Shang and Ranos stopped talking after that.
Ranos thought that Shang was angry at being called a young boy, but he actually wasn't.
In Shang's eyes, Ranos seemed to be someone that was stuck in their way and wasn't willing to look at the Mages as individuals instead of as a group.
Because of that, Ranos' opinion of Shang was not very important to him.
After a couple of hours, they reached the Ice Wyvern Zone.
While they were traveling through it, Shang didn't feel any suspicious Mages with his Pseudo-Spirit Sense, which probably meant that they knew that a powerful group of Duke Whirlwind's people would be traveling through here.
Some minutes later, they reached the Storm Eagle Zone. Shang had been here for several months, but now, he could officially walk amongst people again.
As Shang ran through the Farm Line, he fell into nostalgia.
He still remembered the first time he had come here.
Everything here had been more powerful than him by a lot.
Shang and the group reached Warrior's Paradise in the middle of the night, after which they split apart.
The Mages returned to whatever they were doing previously while Ranos and Shang entered Warrior's Paradise.
As Shang entered, more of his memories awakened.
The first time he had come here, it had also been at night.
"You're back."
Shang looked in front of him and saw a familiar face.
The Dean.
His Teacher.
"I'm back, Teacher," Shang said as he looked at him.
The two of them only looked at each other for a while.
Vice-Dean Ranos had vanished as soon as the Dean appeared in front of Shang.
As Shang looked at his Teacher for the first time in ten years, he was surprised.
His Teacher felt very similar to him, but there were still some differences.
The Dean felt cold to Shang, but there was a certain honor and righteousness to his coldness.
These were qualities Shang couldn't identify with.
To Shang, his power was the most important thing, and he would do anything to become more powerful.
That included lying, deceit, and plotting.
In the past, Shang had seen himself as a very honest person, but that image had vanished as soon as he began talking to Duke Whirlwind again.
He had become accustomed to lying and hiding in the last ten years.
Shang wasn't sure, but he guessed that this change had appeared inside of him after he had killed Lash.
But in a way, Shang was also glad about the Dean's aura.
He knew that he didn't need to worry about the Dean as long as he didn't betray him.
"Tell me what happened," the Dean said as he started walking towards the academy.
"I can tell you some things, but I can't tell you everything," Shang said as he followed him.
"That is your decision, but might I ask for the reason?"
"Because I don't want to involve you in politics," Shang answered.
The Dean threw a cold look at Shang.
For a while, he didn't say anything, but he understood what Shang meant.
After some seconds, he sighed.
"This was why I didn't want you to accept his mission back then," the Dean said.
Shang knew what the Dean was referring to.
Back when Shang wanted the Entropy Ore, Duke Whirlwind had offered it at a high price. Shang could have purchased it with his contributions, but he chose the alternative.
Work for Duke Whirlwind on a mission.
He hadn't thought much of it back then, but after the Dean spoke these words, Shang realized the far-reaching effects this choice had had on his life.
Shang had officially always been under the Dean's neutral faction, but as soon as Shang had returned to the Skythunder Kingdom, he had searched for Duke Whirlwind first.
However, that had been the logical choice in Shang's mind.
Duke Whirlwind had given Shang the ore, his emblem, had done his best to protect him from the Thunder Horse, had given him his armor, and had protected him.
Additionally, Duke Whirlwind was very charismatic and honest.
Without noticing, Shang had left the Dean's camp and had joined Duke Whirlwind.
"Do you think he manipulates me?" Shang asked.
"No," the Dean answered with a shake of his head. "I am good friends with Jerald, and I know how he thinks and what he wants. I know that he knows that manipulating powerful allies will only drive them away with time. He helps them honestly, and he knows that they will help him back."
"But he is still involved in the politics, and he wants to become the King. This is why I like to keep a certain distance from him."
"Becoming King means becoming enemies with every other powerful person in the Kingdom. Following him will most likely end in my death," the Dean explained.
Shang nodded. "But with great risk come great rewards."
"That's true, but the rewards are not what I need right now," he answered.
"What do you need?" Shang asked.
"Peace, quiet, and time."
Shang furrowed his brows. "Did you give up on becoming more powerful?"
