Ch. 511..520
Chapter 511 511 – Contract
Shang and Jerald read through the lengthy contract while absorbing all the information.
There was a lot written down in the contract, but their minds were fast enough to read through all of it in a relatively short amount of time.
The five Kingdoms were known as Area 23, and it was one of about 100 Areas created for different fields of research.
All these 100 Areas belonged to the Lightning Manor, and the contract also introduced the Lightning Manor.
The Lightning Manor owned around 10% of the world. There were nine other powers that also owned 10% each, but the contract didn't name them. It only said that they existed.
The Lightning Emperor was the leader of the Lightning Manor, and he was one of the ten Mage Emperors of the world.
The levels of the world went like this:
Apprentice.
Adept.
True Mage.
High Mage.
Archmage.
Ancestral Mage.
Mage Lord.
Mage King.
Mage Emperor.
The Mage Emperors were the absolute strongest beings in the world, and they were unfathomably old and ancient.
The contract conveyed all of this so that the person signing the contract knew how powerful the organization was they now worked for.
The Lightning Manor consisted of one Mage Emperor, eight Mage Kings, and over 7,000 Mage Lords!
Just one single Mage Lord was unfathomably more powerful than even the strongest Zone Beast in Area 23, and the Lightning Manor had over 7,000 of those!
The contract also introduced the eight Mage Kings with pictures and names, and Shang noticed a familiar face.
The Starlight Queen!
When Shang saw her, he had to take a deep breath.
Shang had met such a legendary existence.
The Starlight Queen might actually belong to the 100 strongest humans in the world.
After introducing the Lightning Manor, the contract went into introducing more of the Areas.
The 100 Areas were divided into five groups, with 20 being in each one.
Areas one to twenty were responsible for testing new Spells, crafts, and techniques.
When the Lightning Manor created something new and wanted to test it, they would introduce the relevant technique into one of the Areas.
The technique would be quickly spread throughout the Area, and the Lightning Manor would see how this technique would work when given to a great number of people.
The stronger people in these Areas were often switched out. The True Mages and more powerful would be sent to the outside world, leaving the Area filled with Apprentices and Adepts. With that, the knowledge of the predecessors was gone, making the remaining people more likely to try out the new technique.
Area 21 to 40 were isolated experiments.
The Lightning Manor made it nearly impossible to come into contact with the outside world and let everything develop on its own.
The goal was to see what kind of Paths and techniques would be created in such a vacuum.
The Mage Path had basically already been perfected, and this was a good and bad thing.
It was good because the Mage Path was extremely solid, with a clear direction from beginning to end.
The bad was that there was a severe lack of innovation.
The Mage Path worked extremely well, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a better way.
Any interesting Paths or techniques created in these Areas would be sent to the Lightning Manor to be evaluated, and if they proved to be usable, the Lightning Manor would sell them to the public. Of course, a lot of times, the technique would be refined further by a couple of Mage Lords dedicated to improving these techniques.
Areas 41 to 60 were dedicated to natural research.
Different biomes, matter, kinds of Mana, and beasts would result in the creation of different natural treasures.
The Lightning Manor mixed and matched all the different kinds of beasts, biomes, kinds of Mana, and so on, and looked at what kind of natural treasure would appear as time passed.
These Areas didn't have any humans except for the employees of the Lightning Manor.
Areas 61 to 80 were the Recruitment Areas.
The Lightning Manor gave everyone living in these Areas amazing techniques but let the people in the Areas develop independently.
This created a place where everyone had access to the best techniques, even if they didn't have any money. It essentially got rid of the advantage or disadvantage of status, allowing everyone to battle on an equal playing field.
The people that managed to rise to power in this kind of Area had to be the most talented among all of them.
The best of these people were directly recruited by the Lightning Manor, while many of the others were simply sent to the outside world when they reached the High Mage Realm.
Around 1,500 of the over 7,000 Mage Lords of the Lightning Manor came from these 20 Areas.
Lastly, Areas 81 to 100 acted as reserves.
Depending on what the Lightning Manor needed, one or more of these Areas would be assigned to one of the other four groups.
Since the five Kingdoms were Area 23, this place belonged to the second group.
This explained so many things.
This explained why there was basically zero knowledge about the outside world in this Area.
This explained why there were Summoners, Spiriters, Barbarians, and warriors in this Area, even though the Mage Path was objectively the best at the current moment.
If everyone in Area 23 had access to the Star Maps of the outside world, all the incredible Spells, and all the valuable treasures and crafts, there would basically be no other Path.
Nearly everyone would be a Mage.
After talking about the Areas, the contract talked about the specific duties Jerald would have as an Assistant Supervisor.
It has been proven over many years of research that war and fear were the best motivation for people to innovate and become stronger.
Fear of losing one's life.
Fear of losing a loved one.
Fear of becoming old.
Fear of becoming poor.
All of these things could be solved by becoming more powerful.
Because of that, there always had to be an external enemy present.
The people would band together and become more powerful by helping each other when they all were afraid of the same enemy.
Beasts were too passive to act as such an enemy, and the Abominations weren't stoppable.
In order for the fear to motivate someone to become stronger, there also had to be hope.
The Abominations didn't offer such a hope.
Because of that, other humans had to act as these sorts of enemies.
For Area 23, specifically, this enemy was the Magic Purity Kingdom.
The Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom had been tasked to create an elitist and purist society that abhorred every human that wasn't a Mage.
Like this, the Magic Purity Kingdom would act as the common enemy of all the other Kingdoms. The other Paths had already been integrated into the other Kingdoms, and they represented a big part of the Kingdom's power.
The Magic Purity Kingdom saw such a form of symbiosis as heretical to the Mage Path and would kill not only all the people of the other Paths but also the "sympathizing" Mages.
Of course, as the common antagonist, the Magic Purity Kingdom also needed the power to fight all other Kingdoms, which was why it received a couple of techniques and Spells from the outside world.
As an employee, it was Jerald's job to increase the power of his assigned territory and make it go to war with the Magic Purity Kingdom.
An Assistant Supervisor was not allowed to publicize any knowledge about the outside world or introduce techniques and Spells without authorization.
If the Assistant Supervisor managed to conquer the capital of the Magic Purity Kingdom without fighting themselves or cheating, the Assistant Supervisor would get a bonus.
If the Assistant Supervisor's own capital were conquered, they would be let go with only getting 50% of what they had earned over their career.
In short, it was Jerald's job to increase the power of the Skythunder Kingdom and conquer the Magic Purity Kingdom.
Of course, Shang's contract differed.
As a plus one, he was only responsible for helping the Assistant Supervisor do their job while still being under similar restrictions.
But in comparison to the Assistant Supervisor, the plus one was allowed to join fights as long as they were not a Late High Mage or more powerful.
The contract specifically mentioned that this restriction was based on one's Realm, not one's Battle-Strength.
The minimum duration for this job was 50 years, but it could be expanded for additional benefits.
Then, the contract talked about payment, and Shang had to raise a skeptical eyebrow.
Pay: being allowed to plunder the area without endangering the long-term development.
Chapter 512 512 – New Job
Shang and Jerald had to raise an eyebrow at the payment.
"The pay is a bit… strange," Jerald said.
"The pay is worth it," Agon spoke up from beside the Supervisor. "In the outside world, all the resources in the Fourth Realm are plundered by Archmages, and all the resources of the Fifth Realm are plundered by Ancestral Mages. These resources are worth a lot and the more powerful Mages sell them to the Mages that actually need them."
"But here, you have none of these Mages. Remember that there are Archbeasts and Ancestral Beasts in this place, and their presence creates powerful and useful resources. I have plundered so many herbs and ores that only grow in the presence of the Zone Beasts that I have been basically shooting through my Concepts," Agon explained.
"Archbeasts?" Shang asked.
Agon nodded. "In the outside world, the beasts are named after the Mage Realms starting at the third Realm. True Beasts, High Beasts, Archbeasts, and so on."
