Ch. 401..410

Chapter 401 – Too Good

The Dean was immediately interested, but he told Shang that they should talk about it when they arrived in his office.

The two of them currently walked towards the gate of the academy, and Shang saw another familiar face.

Teacher Loran was still guarding the gate at night.

When Teacher Loran heard them approach, he stood up from his chair and bowed politely to the Dean.

Then, he looked at Shang.

"You've returned," he said with eyes that spoke of shock and nostalgia.

The weird boy he had met that day had grown up.

Sadly, the changes were not to Teacher Loran's liking.

Shang felt too much like the Dean.

When Shang saw Teacher Loran, he also had a look of nostalgia in his eye.

Back then, Teacher Loran had been an impossibly powerful monster to Shang.

And now?

Teacher Loran was at the Late Commander Stage, and his Battle-Strength was on the weaker side. He wouldn't be categorized as a weak Late Commander Stage warrior in the trial, but he would also not be categorized as an average one.

As soon as Shang felt his power, he realized that Teacher Loran had long since given up on becoming more powerful.

He probably only wanted to teach students and live the rest of his life in peace.

"I'm back," Shang said as he looked at Teacher Loran with a complicated gaze.

"Are you disappointed?" Teacher Loran asked.

Shang slowly shook his head. "No. You've helped me and many others become stronger. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Teacher Loran looked at Shang with a strange gaze. "Is that a good or a bad thing?" he asked.

By the tone of his voice, Shang could tell that the question was more directed at himself.

It seemed like he felt that he had failed Shang.

When Shang heard Teacher Loran's voice, he felt a tinge of guilt.

"I am who I am," Shang said.

Teacher Loran only looked at Shang with pity.

Then, he wordlessly opened the gate.

"Go inside," he said. "You are still one of us, even if you have changed."

"Thank you," Shang said.

The Dean and Shang entered, and Teacher Loran closed the gate.

He only sighed.

'Sorry, I couldn't become who you wanted me to become,' Shang thought.

'Sadly, my goal requires me to sacrifice everything that's important to me.'

As Shang walked through the quiet academy, one memory after the other assaulted him.

This was his home.

This was where he had learned to fight.

The Dean led Shang to the fifth floor of the main building, and the two of them entered his office.

"Tell me more about the reward," the Dean asked.

Shang nodded and handed the Dean the second book. Whenever Shang got a reward from the trial, he received two books, one for himself and one for the warriors.

The Dean read through the book for several minutes, and the further he got, the more his eyebrows furrowed.

After only five minutes, the Dean put the book down and looked at Shang.

Surprisingly, he hadn't read all of it.

"Tell me what effects the Star Map has. What happens when you use it?" he asked.

Shang told the Dean in detail what he saw and what he could do with it.

There were a lot of uses, and Shang needed several minutes to explain all of the intricate uses.

The Dean's expression became more serious as Shang told him more about the Star Map.

"Truly, the Star Map is worthy of being a reward for such a ridiculous number of points," he said.

The Dean took the book into his hand and looked at Shang. "The knowledge and principle inside his book are so advanced that it is ridiculous."

"In order to create it, you would need to know all the goals of what you want to achieve. It maps out all possible knowledge that any physical fighter could possibly know and accumulate before the True Path Stage."

Shang knew that the Star Map was incredible, but only after he had heard the Dean put it into words did he truly realize how incredible it really was.

"This is a technique that is hundreds if not thousands of years in the future of a flourishing path for a physical fighter. It requires hundreds of years of research by someone far beyond my power, and they would even have to have mastery over Magic and have unprecedented knowledge about all weapons and Affinities."

"The complexity and principles of this technique are beyond reasonable for all physical fighters at the moment."

The Dean put the book down and continued looking at Shang.

"Tell me, how am I supposed to rationalize where that technique comes from?" he asked. "Nobody will believe that I was the one that created it."

When he heard that, Shang took a deep breath.

Right, how could the Dean rationalize the origin of this technique?

"We two know that there have been exceptionally powerful warriors in the past," the Dean continued, "but the world doesn't know."

"In over thirty years of being the Dean of this academy and accumulating all possible knowledge I could find, I have not found information on the past age of warriors even once."

"Everyone believes that the Mages have been supreme since the beginning. Thus, nobody will believe us when we say we found it in some ruin."

"So, how can we publicize this technique?" the Dean asked.

Shang didn't know the answer to that.

'He's right,' Shang thought. 'This technique is far beyond the current level of physical fighters. The God has probably set up the rewards in such a way that they would help warriors step by step.'

'As the average power of the warriors continues to grow, the average power of the people he sends in here from Earth will also increase. This will result in them gaining more and more points.'

'The first reward, the ranged technique, was appropriate for the current warriors. It had some exotic concepts, but a talented warrior could come up with them with enough creativity.'

'But the complexity of this technique is far beyond anything currently possible to achieve.'

'The ranged technique was worth 22 points, but this one is worth 30. It might not sound like a huge difference, but eight points represent nearly an entire level of Battle-Strength against all three kinds of opponents.'

'It's the difference between an Initial Commander Stage warrior killing an Early True Mage and killing a Mid True Mage.'

'These two levels can't be compared.'

"But there must be a way to publicize it without backfiring," Shang said. "He wants us to succeed, and he didn't give me any hints on how to bring this technique to the warriors. This means that he doesn't think that we need his help."

The Dean only looked at Shang with an even look. "Or he just wants to throw us in a problematic situation and see what we do. We are his entertainment. Don't forget that."

Shang frowned.

Yes, that could also be it.

The Dean and Shang both tried to think of a solution for several minutes.

They couldn't say they created it.

They couldn't say they found it.

They obviously couldn't say that they got it from some kind of God.

Sadly, no matter how long they thought, they couldn't find a solution.

"I can't think of a solution," Shang said.

"Me neither," the Dean answered as he looked at the book longingly.

"We could keep it a secret between the two of us, but I'm pretty sure that we will anger him if we do that. I don't think it's a good idea to get on his bad side."

Shang frowned.

He couldn't disagree with that..

 

Chapter 402 – Decision

Eventually, Shang came up with an idea, but it wasn't a very good one.

"We could just make copies of the book and dump them all over the Kingdom," he said. "Nobody would be able to link it back to us."

"That's wrong," the Dean said. "The Spell to copy the books leaves traces of someone's aura behind. Whoever copies the book will be found by the Dukes, and they will undergo a Mind Read. In the end, it will be linked back to one of us."

"Even if we send a proxy and kill the proxy after making the request, the Mages aren't stupid. They know what will happen if they copy this book. As soon as they get their hands on the book, they will immediately report it to their superiors."

"Additionally, it requires a lot of resources to make copies of books. We would need a True Mage, and they would never accept the request."

"The Bloodline Infusion is one thing, but this technique is something else. This technique is so advanced and useful to warriors that it puts the Bloodline Infusion to shame. The Bloodline Infusion might increase the power of the warriors, but that doesn't become relevant as long as they don't reach the True Path Stage."

"This technique might create hundreds of True Path Stage warriors within the next century. That would be akin to 100 new Dukes. The warriors would literally advance faster than the Mages."

When Shang heard that, he furrowed his brows. "That doesn't seem right. Why would this technique make warriors advance faster than Mages? Don't the Mages still have all their inheritances?"

"They do," the Dean said. "However, I don't think they are present in this place."

Shang raised an eyebrow. "With place, you mean the five Kingdoms?"

The Dean nodded. "You're not stupid. You should have realized that there is a wider world. Just the fact that we got to ask nine questions tells us as much. The powerful Mage that threw the Storm Eagle away is additional proof."

"I think the Mages on the outside have something similar or even better in the outer world, but that thing is not present in this place."

