n

n

nShang took a deep breath as his nerves and body relaxed.

n“That was way too difficult,” Shang said.

n“But you won,” Sword answered.

n“Yes, I won,” Shang said.

nShang glanced at his left arm and saw that it was slowly regenerating.

n“A Focus truly is terrifying,” Shang said.

n“And even more, he was only an Initial Adept.”

nSilence.

n“I fought thousands of Early Adepts already, but this guy’s skills and experience were far beyond every single one I’ve fought.”

n“If he had been an Early Adept…”

nShang imagined how the fight would go.

nThere was a high likelihood that Shang wouldn’t even have hit his opponent once.

nHis opponent would have been far faster in casting Spells, and he would have already had two spells prepared by the time Shang would have reached him for the first time.

nWith the increased power and speed of the Spells, Shang could have very well died on the first barrage.

nThis wouldn’t even be a fight.

nIt would just be a Mage swatting a fly away.

n“We have to increase our power,” Sword said.

nShang nodded.

nSure, Shang managed to overcome the gap between the Mages and the warriors this time, but the advantages of the Mages would only keep increasing as their level of power increased.

nRight now, Shang could beat a very talented and powerful Adept on his level, but that didn’t mean that it would remain so.

nShang had to work even harder and become even more powerful if he wanted to keep his current Battle-Strength.

nThis time, the wheel took longer to return.

n‘I guess I got some time to rest because of my arm,’ Shang thought as he looked at his fully healed left arm.

nRight now, Shang was at his normal peak. He didn’t have an excessive amount of life energy stored, but his Mana was full.

nEventually, the wheel returned.

n“Level four: Weak Early Adept.”

n‘This should be manageable,’ Shang thought as he looked at the spinning wheel.

nSome seconds later, the wheel stopped.

nShang narrowed his eyes.

nWhat Affinity did it land on?

nShang didn’t know!

nFor some reason, the wheel had stopped at one of the spots that were so tiny that Shang couldn’t even discern them.

nAccording to Shang’s guess, the chances of that happening were probably below 0.01%.

n‘An unknown Affinity!’ Shang thought.

n‘I have no idea how this will go.’

nAfter a short burst of light, Shang’s opponent appeared.

nIt was a young woman with grey hair.

n‘Grey? But she doesn’t have a Metal Affinity,’ Shang thought.

nHer robes were also grey, but they weren’t luxurious in any way.

nIn her right hand, she carried a scepter with a colorless gem on top of it.

nFor some reason, Shang found this gem familiar.

nAnd then, it hit him.

n‘That’s a Sparren!’

n‘Then, does that mean that she…?’

nThe jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.

nAnd then, Shang’s opponent opened her eyes.

nShang immediately exploded forward.

nWhen she saw Shang’s eyes, she became scared.

nShang was running at her with an intense killing intent, and she became scared of the madman charging at her.

nShe didn’t want to fight!

nShe was horrible at fighting!

nThe Adept quickly lifted her scepter and started to cast a Spell.

nThe words were completely unfamiliar to Shang. This was a Spell he had never heard of.

nA moment later, she unleashed her Spell.

nSuddenly, the distance between Shang and his opponent widened.

nShang immediately confirmed his suspicions.

n‘A Space Affinity!’

n‘That actually exists?!’

nShang hadn’t thought that it was possible for someone to have an Affinity for Space.

nHow would that even work?

nDid Space have a certain temperament?

nShang hadn’t even heard of a beast with a Space Affinity!

nAbout 30 meters of distance had been created between Shang and his opponent.

nShang only continued running.

nThe Adept panicked again, and she quickly cast another Spell, but in a different direction.

nThe space behind her pulled together.

nAnd then, she released a quick Mana Step.

nIn just an instant, the Adept moved several hundred meters away.

nJust as Shang exited the first area of manipulated space, both areas returned to normal.

nShang continued running at his full speed.

nThe Adept had gained enough distance and time to think of a plan.

nShe was horrible at fighting, and her Affinity was nearly useless in a fight.

nEventually, she began to cast several Spells.

nShang couldn’t see which Spells she was casting from such a distance.

nA couple of seconds later, Shang could finally make out which Spell she was casting currently.

nMana Push.

nEventually, Shang reached her.

nThe Adept pointed her scepter to the sky and finished her Mana Push.

nA forcefield made of Mana appeared around her scepter, and she moved it down quickly.

nShang lifted his sword and angled it as it hit the Mana Push.

nCRRRK!

nDue to the angle, Shang was pushed to the side by the Mana Push.

nThen, the Adept quickly finished her second Spell.

nShe lifted her scepter again and struck down.

nThis time, Shang couldn’t evade.

nBANG!

nA second Mana Push threw Shang to the ground, the earth around him cracking due to the power.

nThen, she finished her third Spell and lifted her scepter again.

nAnother Mana Push.

nBANG!

nShe hammered into Shang’s body on the ground, pushing him further into the earth.

nShang’s entire body shook, and he received some bruises, but they were quickly taken care of by his Mana.

nThen, the Adept finished another Mana Push and slammed it onto Shang.

nThe crater around Shang widened, and Shang felt some of his muscles and organs bleed.

nBut to someone like Shang, such an injury was considered rather light.

nThe Adept looked at Shang with fear.

nWas he dead?

nShang quickly stood up, and terror appeared in her eyes.

n“No, please!” she screamed.

n“I’ve never done anything to you!”

nShang quickly reached her and grabbed her throat.

nAt this moment, Shang felt horrible.

nThis Adept obviously didn’t want to fight Shang.

nShe only wanted to run away.

nSadly, she had been chosen by the God.

nThe God wanted two of his playthings to fight.

nAnd sadly, Shang couldn’t afford to forego his reward.

n‘My power is more important than your life,’ Shang repeated to himself.

nIn the end, Shang looked away as he activated Darkness Absorb.

nIf he could, he would have killed her quickly, but he needed the added life energy for his next fight.

nShang heard the most horrible scream he had ever heard in his life.

nThe scream went throughout his entire body, and Shang felt like a part of his soul had been torn out.

nWhen the scream stopped, Shang threw the corpse to the side.

nHe didn’t look at it.

nShang could deal with killing people that wanted to hurt him.

nBut this Adept had never tried to hurt him.

nHer first action was to flee.

nAnd only when Shang had still come after her with the intention of killing her did she helplessly use some Spells to deal with him.

nRight now, killing Mages didn’t feel as great anymore.

nShang’s insides shook as he felt like he had lost a part of himself.

nEventually, the corpse vanished.

nThen, the cheering returned.

nAt this very moment, Shang hated the cheering more than ever before.

nHe hadn’t done anything that was worthy of cheering.

n