Shang stepped through the open doors of the main building and entered the courtyard of the academy.
Some of the lessons had already started, but not all of them. Some students were training, but most of them were walking around from one place to another.
No one paid Shang any attention.
He was just one student amongst many.
For a while, Shang only looked at the students as old memories resurfaced.
He still remembered the first day he had been here.
He had been one of the weakest students, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
At that moment, Shang felt someone walk into his shoulder.
Shang looked down and noticed that a 14-year-old boy had tried to get past him and into the main building.
"How dare you block my path?!" the young boy shouted angrily. "Do you know who I am?! I'm the heir to the Sandamer household! You better apologize!"
Shang only looked at the young boy with a bit of amusement. "You're new here, right?" he asked.
"That is none of your business!" the young boy shouted. "You better apologize for stepping into my path, Nicholas Sandamer!"
A couple of students looked over as they heard the young boy shout and smirked.
The younger students could see that Shang was already an adult based on his appearance, which meant that he was probably very powerful, and the older students could feel Shang's power.
The older students snickered.
A freshman was trying to pick a fight with a General Stage student.
Right now, Shang didn't feel angry or something similar.
Instead, he was nostalgic.
The same thing had happened to Shang when he had entered the courtyard for the first time back then. An older student had barged into him at the same place.
Back then, Shang had let the student pass.
But now, Shang decided to act differently.
If he let the young boy pass, his attitude would only bring him into more trouble in the future since Shang's compliance would validate it.
That was not good for the student.
"In this academy, status is irrelevant," Shang said. "We even have Duke Whirlwind's heir in this academy, and he also had to follow the rules."
The young boy only snorted. Obviously, he didn't believe Shang.
"Let me show you."
Shang put his right hand on the boy's chest and pushed.
WHOOOM!
The young boy was thrown over ten meters into the distance.
He hit the ground, and his body rolled for another couple of meters, his uniform becoming increasingly dirty.
The students broke into laughter when they saw the scene.
The young boy was shocked and quickly stood up, anger visible on his face. "How dare you?!" he shouted. "Men! Arrest this man for attacking the heir of the Sandamer household!"
The students exploded with laughter when they heard the order, and even Shang had to chuckle.
Many of the new students had to learn this lesson when they joined the academy.
Status didn't matter in here.
Only strength mattered.
According to the rules, if he wanted, Shang could have severely injured the student.
However, Shang felt bad for the guy.
He was essentially publicly humiliating himself.
The young boy became angrier and angrier as the people around him laughed at him.
"Just you wait! I'll tell my father, and then you'll regret your actions today!" the young boy shouted before running away.
He couldn't take the humiliation anymore.
This made the students break out into laughter again.
Which powerful warrior or Mage would actually go after a student of the academy for something as trivial as this?
It was ridiculous!
Most likely, the boy would be severely disciplined for acting this entitled in the warrior's academy.
None of the powerful warriors and Mages were stupid, and they all had to go through years and years of combat and training to reach where they currently were.
These people knew what was important to become powerful.
"Shang?"
Shang turned to the side when he heard his name.
There, he saw a man who was nearly two meters tall. His hair was short and blue, and he wore the green uniform reserved for the General Stage students of the Caterpillar Class. On his back was a humongous sword, and Shang could tell that it was made from Late General Stage materials.
"Astor," Shang said with a smile.
Astor smiled widely. "So, it really is you!" Astor shouted with a laugh and came closer to Shang.
Then, Astor pulled Shang into a bear hug, which felt very awkward for Shang.
He wasn't really used to hugging other people, and he felt uncomfortable.
"Man, your body is heavy!" Astor shouted as he clapped Shang's shoulders several times with a loud laugh. "Are you already at the Mid General Stage?"
"No, I'm at the Early General Stage," Shang said, trying not to appear nervous.
Astor had guessed that Shang was at the Mid General Stage based on the weight of his body, which wasn't an easy feat to accomplish.
'I have to be careful. I should avoid giving others the opportunity to feel the weight of my body.'
Astor looked with a bit of confusion at Shang.
Shang's body was way too heavy for an Early General Stage warrior.
But then, Astor noticed the big sword on Shang's back, and realization struck.
The sword was the reason for Shang being so heavy!
"Oh wow, I almost died of shock just now," Astor said with a loud laugh. "I feared that there was no way for me to close the gap between us anymore."
"But hey, Early General Stage is also really impressive! How did you do that?" Astor asked.
Shang looked around, noticing the watching eyes. "Let's go somewhere else. I don't want to talk about these things in public."
"Sure thing!" Astor said.
Astor led Shang to the entrance of the academy.
"Why do you want to leave the academy?" Shang asked.
"Eh, I only came here to ask something of teacher Niria, but that can wait now that I met you again! Catching up with you is way more important!" Astor said with a wide grin.
Shang only looked at Astor as the two of them left the academy.
'It's strange,' Shang thought. 'If this were in the past, I wouldn't want to go with him. I would feel like I was wasting my time socializing. This is time that could be used to increase my power.'
'I haven't really been interested in making friends, and I also didn't have the time.'
Shang looked at the brightly smiling face of Astor as he kept talking.
'I think he views me as a friend.'
'But why? We didn't really talk a lot, and we only fought each other.'
'He doesn't really know much about me, and I don't really know a lot about him. Is it even possible to become friends with someone like that?'
Shang kept looking at Astor as he led Shang to a pub.
'Do I actually have a friend in this world?' Shang thought.
'I don't think I'm friends with Mattheo. Yes, we talk a lot, but he feels distant. He basically feels like a nice colleague at a job, maybe even a manager.'
'But Astor?'
'He seems so open and honest. I also don't think that he cares about politics when talking to me.'
'He just seems like someone that wants to have fun.'
"Hey, are you still there? You haven't said anything in a while," Astor said with some concern.
By now, Shang and Astor were sitting at a table inside a bar. In comparison to bars on Earth, the bars in Warrior's Paradise were full for the entire day.
"Sorry, what did you say? I was lost in thought," Shang said.
"I asked what you've been through. You basically vanished for an entire year."
'That would take a while to recount,' Shang thought. 'I could use that time to hunt some beasts or to train in my Affinity. Is it worth it?'
Shang looked at Astor.
'Are friends necessary?'
At that moment, two memories popped into Shang's head.
The first one was when teacher Mervin talked to Shang during the last Day of Chaos Shang had participated in.
Teacher Mervin had talked a lot about friends and emotions.
The second memory was the trial and Shang's decision near the end.
Shang had decided to go with the smaller reward since he wasn't sure what mindset he should assume in the future.
The God would answer his question when Shang reached the Commander Stage.
Shang's and Astor's drinks arrived at that moment, and Shang looked at the drink in front of him.
Some distant memories from Earth also popped into Shang's head.
He had enjoyed going out partying back then.
'In the past, I tried to fully focus on becoming selfish and cold since I thought it was a necessity to survive in this world.'
'However, the world hasn't proven to be as cold as I had imagined. Sure, there are still some disgusting people out there, but there are also many nice people.'
'In the past, I was sure which mindset I should assume. I always thought that I had to completely rely on myself.'
'But, in truth, I relied on the teachers of the academy, the dean, and even Duke Whirlwind. Without their help, I wouldn't be even nearly as powerful as I am right now.'
'There definitely is a point to having connections with others.'
Astor still looked at Shang with concern.
Shang looked at Astor.
'Well, since I'm uncertain what form of mindset I should assume, I should try to get familiar with the other side of the coin.'
'Having a friend shouldn't hurt.'
"Sure," Shang said. "Let me tell you where I've been."
