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nMore days passed, and although Shang became better and better, he still didn’t win even once.

nShang had come across another problem.

nA lot of his opponents were now using Mana Push.

nMana Push was a common Element-neutral defensive Spell. It created something like a force field around one of the Adept’s arms, which extended outward by quite a bit.

nMana Push was the very technique Duke Whirlwind used to deal with the Exploding Mountain Turtle’s attacks. He had created a huge forcefield and used it to bat the stones of the Exploding Mountain Turtle away like they were pebbles.

nOf course, the Mana Push of these Adepts was nowhere near as overwhelmingly powerful as Duke Whirlwind’s, but it was still troublesome.

nUsing Mana Push didn’t waste as much Mana as receiving a hit to one’s Mana Shield. However, it was harder to utilize since the Adept actually had to anticipate Shang’s movements somewhat.

nIf they messed up their Mana Push, they would have wasted their Mana in using Mana Push while also receiving an attack to their Mana Shield.

nSince Shang’s opponents were now using Mana Push, Shang’s progress was thrown back.

nBy now, Shang could barely waste 60% of his opponent’s Mana.

nHowever, Shang wasn’t stupid, and he had realized something.

nHis initial opponents had been very clumsy, and they hadn’t used Mana Push.

nBut now, his opponents were using Mana Push confidently.

nThis meant that Shang’s opponents had been upgraded.

nHe was no longer fighting the trash portion of the Adepts but the average ones.

nWhen Shang had just fought against his first few opponents, he had only managed to use up around 50% of their Mana, and these opponents had been the worst Adepts.

nNow, he managed to waste 60% of the Mana of average Adepts.

nShang had made progress!

nSeveral more days passed, and Shang learned to deal with Mana Push better.

nThere were three levels to dealing with Mana Push.

nFirst level: Somewhat avoiding it and quickly charging towards the Adept’s new location after they used Mana Step.

nSecond level: Avoiding Mana Push with a lot of confidence and making the Adept use even more Mana by forcing them to use a Mana Step with all their power.

nThird level: Nullifying Mana Push and hitting the opponent’s Mana Shield before they vanished with Mana Step.

nAfter five days, Shang managed to confidently reach the first level. By now, he wasn’t thrown to the ground anymore by being hit by Mana Push.

nAfter several more days, Shang managed to reach the second level a couple of times, but before he could continue, he had to take a break.

n17 days had already passed, which meant that the academy’s auction would take place now.

nViera left to deal with several things. After all, she had been down here for over two weeks.

nShang retreated to his room and sat down.

nOne would think that Shang wanted to relax after 17 days of constant battle, but that was far from the truth.

nShang saw his own progress, and he became addicted to it.

nMore power!

nHe wanted more power!

nHe was making so much progress!

nShang wanted to continue fighting right now, but he had to wait until the room became free again.

nLuckily, Shang wouldn’t have to wait with nothing to do.

nMattheo arrived at Shang’s room with several Spells made by Duke Whirlwind.

nHe delivered the Spells to Shang and gave him a couple of tips on how to train in Spell casting.

nAfter becoming a General Stage warrior, Shang’s mind was also slowly growing. By now, his mind had reached the Initial Apprentice Realm.

nThe Initial Apprentice Realm wasn’t impressive, but it was still a step forward.

nAfter Mattheo left, Shang looked through the list of Spells.

nThey were the easiest Spells imaginable. It was almost like they weren’t Spells but training methods.

nOne Spell required Shang to simply gather Fire Mana from the surroundings.

nShang could absorb lifeless Fire and Ice Mana, but he hadn’t yet been able to absorb these kinds of Mana from the atmosphere.

nObviously, Duke Whirlwind wanted to test if Shang had the same abilities as people with normal Affinities.

nShang sat down and concentrated on these Spells.

nHe was helping Duke Whirlwind, but he was also doing this for himself.

nHis Magic abilities would never reach the power of his physical abilities, but there surely were some Spells that could help Shang a little bit.

nA Mage’s power was 100% magical and 0% physical.

nA warrior’s power was 0% magical and 100% physical.

nA magic warrior’s power was 40% magical and 60% physical.

nDue to Shang’s warrior’s body, he planned on making his power 10% magical and 90% physical.

nSpells used the Mana from one’s mind, but in comparison to a Mage, if Shang’s Mana in his mind ran out, he wasn’t helpless. Because of that, even though his Mana reserves for his mind were pitifully small, he could attempt to gain a one-time boost per battle by completely using up all the Mana in his mind.

nShang got reminded of how Astor used his Affinity to move to the side to change the angle of his attack.

nIf Shang could use all his Mana in one Mana Step to move to the side, it would already help him.

nWith one Mana Step, he could probably avoid an additional attack.

nOne Mana Step was obviously pitiful when compared to Adepts, but this one Mana Step could make the difference.

nBut to learn Mana Step, Shang had to become familiar with Spell casting.

nAnd Duke Whirlwind’s extremely easy Spells came at just the right time.

