After strengthening himself for the first time as a barbarian, Shang left the tunnels together with Lash.
"Did you feel a difference?" Shang asked.
"A lot of things make sense now," Lash said. "Previously, I noticed that I grew stronger by much more on some occasions and not as much on others."
"This time, I grew by a lot."
Shang nodded. "Good to hear," he said.
The two of them left the caves and returned to the group of barbarians, who were surprised and not surprised to see Shang alive at the same time.
On one hand, Shang and Lash had killed two Peak General Stage beasts very quickly, which almost seemed impossible, but on the other hand, Shang was the strongest of them, and they had full trust in him.
There was a weird conflict in their minds about whether or not what Shang did was impossible or natural.
In the end, their minds could only feel astonishment.
Their new Leader was truly powerful!
Shang and the group of barbarians resumed training.
But just a couple of days later, the Mages sent an announcement to the troop.
Tomorrow, they would attack!
'So, it's finally happening,' Shang thought. 'I was wondering if this was actually a military camp since I've been here for nearly a month without any enemy contact. Almost felt like a vacation. Well, I guess that's also why so many barbarians want to go to this front.'
The barbarians prepared themselves over the next day.
Tomorrow, they would enter battle, and it was unknown how many of them would be able to come back.
Shang also trained with Sword for the entire night to test his newfound strength.
'I should be careful of not unveiling too much power,' he thought. 'It's not an issue when I'm the strongest barbarian, but the gap shouldn't be too vast. Additionally, I need to keep my Domain and my mastery over my Mana and Affinities secret.'
'However, being outstanding has its uses. I will get more freedom, and the Mages will feel more secure when they see my power. After all, someone with so much power couldn't keep even more stashed away, right?'
Shang only smirked.
'Mana Tranquility gives the True Mages a lot more power, but if I go through a couple more strengthenings, it shouldn't be a problem to jump another level against them.'
Mana Tranquility.
Shang had thought about that term several times by now, but what was it actually?
When an Apprentice becomes an Adept, they absorb a Mana Source. This gives them far more control over their Affinity. This was one of the reasons why Mages are so much powerful.
Of course, the overwhelming strength of the Mages couldn't be fully attributed to the Mana Sources.
Mana Tranquility was something that Adepts underwent when they became True Mages.
The Adept needed to buy several plants, ores, stones, and beast materials that conformed to their Affinity.
When everything was gathered, the Adept would need to cast a very complicated Spell. No one else could cast the Spell on them. Only the Adept themselves could do it.
Most Adepts needed at least three years of practice to learn that Spell, and the Spell was also rather expensive to purchase.
All in all, the Spell plus practice plus materials would set back the Adept about five million gold, a ridiculous sum for someone in the Second Realm. After all, their Focus barely cost 500 thousand to one million gold.
Of course, an Adept didn't directly need to go through Mana Tranquility. They could also become a True Mage without it.
Sadly, that would mean that they would become the weakest True Mages, the ones that could only work in the lowest of Circles.
They would be knighted, but they would never enter true nobility.
Naturally, this wasn't the first time the Mages were confronted with issues regarding money.
After all, a normal Mana Source only cost an Apprentice about 800 gold, while a Pure Mana Source cost about 200,000 gold.
200,000 gold for someone equivalent to a Peak Soldier Stage warrior…
That was far too much money.
And near the True Mage Realm, once again, they would be confronted with something that was very, very expensive.
But if an Adept managed to purchase the Spell, learn the Spell, purchase the materials, and perform the Spell, their investment would pay off.
Mana Tranquility gave them a far closer connection to the Natural Mana that was around them all the time.
What was the difference between a True Mage with Mana Tranquility and one without?
A True Mage with Mana Tranquility regenerated Mana three times as fast as one without.
In practical terms, this meant that a True Mage with Mana Tranquility could keep casting low-cost Spells as fast as they could without reducing their Mana storage.
Popular low-cost Spells were Spells like Lightning Bolt, Icicle, Wind Blade.
They were the most common Spells that every Mage used during combat.
Together with their Focus, a True Mage with a Lightning Affinity could cast Lightning Bolts at insane speeds, and they wouldn't run out of Mana.
They would only lose Mana if they cast more powerful Spells or when they were hit.
If the opponents Shang had fought in the Trial had undergone Mana Tranquility, he would have died against his third one.
Mana Tranquility essentially transformed Mages into gatling guns that never needed to reload as long as they only fired basic bullets.
Because of Mana Tranquility, there was no more exhausting the Mage's Mana by evading their Spells for Shang.
He would need to beat their Mana out of them.
'Even with Mana Tranquility, I'm confident that I could kill an Initial True Mage right now,' Shang thought. 'Of course, I would need to use all of my power. I think killing an average Initial True Mage with Mana Tranquility is only slightly easier than winning against Vice-Commander Wilbury.'
'Luckily, if I were to fight Wilbury again, I'm confident that I could win. I have my Domain now from the very beginning of the fight, and my strength has increased.'
'However, if Baroness Wilbury were to fight me…'
Baroness Wilbury was an Early True Mage that had undergone Mana Tranquility.
She was a level lower than her husband, but her power was far above her husband's power.
Even an average Early True Mage could kill Vice-Commander Wilbury.
At the General Stage, the most talented warriors could win against an average Adept on their level.
Sadly, that was no longer the case at the Commander Stage.
The most talented warrior at the Mid Commander Stage could maybe win against the weakest Early True Mage.
If a Commander Stage warrior had the ability to win against any Mage one level below them, they would be lauded as an outstanding hero by all warriors.
And the gap only continued to widen from then on.
But that was about to change.
The Procedure had been invented, and Shang was certain that the Dean would very quickly create his own version of the technique the barbarians used to strengthen their bodies.
The only thing that they would be missing to equalize the playing field in the Third Realm would be expertly crafted weapons.
Luckily, Shang and the Dean had these great weapons.
But that didn't mean that the other warriors would never get those.
Eventually, someone would create a technique to forge amazing weapons that allowed warriors to fully close the gap in the Third Realm.
'The world is undergoing a change,' Shang thought with a smirk, 'and I shouldn't be left behind!'
Shang looked at the morning sun.
Then, he looked at the gathered warriors near the camp.
'Let's see what I can accomplish in this battle.'
