Shang opened his eyes deep in the night. Due to the Day of Chaos, Shang had decided to sleep again.
The last couple of days had already been a pain. The bloodied face had returned from time to time in the last couple of days. It wasn't nearly as bad as back then, but it was still very noticeable.
The last night had been horrible. Just like before, Shang felt his entire world break down as he tried to sleep. Everything had appeared hopeless and senseless.
But, eventually, Shang managed to go to sleep.
He wasn't sure what he had dreamt about, but he was pretty sure that he had dreamt of something bad.
Why?
Because Shang found spots of blood on his bed.
He guessed that he had probably scratched himself bloody during his sleep, and due to his high tolerance for pain, he didn't even wake up.
However, as a new day began, Shang felt much better.
Last night, he had felt horrible, which stood in stark contrast to how Shang felt right now.
He was alert and full of energy.
Shang stood up, showered, and shaved.
After getting dressed, Shang looked at his bed.
It was filled with dried blood, and it smelled quite badly.
He had done that.
'Moment of weakness,' Shang thought. 'I have to get used to the crueler side of the world. The more used I get to everything, the easier my life will become.'
Shang kept looking at the bloodstains.
To him, it felt like he was leaving his old self behind.
Shang dissociated from his past self last night.
"Well, doesn't matter. Let's go," Shang said to Sword.
Yes, that was the name of Shang's sword, Sword.
After they had trained a couple of times, Shang had found out that he didn't know Sword's name, which was why he had asked.
Sword simply said that it was a sword, and it wanted to be called as such.
Shang had asked why Sword didn't want a unique name.
Sword's answer was that its name would eventually be unique.
One day, if someone said the word sword, they would think of Sword.
It was not a sword.
It was the Sword!
In the end, Shang accepted that Sword wanted to be called Sword. He found it a bit weird to refer to a sword as Sword, but if that was what it wanted, sure.
Shang left his room and walked out towards the courtyard of the academy. It was still dark, but Shang could already see several students waiting.
There were about 50.
However, these 50 students represented the best of the best in each Grade.
The best hunters.
The best officers.
The best soldiers.
Some of them were the best in theory regarding one of the subjects.
Some of them were the best when it came to using their weapons.
These were the best students in the academy.
But there was one very surprising thing.
15 of the 50 students wore red uniforms.
That was nearly a third!
There were barely any red uniforms in the academy, but nearly all of them had gathered here.
However, Shang quickly realized why.
The Vice-Dean had said that he had five spots and that he could only take five people of the Advanced Grade with him.
Of course, the Vice-Dean wouldn't only look at the Advanced Grade. What about the Intermediate or Preparation Grade?
There were no students from the Beginner Grade here, which was understandable. They were still too weak and too new. They wouldn't be able to understand much.
But there were several students of the Intermediate, Late, and Preparation Grade present.
And since the Vice-Dean had five spots per grade, he was the reason why there were 15 red uniforms here.
At that moment, Shang realized something.
'The red uniforms are only very rarely amongst other students. They rarely talk, and they rarely visit other lessons. They are also the only ones that have a Vice-Dean teaching them.'
'It's almost like they are completely separate from the other students.'
'The Caterpillar Class is already special since we can't learn the actual techniques of the school, but we still mingle with other students and share lessons. But the red uniforms are basically like ghosts.'
'And now, they are the most numerous students present.'
Shang hadn't noticed it previously, but as he saw so many red uniforms, he noticed it.
The academy put special focus on the red uniforms.
It was like they were the most important students.
"Shang?"
Shang looked over at Astor, who looked at him with surprise.
"Yes?" Shang asked.
"What are you doing here?" Astor asked.
Shang took out the token he had received and showed it to Astor. "I got one."
Astor looked with shock and confusion at the token.
It was real.
But how?
Astor liked Shang, but he also knew very well of Shang's capabilities.
Shang was very young, but since he was so young, he was also far weaker than the other students.
In order to get an emblem, one needed to be among the best.
Yes, Astor liked Shang, but he also knew that Shang definitely wasn't among the best.
Shang's Battle-Strength was very weak, and he couldn't have been here long enough to learn everything was to know about the surroundings. That meant that he also couldn't have been chosen by a teacher who only taught something theoretical.
Shang was weak.
And Shang knew basically nothing about the theoretical subjects.
So, how did Shang manage to get here?
Was he actually some hidden progeny of a foreign Duke?
Maybe he was the son of the King of the Skythunder Kingdom?
The Vice-Deans and the Dean didn't make any exceptions for anyone unless the other side could be a threat to them.
And True Mages were no threat.
"I was just as surprised as you," Shang said.
He could tell what Astor was thinking about.
He knew that Astor wasn't belittling him. Astor was an honest guy.
"How did you get this?" Astor asked.
"Teacher Niria," Shang said.
"Teacher Niria?" Astor asked. "The beast teacher?"
Shang nodded.
"Why?" Astor asked.
"I'm pretty good at hunting," Shang said.
That's when Astor's eyes widened in realization.
Right!
Shang had shown that he had gone through tons of battles. After all, his instincts were top-notch, and he had amazing control over his body.
But his strength when fighting humans was horrible.
That could only mean that Shang had exclusively fought beasts in the past!
Astor was experienced enough to feel how experienced his opponent was.
Shang felt very experienced to him, just not experienced in fighting against humans.
At that moment, Astor realized that Shang was probably a terrifyingly powerful hunter.
Now, Shang had reached Astor's level in Astor's perception.
He was also someone at the top of their class but in a different one.
After realizing all of this, Astor only had a single question.
"Have you killed a Vanishing Snake before?" he asked with wonder.
Shang blinked a couple of times. "Yeah, a couple of them."
"Wow," Astor said. "My team has never gone to the northeastern forest specifically because of them. How many people are in your team?"
Shang blinked again in confusion. "I don't have a team. I hunt alone."
Astor almost couldn't believe it.
Hunting Vanishing Snakes alone?!
Shang was a monster!
Ironically enough, Shang had always viewed Astor as a monster since Astor managed to jump a level against Shang.
That also hadn't changed.
But now, Astor was also viewing Shang as a monster.
Both of them were impressed by the other's talent.