Shang nodded. "Makes sense."
Jerald scratched his chin as he looked at the contract.
"Even better," Agon added with a smirk, "it doesn't matter how much you work. It only matters how good your results are."
On the side, Relon only snorted.
He had seen how Agon had basically pawned off all his duties to the Council while getting paid for doing essentially nothing.
He wasn't the biggest fan of that.
"Am I being allowed to reach the Archmage Realm during my employment?" Jerald asked.
"No," Relon answered. "If you reach the Archmage Realm, you will be fired."
Jerald furrowed his brows.
"Then, I will choose to be contracted for 100 years," Jerald said.
"Smart choice," Agon said with a smirk.
If the Assistant Supervisor managed to fulfill their duties for 50 years, they were allowed to leave with all their possessions and gains.
However, if an Assistant Supervisor managed to fulfill their duties for 100 years, they would also be eligible to participate in the Lightning Manor's entrance exam for talented Archmages.
This opportunity was worth a lot. After all, if one managed to join the Lightning Manor, their path to power would essentially be free of obstacles.
Of course, getting through the entrance exam was beyond difficult.
Just the most basic requirement was to have reached the High Mage Realm with two Concepts already comprehended and to have reached the Archmage Realm with two level two Concepts already comprehended.
That was just the most basic requirement.
Right now, Jerald only knew one level two Concept, which was the Concept of Summer Drizzle.
Jerald was sure that he could comprehend the level two Pure Concept for Wind, which was Breeze, in the next two decades.
But he also planned on comprehending a third one during his employment here.
After that, he would enter the entrance exam of the Lightning Manor.
"Is it possible to alter the plan of how Area 23 is being run?" Jerald asked.
"I'm the one that decided on everything," Relon said. "If you have a good suggestion, I have the power to put it into effect."
Jerald nodded. "That's good to hear."
Then, Jerald signed the contract and looked at Shang. "How about you?"
Shang signed the contract without hesitation.
"Sounds good," he said.
As a plus one, Shang sadly didn't get any of the additional rewards that Jerald would get, but he would still be free to plunder the lands.
Wasn't this literally what the God said to do?
The God had said that when one was amongst the strongest in a given area, it was best to plunder it for everything it was worth and leave.
Additionally, Shang's job was more than easy to complete.
Shang knew that Jerald would rule over the entire Kingdom and manage everything personally. He wasn't like Agon, who only watched while his Kingdom was being run by others.
Shang would only need to help on the frontlines a couple of times, and when he wasn't in the frontlines, he could do whatever he wanted.
With the Council gone, Shang could finally go wherever he wanted in the Skythunder Kingdom.
He could fight all the different beasts.
He could search for his own ore.
He could train whatever he wanted.
And if he ever needed to train against a Mage, he could simply attack the Magic Purity Kingdom.
This was a paradise for Shang.
He was free to completely focus on himself with nearly no restrictions.
He now had 100 years of free training in front of him, but after that, he would need to enter the outside world.
Relon collected both contracts, created a copy each, gave the copies to Shang and Jerald, and pocketed the originals.
"Welcome to my team, Jerald, Shang," Relon said with a polite smile. "Let's wish for a good century!"
"Thank you, Relon," Jerald said with his own polite smile.
They had only talked for a bit, but Relon was already much happier with Jerald than he had ever been with Agon.
"If you need anything, just ask me. I can also help you with questions regarding understanding Concepts, but please keep these kinds of questions to a minimum. I also have to work," Relon said.
"Thank you. I will," Jerald answered.
"Now, since you've signed the contract, it's time to give you your basic equipment," Relon said.
Shang's and Jerald's eyes shone. They had read about that in the contract, and they looked forward to it very much.
Two books appeared in Relon's hand, and they floated over to Jerald and Shang.
Jerald and Shang looked at them with burning eyes.
This was the Star Map for becoming an Archmage and becoming an Ancestral Mage!
They had only had access to the Star Map for becoming a High Mage!
Naturally, these Star Maps were forbidden from being given to the public.
They weren't sure how expensive these Star Maps were in the outside world, but they expected that they cost a lot. After all, these Star Maps were extremely valuable to High Mages and Archmages.
Sadly, there was no Star Map for warriors, but that didn't mean that the Star Map for Mages was useless to Shang.
Shang wasn't sure how to proceed from now on, and the Star Map of the Mages might give him some ideas.
After handing over the two Star Maps, Relon summoned a Communication Crystal and gave it to Jerald. This Communication Crystal could contact the other Assistant Supervisors and the Supervisor, but only Jerald was allowed to use it.
It was strange to think about the fact that Agon had probably chatted with the Magic Purity King casually while their Kingdoms were at war.
Lastly, Relon took out two more books.
This was a guide for all manners of ore, herbs, beasts, and treasures in general.
This would make it easier for them to make use of all the things in their Kingdom.
It was almost like the Lightning Manor wanted them to harvest the entire land.
"And that should be it," Relon said. "Agon, please show them the portal to the meeting place later. They're going to need it in three months."
"Sure," Agon said with boredom.
Relon only snorted at Agon's bored answer.
Then, he nodded at Jerald and Shang.
"Just call me if you need anything."
"I will, thank you," Jerald said.
Then, Relon turned into a lightning bolt and shot into the distance.
Jerald and Shang were now officially working for the Lightning Manor.
Chapter 513 513 – Celebration
Relon left, leaving Agon, Jerald, and Shang alone.
"Well then," Agon said. "You won the civil war today, and I think it's time for you and your forces to contribute to the defense of the Skythunder Kingdom."
Jerald and Shang nodded.
They knew that they now had to defend against the Magic Purity Kingdom with a severely weakened Skythunder Kingdom.
Nearly all the Late and Peak High Mages had died, and the Kingdom had even lost nearly 30 Mid High Mages, which represented 60% of the Mid High Mages they had before the war.
The Skythunder Kingdom had probably lost over 50% of its entire power in this war, making it very difficult to defend against the Magic Purity Kingdom.
"What would be the best way to do that?" Shang asked.
Agon only snorted. "That's not my problem. You guys were the ones to get the Skythunder Kingdom into this mess, and it's your job to get it out of it."
Sadly, Agon was right.
"How long until your shift ends?" Jerald asked.
"Should be four months," Agon answered. "We will have a meeting in three months so that everyone can get acquainted with each other. A month after that, we are going to stage the big battle and leave."
"So, we have to survive for four months," Jerald said.
"Do you think all your problems will be resolved when the old Assistant Supervisors leave?" Agon asked with a smirk.
"Yes," Jerald answered, surprising Agon a bit.
"Oh?" Agon said. "That sounds interesting."
"Anyway," Agon continued, "For today, you have won the civil war, and your people probably want to party for the day. I think this is a good time to make it official."
Then, Agon walked towards Jerald's group while Shang and Jerald followed him.
When they arrived, Jerald's people released a sigh of relief.
Jerald and Shang were still alive.
They had feared that King Skythunder would kill the two of them.
"Everyone," Agon spoke loudly as everyone listened, "You have fought a great battle today, and all the warriors are no longer being suppressed by the Council. You have all achieved the freedom and status you wanted."
The warriors grew excited when they heard that. Hearing something like this come from King Skythunder's mouth made everything so much more real.
"Let's all go back to my castle. You can all celebrate there for the day," Agon announced.
The warriors and Mages almost couldn't believe it.
They were allowed to celebrate inside King Skythunder's castle?!
Only very few people in the Kingdom had been allowed to go there, and now, they could celebrate in the most sacred place in the Skythunder Kingdom?!
"Let's go," Agon said before he started to walk northwards casually.
"You all earned it," Jerald said with a warm smile. "I'm lucky to have such strong, loyal, and capable people helping me."
The people cheered, and everyone followed King Skythunder toward his castle.
They passed through the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, the Thunder Horse Zone and eventually reached the Skythunder Zone.
