Shang looked at the God on his throne.
"What would you have had me do if I chose 22 without an interesting reason?" Shang asked.
The God lifted his left hand, and the hammer of the jester appeared in it.
"As you know, I regularly change my decisions on a whim."
Shang didn't say anything.
The God looked at the hammer. "You wouldn't have directly killed someone, but you would have indirectly killed thousands."
Shang took a deep breath when he heard that.
"I would have given you this hammer," the God said with a grin, looking at the hammer.
Then, he looked at Shang.
"And would have asked you to hit Warrior's Paradise's foundation."
The hairs on Shang's neck stood on end.
"And what would have happened?"
The God only smirked. "Can't you imagine?"
"It would have toppled over like a tree."
Shang felt a deep, black hole of terror open in his chest.
Yes, Shang could deal with killing his enemies.
But killing thousands of innocent people?
Destroying the very thing he had called home for over a year?
Shang imagined the gigantic city falling over and turning into rubble.
All the smiths, alchemists, warriors, Mages, children, guards, clerks, nearly everyone would have died.
Only True Mages and Commander Stage warriors could hope to survive such a disaster, and their survival wouldn't even be certain.
The God only smirked as he saw Shang's expression.
"Wouldn't that have been entertaining? Seeing you watch the grieving people around you. Their crying faces getting etched into your mind, knowing that you were the responsible one."
"They would all search for the cause, and an endless resentment would be born inside each and every one of them."
"But you would be the only one that knew."
"You would know that you are responsible."
"A secret you can't tell anyone, including your master."
"Unable to share such a heavy burden that spreads guilt throughout your entire being."
"Every day, afraid that someone would find out your secret."
"Their faces, haunting you."
"That would have been entertaining enough for me to give you 22 points. Wouldn't you say so?" the God asked with a smirk.
Shang's stomach churned.
He couldn't imagine being in such a position.
It would have been terrifying.
"But, lucky you!" the God said with a grin. "You managed to gain your reward without having to do such a thing."
Shang didn't say anything. His mind was still thinking about what it would have felt like to be in such a situation.
It was terrifying.
"Now, don't get hung up on unimportant things," the God said. "It's time for your reward."
SHING!
Two books appeared, and they hovered in front of the God.
"What do you want?"
"Do you want something that makes it easier for every warrior to reach the True Path Stage?"
"Or do you want something that increases the Battle-Strength of every General Stage warrior and higher?"
"You can have one of the two."
Shang pushed the hypothetical situation out of his mind and focused on his choice.
But Shang didn't need to deliberate for long.
"How very boring," the God said, but his smile didn't leave his face.
One of the two books disappeared, and the other one dropped down in front of Shang.
"Something that increases the Battle-Strength of warriors, it is," the God said.
"Read the book. After reading it, the book will vanish, but you will have gained initial mastery in the ability it teaches. Everyone else will need to slowly learn this skill, but as a bonus, you get to learn it instantly. Not all of it, of course, but enough to increase your Battle-Strength by quite a bit."
Pack!
A second book appeared in front of Shang.
"Give this one to your predecessor. He will know what to do."
"And if he doesn't…"
The God's smile widened.
"Well, it doesn't matter. He knows what he can and can't do."
"See you soon, Shang."
Shang looked at the two books, and when he looked back at the God, he had vanished.
Silence.
Shang was the only one inside his world now.
Shang only waited in silence for several seconds.
He didn't need to fight anymore.
He didn't need to fear the God's mood anymore.
The trial was over, and Shang had gained his reward.
For a long time, Shang thought about all the opponents he had fought in the trial.
He had fought so many battles.
Then, Shang took a deep breath and took hold of the book that was prepared for him.
For the next 30 minutes, Shang read through the book.
It wasn't very long, but the concepts inside it were complex and foreign.
Shang had learned quite a bit in the academy over the last year, but the concepts in this book almost seemed alien to him.
It was like this book followed a completely different path.
When Shang was done reading the book, all the foreign concepts fell into place in his mind, seemingly of their own volition.
Everything suddenly made sense.
After Shang read through the book, it turned into dust.
"Did the book also work on you?" Shang asked Sword.
"Yes," Sword answered. "This will close the gap between warriors and Mages even more."
Shang nodded. "The procedure will only close the gap in the General Stage, but as the Mages become more powerful, they gain more and more advantages. The procedure alone isn't enough to close the difference at that point."
Shang took hold of the other book and looked at it.
"But the concepts in this book will make quite a dent in the advantages the Mages have."
"If I had known this concept before attempting the trial…"
"I would have probably gotten two more points. I would have had a chance against the porcupine, and I would have won against that warrior without using my ability."
For a while, Shang and Sword talked about the concepts in the book and how to properly apply them during battle, but Shang quickly realized that this would take at least several days, if not weeks.
So, half an hour later, Shang decided to leave.
As Shang left his world with the book, he only had one thought.
'I wonder how powerful the warriors will become with this ability.'
