n

n

nShang put everything about Mattheo to the back of his mind. He had several more questions to ask him, but his fight with Astor was far more important.

nShang had done a lot in the past week.

nHe had upgraded his weapon.

nHe had killed his first General Stage beast.

nHe had gotten very familiar with his new Affinities.

nNow, it was his time to prove that he had become more powerful.

n“Start!” teacher Loran announced.

nBANG!

nShang exploded forward, the ground below him cracking.

nThe watching students’ eyes shone.

nShang was faster than before!

nHis body obviously hadn’t become more powerful, but his speed was definitely higher. That meant that Shang had gained far greater control over his body.

nAstor readied his sword as he stepped backward with one leg. He was obviously readying a counterattack to Shang’s offensive.

nShang pointed his left arm to the back.

nBANG!

nShang unleashed an Ice Blast, which shot him forward at incredible speeds.

nAt this moment, Shang reached the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior.

nAstor readied a shoulder check.

nYet, Astor’s eyes widened when he saw Shang appear right in front of him in an instant.

nShang’s sword swung.

nCLINK!

nTeacher Loran stopped the sword just before it hit Astor’s head.

nSilence.

nDeafening silence.

nAstor looked with shock at the sword in front of his eyes.

nThe students watched with slack jaws.

nThey knew that Shang had become more powerful, but they hadn’t expected something like that!

nIt had only been a week!

n“That’s for our match before the last one,” Shang said as he pulled his sword back.

n“Back then, I took you lightly, and I lost without even being able to show my power.”

n“Now, things are reversed.”

n“We won’t count this one. Let’s go again,” Shang said as he slowly walked back to his starting location.

nBy now, the students had calmed down, and their brows furrowed.

nEarlier, they had been shocked since it was basically impossible for a Late Soldier Stage warrior to reach speeds equivalent to an Initial General Stage warrior.

nBut then they remembered that Shang was at the Peak Soldier Stage.

nSeveral students could reach speeds above their level for a short time. Shang definitely wasn’t the only one.

nMattheo could reach these speeds with his explosions.

nAstor could reach these speeds by throwing himself forward with his sword.

nNow, Shang had also unlocked this ability.

nNot every student had the ability to increase their speed by a level, but a lot of them could. Of course, there were also students that could increase their power or their defense by a level.

nIn a way, nearly every student could upgrade something of themselves to the next level for a short moment.

nHowever, one shouldn’t take Shang’s new power lightly.

nThese warriors had trained for a long time to unlock this ability.

nThe last time Shang had been here, he hadn’t had this ability.

nBut in just a single week, he unlocked it.

nThis meant that Shang had closed a significant gap between him and the other students.

n“Incredible,” Astor said with an intense smirk. One could see burning battle intent in his eyes.

n“Finally, there’s another person in our class that can fight me properly. You didn’t disappoint, Shang.”

n“I lost the last fight because I underestimated you. That is one of my shortcomings, and it won’t happen a second time,” Astor said.

nAstor readied his sword. “Let’s go again!”

nShang nodded as he readied himself.

n“Mattheo and Sarah,” teacher Loran said while Shang and Astor were focusing on each other.

nHe wouldn’t stop the entire class just to watch Astor and Shang.

nSarah looked at Shang with narrowed eyes.

nNo one knew what she was thinking about.

nBANG!

nShang charged forward again, but this time, he didn’t use his Ice Blast.

nShang had unveiled his Ice Affinity earlier, but just as expected, nobody had cared. Ice was a normal Affinity, just like all the other ones. Sure, it was on the rarer side, but the academy had plenty of students with rare Affinities.

nJust before Shang reached Astor, Astor swung his sword forward.

nAstor’s swing took Shang’s potential, higher speed into account, and if Shang accelerated, he would run right into it.

nHowever, Shang didn’t accelerate.

nThe swing would miss.

nSuddenly, water appeared below Astor’s feet, and he got carried forward by a meter.

nShang’s eyes widened.

nThe swing would hit him!

nBANG!

nShang’s sword blocked Astor’s attack, but it wasn’t easy. Shang’s entire body shook, and he heard his sword creak. Luckily, Astor hadn’t been able to put his entire power into the swing. Otherwise, it would have broken Shang’s sword.

n“Danger, I, break. Block, Ice,” the sword said in Shang’s mind.

nIt obviously wanted Shang to block with his Ice Affinity, but that was still a risk. After all, Shang could only release his Ice Blast once before he needed some time for his arm to heat up again.

nIn the wild, he could simply use a Fire Blast and then quickly heal his arm with his Mana, but he couldn’t do that here.

nHe had decided to go public with his Ice Affinity, and if he suddenly showed a Fire Affinity, people would become very interested in him.

nBecause of that, Shang only had a single Ice Blast per fight unless the fight took a very long time.

nAstor’s body was one level below Shang’s, but the sheer power behind the swing made it reach the power of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, the same power as Shang.

nHowever, Shang still managed to block the attack.

nBANG!

nShang pushed the side of Astor’s sword upward and out of his way with his left arm before he charged forward again.

nShang took a large step forward and slashed at Astor.

nMore water appeared beneath Astor as he slid back.

nShang extended his step and slashed towards Astor’s new position.

nHowever, at that moment, Astor’s sword began to fall again.

nAstor had put all his weight on top of his sword, pushing it down again.

nShang gritted his teeth.

nHe wouldn’t be able to hit Astor’s head. At most, he could hit Astor’s chest.

nHowever, the uniform would block Shang’s attack. He had learned that the hard way in their last fight.

nBlocking was also out of the question since his sword was already extended to slash at Astor.

nAstor had managed to put Shang into a predicament yet again. Sure enough, he had far more experience in fighting against humans than him.

nShang pulled his sword back as he rotated to the side.

nHe had canceled his attack, but Astor would miss.

nWhen Astor saw that, more water gathered beneath his feet as he slid away from Shang.

nHis sword continued to fall, but due to Astor’s new position, it was now behind him.

nAstor took a deep breath.

nIn that instant, time seemed to stand still.

nThen, Astor’s eyes shone with burning conviction.

n“AAAH!”

nAstor shouted with all of his power as his entire body trembled with power.

nShang felt like an incredible pressure had appeared around him.

nIt was like he was fighting the General Stage Vanishing Snake again.

nThis was the feeling of total suppression.

nIf that attack hit Shang or his weapon, it wouldn’t matter what he would do.

nThis attack couldn’t be blocked.

nEven by someone with a more powerful body than Astor.

n