If this had been in the past, the Dean might have become irritated at Shang's question, but he could feel Shang's power.
Shang felt like a genuine threat to the Dean, which meant he was incredibly powerful.
This question coming from Shang was justified.
"No," the Dean said. "You have already made progress on your True Path, and you should be able to judge my power accurately."
Shang nodded.
"What do you think of it?" the Dean asked.
Shang looked at the Dean.
"Fragile and hasty," he said.
The Dean nodded. "Don't make the same mistake I've made."
"I won't," Shang said.
Then, he used his Pseudo-Spirit Sense to check if anyone was listening.
After that, his Pseudo-Spirit Sense came into contact with the Dean, and Shang used a voice transmission.
"In the latest trial, Teacher Mervin was one of my enemies," he said via voice transmission.
The Dean stopped walking for about a second before he continued.
"What happened?" he asked.
"He trained me for five full years inside the trial," Shang answered.
The Dean looked at the academy, which was only a couple hundred meters away from him at the moment, with nostalgic eyes.
"If I had the luxury of having such a good teacher, I might not have made the very mistakes I still regret to this day," he answered.
Shang could hear deep respect emanate from the Dean when he talked about Teacher Mervin.
"But without you, Teacher Mervin would have committed your mistake," Shang answered. "He saw what you have done, learned from it, and is still in the Commander Stage because of it."
"Someone had to be the first to make this mistake so that others wouldn't."
The Dean didn't answer for a while.
"Yet, it is my mistake to bear," he answered, but at that moment, some fire appeared in his eyes. "But I will rectify it."
"Is that what you meant earlier?" Shang asked. "The way you are working on your power right now?"
The Dean nodded. "I am focusing on establishing a new True Path. Then, I will destroy my old one, fall to the Commander Stage again, and rejoin the True Path Stage as a new warrior."
"That's possible?" Shang asked.
The Dean nodded. "This was the second thing I focused my studies on. It is very costly, time-consuming, risky, and hasn't been tested yet, but it should work."
"Does it have negative consequences?" Shang asked.
"Yes," the Dean answered. "Everything that has led up to my current Path will vanish from my mind."
"Additionally, creating a new Path is very difficult for me since I can't fight any beasts or Mages on my level. I have to theorize everything without any practical testing."
Shang raised an eyebrow. "But if you were to fall to the Commander Stage right now, that problem would be solved to some degree."
"It would, but I can't," the Dean answered. "Right now, it would take a Peak True Mage to threaten me, which makes it very difficult to assassinate me. If I fall to the Commander Stage, I could be killed by a Mid True Mage since I would have forgotten my previous Path."
"I am the core of the powerful warriors of the world, and if I fall, the warriors will receive a heavy hit."
"For the warriors, I have to keep myself safe and powerful, even if it makes it difficult for me to become more powerful in the future."
Shang didn't say anything for a while.
"What about Vice-Dean Ranos? Couldn't he take up that role?" he asked.
"He could, but his hardline stance against Mages would damage the warriors as a whole. I wouldn't like to give him full authority over warriors."
Shang could only agree.
"What if it is Teacher Mervin?" Shang asked.
"If he were at the True Path Stage, I would gladly hand him control," the Dean answered, "but that might take a couple of decades more. Creating a True Path consumes a lot of time."
When Shang heard that, a smirk appeared on his face.
"Teacher, don't you want to know how many points I've gotten in the trial?" he asked.
At that moment, a light appeared in the Dean's eyes, and he turned to Shang.
"Did you get a good reward?" he asked.
Shang only grinned. "I've gotten 30 points. What do you think?"
The Dean's eyes widened in shock.
30 points was ridiculous!
He knew that Shang was way more powerful thanks to the Procedure, but the Dean would have expected 20 points, at the most.
30?!
How did he even do that?!
"My reward is something that allows you to view your progress on creating your True Path. You should remember the concept of a video game from Earth."
"You could look at it like a talent tree."
"And its help in creating a True Path can't be overstated."
"Who knows? With it, Teacher Mervin might reach the True Path Stage in just a couple of years."
"Leaving you to focus on your own True Path again."
