The group bowed once again to King Skythunder before leaving the throne room.
The warriors looked with excitement and relief at each other.
If King Skythunder had said that he didn't like the Procedure, he would have probably killed everyone that had undergone it or known how to perform it.
Luckily, King Skythunder didn't see any issues with it.
But then, the warriors remembered something else and looked at each other with complex expressions.
Yes, King Skythunder had agreed to the Procedure, but he had also killed one of theirs.
From the five warriors, only four were left.
Did that warrior deserve to die?
Of course not!
But that didn't matter.
He was dead now, and there was nothing they could have done.
The group walked in silence until they left the castle. After that, they continued walking for a while longer before Duke Whirlwind stopped.
Duke Whirlwind turned to them with a smile. "The most dangerous part is over. We have the King's support, which means that no one can openly go against us with the Procedure as the reason."
"Your Dean and I can protect you from any random Adept and True Mage, but without the King's support, our opponents would have been the six High Mages you have just seen in the palace."
The group thought back to the Council and the Archduke.
These people represented the absolute rulers of the entire Skythunder Kingdom.
In comparison to them, Duke Whirlwind was only responsible for about 8% of the Skythunder Kingdom, and he was still subservient to the Council.
This wouldn't have been an opponent they could have overcome.
"You all did very well today," Duke Whirlwind said with a kind smile.
The warriors only looked at each other in guilt.
What had they done?
They had only stood there.
"If any of you have the luck to meet King Skythunder again in the future, remember what you have learned today," Duke Whirlwind said.
"Respect his power, but don't act like a weakling with no mental strength."
"We have managed to survive, but one of us was sadly left behind," Duke Whirlwind said with a sigh. "The reason for his death was his lack of willpower."
"King Skythunder had given him an order, but our lost friend didn't have the courage and willpower to fulfill it."
"However, we must still thank him. If it hadn't been him, it would have been one of you," Duke Whirlwind said to the warriors.
The warriors' eyes widened.
Wait, they could have also died?
"King Skythunder wanted to see how courageous our group was. After seeing Shang's performance, his interest had probably been piqued, and he wanted to know if every one of you was the same."
The group of warriors looked over at Shang with complex expressions.
Shang had truly shown immense courage. Not only had he shown incredible willpower by destroying his own hand, but he had also punched King Skythunder in the face.
It was already difficult to punch someone as powerful and intimidating as King Skythunder, but punching their face was even harder.
"George, you also did very well today, and it's all thanks to you that all of us are still alive, me included," Duke Whirlwind said.
The Dean's face didn't change. "I was already prepared. You told me that he would most likely want to fight me."
The group of warriors looked with surprise at Duke Whirlwind.
He had known that?
"Yes, but you still won, and that isn't easy," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile.
"I can't call that a win," the Dean answered coldly. "He didn't use his Magic, and he didn't even use basic equipment or weapons. While he came at me without any weapons for a fist fight, I had to resort to my accumulated experience and my weapon."
"Oh, come on," Duke Whirlwind said. "His body was three levels above yours. Winning against someone like that is still impressive."
The Dean's brows furrowed, and he looked at Duke Whirlwind. "Do you want to make me appear more impressive than I am in front of my students, or do you believe that I don't know what a Barbarian is?"
A helpless smile appeared on Duke Whirlwind's face, but he didn't answer.
"What's a Barbarian?" Shang asked.
Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with a conflicted expression.
Then, he sighed.
'George is too direct and honest for his own good,' Duke Whirlwind thought.
"Just like you won't find any penguins in a desert, you won't find any scorpions in the tundra," Duke Whirlwind said.
He was obviously starting an explanation, but he couldn't get far before being interrupted.
"What about the Fire Wing Penguin and the Ice Crystal Scorpion?" Shang asked.
Duke Whirlwind's brows furrowed, and he glared at Shang. "You know what I mean," he said.
Shang nodded.
Duke Whirlwind sighed again. "What I meant is that different environments create different things," he said.