nAt that moment, Shang saw another path forward.

nShang was quickly approaching the limit of his techniques. The Adepts were overwhelming him, even though he was nearly perfect at fighting them.

nThere was only so much technique could do.

nShang had to upgrade some part of his power, and one of these methods was to learn Mana Step.

nShang spent the entire day practicing the Spells Mattheo had delivered him, and when Viera returned to get him to return to battle, Shang almost didn’t want to stop.

nShang had made quite some progress in his Spell casting, and he was absolutely sure by now that he could increase his power with that.

nShang had so many things to practice that there wasn’t enough time in the day.

nAt least General Stage warriors didn’t need to sleep anymore.

nMana and oxygen fueled their entire being, and the Mana also changed their minds to process information while being awake.

nShang returned to his battles.

nSadly, even though he had made some progress in his Spell casting, his Battle-Strength hadn’t been increased by it.

nHe was still quite a bit off from using an actual Spell.

nFor the next few days, Shang practiced dealing with Mana Push and learning all the different Spells his opponents were using.

nBy now, his opponents were using more than one Elemental Spell, and Shang saw new Spells every single day.

nShang was certain that these Adepts weren’t weak.

nAfter ten days, Shang managed to confidently deplete 80% of his opponents’ Mana reserves again.

nOnly a bit more!

nThree days later, Shang was so close to winning!

nOnly a bit more!

n“Alright, that was the last one!” Viera said.

nShang became shocked.

nThe last one?

nAn entire month had already passed?!

nShang gritted his teeth. “I didn’t manage to win even once,” he said with frustration.

n“Are you surprised?”

nShang turned around as he heard a familiar voice.

nHis teacher, the Dean, stood at the door.

n“Can I go now?” Viera asked with the voice of a pleading child. “I want to hunt beasts again.”

nThe Dean looked at Viera. “You can leave.”

n“Yay!” Viera said as she excitedly clapped her hands.

nThen, she looked at Shang. “You’re really impressive, Shang! In just one month, you became one of the best students our academy has ever had when it comes to fighting Mages!”

nShang snorted. “One of the best? I didn’t even win against an average Adept even one time.”

nViera only smiled brightly.

nThen, she turned to the Dean. “Can I tell him now?”

nShang raised an eyebrow while the Dean nodded.

n“Shang!” Viera said excitedly. “You’ve not been fighting Initial Adepts but Early Adepts!”

nFor a second, Shang’s mind halted.

nWait, so these Adepts had all been a level above him?

nNo wonder their Mana Step was so fast!

n“Surprised?” the Dean repeated.

nShang only looked at the Dean with a perplexed expression.

n“Your body is a level higher than the body of a normal warrior. In short, your body is equal to an Early General Stage warrior.”

n“By fighting Early Adepts, you have essentially nullified the advantage of your new body. You experienced how it is to fight as a normal warrior against Mages.”

n“Our very best students can fight an average Adept on their level on equal grounds. By now, you are also fighting an average Adept on equal grounds, which makes you part of our best students.”

n“Of course, that’s without considering the advantage of your unique body.”

n“Shang, you shouldn’t forget that you have become very powerful over the last year. Your Battle-Strength is outstanding, and not many warriors can fight against you anymore.”

n“By making you fight Early Adepts, you learned a lot about how Mages fight, and you learned the most important aspect.”

n“Evasion and adaptability.”

n“Viera, you can leave,” the Dean said as he looked at Viera.

nViera noticed that the Dean wanted her gone, and she left after saying her goodbyes.

nNow, only Shang and the Dean were left in the room.

n“You should be able to beat the fourth level in the Mage category in the trial,” the Dean said. “You even have a tiny chance of winning the fifth level.”

n“You should undertake the trial in a couple of hours.”

n“I’m expecting greater things from you than I have achieved back then.”

nShang remained silent as he listened to the Dean.

nHe hadn’t even thought that his opponents were a level above him.

nWhy?

nBecause the supreme power of the Mages was blinding.

nShang thought that it was normal for him to lose against the average Adept.

nBut now, Shang realized that he had grown far more than he had anticipated.

nThe gap between him and the Mages had seemed insurmountable.

nBut now, Shang could confidently fight an average Adept one level above him.

nOf course, without his body, Shang would only be able to fight an average Adept on his own level, but that was still very impressive.

nNot many warriors could fight an average Adept one-on-one.

nShang had become one of the very best warriors in the academy, and he had his new body on top of that.

nAdditionally, Shang saw another method of becoming more powerful, which was Mana Step.

nShang had already become very powerful, but this wasn’t even close to his full potential.

nAt that moment, Shang realized how powerful he had become.

nAnd it felt great!

nHe wanted to feel that feeling of progress more!

nAnd his next step?

nShang looked at the Dean with fiery eyes. “Thank you,” he said. “I won’t disappoint you!”

n“I will bring back an amazing reward from the trial!”

nThe next step was the trial.

nShang was certain that the reward from the trial could increase his power even more!

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