The lesson was over faster than Shang had anticipated. He had felt like only a couple of minutes had passed, but, apparently, Shang had fought Astor for nearly three hours.
After the first two fights, Shang hadn't won another one. Astor had perfectly countered all of Shang's attacks after knowing what he could do.
Surprisingly, nearly every fight, Shang felt like he had Astor on the ropes. Astor was always so close to losing every single time.
Yet, for some reason, Astor managed to somehow wiggle out of his disadvantaged state.
At that point, Shang had already committed too much, making it harder for him to resist Astor's offensive.
The closest Shang had gotten was when he had loaded his sword with an Ice Blast. He had struck upwards against Astor's sword, completely destroying the attack.
However, Astor managed to block Shang's killing blow by, ironically, jumping into the attack with his chest. The defenses of his uniform activated, and Shang's attack was stopped.
Sure, that only worked once, but it had stopped Shang's most dangerous attack.
Teacher Loran gave his feedback to all the students, including Shang. This time, teacher Loran had actually seen Shang's swordsmanship, which meant that he could give actual feedback.
Surprisingly, teacher Loran didn't criticize Shang's swordsmanship much.
He said that he could already see an initial fighting style forming, which was a good thing.
He said that Shang obviously preferred a very fast and explosive fighting style and that he should focus on that.
One sentence in particular rang true in Shang's mind.
"Don't focus on your weaknesses. Focus on your strengths and make them even stronger."
Shang's weakness was obviously defense. He had no shield or great weapon that could act as a shield. Because of that, Shang had to parry or evade attacks, which wasn't easy.
Shang could work on his defense, but that might take too much work, and it might even ruin his already established fighting style.
Working on his defenses would essentially count as a plan B. If his opponent managed to get through Shang's speed and dodges, Shang would need to defend himself.
That sounded like a good idea, but there was another way forward.
Make it so that the "if" will always stay an if.
Shang could work on his aggressive fighting style until it was so destructive that the opponent wouldn't even be able to unleash an attack.
That was what teacher Loran meant by working on his strengths instead of his weaknesses.
If no opponent ever managed to hit Shang, his defense wouldn't matter.
After giving Shang lots of feedback, teacher Loran left.
"Those were some great fights, Shang," Astor said with a wide grin. "Always fighting Mattheo can get boring since we know each other's moves perfectly. I'm glad you finally managed to reach a level in Battle-Strength that makes you a challenge."
Shang nodded. "Thanks."
But then, Shang frowned as he looked at the ground. "However, there is still a long way to go. After all, I am a full level above you, which means you are jumping levels against me."
"That's sadly the burden we have to bear," Astor said. "We students of the Caterpillar Class can't learn real techniques, which means that our powers are always lower than the powers of normal warriors."
"How strong are you in comparison to other students?" Shang asked.
"Well, in the Caterpillar Class, I'm the strongest as long as Mattheo doesn't use his Magic. That puts me at above-average for normal students. I'm still a bit short when it comes to talented students, and I'm a long way away from rivaling the actually strongest students of our Grade," Astor answered.
"Above average, huh?" Shang commented.
Astor nodded.
"How strong am I in comparison to other students?" Shang asked.
"In comparison to students of the Caterpillar Class, you are a bit below average. In comparison to students in general, you are on the lower side. If you were in the Preparation Grade, you could fight with the weaker half of the students in the Caterpillar Class," Astor said.
Shang took a deep breath.
He was still so weak when it came to fighting other students.
"Honestly, I don't get why you seem so troubled," Astor said with a raised eyebrow. "You just came here like one or two weeks ago. The other students had years of training against humans. You barely had two weeks."
"Give it time."
Shang looked to the side.
Sure, he had only been here for two weeks, but he still felt a bit ashamed of his power when it came to fighting other humans.
Fighting beasts, sure. Shang knew that he was incredibly outstanding in that department.
Fighting humans? Not so much.
And even more, fighting Mages was probably even harder.
At that point, Shang remembered something.
Wasn't there a form of practical exam or something like that for the red uniforms?
Wouldn't that be fighting other Mages?
Shang had gathered some experience in fighting warriors, but he hadn't fought any Mages yet.
At the same time, Shang remembered something else.
"Astor," Shang said. "What are these quotas the teachers have for the Day of Chaos?"
Shang remembered the Vice-Dean talk about his quota while referencing the next practical exam for the red uniforms.
"Oh? Yeah, those are popular. Everyone basically wants them," Astor said.
"Yes, but what are they?" Shang asked again.
"It's watching," Astor said.
"Watching?"
"Mhm." Astor nodded. "On the Day of Chaos, Warrior's Paradise will be closed, and everyone retreats to the Farm Line. Only the Commander Stage warriors will remain in Warrior's Paradise, while all the General Stage warriors defend the Farm Line. That leaves the Soldier Stage warriors with nothing to do."
"Most of us just stay in the Farm Line and wait. We are not relevant to the defense."
"Because of that, every teacher gets a set number of students they can bring with them. These students will follow the teachers to the walls of Warrior's Paradise, and they can watch the Day of Chaos from there."
Shang furrowed his brows as he thought about that.
Watching the Day of Chaos from the walls of Warrior's Paradise.
He definitely was interested in that.
Not only would Shang be able to learn more about beasts, but he would also be able to watch different powerful humans fight.
It would essentially mean learning from the most powerful humans by watching.
"How do I get one of these quotas?" Shang asked.
"Oh, that's very difficult," Astor answered. "I got one from teacher Loran, but I'm also the only one in our Grade. The quotas are total and not Grade-specific. Each teacher gets three in total, and teacher Loran gave his quotas to the strongest students of the three higher Grades."
Shang scratched his chin with furrowed brows.
Getting quotas definitely wasn't easy.
Sure, Shang could fight Astor, but Astor was an entire level below him. If Astor were on Shang's level, Shang would be nearly helpless in front of him.
The quotas were essentially rewards for the most outstanding students per Grade per class.
Shang was in the Caterpillar Class, and he definitely wasn't the most outstanding student in his Grade.
This meant, at the moment, Shang wasn't good enough for a quota.