When the warriors saw the gigantic skeleton that was King Skythunder's castle, they felt humbled.
They could feel that this skeleton came from a beast that was beyond powerful.
When Shang saw the skeleton again, he remembered the first time he had seen it.
'Back then, I wasn't sure who killed the Zone Beast below the Storm Eagle Zone.'
The image of Relon shot through his mind.
'Now, I know.'
This powerful Zone Beast had probably made too much trouble, making it difficult for the humans to settle there. Because of that, the Supervisor at the time got rid of it.
"How powerful is Relon?" Shang asked Agon via voice transmission.
"Not sure," Agon answered, "but I think he should be in the late Ancestral Mage Realm, more or less. Supervisors must be more powerful than every beast inside their Area."
'Late Ancestral Mage Realm,' Shang thought with a deep breath. 'He's probably an entire Realm above Agon, and Agon is already impossibly powerful.'
The more powerful Shang became, the more powerful Agon felt to him.
It was like there was no end to Agon's power.
"And you?" Shang asked.
Agon chuckled a bit. "Quite bold of you to ask me such a question."
"I mean," Shang answered, "we are on a first-name basis now, and you said you had enough of all of this bowing shit."
Agon snorted. "You're right. I guess old habits die hard."
"I'm at the Late Archmage Realm."
Even though Shang had expected something like that, he was still surprised.
The true level of all the Kings was a mystery to everyone. Most people believed that the Kings were in the Initial or Early Archmage Realm.
Yet, Agon was at the Late Archmage Realm.
No wonder he felt that powerful to Shang.
"What about the others?" Shang asked.
"They're all weaker than me," Agon answered with a smirk. "The old man in the Magic Purity Kingdom is at the Mid Archmage Realm, but I know two level three Concepts while he only knows one."
Now, this surprised Shang a lot!
Level three Concepts were necessary to reach the Ancestral Mage Realm, but both of them already knew these Concepts while not even being Peak Archmages. Even more, Agon knew two!
Then, Shang realized why it was like that.
The pay.
The Kings could harvest resources from Archbeasts and Ancestral Beasts without any competition from other Mages.
They were essentially drowning in the resources that they needed to advance.
The two of them stopped talking after that, and everyone traveled toward the huge castle in the middle of the Skythunder Zone.
All the warriors and Mages felt wonder as they entered the gigantic castle.
Yet, when they saw the cave-like throne room, they became a bit surprised.
The throne room did not look as they had expected.
Agon slowly went up to his throne and sat down.
A moment later, the Archduke, Miriam, also appeared inside the throne room with a smile.
The warriors and Mages were a bit apprehensive about Miriam's presence. After all, they didn't know if she was involved in suppressing the warriors or not.
"You don't need to worry," Jerald told his people. "The Archduke has remained neutral just like King Skythunder."
The warriors and Mages calmed down, and the good mood returned.
"Did you bring the stuff, Miriam?" Agon asked.
Miriam's smile widened.
SHING!
Then, a huge assortment of expensive food and beverages appeared in the hall.
Obviously, none of the present people needed to eat, but it was still fun to eat sometimes.
Several glasses of wine flew to the Mages while several glasses of mead flew toward the warriors.
Agon himself took a glass of mead.
Then, he lifted his glass, and everyone else followed.
"To a bright future and prosperous collaboration between the warriors and Mages!" Agon shouted.
"Hey!" everyone shouted.
Then, everyone downed their drinks.
After everyone drank, Agon stood up and cracked his knuckles and neck.
A grin appeared on his face, and he looked at some of the warriors.
"Let's start this celebration with some blood!"
"Who wants to brawl with me?!" he shouted.
Silence.
The people only looked with shock at King Skythunder.
Nearly no one of the present people had seen him before, and they were shocked by his conduct.
Miriam only smiled helplessly.
Chapter 514 514 – Price Of Revolution
After an awkward couple of seconds, Mervin stepped forward with a smile and lifted his fists.
Agon and Mervin fought for a while, but Agon lost due to Mervin's experience, even though Agon had a more powerful body.
When everyone saw Agon's bloodied but grinning face, the atmosphere changed.
"Who's next?!" Agon shouted at everyone.
After that, the party actually got going.
More warriors stepped forward to brawl with Agon.
Agon won several fights, but he also lost a couple of them.
As time passed, people even started to bet and comment on the fights while laughing loudly.
Instead of some official celebration, everything turned into a degenerate brawling fest like in a normal bar.
And the warriors loved it.
When Agon saw the warriors argue with each other about who got to fight King Skythunder next, he could only grin.
He preferred this casual and rough environment way more than the uptight environment when only Mages were present.
Shang only watched everything from the sidelines.
Or, that was what his original plan had been.
Instead of leaving Shang alone, the warriors and Mages joined him and roped him into several conversations.
Jerald spent most of his time talking to Miriam, Sylvia, and everyone else.
He wasn't one for brawls.
Everyone partied through the day and night, and when the next day arrived, the atmosphere around Agon changed.
"I know that you all want to continue, and I want to do so as well, but we have a Kingdom to defeat," he said.
The mood in the castle immediately turned serious.
Even though the civil war was won, everyone still knew that there was an actual war going on.
The Magic Purity Kingdom would soon attack again.
After a night of partying, it was now time for the official business.
"I hereby announce that Duke Whirlwind will now assume the mantle of Advisor. His authority will be on the same level as the Archduke," Agon announced.
Jerald stepped forward and bowed to King Skythunder. This was an official declaration, and Jerald had to act the part.
"Count Sword will now assume the mantle of Duke Sword," Agon announced after that.
Shang also bowed.
"As your first order, Advisor Whirlwind, I want you to deal with the Magic Purity Kingdom," Agon said.
"I will, my King," Jerald answered.
After that, Jerald started to give different orders, but instead of only giving them, he also explained why he was giving them and what his reasoning was.
He also told them that he had a plan for the future but that it would take a couple of months of preparation until it would work.
Everyone would only need to defend the frontlines for a couple of months. After that, things should get easier.
Jerald also told them that he would help on the frontlines.
Usually, Jerald would be forbidden from interfering in the war due to his new position of Assistant Supervisor, but his employment would only truly start when the old Assistant Supervisor left.
That meant that, for the next four months, Jerald could still get involved in the war himself.
After handling the matters regarding the frontlines, Jerald gave orders regarding cleansing the Skythunder Kingdom.
The entire Skythunder Kingdom now belonged to him, and it was time to clean the Skythunder Kingdom of the True Mages that had suppressed the warriors in the past.
All of Jerald's Inquisitors now had to work overtime to read the minds of all the True Mages in the Kingdom, which would take a long time.
Additionally, there were still about 100 High Mages left, who were all stationed at the frontlines.
But for their services in defending the Skythunder Kingdom, Jerald decided to pardon their actions.
The people that were currently stationed at the frontlines were mostly people that were basically always stationed there.
These were the most stalwart defenders of the Skythunder Kingdom, and they had protected the Skythunder Kingdom for decades.
These kinds of people rarely got involved in internal politics. Their entire job was to defend the Skythunder Kingdom, and they weren't picky when it came to who helped them in fulfilling their duties.
They didn't care if their frontline was filled with warriors or Mages. As long as these people were powerful, these High Mages would be happy.
On this day, everyone moved out.
On their way to the frontlines, the warriors and High Mages also informed all the cities and towns they passed by about Jerald's victory over the Council.
A more official announcement would arrive later in the day.
The Skythunder Kingdom was in an uproar.
The revolution against the Council had actually been a success!
The Council was no more!
Shang was also sent to the frontlines. Sadly, Jerald didn't have the time to create another set of armor for him, which meant that he wasn't as powerful as in the civil war, but he was still extremely powerful.
Shang knew that he would need to stabilize the frontlines over the next couple of months. Jerald had already told him about his plan, and if it succeeded, Shang would be able to relax most of the time.
There was still a bit of work to do before Shang could return to increasing his power.
