effectively creating a gigantic wall of deadly Mana.

Shang would need to stop if he wanted to pass, which would ruin his momentum and would make it far harder to recover.

BOOOOOOOOM!

Everything in front of Shang turned into a violent wall of explosions.

And then, Shang broke through the wall of explosions while holding a gigantic sword in front of him, which protected him from the incredible power!

Shang hadn't slowed down.

"Kill him!" the general shouted again.

He didn't like where this was going.

The Grandmountain Kingdom had something planned, and he didn't like it when his enemy had something planned!

The Mages synchronized again and decided to perform Synchrocasting, an ability allowing them to cast the same Spell.

This was the same Spell the Mages in Warrior's Paradise during the first Day of Chaos had performed in order to kill the Exploding Mountain Turtle.

Shang advanced further.

Five seconds later, he was only three kilometers away from the castle and its huge, black shield.

And then, the Spell was finished.

A black fireball, nearly ten meters in diameter, hovered above the Mages.

This Spell had the power to severely injure or even kill an Initial True Path Stage beast.

And then, the Mages unleashed the Spell.

The black fireball shot towards Shang.

And moments later, it exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It was like a nuke had gone off.

Over 100 meters of the surroundings were turned into absolute nothingness as the violent explosion raged.

And Shang?

He hadn't been fully hit.

Shang had stabbed his sword into the ground and had let go.

Then, he lifted his left leg high in the air, his right foot leaving a gigantic crevice behind.

The power of the explosion still hit Shang, but since he had fully stopped, he wasn't in its immediate vicinity.

Luckily, Shang also had protective Spells on him, allowing him to survive the distant power of the explosion.

Shang slid in a very awkward and unique position forward. His left leg was raised high while his entire body was leaning back.

The explosion quickly vanished, and the enemies could see Shang again.

His awkward pose surprised them, but they managed to stop him.

Whatever the enemy had planned, without that barbarian getting close to them, it wouldn't work.

However, the Summoners and Mages didn't see the danger they were in.

If there were a warrior or even a barbarian amongst them, they would be able to guess what Shang was about to do.

But the Mages and Summoners didn't.

Knowing what was about to happen might have saved them today.

One leg lifted high, and the body bent backward.

Why did that pose feel familiar?

As Shang stopped, it felt like time froze.

It was like all the power of Shang's charge had vanished.

It was like it had never existed.

Yet, beneath Shang's clothing, blood came out of his right arm.

It could barely resist this tremendous force.

SHING!

And at that moment, something appeared in Shang's right hand.

It was a thin, long, sharp, and black spear.

And then, Shang finally moved.

His raised leg violently moved down, destroying the ground beneath it.

Shang's upper body shot forward, his clothes tearing under the sheer force.

And lastly, the arm with the spear moved forward.

"RAAAAAH!" Shang shouted.

And Shang let go of the spear.

BOOOOOOOOM!

An explosion of wind tore the surroundings apart as the full power of Shang's charge was transferred to the spear throw.

Shang himself was thrown back tens of meters by the sheer force he had just unleashed.

And the black spear seemingly vanished into thin air.

A huge explosion and it was just gone.

The Mages looked in confusion at Shang.

What had he just done?

One of the Mages turned to the general to ask a question, but when he saw the general, he froze in shock.

The general's head had vanished!

 

Chapter 328 – Plague

The battlefield fell into absolute silence.

The Blackshadow Kingdom's forces realized that their general's head had vanished.

Time seemingly froze.

BOOOM!

And then, a huge explosion occurred inside the black castle as several Mages were thrown to the side, the protection of their armor activating.

When a Summoner died, their Companion Beast died with them.

However, their other beasts stayed alive.

And without the Companion Beast to control them...

Seven Late Commander Stage beasts were now rampaging inside the castle.

The seven beasts attacked the other beasts and unleashed their Elemental Attacks on the Mages and Summoners on the wall.

At the same time, the black shield around the castle dissipated.

The Blackshadow Kingdom had decided to use the general as the center for the Anti-Magic Barrier. After all, if they put the center inside the castle, the enemy might manage to break it by somehow destroying the castle.

