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nShang slowly opened his eyes in the real world.

nShang was inside his room in the academy’s basement, which wasn’t very pleasant to look at. There was only a table, some chairs, and a bed. That was about it. It looked more like a fancy prison cell than an actual room.

nThe Dean noticed that Shang was back and looked at him.

n“How did it go?” he asked.

nShang looked at his teacher.

n“22 points.”

nThe Dean nodded. “That’s better than I expected. I feared that the weak Middle General Stage beast would be too much for you, and I also expected you to fail your fight against the Average Early Adept.”

n“It seems I underestimated you.”

n“I assume you used your peculiar Ability to gain three free points?”

nShang nodded, but his brows furrowed.

nAt this moment, the procedure and its effects went through Shang’s head.

nThe procedure had upgraded his body by one level, which essentially granted him three additional points per category, giving him nine free points.

nThen, his Affinity gave him three additional free points.

nSo, the procedure and his Affinity had given Shang twelve points in total.

nShang had left the trial with 22 points, and if he subtracted the twelve free points, he would be at ten points.

nIn short, without these two things, Shang’s Battle-Strength was about as powerful as the Dean’s Battle-Strength had been back then.

n“You seem to be unhappy with your results,” the Dean said as he noticed Shang’s expression.

n“The only reason why I got so many points was the procedure and my Affinity,” Shang said. “Without them, I would have only gotten as many points as you, and several of those fights had been incredibly close.”

nThe Dean’s expression didn’t change.

n“So, you are disappointed that you only are as strong as the strongest and most talented warrior in the world,” the Dean said.

nShang listened to his teacher, but he didn’t look at him.

nHe knew that it might not be “appropriate” to feel bad about such an accomplishment.

nHowever, Shang just couldn’t help himself.

nHe wanted more.

n“Remember this, Shang,” the Dean said. “If I had access to the procedure for myself, I would be able to fight the strongest High Mages on my level.”

nShang looked at the Dean.

nThat didn’t sound very believable.

nAfter all, the Mages had even more advantages than just their Mana Sources.

n“You seem skeptical, but it’s the truth,” the Dean said. “Don’t forget that the strongest aspects of us warriors are our techniques and our battle experience. At the moment, the gulf regarding the baseline is so wide that technique won’t be able to change anything, but if that gulf can be closed just by a little bit, all the techniques become important again.”

n“Even if the High Mages have even more advantages, you can diminish a lot of their advantages with hard work, experience, and willpower.”

n“Don’t think that I am only someone on the level of Duke Whirlwind or any other Duke.”

n“If I had access to the procedure, and if I were on their level, I would be able to fight evenly with a Duke.”

n“Their additional advantages are the only reasons why I can’t directly just kill them.”

n“Don’t take my accomplishments lightly, Shang,” the Dean said with a cold gaze. “You don’t know what it means to be on my level.”

nShang only listened to his teacher in silence.

nHe wasn’t sure if his teacher told the truth or if he was only trying to appear more impressive to curb Shang’s disappointment.

n“What’s the reward?” the Dean asked.

nThe Dean had already noticed the book in Shang’s hand, but he didn’t take it.

nAfter all, this was Shang’s reward, not his.

nShang lifted the book and looked at it.

n“This is something that will increase the Battle-Strength of all General Stage warriors and higher.”

n“It will also help you a lot.”

nThe Dean became interested and extended his hand, waiting for Shang to hand the book over.

n“The God said that you should know what you are supposed to do,” Shang said as he put the book in the Dean’s hand.

nThe Dean’s hand didn’t retreat immediately, and his eyes focused on Shang.

n“You met him?” the Dean asked with a glint in his eyes.

nShang nodded. “We had a… talk. You could call it a talk.”

n“He wasn’t very happy that I abused the rules,” Shang said heavily.

nThe Dean had met the God, and he knew how unstable he was.

nHe knew very well that Shang could have very likely died there.

nThe Dean hadn’t thought much about what to do with the reward. Originally, he only wanted to take a look at it, and if it were useful, he would practice it. Then, he would probably teach the more talented students in the academy the technique.

nThe Dean hadn’t met the God in over a century, which made the God almost appear surreal and nonexistent.

nHearing that Shang had talked to the God again put newfound respect into the Dean.

nHe was not allowed to forget that there was someone watching their every move and that someone could end their existence with a mere thought.

nAfter some seconds, the Dean pulled the book back and skimmed through it.

nThe Dean also had a warrior’s body, but his mind was still on the level of a True Mage, which granted him incredible comprehension abilities.

nIn just two minutes, the Dean finished reading through the entire book and internalized all its concepts.

nThe Dean closed the book and put it into his internal world.

nSilence.

nFor a while, the Dean only looked at the wall as he fell into thought.

nHow amazing.

nHow interesting.

nHow creative.

nHow powerful.

nThis book opened up a completely new plane of fighting for all powerful warriors.

nAt this very moment, the Dean was so very glad that he had spent so many resources on Shang.

nThe Dean had invested so much into Shang, and now, his investment was paying off.

nThis was worth far more than everything he had invested into Shang up to now.

n“If I had known the concepts of this book earlier,” the Dean said, “I would have been able to stall the Exploding Mountain Turtle for several times longer. The Mages would have been able to create a second Spell, and maybe even a third one.”

n“Maybe, we wouldn’t even have needed Jerald to intervene,” the Dean mused.

nShang nodded.

nHe could very well imagine how the fight would have gone.

nThe Dean wouldn’t have won on his own, but he would have been able to stall for far longer.

nDuring the Day of Chaos, the Dean hadn’t even been able to injure the Exploding Mountain Turtle. He had only danced around its feet, his physical strength too weak to draw blood.

nWith this book, he also might not have been able to injure the turtle, but he would have been able to cut off several stones. On top of that, the Dean wouldn’t have needed to get as close.

nDidn’t need to get as close?

nYes, this was the very technique inside the book.

nThis book taught a method to infuse a weapon with a certain kind of Mana. If one attacked in the correct way after infusing their weapon with this Mana, one would be able to launch a ranged attack.

nIt wasn’t as powerful as a direct attack, but it was still very dangerous.

nThe Dean could have danced around the turtle, shooting one spear strike at it from a distance after the other.

nThe Exploding Mountain Turtle would have been forced to chase the Dean with its stones.

nSure, eventually, the Dean would make a mistake, and the Exploding Mountain Turtle would hit him, but that moment would be further away.

nThis book opened a completely new plane of fighting for warriors.

nIt allowed warriors to also attack their opponent from a distance.

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