Ch. 51..60

Chapter 51 - Alex And Shang

Dawn arrived.

Alex's mind was still going wild, even though several hours had already passed.

Alex didn't come from this world.

He came from Earth.

On Earth, murder was not something common. Sure, the news constantly reported about murder, but how many people had actually met someone that knew someone that had been murdered?

Alex was currently fighting with himself in his mind.

The bandits hadn't stopped, even after Alex had already cut off someone's arm.

Was he supposed to just watch?

And then what?

All his money would be taken away.

He had to kill them!

They wouldn't stop otherwise!

But that created another issue.

Alex had killed more people than necessary to stop them.

Why?

So that the other bandits wouldn't think of him as a pushover.

However, he hadn't killed all of them, which made the previous deaths unnecessary in his mind.

It was a complex maze of morality.

When the first light of the day hit Alex's face, he absentmindedly jumped down from the sled wagon and looked at his surroundings.

The corpses were still there.

They had been frozen due to the cold, and nothing had moved in the last couple of hours.

It was like no time had passed.

However, the change from darkness to light made it appear like a nightmare that had become reality.

It was all real.

Alex didn't feel much when he saw all the corpses.

He wasn't sure what he should feel.

He just did whatever he had to do.

Alex gathered the remaining Ice Wood in the surroundings and absentmindedly repaired the cage as well as he could.

It took him some minutes, but he managed to repair the cage somewhat. Alex knew how to make robes and how to create basic structures due to his long time in the wild.

Eventually, Alex grabbed the sled wagon and pulled it back to the street.

A bit of snow had fallen in the night, but the temperature had already climbed above freezing again.

The snow would vanish in the next couple of hours.

Without thinking anything, Alex simply pulled the sled wagon forward.

All of Alex's actions just happened automatically.

A couple hours later, the first carriages passed by Alex again.

Nearly all of them had seen the clearing of corpses. Alex hadn't pulled the sled wagon far when he had camped for the night, which meant that the corpses could be seen from the streets as long as someone inspected their surroundings carefully.

When the carriages reached Alex, they immediately knew that it had been him.

Why?

Because, at the speed at which he was pulling his sled wagon, he couldn't have gone that far in only one day.

This meant that he had either started in the middle of the night, or he had started yesterday and camped for the night.

So, how did the owners react when they saw the perpetrator of the massacre?

"Hahaha! Good job, kid! Every dead bandit is one bandit less for us to worry about! Here, take this as a thank you!"

The owner of the carriage had shouted these words while slowing down. Then, he took out ten silver coins and threw them towards Alex.

Alex only looked at the coins in the dirt with an absent mind.

The merchant continued on his way after saying goodbye.

Alex looked at the ten silver coins lying before him in the dirt.

It was a reward for killing the bandits.

For a while, Alex only looked at the coins.

He wasn't sure what he should think about this reward.

He had killed several normal humans that hadn't even been armed.

They hadn't even attacked him.

They had only gone after his sled wagon to get some Ice Wood they could sell.

Many people on earth would think of Alex as being a coldhearted and greedy murderer. He had put a bit of his money above several human lives.

In a way, Alex knew why those people would think like that.

From an outsider's perspective, one could really say that Alex had gone too far.

Yet, Alex had been in the middle of it.

He had done what he had believed to be right.

Alex only looked at the coins.

In his mind, the coins were associated with the actions he had done.

He had killed several unarmed humans, and he was being rewarded for doing that.

The dirty silver coins didn't feel very appealing.

Something inside Alex told him that he shouldn't take that money.

Alex would never accept this money.

Alex had a certain sense of morale.

However, Alex had died on Earth.

Alex wouldn't accept the money…

But what about Shang?

Alex remembered the time he had gone out to hunt his first Pest Cat.

Back then, Alex had felt like he was leaving his old world behind.

He didn't remember the faces of his family anymore.

He didn't remember the voices of his family anymore.

He wasn't even sure how they would act or what they would think if they could see him right now.

It had been so long.

After so long of staying alone, he felt like he truly was alone.

Did he even have a family?

Why did it feel like Alex's family was a stranger's family?

It was like they weren't real.

Even more, Alex wasn't even sure about his own name anymore.

After several times of splitting headaches when Alex tried to remember his own name, he had started to feel aversion towards his old name.

Every time he thought about the fact that he still had an old name, he felt frustrated.

Every time his old name was about to appear, he would feel pain.

Alex knew that the God was the actual reason for all of this, but feelings often didn't follow logic. Even though Alex knew that there was no reason to dislike his old name, his emotions still felt a strong feeling of dislike towards it.

One could liken this situation to an abused dog.

The owner of the dog would pay someone to abuse the dog every couple of days to train the dog to be wary of certain kinds of people.

The owner was the reason for the dog's pain.

Yet, the person that had been paid would be the full focus of the dog's anger.

Of course, humans were more intelligent and more complex than dogs, but to a certain degree, emotions still followed these principles.

Alex knew that there was nothing wrong with his name, but he disliked it because he associated it with agony.

He didn't want to feel agony.

Together with the disconnected feeling towards his old family, Alex felt like there was nothing connecting him to his previous life anymore.

He had no family.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ He had no friends.

He didn't even like Earth.

Everyone just worked day-in and day-out.

For what?

To become old?

And when they were old, what then?

They would only do what they wanted until they eventually died.

And then?

Then, they would be slowly forgotten.

Over the course of time, no one would remember them.

They were born, did their work, had their children, and died.

What's the point of all of this?

However, in this world, Alex could reach true power.

Even though Alex had gone through more pain in this world than in the other world, he still preferred this world over Earth.

After some minutes, Alex slowly stepped forward.

And then, Shang scooped up the coins.

It was money, and he needed money.

Shang wanted to become more powerful, and money would help him.

After pocketing the money, Shang continued pulling the sled wagon down the road.

For some reason, the sled wagon felt lighter than before.

Chapter 52 - Ice Wood Origin

Shang continued down the street absentmindedly.

Alex had died.

In fact, Alex had long been dead.

It had always been Shang that had existed in this world, and Shang realized that now.

Earth didn't matter.

Earth might as well not exist.

Earth might as well be a fantasy.

They were memories of a time that had never happened.

It was nothing.

Shang wasn't sure what he was thinking about while he was pulling the sled wagon for several hours.

He only knew that he was thinking but not what.

Shang continued pulling the sled wagon, and it felt easier than before.

It was like a conflict inside him had vanished.

Going forward had become easier.

Shang's mind went back to the events from last night a couple times, but the emotions associated with the event became duller and more distant.

These things had only happened last night, but Shang felt like they had happened an eternity ago.

More merchants passed by Shang, and they all praised him for his actions. However, they didn't throw money at Shang like the first merchant.

They were only happy that there were fewer bandits now.

Shang only looked at the merchants with a distracted expression and only muttered a quiet thanks for their words.

Some of the merchants wanted to start a conversation, but Shang always only gave one-word answers, which essentially made it impossible for a proper conversation to occur.

After a day of pulling, Shang arrived at his destination.

Blizzard's Edge.

The town was on top of a sizable hill, and it took up the entirety of it.

This town was definitely bigger than the Southern Wild.

Shang guessed that it was probably several kilometers wide, judging from what he was seeing.

By now, the weather had also changed.

A moderately strong wind went across the land. It wasn't freezing, but only a bit chilly.

The Ice Mana in the surroundings had severely dipped in concentration, and a lot of Wind Mana had replaced it.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ 'I'm at the border between the Ice Wyvern Zone and the Storm Eagle Zone,' Shang thought.

Shang also saw something else of interest.

A huge tower was in the middle of the town. It was still several kilometers away from Shang, but he could still see it due to its sheer size. It was probably several hundred meters tall and over a hundred meters wide.

On top of it, Shang could see several floating crystals of different colors. The crystals had different shades of blue and green.

Shang wasn't sure, but he believed he had also seen some humans standing near these crystals.

'Mages, huh?' Shang thought.

The God had told Shang that his world was filled with Mages, but Shang hadn't seen many up to now. He had only seen Duke Whirlwind, the elder from the village, and a couple of Earth Mages in the Central Wild.

That was it.

But now, he was seeing the power of the Mages firsthand.

This tower was humongous and imposing. Additionally, Shang could feel that a lot of Ice Mana was floating around the tower. Sadly, Shang wasn't sure if the tower was absorbing the Ice Mana or giving it off.

"Your first time, huh?"

Shang looked over at one of the guards, who looked at him with a smirk from the gates.