"While the Bloodline Infusion looks like a problem to the Mages, this technique will look like a genuine threat. I fear that the Council will immediately get rid of it with whatever means necessary."

At that moment, Shang got another idea.

"What about King Skythunder?"

"What about him?" the Dean asked.

"Couldn't he stop them?" he asked.

"He could, but why would he? This is something that might involve the outer world, and I'm sure that King Skythunder knows that. He might entertain us by allowing us to have the Bloodline Infusion, but I doubt that he would want to risk his life for us."

"Also, we wouldn't even be able to get ahold of him. Getting an audience with King Skythunder is beyond difficult."

Everything the Dean said made sense to Shang.

Copying the things inside the book was impossible without King Skythunder's explicit permission. The Council would immediately kill them and everyone involved in the matter.

"What if we only taught this technique verbally and only to a select few warriors?" Shang asked.

"Too dangerous and too inefficient," the Dean answered. "If only a single warrior with that knowledge receives a Mind Read, everything will be over."

"What about the Mind Barriers? The traitors always have those," Shang said.

"That Spell is too advanced," the Dean said. "Soran is the best Mage among us warriors, but he doesn't even know nearly enough to perform that Spell. Additionally, the Spell is top secret and only gets taught to Inquisitors and High Mages."

Shang could only sigh.

No matter what he came up with, it wouldn't work.

There were problems upon problems.

Shang tried his best to split up the problems into individual chunks.

The end goal was to have King Skythunder approve of the Spell.

To get his approval, they needed a good argument and a clear origin for the technique.

But all of that didn't matter if they couldn't even meet him.

At that moment, Shang thought of an idea.

However, it was very risky.

"What about Duke Whirlwind?" Shang asked.

"Jerald?" the Dean asked with a bit of surprise. Then, he furrowed his brows and scratched his chin in thought.

"Jerald is someone that also values honesty. He knows that he is risking his life by getting involved, and the bare minimum he would ask for would be the origin of this technique, which we can't explain."

"If we showed the technique to him, he probably wouldn't betray us, but he also wouldn't help us. This matter would be too dangerous for him. He would simply ask us never to speak of this matter again."

Shang looked at the table with furrowed brows.

"And if we had a good explanation?" Shang asked.

The Dean thought about that for a bit. "Not sure. He would either decline or help us. This is a high-risk, high-reward situation for him. He would be risking his life, but the potential rewards are tremendous. He wants to become King, and he essentially counts as the ruler of us warriors. He would gain a group of loyal followers that might be able to fight High Mages."

"The reward is tremendous, but the burden of convincing King Skythunder would fall on his shoulders."

"It is possible, but the origin of the technique is the very problem that stops us from even asking him for help."

Shang didn't answer the Dean and only looked at the table in contemplation.

'Just like Teacher, Duke Whirlwind is someone that highly values honesty. There might be a way to get him to our side if we are honest.'

'Additionally, even if we can't come up with a good origin for the technique, he might be able to.'

'It seems like it is impossible to publicize this technique without Duke Whirlwind's help.'

Shang closed his eye and took a deep breath.

Then, he looked at the ceiling for a bit.

He was weighing his options.

After a couple of seconds, Shang took another deep breath.

"Okay," Shang said with conviction as he opened his eye.

The Dean looked with a raised eyebrow at Shang.

"I've decided."

"I'm going to ask Duke Whirlwind for help."

The Dean only looked at Shang with a skeptical expression. "And how do you plan to explain the origin of the technique to him?"

Shang looked at the Dean.

"With honesty."

Both of the Dean's eyebrows rose.

"I'm going to tell him," Shang said.

"About the trial, about Earth, and about the God."

 

Chapter 403 – George

The Dean narrowed his eyes.

Obviously, he was not a fan of that suggestion.

“You will do no such thing,” he said with a threatening voice.

“Why not?” Shang asked. “What speaks against it?”

“This is about our origin and source of our power! He will also realize how we can remotely control our weapons! If the information gets out, we will attract the attention of the truly powerful Mages of this world! This goes beyond this little place where we are in. This pertains to the dark past and the fate of the Mage Emperor!”

“If they believe us, we will be branded as followers of the person that killed the person they view as a God! If they don’t believe us, they will kill us for disrespecting the Mage Emperor’s image!”

“Jerald doesn’t even need to betray us for that to happen. A powerful Mage might come from the outside and simply read his mind. What then?”

“You can’t possibly think about doing that. You are putting our lives on the line!” the Dean shouted with anger.

Shang had never seen the Dean get angry, but this time, he was genuinely angry.

However, Shang only narrowed his eye as he looked at the Dean. “We are constantly putting our lives on the line. We are constantly fighting against powerful enemies, and we can die whenever. What makes this so different from all the other times?”

“The difference, Shang,” the Dean said with a threatening tone, “is that our power won’t increase. You and I can use the technique just fine. When we find a solution in the future, we can still disperse it amongst the crowd, but for now, only us two can use it.”

“And how is that good in any way?” Shang asked. “You are getting older, and at some point, you won’t have the time to create a new Path anymore. You will die with your current power. Is that what you want?”

At that moment, the room became colder.

“My power is not for you to judge, boy,” the Dean said with a dark tone. “I know my power the best, and even though you are powerful, you are still a child in front of me. I’m over 150 years old, while you are barely 30. Do you think your bit of hard training can overcome 120 years of battle experience?”

Surprisingly, Shang only sneered. “120 years of battle experience? Excluding that sparring match against King Skythunder and your trampling by the Mountain Exploding Turtle, who have you actually fought ever since you reached the True Path Stage?”

BANG!

The Dean stood up with an explosive sound, his spear appearing inside his right hand. He looked at Shang with a gaze that spoke of coldness and rage.

Shang also stood up, but in comparison to the Dean, he slowly stood up and summoned his sword leisurely.

At that moment, the pressure of the two warriors clouded the room. If a third person were in here, they would think that the end of the world had arrived.

As they continued looking at each other, the air seemed to warp slightly under their pressure.

The Dean’s presence and Shang’s presence had an invisible fight in the atmosphere between them.

This was a battle of willpower and determination.

Suddenly, Shang’s arm moved just a little bit and his right eye widened.

SHING!

The Dean put his spear in front of him in a blocking motion.

At that moment, the Dean’s breathing slightly increased, but it wasn’t very visible from the outside.

Shang only looked deep into the Dean’s eyes.

They only looked at each other for several seconds.

Then, the Dean slowly put his spear down and looked at the floor.

A look of bitter realization could be seen on his face.

“Have I become complacent?” he asked quietly.

“You have become complacent,” Shang answered calmly as he also put his sword away. “You’ve been the Dean of this academy for decades. Due to the weakness of your Path and body, you have avoided fighting anyone else for too long.”

“You see the overwhelming power of your enemies and think that fighting back is futile, which is why you avoid fighting.”

“You say there’s nothing to gain for you? As I see it, there is nothing to gain for you as things stand right now.”

“If there were other True Path Stage warriors, you would count as below average, even if their Paths are just as weak and fragile as yours.”

“You’ve lost your edge.”

“You’ve lost your will to fight.”

“You’ve lost your courage to put your life on the line.”

Silence.

Earlier, when their presences had clashed, they had been equal.

However, the longer the clash continued, the more uncertain the Dean felt.

The Dean had realized what he had been feeling.

It was fear.

It wasn’t fear for his life or fear of Shang.

No, it was fear of fighting.

He didn’t want to fight.

Why?

Because he felt like he would lose, and he couldn’t take another loss.

The room remained silent for several seconds.

“What about him?” the Dean asked absentmindedly.

“If he didn’t want us to tell others, he would have told us,” Shang answered.

“What if he doesn’t want it, and he simply didn’t tell us to lay a trap for us for entertainment?”

