It took Shang a while to calm down, but there was still a certain feeling of emptiness and regret inside of him.
Yet, this was what he had chosen.
For his goal, any kind of sacrifice was worth it.
Surprisingly, no new opponent had appeared in the last couple of minutes, even though Shang had already "won" against his previous one.
Shang slowly stood up and gripped Sword tightly.
Even if everything else vanished, Sword would be with him until the end.
The two of them didn't need to exchange words to make their feelings known.
"Took you guys long enough," the jester said with a grin.
Shang didn't look over.
"How long have we been training?"
The jester's grin widened.
"Five years."
Silence.
Five years.
They had been training for five full years.
That was so long!
For a second, Shang couldn't believe what he had just heard, but then he remembered how endlessly time had dragged on.
Five years actually made sense.
"And even after five years," Shang said, "I still couldn't beat him fairly."
The jester's grin didn't vanish. "Of course not," he said.
"His kind are the very reason why I sent you guys into my main world in the first place."
Shang looked over at the jester.
"Hardworking geniuses," the God said. "They use whatever they can get and perfect it. Yet, his body is weak. He is one of the very rare true geniuses, but his lack of a powerful body makes it impossible for him to fight any Mage or beast that is not completely worthless."
"The path of the warrior has deteriorated to a degree where mastering the entire thing only makes you equal to the worst Mages in the world."
"It is your duty to expand the warrior's path. Give the geniuses more to master, and they won't disappoint you."
"Your predecessor accepted the first Path he found, not trying to strengthen or widen it."
"Without outside help, he will never reach the Fifth Realm. His Path is just too weak."
Shang took a deep breath when he heard that.
The God was obviously talking about the Dean.
Without the aid of someone far more powerful than him, the Dean would never reach the Fifth Realm.
"However, his advancement allowed this other warrior to reevaluate himself," the jester added. "He saw that your predecessor couldn't rival the Mages or beasts, and he realized that there is more to it."
"Without your predecessor, he would have advanced immediately, wasting his talent."
"Sadly, this warrior came too early. If he had been born just fifty years later, he would have a shot at transforming his body and become truly powerful."
"But he has already condensed his Path, and even if he is still working on it, there are no fitting beasts for him anymore."
Shang remained silent for a bit.
"Is there really no way?" he asked.
The jester smirked. "There is always a way," he said with a laugh. "I designed this world to always have a way. The different ways just have different requirements."
"The thing you call the Procedure is only one of many ways to strengthen your body. Back when warriors were still powerful, they simply ingested a pill to achieve such a powerful body. Such a pill would work on this warrior."
Shang looked at the jester. "Are there any left in the world?"
"No," the jester answered. "The Mages destroyed everything. You won't find a single inheritance regarding physical fighters in the entire world."
"But, as I've said, there are ways."
"And it's your duty to find them," the jester said with a smirk.
Shang remained silent as he just took a deep breath.
He wanted to repay Teacher Mervin, even if the Teacher Mervin that helped him had not been the real one.
'As long as there is a way, all hope is not lost.'
Shang strengthened his grip on his sword.
"I'm ready for the next fight," he said.
The jester didn't answer.
Instead, the wheels began to spin again.
"Level thirteen: Weak Peak Commander Stage warrior," the mechanical voice said.
At that moment, Shang remembered something and looked at the jester again. "You don't count the last fight as cheating, right?"
"No," the jester said. "You didn't rely on my power. Also, your progress pleases me, and I don't want to punish you for living up to my expectations."
'Progress, huh?' Shang thought.
'Did I make any progress? Honestly, I don't know.'
SHING!
At that moment, Shang's opponent appeared.
It was an older man wearing leather. He carried a long sword in his hands, just like Teacher Mervin. Surprisingly, he wore clothes made of fur and no armor.
For a second, Shang thought that this was a barbarian, but he knew that wouldn't make any sense.
First of all, the man wasn't carrying a heavy weapon but an elegant and long sword.
Second, barbarians basically didn't qualify as opponents in this trial. They were neither warriors nor beasts, and they were worse than both of these things.
This meant that the person in front of Shang was probably some kind of hermit.
Someone that lived on their own, only working on their power.
'Interesting. I assumed that some hermit warrior would be among the more powerful warriors, but this one is apparently weak.'
The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.
DING!
The warrior opened his eyes and looked at Shang with narrowed eyes.
Then, he swung his sword to the side, creating a screeching noise by cutting the wind apart.
His movements had been incredibly fast.
The warrior entered a battle stance.
BANG!
And suddenly exploded forward.
Shang narrowed his right eye and also exploded forward with an Ice Blast.
The two of them charged at each other, and Shang readied his sword.
Suddenly, the warrior's sword seemed to bend in the air and move to the side.
It was almost like his sword was made of a piece of rubber.
It moved in unpredictable but fast ways as it shot right at Shang's chest.
Shang looked into his opponent's eyes.
'I'm not sure what kind of technique he will use. I should be careful.'
Then, Shang carefully moved his sword forward.
DING!
His sword hit the enemy's sword lightly at its side to disrupt the enemy's attack.
The sword bent away from Shang, and Shang's sword stabbed forward.
CRACK!
Sword stabbed through the warrior's chest.
At that moment, terror and shock appeared on the warrior's face.
Shang's expression looked unsure, and he moved his sword upward.
SHING!
The warrior was cut in two.
And he died.
…
The cheering returned, but Shang only looked with shock at the warrior.
'Where was his technique?' Shang thought in shock. 'Warriors fight with finesse, but he only moved his sword around a bit.'
Shang blinked a couple of times.
'Wait, was that actually his technique?'
Silence.
The warrior's corpse slowly vanished as Shang looked at it.
Sure, this was a weak warrior, but this fight shouldn't have been that easy!
Shang scratched the back of his head as he replayed the battle in his mind.
His opponent moved his sword in some kind of dance, which would disrupt one's rhythm. Then, it had suddenly homed in on Shang's vitals.
'Sure, that's a good technique,' Shang thought. 'It can definitely catch a lot of warriors off guard.'
'But that wasn't everything, right?'
'Right?'
At that moment, the two wheels returned.
"Level fourteen: Average Peak Commander Stage warrior."