Shang nodded.

"I knew it. Everyone always looks at the Mana Austerum when they first come here," the guard said with a smirk.

"Mana Austerum?" Shang asked as he looked at the tower again. "What does it do?"

"It absorbs and distills Elemental Mana," the guard explained. "That Elemental Mana is then used for research purposes. I'm not sure what they're researching, but a lot of actual Mages come and go from the Mana Austerum. By the way, with actual Mages, I mean Mages in the Third Realm. Mages in the First Realm are only Apprentices, and the ones in the Second Realm are only Adepts."

"Only a Mage that reached the third Realm can truly be called a Mage."

For some seconds, Shang only looked at the distant Mana Austerum absentmindedly.

"Why are you telling me these things?" Shang asked.

For a second, the guard was a bit taken aback by the question.

"You're a funny one," the guard answered with a smile. "You will come here several times in the future. I only want to make it easier for you to acquaint yourself with the town."

Shang furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean with that I will come here several times in the future?" he asked.

This confused the guard, and he raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the new Ice Wood delivery guy?" he said, gesturing towards the sled wagon full of Ice Wood.

Shang shook his head. "No, I'm on my way to Warrior's Paradise. All of this Ice Wood is for paying for my entrance exam for the academy."

The guard became even more surprised, but then, his expression became more serious.

"Where did you get all this Ice Wood from?" the guard asked.

"What does it have to do with you?" Shang asked back with an even voice.

"A lot," the guard said as he put his right hand to the wall behind him.

Knock, knock, knock.

The guard knocked at the wall three times in a certain rhythm, and a couple of other guards appeared on top of the walls, crossbows in their hands.

They weren't targeting Shang with their crossbows, but they were showing him that they were ready for whatever he wanted to do.

"We have a business relationship with Coldew Village," the guard explained, "and we can't allow anyone to endanger it."

Shang frowned. "What? So I'm not allowed to sell Ice Wood?" he asked.

"You can, but that's not the point," the guard answered as he came closer. "The origin of your Ice Wood is the problem."

"So, where did that Ice Wood come from?"

Shang looked at the guard and all the guards on the wall.

"From Coldew Village," Shang answered.

"And how did you acquire it?" the guard asked.

"I dealt with a Peak Frozen Lake Stag that was consuming all the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees. This sled wagon of Ice Wood is my reward," Shang explained.

The guard narrowed his eyes, but his expression didn't change for the reason one would assume.

In fact, the guard had become less suspicious of Shang.

Why?

Because Coldew Village wasn't allowed to sell their Ice Wood to anyone without consulting a representative from Blizzard's Edge first.

If Shang had said that he had bought this Ice Wood, the guards would know that he had stolen that.

However, he said that it was payment for a service.

That wasn't against the rules.

"We'll have to verify your story," the guard said. "For now, we would like to ask you to follow us into the town."

"How long will this take?" Shang asked with furrowed brows.

"About four hours," the guard said.

"Four hours?" Shang asked with genuine surprise. "So fast? How?"

"We'll tell you when the source of your Ice Wood has been confirmed," the guard said. "For now, don't do anything reckless. Step away from the Sled Wagon and come closer to the gate."

"You don't have to worry."

"Everything will go down according to policy."

 

Chapter 53 - Gamble

Shang looked at the guard with narrowed eyes, and many thoughts immediately went through his mind.

First of all, the guard wore a slightly different armor from the others, which meant that he had a higher standing.

Second, the guard had easily called the others on the wall.

Third, he felt quite powerful.

However, he didn't feel too powerful.

Shang had seen physical fighters in the Second Realm, but the guard didn't feel like he was in the Second Realm, which meant he was probably in the First Realm, the Soldier Stage.

Shang had seen the leading officer of the Central Wild, and that officer had been in the Second Realm, the General Stage.

Was Blizzard's Edge weaker than the Central Wild?

Probably not.

Just based on the gigantic Mana Austerum, this town was probably even more important than the Central Wild.

So, what did that make this guard?

He was probably a sergeant or something akin to a supervisor.

He wasn't actually the true person in charge.

"I won't enter the town," Shang said with narrowed eyes.

The guard in front of Shang only huffed. "You don't have a choice," he said.

"I do," Shang answered. "I have the choice to remain outside. You have several crossbows pointed at me, and I can't flee. There should also be several more powerful soldiers in the town. Right now, it doesn't matter where I am. I can't flee anyway."

"You're right," the guard said with narrowed eyes. "So, obediently enter the town. You said that you can't flee anyway."

"I want to stay out here," Shang said.

The guard raised his right hand, and the guards on the wall pointed their crossbows at Shang. "You don't have a choice."

The atmosphere became tenser. Some carriages had already arrived, but when they saw the guards with their drawn crossbows, they decided to stop. They didn't want to get involved.

"I will stay out here," Shang answered slowly.

The guard's eyes narrowed.

"At this moment, it's not even clear if I am some sort of thief or not. I know I am innocent, and I don't need your approval for that."

"Are you willing to risk a battle for such an uncertainty?" Shang slowly asked.

The guard only looked at Shang with narrowed eyes.

"If you don't comply, we don't need to investigate the source of the Ice Wood. Your resistance proves that your method of procuring the Ice Wood wasn't legal," the guard answered.

When Shang heard that, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

"Why are you threatening me with not investigating the issue?" Shang asked. "If you are so convinced of my guilt, what would even be the point of threatening me with not investigating this issue?"

"Unless you think that I will be proven innocent."

"However, if that's the case, why would you want me inside the town that badly?"

"Are you intending to do something that you shouldn't do?"

"Preposterous!" the guard shouted in rage. "I am a law-abiding soldier, and a mere thief is not allowed to question my sense of justice!"

"Then why do you want me inside the town so badly?" Shang asked.

"It's standard protocol," the guard immediately answered with gritted teeth. "Suspicious individuals have to be taken into custody."

"I am in custody right now," Shang answered. "I can't possibly escape. We are both in agreement about this fact."

"So, what's the issue with remaining here?"

A tense silence arrived.

Shang was looking at the leading guard, while the leading guard glared at Shang.

Several seconds passed.

Clank.

Shang and the guard glanced at the wall when they heard the sound of armor footsteps.

One of the guards on the wall had retrieved his crossbow and vanished behind the wall.

However, the others remained without moving and kept targeting Shang.

When the leading guard saw the leaving guard on the wall, he gritted his teeth violently.

"Fine," he said with annoyance. "We can wait here. Hope you're happy."

The guard slowly lowered his right arm, and the other guards put their crossbows away.

Why had the leading guard suddenly relented?

It was because of the leaving guard on the wall.

The normal guards were not allowed to leave their posts without being dismissed.

Except for one reason.

They could leave their posts if they were about to report to someone of higher rank than the person they were currently under.

The leaving guard found all of this to be quite suspicious, and he decided to report to the actual officer about what was going on here.

The leading guard knew what had happened as soon as he saw the leaving guard.

He had some freedom in how to deal with prisoners, and he had made quite some money with some underhanded means, but if these actions came to light, he would be severely punished.

As soon as the guard on the wall had left, the leading guard knew that this opportunity to make some money had forever left.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Shang relaxed.

"Thanks," he said evenly.

Shang had expected that the guard would do something underhanded, which was why he had been so adamant about not leaving.

He had decided to gamble.

On what?

On the leading guard actually being smart.

Why smart?

Because, if the leading guard had ordered to attack someone who wasn't actively resisting and whose guilt wasn't even conclusive, he would have gotten into a lot of trouble.

If Shang had initialized the confrontation, the leading guard could have ordered an attack without any issues.

However, Shang had only stood there and calmly argued.

Of course, if Shang had been weaker, the leading guard could have simply knocked him out and taken him with him.

Sadly, Shang had felt quite powerful to the leading guard. On top of that, Shang had claimed that he had killed a Peak Frozen Lake Stag.

Knocking out a normal human and taking them into custody was not considered a confrontation.

A confrontation only counted as a confrontation if the other side could damage the resources of the guards.

In short, Shang could maybe injure or kill some guards before dying himself.

However, that was already too dangerous.

As soon as an actual conflict broke out, the higher-ups would get involved and investigate what had happened.

After all, several guards would have been injured or killed, and they had to find out why that happened so that the same thing wouldn't happen again in the future.

When that happened, the higher-ups would investigate Shang's background and his claims.

Then, if they found out that he was innocent, they would immediately become suspicious.