“I doubt it,” Shang answered. “I can imagine the trap part, but I don’t think that he would kill us. We are his toys, and he knows that if he destroys his toys, he can’t play with them anymore.”

“Additionally, I think he really doesn’t care about if the world knows about him or not.”

“He represents the absolute peak of the world. He is to the world what King Skythunder is to the Skythunder Kingdom. Everything the people below him do has no effect on him.”

“It makes no difference if people know of him or not.”

“They can’t change anything regardless.”

Shang sighed.

“And lastly, I don’t think that anyone of significance would even believe us. In this world, both of us are nothing but children in a separate playground while all our parents are watching. There are Mages that have lived for thousands if not tens of thousands of years.”

“What could such weak and isolated people from the world actually know of the greater cosmos?”

“If I were to shout the truth to the entire Kingdom, everyone would simply think of me as an insane person, especially the powerful Mages.”

“They would think that I couldn’t handle that warriors are so inferior to Mages. So, I made up some God and some distant past that didn’t exist where warriors were actually powerful.”

“In the end, telling him won’t put us into danger, and it gives us an opportunity to bring the technique to the warriors.”

“Don’t forget, he wants us to increase the power of the warriors, and the rewards are this power we have to bring to them. Keeping it for only us two might be fine for us, but he might view it as breaking our agreement.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather take the risk than maybe anger him,” Shang said.

The Dean thought about Shang’s words for a while.

Then, he sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “When Jerald arrives to welcome you back, we will tell him.”

Shang nodded. “Thanks, Teacher.”

“Don’t call me that,” the Dean said.

Shang raised an eyebrow.

“You are stronger than me, and even if you are not, in a decade, you will be.”

“Call me George.”

Shang smiled a bit.

“Okay, George.”

 

Chapter 404 – George's Past

After this issue was resolved, Shang told George about the last decade.

He remained mostly truthful throughout his retelling, even telling him about the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom.

Of course, George realized that things weren’t adding up. After all, Shang had just returned from the Grandmountain Kingdom. The Spirit Spring Kingdom was on the other side of the world.

However, he also knew that this was probably related to the political thing Shang had referred to earlier. So, he didn’t ask.

Naturally, Shang didn’t tell George about his control over the Abominations. This was a secret Shang couldn’t tell anyone in the world, lest he was viewed as the enemy of the entire world, which he kind of was.

After hearing everything about the last decade from Shang’s mouth, George could see how Shang had changed so much.

He definitely hadn’t had it easy.

George had a look of nostalgia in his eyes while listening to Shang. Hearing of Shang’s problems, he was reminded of the time he had been hunted.

He hadn’t always had Duke Whirlwind as his backer, and there had been no Warrior Academy back then.

The Mages realized that George was very talented and powerful, which made them fear him.

George had been on the run from an angry noble of the Mages more than once.

That was until the young Duke Whirlwind saw his potential and recruited him.

All of this happened around 80 years ago.

George also told Shang a bit about his past. Shang was no longer the young boy that didn’t know how important some secrets were.

Additionally, it felt good to tell someone else about the things he had gone through.

After listening to George, Shang also finally learned what happened to the person that came from Earth that had come before George.

“That’s when I killed him,” George said after telling Shang about his teacher.

Shang nodded. “Understandable.”

George’s predecessor was someone that acted kind and acted like he wanted to help everyone, but he had actually used George as a guinea pig for his experiments.

In a way, George’s predecessor was similar to that researcher in the Grandmountain Kingdom that had experimented on Shang for a couple of months.

George knew that his predecessor would get rid of him if he ever managed to become a threat to him, which was why he had fled one day.

And when he gained the power to kill him, he did just that.

Several years later, George found a young boy that had been banished into the wilderness by his village due to something his parents had done.

George saw the willpower in his eyes and accepted him as his disciple.

That was Soran.

A couple more years later, Soran and George were traveling somewhere when they saw a young girl cowering in front of a beast that had just killed her family.

George sent Soran to fight the beast since it was just the right power for Soran, and he won.

The girl looked with shiny eyes at Soran and swore that she wanted to follow them.

George and Soran declined and left.

However, the girl kept following them, thinking keeping up with them was some sort of examination she had to pass.

George just wanted to keep going, but Soran kept holding him back since he felt bad for the girl.

When she collapsed in the middle of the road, Soran pleaded with George to accept her, and he eventually relented.

That was when Viera, George’s second disciple, joined the group.

Viera kept clinging to Soran all the time, and Soran quickly learned to regret his decision to accept her.

Several more years later, Soran convinced George to start an academy. He had unjustly lost his home in the past, and he didn’t want the same thing to happen to others. He wanted to create a place for the people that wanted to become powerful but couldn’t become Mages.

George was not a fan of it. Sadly, Soran went to Duke Whirlwind and told him about the idea. After all, Soran wanted to create the academy. This was his thing, not his teacher’s.

And after that day, Duke Whirlwind kept pestering George with that idea.

One had to say that Duke Whirlwind was far better at convincing George than Soran.

And with that, the Warrior Academy was born.

About twenty years later, George reached the True Path Stage, and the Warrior Academy reached global fame.

About 40 years have passed since that day.

Shang was quite interested in George’s past. He also definitely had it quite rough.

After George told his story, he remained silent for some time.

It seemed like he was contemplating something.

Shang noticed it and didn’t say anything.

“Tell me the truth of what happened,” George suddenly said.

Shang raised an eyebrow. “That’s something of political interest, and it would be better if you didn’t know about it.”

George could only sigh. “We are about to tell Jerald the truth about our existence. We are in this together now. Remaining neutral while we are asking him for such a gigantic favor would be unfair to him.”

Shang’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Does that mean…?”

“I might as well join Jerald’s camp,” George said with a bit of defeat in his voice. “However, I can’t speak for the academy or the warriors. With the Star Map published, Mervin will soon advance to the True Path Stage, and I want everything as it is right now for him.”

“I’ve become too old, and my perspective is skewed by years of laziness and comfort. If he wants the Warrior Academy to remain neutral, fine. If he wants it to join Jerald, fine.”

“In the end, it’s his choice.”

“But I, as an individual, will join Jerald’s camp.”

Shang nodded. “And Ranos?”

“Forget it,” George answered directly. “Duke Whirlwind is a Mage. In Ranos’ eyes, Duke Whirlwind is just like the Council, the enemy.”

“What do you think Mervin will decide?” Shang asked.

“I don’t know,” George answered. “Mervin is very wise. He says things and makes choices that seem naïve or stupid when you hear them but always work out perfectly in the long run. I’ve long since given up predicting what he thinks.”

Shang had to laugh a bit at George’s helplessness.

George had always seemed like a cold and unfeeling colossus in Shang’s eyes, but as soon as he got to know him a bit more, Shang realized that he was actually a bit sentimental.

George was also just a human.

“So, tell me. What really happened?” George asked.

Shang only smiled. “Well, everything was true. I only kept out the last part.”

Then, Shang told George everything he had told Duke Whirlwind and how he had a deterring effect on the Abominations.

“So, you’ve actually been back for over six months,” George said. “Honestly, I should have known. I couldn’t think of another person that could have done that to Jera Orvis’ son.”

At that point, Shang and George heard the voices of people coming from outside.

Morning had arrived.

And just a bit later, George took out his Communication Crystal.

Duke Whirlwind was calling.

After talking with Duke Whirlwind for a bit, George put the Communication Crystal away.

“He will be here within 30 minutes,” he said.

Shang nodded. “And we’re going to tell him,” he said.

George nodded.

“We will.”

 

Chapter 405 – George Joins Duke Whirlwind

After around 20 minutes, Duke Whirlwind appeared in front of the academy. During the day, there were no guards in front of the gates since there were plenty of powerful teachers walking around. They would notice if someone entered that shouldn't have entered.