When the warriors arrived at the frontlines, the people were concerned.
The fact that the warriors were now at the frontlines again meant that Jerald had won, but that also meant that a huge chunk of the High Mages had been killed.
But, on the other hand, this also meant that the Kingdom would be more stable internally.
They could now focus all their power on defending against the Magic Purity Kingdom.
A couple of hours later, the official announcement was printed and distributed across the Kingdom, and there was one part of the announcement that put the people of the Skythunder Kingdom into an uproar.
All the citizens were ordered to retreat from the western Skythunder Kingdom.
The western Skythunder Kingdom would be abandoned.
50% of the Skythunder Kingdom would be abandoned.
The reason was simple.
The Skythunder Kingdom didn't have the power to defend such a large territory.
They had to consolidate their forces so that they could defend the original Skythunder Kingdom.
The people had seven days to evacuate, and Jerald would personally defend most of the western borders for this timeframe.
At the same time, all the Inquisitors traveled through the lands, gathering all the True Mages and reading their minds.
As soon as Jerald had taken control of the Skythunder Kingdom, the lives of the citizens drastically changed.
Massive amounts of True Mages were killed.
50% of the population lost their home.
The first couple of days after Jerald took control of the Kingdom were the most horrible days for the citizens.
Sadly, this was the only way to protect the Skythunder Kingdom.
They had to get rid of the Mages that believed in the philosophy of the Council, and they had to abandon the western Skythunder Kingdom to ensure its survival.
It was horrible for every single citizen, but all of this was necessary to preserve the Skythunder Kingdom.
During the first day, Jerald had become more hated than the Council had ever been.
Sadly, that was the price Jerald had to pay for his revolution.
Chapter 515 515 – Assault
While the next couple of days were filled with panic, rage, and torture for the normal citizens, the frontline had a rare moment of peace.
The Magic Purity Kingdom was still trying to recover from the sudden assault the Skythunder Kingdom had launched two days ago.
But everyone knew that the Magic Purity Kingdom would strike very soon with a vengeance.
Jerald had gone to the western Skythunder Kingdom and readied himself to defend the border from any attack.
Sylvia and Shang went on standby in the middle of the northern border.
And then, everyone waited.
Two days passed.
"Attack on the Starkwhite Serpent Zone!"
Shang looked at his Communication Crystal after he received that message.
He put the Communication Crystal away and blasted into the sky with his Saber.
Shang decided that he should act in accordance with Humanity from now on and only use his Great Sword and Saber States. Humanity gave the other people the impression that he had a Temperature Affinity, which was made of Fire and Ice Affinities.
The assault happened two Zones over, and Shang took nearly two minutes to get there.
Sadly, everyone knew how rapidly these battles happened in the Fourth Realm.
The battle would already be over before Shang got there.
However, the defending forces of the Skythunder Kingdom had gotten explicit instructions on how to fight the war in the next couple of months.
Due to the current weakness of the Skythunder Kingdom, the wars had to be fought differently.
The High Mages were supposed to enter a one-on-one duel with the enemy High Mages while retreating from the frontline.
The battle between the soldiers would end very quickly, but if two Mages of similar power dueled with each other, the battles would take forever.
Usually, as soon as one of the armies won, the winning army would support their High Mage in taking down the enemy High Mage in a very short amount of time.
While a duel between two High Mages could take hours, as soon as some external force was introduced, the battle could end in seconds.
Because of that, the High Mages were instructed to explicitly only fight in one on one duels while retreating from the other soldiers.
They had to buy time.
As Shang blasted through the sky, his Spirit Sense picked up the fight.
Two Initial High Mages were chasing an Initial High Mage from the Skythunder Kingdom.
The Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom was nearly out of Mana due to all the Mana Steps he had to use.
They were fighting 20 kilometers away from the frontline, in the middle of the Starkwhite Serpent Zone.
Shang homed in on the battle and blasted toward them.
As soon as he entered everyone's Spirit Sense, the two Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom threw a glance at him.
Initial True Path Stage.
Shouldn't be a problem.
If they had more time to inspect Shang, they might have felt the unreal sense of threat he gave off, but they were too busy trying to kill the High Mage.
They only threw him a cursory glance before focusing on the Mage again.
Shang pulled his Saber back…
And then, his assault began.
Shang started to shoot Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns while blasting through the air toward them, and the eyes of the Mages immediately widened.
That was an insane assault!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shang's attacks landed on their Mana Shields, and the two Mages were soon forced to use Mana Step.
Shang chased them while releasing more and more attacks while the Mages kept retreating with Mana Step.
Eventually, they retreated so much that they were close to the frontlines again.
Shang's brows furrowed when he saw 50 True Mages from the Magic Purity Kingdom readying Spells to support their High Mages.
This meant that every Commander Stage warrior and True Mage on the Skythunder Kingdom's side had been killed.
In an instant, Shang was assaulted by an avalanche of Spells.
However, his speed was simply too fast, and he was too agile in the air.
The High Mages realized with horror that their army couldn't do anything against that warrior.
But instead of retreating even more, they decided to release their own Spells.
They were already nearly out of Mana due to all the Mana Steps they had used in the last couple of seconds, and they knew that they wouldn't be able to retreat.
Shang kept focusing on the High Mages as the sky around him exploded with one destructive Spell after the other.
CRACK!
Shang broke through one of their Mana Shields and immediately incinerated the Mage.
Then, he focused all his power on the other Mage.
That Mage also died very quickly.
When the Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom saw that, their faces whitened.
They all immediately used Mana Step to retreat, but their Mana Steps barely took them 100 to 500 meters away, depending on their level.
That wasn't nearly fast enough to retreat.
Shang shot one Shooting Star at each Mage, and in just three seconds, all of them died.
It was a massacre.
"I dealt with everything. Keep watch over this area. If anyone shows up, inform Commander Mervin," Shang told the Mage he had just saved via voice transmission.
These Mages weren't allowed to contact Shang directly. The reason for that was that they only knew about the state of their assigned area and didn't know about the state of all the other areas.
If Shang went to a battlefield where he wasn't desperately needed because the resident High Mage called him, he might not arrive in time for a more critical battle.
Because of that, Mervin was coordinating everything and telling Shang where to go.
"Understood. Thank you, Duke Sword," the Mage said with a respectful bow.
Shang nodded, blasted towards the south again, and took out his Communication Crystal.
"Starkwhite Serpent Zone has been dealt with," Shang said.
"There are four other assaults happening right now," Mervin answered. "One even includes a Mid High Mage, but Sylvia is currently dealing with that."
"What about the other three?" Shang asked.
"We should have the upper hand in those battles. I think it would be better for you to wait."
Shang nodded.
"A fifth one!" Mervin suddenly shouted. "Two Early High Mages have attacked a border with only two Initial High Mages!"
Shang frowned.
This was bad.
The two Initial High Mages would already be dead before Shang could arrive.
"Where?"
Chapter 516 516 – Special Mana Step
Shang blasted towards his next target, but on his way there, he contacted Mervin again.
Shang was quite sure that the two Early High Mages wouldn't directly invade the Skythunder Kingdom but split up as soon as they crossed the border and attack the neighboring two borders from behind.
Mervin said that he also suspected that, but he didn't want Shang to be too conspicuous. If they lost a border, it was still fine. However, if Shang kept going from border to border in one straight line, the Magic Purity Kingdom would know where he would strike next and stage an ambush.
Without his Augmenting Spells, Shang might die if two Mid High Mages assaulted him at once.
After listening to Mervin, Shang shared a plan he had with him.
Mervin wasn't the biggest fan of the plan.
It was a risk, but it could pay off in a big way.
"Well, you're a Duke now, which means I technically have to listen to your orders," Mervin said with a slight chuckle. "If you want to do it, sure."
"Thanks, Mervin," Shang answered.
Shang hadn't stopped blasting through the sky as he talked with Mervin.