"In the Skythunder Kingdom, most people believe that warriors are simply humans that decide to fight with their bodies instead of with their minds."
"However, in the grander scheme of things, this belief isn't entirely true."
The group of warriors looked at Duke Whirlwind with surprise.
It wasn't?
"To be more specific," the Dean said as he overtook the explanation. "Warriors focus on the weapon, techniques, and Mana. Barbarians only focus on the body."
Duke Whirlwind stepped to the side as he let the Dean explain things. He was probably better at doing so.
"Think of your schedule in the academy," the Dean said. "A large part of your day is reserved for your weapon techniques, knowing your enemy, and manipulating your Affinity by using advanced techniques."
"In comparison to you, Barbarians do nothing but train their bodies all day. They don't learn much about their opponents and what they should use to counter them. They don't learn about how to use their Affinities. They don't learn about complex weapon techniques."
"Their only goal is to push their bodies further and further. As long as you have enough physical power, you can overcome anything."
"Of course, Barbarians are humans, not beasts. Because of that, their bodies can't become as powerful as beast bodies. Because of that, they still use armor and weapons, but their weapons are easy to use."
"Huge clubs, gigantic sticks, thick gloves, humongous swords, these are the kinds of weapons Barbarians use. But instead of learning advanced techniques for these weapons, Barbarians only use them as a force multiplier."
"If you believe warriors to be the physical path for humans, you are mistaken."
"Barbarians are the physical path for humans."
"Mages are the mental path for humans."
"And warriors are the mix between the two."
The Dean paused for a bit after saying that and looked at the group.
Most of the group only looked at the Dean in surprise.
They had never heard of Barbarians.
"I take it that their bodies are more powerful compared to ours on each level?" Shang asked.
The Dean nodded. "While we warriors use our Mana and control over said Mana to advance starting at the General Stage, Barbarians' training only intensifies. The bottlenecks we have also exist for Barbarians, but in comparison to us, they don't need to use their Mana."
"They just continue training their bodies until they die. There are a couple of techniques and medicines they have access to which allow them to train with enough efficiency to pull that off, but the Skythunder Kingdom doesn't know much about them."
"The Kingdoms have existed for a very long time, and during that time, different techniques and paths have been created. The path we know as the warrior path is unique to our Kingdom, while the Barbarian path is unique to the Kingdom to our northwest, the Grandmountain Kingdom."
"When I fought King Skythunder, he fought with a body as powerful as the body of a Peak True Path Stage warrior."
"But that doesn't mean that King Skythunder's body is on the level of a Peak True Path Stage warrior."
"I believe that King Skythunder has a body at the level of a Mid True Path Stage barbarian. So, in a sense, I didn't jump three levels but only one," the Dean explained.
The group of warriors looked with complex expressions at each other.
Then, one of them looked at the Dean. "The Barbarian Path sounds stronger than the warrior path," he said.
"It isn't," the Dean said.
"But don't they have more powerful bodies?" the warrior asked.
"They do, but that doesn't mean they are more powerful," the Dean said.
Then, the Dean took out his spear.
The Dean let go of the spear, and it hovered beside him. A second later, the spear shot through the air at insane speeds several times.
"Barbarians can't do that," he said.
After that, the air around the Dean seemed to warp.
The warriors knew that this was the sign of a Domain, something only available to Commander Stage warriors and stronger.
"Barbarians also can't do that."
Lastly, the spear landed in the Dean's hands again.
Then, the Dean moved his spear from one side to the other.
SHING!
A gigantic wave of sharp Mana left the spear, and it left a huge cut in a mountain several kilometers away.
"And they can't do that."
After that, the Dean put his spear away.
"Furthermore, as far as I know, there is not a single Barbarian that managed to reach their variant of the True Path Stage yet. There are powerful Mages, like King Skythunder, that have a body with that power, but that is due to the power of their minds."
"There are no True Path Stage barbarians."
The Dean looked at the group of warriors.
"And lastly, with the Bloodline Infusion, your bodies are even more powerful than the bodies of Barbarians."