Shang looked out of a window of George's office and looked at the packed training grounds. Shang couldn't help remembering the time when he had been one of those students.

Duke Whirlwind walked alongside the road towards the main building, being greeted by several students and teachers.

He greeted them back with a smile and entered the building. Duke Whirlwind didn't need to ask where George and Shang were currently. After all, he had a Spirit Sense.

After getting to the fifth floor, Duke Whirlwind entered the office without knocking. Why would he? The two occupants already knew that he was there.

When he entered, he looked at Shang, and a bright smile appeared on his face. "Shang, so good to see you after so many years."

"He knows," Shang said.

This took Duke Whirlwind by surprise, and he looked at George.

George only nodded. "I know that he's been back for a while."

At that point, Duke Whirlwind's smile became a bit awkward, but Shang and George could feel the hidden frustration and anger inside it.

Duke Whirlwind had trusted Shang and had treated him as one of his closest people, but he had told someone else about their collaboration without asking him first.

This might not be a betrayal, but it was a sign of untrustworthiness.

"Don't immediately assume bad things, Jerald," George said. "He told me that he couldn't tell me anything because I took on a politically neutral stance."

Duke Whirlwind raised an eyebrow as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"And that means?" he asked.

George only sighed. "It means that I have stayed neutral for long enough."

Duke Whirlwind's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Yes, Jerald," George continued. "I'm willing to be part of your camp. However, I can only speak for myself, not the academy."

Duke Whirlwind was quite surprised when he heard that, and he looked at Shang for confirmation.

Shang nodded. "Yes, George is willing to help us against the Council and the other Dukes."

Duke Whirlwind almost couldn't believe it.

He had tried to get George to be a true ally for several decades, but after only a single conversation with Shang, he had actually joined him.

"Are you sure?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "You were always so against it."

George nodded. "That was because I have become complacent without realizing it. I valued my safety and ego above my power."

George looked at Shang. "Seeing him reach my power in only 15 years opened my eyes to my stagnating life."

"The time to stay on the sidelines has passed. If I want to progress further on the path to power, I need to be willing to risk my life again."

Duke Whirlwind could only sigh when he heard that. He had been with George the longest, and he felt pity when he saw that George had essentially stopped growing.

However, he never commented on it.

He didn't want to hurt George's feelings.

"That's good to hear," Duke Whirlwind said. "This also makes it easier for me. To be frank, I really don't enjoy lying to you, George, but you know why I'm doing it."

George nodded. "I know. If you tell me everything, I will inevitably be drawn into the conflict. You were only respecting my choice."

"It's good that you know," Duke Whirlwind said.

Then, he looked at Shang. "So, what have you already told him?"

"Everything you know," Shang said.

Then, he looked at Duke Whirlwind. "And more."

This made Duke Whirlwind raise an eyebrow. Sure, he was pretty certain that Shang hadn't told him everything about what had happened to him, but that was normal. Everyone had some secrets they wanted to keep hidden.

However, acknowledging it openly was weird and a bit hurtful. It was like talking to a friend and telling them that they were not their best friend and that they had a much better friend.

"That's understandable," Duke Whirlwind said without the atmosphere becoming awkward. "He is your Teacher, after all."

Shang only sighed, and Duke Whirlwind noticed that the atmosphere shifted subtly.

"And now, I, or more precisely we, will be telling you these things as well," Shang said.

Duke Whirlwind raised an eyebrow and looked at the two of them. "Okay, and what's the occasion?"

"We need your help," George said.

"I'm taking it that this help will not be of the easy and simple kind, yes?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"You might lose your life," George said.

Duke Whirlwind's eyes narrowed a bit.

He was constantly under the threat of losing his life, but he knew George. If George phrased it like that, it meant that this would be far more dangerous than Duke Whirlwind's current situation.

"Is that why you decided to join me? To repay me for the favor?" Jerald asked.

"No," George said. "I genuinely realized what's wrong with me, and I realize now that I need a true ally, not just a friend."

Duke Whirlwind looked at George closely to make sure that he wasn't lying or obfuscating the truth.

"Alright, what is this favor?"

As soon as Duke Whirlwind asked, George pushed over the book of the Star Map.

"Read it," he said.

Duke Whirlwind looked at the book with furrowed brows.

Then, he opened it and read it.

Due to his powerful mind, Duke Whirlwind read it far faster than George.

The more Duke Whirlwind read the wider his eyes got.

This was ridiculous!

The concepts in here were so ethereal, massive, and advanced that Duke Whirlwind would refuse to believe that such a technique existed if he wasn't reading and understanding it at this very moment.

After Duke Whirlwind had read it, he put the book down.

It was like his world had undergone an upheaval.

How could something this advanced exist?!

And, even more, how could something that advanced be specifically for physical fighters?!

Weren't Mages supposed to be the strongest and most advanced kinds of people?!

But then, Duke Whirlwind remembered that powerful Mage that had thrown the Storm Eagle away like it had been a child.

'Right, even though I've never seen anything like it, there could be far stronger and more advanced techniques outside this place,' Duke Whirlwind thought.

"Is this a technique from the… outside?" Duke Whirlwind asked, trying to find the right word.

"Kind of," Shang answered. "It comes from the very distant past when physical fighters were just as powerful as the Mages."

If anyone else had said this to Duke Whirlwind, he wouldn't believe them.

However, he knew Shang and George. Additionally, he had seen the Star Map with his own eyes.

"And how did you come by this technique from the past?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

Shang and George shared a look.

Then, Shang looked back at Duke Whirlwind.

"What we are going to tell you now is the truth, and it will sound ridiculous. However, I can assure you that we are not lying. It will also answer many open questions you have about us but don't want to ask."

Duke Whirlwind wasn't sure how he should feel about Shang's warning.

Additionally, Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang had said "we" instead of "I".

This meant that the two of them were potentially connected on an even deeper level than just teacher and student.

"Let me finish everything before you ask any questions, okay?" Shang said.

Duke Whirlwind furrowed his brows. "Alright."

Then, Shang began.

"I received the Star Map from the God of this world."

 

Chapter 406 – The Truth

The things Duke Whirlwind heard Shang talk about were unbelievable. They almost sounded like ramblings or fever dreams of a religious zealot.

However, Shang wasn't talking about this so-called God with respect, which gave this entire conversation a more realistic feel to it.

It took a long time for Shang to finish retelling his story and all the details he hadn't told Duke Whirlwind yet.

Of course, Shang kept his true connection with the Abominations still a secret from both of them.

After Shang was done, Duke Whirlwind only looked at the two of them with a complex expression.

If he didn't know them very well, he would believe that they were crazy.

Several seconds of silence passed.

"Do you have any additional proof, aside from the Star Map?" he asked.

"Our weapons," Shang said.

At that moment, the gigantic Sword began to hover in the air.

"As I've said, they are alive," Shang said. "You can check if we are using any form of Mana to remotely make them do that. We don't know enough about Magic to fool your senses."

Duke Whirlwind kept looking at the hovering sword and tried his very best to feel any kind of Mana leave Shang's body to manipulate the weapon.

Weapons weren't alive. They couldn't just do things of their own accord.

However, no matter how much Duke Whirlwind looked, he simply saw no indication of Shang manipulating his weapon.

Duke Whirlwind had seen Jerald's spear levitate a couple of times, but he had simply assumed that this was something warriors could do at the True Path Stage. He hadn't even thought about his weapon being alive.

"I can also show you proof of my inner world," Shang said.

Shang took off one of his Space Rings and showed it to Duke Whirlwind.

"Focus on it," he said.

Duke Whirlwind looked at the Space Ring.

SHING!

And suddenly, the Space Ring was gone.

Duke Whirlwind's eyes opened widely.

He was certain that these two didn't have the magical knowledge to just make a Space Ring disappear right in front of him without any sign.

