Shang slowly opened his eyes in the real world.
Shang was inside his room in the academy's basement, which wasn't very pleasant to look at. There was only a table, some chairs, and a bed. That was about it. It looked more like a fancy prison cell than an actual room.
The Dean noticed that Shang was back and looked at him.
"How did it go?" he asked.
Shang looked at his teacher.
"22 points."
The Dean nodded. "That's better than I expected. I feared that the weak Middle General Stage beast would be too much for you, and I also expected you to fail your fight against the Average Early Adept."
"It seems I underestimated you."
"I assume you used your peculiar Ability to gain three free points?"
Shang nodded, but his brows furrowed.
At this moment, the procedure and its effects went through Shang's head.
The procedure had upgraded his body by one level, which essentially granted him three additional points per category, giving him nine free points.
Then, his Affinity gave him three additional free points.
So, the procedure and his Affinity had given Shang twelve points in total.
Shang had left the trial with 22 points, and if he subtracted the twelve free points, he would be at ten points.
In short, without these two things, Shang's Battle-Strength was about as powerful as the Dean's Battle-Strength had been back then.
"You seem to be unhappy with your results," the Dean said as he noticed Shang's expression.
"The only reason why I got so many points was the procedure and my Affinity," Shang said. "Without them, I would have only gotten as many points as you, and several of those fights had been incredibly close."
The Dean's expression didn't change.
"So, you are disappointed that you only are as strong as the strongest and most talented warrior in the world," the Dean said.
Shang listened to his teacher, but he didn't look at him.
He knew that it might not be "appropriate" to feel bad about such an accomplishment.
However, Shang just couldn't help himself.
He wanted more.
"Remember this, Shang," the Dean said. "If I had access to the procedure for myself, I would be able to fight the strongest High Mages on my level."
Shang looked at the Dean.
That didn't sound very believable.
After all, the Mages had even more advantages than just their Mana Sources.
"You seem skeptical, but it's the truth," the Dean said. "Don't forget that the strongest aspects of us warriors are our techniques and our battle experience. At the moment, the gulf regarding the baseline is so wide that technique won't be able to change anything, but if that gulf can be closed just by a little bit, all the techniques become important again."
"Even if the High Mages have even more advantages, you can diminish a lot of their advantages with hard work, experience, and willpower."
"Don't think that I am only someone on the level of Duke Whirlwind or any other Duke."
"If I had access to the procedure, and if I were on their level, I would be able to fight evenly with a Duke."
"Their additional advantages are the only reasons why I can't directly just kill them."
"Don't take my accomplishments lightly, Shang," the Dean said with a cold gaze. "You don't know what it means to be on my level."
Shang only listened to his teacher in silence.
He wasn't sure if his teacher told the truth or if he was only trying to appear more impressive to curb Shang's disappointment.
"What's the reward?" the Dean asked.
The Dean had already noticed the book in Shang's hand, but he didn't take it.
After all, this was Shang's reward, not his.
Shang lifted the book and looked at it.
"This is something that will increase the Battle-Strength of all General Stage warriors and higher."
"It will also help you a lot."
The Dean became interested and extended his hand, waiting for Shang to hand the book over.
"The God said that you should know what you are supposed to do," Shang said as he put the book in the Dean's hand.
The Dean's hand didn't retreat immediately, and his eyes focused on Shang.
"You met him?" the Dean asked with a glint in his eyes.
Shang nodded. "We had a… talk. You could call it a talk."
"He wasn't very happy that I abused the rules," Shang said heavily.
The Dean had met the God, and he knew how unstable he was.
He knew very well that Shang could have very likely died there.
The Dean hadn't thought much about what to do with the reward. Originally, he only wanted to take a look at it, and if it were useful, he would practice it. Then, he would probably teach the more talented students in the academy the technique.
The Dean hadn't met the God in over a century, which made the God almost appear surreal and nonexistent.
Hearing that Shang had talked to the God again put newfound respect into the Dean.
He was not allowed to forget that there was someone watching their every move and that someone could end their existence with a mere thought.
After some seconds, the Dean pulled the book back and skimmed through it.
The Dean also had a warrior's body, but his mind was still on the level of a True Mage, which granted him incredible comprehension abilities.
In just two minutes, the Dean finished reading through the entire book and internalized all its concepts.
The Dean closed the book and put it into his internal world.
Silence.
For a while, the Dean only looked at the wall as he fell into thought.
How amazing.
How interesting.
How creative.
How powerful.
This book opened up a completely new plane of fighting for all powerful warriors.
At this very moment, the Dean was so very glad that he had spent so many resources on Shang.
The Dean had invested so much into Shang, and now, his investment was paying off.
This was worth far more than everything he had invested into Shang up to now.
"If I had known the concepts of this book earlier," the Dean said, "I would have been able to stall the Exploding Mountain Turtle for several times longer. The Mages would have been able to create a second Spell, and maybe even a third one."
"Maybe, we wouldn't even have needed Jerald to intervene," the Dean mused.
Shang nodded.
He could very well imagine how the fight would have gone.
The Dean wouldn't have won on his own, but he would have been able to stall for far longer.
During the Day of Chaos, the Dean hadn't even been able to injure the Exploding Mountain Turtle. He had only danced around its feet, his physical strength too weak to draw blood.
With this book, he also might not have been able to injure the turtle, but he would have been able to cut off several stones. On top of that, the Dean wouldn't have needed to get as close.
Didn't need to get as close?
Yes, this was the very technique inside the book.
This book taught a method to infuse a weapon with a certain kind of Mana. If one attacked in the correct way after infusing their weapon with this Mana, one would be able to launch a ranged attack.
It wasn't as powerful as a direct attack, but it was still very dangerous.
The Dean could have danced around the turtle, shooting one spear strike at it from a distance after the other.
The Exploding Mountain Turtle would have been forced to chase the Dean with its stones.
Sure, eventually, the Dean would make a mistake, and the Exploding Mountain Turtle would hit him, but that moment would be further away.
This book opened a completely new plane of fighting for warriors.
It allowed warriors to also attack their opponent from a distance.