In the Peak Commander Stage, Shang hadn't been able to blast through the sky without pause, but everything changed as soon as he entered the True Path Stage.
His body had been reforged with his Path, which included his Ice and Fire Affinity.
The strain on his body wasn't nearly as much as it had been back then, which meant that Shang could blast through the air indefinitely.
This method of flying was also faster and less draining than the Weapon Flying Technique.
30 seconds later, Shang arrived at one frontline in the middle of the north.
No one had attacked yet.
Shang's wide Spirit Sense inspected the border of the Magic Purity Kingdom.
Two Initial High Mages.
The border of the Skythunder Kingdom was defended by an Early High Mage, which meant that the Magic Purity Kingdom probably didn't intend to attack this one.
Shang could decimate the Magic Purity Kingdom's border, but that would move the Magic Purity Kingdom to attack with even more ferocity, which was not something the current Skythunder Kingdom wanted.
So, Shang just continued to the next one.
Half a minute later, he arrived at the next one.
The Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom were currently gathering and preparing for an assault.
This was obviously outside the enemy's Spirit Sense, but Shang's Spirit Sense was unnaturally big, which was how he found out.
Shang informed Mervin, who decided to redirect the Early High Mage from the border Shang had just passed by to go there.
It was risky since the other border would now have no one in the Fourth Realm protecting it, but the Skythunder Kingdom had to do these risky maneuvers since they simply lacked the manpower to support one border without compromising another.
30 seconds later, Shang arrived at the next border.
He saw that two Initial High Mages were preparing to assault this border as well, but that wasn't surprising.
After all, this was the border beside the one where the two Early High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom had broken through.
They were only waiting for their colleague to attack.
Shang stopped on top of a mountain west of the border.
He already saw the Early High Mage charging towards this place from the west.
A minute passed.
The Early High Mage was now only eight kilometers away from the border.
At that moment, the Magic Purity Kingdom's border launched its attack.
Two Initial High Mages were attacking with 100 True Mages.
As the Mages entered the Spirit Sense of the two defending Initial High Mages, the Skythunder Kingdom's border also readied for battle.
Shang blasted into the sky again.
Then, he looked at one of the enemy Initial High Mages.
WHOOOM!
His Saber burst into black flames, and he pulled it back.
And then, he threw it.
The eyes of the Mages widened when they suddenly saw an impossibly fast black streak shoot toward one of them.
BANG!
Star Shatter immediately killed one of them.
For a second, the assault paused.
Then, everyone saw the sword fly away again, towards the Skythunder Kingdom.
The remaining High Mage immediately took out a Communication Crystal and informed the Magic Purity Kingdom about it.
Then, the army retreated.
At the same time, Shang saw the Early High Mage stop.
He hadn't entered the Spirit Sense range of the High Mages of the Skythunder Kingdom yet, which meant that the Skythunder Kingdom shouldn't know that he had been ready to attack the same border just now.
In these two seconds, Sword came back to Shang, and he summoned some ore.
BANG!
Shang blasted towards the Early High Mage while Sword returned to its Saber State.
When Shang entered the range of the Early High Mage's Spirit Sense, the Early High Mage did something unforeseen.
SHING!
He used Mana Step, but this wasn't just any Mana Step.
This was the Magic Purity Kingdom's special Mana Step.
This special kind of Mana Step was one of the advantages the Magic Purity Kingdom had gotten from the Lightning Manor so that they had a shot at fighting all the other Kingdoms alone.
Sadly, it was impossible for the Skythunder Kingdom to find out how this Mana Step worked.
Whenever they tried to read the mind of a High Mage of the Magic Purity Kingdom, the High Mage would simply die.
This was also a present of the Lightning Manor.
This made it impossible to learn this special Mana Step.
And traitors basically didn't exist amongst the Magic Purity Kingdom.
They were all too indoctrinated to hate everything that didn't follow a purely magical Path.
So, what did this special Mana Step do?
As soon as the High Mage used it, he shot a kilometer into the sky.
Yes, this special Mana Step could be used to move vertically.
But the tradeoff was that it cost around double as much Mana as the normal Mana Step, which was also why the Magic Purity Kingdom didn't use this Mana Step to attack the Skythunder Kingdom.
The frontlines were mostly set up between gigantic mountains, making it very difficult to climb over them without being noticed.
The High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom could theoretically use two Mana Steps to gain enough height to get past the mountains and then use another five to enter the Skythunder Kingdom, but that would cost them nearly 80% of their Mana.
They would essentially be severely weakened as soon as they arrived in enemy territory, which wasn't a good thing for them.
SHING!
The Mage used another Mana Step to gain more height.
'But it's quite useful for retreating,' Shang thought.
WHOOOM!
Shang's Saber caught on fire again, and he threw it.
SHING! SHING!
The Mage used two quick Mana Steps before he noticed Star Shatter.
SHING!
He changed his angle and used Mana Step again to avoid Star Shatter.
Shang only smirked.
Sword could also change its trajectory.
The Early High Mage felt safe for a second.
CRACK!
Star Shatter broke through the weakened Mana Shield and killed the High Mage.
This kind of retreat was useful against other Mages, but it didn't work for Shang.
In fact, his opponent only weakened themselves unnecessarily while using this kind of Mana Step in front of Shang.
As soon as the Mage died, Sword returned, and Shang gave it more ore.
Then, Shang continued blasting towards the west with his Saber.
Chapter 517 517 – Mid High Mages
Shang continued towards the west after killing the Early High Mage.
The Magic Purity Kingdom now knew about Shang.
However, Shang didn't change his plan. After all, he wanted them to come after him.
In a couple of seconds, Shang reached the next border. Surprisingly, the border was not being attacked right now.
In fact, Shang could see an Early High Mage retreat further into the Magic Purity Kingdom.
Just like the last one, this one used the special Mana Step to retreat to the Magic Purity Kingdom. The only difference was that this one succeeded since Shang wasn't there.
They knew that they couldn't kill Shang with only a couple of Early High Mages and Initial High Mages. Attacking this border would be suicide.
Shang continued further to the west and arrived at the next border half a minute later.
This time, Shang decided to stop again since he saw three Early High Mages ready for an assault, even though this border only had a single Initial High Mage defending it.
'Guess that's their first attempt at dealing with me. They know that I killed an Early High Mage pretty quickly, but they still refuse to believe that a mere warrior can be this powerful,' Shang thought.
After a while of waiting, the three Early High Mages attacked.
Shang's right eye narrowed as he readied his Saber.
BANG!
He immediately blasted towards the three Early High Mages, launching Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns.
In the beginning, the Mages were not very surprised. After all, they had heard that this warrior was very powerful.
However, the sheer offensive power of Shang's assault surprised them, and it got even worse when Shang showed no sign of stopping.
His Shooting Stars were so fast that it was nearly impossible for the Mages to defend against them. They could only barely hold on by parrying Shang's ranged attacks with their forcefields.
However, that meant that only their Foci could cast Spells, and Shang was also fast enough to avoid those attacks.
The most terrifying aspect of Shang's power in the Saber State was that he could rapidly move around while unleashing such terrifying power.
Mages couldn't do that.
On his own, Shang was locking down three Early High Mages, not giving them a chance to retaliate but also not injuring them.
BOOOOOM!
At that moment, over 20 of the Magic Purity Kingdom's True Mages died.
The Initial High Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom was attacking them!
The Early High Mages realized that this would be troublesome, and they decided to attack the Initial High Mage with their Foci.
However, the Initial High Mage already knew that this would happen and remained at a distance, giving them enough time to evade.
Shang noticed that the Mages grew desperate. He could keep them locked down, but he couldn't keep their Foci locked down.
Shang gave some orders, and the people of the Skythunder Kingdom retreated.
He wouldn't allow the three Mages to target the Skythunder Kingdom during their fight.
A couple of seconds passed, and then Shang noticed something enter his Spirit Sense.
Shang's right eye shone.
BANG!
Shang blasted directly at the Mages.
There was no longer any need to buy time.
