Shang kept his mask on. By now, he was also wearing a thick, black cloak made of animal fur. In a way, he looked very similar to the time he had exited from Duke Whirlwind's garden.
But these two Shangs couldn't be any more different.
A couple of minutes later, Shang arrived at the border of the Storm Eagle Zone.
He hadn't seen any other person on his way here.
For the first time in over a decade, Shang could see the Farm Line and the Wild Forest again.
Shang's Darkness Vision showed him plenty of scouts keeping watch over the roads, and he could also see many weak beasts inside the Wild Forest. He even saw a couple of Pest Cats.
Shang would have never thought that seeing Pest Cats would make him feel nostalgia.
Scenes of when Shang had just arrived here shot through his mind.
The scout that had welcomed him.
The Farm Dogs.
His first look at Warrior's Paradise.
His run-in with Teacher Loran.
After that, all the people he had met in the warrior's academy shot through his mind.
Soran, Ranos, Mervin, the Dean, Elver, Sarah, Astor, Mattheo…
There were a lot of people.
'I wonder how they are doing right now.'
'Well, now that I'm back, I can check up on them whenever I want.'
'But first…'
Shang's gaze moved slightly towards the south.
Many kilometers away, Shang could see the tops of a couple of green towers.
'Let's get everything sorted out first.'
Shang surrounded himself with a coat of Darkness Mana, which seemingly blended in with the surroundings.
His years of training his Affinity had made it possible to create something like this.
It wasn't very effective against True Mages, but Adepts and General Stage warriors wouldn't be able to see him with the coat of Darkness Mana during the night.
Shang left the path and entered the Wild Forest.
None of the beasts noticed the black shadow shooting through their forest.
About a minute later, Shang stopped.
He seemed to be in the middle of the forest, but Shang's Darkness Vision and Pseudo-Spirit Sense could see the huge, green castle just two or three kilometers in front of him.
This was a good place.
Then, Shang summoned something he hadn't summoned in over ten years.
An emblem picturing a tornado appeared in Shang's hand.
It was the emblem Duke Whirlwind had given him before he went to the northern Ice Wyvern Zone.
And then, Shang's Pseudo-Spirit Sense entered the castle.
Perception was an interesting thing.
On Earth, there was an urban myth that one could feel when someone was watching them.
Of course, there had never been any scientific evidence to support that hypothesis.
But in this world, things were different.
A powerful person could feel when someone was watching them, as long as the watcher wasn't more powerful than them or very good at hiding their perception.
Shang's Pseudo-Spirit Sense was somewhat like a radar, which Shang could control.
If he wanted to only look at a couple of meters in front of him, his Pseudo-Spirit Sense would only sense those couple of meters.
In a way, one could say that Shang wasn't looking at Duke Whirlwind. He had only been looking at the walls earlier and hadn't stretched his senses further.
But now, Shang's Pseudo-Spirit Sense stretched into the castle.
In essence, Shang was now looking at Duke Whirlwind, who was inside his castle.
And Duke Whirlwind looked back.
Someone of his power would notice when someone of Shang's power looked at him.
As soon as Shang's Pseudo-Spirit Sense had felt Duke Whirlwind, he had taken a deep breath.
'So powerful!'
Duke Whirlwind was like a sun!
Its power was unmistakable and unignorable.
Shang hadn't felt anyone with such incredible power in the last ten years, except for the Zone Beasts and the God, but they were in a league of their own.
After such a long time, and even though Shang had grown by so much, Duke Whirlwind's power only seemed even greater than before.
For an instant, Shang felt a powerful pressure assault him as Duke Whirlwind noticed him.
It was like a Zone Beast was looking right at him.
But an instant later, the pressure vanished.
This was why Shang had taken out Duke Whirlwind's emblem.
He didn't want the Duke to accidentally kill him.
A window of Duke Whirlwind's castle opened, and he quietly left through it.
WHOOOM!
Shang's hair was blown back by the powerful wind that had suddenly arrived.
The wind had come from Duke Whirlwind suddenly appearing in front of him.
In an instant, Duke Whirlwind had closed the two kilometers that had been between them.
This was just Mana Step, but the effects were incredible when used by Duke Whirlwind.
Right now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with furrowed brows. His green hair was still long, and he still looked to be in his mid-thirties.
He hadn't changed one bit.
"I don't recognize you," Duke Whirlwind said coldly.
Someone of Duke Whirlwind's power didn't remember people by their appearance or the clothing they wore but by their unique aura.
And Shang's aura didn't feel familiar at all to him.
Shang slowly put away his cloak and his mask.
Then, he looked into Duke Whirlwind's eyes.
Duke Whirlwind's brows furrowed more when they saw that Shang only had one eye.
That seemed familiar.
Then, Duke Whirlwind's eyebrows shot up as he remembered.
George had told him that Shang had told him that he had lost an eye while fighting Vice-Commander Wilbury.
But this couldn't be Shang, right?
Shang had only been a Peak General Stage warrior back then, and he had been thrown into a Kingdom that killed every warrior on sight!
Duke Whirlwind was certain that Shang had already died!
Then, Duke Whirlwind saw the nearly-destroyed, black chest plate Shang wore.
Hadn't this been his gift?
Shang noticed that Duke Whirlwind looked at his chest plate.
"That thing saved my life more than once," Shang said. "Sadly, it's been broken for a long time."
Everything pointed to this being Shang, but Duke Whirlwind still wasn't certain.
Items could be faked.
Words could lie.
Appearances could be changed.
But it was nearly impossible to change an aura.
And Shang's aura was nothing like how he remembered.
"Prove your identity," Duke Whirlwind said evenly.
Shang lifted his left hand.
Some ice appeared on it.
Then, some fire appeared on it.
Some Darkness Mana appeared on it.
And, lastly, some Light Mana appeared on it.
Shang put his hand down again.
Duke Whirlwind's eyes had widened.
Something like this couldn't be faked unless the person in front of him was an Archmage, and he doubted that an Archmage would play such a trick.
Now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with shock.
How could someone's aura change this much in just ten years?!
For a while, Duke Whirlwind remained silent.
His expression slowly transformed from shock into pity.
Someone of Duke Whirlwind's power could tell a lot about someone's personality based on their aura.
When Shang saw Duke Whirlwind's expression, he felt a slight sting in his chest for some reason.
He wasn't sure why.
"Shang," Duke Whirlwind said with a soft voice filled with pity.
"What happened to you?"
