As soon as the turtle died, the soldiers and Mages cheered.
They wouldn't need to die today!
However, Shang only took a deep breath.
This hadn't even been a fight!
Duke Whirlwind had essentially just played around with the Exploding Mountain Turtle!
The very thing that had threatened everyone, including the city and the Dean, had been taken care of by Duke Whirlwind with just a couple of waves of his hands.
Many things had happened recently, but from when the Dean had attacked the Exploding Mountain Turtle to its demise, barely two minutes had passed.
In two minutes, the Mages had finished their spell, had failed in it, had dealt with the traitors, and Duke Whirlwind had dealt with the threat.
Even if Duke Whirlwind had moved at his maximum speed, he wouldn't have been able to get here from the Empress Cobra Zone in just two minutes.
This meant that Duke Whirlwind had never actually fought the True Path Stage beast in the Empress Cobra Zone.
He had been here from the very beginning!
By now, the Dean's body had started to recover, and he could walk on his own.
From a distance, Shang could see the Dean talk with Duke Whirlwind as they walked back to Warrior's Paradise.
He didn't know what they were talking about, but they didn't seem to be nervous or in a rush.
Apparently, Duke Whirlwind didn't need to hurry to the Empress Cobra Zone to deal with the True Path beast there, which meant that someone else was probably dealing with it.
By now, no more Commander Stage beasts were leaving the Canyon. Earlier, they had been scared of the Exploding Mountain Turtle. A lot of them had fled the Canyon, but many others had decided to hide.
One had to remember that most beasts of the Canyon had been hidden deep underground from the very beginning.
Powerful Wind Affinity beasts hid in the caves in the Eternal Spires.
Powerful Earth Affinity beasts hid underground.
Only the ones that hadn't had a hiding place had fled to the Wasteland.
And now, after seeing the corpse of the True Path Stage beast in the Wasteland, their motivation to stay only solidified.
The Mages and ballistae dealt with the last remaining Wind Affinity Commander Stage beasts.
After that, the Mages jumped to the Wasteland again to clean up.
In just 30 minutes, no more battles took place.
The Day of Chaos had essentially ended.
The only missing part was the official conclusion.
"You can walk around now," the officer in golden armor said to Shang and Yiral. For the past hours, he had completely ignored them as if they didn't even exist. "It's over."
"But you shouldn't leave Warrior's Paradise unless you want to die."
After saying that, the officer ignored Shang and Yiral again.
"So, what did you think of today?" Yiral asked.
Shang looked at the distance. Duke Whirlwind and the Dean had already returned to Warrior's Paradise.
"Today, I learned how truly powerless I am still," Shang said.
"I only look at my classmates and compare my power to them, but all my classmates would be just as helpless as I am today."
"The academy is only one step on my path to power."
"Beyond my classmates are the hunters."
"Beyond the hunters are the teachers."
"Beyond the teachers are the True Mages."
"And beyond the True Mages are the beings in the Fourth Realm."
"And beyond those are the Kings."
"And beyond those, the Zone Beasts."
"I still have a long way to go," Shang said. He wasn't sure if he was speaking to Yiral or to himself.
"That's the purpose of why you are here," Yiral said. "Back on my first Day of Chaos, I felt the same way. I was just as helpless as you back then."
"And I am still helpless now. The best I can do is to pull you to safety with my experience, but that's it."
"Remember this day. Never strive to be the best of your Grade, but the best overall."
"Don't compare yourself to other students but to yourself."
Shang listened to Yiral's words and burned them into his memory.
"Thank you for everything today. Without you, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see the true power of the world," Shang said.
"You should thank teacher Niria, not me. I'm here because she told me to," Yiral said.
"I will thank her as well," Shang said.
The two of them could move around now, but they decided to stay. They could return to the academy, but there was something they wanted to witness.
Over the next hours, the soldiers calmed down and chatted with each other, leaving only a couple of them on standby near the ballistae.
The Mages had already left the walls. From what Shang had heard, the Mages were having a gathering to discuss everything about today.
Shang wasn't the only one that had learned a lot today.
Even for True Mages, seeing beings in the Fourth Realm act was still something they could learn from.
Two hours later, the soldiers began to go near the northern edges of the wall.
The Mages had returned to the walls to watch.
It was the early evening, and everyone in the city was waiting.
And finally, it was time.
In the distance, a gigantic green shadow appeared above a mountain.
The Storm Eagle had returned.
This time, Shang got a better look at it.
It was absolutely massive.
Shang guessed that it probably had a wingspan of over five kilometers, which was inconceivable for a living being.
One of its wings completely covered the entirety of Warrior's Paradise.
Shang looked at the Storm Eagle in awe.
Then, he saw it open its beak.
"Hey, wake up!"
"Wh- what?"
Shang realized that everything was dark, and he opened his eyes.
As Shang opened his eyes, he saw Yiral looking down on him with a grimace.
He seemed to be in pain.
Why was he in pain?
Then, Shang noticed that he was also in pain. However, he had only been able to feel the pain after asking himself if he also was in pain.
He wasn't in much pain. It was only about as painful as a strong concussion.
He barely noticed it.
"What happened?" Shang asked in confusion.
Hadn't he just watched the Storm Eagle pass over them?
"It screeched," Yiral said with a grimace. "You've been out for around ten minutes."
Shang quickly sat up, but for a moment, he felt like his world was spinning.
It had screeched?
"That's exactly why no teacher takes students in the Beginner Grade with them."
Shang looked to his side as he heard a familiar voice.
It was teacher Niria!
"Have you learned something today?" she asked.
Shang was still a bit perplexed by the sudden shift.
It was like he had been teleported from one place to the next in an instant.
Just now, he had watched the Storm Eagle, and an instant later, he woke up on the ground.
But in the end, Shang nodded. "I learned a lot. Thank you, teacher Niria. Thanks to you, my horizons have been expanded."
"No thanks necessary," teacher Niria said. "You were the best hunter, and you deserved it. Now, get down from the walls. The guards are already shifting around uncomfortably. They want us gone but don't want to be too rude."
At the side, the guards looked away.
Shang stood up as his mind slowly stopped spinning.
After that, he followed teacher Niria down from the wall.
Yiral quickly said his goodbyes and went to his home in the Farm Line.
Shang talked with teacher Niria about what he had learned, and she elaborated further on the things Shang had learned.
When it was dusk, the two of them separated.
Shang went back to his room and sat on his bed in silence.
"The Day of Chaos," he silently said to himself.
Silence.
"Today, I have been helpless."
"Today, I was only a watcher."
"Maybe the next time, I will still be a watcher."
"But the time after that, I will be powerful enough to truly take part in the Day of Chaos."
"I might not become powerful enough to be a help in Warrior's Paradise, but I will be powerful enough to defend the Farm Line from the General Stage beasts."
For over an hour, Shang only thought about everything he had witnessed today.
He understood why every single student desired the quotas for the Day of Chaos.
This was an invaluable experience, something money couldn't buy.
And then, Shang stood up with newfound conviction in his eyes.
"I need to become more powerful!"
"More powerful," Sword said.
Shang looked at Sword and nodded. "Let's start right now!"
"Start," Sword answered.
And then, the two of them began to train in their techniques.
Shang would train harder than ever before, and he would put his everything into learning about this world!
His first goal: Become the best student in the academy!