Why would an innocent individual attack the guards of a town? He hadn't done anything wrong, and attacking a force far more powerful than himself for no reason made no sense.

This would mean that something fishy had been going on.

Even if all the guards lied perfectly to hide the issue, the higher-ups would still remain extremely suspicious of them.

The leading guard had known all of this.

He might be greedy, but he wasn't an idiot.

And that's what Shang had been gambling on.

If the leading guard had been stupid, he would have simply declared that he would apprehend Shang due to several suspicions.

A stupid leading guard would believe their authority to be without fail as long as they were in their territory.

However, would a stupid person receive such authority?

In unimportant towns and villages, maybe, but here?

Blizzard's Edge obviously was an important town, and the leading guard had already said that there were several Mages coming in and out of the town on a regular basis.

In the end, the leading guard knew his place.

If any of these Mages even had a slight suspicion of him, his higher-ups would thoroughly investigate him.

This town was filled with powerful and intelligent Mages.

He couldn't make a wrong step.

Yet, he had still managed to become a leading guard.

That meant that he couldn't have been stupid.

All of this had been Shang's conjecture, and he had hit the bullseye.

Out here, the guard couldn't do anything to Shang. There were simply too many eyes on them.

The leading guard might have some accomplices in his squad, but he couldn't possibly have control over all the guards on the walls.

Even more, under enough pressure, even his accomplices would crack and spill the beans.

Shang's gamble had paid off.

Eventually, the leading guard looked at one guard on the top of the wall. "Investigate his story," he ordered.

The guard nodded in affirmation and left.

"That won't be necessary."

When the leading guard heard that voice, his eyes narrowed.

However, he made sure that the person that had spoken didn't see his current expression.

Chapter 54 - Officer

Shang looked up at the wall, and he saw the guards part so that someone else could step forward.

It was a woman with brown hair, fully clad in an impressive set of silver armor.

Shang's instincts immediately told him that he couldn't fight her.

She felt about as powerful as that one spider he had seen on his travels to the Southern Wild.

Shang immediately knew that she was in the Second Realm, the General Stage, and he also knew that she was the one in charge.

"I've already given the order to investigate everything," she proclaimed. "It will only take around two hours."

When Shang heard that it would only take two hours, his suspicion towards the leading guard increased even more.

The leading guard turned to the officer and saluted with a professional expression. "Thank you, my lady," he said.

The officer looked at the leading guard with a suspicious expression. "Why haven't you given the order earlier?" she asked.

"Reporting to my lady, I have been busy with handling the suspicious individual. I wasn't able to give the order earlier," the leading guard explained.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ The officer only looked at the leading guard with a suspicious expression.

"It has recently come to my attention that your living conditions are quite ostentatious for someone of your position," she commented.

"My lady, I have already informed the treasury investigators about the sizable farm my brother owns. The treasury department has already verified all the gold he has sent me and its origins."

"Additionally, my lady, I would humbly request that you don't bring up my personal life in front of my squad," the leading guard added.

The officer narrowed her eyes.

"I will keep that in mind," she said.

Shang immediately noticed some things.

First of all, the officer was rather young. She was probably in her early twenties.

Second of all, she didn't hide her suspicion and hostility while talking to the leading guard.

Third, the leading guard had correctly highlighted the issue of talking about this in public. Superiors were not supposed to humiliate their staff in front of others.

With these clues, Shang got the picture.

The officer knew that the leading guard was doing underhanded business, and she wanted to punish him for it.

However, the leading guard was perfectly covering his tracks, not leaving any opening, which frustrated the officer.

Due to her inexperience, her frustration got the better of her, and she wanted to punish the leading guard via a different method.

However, the leading guard managed to turn things around to make her lose face in front of all her soldiers.

Shang also knew how the leading guard managed to explain his wealth.

'He's money laundering,' Shang thought. 'He has a rich brother? Maybe, but what brother continually showers their sibling with so much wealth when the sibling already has quite a well-paying position?'

'He's probably exchanging the ill-gotten gains via a middle-man with his brother, who then gifts the guard with gold.'

'The higher-ups probably already know, but there are so many merchants traveling through this town that it's nearly impossible to investigate all of them.'

'No wonder she's so frustrated,' Shang thought.

"I would like to file an official complaint," Shang shouted from below the wall.

The officer looked at Shang with interested eyes. "What's your complaint?" she asked.

"This guard has ordered his colleagues to point their crossbows at me without a justified reason. I wasn't resisting, and I hadn't even drawn my weapon. He drew his weapon first, while I have not shown any aggression," Shang explained.

The officer frowned.

She looked at the leading guard, whose expression hadn't changed.

"His suspicions were valid, and your guilt has not been cleared yet," the officer said. "However, even if your guilt will be cleared, he has still acted according to policy."

"Suspicious individuals are to be brought to the barracks. You are technically already under arrest due to your inability to flee from us, but that can't be considered an official arrest. For an official arrest, you need to be brought to the barracks."

"Remaining outside under our surveillance is not a right, but a privilege. It is something we can grant, but it's not our obligation."

"He hasn't broken protocol, and he has acted correctly," she said.

There were no emotions in her voice.

"Fine," Shang said after some seconds.

He had expected that his complaint would go nowhere.

But if he had expected his complaint to go nowhere, why had he complained in the first place?

Because he wanted to make a good impression on the officer.

Why?

Because by showing his intention to help her, the officer might want to reciprocate. An officer of such an important town had to be quite a powerful and impressive individual.

Making a good impression on someone like that might prove to be a great help in the future.

Additionally, Shang allowed her to rectify her earlier blunder.

She had openly humiliated her employee, but now, she had defended him.

Shang only hoped that she realized all of this.

Shang waited for the next couple of minutes. The officer had already stepped down from the wall to arrive in front of the gates.

The leading guard only respectfully stood at the side.

An hour later, a guard exited the gates and respectfully delivered a piece of paper to the officer.

The officer read the contents of the letter and nodded.

"Your guilt has been cleared, Shang," she said.

The fact that she knew his name meant that they had truly investigated his background.

"Thank you," Shang answered evenly.

The officer nodded towards the other guards, and the guard went back to doing whatever they were doing.

"You may enter the town," the officer told Shang. "However, I would ask you to follow me for a bit. There have been reports of bandit corpses from other visitors, and they suspect that you have been the one that dealt with them. We would like you to verify the identities of the bandits."

The memories of last night returned to Shang, and the faces of the dead bandits went through his mind.

"Do I have to?" Shang asked.

"It's not mandatory," the officer explained. "However, I would ask you to do so regardless. The families of the people deserve closure."

Shang looked into the eyes of the officer.

Her eyes didn't speak of indifference or protocol but of a genuine desire for him to accept.

"Fine," Shang said.

"Thank you," the officer said politely. "Please follow me."

Shang nodded and took hold of his sled wagon.

Then, he walked after the officer while throwing a glance at the leading guard.

The leading guard acted like he hadn't seen the glance.

The gates of Blizzard's Edge opened, and Shang entered.

As soon as he went past the gate, Shang felt like the weather had changed.

There was no wind, and the temperature of the surroundings felt rather comfortable, a bit warm even.

For the first time, Shang also felt a complete absence of Ice Mana.

"The Mana Austerum absorbs Ice and Wind Mana in the winter and gives off a bit of Ice Mana in the summer to keep the weather comfortable for Blizzard's Edge's citizens," the officer explained.

Shang only nodded.

For some reason, he wasn't in the mood to talk.

Shang didn't know the reason.

Maybe he still had some misgivings about his actions from last night, and the thought that he had to talk about last night again made him nervous?

He wasn't sure.

The town was surprisingly quiet.

Shang had expected the town to be louder, but there actually weren't many merchants on the streets.

In fact, there weren't even any stalls. There were only shops.

"These are the barracks," the officer said after walking for a while. "You can put your sled wagon onto that spot there. Don't worry, no one is allowed to go there without the supervision of the goods' owner."

Shang nodded and pulled his sled wagon to the side. After that, he let go and followed the officer into the barracks.

They passed through a couple of hallways. The officer opened the door to a meeting room, and the two of them entered.

Then, they sat down opposite of each other at the table in the middle of the room.

The officer looked at Shang with a serious expression.

"I've realized your intentions and what you were trying to do," she said with a calm voice. "However, it's not your responsibility to deal with the problems of my unit. I would ask you not to involve yourself again. Do we understand each other?"

Shang nodded. "Fine, I won't do it again."

The officer nodded.