And putting a Space Ring into another Space Ring was impossible!

Even more, Shang and George didn't even have any other Space Rings on them.

"What's the limit of your inner world?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"There is no limit," Shang said. "The only two requirements are that I can only store dead things and things that I can lift."

Duke Whirlwind rubbed his chin in thought.

SHING!

Then, a massive piece of ore appeared in front of him. It was nearly two cubic meters big.

"You can lift that, right?" he asked.

SHING!

The piece of ore vanished without a problem.

Duke Whirlwind had felt no Mana or force interact with the ore, but it still vanished.

Even more, he had put a small tracking Magic Circle on it. Even if it were inside a Space Ring, he would still be able to feel its whereabouts.

But it had just vanished!

It was like it no longer existed!

By now, it became very difficult for Duke Whirlwind to deny the truth.

There was too much evidence.

Duke Whirlwind looked at the ceiling for a while, unsure of what this meant for the world.

There had been powerful physical fighters in the past?

This entire world is just entertainment for some God?

It was difficult to take in.

After a minute of silence, Duke Whirlwind sighed.

"You can keep the ore," he said. "It was the special Commander Stage ore you've asked for. There's currently a tracking Magic Circle on it, but as soon as you melt it down, it will vanish."

Then, Duke Whirlwind looked at Sword. "Although, it probably won't be molten down but consumed. I mean, your weapon is alive, apparently."

Shang was happy to hear that this was the Entropy Ore he desperately needed.

He quickly summoned the ore and put it beside him.

Then, Duke Whirlwind saw Sword hover over the ore and stab into it. It was like the ore didn't exist for it.

And then, Duke Whirlwind saw the ore shrink.

By now, he had accepted that Shang and George were telling the truth, but it was still weird to see a living weapon that absorbed metal.

"I always wondered which smith could make a weapon for the True Path Stage, George," Duke Whirlwind said as he looked at the spear behind George.

"Now, you know," George said.

Duke Whirlwind nodded, and his gaze went to the book on the table.

"And this is the reason why you're telling me all of this, right?" he asked.

"It was his idea," George said, glancing at Shang. "I didn't want to share all of this, but he made me realize that it's better this way."

Duke Whirlwind wordlessly took the book into his hands again and leafed through it.

"We need King Skythunder's permission," Duke Whirlwind said neutrally.

"Yes," George said.

"And you couldn't find a way to get hold of him, which was why you came to me," Duke Whirlwind added.

"Yes," Shang said, "and we couldn't find a reasonable explanation for the technique's origins."

At that point, Duke Whirlwind's right eyebrow rose, and he looked at Shang. "Really?"

Shang and George were a bit surprised by Duke Whirlwind's surprise. "Yes," Shang answered.

Duke Whirlwind only looked with skepticism at Shang and George. "What do you think I thought when I first looked at the technique?"

Shang and George remained silent for about a second.

Then, George frowned as Shang put his right hand to his face in embarrassment.

How hadn't they thought of that?

Duke Whirlwind only chuckled when he saw their reactions.

"Well, you two are not used to lying," Duke Whirlwind said.

"From the outside," Shang said with a voice that showed that he thought of himself as an idiot.

"I got this technique from a powerful Mage from the outside," Shang repeated.

Duke Whirlwind chuckled again. "There is your origin," he said with a smile.

Duke Whirlwind closed the book and held it in his right hand. "This technique will cause a major upheaval in the entire Skythunder Kingdom. Basically no one knows about the outside world. Everyone believes that the Abyss at the edges of the outer Zones is the end of the world."

"Introducing this technique will reveal the outer world to everyone, and things will change."

"Even more, we know that the truly powerful Mages know about us. After all, one of them literally threw a Zone Beast away ten years ago."

"A lot of questions will be asked. Questions like, where are we? Why are we here? Why are the Kings the most powerful Mages when there are so many stronger ones outside?"

"I can tell you for a fact that the Council will do their absolute best to stop us. This is not like the Bloodline Infusion in the least. This is far greater. The members of the Council might come personally to kill us when no one is around."

Shang and George had anticipated something like that, but they hadn't fully realized that even the Council might appear personally.

One had to remember that every member of the Council was a Late High Mage, at least!

"Do you have a solution?" Shang asked.

Duke Whirlwind leaned back and rubbed his chin in thought.

"I can see why you said that this might be very dangerous to me," he said.

But then, Duke Whirlwind smirked.

"But I think I got this!"

 

Chapter 407 – Asking King Skythunder

“What brings you before us today, Jerald?”

Duke Whirlwind performed a short and polite bow in front of King Skythunder, who currently sat on his throne with an interested gleam in his eyes.

On the left side of the room was the Council, while the Archduke was on the right side.

Duke Whirlwind stood in front of the throne together with Shang and George.

“King Skythunder, Council, Archduke,” Duke Whirlwind said as he summoned several books. “Please look at these books.”

After that, the three books floated over to the present people, who looked at the books with furrowed brows.

For a while, silence fell over the palace as everyone was entranced in reading.

“Hahahaha!”

King Skythunder was the first to finish reading due to his powerful mind, and he burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, the Councils’ eyes widened more and more as rage, fear, and frustration became visible in them.

“Outrageous!”

“Blasphemy!”

“This must be a trick by the Magic Purity Kingdom!”

“This would destroy millennia of hard-fought peace!”

Obviously, the Council very quickly protested.

“Jerald,” the Archduke suddenly said with a relatively calm voice. “You did well bringing us this dangerous weapon. I assume you already took care of all the people that have come into contact with this?”

Duke Whirlwind didn’t answer.

The Archduke looked at Duke Whirlwind with furrowed brows. She had just given him the possibility to correct the course of his action. As long as he said that he was handing it over, he didn’t need to die.

The Council kept shouting, and some of them even destroyed the books in anger.

This was blasphemy!

This would overturn the natural order of things!

Mages were chosen by the world to be the most powerful existences!

It had always been like this, and it will always be like this!

“Jerald.”

The hall fell into silence as King Skythunder spoke.

“What do you plan on doing with this Star Map?” he asked with a smirk.

Duke Whirlwind only smiled politely. “That, of course, depends on your judgment, my King.”

“I bring this technique before you today so that you may decide what we all should do with it.”

King Skythunder leaned back on his throne.

Then, he looked to his right at the Council. “Any opinions, Council?”

“Destroy it,” the Head of the Council answered coldly.

The four others beside her nodded in agreement.

“Destroy it and get rid of everyone who knows about it,” she said.

King Skythunder only smirked. “You want me to kill you?” he asked.

A shiver ran down the Council Head’s back.

“Excuse me, my King,” she quickly said. “I have phrased my statement incorrectly.”

“What I meant to say is that every trace of this blasphemous technique ought to be eradicated. Naturally, this does not include the people present in this hall. Everyone in here is loyal to our King.”

“What are the reasons for this decision?” King Skythunder asked.

“Instability,” the Head of the Council said. “Our internal conflict makes the Skythunder Kingdom more resilient, but having too much conflict will make it unstable.”

“Introducing this technique to the public would allow the warriors to close the gap between them and us, and after years of being on the weaker side, they will get lost in what it means to be responsible for your power.”

“A war between the warriors and Mages will occur, and this war will only occur inside the Skythunder Kingdom, allowing our true enemies to attack us.”

“For the safety of the Skythunder Kingdom, we can’t allow this technique to be released to the public.”

King Skythunder’s expression didn’t change, and he looked to his left at the Archduke. “What do you think, Miriam?”

The Archduke seemed calm. “I think this is a trick of the Magic Purity Kingdom’s King,” she said.

“The existence of this technique makes no sense. Mages have ruled supreme over these lands for thousands upon thousands of years, and we Mages have not managed to create something this advanced while being the strongest and most intelligent.”

