"Become your disciple?" Shang asked.
Shang remembered the Dean's other two disciples.
One was Vice-Dean Soran, and Shang knew him very well.
Then, there was that other girl. Shang had only seen her once, which was when she had watched Shang's exam.
If Shang remembered correctly, her name was Viera, and he also remembered that she had a crush on Soran.
"Yes," the Dean said. "To give you help more easily, you have to become my disciple. Of course, this won't just be a means to an end. I take my disciples seriously, and it is my duty to help them reach the True Path Stage."
Shang remained silent for a bit as he mulled over the decision.
Become the Dean's disciple?
…
"I agree," Shang said.
"Good," the Dean said with a nod. "Then, you are now my disciple."
Silence.
"That's it?" Shang asked.
"That's it," the Dean said. "I'm not one for procedures. Your status will be updated in the academy register soon. From now on, you have free access to the fifth floor of the main building, but don't try to abuse that privilege."
Shang nodded. "I won't."
"Then, for my first action as your master, I'll give you a gift."
SHING!
A green uniform appeared in the Dean's hands.
"You are now officially part of the special training program," the Dean said. "This is your new uniform. It can protect you from one deadly strike of a Mid General Stage beast or a Late General Stage warrior. In comparison to your current uniform, this uniform also extends its protection to your head."
"After blocking a deadly strike, it needs several minutes to refill its Mana, which means it only works once per fight. Keep that in mind," the Dean explained.
The Dean handed the uniform to Shang, and Shang's arms sunk by a lot.
It was heavy!
"Usually, this is only a uniform the Early General Stage students get since it would hamper the mobility of Initial General Stage warriors. The uniform weighs around 700 kg."
Shang looked with surprise at the uniform in his hands.
700 kg.
This didn't feel like 700 kg at all!
Had his power reached such a level that he could easily carry something this heavy without any issues?
"Thank you… master," Shang said.
"I'm not one for formalities," the Dean said. "You can just call me teacher."
Shang looked a bit awkwardly at the Dean. "Alright, teacher," he said.
It still felt weird to address the Dean simply as teacher.
"Now, let's talk about how we will prepare for your trial," the Dean said.
"First, you will move to a bigger room further down the hall. For the next month, I don't want you to leave the basement of the academy."
"Why?" Shang asked.
"We need to keep watch over you in case there are any side-effects. There might be something different about you that we haven't noticed yet."
"Then, how am I supposed to prepare for the trial?" Shang asked. "I need opponents."
"The opponents will be delivered to you," the Dean said. "There are two sides to your preparation. First, you need to get familiar with your body, and you will achieve that by fighting a couple of guards from Warrior's Paradise."
"That shouldn't take more than a day, after which the second phase of your preparations will begin."
"Fighting Adepts," the Dean said.
Shang's eyes narrowed.
For the past couple of months, Shang had watched the red uniforms fight the Apprentices every week. Vice-Dean Ranos had ordered Shang to watch the fights.
By now, Shang knew how nearly every Mage fought, and over the last year, he had also learned all about their Spells.
And now, he only needed to actually put all his knowledge into practice.
"Over the next month, I will send a wave of Adepts your way. You will have to fight several different Adepts each day with only minimal breaks."
As Shang heard that, a fire appeared in his chest.
Finally, he could fight the Mages!
For the past year, the academy had put more and more information into Shang to prepare him for this moment.
Shang's ability to fight beasts was absolutely outstanding.
Shang's ability to fight warriors was also very impressive.
The only thing holding Shang back was his ability to fight Mages, and that would be rectified very soon.
Shang had never fought a Mage before, even though he had been sent to this world specifically to fight against the Mages.
Why hadn't he fought a Mage before?
Because Shang hadn't been outstanding enough.
Now that everything else was outstanding, it was time for Shang to start on his actual purpose.
The purpose the God had chosen for Shang was to make the warriors in the world more powerful, and he would have his first opportunity to do so by getting an outstanding score in the trial.
But the God's purpose wasn't Shang's purpose.
Sure, Shang would help the warriors, but his highest priority was to become as powerful as possible.
'You intended for me to theorize the fifth Realm? How about I do you one better? How about I actually achieve the fifth Realm?'
'How about I achieve the sixth Realm?'
'How about I kill a Zone Beast?'
'And then, I will search for the truly powerful Mages in this world!'
'You didn't give me gifts to only push me to the fifth Realm. No, all your gifts are useful even until the very point when I will become the strongest human in this world.'
"Get changed," the Dean ordered. "I will wait outside."
The Dean left the room, and Shang quickly changed into his new uniform. He was unused to wearing something so heavy, but he would get used to it soon.
Then, he left the room and followed his teacher down the hall.
After walking for a while, the two of them entered a big, empty room.
"This will be your room from now on, but you won't be in it for long. Follow me," the Dean said before leaving the room again.
After walking for a while, the two of them entered another big room, but this one had two doors leading out of it, and there was also a reception desk in it.
"This is the entrance for people that want to enter the academy's special shop. The auction only happens once a month, and the next one is in 17 days. For now, this will be your training arena."
Shang nodded.
"Your opponents will come from there," the Dean said as he pointed at the other door in the room. "This leads to a shed in the academy's north."
"I'm going to leave now and arrange everything. Expect the judge for your matches to arrive in a couple of minutes and your first opponent in, at most, an hour."
Shang nodded.
SHING!
Then, something appeared in the Dean's hands, and Shang quickly understood what this was for.
This was a faceless, black mask. In fact, there weren't even holes for the eyes or nose in it.
"We will have to keep your identity a secret. This mask has several Magic Circles on it that cloaks your entire body in a haze of forgetfulness."
"Haze of forgetfulness?" Shang asked.
"Anyone below the Third Realm that sees you while you're wearing the mask will quickly forget your most significant characteristics. For example, they will forget what kind of weapon you were using, your hair color, the color of your uniform, and your height."
"They will only remember that they fought a warrior that had an aggressive battle style."
"But be sure to be careful of what you say. While the effects work for your appearance, it doesn't work for what you speak."
Shang took the mask and nodded.
Then, he put it on.
As soon as the mask touched his face, it seemingly vanished. Just now, Shang had seen the mask covering his vision, but just an instant later, it was like it wasn't there at all.
However, on the outside, the Dean saw a young man with black hair and a black, featureless mask.
Then, the Dean looked at the green uniform with a frown.
The Dean put his finger on Shang's shoulder, and a moment later, the uniform transformed into a red color.
Then, the Dean nodded. "That looks much better. For the next month, you can wear red uniforms. It might also help in further making your identity a mystery."
Shang didn't answer, and the Dean couldn't see Shang's expression.
'I don't know if I like this look or not,' Shang thought.
And then, the Dean left the room.
And just a couple of minutes later, the judge for the fights appeared.