However, such a powerful Summoner could protect themselves, and they wouldn't put themselves in danger. As long as they survived, the barrier would hold.

This Anti-Magic Barrier was created with the Darkness Element, and it weakened enemy Spells to a point where they were no longer threatening.

As long as no one managed to get past the barrier, they would be safe.

It was the ultimate counter to the strongest force in this world, Magic.

It was like a modern soldier with extremely expensive body armor, fully suited to survive gunfire.

However, if someone came in close and strangled that soldier with their bare hands...

The culmination of thousands of years of research and optimization would be beaten by the oldest and most primal weapon in existence, a human's hands.

The spear Shang had thrown had been made with Entropy Ore, and Magic had nearly no effect on it.

It was simply a very hard piece of ore.

It wasn't magical in any way.

And precisely because of that, the barrier had no effect on it.

The Grandmountain Kingdom had managed to kill the strongest enemy with a rock.

And the death of the general created a terrifying chain reaction.

Mere seconds ago, they had an army of Mages, Summoners, and beasts, and they had all been standing behind a terrifying shield.

Now, the shield was gone, and several powerful beasts were rampaging inside the castle.

The commanders in the castle quickly assumed command and ordered the Mages to kill the former beasts of the dead general.

Meanwhile, Shang turned around and ran to his sword. After grabbing it, he jumped into the huge crater the black fireball had left behind and leaned against the crater wall closer to the enemy.

Shang was essentially in a gigantic trench right now.

Shang quickly rammed his sword into the ground and created a huge hole.

He jumped into it and put his sword over the hole.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A couple of Mages were already throwing Spells at Shang's location, and his surroundings were being destroyed.

However, it was difficult to hit Shang from this angle, and his sword protected him very well.

Shang was bombarded by Spells for several seconds, hoping that they wouldn't manage to land a clean hit.

Then, the bombardment intensified.

But just a couple of seconds later, it completely stopped and was replaced with distant quakes.

The Grandmountain Kingdom's army had arrived.

The Mages were throwing Spells at the black castle's walls, completely decimating it in the process.

Without the barrier, it couldn't withstand such an aggressive assault.

The barbarians were charging forward at the front, but surprisingly, no Spells landed amongst them.

The Blackshadow Kingdom knew that the Mages were much more dangerous, which was why they were fully focusing on destroying the Grandmountain Kingdom's Mages. They ignored the barbarians.

Several Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom died, but even more of the Blackshadow Kingdom died.

The Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom were dispersed, while the Mages of the Blackshadow Kingdom were all gathered in one spot.

Half a minute later, the castle was turned into rubble, and it became very difficult for the remaining Mages to find a good spot to assault the Grandmountain Kingdom.

The two leading commanders noticed that the army of barbarians had come way too close during that clash.

They hadn't managed to decimate the enemy's Mages in time.

With gritted teeth, the commander gave the order.

"Disperse!"

Shortly after, colorful balls of Mana came out of the rubble, shooting into all directions as several groups of beasts ran into the distance, the occasional Summoners sitting on them.

"Chase!" the general of the Grandmountain Kingdom shouted.

The barbarians released a thundering war cry and shot after all the distant Summoners.

Now, it was Summoners versus barbarians.

One Summoner was definitely stronger than one barbarian. A barbarian didn't even have a chance against a Summoner.

However, Summoners consumed a terrifying amount of resources.

They had to strengthen each beast individually, which consumed a terrifying amount of food and Mana.

Now, how many resources did barbarians consume?

One barbarian consumed just a bit fewer resources than an equivalent beast.

The Blackshadow Kingdom had had around 40 Summoners in the black castle.

But the Grandmountain Kingdom had over 200 barbarians.

In duels, the Blackshadow Kingdom would emerge victorious.

But these weren't duels.

This was a war.

The remaining Summoners were quickly assaulted by a swarm of barbarians, throwing their minds into terror and panic.

There were so many of them!

And that wasn't even everything.

There were still several unaffiliated Summoners traveling around the Plague Rat Zone to train their beasts.

They weren't powerful enough to join the defense, but they also weren't weak.

They knew that this place might be attacked by the enemy, but the black castle would keep the Grandmountain Kingdom at bay.