"Now, let's talk about these bandits," she said as she stood up. Then she walked over to a drawer and rifled through some paper.

Eventually, she came back with a stack of papers.

She moved the stack of papers towards Shang, and Shang looked at the piece of paper on the top.

It featured a drawn face of a young person. At the bottom of the piece of paper were unrecognizable symbols, but for some reason, Shang immediately knew what they meant.

"Missing."

These were posters of missing people.

And the poster of the first missing person was one Shang recognized.

It was one of the men he had killed the night prior.

 

Chapter 55 - Recruits

Shang looked at the first poster.

He recognized the person in it.

It was one of the bandits that he had killed.

Why did he have a missing poster?

Wasn't he supposed to be a bandit?

The officer noticed that Shang hadn't said anything in several seconds. "The local bandits mainly get their recruits from the beggars and rebellious children," the officer explained.

"People that have stepped onto the path to power are not lacking money, which is why a lot of them don't need to become bandits. Of course, there are still some that enjoy that lifestyle of freedom and doing whatever they want, but most of them don't want to deal with being hunted by society."

"However, the normal people often need money for multiple reasons. Some need to take care of their family. Some want to take care of their friends. Some need money to survive themselves."

"Others don't care about the money but want to do something else other than overtaking their family's business, shop, farm, or whatever. Some of them only want adventure. However, they all will run into the problem of money and power again."

"When you have power, making money is easy. When you don't have power, making money is difficult. However, to make money, you either need to be outstanding in a specific field or power, and to become powerful, you need money."

"You need medicine, tutoring, equipment, supplements, and many other things to become significantly more powerful than the average person."

"Most people can't step onto the path of power due to their minuscule finances."

"That's where the bandits come into play."

"They scout out these troubled individuals and entice them with resources. That's how they get their recruits."

"Of course, the bandits aren't directly handing them the resources to become powerful. What they do is to give them an opportunity to make big money, which would, in turn, allow them to start their journey to power."

"Nearly all recruits start with Rat Raids. That's when a group of normal people charges at something valuable and bank on the possibility that the owner of these things doesn't have the conviction to kill a bunch of unarmored, normal humans."

"These raids are called Rat Raids because, like rats, the group mindlessly charges forward to gorge themselves on wealth. They know that some of them will die, and they will most certainly get injured, but they are betting on the possibility that they won't be the ones that will get killed."

"After they plundered the valuables, the new recruits will give them to the bandits, who, in turn, will teach the recruits about training and how to become more powerful. They are also willing to trade in supplements and medicine for outstanding contributions."

The officer leaned forward and put her right index finger on the top missing poster.

"Most of these missing people should be recruits for the bandits," she said slowly as she looked into Shang's eyes. "The bandits force them to abandon their old life for fear of someone leaking out their camps and locations. They can't allow any of these recruits to come into contact with their loved ones."

"They are only allowed to return when they have proven themselves."

"Most of them will never reach that stage."

The officer leaned back again.

"That's why I need you to identify them. Some of them are genuinely missing, and some of them are recruits. According to what I've heard, some of them have already died on your hands, and that's fine. Killing bandits is a good deed, even if they are unarmed."

"Killing the recruits of the bandits is like killing off the offspring of Pest Cats. They might not be a danger now, but they will become a danger in the future with certainty."

"So, please, tell me who you recognize," the officer said as she finished her explanation.

The officer's words entered Shang's mind.

She had said a lot, but Shang didn't agree with everything.

Shang didn't agree that one needed money to start their journey to power.

Shang didn't have any money.

Sure, he had received some things from the God, but the only thing of value had been his weapon.

If other humans wanted to become powerful without any money, they could just get some wood and some stones. With that, they could easily make some spears, which they could use to hunt animals like boars or wolves.

With these corpses, they could buy some basic survival gear, clothes, and maybe even a weapon.

Even more, they wouldn't even need supplements or medicine at the beginning.

Shang had become quite powerful even before he had discovered the Earth Fruit Hedgehog's fruits.

Training, meditation, training, meditation, training, meditation.

After a couple of weeks, the people would already be strong enough to take on the weakest beasts. Even more, they could also hunt more powerful animals, like tigers and bears.

The officer had said these words to explain the way the bandits worked to Shang. She wanted to tell him two things.

First, he shouldn't feel guilty for killing them.

Second, they were still humans, and they still had families. They had their reasons to become bandits.

However, the officer only accomplished the first thing.

Shang had seen an easier alternative to power and one that was less morally ambiguous.

These people had had the opportunity to choose that path.

Yet, they didn't.

Instead of being courageous and putting their own life on the line in hunting and combat, they decided to gamble on their luck.

That path needed less hard work, and it didn't need the person to be courageous or confident.

When Shang had seen the missing posters at the beginning, he had feared that the bandits had kidnapped these people and forced them to do these Rat Raids.

That had also been a major regret Shang had over the last night.

However, it turned out that these bandits did these things voluntarily.

If they had had no other option, Shang could understand them.

Yet, they did have another option.

They simply didn't choose it.

Because of that, Shang's suppressed guilt was reduced by quite a bit.

The officer saw that Shang seemed to have relaxed, and she released a quiet sigh.

It seemed like her words had been effective.

Shang looked at the first missing poster and put it to the side.

"Dead," he said.

The officer took out a pen and a piece of paper to write down what Shang had said.

"What did he do? How did you act?" she asked.

"He, with some others, broke the cage on my sled wagon. He was one of the ones that ran with my Ice Wood, and I killed him by diagonally bisecting his torso," Shang said emotionlessly.

The officer nodded. "That was the right choice. Even if he was already running, his fate will deter others from doing the same thing again."

Shang looked at the next poster.

"Don't know her," he said as he put it to the other side.

"Don't know him."

"Bandit, but he escaped."

"What happened?" the officer asked.

"He fled after I killed the first or second bandit. He had fled before he could steal any of my Ice Wood, which was why I spared him," Shang said.

The officer nodded and hid a smile. 'He isn't that coldblooded after all,' she thought.

Shang went over nearly 100 missing posters, and whenever he came to someone he recognized, he narrated his encounter with them.

By the end, over half an hour had passed, and the officer put the missing posters away in different stacks.

"Thank you for your cooperation," she said.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Shang nodded.

"Was that all?" he asked.

A conflicted expression appeared on the officer's face.

"Not entirely," she said.

"What else do you need?" Shang asked.

"Well," she said with a bit of hesitation. "You tried to help me earlier, and you have helped me a lot with these missing posters."

"So, I want to reward you."

For a second, Shang became suspicious of the officer's intention.

He wasn't suspecting her of wanting to hurt him but of flirting with him.

Shang had been with a couple of women on his life on Earth, and he wasn't a stranger to romance.

Shang looked into her eyes, but he didn't see any embarrassment, shyness, or interest. Her posture was straight, and she didn't show any nervous mannerisms.

Shang realized that she hesitated with these words not because of him but because of her position.

She was probably about to do something that was not normal for someone in her position.

"I'm listening," Shang said.

Chapter 56 - Reward

"You want to sell your Ice Wood to earn enough money to enter the Warrior's Academy, correct?" the officer asked.

Shang nodded. "That's my intention."

"You don't want to wait for the yearly exams, right?"

"That's right."

"You do know that you need five gold for the exam?"

"I know. From what I've heard, the Ice Wood I have should be enough."

The officer nodded. "It should be enough, but there is one issue."

"Which is?" Shang asked evenly.

"How good are you at bartering and negotiation?" she asked.

This took Shang by surprise.

He hadn't even thought about that.

"I've never bartered in my life," Shang said.

Why would he need to barter? All the prices in the normal stores on Earth were standardized. Bartering only existed on TV and in pawnshops.

The officer nodded. "That's the issue," she said. "You're planning on selling your Ice Wood in Warrior's Paradise. However, no normal person will buy that much Ice Wood. Additionally, very few normal citizens are even interested in raw resources."

"This means that you have to sell it to a merchant wholesale, and merchants are very shrewd. If I already suspected that you're not good at bartering, the merchants will realize that with one glance."

"Even more, the merchants are not stupid. They will realize that you definitely are not a merchant but an aspiring warrior that wants to earn money. The merchants will quickly realize that the only reason why someone like you would travel so far with such a heavy load was to earn enough money to enter the Warrior's Academy."

"They know that you only need five gold. So, they will act like your load is worth six gold and will magnanimously tell you that they are willing to give you seven."

Shang listened to the officer's words, and he realized something.

