Everything hinged on this moment!
Shang was around eighty meters away from his opponent, and he was prepared for the four Spells.
Then, the first Wind Blade was released.
Shang pointed to his left and unleashed an Ice Blast.
BANG!
Shang managed to avoid the Wind Blade.
The second one came immediately after.
Shang hadn't been able to regain his balance yet before the second one arrived.
BANG!
Shang pointed down diagonally and shot upward again, barely evading the Wind Blade.
However, his left arm was turned into nothingness.
Shang's arm quickly regenerated, but before he could get it into the position, the third Wind Blade arrived.
BANG!
Shang headbutted the Wind Blade, activating the Magic Circles on his uniform.
BANG!
Shang used another Fire Blast, rising even higher into the air.
Yet, no Wind Blade came.
The Adept hadn't released his fourth Spell!
Their eyes met again as the Mage pointed at Shang with his scepter.
Then, the fourth Wind Blade came.
BANG!
Shang's left arm exploded as he released a Fire Blast, turning his arm into splinters.
He had managed to avoid all four.
And then…
A fifth Wind Blade came.
For a moment, Shang felt like time had stopped.
Five?
Where did that fifth one come from?!
A blast with his legs wouldn't be fast enough to evade that Spell.
His Magic Runes had already activated.
At that moment, Shang made a decision.
BANG!
A Fire Blast wouldn't be fast enough to evade the Spell, but it would be enough to rotate his body!
Just before the Wind Blade hit Shang, he managed to put his legs in the way.
BANG!
The Wind Blade cut through Shang's calf.
Then, it cut through Shang's femur.
Then, it cut through Shang's abdomen.
And then… it stopped.
After cutting through so much of Shang's muscles and bones, the Wind Blade had lost all its power.
However, Shang had no more Life Energy or Mana.
An instant later, all his organs would fall out of his body and rain down on the floor in pieces.
Shang's intestines, liver, and lower back had been completely decimated.
Even if he managed to reach the Adept, he wouldn't be able to kill him.
The Adept still had his legs.
Shang didn't.
Shang gritted his teeth as he put his sword at the gigantic cut on his abdomen.
The sword kept his organs from falling out as his body rotated towards the Adept.
BOOOOM!
A huge explosion of fire left Shang's lower abdomen!
The Adept's eyes opened as he saw a sword quickly approach him.
The sword passed through his head without any issue.
BANG!
Shang's body barreled over the Adept and kept rolling on the ground.
A moment later, the smoke from Shang's abdomen lifted.
Shang's entire abdomen was severely burned.
And his organs?
Still inside!
He had cauterized the wound with the Fire Blast!
Shang threw his sword to the side, grabbed the ground with his remaining arm, and threw himself at the corpse.
Then, he absorbed the life energy that was leaving the body with Darkness Absorb.
There wasn't much left, but Shang managed to gain enough to regrow his organs.
A moment later, Shang felt an irresistible and painful urge to puke.
He did so, and a river of blood and guts left his mouth.
However, Shang had never been so happy to puke blood in his life.
It meant that he had survived!
After puking out several liters of blood, Shang collapsed to the side and only looked at the sky.
Silence.
And then, cheering.
"I won," Shang said while breathing heavily.
Sword slowly slid back to Shang and rested in his right hand.
"We won," Sword said.
Shang looked at Sword.
"Yes, we won."
The dried-up corpse of the Adept vanished shortly after.
Just like the last time Shang had been this injured, the wheel took some time to return.
A minute later, Shang stood up, his body having completely recovered.
The damage had been severe, but it was still far easier to repair than the damage caused by using his mysterious ability.
'We won against our first average Early Adept.'
At that moment, the wheel returned.
Shang looked at the wheel, and just for a second, he considered forfeiting.
He didn't want to die again.
The feeling of death was horrible.
He already had 21 points.
Did he really need 22?
"Level six: Powerful Early Adept."
Shang could have also only just used his ability to get this point.
Shouldn't he get some break?
Shouldn't he get some reward?
The wheel began to spin.
Shang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'No.'
'I have to!'