It was risky to train here, but high risks gave high rewards. There were far fewer Summoners here than usual, leaving more beasts for the ones willing to take the risk.

But today, these Summoners would regret taking the risk.

A swarm of Late and Peak Fighter Stage barbarians and even the occasional Champion Stage barbarian were coming down on them.

The Mages focused on chasing the other Mages and on officially conquering the land while the flood of barbarians fell upon the land like a plague of locusts.

They killed all humans they didn't recognize. Their power didn't matter.

They killed all the beasts they could kill.

They destroyed all structures they saw.

The Deepcore Turtle Zone had been bereft of farms and commoners, and the beasts could only be found deep in the caves.

However, before the Grandmountain Kingdom had arrived, the Deepcore Turtle Zone had several villages, and there had been quite a few Soldier and General Stage beasts on the surface.

Then, the Grandmountain Kingdom arrived.

Now, the Deepcore Turtle Zone was very different.

And the same thing was about to happen to the Plague Rat Zone.

On this day, fire and blood rained down on the lands of the Plague Rat Zone.

The only area that was spared was the east, which was where the really powerful beasts resided.

Everything else was turned into rubble and dust.

The barbarians wouldn't stop rampaging for three entire days.

The Plague Rat Zone belonged to the Grandmountain Kingdom now.

Chapter 329 – Researcher Veral

Shang didn't stay in his hole for three entire days. Obviously, he left pretty quickly and joined the barbarians in their rampaging.

He wasn't very interested in killing people and beasts much weaker than him, but he joined a couple of battles against Peak General Stage Summoners and beasts just for training.

About a day later, Shang left the barbarians as they continued ravaging the lands and returned to the Mages.

The Mages had already started to rebuild the black castle and were reorganizing it as a new base for operations.

As Shang reached the newly rebuilt gates, he was stopped by two True Mages, who looked at him with disdain. "Barbarians are not allowed in here," one of them said.

"Researcher Veral told me to return to him after the mission," Shang said.

The two Mages looked at each other with furrowed brows.

One of them snorted, but they let Shang pass.

"Researcher Veral is inside the basement," one of them said.

Shang nodded and entered.

Inside the castle's domain, Shang could see several Mages lifting heavy stones with their minds, rearranging them on the walls of the destroyed castle.

Shang entered the castle itself, and thanks to his Darkness Affinity, he quickly found the way to the basement.

However, someone else was just coming out of the basement, and he saw Shang.

When Shang saw the person, he saluted respectfully.

It was a young man with blue hair and a cold expression.

It was the general of the closest Governor, a Peak True Mage. He was the highest-ranking person in this entire Zone right now.

The man inspected Shang for a second with cold eyes.

"Name," he said.

"Zero," Shang answered.

The general frowned. Obviously, Shang's strange name gave him pause, but he believed it in the end. He didn't think that Shang would lie to him.

"We will contact you again if the need arises," he said before passing Shang.

"Thank you, sir!" Shang said respectfully with a salute.

Shang was now on the radar of the powerful Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom. A person just below a High Mage had asked for his name.

Shang continued descending into the basement, where he quickly found the grey-robed Researcher Veral with two of his assistants. They were currently constructing a complex Magic Circle.

Shang decided to wait at the entrance since he didn't want to interrupt them at a critical moment. Something like that could get him killed.

About half a minute later, the Mages relaxed, and the Magic Circle stabilized.

At that point, Researcher Veral turned to Shang with a smile. "Well done, Zero!" he said.

Shang saluted respectfully without saying anything.

"Operation Primal Offense was a resounding success," Researcher Veral commented. "The Plague Rat Zone belongs to the Grandmountain Kingdom now!"

"You performed extraordinarily under the enemy attacks, and you even managed to survive. Someone like that is very valuable to the Grandmountain Kingdom."

'As if they cared that I survived,' Shang thought. 'They probably had planned on losing their tool after it had fulfilled its use, but surprisingly, it managed to survive. The only thing they are happy about is that their tool can be used once again.'

However, Shang didn't say any of these words and remained in a respectful salute.

Researched Veral's smile transformed into a smirk. "I presume you are here for your reward."

"I am here for further orders, sir," Shang said, carefully avoiding any potential traps.