He would have accepted that trade.

After all, he would have gotten even more gold than he needed. Additionally, he couldn't be bothered to research everything and negotiate with several merchants.

Shang wasn't interested in being a merchant. As far as he knew, this would be the only time he would ever do something like this. The quicker he got this thing over with, the better.

"So, my Ice Wood is worth more than seven gold in terms of wholesale?" Shang asked.

The officer nodded. "Yes."

"How much?" Shang asked.

"I'm not sure, but from what I've seen, seven gold should be too little for so much Ice Wood," she said.

"Hm," Shang said as he scratched his chin in thought.

"Now, let's come to what I want to offer you," the officer said.

Shang looked with interest at the officer.

"We have inspected your background and confirmed that your Ice Wood comes from an ethical source. You might not realize it, but the Mana Austerum burns through Ice Wood at terrifying speeds. That's also the reason why we monopolized Coldew Village's Ice Wood, but even that's not enough."

"The Mages in the Mana Austerum need even more Ice Wood, and they're buying it from the surrounding towns. However, the prices in these towns are much higher than the shipments we get from Coldew Village."

"In short, the Mana Austerum can never have enough Ice Wood."

At this point, the officer took out a new piece of paper, which had some fancy designs on the edges of the paper.

Then, the officer wrote down some things with deliberate strokes. The way she had written when she had taken note of the things Shang had said previously and now was very different.

After about a minute, she finished writing and took out a candle, which she quickly lighted.

A bit later, she put the molten wax from the candle at the bottom right of the paper and stamped it.

Lastly, she pushed the paper to Shang.

"This is a certificate for the origin of your Ice Wood," the officer said. "Go to the Mana Austerum and show this to the guards. If everything goes well, they should invite you inside."

Shang read through the paper.

It basically said how Shang had gotten the Ice Wood, but it also said that he was not one of the normal traders coming from Coldew Village.

"Officially, we only accept the official shipments from Coldew Village here directly since we can't be sure about the origins of other goods. However, since your background has been investigated, our reason for not accepting Ice Wood directly has been handled."

"However, it still isn't really official that you can sell it to the Mages directly. So, there's still some uncertainty."

Shang looked at the paper for a bit and then looked back at the officer.

"Speaking of, how did you investigate my background this quickly?" he asked.

"Every town needs a Communication Crystal to be officially recognized as a town," the officer explained. "We spent some Mana to contact the Central Wild, who then sent over an investigator to Coldew Village. They sent us the information, and that's how we investigated your background."

Shang remembered his journey to the Central Wild. It had taken him a couple of hours, but that was while pulling the heavy sled wagon. A warrior could probably run that distance in just a quarter of an hour.

Shang nodded and asked his next question. "The Mages won't try to scam me?" he asked.

The officer snorted at the word scam. "They're genuine Mages. They can't be bothered to waste their time arguing. On top of that, gold has nearly no importance to them. They only want to finish these unimportant and bothersome things as quickly and directly as possible."

Shang nodded. "Thank you. This means a lot to me," he said.

The officer nodded with a smile. "No problem. You helped me, and I helped you. Also, I see no problem with helping one of my future juniors."

"Juniors?" Shang asked, but he quickly realized what she meant. "Are you part of the Warrior's Academy?"

She nodded. "I'm currently in the later years. At the moment, I'm out gaining practical experience for my future as an officer."

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Shang blinked a couple of times. "Aren't you already an officer?" he asked.

"Not here," she said. "I don't want to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join the Duke's official army as an officer."

The image of Duke Whirlwind shot through Shang's mind.

"Oh, that sounds nice," Shang said.

The two of them talked for a couple of minutes, now that official business was over.

However, the conversation ended pretty quickly after she noticed that Shang wasn't talking very much.

She assumed that he was disinterested in the conversation and went back to work.

In a sense, she was right.

Shang had noticed that he had become more and more disinterested in mundane things, and he couldn't bring up the energy to fake enthusiasm for a topic that didn't interest him.

So, he mainly gave very short answers without adding a question, making the flow of the conversation a bit choppy.

"Anyway, we'll see each other again in the Warrior Academy," the officer said with a polite smile.

Shang also gave a polite smile. "We will. I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

Then, the two nodded at each other and parted ways.

When Shang exited the building, he saw his sled wagon at the same place where he had left it.

Nothing was missing.

The Ice Mana also felt just as intense as previously.

After going through some guards, Shang walked away with his sled wagon.

Finding the Mana Austerum wasn't difficult since it was so humongous.

A couple of minutes later, Shang saw a gate in the wall surrounding the Mana Austerum.

The two guards at the entrance noticed Shang, and one of them calmly walked over.

When Shang felt the guard approach, his sense of danger activated.

This guard was even more powerful than the officer.

In fact, this guard reminded Shang of the people that had guarded Duke Whirlwind's garden.

Yet, this guard didn't wear any fancy armor, which meant that he was only a normal soldier.

This meant that the guard was probably a soldier in the Duke's actual army.

"We didn't expect an Ice Wood delivery so soon," the guard commented.

"I'm not an official trader of Coldew Village, but I have a document that should answer all your questions," Shang said as he handed over the document the officer had given him.

The guard furrowed his brows but took the document and read through it.

After reading it, he looked to the side and scratched his chin in thought.

Chapter 57 - Sparren

The guard seemed to be thinking about how to proceed with this request.

Normally, it was forbidden for them to accept any unofficial Ice Wood deliveries, but that was because of the possibility that it might have been unethically sourced.

However, the guards now had a certificate in front of them that showed that this delivery came from an official source.

Yet, it was still forbidden.

After a bit of thinking, the guard waved the other guard over.

The other guard looked at the first guard with a lifted eyebrow and walked over. The first guard handed the piece of paper to the second guard, and the second guard read it.

After a bit of thinking, the second guard just shrugged. "It's official, right? On top of that, it's probably cheaper than the Ice Wood from the towns. I say let Cindy decide," he said.

The first guard scratched his chin for a bit longer but nodded in the end. "Sure, why not."

Then, he turned to Shang and motioned for him to follow. "We'll let you through, but the final decision is still up to the manager," he said.

Shang nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem. We're only doing our job," the guard said.

The guards pushed the gate open, and Shang walked through it while pulling his sled wagon along with him. "Where should I go?" he asked.

"Through the main entrance. The reception isn't always manned, so you might need to wait for a bit. Just wait in the big empty hall until someone comes to receive you."

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Shang nodded again and pulled the sled wagon towards the Mana Austerum.

BANG!

The heavy gates closed behind Shang, and he was a bit surprised that the guards didn't follow him.

However, that thought was quickly thrown out of the window.

'There are several real Mages in this building. Security isn't an issue,' Shang thought.

Shang went through the entrance of the Mana Austerum and saw quite a big hall. It was probably over twenty meters long and just as wide. There were also several doors and gates of different sizes.

Shang looked around, and sure enough, there was no one here.

So, Shang just waited at the side of the hall.

Silence.

No one arrived.

Shang just continued waiting.

Creak!

One of the doors opened, and Shang looked over.

An old man with blue hair that was slowly transforming into grey hair walked through the door.

When Shang saw the person, he immediately felt the whirlpool of Ice Mana swirling around the person.

This was obviously one of the Mages. His Mana pull wasn't as powerful as Duke Whirlwinds, but it was still very powerful.

The man noticed Shang.

Then, the man nodded in greeting.

Shang nodded back.

And the mage left through another door.

More waiting.

Creak!

One of the other doors opened, and a young and beautiful woman with short, green hair walked into the hall. Shang guessed that she was probably either in her late teens or early twenties.

Shang didn't feel any Ice Mana swirl around her, but he felt the displacement of the Ice Mana in her surroundings. She was obviously also a Mage, but she wasn't a true Mage. She was probably an Adept, based on the feeling of danger emanating off her.

When she entered the hall, her gaze immediately homed in on Shang, and a surprised expression appeared on her face.

"I didn't expect an Ice Wood delivery that soon," she said.

"Hello, my name's Shang, and I'm here to sell my Ice Wood to the Mana Austerum," Shang said. "However, this is not an official delivery from Coldew Village."

The woman's eyebrows furrowed. "We don't accept independent Ice Wood deliveries. Didn't the guards inform you about that?" she said with annoyance.

Shang took out the certificate and presented it to her. "They did, but I have a certificate from the officer stationed on the northwestern gate which says that my Ice Wood has been ethically sourced."

The woman looked with skepticism at the piece of paper and grabbed it.

