Time passed.
Shang's conviction had been reaffirmed by the Day of Chaos.
This time, he had been helpless during the Day of Chaos, but in the future, he wouldn't be as helpless.
Right now, Shang was at a level of power where he didn't count as relevant to any major cities. Sure, Shang could probably become a high-ranking officer in a town, but his goals went much further than that.
Shang trained until the life in the academy went back to normal. The piles of corpses had been cleaned up by the hunters and had been sold for profit.
Warrior's Paradise had spent a ridiculous sum of money for the Day of Chaos, but it had earned far more.
This was what Warrior's Paradise was all about: Finding profit in danger!
And thus, Shang's life in the Warrior's Academy continued.
During the mornings, Shang took part in whatever theoretical lesson was available. The lessons mostly consisted of politics, geography, and Magic.
During the afternoon, Shang took part in the lesson for the Caterpillar Class.
During the evening, Shang took part in either sword training or in beast classes.
During the early night, Shang trained with Sword.
During the late night, Shang either concentrated on his Affinity or went to sleep. Of course, he still slept very rarely.
Days passed.
A week passed.
Two weeks passed.
Shang went to sleep again. He felt like shit again, but it wasn't as bad as the previous times. With each time he went to sleep, he adapted more and more.
A month passed.
By now, Shang had been in the academy for two months.
"Seems like you win again, Shang!" Astor shouted with a loud laugh.
By now, Shang had managed to increase his win rate against Astor to above 50%.
"I still have an advantage in level," Shang said to Astor.
"So? Don't compare yourself to others but look at your past self. Yes, you are at a higher level than me, but you have made tremendous progress. Right now, I'm learning more from you than you from me during our fights," Astor said with a smile.
In the beginning, Astor had appeared a bit proud and distant, but by now, he had warmed up to Shang.
Astor was actually a very sociable warrior. He was the typical, gruff warrior one would imagine.
Another two weeks passed.
"Five Javelin beaks," the clerk in the Hunting Guild said as he put 1,250 gold on the counter. "Not bad. Keep at it."
Another month passed.
"Look at this guy," a random person in the swordsmanship class said. "He actually managed to beat level four by now."
"So? He's at the same level as the teacher's help. He's still way too weak," another guy said.
"Sure, but the guy is from the Caterpillar Class, right? They're generally not that powerful."
"Oh? He's from the Caterpillar Class? Then, sure, he's not bad, I think."
Another month passed.
"You are in the top 48%, Shang," Vice-Dean Soran said to Shang as he handed him a piece of paper. "You made quite a bit of progress in a short amount of time. Not bad."
The end-of-year exams had just taken place. The entire Grade would take part in a tournament, and the bottom 10% would be expelled from the school.
Shang had placed in the top 48%.
That means that he was about average.
By now, Shang had been in the academy for about five months.
In the beginning, he had been at the absolute bottom. He had been one of the weakest people in his Grade. He had been so weak that he had even been put in the Advanced Grade, a grade filled with students a level weaker than him.
"I think we can put you in the Preparation Grade now," Vice-Dean Soran said.
When Shang heard that, he became excited.
He was finally powerful enough to fight people of his level!
But wait, hadn't Shang only reached the average for the Advanced Grade? Wouldn't he be counted as trash in the Preparation Grade?
Not really. Every class took part in the same tournament. Since the students in the Caterpillar Class were much weaker than other students, the average Caterpillar Class student was only in the top 70%.
So, in the Preparation Grade for the Caterpillar Class, Shang would essentially count as slightly below-average. He definitely was ready to advance a Grade.
After that day, Shang joined the Preparation Grade.
He met his new classmates, who welcomed him.
Shang didn't feel too weak, and he was on their level.
The only special thing about him was his age, but the class didn't really care.
Now, Shang didn't only need to fight Astor anymore. Now, he had so many more opponents!
As Shang advanced a Grade, the other lessons changed as well.
The theoretical lessons now mostly talked about General Stage beasts, Adepts, and General Stage warriors.
All the lessons were focused on preparing the students for their life as General Stage warriors.
The teachers didn't change for Shang. Teachers weren't assigned a Grade but a lesson. One teacher taught all Grades but at different times of the day so that the lessons didn't overlap.
The Beginner Grade was special since they hadn't chosen their profession yet, which meant that their lesson schedule was also very different.
Because of that, the three lessons per day were shifted.
Now, Shang's day started with swordsmanship class and beast class, followed by theoretical classes. In the evening, Shang would take part in the Caterpillar Class lesson.
One would assume that Shang would have it tough in the Preparation Grade, but that was not the case. Shang's starting place for the Preparation Grade was much higher than his starting place for the Advanced Grade before.
He had fully integrated.
He was no longer an oddity.
People also slowly forgot about what Shang had done in the past as time passed on.
Nobody looked at him with frightened expressions anymore.
Now, Shang was only a normal student.
He was in his appropriate Grade.
He wasn't outstanding.
But he also wasn't trash.
He was a very normal student.
Even though nobody remembered Shang's actions anymore, nobody attacked him.
Attacking people of the Preparation Grade was essentially unheard of.
Shang's life continued.
Another month passed.
By now, Shang had fully gotten used to sleeping. He still felt a bit bad every time, but he had acclimated to it.
It was normal now.
The bloodied face had also nearly completely vanished.
Shang only saw it in his dreams.
During the day, he didn't even think about it.
Another month passed.
And it was time for the Day of Chaos again.
Yes, six months had already passed.
By now, Shang had been in the academy for about seven months.
Teacher Niria had given Shang another quota, and he accepted it.
Even though nobody paid any attention to Shang, and even though he appeared extremely average, when it came to hunting, Shang was in a class of his own.
In fact, Shang had already attempted to fight General Stage beasts on his own.
However, he had always relied on a backup plan, which he inevitably had to use.
Shang was no longer helpless in front of General Stage beasts. He could fight them for a while, and even if he failed to kill them, he could still retreat.
This was part of Shang's secret training.
He was pushing himself more than anyone else when it came to beasts.
As the Day of Chaos began, Shang stood alone at the southwestern tower.
He didn't need Yiral anymore since Shang had learned to distinguish basically every beast that lived in the Storm Eagle Zone.
The Storm Eagle passed above the city again, and it was just as impressive as the first time he had seen it.
The Day of Chaos started, and Warrior's Paradise was under attack again.
But this time, no True Path Stage beast appeared.
Shang had been in danger several times, but he had always fled at appropriate times.
With his new knowledge, Shang managed to siphon out even more knowledge by watching the True Mages and Commander Stage hunters fight.
Shang knew many more theories now, and his own Martial Art had advanced by a lot.
And before he knew it, the Storm Eagle returned to the Storm Eagle Zone.
The second Day of Chaos had ended.
And Shang returned to the academy.