"Good answer," Researched Veral answered with a smirk. He believed that Shang truly meant what he said. After all, Shang was a barbarian, and barbarians couldn't possibly win in a battle of the minds with a Mage.

"Approach," Researcher Veral ordered.

Shang stepped forward until he stood directly in front of the grey-robed man.

Researched Veral chanted a complex Spell, and just two seconds later…

CLANK!

Shang's collar split in two by itself.

"The services you have rendered to the Grandmountain Kingdom far outweigh any crime you could have possibly committed in the past," he said with a smile. "Additionally, I alleviate you of any punishment you have received in the past."

Shang looked with a bit of discomfort at Researcher Veral. "Sir, the punishment was handed out by a Governor."

Researcher Veral's smile faded into an annoyed frown. "I don't care. You belong to me, and I have full power over your life."

Shang only meekly looked at the ground, seemingly afraid.

Obviously, Researcher Veral didn't like being questioned by a mere barbarian, and he had shown his dislike by flaunting his power.

"Don't take this to heart," Researcher Veral said as his smile returned. "You will be happy that you belong to me now. I treat my people very well."

"Forcing you into any kind of punishment is a waste of your talents," he said. "You have a tremendous talent for withstanding and controlling several augmenting Spells. Having you serve on the frontlines would be stupid."

"For the next few years, you will work for me personally," he said. "I'm sure we can improve the Primal Offense Project even more, and I need your help and cooperation for that."

"Naturally, I'm not a monster, and I will take care of the resources you need. Do you already know the full technique for strengthening your body?" he asked.

Shang quickly recounted how he trained.

Researcher Veral nodded. "That's good. What's your Affinity?"

"Fire, sir," Shang answered.

"When was the last time you strengthened your body?"

"About five days ago, sir."

Researcher Veral nodded again before turning to one of the other two Mages. "Geron, I need a bi-weekly shipment of a Peak Fighter Stage fire beast heart starting one week from now."

Geron had heard the entire conversation, and he nodded. "Will be done."

"Thanks, Geron," Researcher Veral said with a smile.

"How much longer until you can reach the Champion Stage?" Researcher Veral asked.

"With regular strengthening, about a year, sir," Shang answered.

Researcher Veral smiled in positive surprise. "That's far faster than I anticipated. Wonderful!"

"We will be staying inside the Plague Rat Zone and Deepcore Turtle Zone for at least five years. We have conquered too much land in too little time, and we need to consolidate our land and our new defenses."

"I will be busy in this castle for the next month or two. Until then, I want you to lead the barbarians in the assault," Researcher Veral said. "I think you have quite the smart head on your shoulders, and us Mages can't always spare time for the little details. Do you think you can lead them?"

"What are your goals, sir?" Shang asked.

Researcher Veral had said the comment about Shang being smart just to make Shang like him more, but he was still a bit surprised about the smart question. He would have anticipated that question from a Mage, not a barbarian.

'Might as well not completely look like an idiot,' Shang thought. It was a bit risky to show more of his power, even if it was only intelligence, but it was also necessary for Shang to live a better life.

"Good question," Researcher Veral said. "I want you to kill any human not belonging to the Grandmountain Kingdom. Sometimes, the rebels can be quite smart and hide. We don't really have time to search for the rebels since we have other things to do, but if you manage to catch them, you would be a big help."

"It would also be great if you could teach the barbarians some basic forms of strategy. Looking at them charging at beasts without a plan gives me second-hand embarrassment."

Shang nodded. "I will do my best, sir," he said.

"That's all I wanted to hear," Researcher Veral said. "One week from now, return to the castle. Geron will have your fire beast heart ready."

SHING!

Researcher Veral summoned a grey emblem with a cloaked person on it. "If any Mage gets confused about you ordering the barbarians around, just show them this."

Shang took the emblem and saluted once more. "Thank you, sir," he said respectfully.

Researcher Veral nodded with a smile. "Good. Now, go! We have things to do here!"

Shang performed another short salute, turned around, and left the basement.

After leaving the castle, Shang looked at his surroundings.

He could see several groups of barbarians raging through the lands without any plan or tactic.

