For a while, Shang only remained on the spot, thinking.
'Don't let my past ruin my future,' Shang repeated to himself in his mind.
To Shang, these words had a profound meaning.
When he thought about these words, the night with the bandits returned.
'My past.'
Shang felt like the Water Mage had been right in basically everything she said.
But at the same time, Shang also felt that her words were a bit too simple.
'Ruthlessness is still a necessity in this world. Not dealing with threats might make them even bigger in the future.'
'Leaving the battlefield on the battlefield, huh?'
'I'm not sure if there is a place that's not a battlefield in this world.'
'The teachers say that the academy is safe, but is it truly safe? Have there been no instances of students dying to other students?'
'I don't believe that.'
Shang looked at the place where the unconscious student had just been.
'However, was he truly a threat?'
'Have I not risked the threat becoming an even bigger one by trying to get rid of this small threat? Before my actions, he might have been the only threat, and his threat had been minuscule.'
'However, what about his family? If their child had received some permanent damage, wouldn't they search for revenge? Wouldn't have this little threat turned into a bigger threat then?'
For a while, Shang tried to wrap his head around his new understanding.
After the night of the bandits, Shang's mind had focused on dealing with all the small threats to stop bigger threats from appearing.
But today, Shang's method of dealing with small threats had nearly summoned a far bigger threat.
'Is it right to always deal with smaller threats?'
Silence.
'Yes, it obviously is, but what constitutes as dealing with a threat?'
'The threat had already been dealt with after injuring him heavily. At that point, he had no longer been a threat. After all, he had probably never planned on actually killing me.'
'He's only a kid that made a mistake. Just like me, he has plenty of time to learn about the consequences of his actions.'
'Teaching him a lesson was the correct course of action, but when the lesson had gone too far, it has caused problems for me.'
'In the end, I can't only look at the person in front of me but also at the surroundings. Killing him would have only had negative consequences to my life.'
'I need to learn how to differentiate between different kinds of threats and their dangers.'
After a while of thinking, Shang turned around and slowly grabbed his two beast sacks.
'I need to pay more attention in the future. I need to be mindful of the consequences of my actions.'
'This time, I managed to get out of this mess because an outsider intervened. In the future, I am bound to come into a situation where no one is there to stop me from losing control.'
'I lost control, and I have to accept that I have lost control. Even though my actions have appeared correct at that moment, they have not been correct in retrospect.'
'I am not emotionless, and I have to keep in mind that anger can cloud my judgment.'
Shang entered the building and went into his room.
After putting the two beast sacks down, Shang sat on his bed, only looking at the ground with furrowed brows.
His mind had returned to calm with surprising speed.
It was almost like the incident hadn't occurred.
The image of the crushed face beneath him shouting for its mother returned for an instant, but Shang's mind quickly shoved it to the side.
'I need to be more mindful of my future. I can't ruin my future with actions committed in the heat of the moment.'
The image returned, but Shang shoved it away again.
'I need to be in control of myself.'
The image returned and vanished again.
'I need to always remain in control.'
The image came back and was pushed away again.
Shang kept repeating to himself that he had to remain in control.
The image always returned, but Shang always pushed it away.
That wasn't him anymore.
He was in control of himself.
This was his new past.
He would not lose control anymore.
He would leave the past in the past.
Shang kept shoving the image into the back of his mind.
He wouldn't allow it to ruin his life.
Shang remained sitting on his bed for a while.
Suddenly, Shang was pulled out of his thoughts when he smelt something disgusting.
He furrowed his brows and looked at the source of the smell.
One of the two beast sacks.
Shang opened it and looked inside.
All the Pest Cat ears had begun to decompose, which was the reason for the horrible smell.
'Stuff decomposes this quickly in this world? Something like that takes multiple days on Earth,' Shang thought.
'Well, I am in a different world. I should expect some things to be different.'
'Anyway, I should deal with this stuff.'
Shang took hold of the beast sack, leaving the other one in the room. Then, Shang left his room and went to the marketplace.
While he walked to the Exchange Hall, every student in front of him stepped out of the way.
It was unknown if it was because of Shang's actions or the smell.
Shang didn't notice their actions. He was walking to the Exchange Hall like a machine.
Eventually, Shang arrived in the Exchange Hall and went to one of the counters.
Shang put the beast sack on the counter. "Pest Cat ears, Swamp Millipede feelers, and Vanishing Snakes," he said.
The person behind the counter was a General Stage warrior, and he looked at the beast sack with disgust.
"Why didn't you bring that earlier?" he asked with annoyance as he opened the sack. When the sack opened, a disgusting liquid mixed with all kinds of things could be seen. However, the Pest Cat ears and Swamp Millipede feelers were still visible.
"I only killed them this morning,' Shang said.
The clerk snorted. "This morning?" he asked with annoyance. "Do you think stuff rots to this degree in only a day?"
"That's at least four days old."