Then, she read through it in a second.

After that, she furrowed her brows and remained silent for a while.

Some seconds later, she seemed to have come to a decision. "Wait here for a second."

Shang only nodded.

Then, the woman left the hall with the certificate.

Silence.

Some seconds later, she returned, but she didn't step into the hall. "We'll accept your Ice Wood," she said. "Please follow me with your Ice Wood."

Shang released a sigh of relief when he heard that he finally had the official okay to sell his Ice Wood.

He no longer needed to pull it to Warrior's Paradise.

Shang nodded and followed the woman with his sled wagon.

After going through a hallway, the two entered a nearly empty warehouse. Shang could only see a couple of logs of Ice Wood stacked on the shelves.

"Please put your Ice Wood on this space here," she said as she gestured to a marked spot on the ground.

Shang nodded and pulled the sled wagon over.

"Without the sled wagon, please," she said.

"The sled wagon is also made of Ice Wood," Shang answered.

That took the woman by surprise.

She looked with skepticism at the sled wagon. Why would anyone use Ice Wood to make a mere sled wagon?

SHING!

Shang's eyes widened as he saw a silver needle appear in the woman's hands.

That needle hadn't been there before!

Where did it come from?

"Space Ring," she said as she saw Shang's shocked expression. "Very expensive. It isn't actually mine, but part of my working equipment."

"Space Ring?" Shang asked.

The woman walked over and put the tip of the needle on the Ice Wood. At the same time, she showed her Space Ring with her other hand.

It was completely silver, and a small, grey gem was embedded on the top.

"The gem on the top is a hollowed-out Sparren, a gem that has an innate affinity towards space itself. They are very rare and very valuable," she explained.

By now, the needle had turned a light blue, and the woman moved the needle away from the Ice Wood while watching it.

A bit later, the needle was losing its blue color.

"After finding a Sparren, it must be hollowed out by a true Mage with a Metal Affinity. It is delicate work, and one mistake makes the Sparren worthless."

Then, she moved the needle towards one of the wheels of the sled wagon.

"Then, a true Mage with a Lightning Affinity has to carve a Magic Array on the inside of the Sparren, isolating the inner space from the outer space."

By now, the needle had turned blue again, and she nodded.

"After that, a true Mage with an Earth Affinity needs to compress the space inside the Sparren. The Earth Affinity has a close relationship with gravity, and gravity warps space. Just like with the previous steps, if the Mage screws up, the Sparren becomes worthless," she said as she put the needle away.

Then, she gestured for Shang to push the sled wagon onto the marked spot, and Shang did so.

"The last step is to create an elemental shell around the inner walls of the Sparren. The Magic Arrays on the Sparren are very delicate, and without this shell, any rough movements outside the Sparren will make the items inside the Sparren bounce around and destroy the Magic Arrays."

"Additionally, contradicting Elements can cause the shell to break down, essentially destroying the Space Ring. Because of that, it's necessary to plan about what you want to store inside the Space Ring. Basically any Element can create an elemental shell inside the Sparren, but you have to be conscientious about what you place inside it."

She showed her Space Ring again.

"If I store any items with Fire Mana or Water Mana inside this Space Ring, it will be ruined by the end of the day," she finished. "After all, this Space Ring has been created with Metal and Earth in mind. Storing Ice-related items is somewhat okay, but the Ice Mana shouldn't be too strong."

Then, she looked at the Sled Wagon at the center of the marked area and took out some blue stones.

She put the blue stones into a small opening on the ground.

Then, the markings on the ground lit up.

Chapter 58 - Money!

After a short moment, the markings on the ground darkened again, and the stones had vanished.

A new marking appeared on the ground, and Shang realized that it was the writing of this world. Just like before, Shang had no issues in reading it.

'1,853.547kg,' Shang read with surprise. 'It's a scale?'

Shang looked with surprise at the markings on the ground. 'This elaborate thing is nothing but an industrial-sized scale?'

'Just use counterweights or something. You don't need a huge Magic Array just to weigh something!' Shang thought.

However, he didn't speak his mind.

Maybe they had a good reason for doing it this way.

Shang had already expected that this world wasn't as technologically advanced as Earth, but he refused to believe that this world didn't even know how to make a basic scale. Even the ancient Greeks had scales!

This meant that they had to have a different reason to use a Magic Array.

"That's quite a lot of Ice Wood," the woman said as she wrote down the number on a piece of paper.

"By the way," Shang interjected. "How do you know so much about Space Rings? What you told me didn't sound like common knowledge."

She was a bit surprised when Shang asked this question. "I want to learn how to create an elemental shell inside a Sparren. I have a Wind Affinity, and Space Rings with a wind shell are rarely needed. After all, you can basically only store wind-related stuff in a Space Ring with a wind shell based on the wind's lack of stability."

"However, because these kinds of Space Rings are so rarely needed, they go for a lot of money. There are also not many Wind Mages that bother to learn about that skill due to the lack of demand."

"But that just means that the few that know how to do it are in high demand due to their rarity. It's risky to invest so much money into learning this skill, but if it pays off, I don't have to worry about the resources I would need to become a High Mage," she explained.

Shang nodded. "That makes sense," he said.

She nodded again and took out a white crystal from her Space Ring. "Hello sir, this is Cindy," she spoke politely to the crystal. "We have just received a delivery of Ice Wood. Could you spare some time to evaluate its purity?"

Shang had already guessed that this white crystal was a Communication Crystal. The officer in the barracks had told him how they had contacted the Central Wild.

Shang heard an annoyed groan come from the crystal. "Fine. I'll come," a male voice came out of the crystal.

"Thank you very much," Cindy said.

Then, she put the Communication Crystal away again.

After that, the two of them simply waited for a couple of seconds.

Creak!

One of the doors on the side opened, and a man in his thirties walked through them with lazy steps. He had icy blue hair and a pair of glasses.

When Shang saw the glasses, one of his eyebrows rose in skepticism.

He doubted that Mages had issues with their vision.

So, why was he wearing glasses?

The man didn't even look at Cindy or Shang and directly focused on the sled wagon. He moved one of his fingers to his glasses, but he stopped suddenly.

Then, he looked with a confused look at the sled wagon for a second.

"Who makes carriages out of Ice Wood?" he muttered to himself.

"Sir, it's a sled wagon," Cindy said politely.

"Yes, yes, a sled wagon," the man said without any enthusiasm. Obviously, he didn't care.

The man moved one of his fingers to his glasses again.

A moment later, Shang felt Ice Mana appear on the Mage's fingers, but the Ice Mana was quickly absorbed by the glasses.

"Nearly grade eight, but still grade seven. Just give them 50% more of what we would pay for grade seven," the man said.

"Thank you, sir," Cindy said politely.

The man nodded at Cindy and left again.

The entire time, the Mage hadn't even thrown a glance at Shang. He also hadn't asked about the Ice Wood's source or anything similar.

He only came, graded the Ice Wood, and left.

When Shang had heard the evaluation of the Mage, he realized something.

Shang's mind went back to the time he had slid down the long slope with his sled wagon. Back then, Shang had absorbed some of the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood to survive his crash.

Had that maneuver dropped the purity of the Ice Wood?

If he hadn't done that, would he have had grade eight Ice Wood?

"How much more is grade eight Ice Wood worth in comparison to grade seven?" Shang asked.

"Double," Cindy answered immediately.

When Shang heard that, he had to release a helpless sigh.

Shang had obviously received grade eight Ice Wood, but his maneuver had dropped it to the peak of grade seven.

Sure, Shang would get 50% more than for normal grade seven Ice Wood, but that was only 75% of what it should be.

That stupid idea had cost Shang 25% of his earnings.

'I shouldn't have done that,' Shang thought.

"You heard him," Cindy said. "Please follow me. You can leave your sled wagon there. Someone else will deal with it later."

Shang released another sigh of helplessness and followed Cindy.

The two of them walked back to the entrance hall, and Cindy went behind a desk. Then, she opened a drawer and riffled through some papers.

"At the moment, 100kg of grade seven Ice Wood are equal to 0.97 gold. 1853kg of Ice Wood are about equal to 19,1 gold. Half of that more is 28,65 gold. Let's just make it 29 gold. Are you okay with the price?" Cindy asked as she looked at Shang.

At the moment, Shang was dumbstruck.

29 gold?

That was way more than he had thought!

Shang had expected that he would get ten gold, at most!

As said previously, Shang would have even accepted a trade for seven or eight gold.

