Shang's opponent appeared 100 meters away from him, and he looked over in annoyance.
Sure enough, it was a Trash Bird.
Shortly after, the little jester mechanically lifted his arms in a very rigid and clunky manner.
DING!
And the hammer hit the bell.
After that, the wheel left Shang's vision, but before he could see it again, it had vanished.
It was like the wheel had simply "left the screen".
Shang looked over at the Trash Bird, which had noticed him after the bell had been struck.
And then, it turned around and ran away, squawking loudly.
Shang narrowed his eyes.
BANG!
The earth beneath Shang exploded as he charged forward with all his speed.
Shang used his Fire and Ice Affinity to make him move even faster.
His speed wasn't comparable to the last time he had fought a Trash Bird.
Back then, Shang had been at the Peak Soldier Stage.
Now, Shang was at the Initial General Stage, and even more, he had undergone the procedure.
Even though there were no trees here to slow the Trash Bird down, Shang was still faster than it by quite a bit.
After just a couple of seconds, Shang reached it.
The Trash Bird grabbed some dirt with its feet and flung it at Shang.
Shang easily sidestepped the dirt and pointed his left hand backward.
BANG! BANG!
Shang released an Ice and Fire Blast in quick succession, destroying his arm and increasing his speed to the peak.
In an instant, Shang arrived above the beast.
BANG!
Shang kicked the Trash Bird's head, and with the new power of his body, the Trash Bird flew to the side, hitting the ground.
Shang quickly jumped on top of the Trash Bird and put his hands around its beak.
The Trash Bird thrashed around and tried to screech, but it couldn't since Shang kept its beak shut.
At the same time, Shang activated his Darkness Absorb, and the Trash Bird quickly started to age and degenerate.
After around five seconds, it stopped moving, and Shang's left arm was nearly exploding with life energy.
However, it was only nearly.
Shang stood up and looked at his left arm.
'This should give me a free use of my Blast Combo.'
At that moment, Shang saw some roses falling to the ground, and he heard cheering and clapping.
Shang had no idea where these noises were coming from.
Shang only remained standing near the Trash Bird as the corpse slowly sank into the ground until it vanished.
As the "crowd" continued cheering, Shang only looked forward with narrowed eyes.
He couldn't take this event lightly!
He had to get a good result!
The wheel returned after unleashing more streamers.
"Level two: Average Initial General Stage beast," the mechanical voice said.
The wheel began to spin rapidly again.
After a while, the wheel slowed down again, and soon enough, Shang saw his next opponent.
The image was of an insect wearing a tuxedo and top hat. It had five gigantic and long mandibles, which mimicked a long beard in the picture.
Shang couldn't put the image to a beast he knew, but for some reason, the image felt familiar.
But Shang was certain that he had never learned about such a beast. So, how could it be familiar to him?
A moment later, Shang's opponent appeared, and Shang lifted an eyebrow when he saw it.
It was an about half-a-meter high stone, and it looked exactly like an Ore Toe.
By now, Shang had seen a couple of Ore Toes in the wild. Ore Toes were ore that broke through the surface after enough Mana had accumulated.
He remembered, the first time he had seen one…
"Really?" Shang asked as he realized what the God had done.
The jester lifted his arm and hit the bell.
Just like before, the wheel vanished.
Shang only looked at the solitary stone for several seconds.
"A Spire Mire, huh?" Shang said.
Chuck McGuiness had scammed Shang back then by saying that the Ore Toe in front of him was a beast called Spire Mire.
However, these beasts didn't exist.
But now, they did.
It seemed like the God had created a new beast just for Shang.
"Who knew that Chuck's joke would result in the creation of a new beast?" Shang muttered to himself.
Shang slowly walked over and stopped about five meters away from the stone.
Then, he lifted his sword and threw it at the stone.
BANG!
The sword pierced the stone until it got stuck.
BOOOOOM!
Five gigantic mandibles quickly closed around the stone, but the Spire Mire didn't catch anything.
The sword had already left the stone of its own volition and quickly crawled back to Shang.
One shouldn't forget that this wasn't just a sword, but Sword.
A gigantic head came out of the ground as Shang charged forward.
Sword jumped upward, and Shang caught it with his right hand.
Just as the Spire Mire turned its head to Shang, Shang had already arrived beneath it.
Shang put his left hand on his sword, and a moment later, Shang's arm began to freeze.
Then, Shang transformed all his momentum into a strike.
Shang's sword hit the middle of the Spire Mire's thorax.
BOOOOM!
Fire exploded out of Sword, and Shang's sword punched through the entire beast.
The mandibles of the Spire Mire scratched together threateningly as it wildly moved its body around in pain. Its body had been too big to sever with only a single slash, but Shang had basically bisected it by 80%.
After unleashing his slash, Shang used his left arm and used an Ice Blast to push himself away from his opponent.
A moment later, the gigantic mandibles clawed through the place Shang had just been.
Blood poured out of the Spire Mire's thorax as it violently moved around.
Its organs were being squeezed out, and the Spire Mire moved around in panic.
Shang only looked at it from a distance. His arm had consumed the life energy and had already healed.
The Spire Mire threateningly clawed into Shang's general direction with its mandibles, but it didn't dare to move.
Shang only waited.
After several seconds of intimidating Shang, the Spire Mire tried to leave in the other direction.
However, that meant turning its head.
BANG!
Shang exploded forward again, and when he saw the Spire Mire's small tail, he quickly severed it before jumping away again.
The Spire Mire turned to Shang again and threatened him.
It even tried to lunge at him, but as an ambush predator, it wasn't the fastest beast. Yes, its mandibles were very fast, but its body wasn't.
After that, Shang began to circle the Spire Mire from a distance, forcing it to turn its body to face him.
Blood and organs poured out of its huge cut and from the stump of its tail.
Every additional movement accelerated its death.
Eventually, the Spire Mire stopped following Shang, and Shang struck again.
Another deep cut was left on the Spire Mire's body.
The remainder of the fight wasn't very exciting.
Over the next ten minutes, the Spire Mire slowly succumbed to its injuries, and Shang absorbed its life force before it could fully die, filling his arm with life energy again.
Shang slowly stood up, and the invisible cheering returned.
A couple of seconds later, the wheel returned.
"Round three: Powerful Initial General Stage beast."
The wheel spun again.
Shang looked with narrowed eyes at the wheel.
From now on, the fights would become a bit harder.