“I believe the Magic Purity Kingdom has created this Star Map to corrupt our warriors. Practicing in it might change the warriors’ perception and see the Mages as their enemies, creating a civil war within the Kingdom.”

“I also believe that this technique can’t accomplish what it promises to accomplish. There are only two True Path Stage warriors in the world, and it’s impossible to create something like this without looking at thousands of them. There is simply no way to create something this advanced.”

King Skythunder only rubbed his chin with a smirk. Obviously, he found the current situation very interesting and amusing.

“Jerald,” King Skythunder said as he looked at Duke Whirlwind. “What are the origins of this Star Map?”

Duke Whirlwind smiled politely and looked over at Shang. “He was the one that brought it to me. It might be better if he tells you where he got it from.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Shang, and he felt quite a bit of pressure. It wasn’t as bad as the last time he was here, but it was still a lot of pressure.

King Skythunder looked at Shang with interest.

He remembered this warrior.

“Tell us, Shang,” King Skythunder commanded.

Shang stepped forward and performed a short and polite bow.

“In order to tell you of the origins of the technique, I have to tell you about my ten-year stay in the Grandmountain Kingdom.”

When they heard that, the Council furrowed their brows. Obviously, they didn’t know the whereabouts of some random warrior, but the fact that Shang had been in an enemy Kingdom for over ten years was concerning.

The possibility of the Star Map being a trap by the enemy increased.

“Tell us,” King Skythunder said as he leaned back on his throne again.

Shang nodded and began narrating his tale.

When the Storm Eagle attacked the black building, Shang fell into it and entered a portal. After that, he met a truly powerful Mage that forcefully teleported him away.

“He’s lying,” the Head of the Council said. “Mages can’t teleport others.”

The other members agreed.

However, there was an interested gleam in King Skythunder’s eyes. “Describe the Mage’s appearance.”

Shang did just that, and after he was finished, King Skythunder grinned. “Did she wear some special ornaments or armor?”

Shang shook his head. “No, she was dressed in plain purple robes.”

King Skythunder nodded.

SHING!

Suddenly, an image appeared in front of King Skythunder.

Even though King Skythunder didn’t have a Light Affinity, controlling the Light Mana enough to create an image wasn’t difficult for him. Even Adepts could do that as long as they had a Light Affinity.

One had to remember that one could technically control all kinds of Mana. An Affinity was just that, an Affinity.

Of course, controlling the kind of Mana one had no Affinity for took maybe hundreds if not thousands of times more practice.

The image depicted a woman with silver hair in silver armor. There were wings made of lightning on her back, and she carried a spear.

“Is that her?” King Skythunder asked.

As soon as Shang saw the image, his right eye widened in shock.

“Yes, that’s her,” Shang said in surprise.

How did King Skythunder know her?!

 

Chapter 408 – Deliberation

King Skythunder only continued smirking. “You’ve been quite lucky to catch a glimpse of her in real life. I still didn’t have the pleasure,” he said.

The Council, the Archduke, Duke Whirlwind, and George were all shocked.

The first two were shocked since King Skythunder had basically confirmed that Shang wasn’t lying, while the second two were shocked that King Skythunder actually knew this powerful Mage.

“She’s the Starlight Queen,” King Skythunder said.

The Council furrowed their brows. They hadn’t heard of such a queen before.

But when Shang heard the word queen, he realized the deeper meaning.

The meaning of King and Queen in the outside world was different from here.

Here, being a King meant having a Kingdom.

But on the outside, it represented a Realm.

For a short moment, Shang wrung with himself.

Should he ask or not?

In the end, he decided to ask.

“Queen, as in like the Ice King?” he asked.

The Council grew more confused. They also didn’t know of an Ice King.

A look of interest and surprise entered King Skythunder’s eyes. “Can you describe this Ice King to me?” he asked.

Shang nodded and described the appearance of the Ice King, the powerful lion he had fought.

“Interesting,” King Skythunder said after listening to Shang. “You seem to have come in contact with quite some high-ranking existences. Yes, Queen, as in similar to the Ice King.”

Shang knew what that meant.

This meant that the Starlight Queen was one of the most powerful Mages in the entire world!

“Continue,” King Skythunder said. “I’m interested in your story now.”

Shang didn’t dare to ask how King Skythunder knew of the Starlight Queen and the Ice King.

Over the next couple of minutes, Shang told them about what he had experienced in the Grandmountain Kingdom. Naturally, he didn’t go into detail on the unimportant parts.

It was a shortened version of what Shang had told the Inquisitor.

But there was one addition.

One day, Shang was visited by an extremely powerful and mysterious man who took an interest in him due to his Battle-Strength as a mere physi.

King Skythunder asked for a description of the man, and Shang described the God. Shang never spoke of the truth regarding the God’s existence and only called him a mysterious but powerful man.

“He doesn’t sound familiar,” King Skythunder said.

Shang nodded.

He had already expected that.

There was probably not a single person alive aside from Shang, George, and Duke Whirlwind who knew of the God. Oh, and that one Mage in the Magic Purity Kingdom.

Shang told King Skythunder how that man had put him through a trial. He had to fight several beasts to prove his power.

At one point, after Shang had defeated a blue lioness, the powerful man told Shang that this species was the mate of the Ice King. Sadly, he couldn’t get one of the Ice King’s children to fight Shang.

“And after I defeated the lioness, he handed me the Star Map,” Shang said. “He said he is interested in seeing the warriors become more powerful. He called the current state of affairs boring.”

“I’ve been using this technique for a couple of years now, and it has helped me immensely in my progress. I don’t think it is fake,” Shang said.

Right now, the Council was frustrated and confused. They had never heard of these kinds of existences.

“Interesting,” King Skythunder said as he looked at the book in his hands. “It seems like someone that shouldn’t have gotten involved got involved.”

King Skythunder remained quiet for a couple of seconds while contemplating something.

“I can tell you all that this technique is genuine,” he said.

When the Council heard that, it was like their world had broken down.

It was actually real?!

But how?!

At that moment, King Skythunder’s smirk returned. “After all, this isn’t the only Star Map.”

At that moment, Shang, George, and Duke Whirlwind also looked at King Skythunder in shock.

“It isn’t?” Duke Whirlwind asked.

King Skythunder nodded. “Yes, but I can’t elaborate on it right now.”

The book in King Skythunder’s hand vanished as he looked at the people in his hall.

“The meeting ends now,” he said. “I can’t make a decision on this matter at this very moment. Let’s just say it needs further deliberation.”

None of the people present were happy about hearing this.

The Council wanted to ban that technique and kill everyone that knew about it, while the three visitors wanted to know if they could survive or not. After all, if the technique was regarded as forbidden or something similar, Shang and George might very well lose their lives.

However, none of them dared to object.

“Until I say otherwise, Shang, George, and Jerald are not to be attacked,” King Skythunder said as he looked at the Council.

The Council politely bowed to the King.

Then, King Skythunder looked at the three visitors. “You may leave. I will let Jerald know about my decision.”

“Thank you, King Skythunder,” the three of them said with a respectful bow.

The group dispersed, leaving King Skythunder alone inside his halls.

For several minutes, King Skythunder only continued sitting on his throne.

Eventually, he left his castle and walked over to a nearby hill.

He sat down and looked at his Kingdom for a while.

Then, he took out a Communication Crystal that looked very different from the normal ones.

It was purple, and there was a lightning bolt in the middle of it.

“You might want to come here for a second,” he said. “I’ve found something very interesting.”

King Skythunder put the crystal away again and looked at the Skythunder Zone.

A couple of minutes later, someone landed a couple of meters away from him.

“Is there anything you need?” the Supervisor asked with a bored tone. He wasn’t a big fan of going somewhere just because one of his employees wanted him to come.