And now, he would get 29 gold?!

He only needed five!

Shang's mind immediately went back to the three people that had been responsible for him receiving such a huge sum of money.

The first person was the guard in Duke Whirlwind's garden. He had told Shang how to earn some money. Without him, Shang wouldn't have even asked for Ice Wood in Coldew Village.

The second person had been the Elder in Coldew Village. He had given Shang the Ice Wood, and he was probably also responsible for Shang getting so much of it. On top of that, he had given Shang Ice Wood of relatively high purity.

The last person was the officer in the northwest of Blizzard's Edge. Without her, Shang would have sold his Ice Wood in Warrior's Paradise, and he would have only made around seven gold.

All of them had contributed to Shang getting such a huge sum of money.

"Do you accept the price?" Cindy repeated.

That took Shang out of his thoughts, and he quickly nodded. "Yes, of course," he said faster than normal.

Cindy nodded and took out a sizable sack of gold. She poured a lot of gold on the table and counted in front of Shang. After counting out the 29 pieces, she shoved the remaining pieces back into the bag and put it into her Space Ring.

Then, she summoned another tiny bag, but this one was empty. After pouring the gold into the small bag, she pulled it shut and pushed it towards Shang.

"Thank you for doing business with us," she said with a polite smile.

Shang only nodded, also smiling. "No, thank you!" he said.

"Alright, I have to get back to work. Do come back again," Cindy said as she stood up.

Shang also stood up.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Then, the two of them exchanged some goodbyes, and Shang left.

After he left the Mana Austerum, he thanked the two guards again, who only responded that it was their job.

Shang left the vicinity of the Mana Austerum, and he paused.

Then, he looked at the heavy bag of gold in his hand.

This bag of gold represented Shang's future.

With this bag of gold, he could join the Warrior Academy.

Shang's grip around the bag tightened, and a newfound conviction shone in his eyes.

Next stop, Warrior's Paradise!

 

Chapter 59 - Farm Line

Shang left the Mana Austerum and blankly walked along the street.

Shang constantly felt like he forgot his sled-wagon, but he always got reminded that he didn't own the sled-wagon anymore.

It was so weird.

He had traveled with that thing for nearly a week, and he had traveled across a large distance.

From the northwestern third of the Ice Wyvern Zone, Shang had pulled the sled-wagon all the way to the southeastern end of the Zone.

But now, he didn't need it anymore.

And in exchange?

29 pieces of gold!

Getting that sled-wagon to here had been a major pain in the ass, but it had been worth it!

29 gold!

Shang could probably buy some incredible things for such an amount of money!

And now, Shang didn't even need to pull the heavy sled-wagon along anymore!

He could finally travel without any restrictions!

Shang put the bag of gold beneath his coat and fastened it securely. Then, he walked to the southeastern gate and asked the guard for directions to Warrior's Paradise.

"We are currently at the northwestern edge of the Storm Eagle Zone," one of the guards told Shang as he gestured towards the southeast. "Follow this road until you reach a vast landscape filled with farms. That's when you've reached the safest part in the Storm Eagle Zone, the Farm Line."

"Farm Line?" Shang asked.

"Yes. The Farm Line is, as the name suggests, a huge line of farms. You could also call it a big territory for agriculture. That's where all the food and basic resources for Warrior's Paradise are produced. Warrior's Paradise is gigantic, and it burns through resources like crazy, which is why it needs a huge area dedicated to nothing but farming."

"As long as you keep following the path, you will reach the Farm Line. When you get there, you only need to continue walking. The direction you walk towards isn't actually important."

This confused Shang. "How is it not important?" he asked.

"Because a ridiculous number of guards and soldiers are constantly patrolling the Farm Line. The Farm Line is the lifeline of Warrior's Paradise, and the city can't afford to let anything interfere with the farmers. Because of that, bandits and wild beast essentially don't exist there."

"As soon as you walk into the Farm Line, you are sure to meet some guards very quickly, who will then instruct you on how to proceed. If you have any valuables, you must have some sort of receipt for them. Vast quantities of wealth are very suspicious."

This made Shang frown, and he took out his bag of gold.

When the guard saw the bag, he whistled. "That's quite some money you got there, boy," he said.

Shang only nodded and looked into the bag.

Sure enough, just as he had suspected, a small piece of paper was inside the bag, stating that Shang had exchanged the gold with the mages and that this gold belonged to him.

Shang had already anticipated that the manager had put something into the bag. After all, she had probably also guessed that Shang would go to Warrior's Paradise.

"Is that enough?" Shang asked as he showed the piece of paper to the guard.

The guard squinted at the piece of paper and nodded. "Yep. It has the official seal on it."

"Thanks," Shang said as he put everything away again. "How far to Warrior's Paradise? Can I get there by the end of the day?"

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ The guard looked at the sky to judge the time.

It was late afternoon.

"Can I test your body's power?" the guard asked.

Shang only raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

The guard lifted his spear and moved the butt of the spear slowly towards Shang's shoulder.

Then, he pushed a bit.

Shang automatically pushed back, and the soldier nodded as he took his spear back. "Should be enough. You will probably reach the Farm Line by the evening, and if nothing interferes, Warrior's Paradise by nightfall."

"That doesn't sound very far," Shang commented.

"It isn't," the guard answered. "Warrior's Paradise isn't in the middle of the Storm Eagle Zone but slightly in the north. The Farm Line takes up the remainder of the north."

"And the other parts of Storm Eagle Zone?" Shang asked.

The guard only smirked.

"Death."

Shang raised an eyebrow. "Death?"

"Yep, death," the guard said. "If you see any signs of beasts, you know that you walked in a wrong direction. When you see the first beast, you should still be safe with your power, but you shouldn't go further into the wilderness. The power of the beasts just keeps escalating to a degree where even our Duke has to watch where he's going."

"The Duke?" Shang asked with shock.

According to what Shang had seen, the unimaginably powerful octopus and hedgehog had been nothing more than pets to the Duke. These two beasts were so powerful that Shang couldn't even attempt to resist them, and the Duke was even more powerful.

Yet, there were beasts in that place that were as powerful or even more powerful than the Duke?

That was amazing and terrifying at the same time!

"Then, why is there such a big city there?" Shang asked.

"Money," the guard answered with a smirk. "Strong beasts give strong materials for strong people. Warrior's Paradise is exporting a large quantity of high-end materials, making it one of the richest places in the world."

"Anyway, you should go. I also have to work, you know?" the guard said.

Shang nodded. "Thanks for all the information."

The guard also nodded.

Shang went past the gate and checked all of his belongings again.

Gold? Check.

Clothing? Check.

Sword? Check.

Everything was in order.

Then, Shang stretched his muscles for a bit.

Lastly…

BANG!

The ground under Shang let out a slight vibration as he charged forward. By now, Shang couldn't see any snow anymore, and everything looked rather dusty and desolate. One could almost call this part a wasteland.

Shang guessed that the main reason for this desolation was the Mana Austerum. The Mana Austerum probably ate up a lot of humidity by absorbing the Ice Mana, leaving the surroundings empty.

As Shang charged forward, he felt the power of the wind.

Shang got reminded of the time he had charged down the mountain after leaving the Duke's garden.

No sled-wagon.

No worries.

He could just run.

His future was in front of him!

Shang passed several merchants on his way with a grin. He had always been the one that had been overtaken by merchants.

Now, he was overtaking them.

After just 30 minutes, Shang saw the first flowers and trees.

Ten minutes later, Shang saw far more trees, and he could even see the occasional small forest.

Twenty minutes later, Shang saw the first building. It was a simple woodworking shop close to the woods. Shang could hear the sound of sawing coming from the shop.

As Shang stopped to look at the woodworking shop, he noticed that the wind had picked up. Shang guessed that the wind had reached a speed of about 20 kph by now. Not a storm, but still very noticeable.

Shang continued running, and ten minutes later, the trees slowly started to vanish. What replaced them were huge farms filled with wheat and all kinds of useful plants.

There were also several strong animals pulling carts, some of which Shang had never seen before.

There was even a two-meter-tall dog walking along the fields, and when Shang saw the dog, he felt a shudder.

That dog was powerful!

It was probably in the General Stage, which was the Second Realm, and it definitely wasn't in the earlier levels of that Realm.

The big dog looked at Shang for a bit but looked away again in disinterest.

It obviously wasn't there to keep watch over humans.

"Is this your first time seeing the Farm Dogs?"

Shang jumped to the side in shock as he heard a voice come from his right.