'Might as well make myself useful for the next couple of months,' Shang thought. 'I think I should be at my limit in about eight months if I continue to strengthen myself every two weeks. The beast Mana will slowly accumulate since I can't truly get a beast with my Affinity, but I think I can somewhat counteract the beast Mana with the Procedure and my control over Mana.'

'Eight months, huh?'

'Eight months, and I'm outta here!'

Chapter 330 – Global Politics

Shang joined the rampaging barbarians and quickly took control over a group of 30 of them. With his strength, it wasn't difficult.

Shang methodically sent them through the Plague Rat Zone so that as few of them died as possible. After all, there were still a lot of powerful beasts around. Additionally, some Mages and Summoners were also hidden around the Zone.

With Shang's Darkness Vision, it wasn't difficult to spot the hidden Summoners and Mages. When he found them, he simply sent a large team of barbarians after them, not giving them any chance to resist.

These hidden forces probably tried to use guerilla tactics to slowly weaken the Grandmountain Kingdom's presence in the Plague Rat Zone, which was a good idea. After all, the barbarians were stupid and roamed around aimlessly like beasts. It wouldn't be very difficult to pick them off one by one.

However, with Shang's coordinated assault, he dealt with several of them.

After two days, Shang had been responsible for the death of four Adepts, seven Summoners, and even one Initial True Mage. Shang had managed to take care of the True Mage by attacking him by surprise, forcing him to retreat. Then, when nobody was around, Shang unveiled his true power and took care of him.

The fight wasn't easy, but it also wasn't hard. The Mage had already been weakened, and he had been taken by surprise several times due to Shang's unusual powers.

The Mages in the Skythunder Kingdom knew how warriors fought, and they knew how to counter them, but the Mages in the Blackshadow Kingdom hadn't even seen warriors, and the only fighters they fought were barbarians during the war. This made them complete novices in how to deal with warriors.

One had to remember that the Grandmountain Kingdom was northwest of the Skythunder Kingdom and that the Blackshadow Kingdom was northeast of the Grandmountain Kingdom.

There was an entire Kingdom between the Skythunder Kingdom and the Blackshadow Kingdom. On top of that, the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Skythunder Kingdom were allies. So, even if the Mages in the Blackshadow Kingdom saw a warrior of the Skythunder Kingdom, they wouldn't attack them.

Over the next couple of days, Shang asked the Mages he saw some questions. Usually, the Mages wouldn't care about answering a barbarian's questions, but they knew that Shang was Researcher Veral's new favorite. Because of that, they answered Shang's questions as long as he didn't ask too many.

Due to that, Shang actually learned of the political climate regarding the different Kingdoms. In the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had never truly come into contact with people that lived on the frontlines, which made it quite difficult to learn about the political climate outside the Skythunder Kingdom.

But here, on the frontlines, Shang managed to learn quite a lot.

Apparently, the entire world was a circle with a diameter of about 4,000 kilometers. Shang guessed that it was about half as big or as big as the North American Continent on Earth. He wasn't entirely sure.

That was quite small for an entire world.

Apparently, an untraversable abyss surrounded the "world". The world simply ended at that spot.

Funnily enough, the Storm Eagle Zone was at the very end of the world. If one went past the Canyon and past the Crater, they would reach the southern end of the world, the Abyss.

Of course, Shang knew that this was bullshit. He was certain that the Abyss wasn't actually the end of the world but simply a very deep crater or something. Maybe the "world" was only a plateau? That would explain the absence of truly powerful people.

Anyway, the "world" was ruled by five Kingdoms. One in the north, one in the east, one in the south, one in the west, and one in the middle.

And as was natural with humans, they were at war.

The most powerful Kingdom, the Magic Purity Kingdom, was in the middle of the world. Their King was the most powerful human in the world, and his right hand was also an Archmage. The Magic Purity Kingdom was the only Kingdom with two Archmages.

The Grandmountain Kingdom was allied with the Magic Purity Kingdom, and those two Kingdoms were fighting the other three.

The Skythunder Kingdom was the leader of the alliance of the other three Kingdoms due to the power of King Skythunder. He might be the only Mage in the world that could fight the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom.

