The two of them traveled to the western border of the Deepcore Turtle Zone.
There, Shang saw a hundred-meter-tall tower, which meant that many Mages were stationed there. This was probably the central headquarters for the actual offense.
However, the commander brought Shang to a field quite a bit north of the tower, behind one of the mountains.
When the two of them arrived at their destinations, Shang could see five Mages with differently colored robes and hair talking to each other.
In front of them were around ten barbarians, and nine of them were at the Commander Stage, or Champion Stage, as it was called here.
There was one younger man at the Peak General Stage amongst the group of older Commander Stage barbarians.
Yes, the Commander Stage barbarians were nearly all, at least, middle-aged. Some of them even looked to be in their sixties.
'I guess there aren't many young Commander Stage barbarians,' Shang thought.
Shang joined the other barbarians, who looked with surprise at Shang.
Warriors would be impressed that someone at the Peak General Stage could pass the exam, but barbarians were different.
These barbarians were more powerful than Shang, which meant that they didn't need to respect Shang.
They didn't take his potential and talent into account.
What use did talent and potential have? They could still beat him up.
The Commander spoke with the Mages for a bit, and the Mages threw interested glances at Shang from time to time.
They hadn't expected any Fighter Stage barbarian to pass the test, but now there were two.
After a while, the commander saluted, handed one of the copies of Shang's Magic Contract to them, and left the area.
Now, only the five Mages remained.
The Mages talked amongst each other for a bit more as the barbarians waited.
About ten minutes later, the Mages stopped talking, and one of them stepped forward.
It was an older man with long grey hair and grey robes.
"Over the next day, you all will undergo several tests. We will test you in different aspects to gauge the limit of your coordination, flexibility, endurance, will, and many other categories."
Not every barbarian understood what the Mage was saying. They only knew that they had to undergo some tests.
"First, we need to test how much stress your body can handle," the Mage explained as he gestured to a big Magic Circle on the ground beside him.
The other four Mages stepped around the Magic Circle and waited.
"You, step forward," the Mage said to a random barbarian.
The barbarian puffed out his chest and stepped into the Magic Circle.
"Try to remain on your feet," the Mage said emotionlessly.
After that, the last Mage stepped on a free spot around the Magic Circle while the barbarians watched with interest.
A moment later, all the Mages began to cast Spells, but they were all casting different ones.
Shang only recognized two of the Spells, but that already gave him an inkling as to what they were testing.
'Huh, so that's why they need a powerful barbarian. I think I get it. Quite clever, actually,' Shang thought. 'The Blackshadow Kingdom probably won't see this coming.'
As the Mages cast more Spells, the barbarian began to sweat, and his body began to shake.
His muscles violently bulged in some places, and blood flowed out of his skin in others.
The barbarian's face whitened, and he gritted his teeth.
After about a minute, the barbarian fell to the ground, blood coming out of all orifices on his body.
The Mages stopped casting their Spells and looked with furrowed brows at the barbarian.
"Not good enough," the grey-robed Mage said.
Then, he turned to Shang. "You, step forward," he said as the other barbarian was pushed out of the Magic Circle.
Shang knew what was waiting for him, but he wasn't afraid.
He could deal with that.
After Shang was done with his turn, the Mages tested the other barbarians.
Only seven remained after this round from the original eleven, including Shang.
The barbarians that didn't pass were sent back to wherever they had come from.
"Next test, dealing with stress," the Mage announced.
Every barbarian went through the next test, and another two were sorted out, leaving five.
"Next test, flexibility…"
"Next test, agility…"
"Next test, accuracy…"
Over the next 20 hours, Shang went through nine different tests in total.
In the end, only two barbarians were left, but the Mages decided to go with Shang since he didn't show any weaknesses in any of the tests.
The other barbarian had better marks on several tests, but he also only barely passed two of them, while Shang was very comfortable in the upper middle in all of them.
The last barbarian left, leaving Shang alone with the five Mages.
The grey-robed Mage smirked as he looked at Shang. "Congratulations. You will be part of history!"
Shang didn't answer.
"Now, I will tell you what you have to do…"
…
Dark skies.
It had been years since the Plague Rat Zone had seen natural light.
The Plague Rat was a Zone Beast with a Darkness Affinity, and the Plague Rat Zone reflected that disposition very well.
There was barely any vegetation in this Zone, and if one saw one of the plants, one could be sure that the plant was extremely dangerous.
The Plague Rat Zone was a nearly lifeless wasteland full of danger.
One could see no fighting beasts.
After all, nearly all the beasts in this Zone were ambush hunters.
There were no fights.
There was only one-sided, quick slaughter.
At the southern part of the Plague Rat Zone stood an army comprised of over 200 barbarians.
They all stood in a line with their gigantic weapons, ready to charge.
About 20 True Mages stood behind the barbarians, ready for battle.
Around ten kilometers to the north was the enemy.
A dark castle with black spears poking out of it stood in front of a tall mountain.
A fully black barrier surrounded the castle.
The Blackshadow Kingdom had a terrifying amount of Darkness Mages and an equally terrifying number of Spells for Darkness Mages.
Darkness Mages ruled the Kingdom.
The dark castle was the home of one of the Priests, the Dukes of the Blackshadow Kingdom.
The Priest herself wasn't currently here since the Grandmountain Kingdom threatened other parts of her Kingdom.
This camp of the Grandmountain Kingdom didn't have a High Mage amongst them.
The other parts did, which was why the Priest had to defend those parts.
However, she didn't fear for her home.
Even though her Peak True Mages were scattered amongst the frontlines, her personal general remained here.
He was an extremely outstanding Summoner who might become the first Summoner to reach the High Mage Realm.
This Summoner could control eight beasts in total, and they were all Late Commander Stage beasts.
The Grandmountain Kingdom would need to send significant resources to this place.
Additionally, her base was surrounded by an invincible shield.
No Mage below the High Mage Realm could possibly break through it.
The general stood on top of the castle's walls together with several other True Mages.
If the Grandmountain Kingdom decided to attack, they would be assaulted by a barrage of Spells that would decimate their army.
Attacking would be suicide.
A Mage with short-blue hair looked at the distant castle with a cold look.
"Do it," he ordered.
The grey-robed Mage from earlier saluted.
Then, he turned to the person behind him with a smirk.
"It's your time to shine," he said. "Just as we practiced."
And then, Shang stepped forward.