The Mages had been able to deal with Shang's attacks when he had been two to three kilometers away, but as soon as Shang came within a kilometer of them, they couldn't parry the attacks anymore.
The Mages tried to use their Foci to hit Shang up close, but he was just too agile and fast!
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The three Mages used Mana Step to split apart from each other.
Shang was now forced to attack one of them if he actually wanted to hit them since the distance had now grown again.
Shang only narrowed his right eye.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shang completely stopped attacking two of them and shot all his attacks at only one of them.
The Mage's face whitened, and they used Mana Step to retreat, but Shang just followed them.
The other two Mages could now cast Spells again, which nearly tripled their attacking speed from how it had been previously.
Yet, Shang still kept dodging most of the Spells, and the ones he didn't dodge, he dealt with by throwing a Shooting Star at them.
The Mages grew more panicked, and a second later…
CRACK!
The Mage Shang had focused on died.
BANG!
Shang immediately charged at the other two Mages.
The Mages used several Mana Steps, but that would only buy them some more time…
And that was exactly what they wanted.
Suddenly, Shang's brows furrowed, and he blasted away from one of the Mages.
BOOOOOOOM!
A terrifying explosion appeared at the place where he had just been, but Shang wasn't safe yet, and he blasted away again.
BOOOOOOM!
A storm of ice erupted on the place where Shang had just retreated to.
The two Early High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom released sighs of relief as they looked at the new arrivals.
Two Mid High Mages from the Magic Purity Kingdom had appeared.
They were intent on killing Shang today.
Shang looked at the two Mid High Mages with a narrowed right eye.
If he had his armor, he might be able to win, but without his armor, it was too risky.
Their Spells were too fast to evade from close range, and Shang wouldn't be able to injure them from a distance in his Saber State.
The two Mages continued releasing more Spells, and Shang kept retreating in the air.
SHING! SHING!
They closed the distance to Shang by using two Mana Steps.
From this distance, it would be difficult for Shang to avoid their Spells.
"Careful!"
One of the Mid High Mages opened his eyes wide as he heard one of the Early High Mages shout at him.
An instant later, he saw why the Early High Mage had warned him.
But it was already too late.
CRACK! BANG! CRACK!
Two holes opened up in the Mid High Mage's Mana Shield, and his head was transformed into an icy, bloody mist.
SHING! SHING!
In an instant, a new person appeared just 500 meters away from the other Mid High Mage after using two consecutive Mana Steps.
A terrifyingly powerful icy needle hovered above the new person, and it was pointing right at the Mid High Mage.
Sylvia only smirked.
CRACK! BANG! CRACK!
Eternalfrost killed the second Mid High Mage.
The power of this Spell was just too much for a Mid High Mage to defend against.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
While Sylvia killed the second Mid High Mage, Shang focused on one of the Early High Mages again, not giving them a chance to retreat.
The other Early High Mage became terrified and used several Mana Steps to retreat.
"Bet I can hit him from here?" Sylvia transmitted to Shang as she readied another Eternalfrost.
"Can you? He's pretty far away," Shang answered.
"Just watch," Sylvia answered with a confident smile.
BANG!
Eternalfrost shot into the distance.
The Early High Mage became horrified as he saw the powerful Spell approach him.
He used one more Mana Step.
Suddenly, an earthen tendril came out of the ice needle, redirecting it to the Mage's new position.
The Mage's eyes widened.
CRACK!
His Mana Shield blew apart.
However, the needle had missed him, hitting the ground just behind him.
"Well, you got his Mana Shield," Shang transmitted to Sylvia.
Sylvia only extended her right hand with a smirk.
Then, she snapped.
BANG!
The icy needle exploded into a storm of ice.
Without the Mana Shield, the Early High Mage basically had no defense, and he died.
At the same time, Shang killed the other Early High Mage.
"See? I got him," Sylvia transmitted to Shang.
"You still missed him," Shang answered.
"He died to my Spell! How can you say that I missed him?!" Sylvia asked with annoyance.
"Eh, maybe," Shang answered. "Anyway, we don't have time for that."
BANG!
Then, Shang blasted away.
Sylvia only snorted.
"Sore loser."
Chapter 518 518 – Cinder
Shang kept traveling to the west, but surprisingly, the next four frontlines were not being assaulted. Shang even saw some of the more powerful High Mages retreat.
It seemed like the assault for the day was over, but the Skythunder Kingdom had still lost over ten High Mages.
But the Magic Purity Kingdom lost even more.
With Shang and Sylvia's involvement, over 30 High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom died.
Luckily, the Magic Purity Kingdom didn't take prisoners and killed everyone from any other Kingdom on sight.
This meant that they didn't know that the Skythunder Kingdom was severely weakened right now.
They probably believed that the Council was readying themselves for a devastating counterattack, making the Magic Purity Kingdom go on the defensive.
"Shang, Jerald's Communication Crystal is deactivated!" Mervin told Shang via his Communication Crystal.
"Deactivated?" Shang asked with furrowed brows.
He knew what that meant.
If Jerald were dead, his Communication Crystal would say that the Mage it belonged to wasn't present.
However, if it were deactivated, it meant that Jerald deactivated it manually.
That could only mean one thing.
Jerald was fighting someone extremely powerful and couldn't afford to be distracted.
This was more than shocking since not even Susan would be powerful enough to make Jerald deactivate his Communication Crystal.
This meant that Jerald was fighting someone that was about as powerful as him.
"Yes, it has been deactivated for more than a minute by now!" Mervin told Shang.
"Where is he?" Shang asked.
The Communication Crystals also continuously transmitted the location of their owner, and Mervin knew where Jerald was.
Mervin gave Shang Jerald's coordinates, and Shang quickly blasted towards the west.
It would take Shang several minutes to get there since Jerald was so far to the west.
Even more, there was no one else present to quickly reach Jerald.
For the next couple of minutes, Shang kept asking Mervin if Jerald's Communication Crystal was still deactivated, and Mervin said that it was.
This meant the fight was still going on.
After around seven minutes, Shang finally saw Jerald in his Spirit Sense.
BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
A humongous storm cloud was above Jerald, releasing several strikes of green lightning at his opponent.
Just like Jerald, the Mage of the Magic Purity Kingdom could fly in the sky, but in comparison to Jerald, he was flying in a similar way to Shang.
Several small explosions of fire kept the Mage airborne, and the explosions even allowed the Mage to dodge most of Jerald's Spells without using Mana Step.
A Mage that could avoid enemy Spells without using Mana Step was a terrifying concept.
This gave them a huge advantage in terms of Mana.
Jerald wasn't as agile in the air. He could fly with a lot of speed, but the acceleration of his flight wasn't fast enough to dodge the Spells of another Peak High Mage.
BANG!
One of Jerald's lightning bolts was stopped by a huge hand of lava.
When Shang saw that hand of lava, his right eye narrowed.
He had already learned the new Star Maps for High Mages and Archmages, and he had learned about all the different Concepts that were available.
This was a Complex Level Two Concept made of Fire, Earth, and Water Affinities.
It was called the Concept of Cinder.
Cinder was essentially a weaker version of the Concept of Lava, which was only accessible to powerful Archmages since it was a Complex Level Three Concept.
This meant that Jerald's opponent had a Concept on the same level as Jerald's Concept of Summer Drizzle.
This opponent was beyond powerful.
Shang hadn't even been able to win against Susan with the help of his Augmenting Spells, and this person was even more powerful than her.
When Shang saw the power of this Mage, he knew that he couldn't get involved in the fight.
Joining the fight might result in Jerald getting distracted since he cared about Shang.
The person fighting Jerald was a young man with red hair, wearing crimson red robes.
BANG!
A fast bolt of burning earth strafed Jerald's Mana Shield.
BANG!
A huge bolt of lightning destroyed one of the huge hands of lava.
The enemy Mage was blasting to the side while condensing a new hand, Jerald continuing to attack him.