However, King Skythunder never contacted him, which meant that this had to be something important.

King Skythunder didn’t look at him and only summoned a book.

Then, he threw it over.

“Look what I’ve found floating around in my Kingdom,” he said.

The Supervisor looked at the book with furrowed brows and read it.

After just a short moment, his eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Someone adapted the Star Map for physis?”

 

Chapter 409 – Going Up the Ranks

The Supervisor looked at the Star Map for a while longer, trying to understand who had adapted it to physis and why.

"This isn't something that could be created by someone from this Area," the Supervisor said. "Even I would need thousands of True Path Stage warriors and hundreds if not thousands of years of research. I doubt that a High Mage or even an Archmage could create something like that."

King Skythunder didn't look at the Supervisor. "I also can't find out who made this copy. Apparently, it's the original."

The Supervisor analyzed the book and realized that he also couldn't tell anything about the creator.

Every book must have been written by someone, and they must have left a piece of their unique aura behind.

One could find out a bit about their temperament, their power, their Affinity, and a couple of other things just by analyzing the book. Of course, the amount of information one could find out depended on the powers of the writer and the analyzer.

"Same for me," the Supervisor said with a frown. "I can't tell anything about the person that made the copy. Where did you get it from?"

"One of the warriors in my Kingdom said that they got it from a powerful Mage that made him go through several trials. Only when he proved that he could win against an Ice Lioness one level above him did he get the book," King Skythunder answered.

"Oh?" the Supervisor uttered. "That's very impressive for a physi. It seems the Area has done its duty, even if it is in a direction that might not be too desirable."

"He wants to publish this technique to every warrior," King Skythunder said.

The Supervisor frowned as he looked at the Star Map for a while longer.

"Well, the normal Star Map isn't available in this Area for a reason. Logically, this one also shouldn't be allowed to spread in here according to the rules," the Supervisor answered.

"However, not even I know of this particular Star Map. Additionally, I don't know who created it."

A couple of seconds of silence and deliberation passed.

"I have to ask the Manager for advice," the Supervisor said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

King Skythunder didn't answer.

After the Supervisor realized that King Skythunder didn't answer him, he left with the book without saying anything.

King Skythunder only continued sitting on the hill, looking at his Kingdom.

A small grin could be seen on his face.

Meanwhile, the Supervisor flew over to his home in the Magic Purity Kingdom and took out a Communication Crystal that looked just like King Skythunder's.

"Yes, what do you need?" said a voice coming out from the Communication Crystal.

"Sir, a Star Map adapted to physis has appeared in Area 23," the Supervisor said.

"A Star Map adapted to physis?" the voice asked with a bit of surprise.

"Correct, sir," the Supervisor said.

For a while, nothing came out of the Communication Crystal.

"Do you have the original?" the Manager asked.

"Yes," the Supervisor answered.

"I'll be there in two hours."

"Thank you, sir," the Supervisor said.

The connection of the Communication Crystal was cut, and the Supervisor only waited in silence.

BANG!

About two hours later, a golden lightning bolt hit the ground in front of the Supervisor, and a man in pure golden armor appeared. He had silver hair and seemed to only be about 20 years old.

The Supervisor handed over the book to the Manager, who read and fully understood it in barely 20 seconds.

Then, the Manager frowned just like the Supervisor when he had read through the Star Map.

"I can't tell anything about the creator of this book," the Manager said.

The Supervisor looked with shock at the Manager.

Even the Manager couldn't?!

But the Manager was an Illustrious Mage Lord, and he was a fully-fledged member of the Lightning Manor!

"Sir, what do we do with the technique?" the Supervisor asked.

"Tell me how this technique appeared in Area 23 first," the Manager ordered.

The Supervisor quickly recounted everything King Skythunder had told him.

"That Mage doesn't sound familiar," the Manager said. "This technique must have been created by a Mage Lord, at the least, and I know a lot of them. However, I've never heard of someone that has such an eccentric appearance."

"A Mage Lord?" the Supervisor asked with a bit of surprise. He had thought that some special technique had been used to hide who had written that book. He hadn't expected that a Mage Lord would be part of this.

Most Mage Lords followed one of the Emperors, and only a select few were unaffiliated.

If this specific Mage Lord were unaffiliated, it wouldn't be a big deal.

However, if one of the affiliated Mage Lords interfered with the Areas under the Lightning Manor's jurisdiction, this could become an international incident!

The Manager nodded. "I can't make a judgment on the technique until we know where it comes from and who created it," he said. "I'll have to ask the Reconnaissance General."

"The Starlight Queen?" the Supervisor asked in shock.

When he had gotten ahold of the technique, he would have never expected it to even reach the Starlight Queen's eyes.

This was only some technique for Commander Stage warriors!

"I'll contact you when I know more," the Manager said.

BANG!

And with an explosion of golden lightning, he vanished.

The Supervisor only looked with surprise at the place where the Manager had just been.

The only thing he could do now was to wait.

This was now in the hands of people far outside his Realm.

Meanwhile, a golden lightning bolt shot with unimaginable speed past the sky. With this speed, it would barely take a minute to travel from the southern edge of the Skythunder Kingdom to the northern edge of the Blackshadow Kingdom.

It was ridiculously fast!

About two hours later, the lightning bolt shot further up into the sky. It had already been flying far above the layer of clouds, but a second layer of clouds appeared above it.

The clouds were far darker, and they were filled with lightning.

Luckily, the Manager knew this area very well, and he got past the dangerous bolts in just a couple of minutes.

Eventually, the Manager appeared above the layer of clouds and landed in front of an unimaginably big castle.

He walked past the entrance, greeting the guards that were on duty, and directly walked along the biggest hallway.

Just before the biggest door, the Manager took a turn and walked to the left into a smaller hallway.

A couple of kilometers further, he entered another hallway to his right, which led into yet another hallway.

Some more kilometers further, he went to the left again and then stopped at a door to the left.

He waited in front of the door for a couple of seconds without doing anything.

Then, the door opened on its own, and he stepped inside.

The Manager entered an area that looked a bit like an office from Earth. There were plenty of desks, and the Manager could even see a couple of Mage Lords going through several documents.

Mage Lords were the lowest-ranking people in the Lightning Manor, barely good enough to handle some documents.

Luckily, as the manager of a fifth of the Development Areas of the Lightning Manor, the Manager was of a higher ranking than these mere document processors.

The Manager entered and walked past all the working Mage Lords until he arrived in front of a desk at the end of the room.

It looked just like any other desk, but the person sitting and working there couldn't be compared to everyone else in the room.

"Is there something to report?" the Starlight Queen asked in a professional tone that hid her boredom.

"Yes, my Lady," the Manager said with the highest respect.

The Starlight Queen was one of the most powerful people in the entire world!

She was the General of the Lightning Manor's Reconnaissance Division, essentially ruling over a quarter of all its forces!

She was responsible for managing all Developing Areas and all the information gathering for the Lightning Manor.

The Manager took out the Star Map and respectfully handed it over. "This arrived in Area 23, and I can't discern any information about the creator of the technique or the writer of the book."

This piqued the Starlight Queen's interest, and she looked at the book.

The book opened and immediately closed again.

She had read and understood the entire thing just by doing that.

Then, she looked at the book with furrowed brows, just like the Supervisor and the Manager had done.

"Me neither," she commented.

The Manager's jaw nearly hit the floor.

 

Chapter 410 – Good Times

The Manager couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had already been surprised that he couldn't glean any information from the book, but it was something completely different if not even the Starlight Queen could do so!

"What should we do, my Lady?" the Manager asked.

The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a while longer. "Tell me where that technique comes from."

The Manager quickly told her everything he had heard from the Supervisor.