Shang looked over, and he saw a man in brownish-black clothing standing beside him. The clothing perfectly made him blend into the environment.

Additionally, that man also felt far too powerful to Shang.

Shang hadn't even noticed the guy!

"Sorry," the guy said with an awkward smile. "I'm one of the scouts. Didn't mean to startle you."

Shang calmed down again and released a deep breath. "It's okay. I'm here to join the Warrior Academy."

"Oh, I thought as much, based on how fast you moved just now," the scout said with a chuckle. "I'm basically done with my work anyway, and my home is in Warrior's Paradise. I can show you the way."

Shang nodded. "Thanks."

Chapter 60 - Storm Eagle Zone

Shang nodded. "Thanks."

"Just wait for a bit. My replacement should be here pretty soon. Aaaaaand, he's here!" the scout said with a smirk. "Punctual as always."

Shang looked around, but he couldn't see the other guy.

The scout saw Shang's confused expression and chuckled a bit. Then, he showed his wrist to Shang. Shang could see a small device attached to the scout's wrist. It looked almost like a wristwatch.

"It's this thing. It's been created by Mages, and it keeps us all informed. I just got informed that my shift ended. Let's go," the scout said as he gestured to the front.

Shang nodded.

Then, the guard shot forward, and Shang followed him. They weren't sprinting or running, but jogging comfortably, which was still very fast compared to normal humans.

While jogging, Shang kept looking at the Farm Line. "What are these dogs?" he asked.

"The Farm Dogs?" the scout asked. "They are there to deal with rogue beasts and Pest Cats. If they see any beast that isn't accompanied by a human, they will kill that beast."

Shang nodded. That made sense.

"Do these dogs have affinities?" he asked. After all, Shang had seen plenty of beasts with Elemental Affinities.

"Most of them are Wind or Earth," the scout answered. "The ones with Wind Affinities deal with Pest Cats and weaker beasts. If a powerful beast arrives, the dogs work together to bring it down. Basically any beast that comes here will be killed as long as it's below the Commander Stage."

Shang nodded. The Commander Stage was the Third Realm, which was the Realm the hedgehog had been in. If the hedgehog came here, it could probably kill every dog with one needle each.

As the two of them kept running, one of the dogs suddenly barreled towards them at a much faster speed.

Shang looked over nervously, but the scout only smiled at the dog.

The dog ran circles around them while they were still running with incredible speed, and the scout extended his hand.

The dog quickly stopped and let the scout scratch it behind the ear. Usually, a human wouldn't even reach such a high place, but the dog was lowering its head with happiness.

Shang only smiled. 'Well, some things don't change, even if we are in different worlds.'

After a bit, the dog ran away again to get back to its place of work.

"Don't try to do the same thing," the scout said. "The dogs know me, but they don't know you. They are used to killing, and it's dangerous to interact with them without supervision."

Shang nodded.

The two of them continued running for another twenty minutes.

By now, Shang couldn't see any farms anymore, which meant that they had left the Farm Line. Instead, Shang could see thick forests a couple of kilometers away from the main road.

"This is the Wild Forest," the scout explained. "The streets are safe since the dogs and guards also patrol here, but the Wild Forest is filled with beasts. The beasts in the Wild Forest are only at the Soldier Stage, but if you stray too far, you will eventually reach the Wasteland."

"Behind the Wild Forest, the wind becomes so strong that only very few plants can grow there, making it a wasteland. That's the Wasteland, obviously, and the Wind Mana is so strong there that you can basically only find beasts at the General Stage."

The scout chuckled. "Us soldiers don't call it the Wasteland but the Workland since most of our work is being done there."

Shang listened with interest. "You hunt wild Beasts? Isn't that more of a job for hunters?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," the scout answered. "However, we don't always get enough hunters to take care of the wild Beasts. Sometimes, all the good hunters finish at the same time and go to sell their wares, leaving for a couple of days. Sometimes, a couple of tricky and troublesome Beasts appear."

"When that happens, we soldiers have to fulfill the quota for hunted Beasts. If we don't regularly kill enough Beasts, they will become so numerous that the Wasteland won't have enough space left for them, which forces them out of the Wasteland and into the Wild Forest and human territories."

Shang nodded. "What about-"

"Wait a sec," the scout suddenly interrupted Shang as he stopped.

Then, the guard quickly took out a folded bow and expanded it to its true form. In one fluid motion, the scout took out an arrow and shot it towards the right side.

BANG!

Shang looked over, and his eyes widened.

Shang saw a Pest Cat that had been nailed to a tree by an arrow just two kilometers away!

"What was your question?" the scout asked as he put the bow away again.

Shang was a bit absentminded.

That had been way too fast!

The guy had killed a Pest Cat in one or two seconds from two kilometers away!

Shang got reminded of the guards in Duke Whirlwind's garden. They had been about as powerful as this guard, and they had pointed their crossbows and bows at Shang.

If Shang had acted incorrectly back then, this Pest Cat could have been him.

He couldn't evade something like that!

"That's a Wind Bow," the scout said when he saw that Shang still didn't speak. "I can't shoot such an arrow without its help. If I used a normal bow, my arrow would only fly at half the speed."

"Does everyone get such a bow?" Shang asked.

"The scouts do. After all, it's our job to take out troublesome beasts. I usually don't deal with weaker beasts, but Pest Cats are an exception. They simply multiply too quickly, and they are everywhere."

Shang nodded.

That arrow had definitely been impressive.

"What I wanted to ask earlier, what's beyond the Wasteland?" Shang asked.

"Oh?" the scout uttered. "You do know more than I thought. Why do you think there is an after?"

"One of the guards in Blizzard's Edge said that the strength of the beasts keeps escalating until even the Duke has to be careful."

When the scout heard that, he chuckled. "A funny way to put it, but yes, he's right."

"Beyond the Wasteland is the Canyon. The wind there is so powerful that it ravages the land and creates powerful wind tunnels. You can only find beasts there that can completely live off Mana. That means that all beasts there are at the Commander Stage or higher."

"If you go even further, you find the Crater. Only the most powerful beasts with Wind Affinities live there, and they are as powerful as our Duke and the Headmaster of the Warrior's Academy."

"In the center of the Crater, you can find the most powerful beast, the actual Storm Eagle, the beast this zone is named after and the source of all the Wind Mana. No human in the world can take down that beast," the scout explained.

"No human in the world?" Shang asked in surprise.

The scout nodded. "The strongest people in the world are the different Kings. They are the only Archmages in existence, but even they are helpless in front of the Storm Eagle. Even among Zone Beasts, the Storm Eagle is one of the more powerful ones."

"Then, what stops the Storm Eagle from just razing us to the ground?" Shang asked.

The guard chuckled a bit.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Shang asked.

The scout nodded.

"If the Storm Eagle wanted to kill us, we could only run away and accept our fate. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be interested in us. Even when it flies over our city, it doesn't even look at us."

"It flies over the city?" Shang asked in shock.

The scout nodded again. "Does it all the time. It even lets its little chicks fly in the city."

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Shang became shocked again and again. "Chicks?" he asked.

"Yeah, its little chicks fly and walk around in the city occasionally, and as soon as we get news of one, a squadron of guards is sent out to keep the chicks safe until they leave the city again. After all, we don't want to anger the Storm Eagle."

Shang asked more about Warrior's Paradise, and the scout kept answering Shang's questions.

Twenty minutes later, the forests on the side of the road vanished, and Shang could see the ground vanishing. The road continued to go straight, but Shang felt like the road was climbing upwards.

In another ten minutes, the one-kilometer-wide road was the only visible piece of land, and everything around them had sunken into the earth.

The scout pulled Shang to the side of the road and pointed to the ground.

Shang could see a vast land nearly bereft of plants below them. He could also see over ten different beasts walking around and even fighting.

All of these beasts were more powerful than Shang.

"That's the Wasteland?" Shang asked.

"That's the Wasteland," the scout answered. "It angles downward until you reach the Canyon. It's currently dark now, but when it's bright, you can even see some huge pillar-like structures in the distance from here. That's where the Canyon begins."

"There are also more beasts walking around during the day. Right now, you can only see the beasts that are active during the twilight hours. Those are the weakest beasts, and they only come out when the strongest ones are still asleep or starting to rest."

"You can actually also see Warrior's Paradise from here. You just didn't pay any attention," the scout said with a smile as he pointed towards the end of the road.

Shang looked over, and his eyes widened.

This was Warrior's Paradise?