The more Shang watched, the more suspicious he grew.
The Magic Purity Kingdom should have had enough time to send reinforcements to this place, but this Mage was the only person here from the Magic Purity Kingdom.
Was this some kind of ego thing?
Did the Mage want to win on his own?
Then, Shang noticed something else.
At that moment, Shang's right eye widened in surprise.
But after an instant, a smirk appeared on his face.
His eye focused on the Mage.
And then, he sent a voice transmission.
"No, the new Soma Universe isn't out yet."
At that moment, the Mage's eyes widened in shock.
For just a single instant, he stopped moving.
BOOOOOOM!
A humongous lightning bolt hit the Mage in the chest, the fire on his robes vanishing.
An instant later, the Mage's robes blew apart, and his chest received severe burns.
BOOOOOOOM!
The Mage's body hit the ground with ridiculous force, creating a huge crater.
Jerald readied the next Spell.
"Wait!" Shang transmitted to Jerald.
When Jerald heard Shang, his eyes widened in surprise.
Shang was here?
Jerald looked at Shang, conflict in his eyes.
This opponent was too powerful to spare.
Jerald might have lost the battle if the Mage hadn't suddenly stopped attacking him.
This was his only shot at getting rid of the Mage!
Yet, Jerald also trusted Shang.
Shang must have a good reason to tell him to stop.
"I think he's the new Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom," Shang transmitted to Jerald. "I don't think you are supposed to kill each other."
At that moment, Jerald's eyes widened.
That actually made a lot of sense!
"But then, why did he attack me?" Jerald asked.
"Because he's an idiot that loves fighting. He probably wanted to test the power of his new colleague."
"I know him," Shang added. "He's also from Earth."
Jerald grew shocked, but then he remembered that fire Mage Shang had told him about.
That was the fire Mage?
BOOOOOM!
The area around the fire Mage exploded, and he looked around with eyes burning with rage.
Eventually, he saw Shang.
"You!" the Mage transmitted with anger.
"Stop throwing a tantrum," Shang transmitted back. "You used the same trick against me when I fought you in my Commander Stage trial."
The fire in the Mage's eyes vanished as shock replaced it.
"Wait, does that mean that I lost?"
"Yes, you lost," Shang answered.
The fire Mage looked at Shang, then at Jerald, and back at Shang again.
A moment later, all the fire vanished, and the fire Mage released a sigh.
"This is not fair," he lamented.
"You started it," Shang answered.
The fire Mage only groaned.
Then, he let himself fall on his back as he looked at the sky with a groan.
"This sucks!"
Jerald only watched with a raised eyebrow.
He had just fought for his life, but the entire atmosphere had suddenly changed to this.
"What's your name?" the fire Mage asked Shang.
"Shang," he answered.
"Fuck you, Shang."
"You ruined a great fight."
"Hope you're happy!"
Chapter 519 519 – The Fire Mage
Shang and Jerald only looked at the fire Mage without amusement.
During the fight, Jerald had already realized that this fire Mage was special. First of all, he hadn't used Mana Shield, and second, he had spoken quite a bit during their battle, which was a bit unusual.
"Why did you attack Jerald?" Shang asked the fire Mage.
"Oh, so your name is Jerald, huh?" the Mage said as he looked at Jerald. "Name doesn't sound familiar."
"Okay, but why did you attack him?" Shang asked.
"I wanted to see how powerful my new colleague would be," the Mage said.
"So, you're the new Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom?" Shang asked.
The fire Mage turned to Shang and furrowed his brows. "Are you his plus one?"
"I am," Shang said.
The fire Mage didn't seem impressed. "I dunno. You seem a bit weak for such a position."
"I still won against you in my trial," Shang said.
"You did, huh?" the fire Mage said, looking away in disinterest. "I guess we don't get to keep our memories if we fight. Speaking of, shouldn't I be dead if I lost?"
Shang furrowed his brows. "The enemies in the trial are not the real ones. Don't you know that?" Shang asked.
"They're not?" the fire Mage asked with surprise. "Then how can we fight them?"
"The God just makes copies," Shang said.
At that moment, the Mage's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he glanced at Jerald.
Jerald didn't seem surprised.
"Wait, you told him about the God and the Trial?" the fire Mage asked.
Shang only nodded.
"Why?" the Mage asked in shock.
"Why not?" Shang asked.
"You're not supposed to tell others!" the Mage said. "This is supposed to be a secret that only we know about!"
"Says who?" Shang asked.
"Common sense says so!" the Mage shouted in annoyance. "Didn't you watch any anime or read fantasy novels?! We are the isekai people, and our origins are supposed to remain a secret! We are the main characters!"
Shang slowly blinked once. "What?" he asked in an annoyed and bored tone.
"Have you never heard of isekai?! What boring life did you live on Earth?!" the Mage shouted in annoyance.
"I was a professional MMA fighter," Shang said. "Shows and games were not my highest priority."
The fire Mage only snorted. "So, you were a normie, huh?"
Shang slowly blinked once again. "Normie?" he asked with boredom.
"You know, like a normal person. Someone that goes outside, does sports, has a job, has a family. That kind of stuff," the Mage said.
"You didn't have a job?" Shang asked with furrowed brows.
"Hell no!" the Mage shouted. "I'm not going to waste my life for some soulless international conglomerate that sucks out the souls of people to gain a profit."
Jerald only listened to the conversation with a confused, raised eyebrow.
In Shang's mind, the fire Mage's previous persona from Earth was put into the loser category.
But he definitely wasn't weak in this life.
"By the way," the fire Mage added. "When did you actually fight me? That should've been quite a while back."
"Around 60 years ago in the Commander Stage trial," Shang said.
The Mage's face transformed into a mask of skepticism. "I was a Late High Mage 60 years ago."
"So?" Shang asked.
"What do you mean, so?" the Mage asked with annoyance. "How could we have fought?"
Shang only looked with boredom at the Mage. "He's a God," he slowly said with annoyance. "If he can already make copies of people, he can probably also make copies of past versions of people."
The Mage's eyes widened in surprise and realization. "That actually makes a lot of sense."
"Why are you so surprised about these things?" Shang asked. "You should've been in this world for much longer than me."
"Yeah, and that's why I'm surprised, you know?" the Mage added. "I know so much about Magic that these feats just seem that much more unrealistic. Tell some stupid guy from some isolated island that the world is flat, and they believe you. Tell the same thing to a scientist, and they won't believe you."
"Wait, it isn't flat?" Jerald asked from the side as he looked around.
"No, it…" the fire Mage answered, but he trailed off.
Was this world flat?
He actually wasn't sure.
Earth wasn't flat, but this one?
"Hard to tell," the fire Mage said. "I can see very far, but everything just becomes more blurry and blue the further away it is. It could be flat, or it could be just a very, very big sphere."
"Okay, stop," Shang said. "How did we arrive at this topic? What are you doing here?"
"As I've said, I wanted to test the power of my new colleague," the fire Mage said.
"Okay, cool, and what now?" Shang asked.
The fire Mage rubbed the back of his neck.
"I dunno."
"You don't know?" Shang asked in annoyance.
"Yeah, I just wanted to have a good fight. Guess I'll just go back and work on my power a bit more. The fight highlighted some of my weaknesses," the fire Mage said.
Shang slowly blinked once more. "Are you sure you have been here for such a long time? You act like I would imagine you to act on Earth."
"Of course I do!" the Mage answered with a snort. "Why would I change when my personality is already perfect?"
Shang only kept looking at the Mage with annoyance.
"Okay, bye," Shang said.
Then, Shang flew over to Jerald to inform him about what had happened and to plan for the next couple of days.
Jerald kept listening to Shang and nodded a couple of times.
"Hey!" the fire Mage suddenly said as he looked at the two of them with annoyance.
"What?" Shang asked impatiently.
"Don't you want to know who I am?" the fire Mage asked.
"No," Shang said.
Then, Shang continued talking with Jerald.