The Kingdom in the east was called the Spirit Spring Kingdom, and it connected the Blackshadow Kingdom with the Skythunder Kingdom.

In a way, the Spirit Spring Kingdom was similar to the Blackshadow Kingdom since they also employed beasts, but their methods couldn't be more different.

The Blackshadow Kingdom enslaved beasts while the Spirit Spring Kingdom befriended them. Both methods had their advantages and disadvantages.

The Blackshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom hated each other due to that difference. However, in front of the Magic Purity Kingdom, they had to work together. The Magic Purity Kingdom viewed Summoners as a bastardization of Magic.

They didn't care as much about warriors or barbarians since they weren't related to Magic, but they hated the Summoners and Spiriters, the people that worked with beasts.

Originally, the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom were losing in the war against the Magic Purity Kingdom, but then, the Old King of the Skythunder Kingdom died and was replaced with the current King.

The old Skythunder Kingdom had been neutral, just living in peace, but when King Skythunder came to power, he wanted to go to war.

War and conflict were fun.

He looked at both sides and decided to join the losing side since he wanted a challenge.

With the addition of the Skythunder Kingdom, the Magic Purity Kingdom had to spread its forces over a larger area, alleviating the pressure on the other two Kingdoms.

After a couple of years, the three Kingdoms dealt devastating strikes to the Magic Purity Kingdom.

And then, the Magic Purity Kingdom ordered the Grandmountain Kingdom to help them, which they did.

Right now, the individual Kingdoms' situations are as follows:

The Grandmountain Kingdom violently attacked the Blackshadow Kingdom in the northeast, and it received support from the Magic Purity Kingdom to the east.

The Blackshadow Kingdom was trying its best to resist the Magic Purity Kingdom, but the addition of the Grandmountain Kingdom made them lose a lot of land. After all, they had to focus nearly all their forces to their south.

The Spirit Spring Kingdom was supporting the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Skythunder Kingdom while trying to resist the weakened attacks from the Magic Purity Kingdom. The Magic Purity Kingdom didn't focus on them and only kept them at bay.

The Skythunder Kingdom received support from the Spirit Spring Kingdom. They were violently attacking the Magic Purity Kingdom, forcing them to commit nearly 50% of their forces to their south.

And they were absolutely decimating the Grandmountain Kingdom.

One of the reasons why the Grandmountain Kingdom attacked the Blackshadow Kingdom so desperately was the Skythunder Kingdom. The Skythunder Kingdom was gaining more and more land, and if the Grandmountain Kingdom didn't want to shrink, they needed to expand to the north.

For some reason, the Skythunder Kingdom's Mages were equipped with ridiculously valuable equipment. It was like the Skythunder Kingdom was oozing wealth.

Another reason was the dominance that warriors had over the barbarians. They were not the main force, but just a little advantage often turned the tide of battle.

After getting all of this information, Shang finally had a comprehensive picture of the "world".

'I'm in the northeast of the Grandmountain Kingdom, which is the northwest of the world. The Skythunder Kingdom is in the south. Going through the Grandmountain Kingdom or the Magic Purity Kingdom is absolute suicide. There are simply too many Mages that don't like barbarians or warriors.'

'However, the Blackshadow Kingdom is also not a good idea. Sure, they are allied with the Skythunder Kingdom, but there is so much distance between them that they wouldn't care about me. If they saw me, they would simply feed me to one of their beasts, and if anyone asked questions, they would say that they thought I was a barbarian.'

'The Spirit Spring Kingdom is a safe bet since it is a direct neighbor to the Skythunder Kingdom.'

'Honestly, I'm not sure if going through the Grandmountain Kingdom or the Blackshadow Kingdom is worse.'

'I think it would be easier to go through the Blackshadow Kingdom since they don't have any powerful physical fighters. They probably won't scan any random person for their physical power, while the Grandmountain Kingdom will do just that.'

'Well, seems like I have to fight my way through the Blackshadow Kingdom to get to the Spirit Spring Kingdom.'

Shang watched as the barbarians slowly stopped rampaging through the land. They had run out of things to destroy.

'For the next eight months, I will remain here and strengthen my body.'

'And after that, I will charge into the Blackshadow Kingdom.'