"Hmm," the Starlight Queen muttered after hearing everything. "Getting an Ice Lioness from the Ice King's Domain is not an easy feat. It had either been captured by a very weak force that didn't enter the Ice King's eyes or someone above its power."

"Additionally, I believe that the person had disguised themselves, which is why they don't feel familiar," she added.

"My Lady, what if the small warrior that got that book was lying?" the Manager asked.

"No, he wasn't," the Starlight Queen said with confidence.

This confused the Manager a bit.

When the Starlight Queen saw the Manager's confusion, she explained. "Mage Kings have a deeper connection to the world and reality itself. What you have spoken about resonates with reality. There are some obfuscations, but the retelling of the Mage's identity rings true with reality. That's how I know that the warrior didn't lie about the identity of the Mage."

"Thank you for explaining, my Lady," the Manager said respectfully.

The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a bit longer.

"What should we do now?" the Manager asked nervously.

After looking at the book some more, the Starlight Queen sighed.

"I have to ask the Custodian," she said.

The Manager's heart shook.

The Custodian?!

He was a mysterious yet very friendly man. Not much was known about him.

However, he was one of the absolutely most powerful Mage Kings in the entire world.

The legends even said that he could become an Emperor if he chose to.

The Custodian was the second-highest ranking member in the entire Lightning Manor, a power that ruled over about 10% of the entire world!

"You can leave," the Starlight Queen said. "I will inform you on how to proceed."

"Yes, thank you, my Lady," the Manager said before walking out of the office.

The Starlight Queen continued looking at the book for a while, but she just couldn't glean any additional information from it.

That frustrated her quite a bit.

'Did one of the other Emperors personally interfere?' she thought with doubt. 'I don't think so. There was basically no attempt to conceal this Star Map. Additionally, why would an Emperor be interested in creating some more physis in the Fourth Realm? That would have no impact on anything.'

After a while, the Starlight Queen stood up and left the office as well.

She walked past the small corridor and entered a gigantic door.

Now, she was inside a humongous and grand hall with no people inside.

She walked through the hall until she arrived in front of two small doors.

She went to the door on the right and pressed a button.

A small bell rang inside the room behind the small door.

A couple of seconds later, a meticulously dressed man opened the door and looked at the Starlight Queen with a polite smile.

"Good evening, Sarah. How has the year been treating you?" Wester, the butler and Custodian, asked.

"Thank you for asking, sir. This year has been very smooth," The Starlight Queen said.

"Good to hear," Wester said. "Now, what brings you here this evening?"

The Starlight Queen summoned the book and respectfully handed it over.

"This appeared in Area 23, and I can't glean any information about who wrote it from it," she said.

"Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of amusement. "That's quite rare. You're normally so astute and knowledgeable."

"I'm sorry, sir," the Starlight Queen said.

Wester chuckled a bit. "I'm only joking, Sarah. Don't take it to heart. You're doing an amazing job."

"Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said with utter respect.

Wester slowly leafed through the book. It was almost like he was reading it like a common person from a village.

After a while, a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Ah, that explains it," he said. "The aura faded with time."

The Starlight Queen's eyes opened widely. "It faded?! How old is this book?!"

"At least 300,000 years old," Wester said.

"300,000 years?!" the Starlight Queen repeated in shock.

Wester nodded. "At least," Wester repeated. "It might have even come from before the Mage God's time."

The Mage God!

The Mage God was just an ancient legend.

It was said that, in the past, every path was equal in power.

That was, until the Mage God appeared.

The Mage God was the reason why the Mages were as powerful as they were today.

Most Mages that heard the story would only believe it to be some fairy tale. After all, how could physis, Summoners, or whatever have ever reached the power of the Mages? They were all just too weak.

However, the Starlight Queen knew that it was real.

"Your mastery over Time is still something that needs some work, Sarah," Wester said. "By using some of the powers of Time, we can recover the lost aura from the book."

A grey light appeared around the book, but nothing seemed to happen for a while.

But a couple of seconds later, the Starlight Queen noticed that something had appeared on the book.

It was an aura!

After it appeared, she could immediately tell who had created it.

There was a certain tranquility to the aura, but it also hid deep violence. There was arrogance but also a drive to be peaceful and humble.

They were very contradicting traits.

The person's Affinity was definitely Fire, but they also had some mastery over Earth and Water.

She could also tell that the person was at the level of a Mage Lord when they created that technique, far below her current power.

However, there was something very weird about the aura.

It somehow felt very different from all the other auras the Starlight Queen had ever felt.

It felt very alien.

"Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of positive surprise. "It's a Weapon Master's aura."

"A Weapon Master?" the Starlight Queen asked with confusion.

Wester nodded. "They were one of the most powerful people before the Mage God's time. They focused on fighting with weapons, and they relied heavily on their body's power."

The Starlight Queen's eyes widened in surprise again. "But the power I can feel from the aura on the book rivals the aura of a Mage Lord. Does that mean that…?"

Wester nodded. "Correct," he said as he closed the book. "It comes from a time before the Mage God."

"That means it's, at least, 500,000 years old, right?" she asked in surprise.

Wester nodded. "At least. Could be more."

It was hard for the Starlight Queen to come to grips with that.

500,000 years!

This book was over 500,000 years old!

How did it even stay in one piece for so long?!

"What should we do with it?" the Starlight Queen asked.

"You mean regarding Area 23?" Wester asked.

The Starlight Queen nodded.

"I don't think it's a big problem if we release it to the public," Wester said. "I wouldn't have an issue with it spreading."

"However," Wester added as a small smile appeared on his face. "The Master might be interested in looking at this book. He likes to revisit old memories. I might as well ask him what to do while I give it to him as a pleasant surprise."

The Starlight Queen couldn't become more shocked.

The old Master?!

This book that appeared in one of her Areas would even reach the Lightning Emperor?!

"Please give me a couple of minutes," Wester said politely. "I'll tell you how we will proceed soon."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said politely.

Wester nodded, left his room, and went through the small door beside the one that led to his room.

He walked through a very long corridor for quite a while until he reached a small wooden door.

He knocked politely but entered quickly after.

The Lightning Emperor always told him that he shouldn't knock, but Wester, as the Custodian and butler, felt it to be appropriate, which was why he was doing so regardless.

When Wester entered, he saw an old man slowly reading through an old book.

"Wester, what brings you here?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a peaceful smile.

Wester slowly took out the book and held it in his right hand.

The Lightning Emperor looked over, and when he saw the book, his eyes widened a bit in pleasant surprise.

"Oh? That's the Weapon Master's Star Map," he said. Then, his eyebrows rose a bit further. "Is that the original copy?"

The book floated over to the Lightning Emperor, and he looked at it.

"Sure enough, that's the Tranquil Hammer Lord's aura," he said. "He was the one that made the technique back then."

A bit later, one of the books flew down from the gigantic bookshelf.

It was identical to the book that Wester had brought with him.

The Lightning Emperor's eyes grew distant as old memories resurfaced.

"I met him once, you know?" he said. Then, he released a humorous chuckle. "I still remember why he created this technique."

"He was always someone that acted very peaceful, but if you angered him in any way, he would never forget it and retaliate."

"But the funny thing is that he wouldn't attack you. After all, he was doing his best to keep his wildly prideful personality away from others."

"One of his rivals once taunted him about his disciples. He said that the Tranquil Hammer Lord was powerful but that he couldn't teach any of his disciples."

"The Tranquil Hammer Lord took it personally and went on to create this technique."

"And sure enough, after he made it, every other Weapon Lord, including the one that taunted him, came to him to ask for it."

"The Tranquil Hammer Lord gave everyone a copy, but he specifically created it so that the one Lord that taunted him couldn't properly use it."

"It was quite a spectacle back then."

The Lightning Emperor looked at the ceiling with a smile on his face.

"Good times."