"What do you mean with no!?" the Mage shouted. "We both come from Earth!"
"So?" Shang answered. "The version of me that has lived on Earth has already died. I have no more connection to that place except for a couple of distant memories."
"How could you say something like that?" the Mage asked with a shocked voice. "Earth is where we came from!"
"Okay, cool, can you go now?" Shang answered. "We have important things to discuss."
The Mage couldn't comprehend how Shang didn't care about these things.
They both came from Earth!
Why didn't he care?!
As he saw Jerald and Shang continue talking, the Mage's face grew red in frustration.
"My name is Charles Pendragon, and I'm-"
"I don't care!" Shang shouted more forcefully. "Go away!"
Charles' face only grew redder.
He had such a cool name, but Shang just didn't appreciate it!
Charles only looked on as Shang and Jerald discussed their potential plans for the next day, as if Charles wasn't even here.
After a while, Charles only looked at the ground.
Then, he turned around and silently left, going back to the Magic Purity Kingdom.
For some reason, he was reminded of his life on Earth.
Jerald and Shang barely noticed him leaving.
Chapter 520 520 – How To Advance
After talking with Jerald for a while, Shang left again.
From what Mervin had told him, the frequency of the assaults had decreased tremendously.
Shang and Mervin were in agreement that the Magic Purity Kingdom probably feared a counterattack from the Skythunder Kingdom with all their forces.
Luckily, they didn't know that what they had encountered today was basically all the available forces the Skythunder Kingdom possessed.
If the Magic Purity Kingdom knew of the civil war, they would have probably gathered the majority of their forces in one all-out attack.
That would have proven to be devastating for the Skythunder Kingdom.
Nevertheless, Shang remained on standby in case the Magic Purity Kingdom launched another assault.
But when three days passed with only some unimportant skirmishes happening, Shang decided that he no longer needed to remain on standby. After all, Sylvia was also ready to intervene.
Additionally, Jerald would soon return from the western Skythunder Kingdom.
Most of the citizens of the western Skythunder Kingdom had already evacuated to the central Skythunder Kingdom. They didn't do so willingly but because they had to.
The Magic Purity Kingdom was infamous for its hatred of impure people. Every citizen and Mage that lived together with warriors was an enemy to the Magic Purity Kingdom.
The Skythunder Kingdom became way more crowded, but there was still enough space for all the new citizens. They simply had to add one or two more towns per Zone, which wasn't that much.
Jerald's Inquisitors were working overtime, and they had already executed over a thousand True Mages in the past couple of days.
It was a bloodbath, and it weakened the Skythunder Kingdom.
However, this would ensure longtime prosperity and unity.
Jerald became extremely hated amongst the citizens, but there was nothing major they could do.
The most they could do was to emigrate to the Spirit Spring Kingdom, and quite a bit of the citizens did so, but that wasn't really that damaging to the Kingdom.
Yes, citizens brought in taxes and business, but gold and normal goods had nearly zero impact on a Kingdom's actual power.
The True Path Stage resources were the most important things for a Kingdom's power.
As Shang left his position, his mind wandered away from the war and entered training mode.
It had been quite a while since he had been able to train to his heart's content, and even more, he could now train wherever he wanted in the Skythunder Kingdom.
But before he actually started training, he had to think about a way to actually progress.
Shang had talked a lot with many different True Path Stage warriors about how they were progressing in level, and he could only furrow his brows when he heard how they progressed.
Or, more like, how they didn't progress.
The few Mid True Path Stage warriors had reached that level by strengthening their bodies.
That was it.
In the General Stage, the warriors had advanced by focusing on their Mana Manipulation, which culminated in the creation of their Domain.
Then, in the Commander Stage, they focused on refining their techniques and creating their Paths.
During all of this, the strengthening of their bodies was only secondary.
But now, the warriors were exclusively only strengthening their bodies by eating beast hearts.
And the reason for that was obvious.
No one knew what they should do to advance.
They had already created their Paths. How were they supposed to refine their techniques even more when their bodies had already perfectly adapted to their Paths?
They had already created incredibly powerful techniques by combining all their insights. They just couldn't imagine a way to increase their proficiency in their techniques even more.
Additionally, what would the creation of new techniques even bring? Sure, their Battle-Strength might increase by a bit, but their strength increased by way more if their body simply advanced another level.
Of course, every warrior knew that this method of training only worked until they reached the Peak True Path Stage.
After that, they would probably be stuck.
In comparison to the warriors, the Mages knew exactly what to do. They would comprehend more Concepts and combine them into more powerful Concepts.
The warriors had already thought about doing that as well, but how would that even work?
They had a Path that led to their chosen weapon.
Were they supposed to learn another weapon and create another Path?
And then what? Fuse the Paths?
How would that even work?
Additionally, their bodies wouldn't even undergo the transformation they had undergone when they reached the True Path Stage the first time.
Lastly, there should be a way to reach the next Realm without having to comprehend multiple weapons.
Shang was in a similar predicament.
He didn't know how to advance, but he also wasn't sure if he should increase the power of his body.
Increasing the power of the body definitely wouldn't be a bad thing for a normal warrior. After all, the minor breakthroughs were not nearly as important as the major breakthroughs between Realms.
A normal warrior could just increase their body to the peak and then focus on finding a way to the next Realm.
However, things were different for Shang.
Shang knew that he had to create something that transformed his being in a vastly more powerful way than normal warriors.
Maybe the keys to this particular transformation were the individual breakthroughs?
Sure, they weren't as important, but if Shang could transform himself a little bit per normal breakthrough, he might gain enough momentum to achieve a significant transformation when it was time to reach the Fifth Realm.
'A Path is just as the name suggests, a path,' Shang thought. 'It must lead somewhere. The warriors have established their Paths, and now, they only have to walk it to the end.'
'Just like with the Star Map for Mages, there must be something further along the Path that the warriors can comprehend.'
'Sadly, no one knows what this thing looks like or what it needs to get there.'
Shang imagined what it would look like to reach the next Realm for a normal warrior.
Someone with a longsword might gain new powers or some kind of mystical aura.
Maybe it would be similar to the condensation of a Domain?
The control over one's Mana was definitely important, but not nearly as important as for Mages.
Maybe there was also some kind of more refined control over the body?
What about control over the Mana in one's body?
There were so many ways.
Shang could work on the Mana pathways inside his body. Maybe he could change them, make them wider, build upon them, or refine them?
Shang could also work on his weapons. Just swing his swords a couple more times until he grew even more familiar with it?
Maybe he could work on the manipulation of his Mana in such a way that it increased its power even more?
Maybe he had to get more familiar with the Mana in his surroundings to gain some sort of ability to borrow the power of the latent Mana in the atmosphere?
Maybe he should concentrate on comprehending a Concept and integrating it into his Path?
Maybe he had to train to reach a certain state of mind that allowed a more intimate fusion with his weapon?
There were so many possibilities, and Shang was sure that several of them would work.
After all, the God had said that there were innumerable Paths to power, and depending on which method one used, one would tread a different Path.
Physical fighters were already split into barbarians and warriors. What if that would only continue?
A warrior that integrated Mage Concepts might become a Magic Warrior.
A warrior that focused on the Mana in the surroundings might become some kind of Domain Warlord.
A warrior that focused on creating more Paths for more weapons might become something like a Weapon Master.
It wasn't that there was no way to advance but that there were too many ways, with no one knowing what was possible and what the end result would be.
'What is it that I want to be?' Shang thought.
'What kind of warrior do I want to be?'
Shang thought about how he had trained in the past and how he fought in general.
His four weapons and four Affinities came to mind.
Then, he remembered the thought he had when coming up with the concept of his Path.
'In the future, there might be a way to fuse all of my weapons together and use all of them whenever I want.'
'Four weapons.'
'Four minor breakthroughs.'
'One major breakthrough.'
Then, a light appeared in Shang's eye.
'I think I know what I'm going to do.'