'How can I expect to become the strongest if I don't give it my all?!'
'I can't make the deaths of my previous enemies become useless!'
Then, Shang opened his eyes and looked at the wheel with fire in his eyes.
'So what if I die?! It's only a moment of horror, which will quickly pass!'
A moment later, the wheel stopped at the Ice Affinity.
After a brief glimmer of light, Shang's opponent appeared.
It was a beautiful, young woman with long, icy-blue hair.
She carried an azure gem in her right hand, which was orbited by a circlet.
It was a Focus.
Shang took a deep breath and looked at his left arm.
Then, he looked at his opponent.
The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.
The girl opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang.
Shang exploded forward with all his speed.
He didn't believe that his ability had infinite range.
From what he had seen, the destructive area of his ability was a cone. At least, the hole in the porcupine had been cone-shaped.
If Shang didn't get close, his power might be too scattered to kill his opponent.
The girl quickly cast her Mana Shield.
And then, an icy light appeared above her.
She began to speak mystical words, and an icy stream of Mana left her mouth and entered the icy light above her.
But that wasn't everything.
Her Focus was also sending Ice Mana towards the light.
When Shang saw that, his eyes widened.
'Focus Fusion?! An Early Adept can do that?!' Shang thought in horror.
When Shang was still 40 meters away, his opponent had finished creating her Spell.
A two-meter-long icicle appeared above her.
When Shang saw the icicle, a shudder went through his being.
'That Spell has the power of an attack from a Late General Stage beast!'
'It will break through my uniform in one strike and kill me!'
There were still 40 meters between him and his opponent.
Would his scattered power be enough to kill her?
Shang's left arm pointed forward.
Then, his left arm turned to dust.
But that wasn't all.
Both his legs also turned to dust.
And lastly, one of his eyes turned to dust.
The Adept released her icicle, which shot at Shang with surreal speed.
An instant later, Shang's body atrophied, and he hit the ground.
Silence.
Shang felt pain come from his entire body, weakness gripping his being.
With all his power, Shang managed to lift his body a bit with his right arm to look at what had happened.
And then, his remaining eye opened widely in shock.
Destruction.
Nothingness.
A cone-shaped crater stretched out from Shang's position.
Meters of earth had been consumed by the attack.
At that moment, Shang remembered what his teacher had told him.
General Stage Abominations could be a danger to High Mages.
This attack…
This was an attack that only a High Mage could unleash.
However, Shang had paid dearly for unleashing it.
If he had used this attack outside the trial, he would become a useless cripple with no chance of recovery.
On Earth, one could still live a fulfilling life with such a disability, but in this world?
No.
WHOOOOM!
And then, a storm of Mana assaulted Shang.
Shang felt like his entire being was being bathed in the purest of Mana in the world.
A couple of seconds later, everything calmed down.
His world returned to its previous, lifeless self.
There was no wind.
There was no movement.
There might as well be nothing.
Shang was the only living being here.
At that moment, Shang looked at his world.
It still had matter.
Then, Shang looked at the crater of destruction in front of him.
But there was nothing.
Shang remembered the ability of the Abominations.
Shang remembered the fact that there could also be exotic Affinities like Space in this world.
Shang remembered his Ice and Fire Affinities.
Less heat, more heat.
Less energy, more energy.
Shang remembered his Light and Darkness Affinities.
Life energy was essentially mass or matter. With more life energy, one could regrow one's body parts. With too much, one's body would become too big and would explode. With too little life energy, one's body would vanish.
Less matter, more matter.
Less energy, more energy, less matter, more matter.
What if everything was put together?
It would just become neutral.
It would become the same.
Then, Shang thought of something.
What if his Affinity interacted with the entire world?
All the matter would vanish and be converted to Mana, which was basically energy.
And every spot in the world would have the same amount of energy.
There would be no movement.
There would be no matter.
There would be no life.
And lastly, Shang remembered a concept from earth.
In many, many, many, many years, every piece of matter will be transformed into energy. At that point, the universe will cease to be relevant.
It was the heat death of the universe.
Shang looked forward in shock.
"My Affinity is Entropy."
